Inlander 07/30/2020

PRIMARY COLORS SIZING UP NEXT WEEK’S ELECTION PAGE 10 WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

WE CHECK IN ON SOME 2020 BEST OF WINNERS PAGE 26

ANOTHER STREAMING SERVICE? AT LEAST NBC’S PEACOCK SERVICE IS FREE PAGE 29

JULY 30-AUGUST 5, 2020 | NEAR NATURE. BUT NOT LOST.

Cooper at the Yuppy Puppy’s dog day care

PLUS! Shelter safety, local leashes & pandemic puppies

Why veterinarians are busier than ever PAGE 14

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2 INLANDER JULY 30, 2020

INSIDE VOL. 27, NO. 42 | COVER PHOTO: YOUNG KWAK

COMMENT 5 NEWS 10 COVER STORY 14 CULTURE 22

FOOD 26 FILM 29 MUSIC 30 ADVICE GODDESS 31

EVENTS 32 I SAW YOU 33 GREEN ZONE 34 BULLETIN BOARD 37

WE ARE OPEN

EDITOR’S NOTE

T

he coronavirus is still ravaging America, protesters are still filling the streets in Portland and Seattle, and Congress is still dickering with how to respond in the face of economic calamity. This week, however, we’re talking about PETS — yes, one of the few creatures on this planet that we can stand to be close to right now. Read about how the pandemic has impacted our furry friends on page 14.

Now, back to that calamity: We have a report looking at how the travel and tourism industry is faring (page 22) and a where-are-they-now story on some of 2020’s Best of the Inland Northwest winners (page 26). Finally, we dig into some of the competitive races in next week’s Washington primary (page 10); be sure to turn your ballot in no later than Tuesday, Aug. 4.

— JACOB H. FRIES, Editor

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Advancing neuroscience research in the Inland Northwest and around the world JOE’S LONG, WINDING ROAD PAGE 6

BREWING UP BUSINESS PAGE 28

STILL HUNGRY PAGE 30

WHAT TO DO THIS WEEK PAGE 32

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

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

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Amy Alkon, Robert Herold, Will Maupin, Carrie Scozzaro CONTRIBUTORS

Elizabeth Oswalt, Jeremey Randrup

HOW HAVE YOUR PETS CHANGED DURING THE PANDEMIC? EDITOR’S NOTE

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

RIC MEYER: They haven’t. We have.

Started with one dog. Now we have two bunnies, a bird and another dog.

HADLEY MORROW: Mine has actually become a little brattier! He was used to being home alone for long stretches of time, but when I was home he was always the center of my world. Now he has to watch me worship a computer for eight hours a day, and he doesn’t understand it.

He’s often trying to crawl up on my lap to get me to look at him instead of that dumb thing. And when I do leave the house, he howls like a wild dingo, which he never used to do.

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MARC ANTHONY: Given that we are nearly always together 24/7, our three dogs and one cat get even more than normally distraught when we go out shopping for 30 minutes.

GAIL CORY-BETZ: We’re retired, so it’s not been much of a change in our house.

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KYLE AIKEN: Ummmm, they’re cats, so they think they rule the world no matter what’s going on.

MELISSA OPEL: Our three dogs struggle when we have to leave.

Our littlest guy makes us chase him around the house and hides in the most obvious spots. Early on, they got a little crabby with each other and we realized they weren’t used to all the together time either. It’s been an adjustment but seems to have worked itself out.

AMETHYST LIACOS: My cat has gotten way more social, but that may be more to do with her “lion cut” and being cold. The dogs, all five of them, are clingier than ever.

I have felt bad every time I have left them to go to work even though my roommate is home. My shepherd mix is especially clingy and apparently pouts when my husband and I are gone. n

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To prevail in November, Joe Biden will need to confront lurking Russian trolls, dodge kneecapping nicknames and tune out the polls

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R

emember 2016, when all the pundits and “experts” had Hillary Clinton beating Donald Trump easily? Then, razorthin votes in three states won the election for a man who lost the popular vote by upwards of 3 million ballots — a man who then went on to disgrace the very office the Electoral College, in all its twisted logic, had bestowed on him. Now, three-and-a-half years later, he has destroyed, for now, the United States’ leadership position in the world; he has failed disastrously to anticipate, let alone lead the country through the coronavirus plague; and he’s turned lying into what comes with the morning mail.

Yes, as the Mueller Report shows, Russia did interfere with the election and will try and do it again. Hillary Clinton didn’t pick up on any

of this. At the same time, more respectable hackers such as Cambridge Analytica effectively controlled critical numbers of voters in key states. Nor did Clinton pick up on this.

And there was more: In all the debates, Trump would stalk behind her.

Hillary said nothing. She states in her book What Happened that she knew what Trump was doing, and as she saw it she writes that she had two choices: A and B. A was to be above it all, to assume that by showing to be very professional and self-contained she would be seen in a good light.

B was to turn and tell him to get his you-know-

what back to where it belonged. She chose A, in retrospect a very bad choice.

Trump actually gave her several opportunities to pick “B,” but throughout she stuck with A. That strategy left her armed with a knife at what was more like a gunfight.

A

nother mistake Clinton made was to believe the pollsters.

She was a cinch to win, that’s what they said. She heard this over and over again when she should have been alerted to the changing situation, she wasn’t. Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania all needed her attention and — crucially — voted for Trump.

A harbinger of things to come?

Joe Biden needs to keep in mind that four years ago, Trump was almost as far behind Clinton in the polls as Trump is behind Biden today. And then there’s the Electoral College.

My first piece of unsought advice (aside from dumping the Electoral College) is to suggest that Biden forget the polls that today show him up by double digits and instead figure out how not to duplicate Clinton’s mistakes.

Joe Biden needs to keep in mind that four years ago, Trump was almost as far behind Clinton in the polls as Trump is behind Biden today.

Hillary in so many ways was an impressive candidate. She was selected by President Obama to be Secretary of State, which required a Senate vote. She was confirmed by a bipartisan vote of 94-2! The message? Her peers, on both sides of the aisle, were impressed by her intellect and competence.

I met Hillary Clinton only one time. At the old Ridpath, she was here to campaign for her husband several years back. She came out on stage, was introduced and delivered from memory a very well-thought-out speech. No pauses, no corrections — she did it from memory.

Very impressive, but what followed was even better. Her staff wanted to hustle her out, no doubt to another gathering. But she wanted to meet the crowd, so she brushed aside her handlers and came down to the floor. She happened to walk in front of me, and I stretched out my hand and asked her a question. She paused again, looked me in the eye and provided a well-reasoned answer to my question; all along, I had her undivided attention.

Now as an old D.C. hand, I can tell you this isn’t the Washington, D.C. way — trust me. You ask the question knowing full well the person asked is looking down the line for his next exchange. Hillary didn’t do that. She gave me her undivided attention.

T

hen, along came Trump. He begins referring to her as “crooked Hillary.” The very same senators who knew her and praised her work by a vote of 94-2 would all just go along with the “crooked Hillary” lie. If they didn’t believe all this nonsense, they certainly kept it to themselves.

Could she have somehow stopped all this nonsense and won?

Given the help Trump was getting from the Russians and other hackers, who knows? The thing is, she never really tried — never addressed these lies and frauds directly any more than she put a stop to Trump prowling the stage.

Biden needs to remember all this: It will be a gunfight, not a knife fight. Trump will denounce Joe for so many non-reasons.

He will insult him. He will lie about him. We may not hear the words “crooked Joe,” but who knows. To win, Joe will need to learn from Hillary’s mistakes. n Robert Herold has been writing in the Inlander about politics, both national and local, since 1994. A selection of his columns are collected in Robert’s Rules (Inlander Books).

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COMMENT | FROM READERS

Each letter of the mural was painted by a different artist.

Readers respond to a slideshow on Inlander.com of the Black Lives Matter mural in Spokane, at 244 W. Main Ave. (7/22/20):

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

PATTY WEISER: Went to see it today. It is so impressive in person.

Thank you to each artist for showing Spokane your vision and your soul.

LINDSEY MYRON: It’s incredible.

The B, K and L were instantly my fave but I can’t wait to spend more time getting to know each letter and the artists behind them. What an absolute joy that we have such skilled and talented artists in our community.

BARBARA WILLIAMSON: Beautiful work. Thank you to all the gifted artists who made this work and to the owners of the building!

HADLEY MORROW: It’s so beautiful.

Beyond time for Spokane to get used to saying this loud and proud.

We still have a lot of work to do to reconcile with the legacy of violence White people have perpetrated against Black, Indigenous, and people of color in Spokane throughout history and (as made evident in some of these comments) still today. Bravo to all involved.

ANDREA BECK: I do not support the BLM. I am half Black and I feel offended by this whole thing. I say ALL LIVES MATTER. That’s what I say.

J.R. MACKEY: Sweet. When do we get a straight White people matter mural?

PAUL RICHARD STAVE: I don’t understand why so many White people are afraid or insecure about the slogan. As a White guy myself, I’m fine with the mural, the sentiment, and acknowledge that I have had it better than so many. Saying Black Lives Matter doesn’t mean I do not matter. I just want everyone to have the same rights and freedoms that I enjoy. Just because I haven’t faced discrimination doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

BRYANT HERRERA: Real question for those that call BLM a terrorist organization. Do y’all call the KKK a terrorist group too?

JON CORDELL: I think this page needs more thinly veiled racist opinions from straight White men between the ages of 55-65. n

JULY 30, 2020 INLANDER 9

ELECTION 2020

Different Names, Same Beast Matt Shea dropped out, but he’s still the center of attention in the 4th Legislative District primary

BY WILSON CRISCIONE CLOCKWISE from top left: Bob McCaslin, Lori Feagan, Dave Whitehead, Mike Conrad

F

or candidates hoping to represent the 4th Legislative District in the state House, this race isn’t exactly what they signed up for.

The district, covering Spokane Valley, has been controlled by Rep. Matt Shea since 2008, when he first won the seat. He has continually made headlines for trying to make Eastern Washington into a 51st state and for his ongoing feud with Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich, who considers Shea and his rhetoric to be dangerous. So this election cycle, both Democrats and Republicans decided to run against Shea on the heels of a report released by the state House of Representatives that concluded Shea engaged in domestic terrorism.

Then, surprising many, Shea decided not to run for reelection.

Thus began a game of musical chairs among the two seats within the 4th District. Rep. Bob McCaslin, a Shea ally currently holding the position 2 seat, filed to run for position 1, Shea’s soon-to-be vacated seat. Republican candidate Mike Conrad followed McCaslin, switching from running in position 2 to 1. Another Republican candidate, Leonard Christian, had planned to run against Shea, but did the opposite as Conrad upon finding out Shea was leaving.

In the end, there are eight candidates for two 4th District seats — three Republicans and one Democrat in each.

But make no mistake: Even though Shea’s name isn’t on the ballot, he still is a major factor in this race. McCaslin and former Spokane County Treasurer Rob Chase,

10 INLANDER JULY 30, 2020

CLOCKWISE from top left: Rob Chase, Leonard Christian, Nathan Sybrandy, Lance Gurel who is running for position 2, are aligned with Shea on some of what their opponents say are fringe ideas.

“As long as we have a representative in this district who votes like Matt Shea, who still thinks we need a 51st state, who consults with Shea with every vote we make, basically you’re going to get Matt Shea in somebody else’s sweater,” says Lori Feagan, a Democratic candidate running for the position 1 seat.

Before you cast your ballots, here’s what you should know about the candidates in both races.

POSITION 1

BOB McCASLIN currently represents the 4th District and has the strongest name recognition of any candidate.

A former elementary school teacher, he’s been a frequent ally of Shea as a member of the state House.

He’s a supporter of Shea’s idea to make Eastern Washington its own state, and has co-sponsored bills to do so.

When chat messages leaked in which Shea offered to do background checks on political enemies, McCaslin told the Seattle Times in April 2019 that the allegations were not true and said Shea is “an honest man who really works hard for his constituents.” In his 2018 campaign run, McCaslin told the Spokesman-Review that Shea “has been treated pretty badly in the press.”

