Inlander 12/28/2017 by The Inlander

NEW YEARâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S Goodbye 2017... Hello 2018! PAGE 29

MUSIC

Our critics pick the best albums of 2017 PAGE 39

DECEMBER 28, 2017-JANUARY 3, 2018 | NOT JUST NEWS. AMAZING STORIES.

REMEMBER

FREEMAN When a mom loses her son in A school shooting, Remembering CAN feel like a curse. Other times it feels like a duty. BY MITCH RYALS PAGE 22

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INSIDE VOL. 25, NO. 10 | COVER DESIGN: DEREK HARRISON

COMMENT 5 13 NEWS COVER STORY 22

MUSIC 39 EVENTS 44 GREEN ZONE 46

CULTURE 29 FOOD 32 FILM 34

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EDITOR’S NOTE

n Sept. 13, a 15-year-old boy went to FREEMAN HIGH SCHOOL with guns and a simple plan: Kill people, no one in particular, just anyone who happens to cross his path. And that’s what happened: Three girls were wounded, and one boy, Sam Strahan, was killed. Just like that, Freeman, a rural school south of Spokane, joined the ranks of Columbine High School and Sandy Hook Elementary. But in the final tally of America’s gun casualties, we often forget about the living — the ones left behind to find meaning in senseless violence. This week, in an special Inlander report by Mitch Ryals, we profile Ami Strahan, Sam’s mom, whose journey has been all the more remarkable for this heartbreaking fact: Three months before the Freeman shooting, Ami lost her husband (and Sam’s father) in a tragic accident. Don’t miss her inspiring story on page 22. — JACOB H. FRIES, Editor

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WHAT IS YOUR NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION THIS YEAR?

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OLIVIA BECKER I am trying to work on not being so hard on myself this next year — to judge myself less and just try and be awesome anyways.

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AUSTYN CHARWOOD Oh, I was just talking about this! I’m going to try to be fluent in Japanese this year. I try to learn something new every year. What was your resolution last year? I tried to learn how to cook, but I’m still really terrible at it.

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6 INLANDER DECEMBER 28, 2017

Playing Defense As a new Cold War builds, it’s worth looking back to how Harry Truman navigated the last one BY ROBERT HEROLD

hould Americans worry about a nuclear exchange with North Korea? Let’s see: We have in the White House, with his finger on the launch button, a narcissist who watches television eight hours a day, tweets irrationally into the early morning hours, alienates long-time allies, supports for the Senate an alleged child abuser and known racist… Worry? Is that a serious question? Let’s begin there — the finger-on-the-button matter. Consider some history: As tensions between the United States and the USSR worsened during the 1948 Berlin Airlift, President Harry Truman was confronted by just this question. A formal letter had been prepared for Truman’s signature giving the Joint Chiefs “custody of the atomic bomb” on the grounds that those who would be ultimately responsible for the use of the weapon should have familiarity with the weapon and work in a unified command structure. Truman disagreed. New on the job, he had gone along with the Hiroshima bombing, but later he had learned that the military, on its own, had ordered the Nagasaki bombing. He didn’t want that to ever happen again. Moreover, having some time to reflect, Truman determined that the use of the atomic bomb was immoral, and for several reasons. Most important, he disagreed with the fundamental premise that the bomb was a “military weapon.” In his response denying the Chiefs’ request, he began with, “You have got to understand that this isn’t a military weapon. It is used to wipe out women and children and unarmed people. So we have to treat this differently from rifles and cannon and ordinary things like that.”

hat worried Truman, wrote his biographer David McCullough, “was whether he could trust these terrible forces in the hands of the military establishment.” Two days later he ordered that the bomb remain in civilian custody, with the president as the ultimate decider. Today, with this unstable man in the White House — a man who has brought to Washington unqualified people who disdain and gut institutions — I suggest that the Congress needs to change the policy. And this is a policy question, not a Constitutional question. It’s a question that should be addressed directly in the 2018 Congressional elections. (For certain it should be made an issue here in the Fifth District.) Which brings me to a related point, which, so far as I know, hasn’t been examined. All this talk, all the coverage, all the president’s blustering has focused on offensive nuclear weapons, e.g. “Trump to ‘Little Rocket Man’: I can wipe out your entire country.”

Truman realized that “wiping out” isn’t what war should ever be about. Which brings us to the topic of defensive weapons. It’s been several decades since I was privy to the goings on, but that noted, my guess is that while the numeric values have changed (technology certainly has), the equation hasn’t. We all knew, during my years with the Navy’s Fleet Ballistic Missile program, that it was much cheaper and more effective to research and develop offensive weapons than it was to develop defensive weapons capable of neutralizing those offensive weapons, Look at it this way: If, say, Country A spends a billion dollars on a new offensive nuclear weapon, it will likely require that Country B spend four times that much developing a defensive response. As Country B, we can afford to do that. North Korea can’t. In the old days we could jam any defensive system just by spewing out confetti. Just watch The Hunt for Red October — I’m certain that the offensive weaponry today uses much more sophisticated technology, making defensive weaponry even more expensive to develop. President Ronald Reagan’s Star Wars was fundamentally flawed because it was designed as a “shield’ against a Soviet mass attack; the Soviets possessed so many offensive weapons that they could flood any defensive network. That caveat noted, against countries with limited numbers of offensive nuclear weapons and little or no defensive capability, like North Korea? Defensive measures could work. If America can protect against a limited attack on South Korea, Guam, Japan and maybe our West Coast, the ball game for the North Koreans is over. Negotiation becomes their only option. My point: Should we not use our spending advantage on defense rather than on more offense?

rump obviously doesn’t understand any of this. Most important, he doesn’t understand what Harry Truman was getting at — that nuclear weapons aren’t military weapons; they are mass murder weapons. I’m not saying that turning things over to the Joint Chiefs is a good long-term strategy, if that’s what Congress were to decide. Today’s Gen. James Mattis (now our Secretary of Defense) could well be tomorrow’s Gen. Curtis LeMay, the Cold Warrior known for inspiring the crazed Gen. Jack Ripper in Dr. Strangelove. Still, constraining Donald Trump would be a critically important start. n

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AUSTIN STIEGEMEIER ART + DINNER

Emerge presents an intimate evening of Spanish tapas, signature cocktails, music and art. The Spokane native artist’s (aka Stiggy) work is displayed along with limited prints (silent bidding available). Includes music by Rhys Gerwin. Proceeds benefit Stiggy and Emerge. $49/person. Thu, Jan. 4 from 6-9 pm. The Wandering Table, 1242 W. Summit Pkwy. emergecda.com

HOMEBUYER EDUCATION SEMINAR

Explore the major aspects of the home-buying process in an unbiased format with SNAP Spokane instructors, certified by the Washington State Housing Finance Commission. Registration required; email to Kevin Dunning at Dunning@SNAPWA.org or call 319-3032. Free. Tue, Jan. 9 from 6-8:30 pm. Moran Prairie Library, 6004 S. Regal St. (893-8340)

COOKING CLASS: NEW YEAR, NEW YOU

A session discussing nutrition topics to help attendees achieve their healthy eating goals for 2018, including meal prepping and healthy snacking. $30/ person. Wed, Jan. 10 from 5:30-8 pm. Second Harvest Food Bank, 1234 E. Front Ave. 2-harvest.org (252-6249) n Tell us about your event or other opportunities to get involved. Submit events at Inlander.com/getlisted or email getlisted@inlander.com.

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COMMENT | 2017 pages. But that doesn’t stop me from believing the hype. I completely, desperately, believe the scrunchie hype and am earnestly and solemnly here for it. To be honest, I need this scrunchie comeback propaganda to be real and not just a random clickbait headline I fell for that has no basis in reality. I need there to be one positive cultural takeaway in a year of relentless negativity and hopelessness, and for some reason I need it to be the charmingly casual hair scrunchie. I don’t know, I just do.

To be honest, I need this scrunchie comeback propaganda to be real and not just a random clickbait headline I fell for that has no basis in reality.

CALEB WALSH ILLUSTRATION

The Year of the Scrunchie Hair scrunchies were pretty much the only thing I didn’t have to call my reps to complain about this year BY CHELSEA MARTIN

t was a good year, right? I mean, apart from all the natural disasters, fake news, the constant and ever-present political shitstorm that seemed to be leading us to inevitable nuclear war, and the Apple glitch that inexplicably turned our I’s into A ’s. I guess I mean “it was a good year” specifically from a hair accessory perspective. And for many*, 2017 was The Year of the Scrunchie. According to a few articles in fashion magazines I skimmed, hair scrunchies made a comeback! That’s right! Scrunchies! The loose fabric-covered hair tie that

was very popular in the ’80s and that everyone subsequently tried to forget about has made a comeback! Celebrities are Instagramming themselves wearing them, fashion shows are incorporating them, and handmade organic versions are available for purchase on Etsy. Isn’t that exciting?! The best part is you don’t even need to spend money to take part in this newly revitalized trend because you probably still have a scrunchie stuffed away in an old Caboodle. Fashion items advertised in fashion magazines often don’t translate into trends among actual living people and, admittedly, I haven’t witnessed a whole lot of scrunchie-wearing happening outside of glossy magazine

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Chelsea Martin is the Spokane-based author of five books, including Caca Dolce: Essays from a Lowbrow Life. Her website is jerkethics.com.

