Inlander 12/26/2019

DECEMBER 26, 2019-JANUARY 1, 2020 | BUSTING A MOVE SINCE ’93

BEST ALBUMS

THE MUSIC WE LOVED IN 2019 PAGE 40

MATT SHEA

THE STATE LAWMAKER TIED TO “DOMESTIC TERRORISM” PAGE 18

2019 THROUGH THE LENS OF YOUNG KWAK PICTURED: LOCAL DANCER HARRIS KAHLER AT SPOKANE’S FIREMAN’S PARK

SNAPSHOTS

PAGE 22

Whatever it is, we’ll help you get there.

See how our Spokane banking team provided Dry Fly Distilling the high-touch service they deserve.

Hear more from Dry Fly and see other stories at watrust.com/awesomebusiness.

INSIDE VOL. 27, NO. 11 | COVER PHOTO: YOUNG KWAK

COMMENT NEWS COVER STORY CULTURE

5 13 22 27

FOOD FILM MUSIC EVENTS

34 37 40 44

I SAW YOU GREEN ZONE ADVICE GODDESS BULLETIN BOARD

46 48 52 53

TUESDAY ANY LARGE PIZZA

EDITOR’S NOTE

T

empus fugit. The first time I heard someone use that expression I mistook it for a twisted vulgarity, like someone exclaiming “fudge” rather than use the f-word. And when I learned its true meaning — a Latin phrase meaning “time flies” — I concluded that it still needed to be said as an obscenity, with an exclamation point and tone of disgust, for the swift passage of time is too cruel to mark it politely. So, say it with me: Tempus fugit!

Goodbye, 2019. We hardly knew ye. Looking back, I’m proud of the Inlander’s voluminous body of work this past year. We dove deep into many important issues, including climate change, the Catholic Church, the American practice of marrying off children, online bullying, food waste, local elections, homelessness, schools, the scourge of disinformation, Matt Shea and more. We also explored the cultural richness of our region, telling inspiring stories about local podcasters, chefs, brewers, artists, writers, musicians and everyday heroes.

In a time when many local news outlets are suffering across the country, I’m especially grateful to work for a family-owned paper like the Inlander that’s been successful by staying true to its mission — providing independent journalism, with depth and context, for the Inland Northwest.

Next week, we turn another page and start yet another decade. But fugit, we’re ready for 2020!

— JACOB H. FRIES, Editor

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

J. Jeremy McGregor (x224) GENERAL MANAGER

EDITORIAL Jacob H. Fries (x261) EDITOR

Dan Nailen (x239) MANAGING EDITOR/ARTS & CULTURE Chey Scott (x225) FOOD & LISTINGS EDITOR

WHAT IS THE BEST OF THE DECADE?

DERRICK JENNINGS

I don’t have an answer to that. I don’t think anything is the best.

What’s the best food of the decade?

Well, for Spokane, I have actually been going to the Chinese buffet that they have out here, up on Division.

What makes it the best of the decade?

Food. I mean, I love food, so…

You are here in a grocery store, so clearly.

Nathan Weinbender (x250) FILM & MUSIC EDITOR

Derek Harrison (x248) ART DIRECTOR

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Young Kwak PHOTOGRAPHER

REMINGTON STEELE

Are you sure your name is Remington Steele — like the — It is. [Proves it with driver’s license] My parents gave me that one.

The best food of the decade would be Golden Corral. I can interact with my friends a lot better in a place like that. It just has a lot better atmosphere to me.

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JEFFERY BELL JR.

I’m not really sure that there has been anything good that’s happened in the country in the last 10 years.

What about movies? Best movie?

Actually, I have to say the Deadpool movie. It was a little breaking for cinema. It pushed on a lot that most movies don’t. I’d say its inappropriateness and how accepted it was, like breaking the box offices that way.

MEGAN SPIESS

How about best… TV show.

Downton Abbey.

What was so great about Downton Abbey?

Their clothes.

Were you angry when Matthew got killed?

No. I wasn’t a big fan of Mary, so...

So she just had it coming?

Something like that.

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ZACK PARKER

You can pick a category, it can be anything.

What about, what is the best book of the decade?

The Hunger Games series, honestly.

What was the best Hunger Game?

Mockingjay, honestly.

Did the movies do it justice?

No, they should have done all the movies in a two-part series. There was so much in that book you can’t cover it all.

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COMMENT | CHRISTMAS

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Fake Outrage

CALEB WALSH ILLUSTRATION

There was a real war on Christmas, but the current controversy isn’t it

BY LAWRENCE B. A. HATTER

I

t’s the most wonderful time of the year. Or it would be, if atheist liberals would quit waging their merciless War on Christmas! Now as familiar a holiday tradition as stuffing a turkey or putting out milk and cookies for Santa, the conservative faux outrage against the so-called War on Christmas has marred our national holiday celebrations for the past 30 years. Fearful that multiculturalism would threaten their privileged position in the United States, fundamentalist evangelical Christians found a friend in the Fox News Network during the 1990s. From the megachurch to the studio, this holy alliance claimed that they were exposing a conspiracy to erase the Christian celebration of Christmas. And nothing triggered the defenders of Christmas more than that simple phrase “happy holidays!”

The War on Christmas is, of course, fictional.

The effort of retailers to welcome people of different faith traditions into their stores has nothing to do with an anti-Christian conspiracy to erase Christmas and everything to do with selling more stuff. It is not against the law to wish someone Merry Christmas. The postal service is not censoring Christmas cards. Your rotund father-in-law can still earn some extra bucks as a mall Santa without winding up in jail.

Americans fought a real War on Christmas 400 years ago. But in colonial New England, it

SAY WHAT?

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“There are some people who can be released with no conditions given their history and the nature of the crime.”

ERIK BRUHJELL MEMORIAL FUNDRAISER: Evans Brothers Coffee Roasters hosts a fundraiser benefiting Panhandle Animal Shelter in honor of Erik Bruhjell, a 22-yearold Sandpoint resident who passed away in 2018. A portion of sales from all three Evans Brothers cafes (Spokane, Coeur d’Alene, Sandpoint) and online are donated to the shelter to support spay and neuter programs. Sat, Dec. 28, from 7 am-5 pm. evansbrotherscoffee.com

Municipal Court Judge Tracy Staab, speaking in favor of a new program aimed to keep some low-risk defendants out of jail while their cases move through the courts. Find that story on page 16.

was zealous Puritans, not imaginary militant multiculturalists, who opposed the celebration as an abomination. How come such devout Christians could oppose honoring the birth of their messiah? The Puritan War on Christmas was just one front in the war between Protestants and Catholics that divided the

“For New England Puritans, Christmas festivities were a Catholic corruption of the original church.”

Christian World after the Reformation began in 1517. Critics of the Catholic Church aimed to serve the greater glory of God by returning to the original practices and beliefs of the church of St. Peter. Protestants believed that the Catholic Church had lost its way, hopelessly corrupted by wealth and power evidenced by the splendor of the Vatican and the palaces of bishops and cardinals.

For New England Puritans, Christmas festivities were a Catholic corruption of the original church. Protestants found their way home by turning to scripture — newly translated into vernacular languages from Latin — to find out what they should do to build God’s kingdom on Earth. And the celebration of Christmas was nowhere to be found in the Bible; only the Sabbath was to be kept holy. Not only did Puritans oppose Christmas as a Catholic innovation, but they also understood that early Christians LETTERS had grafted the celebration onto Send comments to pagan winter solstice festivals. editor@inlander.com.

Worse still, Christmas celebrations in early modern Europe embraced riotous public displays of gluttony and debauchery that inverted the social hierarchy. American Puritans found many reasons to wage a War on Christmas, and its celebration was outlawed for much of the 17th century.

The religious conflicts sparked by the Reformation are long over, but the contemporary obsession with the War on Christmas continues to divide us during the season of goodwill for no good reason. The Puritans used the power of the state to outlaw Christmas to promote their vision of a godly commonwealth. You really could be punished for wishing someone Merry Christmas in the 1600s. Not so in 2019. It has long been time to end the futile culture wars of the late-20th century, but the profitability of divisive talk radio, cable news and online outlets make it feel like peace is beyond our grasp. Perhaps, though, we might climb out of our partisan trenches to enjoy a Christmas truce rather than manufacture outrage for the benefit of our corporate sponsors?

Merry Christmas and happy holidays! n Lawrence B. A. Hatter is an award-winning author and associate professor of early American history at Washington State University. These views are his own and do not reflect those of WSU.

FROM THE VAULT dec. 27, 2012 - jan. 2, 2013 | free | THe WOrLd survived

DEC. 27, 2012: We noted many of the biggest headlines in 2012 with our Year In Review issue. Among them: Washington state legalized gay marriage and recreational pot. It also began to allow private stores to sell hard liquor. Meanwhile, in Idaho, voters overturned a package of controversial educational reforms.

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DECEMBER 26, 2019 INLANDER 7

COMMENT | NEWSMAKERS

Q&A GENE SEMENTI The West Valley schools superintendent is stepping down and now has a chance to reflect

BY WILSON CRISCIONE

G

ene Sementi has worked for West Valley School District for 31 years, and he’s been superintendent for the last eight.

But he recently announced that he’s stepping down from the position. The Inlander caught up with Sementi last week to talk about his tenure at West Valley and about the McCleary case that changed how schools across the state are funded.

Answers have been lightly edited for length.

INLANDER: Why are you stepping down now?

SEMENTI: I’ve been here 31 years, it all started as a teacher and a coach, and I’ll be 62 when I retire, and I’m ready to do something different. I think most importantly I just really felt like the district was in a really good place. It was a good time to transition leadership. We have a balanced budget. We just got the supplemental levy. We’re in a good spot.

When you took over in 2012, did you anticipate school funding and the McCleary case would be such a huge issue?

The McCleary lawsuit was never about equity. It should have only been about equity, that a kid in Spokane, or West Valley, Liberty had the same high-value education that a kid in Bellevue or Seattle had. It was more about funding mechanisms.

Now, if you look at the state through the 30,000-foot view, it looked like everybody floated up. Some floated up higher and some actually went backwards a bit. And a lot of those ones that went backwards were from northeast Washington. I never would have thought when we started talking about the McCleary resolution that it would be a negative for us.

What do you think students today are facing that’s unique to their generation compared to

when you or I went to school?

Everything is more immediate. There’s a rush to get answers right away. Instead of thinking and collaborating and working through.

That immediacy of knowledge has changed the way you have to teach.

One of the things that’s really different is how social media plays into their lives. There are a lot of positives from that. But when I first started, if there was a bully at your school, you saw that bully when you’re at your school. You didn’t see him on the weekend, over the summer. He wasn’t sitting on your nightstand when you went to bed. And now kids can’t get a break from that.

Is there anything that you look back on and would change?

One of the things I regret, more than anything else: I taught middle school and high school level in West Valley, and coached. I was a middle school assistant principal and elementary principal and high school principal. And I knew the name of every kid in the school. I knew their brothers and sisters and their parents’ names.

Over the last few years, the older I’ve gotten, and the more removed I’ve been from the kids I taught... I’ve lost some of that touch and some of that contact.

What are you proud of?

Our graduation rate. Staff really bought into the idea of, “We have to do everything we can for every one of our kids to graduate and get ready for college.” We’ve been as high as a 98 or 99 percent graduation rate. This year we’re at 96 percent graduation rate, and 3 percent of those kids are still there in their fifth year, so it will end up being probably 99 percent. So when you have a high school staff that’s disappointed to see 96 percent, that’s a pretty good sign. n

DEREK HARRISON PHOTO

Thur 12/26, Inlander

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS NEW YEAR’S EVE: TUESDAY, DEC. 31 SPOKANE SYMHONY: BEETHOVEN’S NINTH

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Saturday, Jan. 25, 7pm | Sunday, Jan. 26, 3pm

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Saturday, Jan. 11, 8pm | At the Knitting Factory

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Friday, March 6, 8pm

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EILEEN IVERS: IRISH FIDDLER

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Thursday, Feb. 13, 7:30pm

Fox Presents

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Wednesday, March 18, 7:30pm

BEETHOVEN’S 250TH BIRTHDAY

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Sunday, Feb. 16, 3pm

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10 INLANDER DECEMBER 26, 2019

5 0 9 6 2 4 12 0 0

An all-Beethoven program featuring his Seventh Symphony and his Violin Concerto performed by one of the world’s great violinists, Grammy Award-winning Augustin Hadelich.

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Jan 26 3PM

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COMMENT | FROM READERS

Readers respond to an article on Inlander.com, “SHEA REPORT: Shea Participated in ‘Domestic Terrorism,’ Three Armed Conflicts Against the U.S. Government” (12/19/19): Find more news coverage about Rep. Matt Shea on page 18.

MIKE KRESS: Those who rationalize violence for political ends open the door to the same for their opponents. It is a dangerous and slippery slope that Americans should know better than to approach. It’s also troubling that this man is often referred to as a conservative, because a true conservative believes in the rule of law.

CHARMAINE RAE: So… can we get rid of him now?

LOUISE SULLIVAN: I live in his district. We must either remove him or defeat him.

KATE POGUE RAU: Perfect. Now he’ll absolutely be elected.

ERIC R WIKSTEN: I live 20 minutes from Spokane Valley, in North Idaho. Back in the late 1990s. the Southern Poverty Law Center sued the Aryan Nations right out of North Idaho. Now they are attempting a comeback, primarily through apocalyptic Evangelical churches and state-level politicians. It will end badly, again.

LARRY CEBULA: Weird seeing some of the same Republicans who were defending Trump on Wednesday denouncing Shea on Friday. n

Brian Regan

Wed & Thu, Feb 12 & 13 / 7:30pm New Year’s Eve Disco Bash Dec 31 With The Bootie Shakers Commodores Jan 16 Sawyer Brown Jan 30 Sara Evans Feb 23 Rodney Carrington Mar 22

Readers respond to the news of President Trump’s impeachment (12/19/19):

JEREMY THORNTON: Breaking development. Trump’s base is jumping off. Evangelicals have officially “seen the light.”

ADAM J VINCENT: Honestly the House has nothing… A complete sham… of course they are going to throw it out in the Senate… it’s BS. She’s going to wait to introduce it during the elections to interfere with 2020. This swamp is not stupid… they don’t have a candidate.

Australia’s Thunder From Down Under Mar 27 & 28 Champions of Magic Apr 11 Charley Pride May 3 Celtic Woman May 16 & 17

CHRIS ROEDER: Mitch McConnell goofed up by publicly disclosing that he would not be a fair juror (Lindsey Graham, too). Mitch even went so far as to confirm that he’d coordinate throughout the trial with the White House. This is the kangaroo-type court that we see in fascist states.

DOMINIC VITALE: Screw everything about Trump and his administration. They deserve everything Dems hand them. n

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DECEMBER 26, 2019 INLANDER 11

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DAN BREKKE PHOTO

OLYMPIA

THE ROAD AHEAD

Washington’s short legislative session will focus on transportation funding, climate, housing and more

BY SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL

S

hort legislative sessions in Washington state are designed to be relatively quick and painless. But with a huge hole ripped into the transportation budget with the passage of Initiative 976, lawmakers could be asked to tackle a complex funding debate in 2020.

In a typical short year, legislators are asked to fill any gaps in the biennial budget (passed during the previous year’s longer session), tackle the most pressing issues with legislation and then recess within 60 days.

However, in November, voters approved Initiative 976, which eliminated many vehicle fees and lowered car tabs to $30, creating an immediate shortfall of hundreds of millions of dollars that was expected to come in during fiscal year 2020.

While the initiative is being challenged in court and not being enforced until that process is finished, lawmakers will still need to evaluate how the state pays for many of its transportation and road improvements.

On top of that, Gov. Jay Inslee announced his plans to use this supplemental budget year to further address homelessness and expand early education, and other groups hope to build on major climate change legislation passed in 2019, leaving lawmakers with a lot to look at

by March.

Still, Senate Majority Leader Andy Billig (DSpokane) is confident everything that needs to be done

can get accomplished on time; Billig points out that the Democratic majority managed to push the Legislature to complete both the 2018 and 2019 sessions on time.

“The last two years have been very busy, productive legislative sessions, really across all policy areas, including climate, education, higher education, behavioral health, voting access,” Billig says. “In contrast, I think this session will be a true short session, with a lower volume of bills.”

Here’s a look at a few things different groups hope to see the Legislature tackle in 2020.

TRANSPORTATION

The courts have placed I-976 on hold while the state Attorney General’s Office defends the will of voters, who passed the measure to lower car tabs to $30 per year.

While that case shakes out, with jurisdictions like King County, Garfield County Transportation Authority, the Association of Washington Cities and others fighting the initiative, dozens of state transportation projects have been put on hold.

“Even though the injunction was granted, the state is putting that money into a reserve account. We really can’t spend that, because if we were to spend that money and then lose the case, we’d have to pay all of it back,” Billig says. “So the important part out of all of that is

the Legislature is going to have to write a budget that assumes that 976 money is not available.”

That could mean cutting $450 million from the transportation budget for this year, Billig says. In the long run, the Office of Financial Management estimates state funding could take a $1.9 billion hit over the next six years, and local jurisdictions could lose another $2.3 billion in that time.

Among the list of state transportation projects that have been put on hold is the North-South Freeway in Spokane, which is funded by both gas tax revenue (unaffected by I-976) and money from vehicle weight fees, which were eliminated under the initiative.

Billig says it’s good that Inslee hit pause on many state projects, leaving lawmakers with all options on the table when they go to Olympia in January.

“For instance, we might say we want to not cut the 70 state troopers that would have to be cut if we just didn’t do anything,” Billig says. “Instead we’d like to delay some other things going on with transportation.”

Also at risk if I-976 is implemented without changes are bus services for the elderly and people with disabilities, which Billig hopes to protect, as well as local funding that Spokane receives from its Transportation Benefit District to help with residential paving projects. ...continued on next page

DECEMBER 26, 2019 INLANDER 13

NEWS | OLYMPIA “THE ROAD AHEAD,” CONTINUED...

“In the city of Spokane, I-976 did not pass, so I don’t think that the people of my district are saying that they wanted this,” Billig says. “But to look at it from a statewide perspective, it’s very much still respecting the will of the voters to take the reduced revenues and make sure that we are spending them in the smartest way.”

CLIMATE PRIORITIES

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Washington’s Environmental Priorities Coalition, made up of more than 20 environmental organizations, has four major goals for the upcoming session, following on the major strides taken in 2019, when lawmakers passed a bill that will get the state onto 100 percent clean electricity by 2045.

This year, the groups hope to again push for a CLEAN FUEL STANDARD, similar to policies that are in place in Oregon, California and British Columbia. The standard, which would require fuel producers to decrease emissions but allow them to choose which technology to use to do so, failed to gain traction in 2019.

However, the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency is currently considering implementing its own clean fuel standard in the Puget Sound area, with the expectation it would significantly improve air quality and prevent millions of dollars in health impacts.

The other three major climate priorities the groups have for this year include a PLASTIC BAG BAN, updating the state’s GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION GOALS, and working to improve ORCA HABITAT.

PREFILED BILLS

Many lawmakers have already filed legislation for consideration so it can be taken up early in the session. While there are dozens of bills already filed, here are just a few and the thinking behind them.

HB 2206 — Concerning equity by authorizing government services outside of urban growth areas. Introduced by Rep. Drew MacEwan (R-Union).

What it would do: HB 2206 would allow cities to extend water and sewer service outside of their urban growth areas, which is prohibited under the Growth Management Act (GMA) that was created to prevent sprawl.