Shea typically does not speak to the news media.

When reached by phone, McCaslin declined to comment for this story, saying he’d “rather not” give an interview to the Inlander, “but I appreciate you calling. Thanks.”

Democrat LORI FEAGAN, who filed for candidacy thinking Shea would be her opponent, says her message hasn’t changed since she realized McCaslin was running in his place. The district remains at risk of having a “single-issue” representative with extreme ideology, she says. She adds, however, that her campaign is not just about getting a Shea-aligned representative out of office, but electing someone with an inclusive philosophy.

“It’s just as important to get somebody like me in office,” she says. “That was my message and it’s still my message.”

Feagan is a nurse practitioner with three decades of experience working in health care. The COVID-19 pandemic, she says, has put more of a spotlight on the priorities of the 4th District: health care, education, infrastructure, job growth and small businesses. She says health care shouldn’t be connected to employment. If elected, she says she’d work with other legislators and experts to “rectify our upside-down tax structure,” so it relies less on consumer taxes and the business and occupation tax. She says she’d look at making sure corporate loopholes are closed and “folks are paying a fair share.”

She says she would consider a “strategic” capital gains tax, and adds she’d consider any way to rectify the tax structure besides a state income tax. She’s earned the endorsement of the state teachers union and SEIU healthcare 1199, representing nurses and caregivers in the Northwest. ...continued on page 12

JULY 30, 2020 INLANDER 11

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NEWS | ELECTION 2020 “DIFFERENT NAMES, SAME BEAST,” CONTINUED...

“I’m proud to be a Democrat. I share their values. I would say I’m more on the moderate side of the Democratic Party,” she says.

MIKE CONRAD is the CEO and founder of Savory Butcher and formerly founder of Zaycon Foods, which shipped meat from farms to consumers before abruptly ending operations in 2018. His campaign slogan, “trim the fat,” is a nod to his business. Conrad, a Republican, says he’s running for small business owners. He says he’s “tired” of the state destroying businesses.

“Especially with COVID-19, a lot of people are decimated because of this,” he says. “I think small businesses are going to need a white horse to come help them.”

He says he wants to “eradicate the Godcomplex people out of state agencies” and create laws that benefit small businesses. He calls the business and occupation tax “BS.” Conrad says he wants to take another look at the money going toward education, a huge chunk of the state budget. He floats the idea of giving teachers a $20,000 bonus to “incentivize them to make sure all students pass” tests. (Feagan, meanwhile, says she does not support meritbased pay and says early childhood and K-12 education is the “greatest return on investment in our society.”)

“There’s a small minority, the union, that controls the outcome of education for our children,” Conrad says. “I want to incentivize teachers to be great teachers with money.”

Conrad says he “likes the idea” of turning Eastern Washington into its own state, in theory, but says it’s a waste of time.

“I care about the people. I care about small businesses. Jobs. Accountability,” he says.

He accuses McCaslin of having “no energy” and being a puppet of Shea.

“I think Matt was the lead dog of that pack, and now that Matt’s gone I think Bob is going to be a lost puppy, not knowing what to do,” Conrad says.

Another Republican running for this seat, DAVE WHITEHEAD, says he decided to run initially because Shea was “making headlines about himself.” Whitehead is a business teacher in the Mead School District and previously has coached baseball and volleyball.

As an educator, he’s grown frustrated with the “unfunded mandates” districts have had to deal with from the state. He’s a proponent of in-person instruction in schools, saying online education hasn’t worked for many kids. He adds that the Legislature should be more involved in state decisions relating to COVID-19.

“I think I can lend a different ear, give them a different perspective on what [schools] really went through last spring, and we need to get back,” he says. “I dread not being able to see the kids.”

POSITION 2

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12 INLANDER JULY 30, 2020

ROB CHASE originally planned to run for Congress against U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers. But a while ago, Rep. Shea — who Chase considers a friend — proposed a change of plans: Shea would run against McMorris Rodgers for Congress, and Chase would run for a seat in the 4th Legislative District.

Chase filed for the position 2 seat, but Shea

didn’t follow through. Still, Chase says it worked out for the best. His views align with Shea’s on many issues. Chase has supported making Eastern Washington its own state, saying it’s difficult for the region to gain traction in Olympia.

He defends Shea to this day for a Shea-authored document outlining a “Biblical Basis for War” that says “kill all males” if they don’t yield to biblical law, while it condems abortion and same-sex marriage. Chase says people “don’t understand Bible study” and that the document merely describes warfare in the Old Testament and just war theory. Theologians have disputed this characterization.

Chase calls the shutdown and various measures to combat the pandemic an “overaction.”

Despite the death toll currently hovering around 150,000 in the U.S., Chase is against Rep. Matt Shea mask mandates and shutdown orders, saying “we’ve had pandemics every few years” and have never taken such measures. He’s dismissive of statistics and says people aren’t getting the truth about COVID-19.

His view is libertarian.

“If you’re going to make a mistake, make it on the side of freedom,” he says.

Yet on certain issues he’s willing to reach across the aisle. He supports the creation of a state bank, an idea touted by some Democrats in the state Legislature. He’s been known to endorse some Democrats in previous local elections, and he’s often more antagonistic toward moderate Republicans than Democrats. Chase says he can trust Democrats because he knows where they stand, but moderate Republicans are like Tories — “you can’t trust them,” Chase says.

Republican LEONARD CHRISTIAN, meanwhile, is a founder of Republicans of Spokane County, a more moderate group. He was appointed a seat in the state Legislature in 2014, but lost the primary to LETTERS McCaslin. He Send comments to says the most editor@inlander.com. important conversation moving forward is “who is going to get hurt the most” in the state budget, and he argues he has a good understanding of budget issues.

“I would start looking at what departments are really needed,” he says. “It’s going to take some unique thinking, and not people working on divisive issues, not trying to divide our state in half.”

He says the state is spending money on homelessness that should go toward mental health, and that police departments need to be funded with money for training.

Chase, he argues, has the same beliefs as Shea, only isn’t as good of a public speaker.

Christian criticizes Chase for pushing for a state

bank. He says he’s going to focus on the budget instead of “fringe issues” that don’t help the people in his district.

“My whole goal is to represent the people in the 4th and do everything I can to make sure the people in the 4th are taken care of,” he says.

Democrat LANCE GUREL agrees that Chase represents the same “extreme views” as McCaslin and Shea.

“The fact that my district is represented by two extremists definitely played into my decision to run for office,” Gurel says.

Gurel, who owns an accounting business, admits it will be a challenge for a Democrat to win in this district, but he believes his values match those of the 4th District better than his opponents.

“I believe families and workers come first,” he says. “Strong families and workers make strong communities and that makes a strong place for businesses.”

He says the pandemic has exposed the need to pay for essential services, like child care. While he says the state isn’t in the emergency budget situation people think it is, he says he supports changes to the tax code that will stop putting the burden on lower-income people. That means a tax on high-earners using a capital gains or income tax — though he says his plan would only apply to people or corporations making more than $5 million per year.

As a nurse and Republican, NATHAN SYBRANDY says the 4th District needs a medical professional during the pandemic who can bridge the gap between conservatives and public health officials. He says public health officials, including in Spokane, have taken an “overly partisan” approach that makes conservatives distrust them.

Sybrandy appreciates Gov. Jay Inslee’s use of epidemiologists who advise him on slowing the pandemic, but he argues Inslee should tap experts who have more concern for the economy as well. Sybrandy adds that he’s against mandating the use of masks.

“The level of sacrifice we’re going to have to make to keep the pandemic under control should be significant,” he says. “But it has its limit.”

He says voters are sick of the divisiveness in the Republican Party.

“They’re ready for a candidate to be a unique voice of unity who’s uniquely qualified to address the issue of our time, COVID-19,” Sybrandy says. n wilsonc@inlander.com

“ WO N D E R M E N T ” BY D E B B I E H U G H B A N K S p i c k u p y o u r f r e e p o s t e r w h i l e s u p p l i e s l a s t.

SENATOR — 4TH LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT

There’s plenty of shuffling going on in the 4th District, but incumbent Sen. Mike Padden is still running for the 4th District Senate seat. Padden faces two challengers in the primary: famed mountaineer and former county commissioner John Roskelley, a Democrat, and business owner and independent Ann Marie Danimus. (WILSON CRISCIONE)

5TH DISTRICT U.S. REPRESENTATIVE

Republican U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers is up for reelection again.

The race is getting less attention than the 2018 race, when it looked like Lisa Brown could mount a serious challenge. In this year’s primary, one of the challengers, Chris Armitage, recently announced he’s dropping out following allegations that he had a relationship with a woman that was not consensual — though he will remain on the ballot. That leaves Dave Wilson as the only Democrat actually in the race, along with Republican Stephen Major, an Army veteran and owner of a tour company, and Brendan O’Regan, who says he’s a candidate of the “Normal Party.” (WC)

GUBERNATORIAL RACE

Dozens — dozens! — of candidates have lined up to challenge Gov. Jay Inslee this year, but few have stood out. A KING 5 News poll says the top challenger, Republic police chief Loren Culp — who’s recently been accused of intimidating a victim in a child sex abuse investigation — has support of less than 10 percent of voters. Next comes Tim Eyman, an anti-tax activist who last year was charged with stealing an office chair. Six percent of those polled would vote for Joshua Freed, former Bothell mayor. Inslee, meanwhile, appears to have solid support in the primary, with polls indicating he will likely take somewhere around 50 percent of the vote. (WC)

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JULY 30, 2020 INLANDER 13

14 INLANDER JULY 30, 2020

NO

Pause FOR

Paws

Local veterinary clinics are busier than ever amid the pandemic, while other pet care services struggle to catch up

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BY CHEY SCOTT

andemic or not, pets still need to eat, play Yuppy Puppy’s doggie daycare service, only and see the doctor. offered at the north store, has also taken a hit since For some local businesses dedicated March since so many of its regular customers are to the health and well-being of our four-legged still working from home. Brown says the daycare is friends, like Indian Trail Animal Hospital in North seeing about half of its usual clients.

Spokane, the months since the pandemic’s onset While she’s grateful to be back to operating all have been unexpectedly busy. of the Yuppy Puppy’s services, and for the steady For others, like the two-location Yuppy Puppy, support of her customer base, Brown felt some of which offers grooming, doggie daycare and supthe initial lockdown rules unfairly impacted small plies like natural pet food and toys, consumers’ businesses like hers. The ban on pet grooming was pandemic-spurred preferthe most inconvenient and ence for online shopping restrictive for both her AN ONGOING SERIES has been a major hit to staff and customers. sales.

For example, even “My downtown store is when doggie daycare The Inlander is checking in on local industries and down by about 75 percent remained open with how they’re evolving in a world with coronavirus. because it’s predominantly contactless pickups and Follow along at Inlander.com/recovery. frequented by tourists and dropoffs through all past people who work downphases of Washington’s town, and obviously we don’t have either of those statewide lockdown, staff weren’t allowed to groom things right now,” says Yuppy Puppy owner Aquila dogs already on site for all-day supervised care. She Brown. adds that some big box pet stores with grooming “We added a delivery service and do free deservices were still allowed to operate when she livery with an order of $25 or more, and I thought couldn’t. that would help pick up business, but food sales are “It was extra frustrating. It really felt like they down,” she continues. “Where are people getting were targeting the little guys specifically,” Brown their food? Did they switch to Chewy or Amazon? says.

It’s really stressful.”

The ordered closure of pet grooming caused The Yuppy Puppy’s north side location, a negative result for many dogs, too. Some came meanwhile, was able to reopen its professional dog in with extremely matted fur due to a lack of coat grooming services back in early May when initial care during the nine weeks grooming was banned. lockdown rules were lifted. Its groomers are still “A lot of the dogs were in bad shape, and we catching up; Brown estimates their calendar is still get it,” Brown says. “We have had to shave a lot of booked out for a month or more. dogs for safety and comfort.”