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It’s not that I need another way to keep my hair together. I don’t think anyone needed that. It’s just that this year mostly consisted of being stressed out pretty much all day about almost everything, and having to constantly protest and call reps and sign petitions to protect extremely basic human rights, or anything that might benefit non-billionaires. It was a year of refreshing Twitter hourly to find out to what extent fires or hurricanes or earthquakes or insane tirades from our president were affecting our loved ones. And in such plainly dystopian times, a fun, retro, lovably floppy solution to something that wasn’t on anyone’s radar as a problem feels so comforting. We needed something trivial and superficial to distract us from all the pain and suffering encircling us on a daily basis, and the hair scrunchie came through. And doesn’t that make this —*gestures vaguely to the hellscape behind us* — all a little more bearable? Scrunchies came to us at a time when we had almost forgotten their existence, bringing the whiff of nostalgia and a promise to hold our hair together words don’t mean loosely and flirtaanything anymore lol tiously. And they didn’t disappoint us. In fact, they were probably the only thing that didn’t disappoint us this year. Scrunchies, and scrunchies alone, were a beacon of light in the otherwise apocalyptic-feeling freak show that was 2017. n

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You’re so money. financial educ ation presented by stcu.

The gift of planning ahead. Save year-round for the holidays. You’ll thank yourself later.

ime to savor the last of the holiday cheer, pack up the decorations, and get back to your familiar routine. Or maybe not.

Be your own secret Santa. To make next year’s holiday season easier on your wallet:

The start of a new year is the perfect time to launch some new habits ― like saving ahead for the next holiday season. You’ll make the next holiday season easier on your budget. Martha Hokenson, an STCU member who lives in Coeur d’Alene, writes the “I’d Rather Be Reading” blog, offering lifestyle tips, product reviews, and household hacks. She says saving year-round for holiday expenses is easier than it sounds. To start, just become the ant! Becoming the ant In an old fable, a grasshopper spends most of the year relaxing and sunbathing while an ant busies itself putting away food for the winter. Guess which one is caught off-guard when the first snowflake falls. To become the ant, start by putting away a little each month, ideally through direct deposit or automatic account transfers. Some employers let you divide your direct-deposit paycheck into multiple accounts; otherwise, your credit union or bank should let you set up automatic transfers, along with separate savings accounts for various purposes.

says. “By the time you get to the holidays, you already have that fund to pay for the holiday expenses versus whipping out the plastic.”

Create an honest holiday budget.

•

Create a holiday-only savings account and year-round automatic deposits.

•

Look for sales well before the shopping season.

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Shop with a list. Avoid impulse buys.

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Don’t yield to pressure to overspend.

Make an honest budget Even before you set up automatic transfers, draft a holiday budget for gifts and other expenses, such as food, travel, entertaining, decorations, and charitable donations. Build in a little extra for unexpected expenses, like gift exchanges at work. Then divide the total over a year to determine how much to set aside every paycheck. Be price-conscious Paying attention to prices throughout the year can make it easier to stick to your holiday budget. Keep an eye out for post-Christmas sales and other bargains.

Set up regular automatic deposits to a “holiday account” ― and don’t touch the money until the holiday season.

“If you get your wrapping paper and lights after Christmas while they’re on sale and then set them aside, you’re not out there doing that last-minute impulse shopping,” Hokenson says.

“Auto transfer is something I’ve done for years and years, even if you just set up a piggy bank and commit to dropping in a set amount of every paycheck,” she

Taking practical, yearlong steps to budget and save might be the best gift you give yourself each December.

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•

COMMENT | FROM READERS

NYE 2018 The cover of the Inlander (12/14/17) documenting America’s #MeToo moment.

FEARpon SOMETIMES WINS reading “I Don’t Trust You” (12/14/17) in the Inlander, I thought

over my life from teenage years to adulthood and certain memories came back. The four times I have been followed in my car by a male that I didn’t know. The first time I drove to my house. After that, I got smarter and parked in front of a business and ran in or drove to the police station. I also thought of the many times I have missed movies, concerts, ballets, lectures, and other events because it wasn’t safe to leave my car and walk into a building alone. I had an ex-Marine buddy in college who would walk me and my friends to events on campus at night. When my daughter went to college, I told her to find a buddy or a group to walk around campus LETTERS with her. She listened and remained Send comments to safe there. editor@inlander.com. I used to do my shopping late at night because I am a night person and because the stores were less crowded, but that stopped when I was accosted by a drunken male in the parking lot. Leaving work one night a man tried to open my car door. I sped away with fogged windows, not seeing exactly where I was going to get away from him. The next night I was accosted by a male wanting me to go “bar hopping” with him. I had never seen these people before in my life. I try to explain this to my husband who would never do any of these things. He doesn’t understand. He says you shouldn’t let fear rule your life. I say you had darned well better. DONNA HARVEY Hayden, Idaho

WALKING STRONG our invitation to local women to express their thoughts about the

recent reckoning with sexual misconduct was a true success (“In Their Own Words,” 12/14/17). I hadn’t thought about my own “Unwanted Hobby” until I read Chelsea Martin’s contribution. I shouldn’t have to enjoy our local trail system and outdoor recreational opportunities with mace in hand, large dog by my side and my hair neatly braided, but I do. Thank you to this new generation of women who are finding their voices to speak up against behavior that I (a woman approaching 50) have always accepted as “normal” and have routinely avoided with small yet thoughtful precautions each time I venture out on my own.

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A RISING TIDE? It might take a tsunami-sized blue wave to topple a Republican like Congresswoman CATHY McMORRIS RODGERS (pictured) in the solidly red 5th Congressional District in Eastern Washington. A Democrat hasn’t won more than 40.4 percent of the vote in her district in the past decade. But some recent polls are triggering tsunami warnings. A recent CNN poll gave Democrats an 18-point advantage on a generic ballot over Republicans. And while that poll still looks like an outlier, the average poll still gives Democrats more than a 12-point advantage. It’s still a long way from the election — and nationwide trends don’t necessarily translate equally across the country. Right now, the Cook Political Report still has McMorris Rodgers’ seat as a “Solid Republican” race. But depending on how the next 10 months go, that could change. (DANIEL WALTERS)

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DECEMBER 28, 2017 INLANDER 17

NEWS | ADDICTION

Pill Counters Using a prescription monitoring program could save lives, but over 70 percent of Washington state’s doctors aren’t using it BY DANIEL WALTERS

ack in 2014, when he was the medical director of the opioid treatment program at the Spokane Regional Health District, Dr. Matt Layton saw firsthand just how useful Washington state’s prescription monitoring program could be. With a few clicks and keystrokes, he could pull up all the prescription drugs each of the clinic’s patients had been issued. And sometimes that information raised alarm bells. “We had a guy obtain 700 pills of benzodiazepine, all through the same clinic and the same pharmacy,” Layton learned. Benzos are particularly dangerous when mixed with opioids. The patient, Layton quickly figured out, had been gaming the system by managing to get on four different benzo prescriptions, of varying strengths, simultaneously. Yet, 70 percent of Washington state’s doctors who prescribe controlled substances, like benzos or opiates, aren’t even registered on the prescription monitoring program. “Only a fraction of providers are using it,” says Washington state Rep. Marcus Riccelli, D-Spokane. “That’s really concerning.” Last month, the Washington state Attorney General’s office proposed a solution as part of its fight against the deadly opioid crisis in the state: Make participation in the prescription monitoring program mandatory. Require doctors to look at their patients’ prescriptions before prescribing additional drugs. When the legislative session begins next month, Riccelli plans to introduce a bill to put such a mandate in place. But getting that passed will mean overcoming skepticism, including from doctors like Layton. The Washington State Medical Association argues that, while the proposal seems like a great idea on the surface, unless the state can improve the prescription monitoring software “a mandate will only add to the administrative entanglement physicians currently face ... and, most importantly, take time away from patient care.” Ultimately, something seemingly small as computer systems not working well together may be costing lives.

THE PROMISE

The opioid crisis of the last decade was caused, in part, by doctors trying to help people. Around the early 2000s, the medical community began to treat pain as seriously as vital signs, like a body temperature or pulse. Thomas Schaaf, president-elect of the Washington State Medical Association and a Spokane family physician, says that doctors were pushed to get a patient’s pain levels down as close as possible to zero. Soon, opioids became the go-to panacea for pain. “When I see a patient on Medicaid, it’s really easy to prescribe opioids,” Schaaf says. “It’s much harder to get people into physical therapy, occupational therapy, acupuncture.”

18 INLANDER DECEMBER 28, 2017

Matt Layton, former opioid treatment program medical director at the Spokane Regional Health District, knows that using the prescription monitoring program can save lives — but he’s skeptical about making it legally required. KRISTEN BLACK PHOTO So Schaaf says most doctors who may be over-prescribing opioids aren’t unethical docs running pill mills. They’re good people “trying to do the right thing in a confusing, complicated and time-limited environment.” So the fight to solve the ensuing opioid crisis isn’t just about helping the people pull themselves out of the depths of addiction: It’s to prevent people from getting addicted in the first place. It’s about convincing doctors to prescribe addictive opioid medications less often, using tools like the A WAY OUT prescription monitoring This is the latest in a series of program to highlight the stories examining addiction, data. its toll on our community “I think one of the and, importantly, how people most effective ways we are finding a way out. Send can reduce that is to have feedback and story ideas to an administrator sit down addiction@inlander.com. with a provider,” Riccelli says. “Here is where the others are, here’s where you’re at. And this is an anomaly. You’re an outlier. You’re overprescribing.” Keith Humphreys, a professor of psychiatry at Stanford University who’s worked with multiple presidents on drug policy, says that prescription monitoring requirements represent a major weapon in the battle against opioid addiction. By catching patients who are “doctor-shopping” — visiting multiple physicians to scam

their way into getting more drugs — doctors can get those patients into treatment. At the minimum, that information can help prevent overdoses. “Forget the opioid crisis, you should know what controlled substances the patients are being treated with just so you don’t hurt them,” says Humphreys.