Why: “I represent a fairly rural district, and I think there’s been a lot of unintended consequences from the GMA and the Hirst decision,” MacEwan says.

Namely, it’s getting tougher to build affordable housing in rural communities, MacEwan argues. The cost of installing septic systems and digging wells, combined with difficulties in acquiring water rights (which the Hirst decision deals with), can make it unaffordable to build on 5- or 10-acre rural lots, which are not allowed by law to be combined into a development to share costs and make it more affordable, he says.

“In Mason County we have one incorporated city, Shelton,”

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MacEwan says. “There are tracts of land available just outside the urban growth boundary, and again, it becomes cost prohibitive when you look at doing a well or septic.

“To me this is one small piece of the overall puzzle. I would love to have us overhaul the whole GMA,” MacEwan continues.

“What was written in 1991 is not working. You’re not going to cram three million more people into an urban area with it remaining affordable.”

HB 2192 — Concerning complimentary liquor by short-term rental operators. Introduced by Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos (D-Seattle).

What it would do: Require short-term rental operators (think Airbnb, VRBO, etc.) to get a $75 per year permit if they’d like to offer a complimentary bottle of wine to guests over 21.

Why: “I have a constituent who apparently is a short-term rental operator, and he likes to provide a complimentary bottle of Washington wine for his guests, which I can certainly see why he would want to do that as a gesture of hospitality,” Santos says. “Apparently it came to his attention that he was doing so illegally.”

He didn’t want to be breaking the law, so Rep. Santos is introducing the bill, which was modeled after similar rule changes that allowed nail salons to offer complimentary wine to their customers.

HB 2201 — Ensuring equitable competition between students who participate in school athletic activities. Introduced by Rep. Brad Klippert (R-Kennewick) What it would do: HB 2201 would prevent trans students born with male genitalia from competing against female students in individual-level competitive sports such as track and field.

Why: “I have had constituents contact me and show me several articles nationwide about how males who identify as females have been competing in female individual sports such as track and field and bicycling and dominating the sports,” Klippert says. “The only reason why is they’re boys, not girls. They have the muscle structure of boys, they’re not girls. … So in the interest of equitable competition, I ran this so girls are not forced to run against boys in individual sports such as track.”

HB 2199 — Concerning marijuana use in guest rooms of hotels, motels, and inns in violation of the owner or operator’s rules.

Introduced by Rep. Klippert.

What it would do: HB 2199 would make it illegal to smoke or vaporize marijuana in a hotel, motel or inn guest room if the owner prohibits it.

Why: A hotel owner told Klippert about troubles with a guest smoking marijuana in his hotel room. Despite a new HVAC system, the other guests could smell the smoke. When the owner confronted the guest, Klippert says, the guest told the owner, “Here’s my medical marijuana card, you go ahead and try to stop me. You’ll see me in court.”

“So I’m trying to put clarification in the law so hotel and motel owners don’t have this problem in the future,” Klippert says. n samanthaw@inlander.com

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DECEMBER 26, 2019 INLANDER 15

NEWS | CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Free to Go With a new program, Spokane officials aim to keep certain low-risk defendants out of jail while their cases move through the courts

BY JOSH KELETY

D

rawing inspiration from a reform-minded program in New York City, Spokane officials want to keep more defendants out of jail by connecting them with social workers and services.

Earlier this month, the Spokane City Council approved spending $250,000 of their roughly $1 billion budget on a new pretrial release program for defendants in Spokane Municipal Court facing misdemeanor charges. The goal, proponents say, is to reduce the number of inmates in the chronically overcrowded Spokane County Jail and keep defendants who aren’t a public safety risk yet can’t afford to pay bail from being incarcerated before they stand trial.

“It’s for people who aren’t considered dangerous but are not reliable about coming to court and have a bail that they can’t pay and are in custody,” says Spokane City Councilman Breean Beggs, who lobbied for the $250,000 in the 2020 budget. “In the jail, 73 percent of the people in there haven’t been convicted of anything.

They’re just waiting.”

In the city’s new budget, $250,000 has been set aside for a new pretrial program pushed by Breean Beggs.

The project is modeled on New York City’s Pretrial Supervised Release Program, which Beggs, City Prosecutor Justin Bingham, Municipal Court Judge Tracy Staab and several Spokane County judges flew to New York City last November to observe. In the program, eligible defendants facing nonviolent charges who are deemed to not be a public safety risk by a judge are released on the

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

condition that they meet regularly with a social worker from a nonprofit agency. The social worker then helps clients make their court dates and can refer them to services like affordable housing and drug addiction treatment.

New York’s Supervised Release Program, which started as a pilot in 2009 and was expanded in 2013, has shown success, according to some tabulations. An esti-

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mated 89 percent of defendants released into the program made all their court dates while 92 percent weren’t rearrested on a new felony charge, according to an October 2018 report from the New York City Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice.

“There are some people who can be released with no conditions given their history and the nature of the crime,” says Judge Staab. “By [giving] them a caseworker who is going to help them get back to court and fulfill their obligations, we can accomplish a lot more without the expense and the trauma of putting them back into custody.”

There’s a cost-savings argument as well. While only 39 of the roughly 900 inmates in the Spokane County Jail were defendants in the city court system who could be immediately released on bail, according to an October snapshot of the jail population, it costs the city an estimated $130 per day to keep each of them in county custody. Additionally, the New York City program is thought to cost around $2,500 per defendant for a participation period of three and a half months, while holding someone in the Spokane County Jail for that same timeframe would cost $25,000, according to figures from the Spokane Justice Taskforce.

Staab says that the city is billed even if defendants are booked and then promptly released. “They just book and release them and the city gets charged,” she says. “Everyone in the system has this big frustration about the book-and-release policy and we’re hoping that this helps reduce that.”

The $250,000 for the program came out of the city’s Public Safety Levy, which was approved by voters in early 2019. The council is drawing from a chunk designated for “crime reduction” to fund the project.

Now, it’s up to the Spokane Municipal Court system to get the program up and running.

“I’m hoping that we can get it done in the next couple of months,” Staab says. n joshk@inlander.com

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DECEMBER 26, 2019 INLANDER 17

NEWS | POLITICS On one hand, Shea has scoffed at the portrayal of the occupation as “domestic terrorism.” On the other hand, when a caller threatened to imitate the wildlife refuge standoff with an “armed occupation” of his Spokane office in 2016, Shea reported the incident to Washington State Patrol as a “death threat.”

Ultimately, the refuge occupation resulted in the death of occupier LaVoy Finicum, shot by law enforcement when he reached for his gun. Finicum has since been lifted up as a martyr by Shea and his allies.

“LaVoy paid with his life,” Shea said in a 2017 speech delivered the day after Trump’s inauguration. So all things considered, he said, he and his allies weathering attacks from the government and the press were “a small price to pay” in the fight for freedom and liberty.

NEGATIVE REPERCUSSIONS

Washington state Rep. Matt Shea delivers a speech last week at the “Church of Planned Parenthood.”

Domestic Terrorist?

DANIEL WALTERS PHOTO

A new report accusing state Rep. Matt Shea of “domestic terrorism” shrinks his number of supporters, but also stokes their fervor

BY DANIEL WALTERS

O

n Wednesday evening last week, Spokane Valley state Rep. Matt Shea gets a hero’s welcome, full of whoops and cheers, at a candlelit antiabortion rally in front of Spokane’s Planned Parenthood building. With soaring rhetoric, Shea speaks of “standing literally at the gates of hell” and thanks God for being “reviled” and “persecuted for the name of Christ!”

He stands in front of an American flag and a Christian cross, the two symbols Shea has brandished as both a sword and a shield over the past decade. When he’s attacked, he accuses his attackers of hating the Constitution and hating Christians, of being “dirty” and “godless,” of being associated with communists and anti-fascists (sometimes known as antifa). At times, he’s even accused government officials of being “bureaucratic terrorists.”

But that language can go both ways. On Thursday last week, the Washington state House of Representatives released a 108-page report, prepared by the Rampart Group, examining whether Shea promoted political violence.

The conclusion? Shea “participated in an act of domestic terrorism against the United States.”

But Shea hit back, suggesting this was yet another attack on the Constitution and Christians.

“This is a coup,” Shea said on the Church and State podcast Thursday. “This is an attempt to overthrow duly elected leaders who are standing up for the Constitution and who are standing up for the Bible.”

18 INLANDER DECEMBER 26, 2019

THE TERRORISM LABEL

The investigators’ explosive “domestic terrorism” bombshell focuses on Shea’s involvement in the 2016 armed occupation of Oregon’s Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, part of a protest against the Bureau of Land Management’s treatment of two ranchers. That year, Oregon Public Broadcasting revealed that Shea and other far-right legislators had “planned and participated” in aspects of the armed occupation.

But the Rampart investigation reveals just how deep Shea’s participation went. It alleges that Shea was involved in multiple planning discussions before the takeover. And it shows that, two days into the takeover, Shea sent out a message — signed with the Thomas Jeffersoninspired quote that “resistance to tyranny is obedience to God” — containing a military-style operations plan about how to support the armed occupation.

Shea’s plan, titled “Operation Cold Reality,” shows Shea wanting to avoid violence, but also to expose the Bureau of Land Management “as tyrants, by making them act like tyrants,” and force the agency to “cease its bureaucratic terrorism.”

The plan tasked far-right groups to establish “counter-intelligence,” “counter-recon,” “negotiation” and “extraction” teams. It aimed to establish “evacuation routes,” track the deployment of government teams and sweep meeting rooms for potential bugs.

For an entire decade, media outlets, including the Inlander, have been breaking stories about Shea’s controversial behavior and yet, the Rampart group writes, “Shea has suffered no negative repercussions to his actions.”

Far from it, the report concludes: It’s only made him more influential within his movement. Since 2008, he’s faced controversies involving abuse allegations from an ex-wife, a road rage incident where Shea flashed a loaded firearm, FEMA camp conspiracy talk with radio host Alex Jones, and his feud with the Spokane County Sheriff, who’s called him a dangerous liar. He’s been criticized for both his role in the Oregon standoff, and his involvement with the similar standoff at Cliven Bundy’s ranch in Nevada in 2014.

But it just didn’t matter. Washington House Republicans gave Shea their “caucus chair” leadership position in 2017. Last year, the comparatively moderate Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers happily accepted Shea’s endorsement.

But then Jay Pounder, previously one of Shea’s most loyal allies, made a decision: He began to leak documents, including a Shea-authored document called “Biblical Basis for War” that included Old Testament-infused passages to “kill all males” if they didn’t yield to bibilical law and aphorisms like “assassination to remove tyrants is just, not murder.”

Next, Pounder leaked a slew of chat messages where Shea was part of a conversation where his allies — including Pounder — fantasized in gory detail about the violence they’d like to inflict on local liberal activists.

Shea offered to run background checks on those activists.

The two documents spurred the state House this year to hire the Rampart Group to figure out if Shea promoted violence.

The investigators didn’t just look at the Malheur occupation. The Rampart investigators concluded Shea had sent to his allies a 250-page document, titled “Apparatus of Repression,” that included the confidential personal information of law enforcement agents. He’d allegedly said “if people knew what went on in the Capital, they’d blow it up.”

He’d written in a since-deleted Facebook comment: “After much prayer, I’m afraid violence might be necessary to take our country back.”

And according to the report, another commenter replied, “We are ready, Captain. Tell us what to do.”

“Representative Shea’s activities appear to meet the definition of political violence,” the investigators conclude, “and, when viewed holistically, these activities appear to have been successful.”

SHRINKING CIRCLE

For Washington state House Republican Leader J.T. Wilcox, the report was enough: Republican leadership booted Shea from the caucus, removing him from every committee.

“He should resign,” Wilcox wrote on Twitter. “He cannot use House Republican staff, he cannot meet with the caucus, his office will be moved.”

McMorris Rodgers echoed the call for Shea’s resignation. But Shea has refused, consciously painting himself as a victim of the same sort of Democratic, media and deep-state conspiracy that Trump supporters claim led to the president’s impeachment.

On Facebook, Shea promised that he would “not back down,” “give in” or “resign.”

Some of Shea’s former defenders and endorsers, like former state Rep. Michael Baumgartner, have argued that the report was the last straw — that Shea should leave office. But other quarters are less vocal: As of Monday morning, the Spokane County Republican Party has been silent. For years, the local party has tried to paper over the internal division from those who supLETTERS port Shea and those who are Send comments to horrified by his behavior. editor@inlander.com.

And for die-hard Shea supporters, like those who cheered him on at Wednesday’s rally, the report has only intensified their devotion.

“All it’s really done is encouraged people to stand stronger with Matt,” says Caleb Collier, a field coordinator for the far-right anti-communist and anti-“globalist” John Birch Society, one of several groups noted in the report.

Collier shrugs off the investigation’s conclusions as either unsurprising or false. He points out that Oregon wildlife refuge standoff leader Ammon Bundy denied Shea was involved in the pre-planning process.

He also sees bias. Look at the fact, Collier says, that Rampart investigator Kathy Leodler gave $250 to Seattle mayoral candidate Jenny Durkan, a Democrat, in 2017.

“He cannot use House Republican staff, he cannot meet with the caucus, his office will be moved.”

He says neither he nor any of the other Shea supporters he knows were interviewed for the investigation. But the investigators point out that one important figure simply refused to talk to them: Shea himself. Shea stonewalled the investigators, like he has media outlets like the Inlander and the Spokesman-Review for years.

Shea’s allies have used the report to whip up their base, but so have Shea’s opponents. Lori Feagan, a nurse practitioner running as a Democrat against Shea next year, used the Rampart investigation to call for donations on Twitter.

A longtime local Republican critic of Shea — former state Rep. Leonard Christian — announced Friday that he’d join the race against Shea as well.

“I think the voters are really tired of what’s going on with Matt Shea,” Christian says.

But Christian has his own challenges: To start with, he’s lost three elections — for state rep, county auditor and county assessor.

Next year, the whole country will be watching.

Before the Rampart investigation was released, Shea had already been the subject of a Rolling Stone article, a podcast series and numerous exposés in the Guardian. Since the “domestic terrorism” allegation, the story went viral, featured in the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, NPR, MSNBC’s All In with Chris Hayes and much more.

Yet Shea has never come close to losing an election. Collier argues that’s not because voters in the conservative 4th Legislative District don’t know who Shea is — but because they do.

“You’re not going to see the 4th voting in a Democrat. You’re not going to see the 4th voting in a moderate Republican,” Collier says. “They love Matt, because of who he is and what he says and what he stands for.” n danielw@inlander.com

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DECEMBER 26, 2019 INLANDER 19

NEWS | PUBLIC HEALTH

Problem A Why the hepatitis A outbreak in Spokane disproportionately impacts people who are homeless

BY WILSON CRISCIONE

I

f you have hepatitis A, there’s a good chance you don’t know it.

You may feel tired or sick to your stomach. You may not feel hungry. Maybe your head hurts, or you feel achy, or you’re itchy. But the first time you realize you might be really sick is when you look in the mirror and realize your skin and the whites of your eyes are yellow.

And by then, you’ve likely been contagious for a couple of weeks.

This is part of the challenge in trying to stop an outbreak of hepatitis A like Spokane has seen this year.

Since April of 2019, there have been 70 cases of hepatitis A in Spokane County, according to the Spokane Regional Health District. Two people have died due to complications associated with hepatitis A in that time. It reflects an outbreak of the virus nationally, where there’ve been nearly 30,000 cases of hep A since 2016, and 298 deaths.

Many of those impacted by it are homeless, says Bob Lutz, Spokane Regional Health District officer.

“It’s a problem that has disproportionately affected those living homeless,” Lutz says.

Fortunately, thanks in part to the 124 vaccination clinics the SRHD has held since June, the spread of the disease locally seems to be slowing down. But for Lutz, the outbreak tells him that there’s more work to do for the homeless population.

“If you don’t have access to basic sanitary needs, then your risk is amplified,” he says.

T

he encouraging thing about hepatitis A, a virus that infects the liver, is there’s a vaccine for it that works extremely well. Two doses of the vaccine, which is recommended for children, are more than 95 percent effective in preventing hep A. When the vaccine became available in 1996, the number of cases in the United States steadily declined — until 2012, that is. Then, for several years, outbreaks increased among adult populations due to imported foods, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Thanks in part to the 124 vaccination clinics the Regional Health District has held since June, the spread of hep A locally seems to be slowing down.

But since 2016, the virus has been spread person to person. There’s still a large population of unvaccinated adults who are vulnerable to infection. People who use drugs, experience unstable housing or homelessness, and men who have sex with other men are considered to have the highest risk of getting hep A. That seems to correlate generally with the population that’s been impacted in Spokane. A majority of the population that’s been infected is older than 30, and 83 percent had a history of either being homeless and/or substance use, according to Bob Lutz, Spokane Regional the health district. Only one Health District officer person who was infected was vaccinated.

Hep A spreads from person to person through fecal matter, which can make it easy to transmit, says Malia Nogle, an epidemiologist with the Spokane Regional Health District.

“If you have it, and you don’t wash your hands properly after using the bathroom, you can touch

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surfaces, people, food, cigarette butts, vapes, [you can] share utensils and that can cause it to be spread to other people,” Nogle says.

T

he health district has held vaccination clinics in an effort to target populations that may be more at risk than others. That means at the jail, at shelters and warming centers, Nogle says. She says over 1,900 doses of the vaccine have been given.

Lutz says the outbreak could have been worse if it wasn’t for the team effort at the health district collaborating with local partners. But he says the issue hasn’t gotten as much attention as other kinds of outbreaks have. He suspects that has to do with the population most affected.

“This is not a topic that has really gotten much interest from the media,” he says. “When you look at the homeless population nationwide, yes, it’s become a politicized issue here locally, but it’s a population we don’t want to talk about.”

Not having a home doesn’t make someone inherently more likely to get hep A, he says. It just means that you may not have basic sanitary needs met — and that can make it more likely to be infected.

“Locally and societally, we do not provide those basic human needs to this marginalized population,” Lutz says. n

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DECEMBER 26, 2019 INLANDER 21

THE YEAR IN PHOTOS

ruby slippers

Northern Quest Resort & Casino Pastry Chef Kristina Stephenson shatters a confection made with ruby chocolate. The image was captured for an article in November exploring local uses of the world’s newest chocolate — ruby chocolate.

22 INLANDER DECEMBER 26, 2019

A REVIEW of 2019 through the lens of the Inlander's staff photographer

BY YOUNG KWAK party of princesses

After reading Jane Yolen’s Not All Princesses Dress in Pink, Tirrany Hex, left, dances with 6-year-old Klara Wisner during the Drag Queen Story Hour in June at the South Hill Spokane Public Library.

dancing the night away

Anita Morgan, center left, and Ryan Nichols dance in June during a contra dance at the Spokane Woman’s Club.

resurrected

Pastor Dave Long delivers his sermon at Southside Christian Church, located in what used to be a movie theater. In February, we published a report on churches finding new life in old spaces.

DECEMBER 26, 2019 INLANDER 23

THE YEAR

Turn it up!

Local group Bad Motivator performs at Mootsy’s during the Inlander’s Volume Music Festival.

terrorized

In April, we wrote about how threats on social media paralyzed Spokane’s Lewis & Clark High School and left one particular girl in terror.

listen to this

24 INLANDER DECEMBER 26, 2019

“I Don’t Know Her” podcast hosts Amanda Mead, left, and Rita Vigil were featured in a February article about local podcasters.