“Now the problem is that our grooming is super busy,” she says. “People keep saying ‘that hile it’s been an obstacle-filled return must be so great because you’re all booked up,’ to normal operations for the Yuppy but it’s not great because we can only do so many Puppy, one local veterinary clinic has dogs a day, and we can’t add clients or make up been having a busier than usual summer, even any losses. Twice as many dogs need haircuts but amid the global pandemic. we can only accommodate the same amount as Indian Trail Animal Hospital co-owner and before.” veterinarian Keri Bayley says increased demand for The north store only recently reopened its selfservices, paired with a need to space out appointserve dog wash stations because Brown wasn’t able ments to allow for deep cleaning between patients, to source enough cleaning supplies to sanitize the has presented several unexpected challenges to her area between customers. Reservations to use the practice and the region’s veterinary services as a wash stations are now required, whereas walk-ins whole. were previously accepted. ...continued on next page

THE ROAD BACK

Local dog groomers are still struggling to catch up on appointments after being forced to shut down for weeks this spring. YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

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JULY 30, 2020 INLANDER 15

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ISSUE

“NO PAUSE FOR PAWS,” CONTINUED...

“The need is huge right now. A lot of people are clearing out our shelters, which is great, so we have seen a lot of new puppies and kittens,” Bayley says.

“And there are more animals outdoors, unsupervised or supervised, so there are more interactions between pets, increases in car accidents, dog fights and other traumatic type things.”

As many pet owners have been spending more time at home, that extra time around their pets has also translated into more consistent observations of their animals’ health, and the need to make an appointment.

“Many clinics also have reduced hours for various reasons, and a lot are 100 percent curbside, which adds a different time frame to manage the pets,” Bayley says.

“It’s been a real challenge, but the biggest has been seeing all the pets that need to be seen.”

Indian Trail Animal Hospital is scheduling about half of its appointments as normal, while only allowing one person with an animal into the exam room, with social distancing and masking required, while the rest are curbside or drop-offs. Clients are still able to confer with a veterinarian or technician for those appointments, but aren’t allowed inside the clinic while their pet is being seen. Other contactless services the clinic offers include prepaid ordering of prescriptions and food for pickup.

Bayley says it’s a similar picture across the region’s vet clinics. To ensure pet owners with urgent needs are able to receive needed care, local clinics are working together to send records back and forth to whatever practice is able to schedule an animal first, even if it’s not an animal’s primary provider.

Yuppy Puppy owner Aquila Brown says her two stores launched a free, local delivery service to encourage customers to shop local.

“There are only so many vets and so many animals that we can see in a day, so it’s definitely become a little higher pressure in how do we help these pets with the resources that we have,” she says. “A lot of people don’t necessarily see that aspect. We used to always have sameday appointments or at least by the next day.”

Staff at Indian Trail have noticed other effects of the pandemic on pets and owners, including increased stress

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and anxiety on both sides from being stuck at home, as well as puppies that are not being socialized with other dogs or people because of social distancing requirements.

On the positive side, however, Bayley says she’s noticed more people taking their dogs on walks, which provides mental stimulation and healthy exercise to both parties.

“I think in general, pets are going to be our saviors in all of this,” she says. n

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Some of the many dogs adopted from Spokane Humane Society since the shelter reopened its public walk-in hours in mid July.

Clearing THE Kennels

Local animal shelters adapt to pandemic guidelines to ensure safety for all animals, staff and the public

BY LIZZIE OSWALT

W

ith the unusual year we’ve experienced so far, many have felt the urge to splurge on something we’ve long been yearning for in the backs of our minds. For some, this craving was quieted by cutting our own bangs or learning to bake sourdough bread, but for many Inland Northwest residents, the answer was bringing home a new pet.

What better time to train a new puppy than when you’re already quarantined at home?

A recent, sudden increase in adoptions means forever homes for hundreds of furry friends, and while this is good, local shelters and adoption centers have still encountered many uncertainties and challenges brought by the pandemic. Shelters across the region were initially forced to close their doors to the public, causing an overall decrease in 2020 adoption numbers despite recent spikes, and a change in the way adoptions were allowed to happen.

Edward Boks, executive director at the Spokane Humane Society, says the shelter’s dog adoption numbers are down 12 percent so far compared to last year, while cat adoptions are down 6 percent.

On top of this, Boks says, “the biggest change to normal operations was closing the shelter to the public

and scheduling adoptions by appointment only. We were getting hundreds of calls every week. It was challenging to return all those calls, and frustrating to our patrons anxious to adopt a pet.”

In addition to frequently sanitizing surfaces, the Spokane Humane Society moved its adoption surveys, which all potential adopters must fill out, online to make parts of the adoption process contactless and as efficient as possible due to that initial call influx. The shelter resumed its normal, walk-in hours to the public on July 15, allowing five visitors (wearing masks) inside at a time.

Volunteer involvement at the Spokane Humane Society looks different now, too. Boks says while regularly scheduled volunteer hours and duties have been hindered by pandemic regulations, the shelter has since reinstated on-site volunteer opportunities, including the new “Dogs Play for Life” program to help dogs get accustomed to interacting with other canines.

“We also recently expanded the skill set that we’re recruiting volunteers to help us with. We’re asking for volunteers to help us with upcoming events, improve our website, fundraise and facility and grounds maintenance,” says Boks.

Despite these pandemic setbacks, Boks says the

SPOKANE HUMANE SOCIETY PHOTOS

nonprofit has seen an overwhelming amount of interest in choosing adoption and saving pet lives.

“It’s been gratifying to see the community response when we reopened our doors,” he says. “Spokane is a tremendously pet-friendly community and restricting compassion is counterintuitive to most of us.”

I

n North Idaho, the Kootenai Humane Society has also experienced a tumultuous first half of the year, having been forced to close its doors to the public back on March 15. The shelter remains closed to walkins; all visitors must make an appointment to meet animals and adopt, or for vaccine and spay/neuter services.

Face masks are required on the premises.

Kootenai Humane Director of Development Victoria Nelson says the pandemic has, however, brought some surprising benefits.

In the first part of the year, the shelter usually sees a large number of sick cats needing medical care, but Nelson says there was a drastic reduction in feline illness this season, a change partly credited to appointment-only visits.

Cleanliness is always a priority for Nelson and her team, but the temporary appointment-only rule has allowed staff to more thoroughly clean and sanitize the facility. Nelson says it’s also “alleviated the packed, shoulder-to-shoulder lobby area,” while giving potential adopters a quieter, more personal interaction with the animals.

One of the biggest worries amongst animal care experts during the pandemic’s onset was the possibility of pet owners surrendering animals for fear of catching the coronavirus from, or spreading it to, their pets, an outcome that’s since been proven highly unlikely. However, neither the Spokane Humane Society or Kootenai Humane Society saw any noticeable increase in pet surrenders as opposed to normal years.

The main issue moving forward is how so many new pets will respond when we’re not all sitting at home anymore, and how our local shelters will balance the urgency of getting animals adopted while still keeping everyone safe. n

JULY 30, 2020 INLANDER 17

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One Bag AT A Time Revelations on the trail lead to entrepreneurial ventures for Spokane startup NOBO Pets

BY JEREMEY RANDRUP

O

ne day when Evan Purcell was out on a run with his dog, Bodhi, he suddenly realized he’d forgotten to bring waste bags just as Bodhi assumed the position on the trail.

“No, Bo!” Purcell yelled, urging the pup not to lay a landmine for whoever was unfortunate enough to come across it next.

This was the moment Purcell realized he needed a better solution to help him remember to bring waste bags, and one that wasn’t too bulky to carry while running. The epiphany eventually led to the development of the flagship product for his Spokane-based startup company NOBO Pets: A dog leash that doubles as a waste bag carrier. The name is a homage to Purcell’s lament at

48 TH ANNUAL

NOBO Pets owner Evan Purcell and Bodhi the dog, who inspired the company’s flagship product. NOBO PHOTO Bodhi’s business that day.

“I got back home from the run and thought that there had to be something out there,” he says. “All of the things I saw on the market didn’t really fit the bill.”

While Purcell didn’t see what he wanted, he’s a

mechanical engineer with experience in product design.

So he set out to create his own solution.

“This is something I can design and build for myself,” he says. “At that time, I never came to the thought of making a business for it. I just wanted something that I needed.”

Similar dog waste bag holders are in the form of a container or bag attached near the leash handle loop, whereas Purcell’s design features a bag dispenser built into a lighter and more ergonomic handle. Because of this, dog owners don’t have to worry about waste bags dangling about, making the leash more optimal for active escapades in the outdoors. As Purcell went out with his new custom design, other dog owners started to pay attention.

In addition to the sleekly integrated poop bag dispenser, NOBO’s heavy-duty, rope-like leash has a quick-release feature in the handle so owners can securely tether their pup to a stationary object, as well as a secure screw-lock carabiner to attach to a collar.

Sensing a demand for his product, Purcell took the idea to crowdfunding platform Kickstarter. After seeking funding for his design in October 2019, he tripled his $10,000 goal, going on to launch sales this May in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Customers can now shop online at nobopets.com.

For the team at NOBO, the unique situation of COVID-19 hasn’t done much to impede company growth.

According to Purcell, current pandemic trends are actually beneficial to e-commerce ventures, as consumers favor ordering products online over brick-and-mortar retail.

“There has been some challenge in terms of logistics

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and manufacturing, but it’s a great time to get into the pet space,” he says. “People are getting outside with their pet.”

As NOBO sells more leashes, Purcell notes the company also hopes to leave a positive impact on the environment, not only by helping waste bags become more convenient for owners to bring along, but also making the waste bags themselves biodegradable.

“We want to own our backyard here in Spokane and Coeur d’Alene,” Purcell says. “We’re extremely passionate about the outdoors and the wilderness.”

For the future of NOBO, Purcell intends on eventually becoming a subscription-based company for biodegradable pet products such as waste bags.

Until then, NOBO plans to continue selling its flagship product, which all began with Bodhi doing his business on that fateful day. n

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Pet THE

ISSUE

Meet Daisy, our managing editor’s pandemic puppy with a penchant for gnawing.

MERLE CREED PHOTO

Baby Shark

The good, the bad and the painful truth about adopting a pandemic puppy

I

t was Mother’s Day and we were having a socially distanced backyard gathering when my partner Heather’s adult son mentioned he knew someone who knew someone who was giving away Labradoodle puppies.

Five days later, we joined the many suddenly homebound in rashly deciding to bring a four-legged fur ball into our fold. We didn’t discuss it much beyond agreeing that Heather would never have to get up in the middle of the night to deal with the dog, and her teenage daughter would take care of it when I was working. After buying a few supplies, we made our only excursion across the stateline since the ’rona arrived, spending roughly 10 minutes in a Post Falls house to pick up what turned out to be a Labradoodle mixed with a Pyrenees mountain dog.

We named her Daisy and she was just shy of 6 weeks old and weighed 6 pounds when we picked her up. That’s younger than a vet will recommend adopting a puppy, but we didn’t want to miss out and we figured we were saving her from a life in Post Falls.

We’ll probably regret such a dainty name when she tops out in the 80- to 100-pound range. I’ve already been calling Daisy things like “Land Shark” and “Baby Shark” based on her razor-sharp puppy teeth and predilection for directing them at any exposed skin at least a couple times a day. My hands were pretty dry and tough from all the hand washing brought on by the virus. Now they’re scabbed up and in daily need of both hydrogen peroxide and soothing lotion.

20 INLANDER JULY 30, 2020

BY DAN NAILEN Daisy is now 14 weeks and about 25 pounds as of this writing, and the past two months have been a blur.

An exhausting, exhilarating, painful, expensive, pee-filled blur. The pandemic puppy experience has been mostly positive, but not without its trials. Here are a few lessons we’ve learned that you should bear in mind if you’re considering getting a new dog at your house.

DO YOUR HOMEWORK

Daisy not being exactly the breed we expected was not a problem for us, but we did some crash-course Googling and YouTubing to learn the various characteristics of her genetic components. You’ll want to do the same no matter what dog you’re considering, just to make sure you’re getting a puppy conducive to your living environment, your family situation, even your work schedule. Puppies all sleep a lot, but they aren’t puppies forever and you need to be ready for the decade ahead.