THE PROBLEM

Yet across the country, Humphreys says, doctors have been skeptical about requiring the use of prescription monitoring programs. “Doctors have been one of the biggest resistors around the country for prescription monitoring programs,” he says. “Medicine has been very good at jealously guarding their autonomy.” Part of the problem is that the quality of monitoring programs can vary wildly from state to state. “They’re not resourced evenly around the country. Some places are still, like, fax technology. It’s really slow and clunky, it’s not upgraded regularly,” Humphreys says. “Mandating people to participate in a crappy system does nothing.” In Washington state, doctors have to juggle multiple software systems that don’t always work well together. Doctors already have had to figure out electronic medical records systems that contain other patient information. But most of the time, all the information from the prescription monitoring program isn’t fed automatically

into those systems. Instead, doctors or their assistants generally need to click through and log on to an entirely different system through a web browser to access their patients’ pharmaceutical records. Implementing a mandate before making sure the different system software is working together, Schaaf says, could represent yet another time-suck for doctors who are already overwhelmed and exhausted. “Burnout’s a huge problem with medicine right now,” Schaaf says. Riccelli recognizes that a software upgrade is due. “These vendors need to make sure those electronic health records can talk to each other,” Riccelli says. There are encouraging signs: Epic Systems, which built one of the most common medical records systems in the country, says that their software is already connected to the prescription monitoring program in 10 different states. It works with Washington state’s system, too.

“It’s one more unfunded mandate that is in response to a serious social problem.” Yet currently, Epic’s software is only connected to the state’s prescription monitoring program at one Washington facility, at Valley Medical Center in Renton. Still, the notion of a mandate isn’t exactly a new idea. Kelly Richburg, a senior policy analyst in the Washington State Attorney General’s Office, notes that 31 other states have broad prescription monitoring program mandates like Riccelli is proposing. The first state to adopt a mandate was Kentucky. “There was frustration initially,” Richburg says. “Then there was acceptance of it, and eventually appreciation.” And it worked: In Kentucky, incidents of doctor shopping fell 50 percent as soon as the mandate was implemented. And in New York? They fell 90 percent, within a span of only a few months. Neither Kentucky nor New York had monitoring programs that initially connected with electronic medical record systems. And in Washington state, Richburg points out, doctors can easily delegate the monitoring of prescription information to their office staff. It’s no different from running a patient’s insurance information.

CARROT OR STICK?

Even a doctor like Layton, who sees the value in prescription monitoring program, is wary of heaping yet another legally required task onto doctors. “It’s one more unfunded mandate that is in response to a serious social problem,” Layton says. Instead, he argues the key is more medical education: Prove to doctors how crucial and useful the prescription monitoring system can be, and they’ll adapt it. Schaaf says doctors are open to a prescription monitoring mandate — but only after the program can connect smoothly with electronic medical records. But Humphreys looks at it a different way. “If we mandate docs to do this, all of a sudden physicians will be leaning on the state to improve prescription monitoring, instead of getting out of it,” Humphreys says. “If you let ’em out of it until it’s fixed, then they don’t want it fixed.” So yes, mandate it, Humphreys suggests. But also double the budget for the technology, make it work with the major electronic medical records systems, and actually pay doctors for using it. “I think it is a legitimate thing for the doctors to say, ‘How do I pay for this?’” Humphreys says. “If you want people to do something, anything, you need to make it easy as possible.” n danielw@inlander.com

DECEMBER 28, 2017 INLANDER 19

NEWS | OLYMPIA

Legislators have their work cut out for them this session.

Meeting the Mandates As lawmakers head to Olympia, responding to court decisions on education and water top their lists BY SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL

s 2017 comes to a close, lawmakers are already gearing up for a short legislative session in Olympia that will be busier than normal, with continued work on basic education funding, a statewide construction budget that didn’t pass this year, and waterrights issues at the top of a long list of priorities for many. While most have plans for legislation covering a wide variety of issues, here’s a preview of what’s likely to dominate the narrative during the 60-day session, which starts Jan. 8.

SCHOOL FUNDING

By the end of the 2017 legislative session, lawmakers were fairly confident they had finally done enough to comply with the Washington State Supreme Court’s 2012 McCleary ruling by restructuring the way that schools are funded and providing billions of dollars in additional education money. They’d agreed to shrink class sizes for kindergarten through third grade to no more than 17 students, implement full-day kindergarten, raise teacher salaries, and reduce reliance on local levies to pay for the changes. But after looking over the plan this October, the Supreme Court justices ruled that while lawmakers had finally met the state’s constitutional requirement to fully fund K-12 education, the plan won’t meet the state’s selfimposed deadline of Sept. 1, 2018, for implementation.

20 INLANDER DECEMBER 28, 2017

That means lawmakers will return to Olympia tasked with speeding up the timeline for the changes, which as of now wouldn’t take effect in time for the 2018-2019 school year. In the meantime, the legislature remains held in contempt, and fines of $100,000 per day continue to stack up. In his proposed 2018 supplemental operating budget, Gov. Jay Inslee has proposed another $1 billion to pay for the educational upgrades in time to meet the deadline. “This is very achievable, it is very necessary,” Inslee said while announcing his supplemental budget plan on Dec. 14. “And I want to reiterate, the legislature, on a bipartisan basis, were able to do really heavy lifting to go as far as they have, with billions of dollars for education. Now we have to have the crowning achievement to that.”

CAPITAL BUDGET AND WATER

While lawmakers passed the biennial operating budget this summer, the more than $4 billion capital budget was held up as it became entangled with legislation tied to a water case known as the Hirst decision. “The capital budget and the Hirst water fix are probably two of the top priorities to take care of,” says Sen. Andy Billig, D-Spokane. “Those are the two most important statewide issues we need to deal with, and hopefully early in session.” With Hirst, a case out of Whatcom County, the state

Supreme Court held in late 2016 that the county couldn’t issue building permits unless those applying could prove their well wouldn’t disrupt other people’s water rights, or deplete rivers in areas with instream flow rules. That seemed to set precedent for other counties, including Spokane, and has disrupted rural development. Senate Republicans, who still held the majority in the Senate this year, said that a Hirst “fix” would need to pass before they’d let the bipartisan capital budget come to a floor vote. By the end of a third special session, neither were ultimately addressed. Separating the unrelated capital budget from the Hirst legislation could be somewhat easier for Democrats, as they now control the Senate, Billig says. “The capital budget creates construction jobs in the short term and the projects that are built are the infrastructure of our economy for the future,” Billig says. “Now that there’s going to be a Democratic majority, we’re hoping to pass it.” Inslee will be pushing for that to happen. “The governor has said very clearly that passage needs to be the first order of business when the legislature convenes in January,” says Tara Lee, deputy communications director for Inslee’s office, by email. “The governor is very concerned about the projects and the thousands of jobs throughout the state that they support.” As for Hirst, Billig says he agrees that a responsible compromise will be necessary, so “that wells and development will continue, but with some oversight and interest in protecting the current property and water rights holders.” In the meantime, as counties wait for a statewide policy change, Spokane County recently announced its own fix for rural development in the Little Spokane watershed. The county, with the state Department of Ecology, has set up a water bank that will hold existing senior water rights in order to guarantee enough water for residential development, which has been halted for more than a year. Applications in that watershed are now open again.

OTHER PRIORITIES

Those three items only scratch the surface of state and local priorities for the session. Inslee also wants to include additional funding for mental health and tools for fighting the opioid crisis. Billig hopes to pass campaign finance transparency, as well as a voting access bill that would allow 16- and 17-year-olds to pre-register to vote when they get their driver’s license. Among other things, Rep. Marcus Riccelli, DSpokane, is interested in helping medical students with their loans in exchange for them working as primary-care providers in rural and underserved communities, and also wants to ensure insurance access in counties that don’t have options on the exchange. Sen. Mike Padden, R-Spokane Valley, has LETTERS prefiled bills that would Send comments to raise the amount of editor@inlander.com. claims allowed to be heard in small claims court from $5,000 to $10,000, change the law regarding illegal exposure of a dependent child or adult to controlled substances, and ensure pretrial release programs protect the public from harm. Spokane Regional Health District’s Board of Health wants the smoking age to be raised to 21, Spokane Valley may lobby for transportation projects, and Spokane City Council may push for a new mental health facility, a way to address foreclosed homes, and ask for more funding to fight property crime. n samanthaw@inlander.com

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22 INLANDER DECEMBER 28, 2017

Life After

Freeman After losing her husband in a freak accident, and then her son at the Freeman High School shooting, Ami Strahan confronts life on her own BY MITCH RYALS

mi Strahan needed to escape. Of course she did. Half her family was taken from her in the span of three months. The text messages, phone calls and offerings of thoughts and prayers wouldn’t stop. Reminders of her former life sat on every shelf and hung on every wall in her now-empty house in South Spokane. She told only a few friends where she was going, packed a bag and flew nearly 3,000 miles to a tropical beach. “My friends thought I was going to off myself,” Ami Strahan, 47, tells the Inlander. “They were all very worried because I had a really rough few weeks. I just didn’t want to live anymore, and they all heard me say that over and over.” Not only had Ami’s son, Sam, been shot to death at Freeman High School on Sept. 13, but also her husband, Scott, had died in a freak accident three months earlier. And with her daughter off to college in Seattle, Ami suddenly found herself alone. In escaping to the beach, Ami revisited spots she had gone with her family years before. She laid by the pool and watched football in a bar. At night, she sat alone on a ...continued on next page

Ami Strahan is pulled in opposite directions — back toward the life she had, and into the new one she’s forging. YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

DECEMBER 28, 2017 INLANDER 23

The Ami Strahan story “LIFE AFTER FREEMAN,” CONTINUED... wall along the beach, the very spot that she and Scott had sat years before and listened to the ocean. She got a tattoo to remember 15-year-old Sam. It’s the Bible verse John 15:13: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” It’s on the inside of her right forearm, next to the one she got for Scott. The words “After all this time? Always” come from one of her favorite book series, Harry Potter, referencing a character’s undying love. After a week away, she returned to the house that used to be theirs. She also came back to an endless to-do list: selling her husband’s motorcycle and their boat, boxing up her son’s belongings, trying to figure out what comes next. Turns out, some questions can’t be ignored. Many are mundane: How will she run Scott’s rental business, or learn how to file taxes? Others are more fundamental: If she’s not Scott’s wife and Sam’s mom anymore, who is Ami Strahan? And come tomorrow, having lost so much, how’s she going to find the strength to get out of bed?

cott Strahan is in the bathroom, watching Ami get ready for the day. “You know I love you?” she recalls him asking. “You know I think you’re beautiful?” Ami makes him breakfast — fried eggs on top of cold pizza left over from the night before. He only wanted two eggs, but she made him three. It’s Father’s Day after all. The family is planning a camping trip next weekend, but Scott has to fix a few things on the motorhome first. Ami is in the house folding socks a half-hour later when she hears a thud outside. The motorhome is rolling slowly down the driveway. Scott, who had crawled under it, squirms on his stomach, trying to back out. The massive machine comes to a rest on top of him.