IN PHOTOS

out on the town

Rhiannon Lehde, Angela Mascall and Michelle Miller sing along with a karaoke singer at the Monterey Cafe on Friday the 13th in September.

eye of the beholder

Jason Johnson transforms into his drag persona Nova Kaine for our Pride cover story in June.

green thumbs

Nick Kessler, one of the owners of Orange State Cannabis, tends to plants in the indoor portion of their farm.

above the rim

Gonzaga forward Anton Watson soars toward the hoop in November’s exhibition against Lewis-Clark State.

DECEMBER 26, 2019 INLANDER 25

THE YEAR IN PHOTOS takin' it to the streets

Josh Morrow runs on Riverside Avenue during the 43rd annual Bloomsday run in May.

meet pippi headstomping

Lilac City Roller Derby’s Jada Bellrose, who skates under the name Pippi Headstomping. We profiled her in July after she made the roster for Jewish Roller Derby, the first-ever team of its kind.

double play

26 INLANDER DECEMBER 26, 2019

Spokane Indians’ Cristian Inoa throws to first, completing a double play in a June game.

The Americans

TELEVISION

10 YEARS,

10

T

GREAT SHOWS

he 2010s was the decade when so-called “peak TV” seemed to just keep peaking, with more and more scripted shows airing on more and more niche cable networks and newly launched streaming services every year (the estimate for 2019 is at more than 500 original scripted series available to U.S. viewers). So for one person to list the best TV shows of the decade is an impossible task, and I don’t claim to have seen every notable or acclaimed show to air in the past 10 years.

And at a time when “prestige” often overshadows entertainment value, there are plenty of long-running, highly regarded shows that left me cold (sorry, Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones). These 10 shows are ones that most kept me coming back episode after episode, always eager to see more, even when the creators wrapped things up at the perfect time.

1

THE AMERICANS (FX, 2013-2018)

The story of Soviet sleeper agents embedded in suburban America in the 1980s turned out to be far more timely than expected as its six-season run progressed, but showrunners Joel Fields and Joe

Weisberg never winked at current events or reached for heavy-handed social commentary. Instead they brilliantly mixed slow-burn espionage stories with riveting domestic drama, anchored by powerhouse performances from stars Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys as spies with divided loyalties, both in their work and in their marriage.

2

MAD MEN (AMC, 2007-2015)

Even discounting the first three seasons of Matthew Weiner’s engrossing, layered drama about the advertising industry in the 1960s (which aired before 2010), Mad Men is still one of the richest, most complex dramas of the decade, with career-making performances from Jon Hamm and Elisabeth Moss that still stand among their best work. Even at their personal worst, the characters were always fascinating to watch, and the show effortlessly evoked an oft-idealized period in American history without falling prey to false nostalgia.

3

THE GOOD PLACE (NBC, 2016-PRESENT)

We still don’t know how Michael Schur’s afterlifeset comedy series will end (the final four episodes

Breaking down the decade’s best TV shows

BY JOSH BELL are set to air in January 2020), but even if it stumbles at the finish line, it’s still the funniest show ever made about moral philosophy, combining sharp wordplay with visual inventiveness, ingenious plot twists and endearingly flawed characters. It’s set almost entirely in a world of allpowerful, nearly immortal beings, but is deeply engaged with how absurd, terrifying and wonderful it feels to be human.

4

CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND

(THE CW, 2015-2019) Rachel Bloom’s musical comedy about borderline personality disorder is the unlikeliest broadcast-TV success story of the decade, a deeply personal, often hauntingly dark character study about a self-destructive woman who deals with her mental-health issues by singing about them. Co-creator and star Bloom turned rom-com cliches upside down, starting with the title, while infusing every episode with catchy songs, memorable supporting characters and a sensitivity toward the struggles of the easily dismissed and marginalized. ...continued on next page

DECEMBER 26, 2019 INLANDER 27

CULTURE | TELEVISION

30 Rock

“10 YEARS, 10 GREAT SHOWS,” CONTINUED...

5

YOU’RE THE WORST

(FX/FXX, 2014-2019) The lead characters in You’re the Worst probably would be the worst if you had to hang out with them in real life, but watching misanthropes Jimmy (Chris Geere) and Gretchen (Aya Cash) reluctantly fall in love over the course of five seasons was really more like the best.

Creator Stephen Falk gave his two leads depth and a measure of maturity without compromising their inherent worst-ness, delving into the emotional trauma and untreated psychological conditions that made them into such (hilarious and entertaining) jerks.

6

30 ROCK (NBC, 2006-2013)

So much of current comedy can be traced back to Tina Fey’s absurdist, reference-heavy sitcom

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

about the backstage workings of a terrible Saturday Night Live-style show, which grew into a surreal portrait of corporate greed and showbiz cynicism as it got bolder and weirder in its later years. Memorable lines from the show’s seven seasons have become so ingrained in the pop-culture lexicon that people quote them and share them in memes without even realizing where they came from.

7

FLEABAG (AMAZON, 2016-2019)

Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s cynical, self-aware comedy about one woman’s descent into depression and unhealthy behavior only ran for 12 episodes across two seasons, but it left an indelible impression with its clever self-deprecating asides to the audience and its unapologetically uncomfortable portrayals of horrible

people, Waller-Bridge’s title character included. Her conspiratorial winks to the audience placed us on her side at all times, no matter how poorly she was treating the people around her (or herself).

8

THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL (AMAZON, 2017-PRESENT)

Marvelous is the word to describe Amy ShermanPalladino’s impeccably crafted tribute to the world of 1950s stand-up comedy, anchored by its sparkling lead performance from Rachel Brosnahan as the title character, a rare woman in the male-dominated stand-up field. With its costumes and production design bursting with color and its characters always delivering the perfect comedic rejoinder, the show can feel a bit like idealized wish fulfillment, but even history can stand to be a little aspirational.

winter activities your guide to

city of spokane parks & recreation activity guide

EXAMPLES OF ACTIVITIES WE OFFER:

Try something new, get outdoors, and play with friends. Let us be your guide to fun!

Find us online or at your neigborhood library.

SpokaneRec.org | Call 311 or 509.755.2489

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Snowshoeing Outings

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Cross Country Skiing Outings

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No School Day Camps

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Fitness & Wellness Classes

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Open Gym Basketball

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Therapeutic Recreation

We offer hundreds of camps and classes—plus four golf courses, six aquatic centers, 17 splash pads and more than 80 parks.

Thank You Please visit and like us on Facebook under Spokane Winter Glow Spectacular, or visit us at www.spokanewinterglow.org to find information on how to donate or how to volunteer to help make next year’s lighting event in Orchard Park possible.

Winter Glow is a non-profit organization totally funded by donations and built/ installed totally by volunteers.

Thank You to the following wonderful sponsors who helped make Winter Glow 2019 possible: Big Little Lies

9

BIG LITTLE LIES

(HBO, 2017-2019) The first season of this juicy drama adapted from Liane Moriarty’s novel about crime and betrayal among well-to-do California families was nearly perfect, with astounding performances from stars including Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman, and gorgeous, impressionistic direction from Jean-Marc Vallee. Even if the producers couldn’t leave well enough alone after the first season, they still created a gorgeous, affecting and addictive world to get lost in, with some of the most memorable TV characters of the decade.

10

MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS:

SEARCH PARTY

(TBS, 2016-PRESENT) It would be an understatement to call the humor on Search Party dry, since it’s often so understated that it’s hard to discern what parts are meant to be taken at face value. But this deadpan parody of hipster culture wrapped up in a murder mystery is not only very funny for the right audience, but it’s also frequently unsettling and even heartbreaking, affording its buffoonish characters just the right amount of sympathy.

An entire completed third season is being held back for the launch of HBO Max, one of the best reasons to subscribe to yet another streaming service. n

We offer outdoor adventures—like our SHOWSHOES AND BREWS Mt SPOKANE TOUR. With all the guides, gear, transportation and fees, we have you covered—so come dressed for the adventure!

THANKS SO MUCH TO OUR OTHER CONTRIBUTERS: Action Materials • Banner Bank of Liberty Lake • Building & Construction Trades Council Friendly Sons of St. Patrick • The Morrisons (Jim & Lois) • Palenque Mexican Restaurant Progressions Credit Union • Safway Services • Sir Speedy Printing of Spokane Valley Spike & Dig Volleyball Tournament • Spokane Regional Labor Council Spokane Valley Hub Sports Center • True Legends Grill • Union Local 44 Steamfitters Union Local 82 Heat & Frost Workers • Union Local 690 Teamsters Union Local 1439 Food & Commercial Workers Signs donated in part by Instant Sign Factory

CULTURE | DIGEST ERICK DOXEY PHOTO

On the Map

W MINDLESS FUN What would happen if you gave a 13-year-old movie buff nearly unlimited resources to produce an action movie with a thin plot about overthrowing an evil dictator? Probably something like Michael Bay’s 6 Underground, recently dropped on Netflix. Action movie one-liners and pop culture references make up a ridiculous amount of the script, clearly meant to poke fun at itself as it gives all focus to chase scenes, guns, over-the-top explosions and Deadpool-reminiscent sarcastic quips. But ya know what? It’s the holidays, and it’s stressful and miserable at times. This is one of those movies you can put on, turn off your brain and just enjoy for its gory and exciting, if somewhat meaningless, two hours. (SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL)

BY WILSON CRISCIONE

hen the North Carolina men’s basketball team visited Spokane recently, everyone acted like Spokane had finally made it. Between the party at the Pavilion and the talk of a “rivalry” with the Tar Heels, for one night we mattered to people on the East Coast.

That’s a rare feeling. If those on the East Coast know we exist at all, they often think Spokane is a Seattle suburb, a distant land full of evergreen trees and kayaktivists. Sports, at least, can help TV watchers with basic geography. Spokane? That’s where Gonzaga plays. Pullman? That’s where Mike Leach talks about football and insurgent warfare. There have been several nationally recognized teams from the area this decade that helped put the Inland Northwest on the map for those snobby East Coasters. Here’s a list of five, in no particular order: GONZAGA MEN’S BASKETBALL The Zags machine established itself as a top program in the country before this decade started, of course. But it rose to another level in recent years after two Elite Eights, an appearance in the Final Four and a national championship game against the Tar Heels they could (and probably should) have won.

THE BUZZ BIN GONZAGA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL Marked by an Elite Eight appearance in 2011 and three other Sweet Sixteen runs this decade, the Zags have become a consistently solid women’s basketball program. And they sent one of their best, Courtney Vandersloot, to the WNBA, where she’s a two-time all-star.

HE’S BAD, HE’S NATIONWIDE Spokane comedian Phil Kopczynski has been making folks laugh well beyond the Inland Northwest for a while now, but with his latest special Full Grown Man hitting the Drybar comedy app this month, he’ll likely reach more folks than ever.

Drybar offers hundreds of hours of comedy free if you download the app (you can watch Kopczynski’s special for $1 if your app-averse). Most of the material in the special, Kopczysnki notes in an email, was developed right here in the Lilac City. Check it out at drybarcomedy.com/specials/ phil-kopczynski-full-grown-man. (DAN NAILEN)

STILL DANCING Spokane-based author Sherry Jones’ most recent novel, Josephine Baker’s Last Dance, released in 2018, could be headed to the silver screen. Last week it was announced that actress Paula Patton had optioned filming rights for the biographical novel, and hopes to star in and produce the adaptation. Josephine Baker was an icon of the Jazz Age, served as an Allied spy during World War II and later became a civil rights activist. (CHEY SCOTT)

EASTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL As a student at EWU at the time, I can still hear the roars echoing across Cheney in 2010 when the Eagles won the FCS championship in a thrilling 20-19 victory. Ever since, EWU has stayed near the top of FCS with incredible talent — EWU alum Cooper Kupp, in particular, has turned into a monster receiver for the Los Angeles Rams.

THIS WEEK’S PLAYLIST Catch up on some of the year’s best music. These are the five albums that got the most critical acclaim in 2019 according to metacritic.com: NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS, Ghosteen WEYES BLOOD, Titanic Rising LITTLE SIMZ, Grey Area BARONESS, Gold & Grey RAPHAEL SAADIQ, Jimmy Lee

EASTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY MEN’S BASKETBALL For a year, in 2014-15, it was EWU that felt like the region’s Cinderella team in the NCAA. The squad had the nation’s leading scorer, Tyler Harvey, and they generated plenty of buzz before the national tournament, where they ultimately lost to Georgetown.

WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL Mike Leach has made watching the Cougs fun again. If we’re going by national recognition (which I am), his ramblings and rants to the media generate just as much national buzz as any local program. And the hysteria over Gardner Minshew alone is enough to justify a place on this list.

HONORABLE MENTION: WSU women’s soccer, which made its first-ever trip to the College Cup this year. n

30 INLANDER DECEMBER 26, 2019

THE BEST NEWS For those of us old enough to remember when Gary Larson’s The Far Side comic made every day better before he retired in 1995, the news that the cartoonist was launching a new website dedicated to the surreal and hilarious one-panel works came with much rejoicing. Besides daily posts of classic cartoons full of talking animals, mad scientists and ladies in horn-rimmed glasses, the WSU alum Larson also promises some new material, too. Huzzah! Check it at thefarside.com.

(DAN NAILEN)

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DECEMBER 26, 2019 INLANDER 31

CULTURE | NEW YEAR’S EVE

Coeur d’Alene Resort makes pretty with the big booms twice on New Year’s Eve.

Get Down Tonight

it’s just a good economic choice, too. Visit luckyoulounge.com for details.

CLASS IT UP

ROLL THE DICE

BY DAN NAILEN

T

FIND YOUR ’80S GROOVE

The good folks at Lucky You Lounge know that a costume can really help make a night something special and different. While their ’80s New Year’s Eve doesn’t require you to sport that Members Only jacket and/or legwarmers, dressing for the era is certainly encouraged. They’ll have an ’80s cover band playing, a DJ spinning some of the best dance tunes of the era, and a photo booth to capture your look. At just $10,

32 INLANDER DECEMBER 26, 2019

BLUES DUDE

If you didn’t catch Sammy Eubanks ripping at his annual Christmas show, you have a couple of options for hearing the local blues guitarist tear it up on New Year’s Eve. At the Bing Crosby Theater, he’ll go acoustic for an early show at 6 pm, where he’ll be joined by Trailer Park Girls and Low Class Bluegrass.

That show will end by 8:30 pm so that Eubanks can run over to the Ruby River Hotel to rev up the party from 9:30 pm until midnight. You can pick either show, or make a whole night of it and spend the night at the hotel, too. Visit bingcrosbytheater.com for details.

New Year’s Eve offers a lot of options if you’re up for leaving the house o party or not to party — that is the question that ties many of us in knots each year when New Year’s Eve rolls around.

Sure, there’s something to be said for ringing in a new year with your fellow humans, tipping some champagne at midnight after a quick smooch with a consenting loved one or stranger. At bars or friends’ house parties, I’ve had some great times on New Year’s Eve. On the other hand, I also understand the instinct to just avoid the whole thing. New Year’s Eve invites a bunch of amateurs to the bars, and it can be the toughest night of the year to catch a cab or Uber home come 1 or 2 am.

As you consider your options for how to spend your transition into 2020, here are a few of the noteworthy temptations happening in the region that might prove too entertaining to resist:

COEUR D’ALENE RESORT PHOTO

I checked out the Spokane Symphony’s annual New Year’s Eve performance of Beethoven’s Ninth a couple years back. Not only is the night an exhilarating showcase for the musicians and Spokane Symphony Chorale, it also has the added advantage of ending a couple hours before midnight.

That means you can either get home well before the ball drops on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, or you can treat the show as an appetizer for more celebratory shenanigans downtown — perhaps the symphony’s own Puttin’ On the Ritz gala at the Historic Davenport. Visit spokanesymphony.org for details.

LIGHT UP THE SKY

For some people, you can’t have New Year’s Eve without a fireworks show. The Coeur d’Alene Resort is here for you, with two fireworks shows just in case you (or your kids) aren’t going to make it until midnight.

The first is at 9 pm and the second at midnight, both over the lake so you’ll want to find a good spot at the resort or on the beach for viewing. You can make a whole night of it with a dinner buffet and dance party at the resort, too. Visit cdaresort.com for details.

I’m not going to suggest gambling is for everyone, but if you’re going to hit one of the local casinos for their New Year’s Eve festivities, you might as well throw a couple bucks down on a table or in a slot machine and see if you can really start the new year off right. At Northern Quest Resort & Casino there are several New Year’s events, including a Roaring ’20s Party in the Riverbank Taphouse, but the Bootie Shakers playing a heaping bunch of disco in the Pavilion is surely the highlight. Visit northernquest.com for all the options.

Over at the Coeur d’Alene Casino in Worley, Idaho, you can catch CeCe Curtis’ tribute to local jazz legend and tribal member Mildred Bailey. And at the casino’s Nighthawk Lounge, catch local legend Donnie Emerson (of the Fruitland Emersons) along with the Nancy Sophia Band. Visit cdacasino.com for details.

Of course, there are many more parties and celebrations worth your consideration on New Year’s Eve. Be sure to check out the calendar listings for Dec. 31 on Inlander. com for a wide array of ’20s-themed parties, live music, special dinners and trivia nights, and more. n

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OPENING

HISTORY

COMES

ALIVE Shawn O’Donnell’s new Spokane location blends its Irish approach with the revered former home of Milford’s Fish House

BY DAN NAILEN

A

Two-piece fish and chips with a Guinness. ERICK DOXEY PHOTO

34 INLANDER DECEMBER 26, 2019

lot of restaurants talk a big game about being a “family” place, but you can take that idea a little more literally with the new Shawn O’Donnell’s which just opened in the historic former home of Milford’s Fish House on North Monroe.

Shawn O’Donnell Sr., the founder and namesake of the now four-location American Grill and Irish Pub, rattles off all the family involved in the business, a crew that includes his wife, daughter, son and daughter-in-law. His partner and general manager of the new Spokane location — the first east of the Cascades — is darn near family, too. Chase Van Cotthem grew up neighbors with the O’Donnells in Everett and worked at the restaurants starting in high school up until moving to Spokane nearly a year ago to be closer to his wife’s family and find a more economical place to raise his young family.

Van Cotthem’s move, and knowledge of the restaurant business, is what sparked O’Donnell to add a new branch to his west side locations in Everett, downtown Seattle and Fremont.

“Chase called and said, ‘Hey, what do you think about a restaurant in Spokane?’” O’Donnell recalls. “So we jumped in the car and blasted over.”

One of O’Donnell’s lifelong friends lives in Spokane and gave him a tour of the city, and O’Donnell was quick to note that, like residential prices, commercial real estate in Spokane is much cheaper than Seattle. Then, when he found out Jerry Young was retiring and looking to sell the Milford’s space, a new Shawn O’Donnell’s quickly became a reality.

The front of the house was essentially ready to go. O’Donnell and his family painted the walls and decorated using some of the incredible historic photos and memorabilia Young had stashed in the Milford’s basement, as well as adding a distinctive Celtic flavor to the bar area. They also got rid of curtains and removed some walls that Milford’s had used to add an element of privacy.

“We thought, ‘Let’s go Irish in the bar, and nostalgic in the dining room,’” O’Donnell says. “We opened it up quite a bit.”

The kitchen is where the heavy-duty renovations took place.

Refrigerators and burners were replaced, and a new anti-slip floor was installed, all in service to delivering the same menu in Spokane as people have enjoyed at the west side locations.