THROW AWAY YOUR SCHEDULE

Puppies are incredibly time-consuming, even with all the sleeping they do. When they’re awake, they need constant attention, both with positive play and training, and just keeping them from getting into trouble with their curiosity. If you have a routine you’re comfortable with, it might not be easy to suddenly lose the ability to, say, sit quietly with a newspaper or a book when your puppy has other ideas.

GET HELP

We have three people on hand to walk the dog, pick up after the dog, play with the dog, and train the dog, and I think all three of us probably get worn out by it all on a daily basis. I can’t imagine doing the puppy thing alone.

We also signed up for a puppy-training class, and it’s definitely been helpful to have professionals help us out.

We found a couple of other folks in our lives with new puppies and schedule weekly puppy play dates so the dogs can wear each other out and learn some social skills with other dogs during these locked-down days. Even though we’re locked down, your puppy needs to learn from other dogs and other humans, too.

EMBRACE THE CHAOS

The puppy stage is just that, one stage in a hopefully long life. So while it’s tiring always, and trying at times, it’s good to remember that your pup is hopefully going to grow into a great companion. And if you have more time at home due to the pandemic, take advantage of the extra time with your pup and enjoy the snuggles, games of tug-o-war and walks around the neighborhood. You should also consider every ripped T-shirt or pair of shorts an opportunity to up your wardrobe game.

As soon as we adopted Daisy, our focus on the scary disease running rampant across the globe greatly diminished, thanks to our focus on this new cute creature hanging around the house. That’s not necessarily the best reason to adopt a dog, but it’s definitely a bonus. n

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THE ROAD BACK

REGAINING THEIR FOOTING How is the travel and tourism business faring when everyone is told to stay put?

BY CARRIE SCOZZARO

I

n March, COVID-related closures were still making headlines as our region tried to wrap its collective mind around what was coming. While some parts of the hospitality industry, namely restaurants, are now navigating new terrain of social distancing and mask mandates, other segments, like travel and tourism, are still in pivot-mode.

Their road back to recovery means moving forward with equal parts caution and kindness.

Nationally, for example, 2020 travel industry losses are expected to total more than $502 billion, according to reports shared by the Events Industry Council and U.S. Travel Association. That’s nearly 6 million jobs and $62 billion in tax revenue lost from coast to coast.

In the Northwest, the trickle-down effect of COVIDrelated closures and postponements has been keenly felt, from Spokane to Sandpoint and Coeur d’Alene.

Group business is down, says Nick Pierre, general manager of Northern Quest Resort & Casino, and has shifted to “more leisure travelers within driving distance who are looking for a safe place to get away and relax during these stressful times.”

The upside has been its RV resort, Pierre says. “With many people working from home and unable to travel out of the area, the occupancy at our recently opened RV resort has increased significantly for both RV spaces and cottages.”

The RV resort at Northern Quest Resort & Casino includes one- and two- bedroom cottages. NORTHERN QUEST RESORT & CASINO PHOTO

22 INLANDER JULY 30, 2020

Countywide hotel occupancy, however, is still nearly 50 percent below what it was this time last year, says Visit Spokane’s Public Relations Manager Kate Hudson.

Spokane-area tourism is a $1.3 billion industry, she notes. The cancellation of 60 conferences since March, when Gov. Jay Inslee instituted a lockdown, equates to around $34 million in lost business, Hudson says.

That number doesn’t include events outside Visit Spokane’s involvement, she says, like Bloomsday or the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.

The impact of the pandemic goes beyond numbers, however.

“From ticket takers to wedding planners to the CEOs of multinational hospitality companies, they have all had their way of life disrupted and the viability of their livelihood put in question,” Hudson says.

Visit Spokane includes itself in the fallout. A nonprofit funded by both private and public sources from membership to lodging taxes, Visit Spokane reduced staff by nearly 70 percent, although they’ve brought some staff back on reduced hours.

Sandpoint’s Chamber of Commerce has felt the pinch, too, says chamber president and CEO Kate McAlister, who is also a City Council member.

“Some businesses, and we understand, cannot pay their chamber dues,” says McAlister, describing the ripple effect of event cancellations like Lost in the ’50s, the CHAFE 150 bicycle ride, the Long Bridge Swim and Festival at Sandpoint.

Regardless, they’ve seen increased web traffic and visitors alike.

“With other states being still closed, we have had a tremendous amount of visitors from all over the U.S.,” McAlister says. Many are first-timers to Sandpoint or Idaho in general and from as far away as Texas and Maine, although many are from Washington.

C

ross-border travel during COVID offers an interesting comparison.

North Idaho had relatively low case counts prior to its May 1 reopening. At the end of April, for example, Bonner County had only three reported cases, although Kootenai County was climbing with 59. That’s well below Spokane’s count of 349 around the same time, but it’s a larger, denser area.

Overall, however, Idaho had a lower case count and had already allowed gatherings of 10-or-less when it transitioned to Phase 2 two weeks later, reopening restaurants, gyms and recreation facilities. On May 30, bars and large venues reopened during Phase 3. Idaho entered Stage 4 mid-June, allowing any size gatherTHE ROAD BACK ing and the reopening of nightclubs.

The Inlander is checking in Idaho case counts on local businesses and how are on the rise, however. they’re evolving in a world with As of July 24, Bonner coronavirus. Follow along at County had 123 positive Inlander.com/recovery. test cases, a significant increase from three months prior, yet with no deaths. Kootenai County had 1,240 positive cases, however, prompting Panhandle Health District to issue a countywide mask mandate effective immediately.

Just across the border in Eastern Washington, the end of June saw record high case counts, 40 percent of them amongst 20- to 30-year-olds, and a statewide mask mandate enacted June 26. The governor recently imposed additional restrictions on some locations and events, leaving Spokane stuck in Phase 2 of reopening.

That has presented challenges for Alderwood RV Express in Mead, which has 96 sites and an amenity-rich facility they’ve had to curtail.

The cancellation of 60 conferences since March equates to around $34 million in lost business.

“This summer we have had to limit the shower, laundry and store hours to one [person] from the same site,” says desk agent Jason Orahood. Although their playground was allowed to reopen during Phase 2, their lodge with a big-screen television and pool table has restricted capacity and the heated indoor pool remains closed.

Similar to Spokane’s COVID-reduced hotel occupancy rates, Alderwood experienced a big drop in the spring.

In May they were down 30 percent compared to last year, yet now down only 7 percent from July 2019, with longterm reservations piling up for the fall.

Meanwhile, the RV industry is experiencing a nationwide resurgence.

RV sales are booming, reports RnR RV Center’s Sharon Ensley, who works in the finance department. Sales are up 37 percent from the same time last year, Ensley says, noting the average age of RVers has dropped.

Indeed, industry websites report that although the majority of RV buyers are ages 35-54, interest amongst millennials is rising rapidly.

Besides RVs and camping, travelers appear to be taking advantage of a dense vacation rental market.

Airbnb, for example, reported that unlike hotel occupancy, U.S. bookings increased from May 17-June 3 compared to the same time in 2019. They also noted a shift towards localized travel — within 200 miles of a customer’s home base — and more properties coming online since the pandemic began.

For Callie and Stu Cabe, that trend has been a lifeline. Both active with Coeur d’Alene Summer Theater — she is an actor and director, he is its (unpaid) artistic director — they’ve been out-of-work since spring and were counting on their downtown vacation rental for income.

Events like Car D’lane and Ironman are big for them, as are weddings.

“If we come to the pandemic, we lost almost all of our bookings… as of April and into early May,” says Stu, whose paying gig as a motivational speaker focusing on anti-bullying has been hit hard, too.

The Cabes have since regained 90 percent of their bookings, getting a boost during Idaho’s Stage 3 when Oregon and Washington were still closed.

Because they utilize a commercial rental company’s platform, they don’t have a lot of flexibility in how they reach customers. What they do have, Callie says, is kindness. Their cancellation policy, for example, is very lenient, while their cleaning protocol is very strict, includ-

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

ing gaps in between rentals, airing rooms and rotating bedding.

When the couple tested positive for COVID in early July, they were stunned but persevered, hiring a cleaning crew out-of-pocket and focusing on their own health.

“We’re pinching every dollar but not to the point where we would do anything to compromise [guests’] health,” Callie says. Although the couple has been forthcoming about their exposure, Callie is still concerned about blowback.

“We always have the opportunity to educate,” says Callie of their candor and insistence on masks, which they’re providing free to guests.

“Stu and I feel like it’s our giveback,” she says of their kindness-centered business approach, which has yielded many repeat customers over the past five years. “We’re playing the long game.”

So is Sandpoint, McAlister says. “Long-term plans are to learn from all of this, take care of each other and know we are all in it together.”

The Sandpoint chamber also created a second newsletter with employment opportunities for any local business.

“A rising tide floats all boats,” McAlister says. “If we can help, then we will.”

They’ve also adjusted their outlook online. “For tourism marketing, we made our ads more aspirational, a little zen to give planners some calm,” McAlister says.

“Letting [visitors] know, when they are ready to travel, we will be here to greet them.”

S

pokane has a similar approach, yet Hudson acknowledges the road back will be long.

Hospitality leaders during a virtual international industry conference last week posited that leisure travel would not return to 2019 levels until 2023, and group travel, like conventions, will not return to 2019 levels until 2024, Hudson says.

Until then, she says, “We are living by the slogan, ‘Spread kindness, not COVID.’” They also encourage people to support local businesses and be safe, which means being mindful of gatherings.

If everyone does their part to slow the spread, Hudson says, the region will be that much closer to welcoming events, conferences and visitors back. “These are challenging times, but we feel confident that collaboration is critical in the road to recovery.” n

JULY 30, 2020 INLANDER 23

CULTURE | CLASSICAL

Delay of Game The Spokane Symphony is pushing its entire 75th season back a year due to coronavirus

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

BY DAN NAILEN

M

usic Director James Lowe and the folks at the Spokane Symphony put in a lot of work to make the celebration of the symphony’s 75th birthday something special during the 2020-21 season.

The coronavirus had other ideas, though, and rather than enter a new season in a little more than a month, full of the uncertainty of which performances might or might not happen, the symphony has decided to move its entire 75th anniversary schedule to 2021-22.

What does that mean for the upcoming year? It certainly won’t look like any symphony season you’ve seen before — if they’re able to have any kind of season at all.

For now, everything is basically canceled for 2020-21, including the annual outdoor concerts at Pavilion Park in Liberty Lake scheduled for Sept. 5, and on Labor Day, Sept. 7, at Spokane’s Comstock Park. Beyond the symphony’s own schedule, including the Star Wars and Harry Potter shows and the annual Nutcracker and New Year’s Eve shows, some non-symphony events scheduled for this fall, like the evening celebrating Napolean Dynamite with the film’s stars, are also off for now, but likely to be rescheduled soon. As of now, the previously rescheduled

24 INLANDER JULY 30, 2020

Spokane Symphony Music Director James Lowe

Flaming Lips show now slated for March 19, 2021, is still a go.

Depending on Washington state’s ability to navigate its way to recovery phases beyond the current Phase 2, the symphony might be able to add some special shows over the next year to help fill the gap until a traditional schedule kicks in the fall of 2021. But that depends on what can be done while keeping the musicians and audience healthy.

The symphony plans to spend its “off” year focusing on education and outreach, perhaps with some streaming events and other activities yet to be determined.

There will still be a couple ways to celebrate the symphony’s birthday, though, during its actual 75th year. One is the publication this fall of a history book about the Spokane Symphony, written by Jim Kershner. And the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture is planning an exhibit opening this October (hopefully) called Music Finds A Way: The Spokane Symphony, alongside an exhibit focused on the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II. n

CULTURE | DIGEST

DIVERSE VOICES Local community reading initiative Spokane is Reading is on hiatus for 2020 and encouraging readers instead to set out on an independently guided path of enlightenment via cultural awareness and antiracism. A partnership of the Spokane County Library District, Spokane Public Library and Auntie’s Bookstore, Spokane is Reading has published a recommended reading list featuring an acclaimed lineup of BIPOC authors, including Tommy Orange’s There, There, Roxanne Gay’s Hunger, Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me, and many others. Find the list at spokaneisreading.org. (CHEY SCOTT)

The Case for Un-erasing One of Community’s Best Episodes

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BY DANIEL WALTERS

month ago, one of my favorite episodes of television — ever — was effectively erased.