“10:20 in the morning we were happy. At 3:57 he was dead.” “I don’t know what to do,” she screams. Scott can’t speak, but with a hand motions like he’s turning a key. Ami climbs into the motorhome and turns the key again and again, but the damn thing just won’t start. “Holy shit, he’s going to die under there,” she thinks. Sam calls 911. He’s screaming and crying. “Oh my God! Dad! Dad!” Ami is looking under the motorhome. Scott’s face is turning purple. What’s taking so long? Where is the ambulance? She runs to get a jack from the garage, but it won’t lift the RV high enough. Breathless, Scott hits his hand against the driveway. When firefighters arrive, they’re able to pull Scott out with one crank of the jack. Ami just hadn’t been strong enough. Paramedics get a heartbeat before Scott is airlifted to Sacred Heart Medical Center. He never regains consciousness. Ami holds his hand while he dies in a hospital bed. Sam doesn’t want to be in the room. It doesn’t seem real. The machines are off, and there is no sound. A doctor tells her he’s gone. “I just remember thinking ‘How the f--- am I going to do this life by myself?’” Ami says now. “I said that a lot, ‘I don’t want to do life on my own.’ 10:20 in the morning we were happy. At 3:57 he was dead.”

24 INLANDER DECEMBER 28, 2017

Ami wears charms that hold the ashes of the men who were taken from her. YOUNG KWAK PHOTO FACING PAGE: Strahan family photos Like any marriage, theirs had its share of ups and downs, but Ami always knew she loved him. She knew two weeks after they met that they would get married, and they made it work. Especially of late, they had been in a groove: Scott attended Alcoholics Anonymous and had almost nine years sober when he died. “He became such a richer, deeper person,” Ami says. Now, the only place where she can hear his voice is in a video he recorded on Facebook that was so insignificant at the time. She scrolls through his timeline to find it. Past the picture of him in a “Feel the Bern” T-shirt, past the photo of them in her Volkswagon bug, past the status update he posted after an Elton John concert: “Elton John, what a rock-and-roll icon. He’s been rockin’ my world for all 49 years. Still awesome. Got to see him in person with my best girlfriend.” “That’s me,” Ami whispers.

Then she finds the video. “You gotta watch it from the beginning because he’s so funny. That’s him. Look at his face,” she says, beaming as the video plays. A man with streaks of white and gray in his beard starts talking into his phone. “OK, so I just saw this thing about Facebook Live, and it’s just so hard to keep up with the technology,” Scott says. “So I decided to put a little rant about this and try it. Because what the hell? Every time I think I got it figured out, it all changes, and it gets more advanced. Anyway, that’s my blog, or whatever, my talk, my soap box. Ahhh! I don’t even know what it is!” At the very last line — “Ahhh! I don’t even know what it is!” — Ami talks aloud along with him, laughing. Then she turns the phone toward herself, starting the video again.

t’s Sept. 13, and Ami is wearing her dress with a subtle Minnie Mouse pattern. Things are finally settling down. She and Sam are preparing to move into a new house, a major step in starting their new lives. No longer is she the woman whose husband died. She’s smiling again. Ami is on the phone at work that morning when her co-workers interrupt. There’s been a shooting at Sam’s school, they say. Others come by with the same news. Is Sam OK? Ami calls his cell phone. No answer. At 10:43 she texts: “Are you ok???” Then: “Sam?!” “Sam! Please answer me.” No response. She opens the Find My Friends app on her phone and sees Sam’s phone is at the school. Sam probably just left it in his locker, co-workers assure her. With two colleagues, she jumps into a car and heads to Freeman. It’s slow going. Parents, police, paramedics and reporters flood the two-lane highway that cuts through rolling fields south of Spokane and runs right in front of the Freeman campus, which is also home to the elementary and middle schools. Ami keeps an eye on her phone during the drive. Friends are texting her information: One student is dead, three students injured. The shooter is in custody. Parents can pick up their kids from the football field. In the car, Ami stares at the Find My Friends app on her phone. Why isn’t Sam’s dot moving? Why isn’t his location changing? She texts again. “Where are u?” “Sam.” At 12:02: “Please respond.” With traffic backed up along the highway, parents abandon their cars on the side of the road and make their way on foot. Ami and one of her colleagues join the march toward Freeman. They walk by families who’ve been reunited. Everyone is on a cell phone. A quiet hum grows louder as they near the parking lot where a group of parents is huddled together. “Those are the parents who’ve heard from their children,” Ami recalls being told. Ami stops a girl with big brown hair and asks about Sam. The girl’s face goes flat, as if she knows. “You have to go ask over there,” she tells Ami. Ami then walks up to Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich. “My son is Sam Strahan,” she tells him. The lawman silently reaches out his arm, but Ami falls to the ground. Her scream rises above the idling fire trucks and hushed conversations. She can’t breathe. Her hands start to go numb. “I just wanted to go in there and be by him,” Ami recalls. “But they wouldn’t let me for obvious reasons. I just didn’t like the thought of him lying on the floor by ...continued on next page

DECEMBER 28, 2017 INLANDER 25

The Ami Strahan story

“LIFE AFTER FREEMAN,” CONTINUED...

Ami Strahan with Sam’s panda onesie, something he joked about wanting to wear to school, with the head, to see if anyone could recognize him.

himself.” Investigators would later give this account of what happened that morning: On his first day back from a suspension for threatening violence, a 15-year-old sophomore walks into Freeman High carrying a black golf bag with an AR-15 assault rifle and at least seven boxes of ammo. In his coat pocket is a .32-caliber pistol. In a second-floor hallway, the boy takes the rifle from the bag. He tries to fire, but the rifle jams. Sam approaches the boy, whom he knew, and they exchange words. The boy takes the pistol from his pocket, shoots Sam once in the stomach and, with Sam now on his knees, the boy shoots him again in the head. The boy continues to walk down the hallway, firing indiscriminately. He hits three other students, all of whom survive. A few days after the shooting, Ami wants to see her son’s body. She insists on it. Once she gets alone in a room with him, Ami apologizes to Sam. She wishes she was a better mom, she tells him. They had argued the evening before his death because he refused to take a shower. Her rules seem so silly now. Then she checks him from head to toe, like she would when he was a little kid on the first day of school. His hair

26 INLANDER DECEMBER 28, 2017

is combed nicely, his nails are trimmed and he has a little stubble on his chin. He’s wearing a blue T-shirt, jeans and red Nike high tops that Scott bought him. She hugs him, and his body is cold. She tells him she loves him. Finally, Ami takes off her necklace that carries her husband’s wedding band, and places it on Sam’s chest.

t’s a Wednesday in December, and Ami is sorting the remnants of a makeshift memorial that accumulated outside Freeman High School. She separates the stuffed animals, fake flowers and signs that say “Freeman Strong,” from those that mention her son. The hashtag that’s come to represent the community’s resilience can feel like a betrayal. It’s easy for them. She’s the only one whose son isn’t coming back. Sam’s memory now lives in the letters and notes from his friends. “I love you, Sammie,” someone wrote. “Thank you for your courage.” As she digs through the signs and letters, an alarm ringing on her phone yanks at her attention. It goes off every Wednesday, just after 10 am. Sam died at 10:08. She has an alarm set for Sunday afternoons, too, for Scott. Twice a week

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

Mitch Ryals comes to the Inlander from St. Louis, Missouri. He covers criminal justice and has written about a teenage confidential informant, bounty hunters and the train hopper who lost his leg. Ryals’ work has appeared in weekly papers across the country, including New York, Texas, Arizona and Missouri.

the alarms bring her back to her past life. For Sam, she thinks of the last time she saw him. They hugged by the front door before he left for school that day. “I apologized to him because we fought the night before,” she says. “I told him I was just trying to do my very best, and that I was sorry, and that I love him.” “I know,” he said. “I love you, too.”

support of the dedication. “I imagine that others have already moved on from this tragedy,” Ami said. “Their lives are back to normal, and they’re doing things. I can’t do that. What he did that day is astonishing even to me, but I don’t want him to be forgotten. I don’t want that day to be forgotten. I want people to know who he was, and what he did for years to come because I believe what he did mattered.” Maybe people will drive the two-lane road and see his name, and they’ll wonder why. Maybe they’ll look it up, and they’ll know what he did that day. After the sign unveiling, Ami and a smaller group of close friends and family meet at her new house, itself a symbol of the life she had and the one she’ll create. This is the same house where her family lived when they first moved to Spokane from California. Now they’re here to paint, rip up carpet and clean the place up. Then it will feel more like home — her home. Ami’s 6- and 8-year-old niece and nephew run around the house shouting and laughing. Ami’s daughter, Emily, is in town and makes pizza for everyone. The new carpet color that Ami picked out is called Silver Lining. Ironic. She doesn’t see a light at the end, at least not yet. Her sister, Wendy Adams, LETTERS doesn’t know Send comments to what to say editor@inlander.com. either. There’s been death in the family before, but this is different. What can you say? “There’s no comfort to be given,” Adams says. “I’m not one to sit there and say things take time. I can’t do that. It’s bullshit, and it sucks, and I don’t know how your heart heals from this. I just know that she gets up every day and keeps going.” As the mother of someone killed in a school shooting, Ami is inevitably dragged into the gun safety debate. She signed a change.org petition in support of banning assault-style weapons and other measures. “Guns can easily get in the wrong hands, as we know,” she says. “And it’s happened over and over and over again. I think if you look at the number of mass shootings and school shootings since Sam died — if people didn’t have them in their houses — kids wouldn’t have gotten them.” There have been at least 20 recorded incidents of a gun killing or injuring people in schools since the Freeman shooting. Ami knows it will happen again, but she doesn’t have a solution. As she struggles to make sense of the deaths of her son and husband, Ami is constantly pushing forward — to a new reality, a new identity. This new house will help, but until it’s ready for her to move in, she’ll return alone to the old one and to the emptiness and quiet. And on Sunday afternoons and Wednesday mornings, her phone’s alarm will sound, and she will remember. n