The corned beef and cabbage ($17) is a popular item, O’Donnell says, and the fish and chips (available in two to four pieces, ranging from $11-$15) is the best seller, made with wildcaught cod and hand-breaded daily. There’s a wide array of burgers and traditional Irish entrees like shepherd’s pie ($16), as well as not-so-traditional items like an Irish whiskey mac and cheese ($16) and an Irish meatloaf ($16) made with ground lamb, beef

and bacon. On weekdays, lunch specials for $10 will get you a choice of Guinness beef stew, shepherd’s pie, a Reuben sandwich, chicken pot pie or two-piece fish and chips.

The bar features no less than 18 Irish whiskeys, including flights of three half-ounce pours for $12, as well as several Scotch options, American whiskeys and beers on tap.

While the food and drink are certainly enough to warrant a visit, so is the chance to check out what Shawn O’Donnell’s looks like inside the building that first opened in 1925 as the New Transfer Market (there’s a photo near the front of Shawn O’Donnell’s from back when it was the grocery store). I never made it to Milford’s, so seeing the sprawling space that at various points housed everything from a tobacco shop to a karate studio now turned into a warm, wood-filled pub and restaurant was a treat.

During the first few days since opening, both O’Donnell and Van Cotthem were surprised at how busy they were, and noted how people responded to seeing the building in action again.

“The community really seems to dig that building,” O’Donnell says.

“Spokane is such a fun city, the people here are willing to try new restaurants,” Van Cotthem adds. “And Spokane cares about this building.”

As Van Cotthem leads a tour through the various nooks and crannies of the place, from a stunning banquet room to the newly refurbished kitchen, he can’t help by delight in the history of the building, and the Spokane artifacts now filling the walls.

“How many people have come through here in the last 95 years?” Van Cotthem muses. “Hopefully we’ll be part of the history for the next 95.” n Shawn O’Donnell’s American Grill and Irish Pub • 719 N. Monroe St. • Open Sun-Thu 11 am-11 pm; Fri-Sat 11 am-midnight • shawnodonnells.com • 326-7251

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FOOD | TO GO BOX

New Tiny Bar to Open

which translates to “the best.” The Sherman Avenue shop features six varieties of olive oil from two locations — in the northern and southern hemisphere so they’re always fresh — from which they also make infused oils. Migliore also has more than two dozen white and 18-year-old dark balsamic vinegars, assorted jams, pasta, pestos, mustards, popcorn and other gourmet items, as well as personal care products and gift items. Look for Olive Oil 101 classes to begin after the holidays and posted on their website, miglioreoliveoilcda.com and on Facebook.

(CARRIE SCOZZARO)

Lil’ Sumthin’ Saloon debuts on New Year’s Eve in downtown Spokane

BLUEBIRD BAKERY OPENS IN SANDPOINT

J

ust before 2019 closes out, we’re getting another really little bar downtown.

Lil’ Sumthin’ Saloon, at 301 W. Second Ave. and just down the door from fellow teeny bar the Tiny Tiki, is hosting its grand opening on New Year’s Eve; Dec. 31 from 9:30 pm-3 am.

Owners Kryston Skinner and Austin Estrada recently relocated to Spokane from Fort Worth, Texas, and designed the bar with a funky, Texas-inspired Western vibe.

Hours after the Dec. 31 opening, which includes a Latinx art show and cowpoke costume contest, are as follows: Wednesday through Saturday from 4 pm-2 am and Sundays from 11 am-4 pm. Happy hour is daily from 4-7 pm with $5 drink and shot specials, and there’s a michelada and Bloody Mary bar with bingo every Sunday from 11:30 am-3 pm. (CHEY SCOTT)

NEW GOURMET OLIVE OIL SHOP IN COEUR D’ALENE Migliore Olive Oil, which opened recently in downtown Coeur d’Alene, pays tribute to owner Debbie Pruneri

36 INLANDER DECEMBER 26, 2019

Soak up some Texas vibes at the new Lil’ Sumthin’ Saloon.

McKeown’s Italian heritage.

“My father was a first generation Italian, born in the small vineyard community of Guasti, California,” McKeown says. “He went to work for the Italian-American market in the colony when he was 14 years old and retired as an owner.”

The seasoning salt blends are from him, while the barrel-themed furniture inside the store relates to McKeown’s grandfather, a cooper (barrel maker). Both men are depicted in the photographic wall murals inside Migliore,

The Sandpoint Farmers Market may be done for the season, but at least one vendor has transformed a downtown space into a new, permanent location for R E S TA U R A N T her artisan breads and FINDER other baked goods.

Looking for a new place to Jill Severson opened eat? Search the region’s Bluebird Bakery this most comprehensive bar fall, renovating the and restaurant guide at space at the corner of Inlander.com/places.

First and Cedar that was formerly home to several generations of kitchen supply stores. It’s brightly lit, featuring handmade tables, fresh DOMA Coffee and other hot drinks, and a modest array of baked goods. Try the flaky, lighter-than-air almond croissant or huckleberry Danish ($4) or take home a crusty boule of sourdough, olive or salted rosemary ($8). Stay tuned to Facebook for news on an expanding menu, including new charcuterie platters ($20) featuring Severson’s pick of gourmet meats, cheeses, pickled items and fruit that pair perfectly with their breads. (CARRIE SCOZZARO) n

TIMELY AND TIMELESS Greta Gerwig’s Little Women ingeniously reworks a literary classic for 21st century audiences

BY MARYANN JOHANSON

D

id we need yet another film version of Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel Little Women, which has been adapted for the big screen and TV at least 20 times? Turns out the answer is a resounding “hell, yes!”

Writer-director Greta Gerwig has given us an absolute treasure of a movie, one that is hugely faithful to the book in the broad sweep yet also skeptical of it in just the right way. Gerwig tells a tale we all know so well with a change of emphasis here, a small twist there, not merely for the sake of something new or to “update” it but to engage in a conversation with the book. This is a 21st century feminist interrogation of an 1860s book that recognizes the cultural pressures that Alcott was under, as a woman and as a writer, even as she wrote about bucking expectations… and the pressures that Gerwig, as a filmmaker, and the girls and women in her modern audience are subject to.

Ingeniously, Gerwig mixes up the timeline of the journey of the March sisters of Concord, Massachusetts, as they grow into womanhood during and just after the Civil War. This works partly as a smart way to give priority to the more dramatic bits: Here’s the youngest, Amy (Florence Pugh), already on her exciting European grand tour right at the beginning of the story! But mostly it serves Gerwig’s purpose of looking askance where the

themes need some rebalancing, which Alcott is unlikely to have had any problem with.

So literary tomboy Jo (Saoirse Ronan) is already in New York as the film opens, talking with a newspaper editor (Tracy Letts) about publishing her short stories, and their conversation — his grudging admiraLITTLE WOMEN tion for her writing, her Rated PG grudging willingness to Directed by Greta Gerwig accept his editorial guidStarring Saoirse Ronan, Emma ance — sets the tone for Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen everything to come. It’s layered in winking awareness that this movie is constructing itself within certain narrative confines and tropes, just as Alcott was doing with her fiction.

Yet there’s nothing dry in Gerwig’s reading between Alcott’s lines. Quite the contrary: This is a film electric with the task of bringing the March sisters — also featuring Emma Watson as Meg and Eliza Scanlen as Beth — to living, breathing life in ways that feel so very fresh. The meta that Gerwig delightfully finds will, I think, satisfy purists who will brook no deviation from the book, as well as those of us who might yearn for a story that can be more progressive than Alcott was able to publicly be.

The result is a movie that is timely and timeless, tradi-

tional and modern; it’s a very welcome reappreciation and interpretation of Alcott and her novel, which seems like the best reason to have bothered with a new movie version of it at all.

That perfect-for-right-now feeling is only deepened by some fine performances: Chris Cooper as the Marches’ neighbor Mr. Laurence moved me to tears in the quiet moment in which he listens to Beth play his long-neglected piano; Laura Dern as Marmee did the same at a difficult mother’s moment. Laurie, the neighbor boy who becomes like a brother to the Marches, is more of a jerk than we’re used to seeing, which feels like a cheeky tweak to Timothée Chalamet’s Sensitive Young Man persona.

Ronan beautifully finds a path among Jo’s passion and temper and intellect, and the tenor of her performance alone is a testament to the conflicting directions in which young women — even today — are pulled. The jumping around in time means we get to see how extraordinarily Pugh lets her Amy mature from spoiled brat to sophisticated and wise young woman with frequent side-by-side comparisons.

I’d love to now throw every classic novel about women at Greta Gerwig and see what she makes of them all. I bet she’d do something amazing with Wuthering Heights or, I dunno, Little House on the Prairie. Someone make that happen. n

DECEMBER 26, 2019 INLANDER 37

FILM | SHORTS

Bombshell

NOW PLAYING A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

A lovely ode to the power of kindness, with an Esquire journalist learning to live more authentically after writing about none other than Mister Rogers.

Tom Hanks, Hollywood’s nicest man, plays the beloved TV personality. (MJ) Rated PG

BOMBSHELL

A mostly toothless but well-acted exposé in the Big Short mold, uncovering the sexual harassment allegations swirling around Fox News and former CEO Roger Ailes. Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman and Margot Robbie star. (NW) Rated R

CATS

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s derided but popular stage musical slinks its way to the big screen, the story of dancing felines competing to sacrifice themselves to their weird cat god. Or something.

(NW) Rated PG

FANTASTIC FUNGI

The culinary, medicinal and psychotropic properties of mushrooms are explored and celebrated in this scientific nature documentary. At the Magic Lantern. (NW)

FORD V. FERRARI

From director James Mangold, a slick dramatization of the relationship between the Ford auto designer (Matt Damon) and the pro driver (Christian Bale) who set out to beat Ferrari in the ’66 24 Hours of Le Mans race. (ES) Rated PG-13

FROZEN II

Solid sequel to the Disney juggernaut, with Queen Elsa, Princess Anna and

38 INLANDER DECEMBER 26, 2019

friends venturing into the wintry wilderness to save their kingdom from a mysterious force of the past. There’s no “Let It Go,” but it’s good enough. (NW) Rated PG

CRITICS’ SCORECARD THE INLANDER

HONEY BOY

METACRITIC.COM (OUT OF 100)

A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

80

BOMBSHELL

64

FROZEN II

65

KNIVES OUT

83

JUMANJI: THE NEXT LEVEL

58

THE RISE OF SKYWALKER

54

UNCUT GEMS

89

HARRIET

The humanitarian and abolitionist Harriet Tubman finally gets a biopic deserving of her legacy, anchored by an electric performance by Cynthia Erivo.

Old-fashioned filmmaking of the highest order. (MJ) Rated PG-13

NEW YORK VARIETY (LOS ANGELES) TIMES

Powerful performances define this metatextual memoir, with Shia LaBeouf (who also scripted) playing a fictional version of his own overbearing father and manager, and Noah Jupe as his child actor son. (NW) Rated R

merely OK. As an evisceration of the one percent, it’s satisfying. (NW) Rated PG-13

ently structured and styled, it aims at big targets and misses. (MJ) Rated R

JOJO RABBIT

LITTLE WOMEN

In this animated caper, a superstar secret agent (voiced by Will Smith) is accidentally turned into a pigeon and finds it’s the ultimate camouflage. (NW) Rated PG

In Taika Waititi’s WWII-set satire, a little boy with an imaginary friend who looks just like Hitler befriends the Jewish girl being hidden by his mother. Its juggling tones and bleak subject matter might not work for everyone. (ES) Rated PG-13

LEVEL

JUMANJI: THE NEXT

Another week, another unnecessary sequel. The teens from the first Jumanji return — with their grandpas this time — and leap back into the video game realm to rescue a missing friend. (MJ) Rated PG-13

KNIVES OUT

Rian Johnson’s all-star whodunit centers on the death of a wealthy patriarch, and the craven relatives that would profit off his demise. As a mystery, it’s

DON’T MISS IT

WORTH $10

Louisa May Alcott’s literary classic about four sisters growing up during and after the Civil War gets a brilliant modernist twist courtesy of Greta Gerwig. A film that’s as timeless as it is timely. (MJ) Rated PG

PARASITE

Satire, slapstick and secrecy collide in Bong Joon-ho’s twisty, Palme d’Orwinning contraption, about a poor South Korean family that insinuates itself into the lives of an upper class clan.

Surprises abound. At the Magic Lantern.

(NW) Rated R

RICHARD JEWELL

Clint Eastwood takes on the FBI and the media in his portrait of the security guard wrongfully accused as the bomber of the ’96 Olympics. Indiffer-

WATCH IT AT HOME

SKIP IT

SPIES IN DISGUISE

STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER

The nine-episode saga goes out with a few big bangs and even more whimpers, as Rey and company jet across the galaxy to not only find the origins of her powers but stop Kylo Ren. (NW) Rated PG-13

UNCUT GEMS

Adam Sandler is getting raves for his star turn in the Safdie brothers’ nailbiting New York odyssey, a night in the life of a jeweler who makes one harebrained decision after another. (MJ) Rated R n

FILM | REVIEW

MOVIE TIMES

TER GIC LAN N THEATER MA TH ND FRI, DEC 27 – THU, JAN 2 TICKETS: $9

on

UNCUT GEMS (135 MIN) FRI/SAT: 3:00, 5:30, 8:15 SUN-THU: 1:15, 3:50, 6:30 PARASITE (132 MIN) FRI/SAT: 6:00 SUN: 4:45 MON-THU: 7:05 JOJO RABBIT (102 MIN) FRI/SAT: 8:30 SUN: 2:35 MON-THU: 5:00 LAST WEEK! FANTASTIC FUNGI (79 MIN) FRI/SAT: 1:15 SUN: 7:15 MON-THU: 3:20 LAST WEEK! HARRIET (125 MIN) FRI/SAT: 1:25 MON-THU: 1:00 A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD (108 MIN) FRI/SAT: 3:45 SUN: 12:30

Adam Sandler gets punch-drunk in the Safdie brothers’ Uncut Gems.

Diamond in the Rough

25 W Main Ave #125 • MagicLanternOnMain.com

SEARCHABLE

by Time,

by Theater,

or Movie

Every Theater. Every Movie. All in one place.

You might feel anxious watching Uncut Gems, or you might simply be annoyed by one man’s bad decisions

BY MARYANN JOHANSON

U

ncut Gems is one of those “his own worst as Howie alternately runs around Manhattan’s enemy” capers. You know, the kind of Diamond District and locks himself in his highmovie where you sit there for two hours security showroom as he attempts to pull off his watching some doofus constantly trip over his biggest score yet: turning the large hunk of raw own laces — usually figuratively, sometimes literblack opal he has imported from Africa into a ally — on the way to a personal epiphany about larger hunk of cash. His plan involves an auction how all his bad choices and lack of useful selfat a fictional luxury house à la Christie’s or Soawareness have led him to whatever unpleasant theby’s, but before he can get there, he has other, place they lead him to. smaller deals to make in an ever-escalating series These movies can be cringeworthy in the of bad moves. The first involves pawning an item protagonist’s pathos, either amusingly so or of incredibly sentimental and financial value that enragingly so. They can engender sympathy or is not his to pawn. And when his deals go wrong, contempt or, ideally, a combination of the two as they inevitably do, he has to up the ante on that nevertheless keeps you on his side. It’s a himself, hoping for a bigger payoff on the next tricky mix to get the balance to a place where one in order to keep the juggling act in motion. the audience is walking that fine line with the Uncut Gems is a movie about addiction: Howie protagonist, his cockiness leavened by poignancy. is a compulsive gambler — sometimes it seems he You should feel like this guy is probably will risk obscene right to hate himself, but you still want amounts of money UNCUT GEMS him to win. just for the “fun” of Rated R Gems directors and co-writers Benny Directed by Josh and Benny Safdie it. And the Safdies and Josh Safdie pulled off this high-wire Starring Adam Sandler, Julia Fox, Kevin Garnett mine undeniable act beautifully with their 2017 film Good cinematic tension Time, in which Robert Pattinson’s small-time out of Howie’s predicament: Sometimes it’s crook engages in an endless doubling-down on physical tension, because people who have lots of appalling decisions, but does so out of a despercash around to play with are generally unhappy ate love for a brother who is unable to care for to be the one getting played. But often it’s himself. His brain may be malfunctioning, but his psychological tension of exactly the sort you’d heart is in the right place. imagine: Every time Howie digs himself deeper The Safdies’ follow-up, alas, trades that into his hole, you want to scream at the screen rough tenderness for unfettered arrogance in the for him to just stop it already. Or for someone shape of Adam Sandler’s Howard Ratner, a New else to stop him.

York City dealer in high-end bling. Uncut Gems This kind of tension should be fun, and it may come laden with the Safdies’ grim arthouse would be, if Howie were worth caring about. cachet — they previously made a film about But Sandler’s smirking is not endearing or even heroin and suicide — but this is in every way vaguely interesting — except, perhaps, to those an Adam Sandler movie. From the title, which who are already fans of Sandler’s typical antics. suggests the positing of its asshole protagonist as To me, this is a turd not polishable by the Safdies’ some kind of heroic diamond in the rough, to the indie cred, and as Uncut Gems lumbers to its finale presence of an adoring much-younger girlfriend (at two hours and 15 minutes, it takes too long to (newcomer Julia Fox) slavishly devoted to Howie get there), I knew that there were only two ways for no apparent reason. Howie also has an esHowie’s exploits could end: either well, in which tranged, age-appropriate wife (Idina Menzel) who case he would get to celebrate his triumph, or screeches at him a lot. She, naturally, is almost as badly, in which case the movie would get to labig a villain here as… ment him as a tragic figure. Either would end up Well, no spoilers. We are dragged along here infuriating me. And I was correct in this. n

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DECEMBER 26, 2019 INLANDER 39

FROM LEFT: Jenny Lewis, Purple Mountains, Lizzo and Billie Eilish

BEST OF

CHOICE SPINS Our picks for the best albums of 2019

I

t was the year of Lizzo breaking into the mainstream, of Billie Eilish becoming the latest gothpop sensation, of Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” smashing Billboard records and Lady Gaga winning her Oscar.

But there was more — a whole lot more — and our annual assemblage of the year’s best albums is proof of that. By my count, only eight artists appear on multiple lists, which means we found plenty from the last 12 months to be top-10 worthy. We’ve got hiphop, garage rock, country, pop, R&B, a few reissues and even a symphonic recording. Enjoy.

40 INLANDER DECEMBER 26, 2019

NATHAN WEINBENDER

MUSIC EDITOR

MEGAN THEE STALLION, FEVER The creator of Hot Girl Summer drops a fiery, X-rated celebration of insatiability as lifestyle. It’s filthy, but fun filthy.

9. CARLY RAE JEPSEN, DEDICATED The best pure pop album of the year, a sugar rush of comehither melodies and club beats, with one undeniable shouldabeen-a-single after another.

8. MIKE KROL, POWER CHORDS This great, unsung hook writer’s most aptly titled album yet.

Scrape off an inch of its lovingly applied sonic sludge and you’d have straight-up bubblegum.

7. ANGEL OLSEN, ALL MIRRORS Few vocalists have the range of Angel Olsen: airy and ethereal one moment, pummeling and bruising the next. This is her best album, harrowing and cathartic in equal measure.

6. FKA TWIGS, MAGDALENE Her proposal to be this generation’s Kate Bush, an album that seems to breathe and pulsate on its own. She may be a fallen alien, but she ultimately finds transcendence on earth.