Community’s season two episode “Advanced Dungeons & Dragons” is one of the most tightly scripted showcases of the beloved TV show’s roller-coaster run of brilliant successes and ambitious failures.

Jeff Winger (Joel McHale) is worried that “Fat Neil” (Charley Koontz) — a nerdy classmate with a love for role-playing games — is feeling suicidal, so he invites Neil to partake in a bout of Dungeons & Dragons.

The episode was removed from streaming services last month. Netflix struck first and Hulu followed soon afterward. It was because of the whole blackface thing: 30 Rock, The Golden Girls and Scrubs had episodes removed for the same reason.

Blackface — the practice of non-Black performers wearing crude black makeup — calls back to one of

THE BUZZ BIN

THIS WEEK’S PLAYLIST Some noteworthy new music hits online and in stores July 31. To wit: ALANIS MORISSETTE, Such Pretty Forks in the Road. The ’rona put the kibosh on a 25th anniversary tour for Jagged Little Pill, but a new batch of songs will do.

PSYCHEDELIC FURS, Made of Rain. Their first album in 29 years(!), and the songs I’ve heard fit right in with the good ol’ days.

FONTAINES D.C., A Hero’s Death. Their 2019 debut Dogrel was one of the year’s best. Can the Irish rockers follow it up with the same insistent energy? (DAN NAILEN)

the most incredibly ugly parts of history, where White performers used racial stereotypes to solidify White supremacy in Jim Crow-era America.

But in context, Community isn’t minstrel-show blackface. It’s closer to Robert Downey Jr.’s blackface method actor in Tropic Thunder — about showing a weirdo so overly committed and self-absorbed to his role that he doesn’t understand that his makeup is racist.

Ben Chang (Ken Jeong), the unhinged ChineseAmerican Spanish teacher, shows up to the D&D game dressed up as a Drow Elf, the evil and, uh, Black race in the Dungeons and Dragons universe.

And immediately, Shirley — played by Black actress Yvette Nicole Brown — calls it out: “So we’re just gonna ignore that hate crime, huh?”

The joke isn’t that blackface is acceptable. The joke is that it’s not — and that Dungeons & Dragons’ world was sort of racist itself. And no, the joke doesn’t quite work. Yet the archives of Netflix and Hulu are brimming with plenty of TV shows and movies that are filled with racism, sexism and transphobia.

The solution isn’t to delete all the awful stuff — it’s to grapple with it. Frat guys generally don’t show up to Halloween parties in blackface because they saw it on TV; they do it because they don’t fathom the offensive history.

So I offer a compromise: Bring back “Advanced Dungeons & Dragons,” but append a disclaimer like Warner Bros. has with their racist Looney Tunes cartoons.

Better yet, record an intro where “Abed,” Danny Pudi’s TV-obsessed character on Community, delivers a brief explanation on the history of blackface.

It’s either that, or elect Chang the governor of Virginia. n

ERIC DOES THE BIG EASY If you’re unfamiliar with him, I might suggest getting a little, uh, taste from The Eric Andre Show before you dive into the comedian’s new batshitinsane Netflix special: Eric Andre: Legalize Everything, performed in the cozy confines of the New Orleans House of Blues. Expect larynx-shredding, off-the-wall, high-energy deliveries on everything from prostitution to the war on drugs to American Puritanism. And perhaps it wouldn’t be right without a few props thrown into his set. It’s gonna get weird. (QUINN WELSCH)

RADICAL IDEOLOGY If you’ve ever wondered how someone can go from being only passively interested in politics to dying on the hill of a fringe movement, you may want to check out the New York Times podcast Rabbit Hole.

A fascinating and horrifying dissection of online radicalism, the show illustrates how so many 20-somethings have become indoctrinated into alt-right ideologies, why the conspiracy theories of QAnon appeal to mostly older people, and how YouTube’s recommendation algorithm unwittingly pulls users into videos espousing extreme politics. There are only six episodes, so you can easily binge the entire series in an afternoon. (NATHAN WEINBENDER)

CABBIE CONFESSIONALS Who better to listen to late-night confessionals than a cab driver? In the video game noir Night Call, that’s you: A cabbie in the City of Lights, except this story is pretty dark. You’re a recent victim of a serial killer still on the loose, but somehow you survived. The authorities want to pin the blame on you. You must investigate. Talk to witnesses and suspects, but don’t forget to pick up customers to pay your bills and keep your gas tank full. Driving around Paris in the wee hours is all automated. The player just has to choose the responses to the conversations. And remember, sometimes the best choice is no response at all. Available on Microsoft GamePass, PS4 and Switch. (QUINN WELSCH)

JULY 30, 2020 INLANDER 25

Vanessa Thomsen (left) holds her 3-year-old daughter Mariko as she orders ice cream from Marlin Jones at the Scoop in Kendall Yards.

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

BEST OF

Culinary Catch-Up In the midst of social distancing, we check in on a few winners from the Inlander’s 2020 Best Of Readers Poll

BY NATHAN WEINBENDER

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very year, Inlander readers vote for their favorite people and places in our annual Best Of readers poll, a chance for everyone to celebrate local excellence in the Inland Northwest. Of course, current events had different plans, forcing the local restaurants, bars and eateries that were crowned in our 2020 poll to change course and revamp their business models starting the very same week results were published in mid-March.

For the Scoop, this year’s winner for Best Ice Cream, 2020 was going to be a year of new beginnings. Owner Jennifer Davis had planned to open a second location in Kendall Yards back in March, replacing a storefront that had once housed Brain Freeze Creamery. It was an ideal situation, she says: Most of the necessary equipment was already in place, and she expected revenue to be double what it typically is in the Scoop’s South Hill location.

Summertime is obviously when ice cream sales skyrocket, but this isn’t a normal summer.

“Of course, it was too good to be true,” Davis says now, be-

26 INLANDER JULY 30, 2020

cause the global pandemic threw a wrench into the works. “But it’s been as good as can be expected.”

The Kendall Yards location actually opened at the end of April, but without tables and chairs for dine-in customers. Masks are required to enter, and markers have been laid out on the floor so customers can stay 6 feet apart from one another. At the South Hill location, the counter has been pushed up to the front door so that it’s closer to an outdoor walk-up window.

For a period in the spring, the Scoop pivoted to merely selling pints of ice cream online, which customers could order and then pick up the following day. Davis estimates she was selling between 150 and 200 pints a day in that first month of closure, and now the Scoop has perfected its online ordering process to be ready for fall when sales of pints typically increase.

“I keep hearing it’s going to be the winter of our discontent,” Davis says. “Ice cream sells more in pints in the winter. People want to watch Netflix on their couch and eat a pint of ice cream, and I want to make it as easy as possible for them to do that.”

BACK ON NEWSSTANDS

At the end of March, just as we put the finishing touches on this year’s Best Of edition, officials issued mandatory stay-home orders and businesses shut their doors. Inlander readers still picked up tens of thousands of copies of the paper that week, but now, in honor of our winners — many of whom are still facing uncertainty — we wanted to release extra copies of our Best Of issue this week. Find them on numerous newsstands across the Inland Northwest.

A TIMELY REMINDER OF EVERYTHING WE LOVE

SUPPLEMENT TO THE INLANDER

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or Baby Bar owner Patty Tully, meanwhile, business is entirely dependent on customers walking in and sidling up to the counter.

The downtown mainstay, named Best Tiny Bar by Inlander readers, has been closed since March, as has the attached fast-casual eatery Neato Burrito.

Tully and her co-owner and partner Tim Lannigan took advantage of the downtime: They gave the bar a fresh coat of paint and did some deep cleaning, waiting it out until they could safely reopen again. That bit of respite has turned into a monthslong period of waiting that’s still ongoing.

“We kind of expected things to get better within six weeks, and as everyone knows, it’s just longer and longer,” Tully says. “Now we’re trying to enjoy this time for what it is and not be frustrated about things we can’t change.”

Tully says she regularly checks in on their seven employees and says they’re all doing well. She and Lannigan had briefly considered reopening Baby Bar and selling cocktail kits, as well as reopening Neato Burrito for to-go orders. But they knew it’d have to remain a two-person operation, and that it likely wouldn’t turn a profit since alcohol sales is where they see their highest margins.

So until they get the allclear, the neon “open” sign in the window will stay off.

This is something that all bars, especially those with cramped quarters, will eventually have to reckon with: How do you invite people back into a small space following a pandemic that spreads via close contact?

“We’re kind of in a holding pattern,” Tully says. “We wouldn’t want to open now if we could, because we’d just end up having to close again. We want what’s best for the business and our coworkers and our customers.

“That was all of our social life,” she continues.

“Seventeen years behind that bar is a long time to see a lot of the same people on a daily basis, and to have that cut off is very strange.” n

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Now on Inlander.com: National and international stories from the New York Times to go with the fresh, local news we deliver every day JULY 30, 2020 INLANDER 27

FOOD | OPENING

Brewing Up Business Revival Tea Company goes from online sales to opening a downtown Spokane tasting room

BY ARCELIA MARTIN

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rew and Cerina Henry had never considered themselves tea lovers.

Sure, they were drinking three to five cups a day, but the Spokane couple had their eyes set on opening up a distillery in town. They’d been traveling back and forth to Ireland to research distilleries and then had an epiphany.

“We realized that we drink way more tea than whiskey,” Drew Henry says. “But tea is not sexy, even though it’s the number two drink behind water. So we were like ‘Oh my gosh, what if we took what we know from whiskey and put it into tea.’”

In 2018, the couple launched Revival Tea Company as an online venture, exclusively selling their signature spiced chai blend. Within the first 90 days, they say, they’d shipped their chai to 24 countries and almost every state. They next launched a Kickstarter campaign to attract more attention, raising about $5,000. The money raised was used for preorders, allowing the company to distribute its first wave of chai tea.

“Word spread like wildfire because when people get a tea they like, they start to talk and tell their friends about it,” Henry says. “Our online business just exploded, so we said ‘OK, maybe this is something we’re going to have to jump on a little quicker.’”

Revival began selling its spiced chai at wholesale, which is now served at coffee shops across the Pacific Northwest. The chai is made of nine ingredients: black tea, cinnamon, ginger root, wild and raw flower honey, cloves, allspice, cardamom, fennel and black peppercorn.

The honey adds more sweetness to their blend than most chais, creating a bolder and more complex tea, Henry explains.

Early this year, the local tea company began serving its chai alongside more than 30 other teas in a downtown, speakeasy-inspired tea room nestled between Durkin’s Liquor Bar and Sweet Peaks Ice Cream. The couple wanted a basement space to best match their brand’s vibe.

“The big thing is we want tea to be really approachable,” Henry says. “We want to make it a very accessible experience, as tea can be very overwhelming or even intimidating, and we don’t want it to be that way.”

The basement space wasn’t on the market when the Henrys were looking for a brick-and-mortar location, but Drew knew the owner of the building that was built in 1910 by Spokane liquor tycoon James “Jimmie” Durkin. During Prohibition, the main floor served as a soda fountain to front for the bar in the basement. The couple signed a 15-year lease as their way of showing that Revival Tea is here to stay.

W

hile the COVID-19 pandemic threw a major obstacle in the tea shop’s way just weeks after their February opening, Henry says Revival

28 INLANDER JULY 30, 2020

Tea’s roots as an online retailer was a boon for sales during the shutdown. The downtown shop was able to remain open for to-go orders and local online pickup, and began offering free shipping on orders from non-local customers.

“During the shutdown, online sales just went completely insane,” Henry says. “We used it as an opportunity to gain more customers, and just as soon as places could be open again we saw a sharp decline in online sales as people started to come in more.”

Overall, Henry estimates Revival Tea is seeing about half its projected sales volume had there not been a global pandemic, but “for us that is a lot better than the alternative; a lot of places are struggling and we’re not struggling.”