What he did that day is astonishing even to me, but I don’t want him to be forgotten. I don’t want that day to be forgotten. All of it — that memory and the mementos from the memorial — feel both vital and fleeting. “This matters to me, but who is this going to matter to in the long run?” she asks. “Who is going to care about this in 10 years?” That’s why his mother is showing a reporter his room and his Batman and Deadpool onesies. His Wookiee onesie is downstairs in the laundry. X-Men and Call of Duty posters hang over his bed, and a Post-It note with the words “i love you” is stuck between the keys in his computer keyboard. Ami found it while she was cleaning. Sam’s former girlfriend stuck it in his locker at school. Sam was wicked smart, Ami says, maybe too smart for his own good. And he could solve a Rubik’s Cube in about 30 seconds. Sam’s friends say he was the guy they went to with their problems, an empathetic ear who was always willing to help. The letters from the memorial venerate Sam. They call him a hero. One student even told Ami that he wouldn’t be alive if Sam hadn’t approached the shooter. But then she thinks about commenters on the internet. People call Sam a bully. He doesn’t deserve a hero’s tribute, they say. (The shooter will later tell detectives that he’d been “picked on” by Sam in the past, but that he hadn’t intended to shoot any specific person. Rather, he’ll reveal his obsession with school shootings at Columbine High School and Sandy Hook Elementary.) For Ami and Sam’s family, it’s a grave injustice that the boy who killed Sam can say whatever he wants, yet Sam isn’t here to tell his side. They can never know what exactly happened that day — what Sam said, or why he approached a boy trying to load an assault rifle in a school hallway. Ami later texts one of Sam’s friends, asking if there’s something she should know. “[Sam] was never mean to him,” the friend writes. “They didn’t even talk.”

mi is shielded by friends and family from the wind and cold on the side of U.S. Highway 27. The group has gathered here on a snowy Saturday morning because the sign bearing his name will be unveiled: the “Sam D. Strahan Memorial Highway.” Ami previously spoke in front of the Washington State Transportation Commission in

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NEW YEAR’S EVE

GOODBYE, 2017! Hello, 2018: Where to party on New Year’s Eve

SPOKANE SYMPHONY NEW YEAR’S EVE: BEETHOVEN’S NINTH

Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony is widely considered the composer’s most joyous work, so how better to ring in the new year than with the stirring sounds of ol’ Ludwig delivered by the talented folks in the Spokane Symphony. The symphony’s music director, Eckart Preu, is leaving at the end of the season, so consider this one final chance to celebrate a new year with the man who led the symphony into the refurbished Fox Theater a decade ago. The Spokane Symphony Chorale will be part of the show, as will soloists Jacqueline Bolier, Ann Benson, Christopher Pfund and Mark Walters, to help navigate the Ninth to the stirring “Ode to Joy” finale. 7:30 pm • $18-$52 • Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox • 1001 W. Sprague • spokanesymphony.org • 624-1200 (DAN NAILEN)

NASHVILLE NORTH NEW YEAR’S EVE PARTY

Consider this a kitchen-sink approach to New Year’s Eve frivolity. If you’re up for the trip to Nashville North and its huge dance floor, you can partake in some dance lessons (all the better for cutting a rug later in the evening), drink specials, party favors, a celebratory champagne toast and music from DJ Tom and live tunes from local country cat Luke Jaxon. If you haven’t been to Nashville North, you’re missing out on one of the uniquely Western clubs in the region, and promises of something called “whiskey table dances” certainly bode well for a memorable ringing in of 2018. Doors at 6 pm • $5 • 21+ • 6361 W. Seltice Way, Post Falls, Idaho • thenashvillenorth.com • 208-457-9128 (DAN NAILEN) ...continued on next page

DECEMBER 28, 2017 INLANDER 29

CULTURE | NEW YEAR’S EVE

First Night Spokane attendees can enjoy free skating at Riverfront Park’s new ice ribbon.

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

“GOODBYE, 2017!,” CONTINUED...

SUPER SPARKLE

When you make the call to go out on New Year’s Eve and brave crowds, potential nasty weather and all manner of nightlife amateurs having a drunken night out, you want to know you’re going to have a great time. With Spokane band Super Sparkle, that’s a guarantee thanks to the band’s array of dance-floor-ready jams, energetic stage presence and predilection for making their live shows feel like events rather than simple concerts. You can bet the sparkles will be flying, among other shenanigans, when the band headlines the Bartlett on New Year’s Eve. Blake Braley opens the show. $8 advance/$10 at the door • 21+ • The Bartlett • 228 W. Sprague • thebartlettspokane. com • 747-2174 (DAN NAILEN)

FIRST NIGHT SPOKANE

In a move that organizers hope will boost attendance to Spokane’s community New Year’s Eve celebration, nearly all of this year’s First Night events have been moved indoors. Those heading to the all-ages event (which also offers activities for the 21+ crowd at Hotel RL at the Park, the Doubletree and the Davenport Grand) can rest easy over parking downtown on one of the busiest nights of the year, as the WSU Spokane campus is offering free parking and shuttles to and from participating venues.

And while most of this year’s events — like dancing for the liquor-legal crowd, along with plenty of kid-friendly performers, artists and activities — are out of the cold, attendees can also enjoy free ice skating on the new Riverfront Park ice ribbon, as well as a dance party in the INB Performing Arts Center breezeway leading up to the big midnight fireworks show. You can still purchase admission buttons in advance for $15, both online or in person at select locations. Day-of admission is $18, and kids under 10 are free with an adult. 7 pm to midnight • Locations vary around downtown Spokane • Find the complete schedule, event map and other details at firstnightspokane.org. (CHEY SCOTT)

DINE & DRINK IN STYLE

Don your most festive, sparkling attire and make plans to ring in 2018 with a full belly after dining at one of the special NYE dinners MORE EVENTS being hosted at some Visit Inlander.com for of the region’s finest complete listings of food establishments. local events. Reservations will likely fill up fast, so make sure to make yours soon. There are many options for your New Year’s Eve dining, including a special

five-course menu at the MELTING POT SPOKANE served from 4-9 pm. Another on our list of suggestions is the New Year’s Eve tasting menu at SANTÉ RESTAURANT & CHARCUTERIE for $95/person. Choose one of the two six-course menus being served that night, which include a glass of wine or a cocktail, and a glass of champagne. Reservations can be made by calling 315-4613. Those looking for a more casual atmosphere can consider reservations at ZOLA’S NYE Party. Tickets are $10/person for unreserved seating, and include party favors, a champagne toast and live music. The popular downtown bar’s various private rooms are also being rented to parties of various sizes as a VIP option. Check Zola’s Facebook page or call 624-2416. (CS)

NERD YEAR’S EVE

If sitting at home with a gaming controller in hand is more your style, consider the Nerd Year’s Eve Party at new Spokane Valley gaming bar GeeksNGlory. Beyond free access to the venue’s insanely expansive library of console games to play with friends and other friendly local gamers, GeeksNGlory is offering drink specials, prizes and a cosplay contest for the most devoted gamer fans out there. 4 pm-2 am • Free admission • 21+ • GeeksNGlory • 6710 E. Sprague • Details at bit.ly/2p65EXm (CS) n

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CULTURE | DIGEST

Searching for the Meaning of Death? There’s an App for That BINGEWORTHY RECOVERY Let’s posit that you, like many people, went out on New Year’s Eve and had a cocktail, or two, or 10. We’re not here to judge, we’re here to help you bounce back. New Year’s Day recovery is a must and is best done on your couch, or in bed, catching the Chappelle’s Show marathon running on Comedy Central all day long. Not only do you get to relive classic bits like “Charlie Murphy’s True Hollywood Stories,” “Mad Real World” and the “Playa Hater’s Ball,” you get some killer music performances from the likes of Mos Def, Erykah Badu and DMX. Netflix is releasing two new Chappelle standup specials on New Year’s Eve, but this binge of the show that made him a star is a sure thing. (DAN NAILEN)

BY WILSON CRISCIONE

hile I was on my phone avoiding work on a recent Monday afternoon, my Facebook feed presented me with an article that I couldn’t resist. It was about Lakers point guard Lonzo Ball and his crooked, screwball shooting form. It was a completely meaningless little thing I’d forget in two days, like most articles on the internet. Yet I had to read it. But just as I clicked, my phone flashed an alert. It was something else that I had no power to resist. It said, “You’re going to die.” It came from the app WeCroak, which reminds you five times a day of your inevitable death. I downloaded it two weeks ago as a test, operating under the theory that if I’m constantly reminded of my mortality, I may cherish life a little more. It didn’t really work out like that. The reminders show up like any news alert, alongside other reminders of inevitable catastrophe.