10.

PURPLE MOUNTAINS, PURPLE MOUNTAINS In more ways than one, the specter of death hangs over David Berman’s final solo album. It’s also droll, perceptive and darkly funny, a self-penned memoriam to a vital voice gone too soon.

4. SHARON VAN ETTEN, REMIND ME TOMORROW The singer-songwriter’s first album in five years feels like a sonic rebirth and an act of therapeutic reflection, a bittersweet embrace of teenage abandon seen through the rearview mirror.

3. TYLER, THE CREATOR, IGOR Like a mad scientist’s assistant pulling levers and reanimating R&B samples with lightning, Tyler’s loose concept album about a bisexual love triangle is so much more grownup than his perverse, Adult Swim-approved horrorcore of yore.

2. WEYES BLOOD, TITANIC RISING It’s rare you find a brand new record that already sounds like a lived-in classic, but Natalie Mering did it. Like a long-lost singersongwriter album found at the bottom of the ocean, every listen is an excavation of more riches and complexities.

1. JENNY LEWIS, ON THE LINE Jenny Lewis’ professional trajectory has the arc of a great 5.

story: A retired child actor becomes a celebrated folk-pop frontwoman, then overcomes heartbreak and creative roadblocks en route to alt-country accolades. On the Line similarly unfolds like a picaresque novel, each chapter introducing a new character who pirouettes into the frame, makes an impression and exits, never to be heard from again. We get cameos from opium addicts, groupies, amorous hitchhikers, a hookup who skips town with our heroine’s nudes, and possibly the devil himself, all amidst tableaus of sticky summer nights and fumbling adolescent lust. Lewis has assembled a traveling band of virtuosos to match — Ringo Starr, Don Was, Beck, pre-scandal Ryan Adams — and the result is a rich, resonant studio sound that further underlines just how good her sense of songcraft is.

DAN NAILEN MANAGING EDITOR

10. The Bangles, the Three O’Clock, the Dream Syndicate and Rain

Parade, 3X4 9. Girlpool, What Chaos Is Imaginary 8. Meat Puppets, Dusty Notes 7. Sleater-Kinney, The Center Won’t Hold 6. Justin Townes Earle, The Saint of Lost Causes 5. Lizzo, Cuz I Love You 4. Bob Mould, Sunshine Rock 3. Jenny Lewis, On the Line 2. The Highwomen, Highwomen 1. PURPLE MOUNTAINS, PURPLE MOUNTAINS Did I listen to this album more than I would have because David Berman committed suicide just weeks after its release, and a month before I was slated to see him perform on a farm outside Walla Walla? Definitely. But the repeated listens did nothing but reward me with the best album of the year. It’s easy now to view the former Silver Jews frontman’s lyrics through the lens of his untimely end, and the songs do turn an uncomfortable spotlight on Berman’s difficult life in the 10 years since he last made an album. But there’s joy, too, that comes through hearing Berman’s poetry set to jaunty, rumbling roots-rock. Every line offers a lesson in efficiently killer songwriting, and the feeling after listening to Purple Mountains’ 10 songs is anything but morose.

C.A. COYLE

CONTRIBUTOR

10. The Uncalled 4, Cotton Fields 9. Knights of Trash, Train Wreck 8. Coloured Balls, Heavy Metal Kid

7. The Victims, Horror Smash 6. Belly Jelly, Belly Jelly 5. Perfect Buzz, In Your Face 4. The 5.6.7.8’s & Bloodshot Bill, My Little Muck Muck 3. King Salami and the Cumberland Three, The Pulpo Dance 2. Warm Leather, Manic Static

1. POWERSOLO, TRANSFIXING MOTHERF---ER A perfect storm at the end of 2018 led me to pre-order POWERSOLO’s Transfixing Motherf---er EP. 1) Slovenly Records was having a sale, and 2) though I knew nothing about them, I recognized the name POWERSOLO as a headliner for an upcoming show with one of my favorite regional acts, the F---king Eagles. Thus, one could conclude the purchase was on a semi-educated whim. Eleven months after landing it, I can confidently say I’ve spun — physically and digitally — the A-side’s “Backstab” well over 200 times in 2019. Describing its brilliance would cost me too many words, so I’ll just say that every time a

Quentin Tarantino movie is made without this song soundtracking a fight scene, god kills a kitten. Your move, Q.T.

CONNOR DINNISON

CONTRIBUTOR

10. Kazu, Adult Baby 9. Chris Cohen, Chris Cohen 8. Avey Tare, Conference of Birds / Birds in Disguise 7. Mac DeMarco, Here Comes the Cowboy 6. Floating Points, Crush 5. Devon Welsh, True Love 4. Galcher Lustwerk, Information 3. Xiu Xiu, Girl with Basket of Fruit 2. The Replacements, Dead Man’s Pop

1. BETH GIBBONS & THE POLISH NATIONAL RADIO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, HENRYK GÓRECKI: SYMPHONY NO. 3 (SYMPHONY OF SORROWFUL SONGS) If ever a piece of art could encapsulate the ineluctable cocktail of horror, hope and sorrow de profundis that was the aftermath of World War II and the Holocaust, Polish composer Henryk Górecki’s 1976 masterpiece, Symphony No. 3 (“Symphony of Sorrowful Songs”), comes close. Krzysztof Penderecki’s take here — with Beth Gibbons of the experimental English pop group Portishead singing soprano across its three movements — is, in its sobering bleakness, transcendent, a revelatory concomitant of Shoah survivor Viktor Frankl’s observation: “Man is that being who invented the gas chambers of Auschwitz; however, he is also that being who entered those chambers upright, with the Lord’s Prayer or the Shema Yisrael on his lips.”

HOWARD HARDEE

CONTRIBUTOR

10. Big Thief, U.F.O.F. 9. DJ Shadow, Our Pathetic Age 8. Tool, Fear Inoculum 7. Whitney, Forever Turned Around 6. Twyn, ii and ii (b) 5. Vampire Weekend, Father of the Bride 4. Gang Starr, One of the Best Yet 3. Claypool Lennon Delirium, South of Reality 2. Weyes Blood, Titanic Rising

1. YEASAYER, EROTIC RERUNS Erotic Reruns is by no means the most artistically substantial or culturally relevant album of 2019, but it’s the one I enjoyed listening to the most. The recently disbanded Brooklyn trio were guided by a delightfully strange sensibility since debuting with the 2007 LP All Hour Cymbals, smashing together elements of indie-rock, worldbeat and electronic music in the manner of Animal Collective. When these dudes made a record, they were liable to go absolutely bonkers — and that’s why it’s surprising for Yeasayer to put out such a conventional album with falsetto-heavy funk songs like “Ecstatic Baby” and “People I Loved.” And about that falsetto singing: At its best, it sounds like Midnite Vultures-era Beck, which is as high as my praise goes for goofy whiteboy funk.

BEN SALMON

CONTRIBUTOR

10. (tie) Clairo, Immunity / Dylan LeBlanc, Renegade 9. Business of Dreams, Ripe for Anarchy 8. The New Pornographers, In the Morse Code of Brake Lights 7. Great Grandpa, Four of Arrows 6. Jamila Woods, LEGACY! LEGACY! 5. Cabana Wear, Cabana Wear 4. Florist, Emily Alone 3. Oso Oso, Basking in the Glow 2. Weyes Blood, Titanic Rising

1. BRUTUS, NEST

Lots of bands claim to deftly blend different genres into one unique sound. Few do it as well as Brutus, a bracing Belgian trio that expertly walks the imaginary lines between post-rock, pop, punk and metal. Each member plays an important role: Bassist Peter Mulders and drummer Stefanie Mannaerts are a pounding rhythm section that pushes Brutus along at the pace of hardcore and thrash. And Stijn Vanhoegaerden drapes the songs in barbed arcs of electric guitar worthy of an Explosions in the Sky crescendo. But it’s Mannaerts’ voice — sharp, clear, quivering with intensity — that makes Brutus truly special. Her melodies on Nest are grand and deceptively catchy, which transforms Brutus from just another heavy band to the kind of heavy band anyone can love.

JORDAN SATTERFIELD

10. Tyler, the Creator, Igor 9. Young Guv, Guv I & II 8. Moodymann, Sinner 7. Full of Hell, Weeping Choir 6. Weyes Blood, Titanic Rising 5. Fennesz, Agora 4. Angel Olsen, All Mirrors 3. FKA Twigs, Magdalene 2. Sunn O))), Life Metal

CONTRIBUTOR

1. NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS, GHOSTEEN In the surreal and heavenly world of Ghosteen, everything moves in slow motion. Every melodic detail is respected equally, from heartbreaking whispers to soaring choral verses. Cave has a big heart, and here he showcases a perfected ability to balance tragedy with euphoria. Ghosteen is an absolute sonic original through and through, managing to make a sincere human connection while wringing melodrama from its synthetic shimmer.

Cave has left the grieving pessimism from his past behind him, making way for something far more enthralling — a salvation of sorts, and eventually a remarkable inner peace. We are lucky to hear it all happening in real time.

SETH SOMMERFELD

CONTRIBUTOR

10. PAWS, Your Church on My Bonfire 9. Jay Som, Anak Ko 8. Pup, Morbid Stuff 7. Said the Whale, Cascadia 6. Great Grandpa, Four of Arrows 5. Lizzo, Cuz I Love You 4. Vagabon, Vagabon 3. An Horse, Modern Air 2. Charly Bliss, Young Enough

1. BILLIE EILISH, WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? is essentially what you get when you filter Lorde’s Pure Heroine through the vessel of a neon Wednesday Addams. It’s a superstar pop debut record from a teen prodigy whose musical canny belies her age, but this one’s more overtly, intentionally weird (hello, song centered around The Office samples) and dark (the knife sharpening beat of “You Should See Me in a Crown”).

Amidst the barrage of undeniable choruses (“Bad Guy” is a megahit for a reason), don’t sleep on the emotiveness of Eilish’s voice, or the wild sonic diversity that she and her producer brother Finneas craft, from the soft piano bar ballad “Listen Before I Go” to the melancholy hymnal vibes of “When the Party’s Over.” n

DECEMBER 26, 2019 INLANDER 41

MUSIC | SOUND ADVICE

HIP-HOP THE PHARCYDE

I

t’s not often that hip-hop royalty swings through town, so it would be a big mistake to miss the Pharcyde. They broke out of L.A. at the end of the ’80s, instantly earning fans for inventive sampling and smooth flow and jumpstarting the careers of producers J-Swift and the late, great J Dilla. If you know them for anything, it’s likely their seminal 1992 debut Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde, whose second single “Passin’ Me By” eventually topped the rap charts the following year; other hits like “Runnin’” and “Drop” soon followed. The Pharcyde’s current lineup still features founding members Imani and Bootie Brown, and they’ll take you on a bizarre ride right back to the early ’90s.

— NATHAN WEINBENDER The Pharcyde with Kung Fu Vinyl • Thu, Jan. 2 at 8 pm • $35 • 21+ • Lucky You Lounge • 1801 W. Sunset Blvd. • luckyyoulounge.com

J = THE INLANDER RECOMMENDS THIS SHOW J = ALL AGES SHOW

Thursday, 12/26

A&P’S BAR AND GRILL, Open Mic J BABY BAR, Bad Motivator, Nat Park & the Tunnels of Love, Fun Ladies BERSERK, Vinyl Meltdown BEVERLY’S, Robert Vaughn J BOOTS BAKERY, The Song Project BRIDGE PRESS CELLARS, Open Mic J BUCER’S COFFEEHOUSE PUB, Open Jazz Jam with Erik Bowen CRUISERS, Open Jam Night FIZZIE MULLIGANS, Country Dance J HOUSE OF SOUL, Jazz Thursdays LION’S LAIR, Karaoke LUCKY YOU LOUNGE, Bob Riggs, Erin Parkes, Eric Kegley MOOSE LOUNGE, Last Chance Band MY PLACE, DJ Dave THE NYC PIANO BAR, Dueling Pianos PARAGON BREWING, Pickin’ Pear RIDLER PIANO BAR, Dueling Pianos TAPP’D OFF, Karaoke on the Patio YAYA BREWING, Jonathan Tibbetts ZOLA, Blake Braley Band

Friday, 12/27

219 LOUNGE, Right Front Burner A&P’S BAR AND GRILL, DJ Skwish ARBOR CREST WINE, Nobody Famous BEVERLY’S, Robert Vaughn BIGFOOT PUB, Rock Candy BOLO’S, Mojo Box BOOMBOX PIZZA, Karaoke J BUCER’S COFFEEHOUSE PUB, Dol Baran Reunion Jam J COEUR D’ALENE CASINO, Midland CORBY’S BAR, Karaoke COSMIC COWBOY GRILL, Pat Coast CRUISERS, Karaoke with Gary EAGLES LODGE, Stagecoach West THE FISCHIN’ HOLE, Joey Anderson GEM STATE CLUB, Better Daze, Hobo Hangout, Keanu & Joey J HEARTWOOD CENTER, Queen Suite and the Wagoner Family Trio THE HIVE, JamShack IDAHO POUR AUTHORITY, Mobius Riff

42 INLANDER DECEMBER 26, 2019

TRIBUTE ZOSO

S

pokane sure enjoys its tribute bands, and the Led Zeppelin cover act Zoso has made an annual tradition of packing the Knitting Factory at the end of the year. They must keep coming back because the Inland Northwest shows them… a whole lotta love.

Sorry, sorry. Anyway, they’ll be here again to send out 2019 on a screaming high note. Zoso, named for the sobriquet given to Zeppelin’s iconic IV album, has long been recreating the look and sound and strut of the great rock band at its peak, with setlists that highlight the Nordic wails of “The Immigrant Song,” the baroque excesses of “Stairway to Heaven” and the thundering drum solo in “Moby Dick.”

— NATHAN WEINBENDER Zoso: The Ultimate Led Zeppelin Experience with Fury 500 and Light in Mirrors • Fri, Dec. 27 at 8 pm • $20 • All ages • Knitting Factory • 919 W. Sprague Ave. • sp.knittingfactory. com • 244-3279

THE JACKSON ST., Kenny James Miller Band J J KNITTING FACTORY, Zoso: The Ultimate Led Zeppelin Experience (see above), Fury 500, Light in Mirrors LEFTBANK WINE BAR, Carey Brazil THE LOFT, Steve Fleming LUCKY YOU LOUNGE, ROSETHROW MATCHWOOD BREWING CO., Ruff Scrumpie MAX AT MIRABEAU, Laffin’ Bones MULLIGAN’S BAR & GRILLE, Kosh MY PLACE, DJ Dave NASHVILLE NORTH, Ladies Night with Luke Jaxon and DJ Tom NORTHERN QUEST RESORT & CASINO, Tom Pletscher THE NYC PIANO BAR, Dueling Pianos PACIFIC PIZZA, Lucas Brookbank Brown PEND D’OREILLE WINERY, Ben Baker RIDLER PIANO BAR, Dueling Pianos

RIVERBANK TAPHOUSE, Nick Grow J SARANAC COMMONS, Kevin Partridge SILVER MOUNTAIN SKI RESORT, Sam Leyde (at Noah’s) STORMIN’ NORMAN’S, DJ Danger ZOLA, Nightshift

Saturday, 12/28

219 LOUNGE, Zach Cooper Band 1210 TAVERN, Three Way Street A&P’S BAR AND GRILL, DJ Kevin ARBOR CREST WINE, One Street Over BARLOWS, Into the Drift Duo BEVERLY’S, Robert Vaughn BIGFOOT PUB, Rock Candy BOLO’S, Mojo Box BRANDYWINE BAR, John Firshi J BUCER’S COFFEEHOUSE PUB, Jon & Rand Band J COEUR D’ALENE CASINO, Midland COSMIC COWBOY GRILL, Son of Brad EAGLES LODGE, Sharky and the Fins

EICHARDT’S, Bright Moments Jazz HONEY EATERY, Matt Russell J HUCKLEBERRY’S, Tommy Gantt IDAHO POUR AUTHORITY, Turn Spit Dogs J IRON GOAT BREWING CO., Tonya Ballman THE JACKSON ST., Karaoke KNITTING FACTORY, Rebirth, TRUTH, Pigeon Hole, Templo LEFTBANK WINE, Jonathan Tibbitts J LUCKY YOU LOUNGE, Evergreen Afrodub Orchestra, Funky Unkle MAX AT MIRABEAU, Laffin’ Bones MOONDOLLARS, Steve Fleming MULLIGAN’S BAR, Jody Piper NASHVILLE NORTH, Ladies Night NIGHTHAWK LOUNGE (CDA CASINO), Ryan Larsen Band NORTHERN QUEST, Tom Pletscher THE NYC PIANO BAR, Dueling Pianos PEND D’OREILLE WINERY, Brian Jacobs

THE PIN, Flynn, CCB Krew & more POST FALLS BREWING, Christy Lee RIDLER PIANO BAR, Dueling Pianos SILVER MOUNTAIN SKI RESORT, Kyle Swaffard (at Noah’s) STORMIN’ NORMAN’S, DJ Danger WESTWOOD BREWING, Sam Leyde ZOLA, Nightshift

Sunday, 12/29

CRAVE, DJ Dave DALEY’S CHEAP SHOTS, Blues Jam GARLAND PUB & GRILL, Karaoke HOGFISH, Open Mic IRON HORSE (VALLEY), Kosh LINGER LONGER LOUNGE, Open Jam THE NYC PIANO BAR, Dueling Pianos O’DOHERTY’S, Traditional Irish Music PEND D’OREILLE WINERY, Piano Sunday with Dwayne Parsons RED ROOM LOUNGE, Jason Perry Trio THE ROXIE, Hillyard Billys ZOLA, Glass Honey

Monday, 12/30

MUSIC | VENUES

THE BULL HEAD, Songsmith Series J CALYPSOS COFFEE, Open Mic COSMIC COWBOY, Kyle Swaffard CRAVE, DJ Dave EICHARDT’S, Jam with Truck Mills THE NYC PIANO BAR, Dueling Pianos J PANIDA THEATER, Ben Klein & The Rocketeers RED ROOM LOUNGE, Open Mic ZOLA, Perfect Mess

New Year’s Eve

219 LOUNGE, The Miah Kohal Band 1210 TAVERN, Black Jack Band A&P’S BAR AND GRILL, DJ Skwish BEST WESTERN CDA, Roundabout BIGFOOT PUB, Karaoke with Gavin BOLO’S, Mojo Box BOOMBOX PIZZA, Karaoke BRANDYWINE BAR, Katie Fisher BULL HEAD, My Own Worst Enemy COEUR D’ALENE EAGLES, Jan Harrison Blues Experience CRAVE, DJ Dave CRUISERS, Psidium, Farmacy CURLEY’S, Dragonfly EAGLES LODGE, Theresa Edwards Band

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GARLAND PUB & GRILL, Karaoke HAPPY TRAILS TO BREWS, Alisha K & The Boys THE HIVE, Hive NYE Ball ft. Collectivity IDAHO POUR AUTHORITY, John Firshi JOHN’S ALLEY, Dash, Willy Jay Tracy & Sultry Swine LEFTBANK WINE BAR, JC & Brandito LUCKY YOU LOUNGE, ’80s NYE MAX AT MIRABEAU, New Years Eve ft.