Just before the mid-March shutdown, the Henrys purchased a machine to bag their teas into individual servings, a process that before was done by hand and only for some of its tea blends. Now all of Revival’s teas are sold both in loose-leaf form and in single-serving bags.

Teas the company uses are purchased through tea brokers, who buy fair trade and organic tea on behalf of Revival, as well as directly from tea farmers.

“All of our teas come from the very small tea leaf at the top of the plant that’s called the flowery orange pekoe,” Henry says. “So, the higher you get, the more nutrients you get from the part of the plant. All of our tea comes from that.”

At Revival’s storefront, which is open to in-person service at half of its normal capacity and with many other public health guidelines in place, traditional tea is served by the cup ($3.50) or as tea service for two ($8.50). While wanting to focus on tea, the tearoom plans to also serve gluten-free muffins from the local Made with Love Bakery and Walker’s gluten-free shortbread cookies imported from Scotland. The spiced chai is also offered on nitro ($4.50), which Henry compares to the creaminess of Guinness beer.

Mocktails ($5) are also on the menu, like an Earl Grey old fashioned made with a bourbon extract, simple syrup, bitters, fresh orange peel and cinnamon. Happy hour is offered every night from 4-6 pm with tea mocktails for $2 off.

TOP: Revival Tea is located in the basement of a historic downtown building.

ABOVE: Revival’s yerba mate tea. HECTOR AIZON PHOTOS With original wood flooring and dark leathered decor, the cozy basement tea shop makes customers feel like they’re entering a well-kept secret.

“People can come after work and if maybe they don’t want to drink, they can have fun, and have a cool place to conversate,” Henry says. “So we’re doing a lot more than just hot tea.” n Food Editor Chey Scott contributed to this story.

Revival Tea Company • 415 W. Main Ave. • Open daily 9 am-6 pm • revivalteacompany.com • 315-8099

STREAMING

Streaming Selections A rundown of the best overlooked gems in the new Peacock film library

BY NATHAN WEINBENDER

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know what you’re thinking — another new streaming service?

But NBC’s new digital platform Peacock has one big advantage over its competitors: It doesn’t cost anything. Sure, you can upgrade your account to access even more content, but a huge portion of the library is free, including hundreds of movies new and old.

We’ve scanned the Peacock film catalog and here are, in no particular order, some of the best and overlooked gems that you can watch for free right now.

BERNIE (2011) Based on a strange true story, this pitch-black comedy concerns a beloved small-town mortician (Jack Black) who befriends an ornery widow (Shirley MacLaine) and then becomes implicated in her death. Director Richard Linklater incorporates people and places from the real events into the film, lending it an uncanny documentary-like edge.

LISTEN UP PHILLIP (2014) A terrific takedown of the vain, self-important literature landscape of New York City, in which an egotistical writer, once a rising star and now a mostly forgotten commodity, alienates everyone around him as he prepares to release an indulgent sophomore novel. Great performances from Jason Schwartzman, Elisabeth Moss and Jonathan Pryce.

MATINEE (1993) Joe Dante’s ode to B-movies and 1960s suburbia is ripe for rediscovery. One half of the film concerns a group of teenagers, distracted by the looming Cuban Missile Crisis and the release of a new monster film called Mant, while the other concerns a cigar-chomping movie producer (John Goodman) who will try any silly gimmick to keep his career afloat.

FROM TOP: Bernie, Sin Nombre, Tully and You’re Next.

MONSOON WEDDING (2001)

SPELLBOUND (2002)

Patton Oswalt stars as a New York Giants superfan named Paul, one of those guys who’s a regular on call-in sports talk radio shows. After a confrontation with his favorite player, Paul becomes something of an enemy amongst his own kind. An observant, melancholy portrait of obsession and loneliness.

In Mira Nair’s immensely likable ensemble drama, multiple generations of a large Indian family converge in Delhi for an arranged wedding, which threatens to be upstaged by the personal dramas and romantic entanglements of the peripheral characters. The film found a cult audience beyond its native country and later inspired a Broadway musical.

You might not think that the National Spelling Bee could raise your heart rate, but this charming documentary does it. It follows a diverse group of kids as they study up, learning words you’ve never even heard of, and once the film actually gets to the climactic bee itself, it’s both endearing and unexpectedly thrilling stuff.

CROOKLYN (1994)

RED ROCK WEST (1993)

This wistful period piece about a Black family in the early 1970s is one of Spike Lee’s best and most underrated mid-period films. It’s semi-autobiographical (Lee co-wrote it with his sister Joie and his brother Cinque) and deals sensitively with class, poverty, death and racial inequality, all told from a curious child’s perspective.

Peacock has an entire Nicolas Cage section, so obviously it’s committed to quality. My favorite of the bunch is this smoldering, twisty neo-noir from John Dahl (an underrated filmmaker in his own right) about a drifter who’s mistaken for a hitman when he wanders into a sleepy Wyoming town.

Over the course of a single feverish night, a shock jock finally buckles under the racist and misogynist invective of his fans and finds a target on his back when he pushes one of his listeners too far. One of Oliver Stone’s best, blistering and wildly stylized social commentary that’s arguably more relevant now than it was 30 years ago.

THE DAY OF THE JACKAL (1973)

SHATTERED GLASS (2003)

Though it was remade into a dumb Bruce Willis action vehicle in the ’90s, this paranoid, still timely classic has mostly been forgotten. Inspired by an actual assassination attempt on French president Charles de Gaulle, this deliberate and absorbing procedural follows a prospective killer as he coldly and meticulously puts his plan into place.

In the world of journalists, this isn’t an overlooked film.

But those who aren’t familiar with the travails of Stephen Glass will no doubt find themselves inexorably drawn in to this dramatization: Not only did Glass fabricate outlandish articles for the New Republic, but he got away with it for a lot longer than you might think.

FRAILTY (2001)

SIN NOMBRE (2009)

The first of only two features directed by the late Bill Paxton, who also stars as a religious zealot who enlists his young sons in murdering people he thinks are demons.

Beneath its gothic horror trappings is an allegory of twisted theology and blind faith, and it blindsides us with third-act reversals that make us question everything that’s come before.

Before Cary Fukunaga made a name for himself with True Detective, he displayed tremendous virtuosity in this harrowing Spanish-language drama. It’s the story of a young woman from Honduras and a Mexican gang member riding on the tops of freight trains headed toward the States, a journey that’s depicted in humane, perceptive, brutal ways.

BIG FAN (2009)

TALK RADIO (1988)

TULLY (2018) Director Jason Reitman and writer Diablo Cody teamed up again for this bitingly funny domestic satire in which an exhausted new mother (Charlize Theron) develops an unexpected, intimate friendship with her quirky 20-something night nurse (Mackenzie Davis). Cody’s script makes a big third-act 180, a risky dramatic gamble that pays off.

YOU’RE NEXT (2011) In the same vein as recent hits like Knives Out and Ready or Not, this slasher successfully blends grisly genre kicks with vicious social satire. It starts off as a family heads into the woods for an anniversary party, which is soon interrupted by masked killers wielding axes and crossbows. But things are not as they seem, and the film leans into wild twists both bloody and funny. n

JULY 30, 2020 INLANDER 29

Dee Snider is releasing a live album on Friday, along with a concert film.

STEPHANIE CABRAL PHOTO

METAL

Still Hungry The makeup’s gone, but the hair’s still there: Dee Snider keeps rocking well past his Twisted Sister years

BY DAN NAILEN

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ew stars of the hair-metal ’80s aged as gracefully as long-time Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider, and that’s saying something considering he once filed his teeth into fangs.

His band of New York glam-rockers hit their commercial peak in 1984 thanks to massive MTV hits like “We’re Not Gonna Take It” and “I Wanna Rock.” When follow-up albums failed to connect, the band split and Snider moved on to successfully working in film and hosting radio and TV shows. Twisted Sister would occasionally reunite after a memorable benefit show following the 9/11 attacks on their hometown, but when drummer A.J. Pero died in 2015, it marked the end of the band for good.

One might have expected Snider to shift gears away

30 INLANDER JULY 30, 2020

from music again, but in 2018 he was inspired by a new generation of metal to get back in the game, starting with a new album called For the Love of Metal. Boasting contributions from members of Hatebreed, Lamb of God and more, the collection was a hard-rocking revelation for anyone thinking Snider’s best days were decades behind him. A tour followed, including a truly incredible show at Northern Quest Resort & Casino, proving Snider remains an excellent frontman, even without the outrageous costumes.

On Friday Snider is releasing a live album as well as a concert film, both titled For the Love of Metal Live, capturing him and his new band playing headlining shows and festivals around the world. He also intersperses some personal commentary and interview segments that will

give fans a new perspective on one of the most engaging rockers around.

Putting the live collection together was a lot of work, Snider says from his New York home, but the timing — while planned well before the pandemic hit — couldn’t be better for fans starved for live music.

“In spring of 2019, I told my management I was going to take off 2020 from live performing,” Snider, now 65, tells the Inlander. “Little did I know the whole world was taking off 2020 from live performing. I wanted to focus on writing my book and screenplays. And they said, ‘What will we do in the meantime?’”

Snider was excited about the chemistry of his new band and the energy of the shows supporting For the Love of Metal, so the idea of a live album and film made sense.

RELATIONSHIPS

After recording shows last summer, Snider says he went straight into editing and worked long and hard to create a polished product that connects his early glam-metal hits and deep cuts with his new, modern metal sound.

“I think it surprises some people, and I want to show the audience that this isn’t such a far journey for me,” Snider says. “Twisted you know best for a couple of hit songs, but if you go to ‘Under the Blade,’ ‘You Can’t Stop Rock ’n’ Roll,’ ‘Burn in Hell,’ the heavy side of Twisted, you can see that this is part of me and has always been part of me as a songwriter.”

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TWISTED TIPS

Dee Snider discusses a few live albums that served as inspiration for what he wanted to capture on For the Love of Metal Live:

1. Humble Pie, Performance Rockin’ the

Fillmore (1971). “A hard rock band that really paved the way for metal bands to come.”

2. UFO, Strangers in the Night (1979). “A ma-

jor influence on Iron Maiden and Metallica. They were a hard-rock band, but they were creating some of what would become the defining elements of heavy metal.”

3. KISS, Alive! (1975). “I wouldn’t say they’re

one of my major influences, but definitely a fan.

That album just really captured the live feeling.”

4. Thin Lizzy, Live and Dangerous (1978).

“You have a remake of a Bob Seger song (“Rosalie”), Huey Lewis on harmonica — Huey Lewis! — there’s “Emerald” and “Renegade” and “The Boys are Back in Town,” songs that basically wrote the book on metal.”

ew songs like “Lies Are a Business” and “I Am a Hurricane” clearly offer something to young audience members who weren’t even born when Snider was gallivanting across TV screens in fishnet stockings and gnawing on bloody bones on the cover of Twisted Sister’s 1984 breakthrough Stay Hungry. And for older fans just catching up with Snider for the first time in a while, of course he includes newly amped-up versions of his biggest hits.

“I think if I actually tried to not perform those songs, I’d be met at the airport and turned around — you need to go back, you didn’t play ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It,’” Snider says. “I wanted to connect the dots between my past and my present and remind people, look, up until around ’85 there was no ‘hair metal.’ It wasn’t called hair metal. Twisted Sister toured with Metallica, we toured with Iron Maiden, Saxon, Motorhead. We were just the band that wore makeup. There was no ‘What is Twisted Sister and Metallica doing on the same bill?’ Nobody thought about it.”

It wasn’t until the second half of the ’80s, Snider notes, that it became “a thing” for a so-called hair metal band to tour with more straightforward headbangers like Metallica. By then, Twisted Sister had broken through in a massive way with Stay Hungry. That success was a long time coming, he says.

“We just refused to stop pushing and kept pushing,” Snider says, crediting acts like Quiet Riot, RATT and Motley Crue for opening the door to the mainstream.

“Finally, it was the right time, the right time in the right place. We missed the time and place many times during our 10 years before that record broke.”