THE BUZZ BIN

BEAUTY RULES While Star Wars: The Last Jedi made a late push with its December 15 release, the live-action Beauty and the Beast was the top-grossing movie of the year in the U.S., raking in more than half a billion bucks. Here’s the year-end Top 10, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com: 1. Beauty and the Beast 2. Wonder Woman 3. Star Wars: The Last Jedi 4. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 5. Spider-Man: Homecoming 6. It 7. Thor: Ragnarok 8. Despicable Me 3 9. Logan 10. The Fate of the Furious

The president is on Twitter again, North Korea launched a missile, death will come for me and everyone I know, yada yada yada. Sometimes — like death, I suppose — it comes when I least expect, in the most mundane moments. It reminded me after I watched a Snapchat video of someone drinking craft beer. It reminded me while I scoured the internet trying to find out why certain fanboys hate the new Star Wars. It reminded me when I took my phone out during a second of silent awkwardness at the office Christmas party. “Don’t forget, you’re going to die.” At times, it feels like a joke. Last Saturday, my wife and I strolled through Ace Hardware to buy Christmas lights. At the register, she pointed to some fake reindeer antlers. They looked ridiculous. She suggested I wear them for the pub crawl that night. “Kill me,” I quipped. As I pulled my phone out at the register, it’s there: “Don’t forget, you’re going to die.” Other times, it’s cruel. It reminded when I sat in a church for a memorial honoring my friend’s father, who died last month. It reminded me while I read about the train crash outside of Seattle, hoping my sister who lives around there was OK. It hasn’t made me cherish life any more than I did. That Lonzo Ball article? I still read it, and I’ve read more since. It’s the timing that intrigues me. Each reminder somehow informs all of these moments. I attach my own meaning to it. Why does it tell me then? Why not another time? I know it can come whenever, for no reason, no matter what I’m doing. I know it’s completely random. But sometimes, when I stop and think about it, it doesn’t seem random at all. n

INESCAPABLE Billboard magazine compiles its list of the year’s “Hot 100 Songs” by combining radio airplay statistics, sales numbers and streaming data. Here are the Billboard Top 10 songs of the year, the tunes we couldn’t avoid no matter how much we might have wanted to: 1. Ed Sheeran, “The Shape of You” 2. Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee Featuring Justin Bieber, “Despacito” 3. Bruno Mars, “That’s What I Like” 4. Kendrick Lamar, “Humble.” 5. The Chainsmokers & Coldplay, “Something Just Like This” 6. Migos feat. Lil Uzi Vert, “Bad and Boujee” 7. The Chainsmokers feat. Halsey, “Closer” 8. Sam Hunt, “Body Like a Back Road” 9. Imagine Dragons, “Believer” 10. Post Malone feat. Quavo, “Congratulations” To see the Inlander’s music writers’ favorite music of 2017, flip to the Music section, beginning on page 39.

ART SALVAGE FINDS A HOME Spokane’s first and only creative reuse nonprofit, Art Salvage, has finally found its long-envisioned permanent home, and now needs the community’s support. Though the address hasn’t been announced publicly, Art Salvage founder and president Katie Patterson Larson (pictured) says the space is about four minutes north of downtown on a well-traveled street. The space will include a retail shop selling new and used art materials and a dedicated classroom for classes and programming, she says. Art Salvage is now offering charter memberships at $25, $50, $100 and $200 levels through Jan. 15. Membership offers several benefits at each level, including access to special sales. This support will help sustain the growing nonprofit, in addition to class fees, sales and other donations. Visit artsalvagespokane.com for details and to sign up. (CHEY SCOTT)

DECEMBER 28, 2017 INLANDER 31

The Savage Boar team (from left): Brenda Wilbur, Alex Wilbur and John Barrom.

HECTOR AIZON PHOTOS

SPIRITS

Slow Boil to Success Savage Boar Spirits aims for refined liquors from its Airway Heights distillery BY DAN NAILEN

atience is a virtue in most endeavors, but it’s an absolute necessity in the booze biz. Aspiring distillers not only have to go through the painstaking process of learning how to craft something delicious out of basic, raw ingredients and then actually do it; they also have to take that product and stash it away for months or years at a time to create the smooth spirit they dreamed of when they first started. That’s why so many distilleries — like the new Savage Boar Spirits in Airway Heights — start with vodka as their first product. Relatively speaking, a skilled distiller can make a market-ready vodka pretty quick, allowing a young business to get off the ground while grander visions of gins and whiskeys wait for another day. The Savage Boar owners — John Barrom and

32 INLANDER DECEMBER 28, 2017

husband-and-wife team Alex and Brenda Wilbur — have been methodically working on their business since 2014. That’s when Alex Wilbur left his IT job at Gonzaga University to become the full-time tender of mash pots, stills and filters in their nondescript building a couple blocks off Airway Heights’ main drag. Barrom and Brenda Wilbur still work full-time at their day jobs between hustling on the marketing, distribution and long-term planning for their nascent beverage. After the decision to create the business, the team spent two years outfitting their facility, going through the licensing process, researching, building and testing the equipment, and figuring out things like logos and bottle sizes before any of their vodka was actually ready for public consumption.

“When you tell a bunch of artists you want a boar’s head, it’s unreal the variety of what you get back,” Barrom says of the process that ultimately landed on a logo from artist Sheila Evans and a boar illustration by Shannon Potratz. The trio has learned new things at every turn. Brenda Wilbur says they were “focused on whiskey at the beginning” but quickly pivoted to vodka, and Barrom adds that almost every decision in developing Savage Boar has led the team to a point requiring ever more choices they hadn’t anticipated. “At first we’d be heading down one path and then fork off into something else, and it would fork again,” Barrom says. “We had a rough time with picking a bottle,” Brenda

Wilbur adds, “and then we just sort of said, ‘Screw it, just go with something!’ We had paralysis by analysis.” A tip from a bartender to keep the bottle simple and easy to grab helped the trio, and they’ve talked to people at all levels of the industry to help figure out how best to approach entering the fray of craft distilling. “Our philosophy was to start small,” Brenda Wilbur says, and the methodical approach has helped them navigate some frustrating aspects of starting a new booze business. How tough it is to get their vodka in front of bar and restaurant owners was surprising at first — “I really thought there would be more enthusiasm about a new local product,” Barrom says. “It’s very hard to compete.” — but the challenges led to some creative marketing ideas, like serving Savage Boar at the Cheney and Ritzville rodeos. The nonstop lessons extend to Alex Wilbur, who basically taught himself how to distill once the team decided to launch the business. “I was watching the progression of how beer hit the scene,” Alex Wilbur says. “It was here for 10 or 15 years, and then it just exploded. Now beer is like your neighborhood bakery or your neighborhood restaurant. People stop in to have a beer after work and they’re having local beer. And we’re watching hard liquor start to do the same thing.” He’s self-deprecating about his skills, but the results of only his second batch of vodka — currently in bottles around town and at the distillery — are tasty, particularly mixed with fruit juice. And the process is speeding up for him now that he has experience working with the Eastern Washington wheat used for his vodka. “Me and John’s first mash-in was incredibly fascinating,” Alex Wilbur says. “It actually took me like 12 hours to grind the first batch of wheat. It was exhausting and nightmarish.” “John was like, ‘I don’t think this is going to work,’” Brenda Wilbur adds with a laugh. “There’s got to be a way to streamline this!” Barrom recalls thinking. “At every step of the process there’s been like a ‘No way I’m doing that again,’” Alex Wilbur says. “So you find the better way. A lot of trial and error. If I had been smart, I would have spent more time and maybe $5,000 for a more formal [distilling] education. I would have been up and cooking faster. On the other side of that, what you learn the hard way you never forget, and the journey’s been amazing to get where it can go in the bottle.” The team already has plans afoot for increasing production in 2018 to make more vodka, as well as starting on gin production, adding some flavored vodka (jalapeno, anyone?) and increasing their public outreach with events, an online shop and a revamped tasting room. If that seems like a Alex Wilbur samples some aged vodka. lot to undertake for a young business, that’s another lesson they’re learning. As patient as one has to be to learn the craft and make a tasty beverage is as fast as things start moving once your product catches on. Barrom says that even though they’re just getting started, they’re already hearing from customers about what’s next. “Another example of how you get pulled in different directions,” Barrom says. “We have this base of people who like our vodka a lot, and of course they start going, ‘When are you going to have something else?’ Here’s Alex trying to make batch three, and people want other stuff!” n Savage Boar Spirits Craft Distillery • 11902 W. 21st Ave., Airway Heights • Facebook: Savage Boar Spirits Craft Disillery • 995-4937 for tours and tastings

FOOD | OPENING

Event Eats

Four new food counters offer restaurant-style fare.

STUART DANFORD PHOTO

The Spokane Arena unveils restaurant-style dining options in newly remodeled concessions area BY CHEY SCOTT

ot dogs, hamburgers and popcorn may be considered all-time classics when it comes to concessions fare, but hungry guests at the Spokane Arena now have plenty more to choose from. A remodeled and expanded concessions area called the Market, located on the northwest end of the arena concourse, debuted earlier this month with many new food options: gourmetstyle sausages, Asian cuisine, artisan-style pizza and grilled sandwiches. Each of the aforementioned cuisines are served on concise menus at one of four new food counters inside the Market, which the venue’s food service staff developed to be more comparable to casual restaurant dining than generic concessions fare. The Market also includes a 16-tap beer, cider and wine bar, although each of the four counters also feature four beer taps, along with soda and other non-alcoholic beverages. The four new stands were developed by locally based culinary staff of Centerplate, the national catering and food services company that services both the Arena and the Spokane Convention Center. At Griddled, Arena guests can choose from grilled sandwiches like the staff-favorite Cubano ($9.50), with pulled pork, ham, swiss cheese, honey dijon and dill pickles. There’s also the “fancy pants grilled cheese” ($8) with three types of cheese, and a dessert sandwich of maple cream cheese and candied bacon served between cinnamon swirl bread ($7). “Our main customer base is [Spokane] Chiefs fans, and they are here a few days a week, so it’s nice for them to get something different,” explains Centerplate sous chef Jessica Reuthinger. Meanwhile, the new artisan pizza stand Crust serves up hot, fresh slices ($6-$7.50) of four styles: cheese, pepperoni, veggie and Italian

sausage. Reuthinger’s favorite creation there is the oven-fired cinnamon roll, served in pizza-like slices. Craft Burger and Sausage serves three different burgers, as well as a spicy andouille sausage and bratwurst ($6/dogs; $9-$10/burgers). Rounding out the list is Noodled, which serves three different wok-fried noodle wraps — banh mi, lo mein and phad thai — that can also be ordered as rice bowls ($9/each). Each of the four stands offer at least one vegetarian option, and a dessert. “We’re trying to stay up with the times, and offer something new,” says Centerplate executive chef Harold Froewiss. “Some of those [previous] stands were original when they built the Arena, it was time to move forward.” Work to modernize the Spokane Arena’s food offerings began earlier this year, and also included a street taco stand that opened several months ago; it’s located on the southwest concourse. Previously existing food and beverage areas that remain include the Red Tail lounge, Dry Fly Distilling’s bar and restaurant, the No-Li Taproom, Jameson Pub and a few other smaller popcorn and sweets stands. The Arena’s culinary team designed all four menus to be flexible, so that new items and specials can be introduced to keep dining options fresh and interesting to venue patrons. They also focused on making prices competitive with other dining options in the vicinity, and the Spokane market overall. Another goal of the concession expansion is make ordering food and drinks a faster experience for customers. “It would be nice to have [the Arena] be a destination to eat and also see the event — to come and look forward to getting dinner at the Arena,” Reuthinger says. n cheys@inlander.com