Bobby Patterson Band MOOSE LOUNGE, Loose Gazoonz MOOTSY’S, DJ CA$E, S4LT, Portable Morla NORTHERN QUEST RESORT & CASINO, The Bootie Shakers THE NYC PIANO BAR, ’80s Party NYNE, Roaring 20s NYE Party POST FALLS BREWING, Bill Bozly RAZZLE’S BAR & GRILL, Itt’s Cuzzin RIDLER PIANO BAR, Dueling Pianos THE ROXIE, Open Mic/Jam SILVER MOUNTAIN SKI RESORT, Sam Leyde (at Noah’s) SPOKANE VALLEY EAGLES, Stagecoach West TAPP’D OFF, Karaoke on the Patio THE VIKING, Songsmith Series ZOLA, Desperate 8s

Wednesday, 01/1 New Year’s Day; contact venues for show info

J LUCKY YOU LOUNGE, The Pharcyde, Kung Fu Vinyl, Jan. 2 LUCKY YOU LOUNGE, Cracker, Camper Van Beethoven, Buffalo Jones, Jan. 5

v

Coming Up ...

219 LOUNGE • 219 N. First, Sandpoint • 208-2639934 A&P’S BAR & GRILL • 222 N. First, Sandpoint • 208-263-2313 ARBOR CREST WINE CELLARS • 4705 N. Fruit Hill Rd. • 927-9463 BABY BAR • 827 W. First Ave. • 847-1234 BARLOWS • 1428 N. Liberty Lake Rd. • 924-1446 BEEROCRACY • 911 W. Garland Ave. BERSERK • 125 S. Stevens • 714-9512 THE BIG DIPPER • 171 S. Washington • 863-8098 BIGFOOT PUB • 9115 N. Division St. • 467-9638 BING CROSBY THEATER • 901 W. Sprague Ave. • 227-7638 BLACK DIAMOND • 9614 E. Sprague • 891-8357 BOLO’S • 116 S. Best Rd. • 891-8995 BOOMERS • 18219 E. Appleway Ave. • 755-7486 BOOTS BAKERY & LOUNGE • 24 W. Main Ave. • 703-7223 BRIDGE PRESS CELLARS • 39 W. Pacific • 838-7815 BUCER’S COFFEEHOUSE PUB • 201 S. Main, Moscow • 208-882-5216 THE BULL HEAD • 10211 S. Electric • 838-9717 CALYPSOS COFFEE & CREAMERY • 116 E. Lakeside Ave., CdA • 208-665-0591 CHECKERBOARD BAR • 1716 E. Sprague Ave. • 535-4007 COEUR D’ALENE CASINO • 37914 S. Nukwalqw Rd., Worley, Idaho • 800-523-2464 COEUR D’ALENE CELLARS • 3890 N. Schreiber Way, CdA • 208-664-2336 COSMIC COWBOY GRILL • 412 W. Haycraft, CdA • 208-277-0000 CRAFTED TAP HOUSE • 523 Sherman Ave., CdA • 208-292-4813 CRAVE• 401 W. Riverside • 321-7480 CRUISERS • 6105 W Seltice Way, Post Falls • 208773-4706 CURLEY’S • 26433 W. Hwy. 53 • 208-773-5816 DALEY’S CHEAP SHOTS • 6412 E. Trent • 535-9309 EICHARDT’S PUB • 212 Cedar St., Sandpoint • 208-263-4005 FIRST INTERSTATE CENTER FOR THE ARTS • 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. • 279-7000 FIZZIE MULLIGANS • 331 W. Hastings • 466-5354 FOX THEATER • 1001 W. Sprague • 624-1200 THE HIVE • 207 N. First, Sandpoint • 208-457-2392 HOGFISH • 1920 E. Sherman, CdA • 208-667-1896 HONEY EATERY & SOCIAL CLUB • 317 E. Sherman, CdA • 208-930-1514 HOUSE OF SOUL • 25 E. Lincoln • 598-8783 IRON GOAT BREWING • 1302 W. 2nd • 474-0722 IRON HORSE BAR • 407 E. Sherman Ave., CdA • 208-667-7314 IRON HORSE BAR & GRILL • 11105 E. Sprague Ave., CdA • 509-926-8411 JACKSON ST. BAR & GRILL • 2436 N. Astor St. • 315-8497 JOHN’S ALLEY • 114 E. Sixth St., Moscow • 208883-7662 KNITTING FACTORY • 911 W. Sprague Ave. • 244-3279 LAGUNA CAFÉ • 2013 E. 29th Ave. • 448-0887 THE LANTERN TAP HOUSE • 1004 S. Perry St. • 315-9531 LEFTBANK WINE BAR • 108 N. Washington • 315-8623 LION’S LAIR • 205 W. Riverside • 456-5678 LUCKY YOU LOUNGE • 1801 W. Sunset LUCKY’S IRISH PUB • 408 W. Sprague • 747-2605 MARYHILL WINERY • 1303 W. Summit Pkwy, Ste. 100 • 443-3832 MAX AT MIRABEAU • 1100 N. Sullivan • 924-9000 MICKDUFF’S • 312 N. First Ave., Sandpoint • 208)255-4351 MONARCH MOUNTAIN COFFEE • 208 N 4th Ave, Sandpoint • 208-265-9382 MOOSE LOUNGE • 401 E. Sherman • 208-664-7901 MOOTSY’S • 406 W. Sprague • 838-1570 MULLIGAN’S • 506 Appleway Ave., CdA • 208- 7653200 ext. 310 NASHVILLE NORTH • 6361 W. Seltice Way, Post Falls • 208-457-9128 NORTHERN QUEST RESORT • 100 N. Hayford Rd., Airway Heights • 242-7000 NYNE • 232 W. Sprague Ave. • 474-1621 O’SHAY’S • 313 E. CdA Lake Dr. • 208-667-4666 PACIFIC PIZZA • 2001 W. Pacific • 443-5467 PEND D’OREILLE WINERY • 301 Cedar St., Sandpoint • 208-265-8545 THE PIN • 412 W. Sprague • 385-1449 POST FALLS BREWING CO. • 112 N. Spokane, Post Falls • 208-773-7301 RAZZLE’S BAR & GRILL • 10325 N. Government Way, Hayden • 208-635-5874 RED ROOM LOUNGE • 521 W. Sprague • 838-7613 REPUBLIC BREWING • 26 Clark Ave. • 775-2700 RIDLER PIANO BAR • 718 W. Riverside • 822-7938 SEASONS OF COEUR D’ALENE • 209 E. Lakeside Ave. • 208-664-8008 THE SHOP • 924 S. Perry St. • 534-1647 SOULFUL SOUPS & SPIRITS • 117 N. Howard St. • 459-1190 SPOKANE ARENA • 720 W. Mallon • 279-7000 STORMIN’ NORMAN’S SHIPFACED SALOON • 12303 E. Trent • 862-4852 ZOLA • 22 W. Main Ave. • 624-2416

DECEMBER 26, 2019 INLANDER 43

SCREEN LAUGHTER IN THE DARK

For dyed-in-the-wool theater fans, the Bing’s long-running Stage to Screen series is something of a godsend, bringing filmed presentations of London’s finest theatrical productions to the big screen in Spokane. It’s a whole lot cheaper than a plane ticket. The series’ latest feature is Present Laughter, Noël Coward’s semi-autobiographical 1939 farce about an uptight actor who, as he prepares to leave for a professional obligation in Africa, must contend with his wife, his mistresses, his secretary and a self-destructive young playwright. This production, filmed at London’s Old Vic, stars Andrew Scott (aka Moriarty on Sherlock and Hot Priest on Fleabag) in a role that has been tackled by everyone from Peter O’Toole to Ian McKellen to Kevin Kline to Coward himself. Consider this a precursor to the Civic Theatre’s upcoming production of Present Laughter, opening Jan. 10.

— NATHAN WEINBENDER Stage to Screen: Present Laughter • Sun, Dec. 29 at 2 pm • $10-$15 • Bing Crosby Theater • 901 W. Sprague Ave. • bingcrosbytheater.com • 227-7638

COMEDY KILLER LAUGHS

If you’ve yet to get into Spokane native Dan Cummins’ comedy, why not make a late-year resolution to fix that right now? Consider the four shows he’s doing over three days right after Christmas an ample opportunity. He’s the popular host of the Timesuck podcast that delves into all manner of weird history — from serial killers to Scientology — and Cummins’ curiosity lends to some stellar standup, too. These shows are part of his “Happy Murder Tour,” so if your sensibilities are at all delicate, he might not be for you. But you’ll have to go to find out for sure.

— DAN NAILEN Dan Cummins • Thu-Fri, Dec. 26-27 at 7:30 pm; Sat, Dec. 28 at 7:30 pm and 10 pm • $18-$35 • Spokane Comedy Club • 315 W. Sprague Ave. • spokanecomedyclub.com • 318-9998

44 INLANDER DECEMBER 26, 2019

MUSIC TEXAS GOLD

Neo-traditional Texas trio Midland is having one hell of a year thanks to the success of their Let It Roll album, their sophomore release this summer that hit No. 1 on Billboard’s country album chart. Steeped in killer harmonies, Midland’s songs are reminiscent of everything from George Strait to the Eagles, and their sound has clearly struck a chord just two albums into their career. In 2018 they were named New Vocal Duo or Group of the Year at the Academy of Country Music Awards, and they haven’t slowed down since.

Lucky for the Inland Northwest country fans, they’re here for two shows.

— DAN NAILEN Midland • Fri-Sat, Dec. 27-28 at 7 pm • $95-$125 • Coeur d’Alene Casino • 37194 S. Nukwalqw Rd., Worley, Idaho • cdacasino.com • 800-523-2464

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“S P O K E S M A N R E V I E W B U I L D I N G ” BY M EG A N P E R K I N 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.

COMEDY WORKING IT

There are many worse ways to ring in the new year than to do it laughing, so consider a jaunt to the Spokane Comedy Club to see one of the more hilarious folks possible help you do just that. While you might not know the name, Erik Griffin was a highlight of the consistently excellent Workaholics in the role of Montez Walker. A writer, actor, stand-up comedian and podcast host (because that’s apparently legally required of all comedians), Griffin is a series regular on Showtime’s I’m Dying Up Here, and you can find his standup specials The Ugly Truth and Amerikan Warrior streaming on Netflix and Amazon. If you’re looking to laugh your way into 2020, you’re in safe hands.

— DAN NAILEN Erik Griffin • Tue, Dec. 31 at 7:30 and 10:30 pm • $20-$30 • Spokane Comedy Club • 315 W. Sprague Ave. • spokanecomedyclub.com • 318-9998

OUTDOORS WINTER WONDERLAND

After a night of revelry to welcome 2020, spend the first day of the new year in calm reflection with nature by partaking in one of several local, guided outings offered for this year’s First Day Hikes program. Events are organized in state parks across the nation, including here in the Inland Northwest. Even if you don’t sign up for one of the following events, all visitors can access Washington State Parks for free, without needing a Discover Pass, on Jan. 1.

At Mt. Spokane, First Day Hikes include advanced and beginner snowshoe treks, along with a “First Day Ski” in the park’s Nordic area. At Riverside State Park, there’s a kid-friendly hike along the Little Spokane River, along with two other route options for more experienced hikers. Register to participate in any of these adventures by Dec. 27, and don’t wait if you want to join in as each outing is limited to 30 people.

— CHEY SCOTT First Day Hikes • Tue, Jan. 1; times vary • Free • Events at Mt. Spokane State Park and Riverside State Park • Details at adventureawaits.com

SPOKANE’S OFFICIAL

JANUARY 3 r d, 2 02 0

f irstf ridays p ok ane.org

DECEMBER 26, 2019 INLANDER 45

I SAW YOU CUTE LITTLE NISSAN... I’m so incredibly shy and socially awkward... I asked if that was your cute little Nissan, but I should have just left a note with my number on it! (Near Holy Family, on a Wednesday). Was with a client and on duty, so I couldn’t say much more than “nice Tool sticker.” You are magnetic and very pretty! I Saw You! :) Hope life is treating you well!

LOST YOU Along the path of what was supposed to be positive and bring us closer together I saw you slip away and into that snake’s car. You said she was a mistake but she’s in love with you and we are slipping back into what we tried to improve. Maybe she’s meant to be. I saw you slip away and my heart breaks daily for not being good enough to please you.

CHEERS MR. CHRISTMAS MOVIE MAN Inlander: To whom I should submit this, I am not certain, but once you read some of these invites you’ll laugh so hard you’ll be hurtin’. You see, there once was a boy, rather we’ll call him a man.

He sent Christmas movie invites to all of his clan. These were no ordinary invitations, they were valued textual

SOUND OFF

gifts; welcomed by the clan, describing the Christmas movie spiritual lifts.

A movie marathon is indeed what ensued this season, where friends of all walks gathered to view and be reminded of The Reason. To tell you of the invitations that were sent to us all would not do it justice, you must see for yourself, feel free to bawl.

From laughing so hard, yes that is what I mean, because these invites, you see, are everything. Please enjoy my dear friend’s nature, he is one of the greatest people indeed, and to him Christmas is the most exciting time, so pay these texts ample heed. Merry Christmas one and all, I know I’m in the seasonal spirit, with extra thanks to my friend Ryan, his Christmas bell still rings; can you hear it? In all seriousness, I have a friend who sends weekly (sometimes biweekly) movie night invites to watch Christmas movies at his home. We have had an entire Christmas movie marathon, totaling around 20 (more or less) Christmas movies in these few short weeks. The invites are so ingenious I have looked at jobs I can get him at Amazon as a Content Writer of the sort (I work for Amazon). He is one of the most Christmas-obsessed people I know and he would be the perfect person to do some sort of Christmas exposè or highlight on. I’d love to send you some of the hilarious, witty and thoughtful evites he sends.

People in our friend group have begun reading them to friends and coworkers outside of our movie night group and he has become a bit of a local celebrity.

Please feel free to email me if you’d like some examples... Even if just to brighten your day and get a laugh or two from you and the people around you. They’re worth it, I promise. Merry Christmas, and I wish you a wonderful rest of your 2019! -Lea Dilling MY EX MAMA MACE I miss you and I know you miss me too! I hope this holiday season is good to you and your lil stinky. Bless you for who you are and continue to strive to be! Any man could be so lucky to have you be his baby mama! Forever grateful for our

time together! I’m sorry it didn’t last forever but that’s just how it goes, for now I suppose.

“

BREAD BOWL SCRAMBLE

EARLY BIRD DINNER 2PM-5PM

even in the face of cold hard reasoning, logic, or proof to the CONTRARY, PEOPLE BLIGHTED WITH THIS PARTICULARLY CLOYING MALADY

Does Spokane have an inordinate amount of rude people or does every city have an equal amount of rude proletariat?

JEERS THAT’S NOT YOURS Jeers to the kid in the Trentwood area, Adams Road who keeps messing with things in residents’ yards. Yeah, I saw you throw a frozen snowball at that inflatable dragon. That stuff doesn’t belong to you, and I’m sure you’d be angry if people came to your house and started messing with your things. I called you out, but I doubt that had any effect.

You seem like the kind of jerk who doesn’t care for other people’s personal space.

BOX STORE NAZIS Does Spokane have an inordinate amount of rude people or does every city have an equal amount of rude proletariat? It continually amazes me that not only are the “customers” in stores rude, but that the “employees” of those same stores often are even more rude. Just the other day, I actually witnessed an employee chastising a customer because the aforementioned had the audacity to keep the cart on her own side of the register. I was appalled to watch the employee treat the customer disrespectfully because she didn’t know the policy (“the cart always goes on the same side as the register” [dirty look/eyeroll]). Spokane certainly wouldn’t win an award as the prettiest city, but it also isn’t an ugly one. It’s too bad so many of its

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.”

HOME STYLE BREAKFAST, LUNCH & DINNER SERVED 6AM -6PM MON - SUN

inhabitants seem to be most ugly on the inside. In the meantime, I’ll be avoiding the box stores and doing my best to support small businesses. If the

“employees” aren’t interested in being courteous to those who support their places of employment, I’d rather go elsewhere. Finally, if your response is “who cares?” I trust that your supervisor will say the same to you when you lose your job. Also, don’t apply for a job with me. I only hire people of quality. Who dat! Who dat! Who dat!

TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME Believe it or not, recently I spoke with a man who was absolutely convinced that President Donald Trump was the cause of this MAN’S EXPENSIVE HUNTING DOG RUNNING AWAY and not returning... and the gentleman was in total possession of all of his faculties. A similar situation: a civil service pensioner, with a college degree = who is proof positive that President Trump has COMPLETELY RUINED THIS COUNTRY’S NATURAL RESOURCES BEYOND REPAIR. (Which would be QUITE THE FETE ALL BY HIMSELF, IN 2 1/2 YEARS; would you not think???) Some darling senior citizens at the Senior Center, even believe MR. TRUMP GUILTY OF SPIKING THEIR BLOOD PRESSURE, OR TRIGGERING THEIR COLITIS. So what ALL OF THESE GOOD FOLKS HAVE IN COMMON IS “TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME,” i.e. SMEARING PRES. TRUMP’S NAME ALL OVER ANYTHING NEGATIVE, NO MATTER HOW RIDICULOUS OR OFFTHE-WALL. Sadly the final dynamic (WHY it’s called a “Syndrome”) is that,

”

(“Trump Derangement Syndrome”) ARE LIKE ALCOHOLICS DRINKING A 5TH OF WHISKEY EACH DAY, YET INSISTING THEY DON’T HAVE A DRINKING PROBLEM. The TDS individuals CLAIM they aren’t out to “GET” MR. TRUMP, WHILE AT THE SAME TIME CONTINUALLY LOOKING FOR NEW OPPORTUNITIES TO KANGAROOCOURT HIM WITH SOMETHING HE COULDN’T POSSIBLY BE RESPONSIBLE FOR. RE: SECURE YOUR DOGS The poster said that the dog jumped out of the truck, not out of the BED of the truck.

I read it like the dog was in the cab, the door opened, and the dog excitedly got out. Let’s assume the best of people <3 especially the type of person who is willing to take the time to post an apology when they felt like they could have handled a situation better. n

THIS WEEK'S ANSWERS P A P A E L L A N E A R T O F R O N D U N S R B I C L I H I D E I L O N E X T T A X M A V E N T E S T

E P M I U C T S T D O S F O F S Z T O A N G E E D

N O S H

D E S I N E O W U T T O O N F S

B E E R C A N O B I T

T Y R O

S E D G Y

P R O S E C S C H O E A O R H I G E E E

A I N T

R E N O W O N H M E V M I A L N G O R L I O N

JIMMY BUFFETT’S

©

$ 99 Set Your Mind on Island Time.

ESCAPE TO MARGARITAVILLE

1412 W, 2ND AVE, SPOKANE • 509-474-9214

46 INLANDER DECEMBER 26, 2019

E A S Y O N

E T S H L Y G E N T U S

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.