The Snider captured on For the Love of Metal Live is one still pushing himself to deliver great performances.

About nine shows from the tour, ranging from Europe to Australia to the United States, are intercut to create the album and film, all in an effort “to show the connection the metal community has” around the world.

When Snider will be able to see that community face to face again is a mystery, as it is for all touring artists.

And while he’s grateful to be in a secure place financially and health-wise, he worries for the future of young artists.

“The destruction that this is doing to the independent art scene, whether it’s music, film, painting, whatever it is, we’ll eventually recover, but I don’t know when because it can’t afford what’s happening to it,” Snider says.

“What we’re going to be left with is the corporate world that has the resources to survive, but without independent art on every level — and that’s what creates the next fad, the next movement, the next style.

“It comes from independents. The independent labels, independent bands, independent venues, and they’re all suffering death blows right now. You can’t stop rock ’n’ roll — I’ve said it, and it’s true, whether it be in basements, garages or bedrooms. It’ll never die. But this is a very brutal blow right now. I hope we come out of it into some semblance of dignity and inspiration because we need young minds, fresh ideas.” n For the Love of Metal Live, both the album and concert BluRay, comes out Friday, July 31.

Advice Goddess DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HIDE

I’m a 30-year-old gay man with a new boyfriend. He is a total social butterfly: the kind of person who shows up to a bar on a random Friday night and just happens to know 10 people there. I, on the other hand, don’t love being super social. It’s not that I’m shy. I just find socializing exhausting. I really like him, and we mostly hang out one-on-one. However, the times we are with a lot of other people, even when they’re a bunch of his friends, I feel a little overwhelmed. I’m worried he’ll find me AMY ALKON boring because of this, and I’d rather know sooner than later if my being a wallflower will be the death of the relationship. —Introvert There are great parties and introverts’ version of great parties: the ones they arrive at on the wrong day and find a locked, dark house.

What is introversion? Good question, and, annoyingly, one that researchers have yet to agree upon an answer to. So, best I can generalize from quarrying through the research: Introversion is most correctly summed up as the other end of the spectrum from extroversion, with extroversion as “outgoingness” and introversion as “ingoingness.” In the middle are “ambiverts,” those who, depending on their mood and the situation, are sometimes a social butterfly and sometimes a social bug in amber.

An extrovert thrives on human contact and is motivated to pursue “novelty” (experiences they’ve yet to have) and excitement. An introvert, on the other hand, is more focused on (and comfortable in) the world in their thoughts than they are in the world of people, loud noises, and buzzing activity.

Introversion gets confused with shyness. But shyness is a psychological problem to overcome — a fear- and shame-driven reluctance to engage with others — whereas introversion is merely a preference for quieter, less populous environments.

In other words, introverts aren’t dysfunctional. They’re differently functional.

Extroverts and introverts’ differing social preferences (essentially, “I love a parade!” versus “I love a cave”) seem to result from differences in the ways their brains process “stimulus” and “reward.”

In psychology, a stimulus is something that happens in the environment around a person (like a horn honking or a spider legging it across their pillow) that’s registered by their senses and then their brain, motivating a response.

Cognitive scientist Debra L. Johnson used brain imaging to explore differences in stimulus processing in introverts and extroverts. In introverts, sensory input – input from their senses — led to increased blood flow in the brain (playing out as their being socked with increased stimulation). In extroverts, the same sensory input led to less overall blood flow, which plays out as less sensitivity to external stimulation, likely leading to a need for more of it.

Input from the senses also takes off down different paths in the brains of introverts and extroverts, “thinky” (in introverts) versus “feely” (in extroverts). For example, in introverts, it led to activity in frontal lobe “higher reasoning” areas used for problem-solving, remembering, and making plans. In extroverts, rear areas of the brain that process sensory experience (like seeing, watching, and touching) were activated, making an extrovert’s brain optimal for managing environmental stimuli (like from a big raging party) that can lead to sensory overload in an introvert.

Extroverts also get encouragement to be social (in neurochemical form) from increased activity in their brain’s “reward network,” according to research by psychologist Richard Depue, among others. The neurochemical more active in extroverts’ brains is dopamine, which motivates seeking and wanting. It energizes them to pursue social connection, and there’s a memory component, too, like pop-up ads on a browser, reminding them of all the previous awesomeness they experienced while being swarmed by people. (Introvert: I’d rather be swarmed by angry bees.)

Relationships can work between an introvert and extrovert — like my boyfriend and me. I’m the extrovert. If you’re human and not dead, I want to talk to you. My introvert boyfriend, on the other hand, says things like, “I enjoy interesting conversation, even if it involves talking to people.” I take him to parties when necessary, but I will often leave him home, which leaves him overjoyed.

Explain the science to your boyfriend, along with your fears that he’ll come to long for the sort of partner who swings from the chandelier while throwing back martinis and exchanging witty banter with those below. Sure, he might realize he needs a partner who is his social doppelganger, but he also might tell you he finds your introspectiveness refreshing and even quietly sexy. If so, you could make your relationship work by being mindful of each other’s differing needs and figuring out ways for each of you to get yours met with a minimum of hellish discomfort for the other — or, as you might put it, “Till party do us death.” n ©2020, Amy Alkon, all rights reserved. • Got a problem? Write Amy Alkon, 171 Pier Ave, #280, Santa Monica, CA 90405 or email AdviceAmy@aol.com (www.advicegoddess.com)

JULY 30, 2020 INLANDER 31

OUTDOORS NIGHT RIDE

Midnight Century, Spokane’s long-running 12 am bike ride is still on this year. With no registration, swag, or support offered on the 100-mile route across rural dirt roads, the Midnight Century ride is a largely informal biking event that has riders start from the Elk Public House in Browne’s Addition just before the clock strikes midnight. The first leg of the journey goes to Liberty Lake, Spangle and Cheney before setting back off to Spokane. It’s a challenging ride that’ll test your mettle on dirt and gravel roads while offering the excitement of a daring nighttime adventure. Riders are advised to bring lights, a partner and an appropriate bike and toolkit for the rigorous journey. More details on what to bring can be found on the ride’s website.

— JEREMEY RANDRUP Spokane Midnight Century • Sat, Aug. 1 at 11:59 pm • Free • Starts at the Elk Public House • 1931 W. Pacific Ave. • Details at midnightcentury.com

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.

32 INLANDER JULY 30, 2020

ARTS GREEN TO SCREEN

For its 52nd year, Coeur d’Alene’s annual weekendlong arts festival Art on the Green is moving from the shady green grass of North Idaho College’s campus to the cool, digital sphere of the world wide web. The decision to semi-cancel this year’s event was made early on, when the COVID-19 pandemic made clear that large gatherings were unsafe, in order to protect the health of all artists, volunteers and event supporters. Thus the theme of this year’s event is “Keep Art in Your Heart,” and to reflect the mission of Art on the Green still offers an avenue to purchase art directly from regional artists, as well as to enjoy family-friendly art projects at home with interactive videos and activities.

— CHEY SCOTT Art on the Green • Through Sun, Aug. 2 • Online at artonthegreencda.com

WORDS VIRTUAL CONVERSATION

Auntie’s Bookstore is hosting another online author gathering via Zoom, this time featuring three female authors. Friends Emily McKay, Tracy Wolff (both based in Texas) and Trace Kerr (a lifelong Pacific Northwesterner) are all young adult writers who’ll be discussing the realm of teen fantasy writing. McKay’s new book, Storybound, explores what it would be like to step inside your favorite book. Wolff is promoting her new novel Crave, which has been likened to the contemporary YA Twilight trilogy and features witches, werewolves and vampires. Kerr is locally known for her podcasts on Spokane Public Radio, Brain Junk and Taking Her Lead.

Her debut novel The Names We Take is a love story set in a postapocalyptic world. For more information on how to tune in, head to Auntie’s website.

— LIZZIE OSWALT Emily McKay and Tracy Wolff in Conversation with Trace Kerr • Fri, July 31 at 7 pm • Free • Details at auntiesbooks.com

at that store. Who needs a gun while shopping??? No one, that’s who. SMDH

CHEERS BUBBLE DAY AMBASSADORS Cheers to the Bubble Day Ambassadors at Riverfront Park. You both made our night teaching my son and I how to create some amazing bubbles. Thanks for making Spokane such a fun place.

SOCK-MASK GUY To the guy who saw the ‘Mask Required’ sign on our door and came back with a sock held over your mouth and nose, thanks. Whether you forgot your mask or didn’t have one, you found a way to make it work. Thanks for supporting local businesses and helping to keep us open by following the requirements. You certainly made our day!

I SAW YOU HOW DARE YOU! 07/09 you driving a black suv, blowing kisses at me when our eyes met near Napa and Sprague. We pulled over, chatted and exchanged numbers. You had some bogus story about you living with ur STEPMOM and that you have been dating someone for a few months that was a friend of ur family, but ur not happy- dude!! If ur not happy, end it and move on! You refused to send me a pic for ur contact info, and said sometimes you stay over at her house, even though you hate being with her so you can’t get late night texts. Guess what?! You’re a huge POS for lying with the intention of cheating on her!!! I hope she sees this and dumps ur a$$ for being shady AF! You also told me several different times that you write children’s books. I have a great idea for ur next book: Daddy is a POS so mommy kicked his A$$ to the curb! If you haven’t already figured it out - I have blocked you because you were blowing up my phone!!

GUN NUT WHILE SHOPPING Yeah I saw you and reported you to management, but apparently they don’t care about the safety of their customers in the Valley.

I was shopping for some MUCH needed summer clothing for my 9 year old and saw you and your female friend walking around with a handgun on display on your hip... pretty certain you weren’t police officers... looked more like meth heads. Management did nothing after I reported it and now I will no longer shop

THANK YOU FIRST RESPONDERS Thank you SO much to the firefighters and police for taking care of a car that burst into flames on Lidgerwood 7-21-20. I was about to call 911 and you were already there! Thank you all for taking care of it so quickly. Zoa

JEERS WAKE UP VETERANS Oh... go piss up a rope. Signed, Jarhead KISS FROM A MOTORCYCLIST To the guy on the motorcycle that came up to our car window while we were out for a drive and waiting at a stop light. What were you thinking?! Are you INSANE?!! There is a global pandemic going on!! Maybe you thought it was a kind gesture to come up and give my 96-year-old mother who has Alzheimer’s a big fat smooch on the mouth. But if she gets sick from COVID-19 in the next couple of weeks, it will certainly be due to your unwanted assault!

Thanks a lot for putting another added stress onto our lives.

TWEAKER ACCOSTING A DELIVERY DRIVER Here’s to the obviously drunk and/or high guy In the dark two door sedan at the 3rd street Taco Bell screaming and cussing at a woman in a silver SUV for absolutely no reason. Really tough of you to call her several expletives and proceed to throw at least two water bottles

at her car... you kept screaming she was “blocking the drive through” when she wasn’t... I had no trouble driving past her and I was behind you. I saw that she was parked lengthwise instead of correctly, because all the parking spaces were lined with lime scooters... takes a real tough guy to rage at a poor, defenses person just doing their job... grow the F Up already...

“

people in the civilian car got hurt — but there have been very recent issues with Police Officers that make this look like they all just stopped for ice cream. What about Felony Criminal Assistance to family members for a VIOLENT CRIME when the officer left his patrol area to go to the criminal aid of his daughter and her boyfriend after they beat the crap out of the

Maybe you thought it was a kind gesture to come up and give my 96-year-old mother who has Alzheimer’s a big fat smooch on the mouth.

Oh and drugs are bad... try driving sober next time. You are lucky she didn’t call the police like she said she would... you would’ve been in jail. And to the young lady he was screaming at... sorry you went through that and if you need witnesses...

I’d be more than happy to help... the dude was a nut case.

CORONA!!! If you want the Rona then I suggest going to CDA Idaho where a mask and social distancing does not exist. And this is coming from a person that thinks the mandatory mask is bulls#*t!!! Come on Idaho, at least try!!!!