DECEMBER 28, 2017 INLANDER 33

WE SHALL

FIGHT D

arkest Hour is about a controversial leader’s steadfast refusal to engage in peace talks in favor of going to war. Not the sort of message you’d expect people to support these days — but I should mention that the leader is Winston Churchill and the war is the one to stop the Nazis. We’re not pro-war generally, but pro-that war — yes. Gary Oldman, aided by many pounds of extremely convincing prosthetics and makeup (designed by the brilliant Kazuhiro Tsuji), plays the portly, gin-blossomed, 65-year-old Churchill in May 1940, when he’s appointed Prime Minister following the resignation of Hitler-coddling Neville Chamberlain (Ronald Pickup). Everyone in his party wants Viscount Halifax (Stephen Dillane) for the job, and when it’s pointed out (correctly) that the opposition will only accept Churchill, there are grumbles of “Oh, no” and “Not him” around the table. Can’t wait to meet this Churchill fellow! With that lead-up, we are introduced to Winston as he works from bed one morning, grunting, belching and drinking while taking phone calls and dictating garbled telegrams to his new secretary, Elizabeth Layton (Lily James). A great orator with a superb wit, Winston agonizes over the text of his speeches before giving them, aware that his powers of persuasion are only as strong as

34 INLANDER DECEMBER 28, 2017

Gary Oldman’s transformative performance anchors a stirring and dramatically satisfying historical biopic BY ERIC D. SNIDER

his words. But he has become cantankerous lately, requiring gentle reproof from his loving but clear-eyed wife, Clementine (Kristin Scott Thomas), whom he adores. If he is to be Prime Minister, she says, he needs to be kind. He needs to be a lot of other things, too, including stubborn and persuasive. Halifax, Chamberlain and others within Churchill’s party want England to try negotiating with Hitler, who is in the process of overtaking France and cornering the entire British army on the beaches of Dunkirk. (The movie gods smiled upon us with the 2017 one-two punch of Dunkirk and Darkest Hour, which cover the same events from different angles.) If the Nazis succeed there, they’ll invade England next. Mightn’t we be better off if we capitulate now? Churchill’s eventual response, as you know, is “NEVER!” (I’ve paraphrased it.) Having been one of the few in British politics to recognize Hitler’s threat early on, he’s convinced that peace talks with this madman now would only result in England’s demise. You can’t negotiate with a lion when it already has your head in its mouth. Churchill is against peace talks from the get-go, but the film is about his process of confirming that decision, the doubt and anxiety and political squabbles that plague him as he scrambles to salvage Dunkirk. It doesn’t help that he’s already widely blamed for another costly

military disaster — World War I’s Battle of Gallipoli — and that King George VI (Ben Mendelsohn) doesn’t like him. If Gary Oldman were to announce his retirement from acting tomorrow, his performance here would be the perfect capstone to an admirable career. Apart from the physical transformaDARKEST HOUR tion, and besides capturing Churchill’s voice and Rated PG-13 mannerisms, he conveys Directed by Joe Wright the immense pressure on Starring Gary Oldman, Lily the man, his ability to be James, Kristin Scott Thomas humorous and self-effacing one minute, a roaring parliamentary lion the next. Anthony McCarten’s pithy screenplay gives Oldman plenty of meat to chew on, including some of Churchill’s famous speeches, and director Joe Wright (Atonement, 2005’s Pride and Prejudice) guides the drama with a steady hand. It’s good enough that we can forgive an undeniably stirring but fairly ludicrous scene where Winston seeks the opinions of ordinary folks on the subway. That part feels phony, but Oldman sells it with the same sincerity as in the film’s more authentic moments. Makes you wish we had someone like Churchill to help fight the Nazis this time. n

FILM | SHORTS

The Breadwinner

OPENING FILMS THE BREADWINNER

From the makers of The Secret of Kells and Song of the Sea comes this animated drama about an Afghani girl who dresses as a boy so that she can

get a job after her father is arrested. The film is on the shortlist to be nominated for the Best Animated Feature Oscar. At the Magic Lantern. (NW) Not Rated

NOW PLAYING

ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD

The 1973 kidnapping of oil fortune heir Jean Paul Getty III is dramatized in Ridley Scott’s dark thriller, as the teenager’s mother (Michelle Williams) tries to convince her miserly fatherin-law (Christopher Plummer, a lastminute replacement for Kevin Spacey) to cough up the ransom money. (NW) Rated R

COCO

On the eve of Día de los Muertos, 12-year-old Miguel finds himself in the land of the dead, where he discovers he’s descended from a legendary Mexican musician. The latest from Pixar creates a vivid world and then runs around in it, all while conveying a message about the importance of family that actually feels sincere. (ES) Rated PG

DADDY’S HOME 2

A sequel to the 2015 alpha-male comedy in which co-parents Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg, having solved their differences from the previous film, come to blows again when their fathers — played by John Lithgow and Mel Gibson (yeah, they’re letting him be in movies again) — come to town for Christmas. (NW) Rated PG-13

DARKEST HOUR

Gary Oldman is unrecognizable under pounds of makeup and prosthetics as British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who’s settling into his first term right as Hitler’s power intensifies. If Oldman doesn’t take home the Oscar for this one, it won’t have been for lack of trying. (ES) Rated PG-13

THE DISASTER ARTIST

The funniest movie of the year is a behind-the-scenes look at the worst movie of all time. James Franco directs

and stars as Tommy Wiseau, the wannabe auteur behind the misguided 2003 curiosity The Room, which became a so-bad-it’s-good cult favorite. This is a hilarious tribute to the original film, but it also has a compelling message about the elusive nature of artistic success. (SS) Rated R

DOWNSIZING

In director Alexander Payne’s imaginative satire, a drab middle-class couple (Matt Damon and Kristen Wiig) sign up for a procedure that shrinks you down to just a few inches, hoping it’ll make the world a better place. The film functions both as social commentary and broad comedy, but it perhaps works best as a thought experiment about our place in the universe. (ES) Rated R

FATHER FIGURES

Twin brothers Owen Wilson and Ed Helms embark on a roadtrip to find their biological dad, only to discover there are more viable candidates than they thought. Glenn Close, J.K. Simmons, Ving Rhames and Christopher Walken are all cashing quick paychecks in supporting roles. (NW) Rated R

FERDINAND

An animated adaptation of the 1936 children’s book about a misunderstood bull (voiced by former wrestler John Cena) who would rather frolic in fields of flowers than fight in an arena. A smart, funny family film that espouses a refreshing message about gender stereotypes. (MJ) Rated PG

THE GREATEST SHOWMAN

A lavish, Moulin Rouge-y musical fantasy inspired by the life and career of P.T. Barnum (Hugh Jackman), the circus empresario who created modern show biz as we know it. The splashy ...continued on next page

DECEMBER 28, 2017 INLANDER 35

JAN, THE TOY LADY, IS LOOKING FORWARD TO THE COMPLETION OF MORE ATTRACTIONS IN RIVERFRONT PARK AND THE M BUILDING IN DOWNTOWN SPOKANE IN 2018: ck One blo e. at a tim

FILM | SHORTS

NOW PLAYING songs are co-written by Oscar-winning La La Land lyricists Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. (NW) Rated PG

JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE

River Park Square (509) 456-TOYS

The magical board game from that 1995 Robin Williams movie returns to the big screen, this time in the guise of an old gaming console that pulls some high schoolers into its perilous world. Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart and Jack Black star as the kids’ in-game avatars. (NW) Rated PG-13

LADY BIRD

Greta Gerwig’s first foray behind the camera is a funny, observant and empathetic coming-of-age story about a fiercely independent teenage girl finding her true identity in post-9/11 Sacramento. Saoirse Ronan is phenomenal as the title character, as is Laurie Metcalf as the mother she’s often at odds with. A remarkably assured directorial debut. At the Magic Lantern. (NW) Rated R

LOVING VINCENT

Advertised as the first entirely handpainted feature, the look of this impressionistic animated drama is a thing to behold. Set in the 1890s, a postmaster’s son is sent to deliver a long-lost letter written by the late Vincent van Gogh, only to find himself questioning the circumstances of the influential artist’s suicide. At the Magic Lantern. (NW) Rated PG-13

CRITICS’ SCORECARD THE INLANDER

NEW YORK TIMES

VARIETY

(LOS ANGELES)

METACRITIC.COM (OUT OF 100)