STARTING AT

85

S P A R T A

BOOK BY

JANUARY 21-26

GREG GARCIA

&

MIKE O’MALLEY

MUSIC AND LYRICS BY

JIMMY BUFFETT

FIRST INTERSTATE CENTER FOR THE ARTS

EVENTS | CALENDAR

BENEFIT

ERIK BRUHJELL MEMORIAL FUNDRAISER Evans Brothers Coffee Roasters is hosting a fundraiser benefiting Panhandle Animal Shelter in honor of Erik Bruhjell, a 22-year-old Sandpoint resident who passed away in 2018. A portion of sales from all three Evans Brothers cafes (Spokane, Coeur d’Alene, Sandpoint) and online are donated to the shelter to support spay/neuter programs. Dec. 28, 7 am-5 pm. Free. evansbrotherscoffee.com PORTICO RESTORATION BENEFIT DINNER & CONCERT Historic Mount St. Michael’s beautiful porticoes are falling down and must be replaced. The Singing Nuns host a five-course dinner and concert to raise funds for this project. Dec. 30, 5:30-9 pm. $100. Mt. St. Michael’s, 8500 N. Saint Michaels Rd. gofundme. com/portico-restoration (467-0986 x121)

COMEDY

2.0PEN MIC Local comedy night hosted

by Ken McComb. Thursdays, from 8-10 pm. Free. The District Bar, 916 W. First Ave. facebook.com/districtbarspokane/ DAN CUMMINS: THE HAPPY MURDER TOUR Inland Northwest native Dan Cummins has been a guest on multiple Late Night shows, including Conan, the Tonight Show, This is Not Happening and more. He’s also had a Comedy Central 1/2-hour special, a one-hour Comedy Central special and most recently, Amazon’s “Don’t Wake the Bear.” Dec. 26-28. $18-$35. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com GUFFAW YOURSELF! Open mic comedy night hosted by Casey Strain; Thursdays at 10 pm. Free. Neato Burrito, 827 W. First Ave. (509-847-1234) LATE LAUGHS An improvised comedy show featuring a mix of experiments in improv, duos, teams, sketch and more.

First and last Friday of the month at 9:30 pm. Rated for mature audiences. $8. Blue Door Theatre, 815 W. Garland. (747-7045) SEASON’S GREETINGS Join the BDT for a night of laughs and improvised comedy celebrating the holiday season. Dec. 27 at 7:30 pm. ​$8. Blue Door Theatre, 815 W. Garland. bluedoortheatre.com STAND-UP COMEDY Live comedy featuring established and up-and-coming local comedians. Fridays at 8 pm. No cover. Red Dragon Chinese, 1406 W. Third Ave. reddragondelivery.com AFTER DARK Catch a late-night mature audience version of the BDT’s long-form improv show. First/last Saturday of the month at 9:30 pm. $8. Blue Door Theatre, 815 W. Garland. bluedoortheatre.com SAFARI The BDT’s version of “Whose Line,” a fast-paced short-form improv show with a few twists added. Rated for mature audiences. Fridays at 7:30 pm. $8. Blue Door Theatre, 815 W. Garland Ave. bluedoortheatre.com (747-7045) THE DOPE SHOW! A comedy showcase where comedians joke, then toke, the joke some more. Presented by Tyler Smith, featuring nationally touring comedians with various tolerances to marijuana. Last Sunday at 8 pm. $8-$14.

Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com (318-9998) THE SOCIAL HOUR COMEDY SHOWCASE Featuring comics from the Northwest and beyond, hosted by Deece Casillas. Sundays from 8-9:30 pm. Free.

Ridler Piano Bar, 718 W. Riverside. soci-

alhourpod.com NYE W/ ERIK GRIFFIN The American actor, comedian, writer and podcaster is best known for his work as the mustachioed Montez Walker on the hit Comedy Central series Workaholics. Dec. 31, 7:30 & 10:30 pm. $20-$30. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. (509-318-9998) OPEN MIC A free open mic night every Wednesday, starting at 8 pm. Doors open at 7 pm. Free. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com ARI SHAFFIR Shaffir has two Netflix specials: Double Negative, presented in two 45-minute episodes, “Children” and “Adulthood.” Jan. 2-3 at 7:30 pm, Jan. 3-4 at 10 pm. $20+. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com

COMMUNITY

CAMPBELL HOUSE HOLIDAYS Explore the house at your own pace, enjoy the Christmas tree and decorations, participate in a craft and activity and interact with living history characters: Joseph Rainsberry (coachman), Helen Campbell (family member), Hulda Olson (cook), Ingeborg Johnson (maid), and Edith Johnson (maid). Through Dec. 29, daily from 12-4 pm. $7-$12. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org (456-3931) CRESCENT WINDOWS AT THE GRAND View revitalized historic window displays from the Crescent department store this holiday season in the Main Ave. windows of the Grand. On display through Jan. 5.

Davenport Grand Hotel, 333 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. downtownspokane.org HISTORIC FLIGHT FOUNDATION HOLIDAY SCHEDULE A new flying museum has landed in Spokane. Come see history come to life through this collection of airworthy aircraft from 1927-57. The Felts Field presentation includes a DC-3 and P-51 Mustang. Admission is free for the balance of 2019. Open Tue-Sun from 10 am-4 pm (except 12/25) through Dec. 31.

Historic Flight Foundation, 5829 E. Rutter Ave. historicflight.org/feltsfield HOLIDAY LIGHTS AT MANITO The Gaiser Conservatory is decked out in holiday lights throughout the holiday season, offering photo ops and a festive setting.

Through Dec. 31 (closed 12/25) from 123:30 pm daily. Free, donations accepted.

Manito Park, 1800 S. Grand Blvd. thefriendsofmanito.org JOURNEY TO THE NORTH POLE Take a festive holiday cruise across the sparkling waters of Lake Coeur d’Alene and view more than 1.5 million twinkling holiday lights on the way to visit Santa Claus and his elves at a waterfront toy workshop.

Daily at 5:30, 6:30 and 7:30 pm through Jan. 1, 2020. $8.50-$23.25. Coeur d’Alene Resort, 115 S. Second. cdaresort.com LIGHT UP THE NIGHT Community groups and organizations have decorated trees for the park’s Holiday Tree Walk, displayed adjacent to the Numerica Skate Ribbon from through Jan. 5. Free. Riverfront Park, 507 N. Howard St. spokaneriverfrontpark.com (625-6600) MT. ST. HELENS: CRITICAL MEMORY An exhibit commemorating the 40th anniversary of the eruption on May 18, 1980 of Mount St. Helens, which remains the most destructive volcanic event in U.S. history. Experience material artifacts, film, photography, recordings, first-hand accounts and virtual experiences and learn how Mount St. Helens has advanced

our understanding of volcanoes more than any other eruption in history. Dec. 21 through July 2020; Tue-Sun 10 am-5 pm; third Thursdays until 8 pm. Tues.-10 am-5 pm. $5-$10. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org (456-3931) WINTER BREAK COOL CAMP Spokane Valley Parks and Rec offers two weeks of themed winter break activities for ages 6 to 11. Camps are Dec. 26-27 ($90); Dec. 30-31 and Jan. 2-3 ($109). Day rates offered. CenterPlace Regional Event Center, 2426 N. Discovery Place Dr. spokanevalley.org/recreation (720-5200) WINTER GLOW SPECTACULAR Orchard Park is lit up with holiday lights and displays, including animation and music.

Walkable or drivable around the perimeter. Through Jan. 1. Free. Orchard Park, 20298 E. Indiana Ave. facebook.com/ spokanewinterglow DROP IN & RPG If you’ve ever been curious about role-playing games, join us to experience this unique form of game-playing, and build a shared narrative using cooperative problem solving, exploration, imagination, and rich social interaction. Second and fourth Friday of the month, 4-7 pm. Free. Spark Central, 1214 W. Summit Pkwy. spark-central.org SCHOOL’S OUT DAY CAMP Camps offer the following activities: swimming, rock climbing, gym games, art, cooking and more. Lunch and two snacks included.

Offered Dec. 30, Jan. 2 and 3, from 8:30 am-3:30 pm. $32/$40. Kroc Center, 1765 W. Golf Course Rd. kroccda.org

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Submit events online at Inlander.com/getlisted or email related details to getlisted@inlander.com.

ELLA’S SECRET NYE PARTY Ella’s hosts a roaring 20s-themed NYE party, offering two times: East Coast (6:30-9 pm) and West Coast (8:30-midnight). Both include a dinner buffet, live music, a midnight toast, dancing and more. See link for details. Dec. 31, 6 pm. $50-$105.

Montvale Event Center, 1017 W. First. bit. ly/2NN91wr (509-413-2915) JOYA-E NEW YEAR’S SERVICE Ring out 2019 and ring in 2020 on the temple’s Kansho Bell at this short family-friendly Buddhist service. Dec. 31, 7-7:45 pm.

Free; donations accepted. Spokane Buddhist Temple, 927 S. Perry St. spokanebuddhisttemple.org NOON YEAR’S EVE PARTY FAMILY CELEBRATION A special celebration of the New Year without having to stay up late.

Includes crafts and a snack. For families and kids of all ages; young children should be accompanied by a caregiver.

Program starts at 11 am with a countdown in the minute leading up to noon.

Dec. 31, 11 am-noon. Free. At the South Hill Library (3324 S. Perry St.) and Indian Trail Library (4909 W. Barnes Rd.) spokanelibrary.org NYE AT THE COEUR D’ALENE RESORT Activities include fireworks shows at 9 pm and midnight, the formal Diamond Soiree party (6 pm) and NYE party and family cruises on the lake. See website for details and reservations. Dec. 31. $30$100. The Coeur d’Alene Resort, 115 S. Second. cdaresort.com (208-765-4000) PUTTIN’ ON THE RITZ NEW YEAR’S EVE GALA The annual NYE gala hosted by

Spokane Symphony Associates includes a three-course dinner, live music by the MasterClass Big Band, live entertainment, a midnight toast and more. Dec. 31, 9 pm. $150. Historic Davenport Hotel, 10 S. Post St. spokanesymphony.org CRAFTERNOON: MAKE AN ART JOURNAL Start 2020 off creatively with an art journal. Drop in any time from 3-5 pm. All supplies provided, bring your imagination. All ages welcome; young children should bring a grown-up. Jan. 2, 3-5 pm.

Free. South Hill Library, 3324 S. Perry St. spokanelibrary.org (444-5300)

FILM

CATS The new film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s beloved smash hit musical “Cats,” starring Taylor Swift, James Corden, Judi Dench, Ian McKellen and many others. PG. Dec. 20-Jan. 2; times vary. $5-$8. Panida Theater, 300 N. First Ave. (208-255-7801) STAGE TO SCREEN: PRESENT LAUGHTER Matthew Warchus directs Andrew Scott (BBC’s Sherlock, Fleabag) in Noël Coward’s provocative comedy Present Laughter. Captured live from The Old Vic in London, Present Laughter is a giddy and surprisingly modern reflection on fame, desire and loneliness. Dec. 29, 2-4:30 pm. $10-$15. Bing Crosby Theater, 901 W. Sprague Ave. friendsofthebing. org (509-227-7404) HOW TO PITCH YOUR MOVIE Have you ever had an idea you think would make a great movie? Do you want to learn how to tell a story and shape a movie idea into an attention-grabbing pitch? Join us to practice the art of pitching a movie. Sign up online; for grades 2-6. Jan. 3, 9 am and Jan. 4, 9 am. $0-$20. Spark Central, 1214 W. Summit Pkwy. spark-central.org

FOOD

SCOTCH & CIGARS Select a flight of whiskey, scotch or bourbon paired with a recommended cigar during an event on the outdoor patio. Thursdays, 6-10 pm. $15-$25. Prohibition Gastropub, 1914 N. Monroe. facebook.com/Prohibition.Gastropub.Spokane1 (474-9040) WINTER CHEER TOUR Join Wander Spokane for a guided walking tour combining aspects from its food, wine and beer tours with a bonus craft cocktail stop. This experience includes history, art viewing, architecture and more. Stops include Va Piano Winery, Heritage Bar & Kitchen, Cochinito Taqueria, Whistle Punk Brewing, Soulful Soups, Cease and Desist Book Club and The Chocolate Apothecary. 21+. Offered Dec. 28; Jan. 4, 9, 11, 16 and 18 from 2-5:30 pm. $45. wanderspokane.com (279-2929) MOCHI FEST To celebrate this annual Japanese New Year’s tradition, the temple is selling traditional mochi, mochi desserts and other bake sale items, along with other Japanese and Buddhist items.

All proceeds go to the education of our Ministers. Dec. 29, 11:30 am-1 pm. Spokane Buddhist Temple, 927 S. Perry St. spokanebuddhisttemple.org (534-7954) HILL’S RESORT PRESENTS: THE ROARING 20S A special NYE menu is served in George’s Dining Room; reservations required. Includes live music from 8:30 pm-12:30 am. Dec. 31. Hill’s Resort, 4777 W. Lakeshore Rd. (208-443-2551) LIL SUMTHIN’S BIG OPENING! The new tiny saloon in the heart of downtown Spokane offers a slice of southern hos-

pitality (and drinks), and is opening just in time for the new year. Break out your Stetsons and pearl snaps for a cowpoke costume contest. Also includes the “Bless Your Heart” art show. Dec. 31, 9 pm. $5.

Lil Sumthin’ Saloon, 301 W. Second Ave. bit.ly/2DFW4yz NEW BEERS EVE CELEBRATION Ring in the new year with a five-course dinner by 509 Dine with beer pairings. Includes a special release beer, a commemorative Humble Abode glass and appetizers.

Dec. 31, 6 pm. $45. Humble Abode Brewing, 1620 E. Houston Ave. facebook.com/ humbleabodebrewing/ RETURN OF THE ROARING 20S Celebrate the final hours of the decade and welcome 2020 with a champagne toast, balloon drop, DJ, dancing and drinks.

Dec. 31, 9 pm-2 am. Boombox Pizza, 221 N. Division. (315-4369)

MUSIC

CONTRA DANCE A community style of dancing, with all dances taught by Susan Dankovich to live music by Red Herring.

No experience necessary, includes a snack potluck at the break. Dec. 27 from 7-10 pm. $5. North Spokane Dance Center, 7424 N. Freya St. SquareDanceSpokane.org CHRISTMAS CANTATA The St. John’s Lutheran Church Choir presents a “Christmas Cantata, Everlasting Light: the Promise of Christmas.” Dec. 29, 3-4 pm.

Free. St. John’s Lutheran Church, 5810 S. Meadowland Rd. sjlspokane.org NEW YEAR’S EVE WITH SAMMY EUBANKS An acoustic performance by the Spokane-based, award-winning blues musician, along with Trailer Park Girls and Low Class Bluegrass. Evening entertainment and stay packages available (starting at $200). Dec. 31, 6 pm. $12-$17.

Bing Crosby Theater, 901 W. Sprague Ave. bingcrosbytheater.com SPOKANE SYMPHONY: BEETHOVEN’S NINTH Say “farewell” to 2019 and celebrate the start of the new year with the Spokane Symphony’s tradition of performing Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.

Resident Conductor Morihiko Nakahara conducts, and is joined by the Spokane Symphony Chorale under the direction of Kristina Ploeger-Hekmatpanah. Dec. 31, 7:30-8:30 pm. $14+. Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox, 1001 W. Sprague. spokanesymphony.org (624-1200) SWINGIN’ IN THE NEW YEAR: BACK TO THE 20S Ring in the New Year in style with live music, a ball drop, food, wine, dancing, champagne and magic. Dec. 31, 8 pm. $50. Bridge Press Cellars, 39 W. Pacific Ave. bit.ly/373EBxE

SPORTS & OUTDOORS

EAGLE WATCHING CRUSIES Every year, 100s of American Bald Eagles visit Lake Coeur d’Alene on their annual migration in December and January. Take a Lake Coeur d’Alene cruise to Wolf Lodge Bay to see these magnificent birds in the wild.

Cruises offered Dec. 26-Jan. 1 at 10 am, noon and 1 pm. $13-$25. Coeur d’Alene, n/a. cdacruises.com (855-379-5478) SKATE RIBBON COLLEGE NIGHT Show your student ID to receive free skate rentals with admission. Thursdays from 4-9 pm through Feb. Riverfront Park, 507 N. Howard St. riverfrontspokane.org

DECEMBER 26, 2019 INLANDER 47

CONSUMERS

Heating Up the Winter There’s a smarter way to puff in the cold

BY WILL MAUPIN

T

he great outdoors is quite possibly the best place to enjoy marijuana. For many people, it’s also the only place to enjoy it. Maybe a lease agreement prohibits smoking indoors and forces you outside. Or maybe you’re a courteous smoker who doesn’t want to stink the place up.

Whatever the reason, smoking weed outdoors this time of year can be less than ideal. Standing in freezing weather on a porch for the 10 minutes it takes to smoke a joint isn’t exactly conducive to a nice, relaxing high.

With the right equipment, cold temperatures won’t stop you from smoking weed in a way that won’t upset your landlord or your roommates. Winter is bong and dab season; the ultimate tools for maximizing your high while minimizing your risk of frostbite.

48 INLANDER DECEMBER 26, 2019

One of the tried-and-true methods of consuming weed that almost every enthusiast has on hand, bongs are ideal cold-weather tools.

Unlike a joint or a pipe, which require taking multiple hits and thus come with some form of a time commitment, the bong is the ultimate in high-speed smoking.

Their ability to hold a decent amount of flower and burn through it all at once allows users to get stoned in mere seconds.

You can do all the pre-smoke prep indoors before popping outside to light up. Once you’re done, bringing the bong back inside is no problem assuming you’ve kept it reasonably clean. Leaving it outside in freezing temperatures isn’t a good idea anyway, considering the water inside will expand as it turns to ice.

Perhaps you’re a more hardcore smoker than I and you’re capable of taking a dab without immediately regretting it. If so, congratulations. Old Man Winter’s mortal enemy is heat, and massive amounts of heat are needed when taking dabs.

So, bust out that miniature flamethrower and blast that nail until it’s glowing. It’s almost like a small battle against the cold that you get to win every time you take a dab. Plus, almost nothing packs more of a punch on a per-hit basis than dabs. No need to open the door and let the heat out over and over just so you can catch the perfect buzz. One trip into the cold should be plenty.

Just because it’s cold and wet doesn’t mean you can’t get out of the house for a quick toke. Grab a bong or a dab rig and defy Mother Nature this winter. n

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RELATIONSHIPS

Advice Goddess HEART OF BARKNESS

My friend recently bought a $3,000 labradoodle but refuses to pay to get it trained. The dog is really badly behaved. Whenever I bring up the need for training, my friend gets very defensive and lashes out at me. Last time I visited her, the dog got into my bag and chewed through some seriously expensive skin care products I treated myself to. She acted like it wasn’t an issue and even said it was my fault for leaving my bag on the floor!

AMY ALKON We’ve been friends for nearly 20 years, so it’s a little complicated, but how can I let her know her actions feel inconsiderate and get her to take proper responsibility for her dog?

—Beware Of Owner Most dogs enjoy chewing on a nice raw bone to pass the time; hers likes to mix things up with the occasional $200 tube of eye cream.

Your friend’s response to her delinquentdoodle destroying your stuff — “Yawn... whatever” — suggests she comes up short in a personality trait called “conscientiousness.” Conscientiousness is one of the five core personality dimensions that shape how we typically behave (the other four being openness, extroversion, agreeableness, and emotional stability). Each of these dimensions reflects a spectrum — a scale from low to high — so, for example, extroversion includes everything from extreme extroversion to extreme introversion (the party animal versus the sort of animal that prefers hiding under a car till the shindig’s over).

Research by psychologists Joshua Jackson and Brent Roberts finds that people with high conscientiousness are responsible, hardworking, orderly, and able to control their impulses. (Their work was focused on the behaviors of the conscientious, as opposed to thoughts and feelings.) Not surprisingly, other research — a cross-cultural study by psychologist Martin C. Melchers — finds that people with higher levels of conscientiousness tend to be more empathetic (making them less likely to react to their animal turning a friend’s possessions into chew toys by being all, “Dogs will be dogs!”).