RIVERSIDE STATE POTHOLE Here’s to whoever is supposed to maintain W. Aubrey L. White Parkway between the golf course and W 7 Mile. It has craters deep enough to break a bike wheel and massive crumbling edges so large there isn’t even room for two passing vehicles at once. As one of the area’s busiest bike routes, I’d hope that more attention would be paid to this area.

PROTESTERS I Cannot Believe These Selfabsorbed Non Wearing Mask Activists Are Going To This Doctor’s House Protesting, How Did They Get His Address, Why Did Spokane Police Allow Them To Get Close To His House, This Man Is Trying To Save Your Sorry Behind Life, This Is A Pandemic,

SOUND OFF

By Order Of The Governor Of Wa Which He Has The Right To Enforce This Mask Law To Save Lives, If You Don’t Like It Go To Idaho, They Could Care Less If You Live Or Die, If You Really Want To Blame Someone For Mandating The Mask Law, Blame The Bars And Restaurants, Cause Cases Surge After They Opened, So Take Your Sorry Behinds And Protest The Bars And Restaurants,

1. Visit Inlander.com/isawyou by 3 pm Monday. 2. Pick a category (I Saw You, You Saw Me, Cheers or Jeers). 3.

Provide basic info: your name and email (so we know you’re real). 4. To connect via I Saw You, provide a non-identifying email to be included with your submission — like “petals327@yahoo.com,” not “j.smith@comcast.net.”

Remember When Mt St Helen’s Blew We Wore Masks And No One Complained, So What’s The Difference? This Is Why Other Countries Won’t Allow Americans Come To Their Countries, After All We Are The Laughingstock Of The World.

SO WHY NOW??? So The City of Spokane finally got a conscience? Not likely. When you’ve been able to do business the same way for longer than anyone can remember why change NOW? If the public — yes that sad Totally Clueless Group that doesn’t seem at all interested in really what is going on in their city — actually had to face what goes on here that is Counter productive to their interests their heads would pop off their shoulders like a Zit on a teenager’s face! This is why the actual phrase that is used to protect themselves from those overwhelming realizations is “If you don’t like it you can leave”! Isn’t that just clever? So! All of a sudden a Police Officer goes 65 in a 30 — hits another car — writes THEM a ticket and frankly up until NOW “Let ‘em off Larry” would have done just that. Maybe there would have been a VERY quiet review but it would have been shuffled to the bottom of the pile. The PUBLIC would have paid for the cars involved. Maybe? The civilian would have been quietly told not to rock the boat and the world according to Chief Spokane would have been back to normal.

WOW! Frankly — and I am truly sorry the

”

boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend? The Officer was allowed to quietly retire NO further action taken on ANY of them. At least that is how I read it in the back pages weeks later in the Spokesman Review. But that is the quality of service people of Spokane get when they are completely buffaloed by CITY HALL. THAT’S why the Ombudsman office is such a nutless wonder! The public only complains when there aren’t enough fries with their Happy Meal! The rest of this just might make your head pop off like a ZIT! So if you don’t like it just look away!

Otherwise you speak up and people will tell you to leave! n

THIS WEEK'S ANSWERS R E H A B A D O T M A R T

O Z O N E

T R O T S

C A P I T A N K L O I T R A W O L P O K T G L I E M E A

U P R H E I A R R E B C U I T E T

P E A R L B A T E S

S C H O T O B A T

H I L L E W E E M O N A R O C R U E S U B L E A S I E Y H S N E Y I B T V A R S E A G A M E N A L E P M O L E E T L E S

L E G A L A G E S

O L A F

L I L A

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U B O L T

L L A M A

L E B O N

NOTE: I Saw You/Cheers & Jeers is for adults 18 or older. The Inlander reserves the right to edit or reject any posting at any time at its sole discretion and assumes no responsibility for the content.

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Go Army!

U.S. ARMY PHOTO

MILITARY

The Thin Green Line The U.S. armed forces’ ban on CBD products faces a challenge from Congress

BY WILL MAUPIN

B

attle lines are being drawn when it comes to the legality of CBD use by members of the armed forces.

Hemp, defined by the federal government as cannabis that possesses less than 0.3 percent THC by weight, was made legal in 2018. In the years since, hemp products, including those containing CBD, have spread like wildfire across the nation.

Individual branches of the armed forces, however, didn’t want to see those products make their way into the military. On Feb. 23, 2020, the Department of Defense made it clear they didn’t want that either. A memo penned by Under Secretary of Defense Matthew Donovan put in no uncertain terms that “the use by active duty service members and the members of the reserve components of products made or derived from

34 INLANDER JULY 30, 2020

hemp, including CBD” was prohibited.

Donovan’s reasoning was that hemp-derived products may contain THC in concentrations low enough to be considered legal, but high enough to cause a positive drug test, thereby undermining the military’s ability to weed out illicit use of marijuana.

Just five months into its existence, that ban is facing a strong challenge from Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii.

Congress is hammering out the details for the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2021 — the NDAA is, broadly speaking, Congress’ way of budgeting and funding the armed forces, though it also veers into other areas of military policy. Rep. Gabbard has decided to hone in on hemp.

On July 20 the House voted on an amendment to the NDAA, sponsored by Gabbard, which would

effectively legalize the use of hemp products by service members. The amendment reads, in part, “Secretary of defense may not prohibit, on the basis of a product containing hemp or any ingredient derived from hemp, the possession, use, or consumption of such product by a member of the armed forces.” It was passed by a vote of 336-71.

That may seem like an overwhelming victory, but it’s important to remember this is just one battle in the larger war. The Senate is also working on its own version of the NDAA, which as of press time does not include similar language relating to hemp.

Still, it’s a big step forward for CBD and the military.

After a multiyear back-and-forth on its legality, Gabbard’s amendment could give some welcome clarity on the issue. n

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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.

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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.

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33. Korean-made sedan since 2001 34. Kathy of “Misery” 37. Rifle part 44 38. Magic moments?

40. French “Inc.” 46 47 48 49 41. Tolstoy’s “The Death of 52 ____ Ilyich” 43. Captain’s record 57 44. Home on the range 46. Whiff 60 47. Many a bike lock, essentially 63 48. Animal wearing red “UPHILL BATTLE” pajamas in a children’s book 49. Simon of Duran Duran 26. Suffix with glob- or gran50. 7-Eleven, e.g.

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35. Josh ____, the voice of 12-Down 36. “Stop stalling!”

37. Evan and Birch of Indiana politics 38. Actress Campbell of “Scream” 39. “... good witch, ____ bad witch?”

40. Adorable one 41. “A Doll’s House” playwright Henrik 42. Like some bottles 44. Fed. electricity provider since 1933 45. Coffeehouse entertainers 46. Boardwalk scavenger 50. Business sch. major 52. Open (to) 53. “Green Book” Oscar winner 54. Haul (around) 57. Utah town near Arches and Canyonlands National Parks 58. Sleep state 59. “Lawrence of Arabia” star

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ACROSS 1. Org. for students in uniform 5. With 62-Across, a difficult engagement ... or a description of each set of circled letters 11. “u r 2 funny!”

14. Fitch of Abercrombie & Fitch 15. Tiny 16. Two-time Super Bowl MVP Manning 17. Hula ____ 18. Beezus’ sister, in children’s literature 19. Actress Gadot 20. Walter White on “Breaking Bad,” for one 22. Tennis star Nadal, to fans 23. Inhuman 24. Inhumane 27. Amtrak schedule abbr.

28. Renter’s rental 31. It’s just over a foot 34. Count who composed “One O’Clock Jump”

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JULY 30, 2020 INLANDER 37

COEUR D ’ ALENE

nd – e k e e W – This

HOT DEALS !

Fri, July 31 | 10am – 6pm Sat, Aug 1 | 10am – 6pm Sun, Aug 2 | 10am – 4pm FACE COVERINGS ARE STRONGLY RECOMMENDED

things to do & places to stay.

Entrees are served with lake views at Cedars Floating Restaurant in Coeur d’Alene

Perfect Patios

Where to go in North Idaho for outdoor dining

W

ho doesn’t like to eat out-ofdoors in the summer? Whether it’s mimosas and breakfast bites in the morning, a light lunch in between activities, or a celebratory evening meal with loved ones, North Idaho has an abundance for eating outside.

For that all-important first meal, have an outdoor seat at COLLECTIVE KITCHEN PUBLIC HOUSE, for a seasonal breakfast or year-round lunch or dinner. Anytime is a sweet opportunity to try HONEY EATERY & SOCIAL CLUB from breakfast to early dinner. Both restaurants also offer streetside views of the heartbeat of downtown Coeur d’Alene, Sherman Avenue.

Looking for something lighter? BAKERY

BY THE LAKE is an off-Sherman gem with a large, semi-covered patio overlooking nearby McEuen Park and Lake Coeur d’Alene.

Also off-Sherman, SWEET LOU’S RESTAURANT & TAP HOUSE has you covered with a family-friendly menu and huge patio in their corner location at Front and Sixth, just down the way from Bakery by the Lake.

CRAFTED TAPHOUSE + KITCHEN has one of the largest beer selections in the area, a gourmet gastropub menu and a massive partially-covered patio. Continuing with

38 INLANDER JULY 30, 2020

cda4.fun for more events,

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the beer theme, say guten tag to Coeur d’Alene’s only German style BIER HAUS, which recently added a biergarten behind the Sherman Avenue restaurant.

If cocktails are more your thing, follow the crowd to THE BEACON, MOOSE LOUNGE or IRON HORSE BAR & GRILL (they also serve food) for a full bar and great peoplewatching.

More venues downtown include TAPHOUSE UNCHAINED for upscale, casual outdoor dining and TITO’S ITALIAN GRILL &WINE SHOP next door, for pasta and pizza with pizzazz. Several Sherman Avenue locations feature a modest outdoor dining section, from RUSTIC artisan bakery to KAIJU SUSHI & SPIRITS to FIRE PIZZA. Downtown isn’t the only place where patios prevail. Check out the wraparound patio seating at CAPONE’S PUB & GRILL or the open tables at JEREMIAH JOHNSON BREWING COMPANY’S pub. Visit the BLUEBIRD MIDTOWN EATERY nearby for a glass of wine and excellent food.

Also in Midtown, discover DAFT BADGER BREWING tucked into a Second Street neighborhood, and offering a roomy outdoor patio. In Coeur d’Alene’s up-andcoming east end neighborhood, enjoy the gastropub menu at MOONTIME or ROGER’S ICE CREAM & BURGERS, which offers outdoor dining year-round.

From left to right: Whispers, Taphouse Unchained (top), Whispers (bottom), The Floating Green Restaurant (top and far right)

For spectacular views of the Spokane River, where it feeds into Lake Coeur d’Alene, perch yourself on LA PEEP’S patio. Arrive by boat, or car but go early because their breakfasts are the big deal. Nearby BARDENAY also offers ample outdoor seating, complete with shade sails and a view of the Riverstone Village pond.

ANTHONY’S also offers pond views, and two outdoor fireplaces for added ambiance.

And because no list of outdoor Coeur d’Alene eateries would be complete without lakefront dining, remember TONY’S ON THE LAKE Italianinspired eatery. You can’t get any closer to the water than CEDARS, the Inland Northwest’s only floating restaurant. If you want to catch glimpses of classic Chris-Craft and Cobalt boats, then settle in for drinks and appetizers at WHISPERS, overlooking the Coeur d’Alene Resort marina. Fire columns and the occasional

dockside band add a little romance. THE BUOY, an outdoor-only restaurant nestled beside Tubb’s Hill also offers views of the marina and all the party boats pulling in and out of the Resort.

Live music is programmed at this lakefront hotspot most Friday nights. Whether you’re a golfer or not, look to the Coeur d’Alene Resort’s FLOATING GREEN RESTAURANT for the best lake views ever.

 Scenic Gondola Ride  Mountaintop BBQ  Live Music Located less than 1 hour from Spokane!

Every Friday, June 26 through August 28, enjoy a scenic gondola ride, mountaintop BBQ, and live music. Visit silvermt.com for details.

P.S. Makes a great date night!

JULY 30, 2020 INLANDER 39