Personality traits are, to a great extent, genetic, and tend to be pretty stable over time and across situations. However, psychologists Nathan Hudson and R. Chris Fraley find that a person may be able to change their personality traits, including their level of conscientiousness. Their research suggests that a person can become more conscientious by continually setting very specific weekly goals — for example, tasks to follow through on that they’d normally let slide.

The problem is this friend of yours might need some wakeup call to be motivated to change. People who get away with living sloppy typically see no reason to live otherwise. Consider the difference in how driven someone would be to clean up their act in the wake of “hitting bottom” versus, say, “hitting middle.”

Another demotivating factor might be your friend’s WTR — “welfare trade-off ratio” — a term that unfortunately sounds like illegal food stamp swapping. In fact, as evolutionary psychologists David Buss and Lars Penke explain, a person’s welfare tradeoff ratio refers to how much weight they place on their own interests relative to those of another person. In other words, “welfare” really means “well-being” — as in, “How willing am I to sacrifice what’s best for me so you can have what’s good for you?”

Buss and Penke add that people who are narcissistic — self-centered, exploitative, with a strong sense of entitlement, and lacking in empathy — “habitually place a higher weight on their own welfare relative to the welfare of others.” Now, maybe you don’t see this sort of selfish, cavalier attitude coming out habitually in your friend, but maybe that’s because friendship is fun-centered and thus doesn’t have the sort of strains put on it that a business partnership or relationship does.

(You don’t have to decide whether to have an abortion because you went out for drinks with your friend.)

Where does this leave you? Unfortunately, without a lot of attractive options.

Though it’s reasonable to prefer that she change her philosophy on dog training (which appears to be “Why bother?”) expecting her to do so is basically the love child of toxic hope and irrational expectations. Tempting as it must be to simply demand she train her dog, as you’ve already seen, telling people what to do tends to backfire, leading them to tell you where to go.

What you can do is choose: Consider whether the benefits of having her in your life are worth the cost. If you decide to keep her around, be realistic: Leave any pricey rejuveceuticals and anything else of value locked in a kennel when visiting her and Cujodoodle. It might also help to look on the positive side: It’s only her dog running wild; she isn’t hollering out the back door, “Kids, if you rob the liquor store, don’t forget Mommy’s merlot!” n ©2019, 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)

52 INLANDER DECEMBER 26, 2019

EVENTS | CALENDAR SHEJUMPS INTO CROSS COUNTRY SKIING Back by popular demand, this event is hosted by Fitness Fanatics and Spokane Nordic to offer a day of skiing to skiers of all ages and abilities, with mentors and rental gear available. Dec. 28, 10 am. Free. At the Mt. Spokane Nordic Center. shejumps.org SPOKANE CHIEFS VS. TRI-CITY AMERICANS Home game promo is Family Feast Night. Dec. 28, 7:05 pm. $11-$26. Spokane Arena, 720 W. Mallon Ave. spokanechiefs.com FREE ICE SKATING LESSONS Weekly ice skating lessons at the Numerica Skate Ribbon, skate rentals included.

Registration is available on-site and lessons are on a first-come, first-served basis. Sundays at 11 am through February. (Paid lessons also available; see website for details). Riverfront Park, 507 N. Howard St. riverfrontspokane. org (509-625-6600) CHEAP SKATE MONDAY Admission to the ice ribbon includes free skate rentals all day. Mondays from 11 am-8 pm through Feb. 24. $5.25/$7.25. Riverfront Park, 507 N. Howard St. spokaneriverfrontpark.com (625-6600) FIRST DAY HIKES Local events are held as part of the national First Day Hikes initiative, a program of America’s State Parks. On Jan. 1, people come together to enjoy a healthy New Year’s tradition and enjoy a great outdoor experience at parks in all 50 states. See link for complete list of Eastern Washington state parks participating in First Day guided hikes; includes events in Mount Spokane State Park and Riverside State Park. Jan. 1. Free. bit.ly/356sKxf STATE PARKS FREE DAY Visit Washington State Parks without a required Discover Pass ($10/day or $30/year).

Upcoming free access days are Wed, Jan. 1 and Mon, Jan. 20. Includes day access locally to Riverside, Mt. Spokane and Palouse Falls State Parks. parks. state.wa.us/281/Parks NBC HOLIDAY HOOP CAMP Join NBC Camps for the annual Holiday Hoop Camp. Ages 10-14 attend from 9 am-3 pm both days, while ages 7-10 can attend 9 am-noon both days. Camp covers fundamental skills in a fun and encouraging environment. Jan. 2-3. $60-$120. The Warehouse, 800 N. Hamilton. nbccamps.com (466-4690) PROVING GROUNDS Check out the local MMA fight scene as they face off in the cage. Jan. 3, 7 pm. $20+. HUB Sports Center, 19619 E. Cataldo Ave. hubsportscenter.org (509-927-0602) SPOKANE HEALTH & FITNESS EXPO The weekend is filled with fitness class demos, competitions and spectator events like roller derby and jiu-jitsu. Attendees should dress in athleisure-wear to be ready to try something new during sessions introducing activities from kickboxing to rock climbing; aerial silks to pilates. Jan. 4 from 10 am-6 pm and Jan. 5 from 10 am-4 pm. $5-$8/weekend admission. Spokane County Fair & Expo Center, 404 N. Havana St. spokanehealthfitexpo.com (509-477-1766)

VISUAL ARTS

COZY Welcome the winter season with the Third Street Gallery’s fiber art invitational. Through Jan. 31; Mon-Fri from 8 am-5 pm. (Closed 12/25, 1/1 and 1/20) Free. Moscow City Hall, 206 E. Third St. (208-883-7036) DAHMEN RESIDENT ARTISTS EXHIBIT

Featuring scratchboard, watercolor, pastels, textiles and pottery. Through Dec. 29; open daily from 10 am-6 pm.

Free. Dahmen Barn, 419 N. Park Way, Uniontown, Wash. artisanbarn.org IDAHO INSPIRATION Featuring artwork by 2019 Artist of the Year Terrie Kremer, a quilt artist and teacher who experiments with a wide variety of cutting edge techniques. Mon-Fri 9 am-5 pm through Jan. 31. Free. Columbia Bank Community Plaza, 414 Church St., Sandpoint. artinsandpoint.org MAKOTO FUJIMURA: SILENCE – MYSTERION A solo exhibition of recent works by renowned international artist Makoto Fujimura, including large-scale paintings from his “Silence & Beauty Series,” and “the Four Holy Gospels” frontispieces. The art, deeply grounded in Fujimura’s faith, explores our common experience with suffering and trauma, healing and beauty. Fujimura’s work combines traditional Japanese materials and techniques with modern abstraction, resulting in layered, prismatic paintings that can only be fully appreciated in person. Mon-Sat 10 am-4 pm through Jan. 4. Free admission. Jundt Art Museum, 200 E. Desmet Ave. (509-313-6843)

WEEKEND C O U N T D OW N

Get the scoop on this weekend’s events with our newsletter. Sign up at Inlander.com/newsletter.

NORMAN ROCKWELL’S AMERICA A remarkable collection of 22 oil paintings, seven charcoal/graphite studies, original posters and all 323 vintage Saturday Evening Post magazine covers spanning six decades. This exhibition reviews selected works in chronological order, making the stages of Rockwell’s career recognizable and his images more poignant. These original works give the viewer a chance to see Rockwell’s accomplished technique and superb craftsmanship, which are sometimes overlooked in the more widely seen reproductions of his work.

Through Jan. 12; Tue-Sun from 10 am-5 pm; third Thursdays from 10 am-8 pm. $5-$10. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org (456-3931) SARANAC SMALL WORKS SALE Saranac Art Projects presents its annual Small Works Sale featuring original works ideal for holiday giving; small, affordable works in a range of media

by SAP members and guest artists. Thu 2-6 pm; Fri-Sat 12-8 pm through Dec. 28. Saranac Art Projects, 25 W. Main Ave. facebook.com/Saranac.artprojects THAT WHICH IS: DRAWINGS OF THE PRESENT MOMENT Whitworth welcomes Matthew Whitney to the Bryan Oliver Gallery. This series of drawings and paper-based experiments over the past several years form a body of explorations into existential spirituality. Mon-Fri 8 am-5 pm, Sat 10 am-2 pm through Jan. 24. Free. Bryan Oliver Gallery, Whitworth, 300 W. Hawthorne Ave. whitworth.edu/Academic/Department/Art/OliverGallery/ (777-3258) WINTER ART MARKET AND ORNAMENT DISPLAY The 5th annual market at the POAC Gallery features small artworks by local fine artists, including handmade gifts from painting to jew-

elry and ceramics. Mon-Fri 10 am-5 pm. through Dec. 27. Free. Pend Oreille Arts Council Gallery, 110 Main St., Sandpoint. artsinsandpoint.org BASIC IMPRESSIONISM USING COLOR BLOCKING TECHNIQUES Trying to be looser in your landscape renderings?

Painting/drawing in an impressionistic manner is about capturing the shape of something and trusting the process. For high school and adult students. Meets Sat, 1-3 pm, Jan. 4-18. $80. Spokane Art School, 811 W. Garland Ave. spokaneartschool.net

WORDS

POETRY OPEN MIC No sign-up sheets, censors, or microphones. New poets are especially encouraged to attend. Held on the fourth Thursday of every month from 6-8 pm. Free. Monarch Mountain Coffee, 208 N. Fourth Ave. , Sandpoint. monarchmountaincoffee.com CREATIVE WRITING AT THE MAC Led

by Jenny Davis, former instructor at the University of Iowa, this all-genre weekly creative writing workshop uses MAC gallery collections to inspire new ways of approaching the written word. Participants are invited to share their work in a literary reading at a future Thursday Night Live (TNL) event at the Museum.

Dec. 29 from 1-2 pm. $18/$20. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First. northwestmuseum.org DROP IN & WRITE For teens and adults.

Aspiring writers are invited to be a part of Spark’s supportive local writing community. Bring works in progress to share, get inspired with creative prompts and spend some focused time writing. Tuesdays from 5:30-7 pm. Free.

Spark Central, 1214 W. Summit Pkwy. spark-central.org (279-0299) TUESDAY GALLERY TALKS Visitors can engage directly with works of art and historic artifacts in the exhibit galleries through informal talks led by museum staff. Talks depart promptly each Tuesday at 11 am and last 20 minutes. Included with admission ($5-$10). Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org STORY TIME AT THE MAC While storytime is designed for ages 3-5, all children and parents are welcome. Stories are related to current museum exhibitions, and held in partnership with the Spokane Public Library. Free with regular admission. First Wednesdays from 10:30-11 am. $5-$10. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org (456-3931) BEAUTY IN THE USA January’s guest speaker Phyllis Stephens presents on natural and manmade attractions to be found across the U.S. Jan. 2, 6:30-9 pm.

Free. CenterPlace Regional Event Center, 2426 N. Discovery Place Dr. tieg.org DIVERSE VOICES WRITING GROUP A writing group for all experience levels (adults and teens) that supports and elevates diverse voices. This program is free thanks to community support. Held the first Thursday of each month from 5:30-6:45 pm. Free. Spark Central, 1214 W. Summit Pkwy. spark-central.org 3 MINUTE MIC Auntie’s First Friday poetry open mic continues. Readers can share up to 3 minutes’ worth of poetry.

Signups begin at 7:45 pm. Content not censored, though efforts are made to be sensitive to impressionable ears. Jan. 3, 8-9 pm. Free. Auntie’s Bookstore, 402 W. Main Ave. auntiesbooks.com n

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29. TBS show since 2010 31. Albert Pujols stat 32. German, in Germany 34. “Homage” or “homicide,” in the dictionary 38. “Personally ...”

39. Dachshund doc 42. The “HD” in HDTV, briefly 45. Ty Cobb and Willie Mays, positionally: Abbr.

46. Sect featured in “Witness” 48. Agcy. that won the 1969 Nobel Peace Prize 49. Singer with the 2017 #1 R&B album “Ctrl” 51. How some papers are presented 52. “Noteworthy” or “notice,” in the dictionary 56. Beatles song with the lyric “There’s one for you, nineteen for me”

57. “Geometry” or “geranium,” in the dictionary 60. Exact retribution for 61. Wrath 62. Kind of trap 63. Tried out 64. It’s used for kicks 65. Burden

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DOWN

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1. Slammer 2. It may be blonde or pale 3. Like some relationships 4. Sorkin and Spelling 5. Heroic sagas 6. Small bite, say 7. First name in 1950s comedy 8. Like marshes 9. Bottles of it are often labeled “Superiore di Cartizze”

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36

45

44 49

13

50

53

56

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10. “____ I a stinker?” (Bugs Bunny catchphrase) 11. Fame 12. Leonidas’ kingdom 13. Hardly strict with 18. Unlikely entrant in a Westminster show

25

28

29

30

THIS W ANSWE EEK’S I SAW RS ON YOUS

30. Physics unit 32. U.K. military award 37 33. TV’s “Murder, ____ Wrote” 39 40 41 35. It’s not true 36. Not seen by the theater 46 47 audience 37. It might accompany “Heh, 51 heh, heh” 40. Nonnative speaker’s subj.

54 55 41. “Your” of yore 57 58 59 42. Suggest 43. “This Is Where ____ You 61 62 (2014 movie) 44. Posts someone’s personal 64 65 information online, in slang 46. Grammy winner India.___ “DICTIONARY” 47. Shoe designer Blahnik 21. ____ cradle (device that 50. Like most urban land demonstrates the third law of 51. “Well, golly!” motion) 53. Group led by Master Splinter, initially 22. POTUS for 12 years 54. News item never seen by its subject 23. Massage 55. Newbie 27. Frat party recyclable 58. Beast that rhymes with zoo 28. No longer having in stock 59. UFO crew 33

38 42

12

600 W Garland Ave, Spokane, WA  ( 509 ) 326-6949

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23

34

11

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ACROSS 1. “Come to ____!”

5. Conclusion 8. Far from abundant 14. “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” singer Fitzgerald 15. Author who becomes the kind of author he was when a “t” is tacked on to the end of his name 16. It’s about 80 miles SW of Buffalo, NY 17. “Misrepresent” or “mist,” in the dictionary 19. Karen and Summer 20. “Stormy” or “stout,” in the dictionary 22. Weather system borders 24. Seeing-____ dog 25. Org. that complements the IMF 26. Actress Kirsten of “Spider-Man” 27. Acknowledge applause

10

19

18 20

22

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come get what you really wanted for Christmas!

DECEMBER 26, 2019 INLANDER 53

COEUR D ’ ALENE

cda4.fun for more events, things to do & places to stay.

The Coeur d’Alene Resort’s New Year’s celebrations feature two amazing fireworks displays at 9 pm and midnight

Ring in the New Year in North Idaho Find the festive event that fits your style to close out the decade

T

he Coeur d’Alene Resort has a New ($120). There’s lots happening, too: Year’s event to suit every manner bingo, a cash giveaway, costume contest of celebration. Hanging with the littles? and free, live entertainment including Do the early fireworks FAMILY CRUISE the elegant tribute to jazz singer Mildred and be done in time for your next Bailey by the Coeur d’Alene Tribe’s own adventure or to head home for a cozy CeCe Curtis. Visit cdacasino.com. evening together ($24.50). Ready for a Go “big” this year with the COEUR D’ALENE romantic way to ring in the New Year?

BIG BAND from 6-9 pm at the Coeur Try the DESSERT CRUISE including a d’Alene Eagles, where champagne toast and the fireworks are free lakeside front-row view For more information — right outside the door! of the midnight fireworks on these events or Stay until midnight to ($30.50-$40.50). Born to holiday happenings hear Royale and enjoy a boogie? Do the adultsVISIT CDA4.FUN champagne toast. ($25 only PARTY CRUISE with each band, $45 both). a live DJ, champagne Visit Facebook: @cda.eagles. toast, fireworks and a super-chill ice luge ($30). Visit tickets.cdacruises.com.

Want to rock and roll? Then party at THE COEUR D’ALENE INN where Roundabout Dress in your finest finery and reserve will play all the rock and roll favorites your spot at the Coeur d’Alene Resort’s from the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s. The preDIAMOND SOIREE. Enjoy the amazing game starts at 5 pm at Mulligan’s Sports buffet, champagne after-party with live Bar and then the party gets going at 7 music and dancing, and two fireworks pm. ($15 per guest, overnight packages shows! ($82 advance/$100 at the door; from $79). Visit cdainn.com. ages 6-12 until 9 pm only, $25). Visit cdaresort.com/play/events/new_years.

Do a nonalcoholic, family-friendly totally free New Year’s at CALYPSO’S COFFEE Head there for the food, stay for the ROASTERS with board and card games, evening at COEUR D’ALENE CASINO food available for purchase and live where the High Mountain Buffet runs from music from 9 pm-2 am. Visit Facebook: 4-9 pm at ($30) or reserve your spot for @calypsoscoffee. two at Chinook for lobster or filet mignon

54 INLANDER DECEMBER 26, 2019

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Enjoy ICE SKATING at Frontier Ice Arena with one of two events. Check out the “12 Skates of Christmas,” from noon5:30 pm (visit frontiericearena.org). Later, Transform Ministries and Revelation Church invite all for fellowship, food and family-friendly ALL CHURCH ICE SKATING, from 8-10 pm (visit Facebook: @transformcda).

Want to spend New Year’s eve slopeside? SILVER MOUNTAIN will keep the runs open until 6 pm that day.

After you’ve worked up an appetite, head to Noah’s for a prime rib dinner and live music to ring in the New Year.

Ready to start your own New Year’s traditions? Get together with others for GAME NIGHT. Everyone brings their favorite board or card games and some snacks for a guaranteed good time. Try Figpickels Toy Emporium for ideas.

Forget the late-night festivities and instead focus on the first new day of the new year with a SUNRISE STROLL. Load up the thermos, pack a light breakfast and head out to start the day with a smile. And if you’re near Sanders Beach around noon, you’ll catch a “cool” local tradition: the POLAR BEAR PLUNGE of lake lovers’ first — and coldest — swim of the year.

C O E U R

D ’A L E N E

Upcoming Events Eagle Watching Cruises DECEMBER 26-JANUARY 1

Stay warm and toasty while still experiencing the breathtaking beauty of Lake Coeur d’Alene in the winter and the majesty of the bald eagles that return each winter to feed on salmon. The deluxe cruise includes commentary from a local biologist. $26.25 adults, $18.25 children 6-12, free for kids 5 and under; 855-379-5478.

Holiday Light Show THROUGH JANUARY 1

It’s not too late to take your holiday guests to one of America’s best holiday light shows. The elaborate light display at the Coeur d’Alene Resort features more than 1.5 million lights on shimmering Lake Coeur d’Alene. Walk the boardwalk and take in the stunning display, or book a Journey to the North Pole Cruise.

For more events, things to do & places to stay, go to VisitCDA.org

LAST CHANCE TO SAVE BIG ON 2020 SEASON PASSES! ..........

UP TO

SAVE 38% ON SEASON PASSES! SALE ENDS DEC. 31ST

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UP $ SAVE TO 13 ON 1-DAY TICKETS!

VALID ANY DAY SILVERWOOD IS OPEN DURING THE 2020 SEASON Just North of Coeur d’Alene in beautiful North Idaho.

For SEASON PASSES go to:

COEUR D’ALENE

SILVERWOODTHEMEPARK.COM DECEMBER 26, 2019 INLANDER 55