COCO

DARKEST HOUR

FERDINAND

LADY BIRD

PITCH PERFECT 3

STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI

THREE BILLBOARDS

DON’T MISS IT

WORTH $10

THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI

When her daughter is murdered, an angry mother (Frances McDormand) erects a trio of uncouth billboards calling out the local police department, causing a stir in her tiny town. While the all-star cast delivers emotionally wrenching, award-worthy performances, writer-director Martin McDonagh’s inconsistent script occasionally veers into idiotic absurdity that undercuts the gravity of the drama. At the Magic Lantern. (SS)

TIGER ZINDA HAI

A sequel to the hugely successful Bolly-

WATCH IT AT HOME

SKIP IT

wood thriller Ek Tha Tiger, with Salman Khan reprising his role as an Indian superspy emerging from professional exile to take on a powerful terrorist organization. (NW) Not Rated

WONDER

A little boy with facial deformities (Jacob Tremblay of Room) is sent off to a public school for the first time, with his encouraging parents (Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson) looking on. A sweet and gentle adaptation of R.J. Palacio’s bestselling YA novel that nonetheless bashes you over the head with its already obvious themes and messages. (MJ) Rated PG n

PITCH PERFECT 3

The Bellas a cappella troupe reunite for one last gig during a haphazard USO tour in this third (and hopefully final) installment of the once enjoyable musical-comedy series. A flailing attempt to recreate the success of the earlier movies, without appreciating what made them work. (MJ) Rated PG-13

THE STAR

This cheap-looking animated film finally answers the question no one has ever asked: What were the animals like at the Nativity? The huge voice cast includes Oprah Winfrey, Mariah Carey and Christopher Plummer. (NW) Rated PG

JEDI

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As the evil First Order tightens its grip on the galaxy, Jedi-in-training Rey and her fellow Resistance fighters team up for a last-ditch attempt at victory. The most anticipated blockbuster of the year seems to be dividing audiences, but love it or hate it, we should all be happy that the Star Wars universe still sparks fiery imaginative passion. (SS) Rated PG-13

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The third film in the Thor franchise is the best of the bunch, with the character’s comic energy getting a muchneeded jolt from director Taika Waititi. This time around, the God of Thunder learns he has a long-lost sister (Cate Blanchett, snacking on scenery), who casts Thor and Loki off to a prison planet and steals the throne of Asgard. (SS) Rated PG-13

Bright

NOW STREAMING BRIGHT (NETFLIX)

Netflix’s latest feature is an obnoxious fantasy thriller in which a human cop (Will Smith) and his orc partner (Joel Edgerton) become the protectors of a magical young woman being pursued by evil elves. Its parallels to contemporary racial strife are broad and offensive, and it feels less like a movie than the final few episodes of a series you’ve never watched before. (NW) Not Rated

CREEP 2 (NETFLIX)

A sequel to the surprisingly clever and unsettling 2014 found-footage film, with Mark Duplass returning as a serial killer who places a Craigslist ad that attracts a videographer looking to make her web series go viral. The novelty of the original has worn off a bit, but it maintains its predecessor’s mix of queasy comedy and unexpected violence. (NW) Not Rated

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The popular Pitch Perfect series goes wildly off-key in its third (and hopefully final) installment.

Out of Tune

a cappella? The spy-thriller opening sequence serves only to highlight how much more realistic 007 is than what happens here. This time out, the Barden Bellas reunite from their crappy 20-something post-university existences of dead-end jobs to do a USO tour in Europe, into which is shoehorned a competition that has nothing to do with a cappella and in which the other contestants are bands. You know, like with musical instruments and everything. There’s very little a cappella, and not even much in the way of competition; we don’t even get performances from the other bands, which are limp pastiches of an all-girl rock band, a BY MARYANN JOHANSON country-rock band and a hip-hop group. “Pasitch Perfect 3, the third entry in the comedy tiche” may be giving the film too much credit, series about the young women of a though: The bands are nondescript, the musicompetitive university a cappella singing cians non-entities. The subplot that culminates on group, opens with them belting out a massive the exploding yacht is even further removed from rendition of Britney Spears’ “Toxic” on a yacht all this to the degree that it feels like it’s been off the south of France, and then leaping off the imported from a completely different movie, one boat in slo-mo while it explodes. that is (if possible) even cheaper and cheesier. This is really rather remarkable: I don’t think So what else is there? A lot of women I’ve ever seen a movie jump the disparaging other women and shark — or the exploding yacht — including a helluva PITCH PERFECT 3 themselves, in its opening scene. lot of infantilization of talented Rated PG-13 Even more remarkable, the actresses who are in their 30s, Directed by Trish Sie movie then flashes back to “three forced to enact pajama parStarring Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, weeks earlier,” at which point the ties and childish daddy issues. Brittany Snow, Hailee Steinfeld hapless viewer realizes that the Rebel Wilson’s “Fat” Amy is movie is going to attempt a justreated atrociously here, from her tification for how a bunch of music dorks could constant stream of self-hating fat jokes to how the ever find themselves in the midst of a James script treats her sexuality and her interest in men Bond scenario. It’s almost unbelievably appalling as something laughable and disgusting. I won’t how Pitch Perfect 3 tosses out what made the previeven go into how John Lithgow embarrasses ous two films just barely acceptable, which would himself as Amy’s father, complete with an awful be the a cappella singing among rival groups Australian accent. attempting to outdo their opponents. There’s a reek of desperation to Pitch Perfect The music in the first two was pretty toe3, a flailing attempt to recreate the success of the tappingly entertaining, and they harkened back earlier movies without appreciating what made to silly musicals the likes of which we don’t see them work. Screenwriter Cannon falls back much of anymore, even if they were problematic on her TV-sitcom background with multiple in their depictions of women. This was espeslapstick action sequences that are shockingly out cially concerning given that the films were about of place here. Director Trish Sie (Step Up All In) women and written by a woman (Kay Cannon, is incredible at crafting compulsively watchable who returns as screenwriter here). Still, how can music videos, but there is no life in anything here you not love “organized nerd singing,” as the that isn’t the very occasional musical number. first movie called it, or Anna Kendrick, who is an Even the Bellas’ rendition of George Miunappreciated goddess of comedy and music? chael’s “Freedom” in the finale looks good only Remember how the first movie was actuby comparison with the 90 minutes of nearly ally inspired by a nonfiction book about college unwatchable junk that has come before. n

The Pitch Perfect series concludes with a weirdly sexist entry that forgets why anyone liked the first two movies

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ALBUMS

The Year in Grooves Our picks for the best albums of 2017 NATHAN WEINBENDER, MUSIC EDITOR

10. SLOWDIVE, Slowdive The British shoegaze icons return from a two-decade hiatus, and it’s as if they never missed a step. The sounds of a band reunited, reinvented and falling effortlessly back into its old tricks.

Kendrick Lamar has cemented his status as the most vital voice in hip-hop.

9. ALVVAYS, Antisocialites Beguiling dream-pop from Toronto that gets deeper and catchier with each new listen, as the melodies wrap themselves around you and swim through your brain for days afterward. 8. LCD SOUNDSYSTEM, American Dream James Murphy is perpetually in the throes of a midlife crisis, and on his recently reunited band’s longest and slowest burning record, he eviscerates technology, drug culture and (no surprise) the idea of aging gracefully. 7. CHARLY BLISS, Guppy Sounding like they were beamed straight from a Tower Records loudspeaker in 1996, this Brooklyn quartet cockily channels Veruca Salt by way of Juliana Hatfield on their contagious debut LP. 6. VINCE STAPLES, Big Fish Theory If we’re to follow Staples’ aquatic metaphor to its most logical extreme, he’s both trapped inside the fishbowl and tapping on the glass from outside. A sophomore LP that’s smarter, funnier and more self-effacing than your typical fame’s-a-bitch salvo. 5. THE WAR ON DRUGS, A Deeper Understanding Me upon first hearing A Deeper Understanding: “Man, every War on Drugs record kind of sounds the same.” Also me, upon re-listening for the fifth or sixth time: “My favorite track? Probably ‘Holding On.’ Or ‘Nothing to Find.’ Or maybe…” 4. SZA, Ctrl For anyone unaware of this New Jersey R&B star-in-the-making, her debut LP seems like an out-of-nowhere work of brilliance. Her fans, meanwhile, weren’t surprised one bit. Ctrl bristles with confidence and pulsates with heartbreak, each track revealing an emotional nakedness beneath the glossy production. 3. ST. VINCENT, Masseduction Maybe it’s a concept album about the monotony of excess, or maybe it’s simply a break-up record about pining for a young ex-lover in a restless city. Either way, Annie Clark’s latest is witty and kinky, dripping with passion and withering scorn. 2. LORDE, Melodrama The mainstream pop record of the year, in which the New Zealand superstar gets ready for a night of blowing shit up on the dance floor and then picks up a bunch of empty champagne glasses the next morning. The party in between? Eh, it’s not important. ...continued on next page

DECEMBER 28, 2017 INLANDER 39

MUSIC | ALBUMS

“THE YEAR IN GROOVES,” CONTINUED... 1. KENDRICK LAMAR, DAMN. With each new release, Kendrick Lamar re-cements his status as the most vital voice in hip-hop, and perhaps in all of contemporary music, the kind of artist who can imbue individual lines with more meaning than others manage in entire songs. That muscular minimalism is reflected in the very title of DAMN., his fourth studio LP, with that emphatic period suggesting the word is a sentence unto itself. The track titles follow suit (“PRIDE.” “HUMBLE.” “GOD.”), a collection of WEEKEND screeds, celebrations and C O U N T D OW N lamentations examining Get the scoop on this black identity and Trumpweekend’s events with era anxieties. Lamar has our newsletter. Sign up at also released DAMN. with Inlander.com/newsletter. its songs in reverse order, saying the album makes even more sense when played backward; that it’s bookended by gunshots is a somber commentary on a cyclical system of violence targeting African-American men. “I’ll probably die,” one of Lamar’s “characters” observes at one point, “because that’s what you do when you’re 17.” Damn, indeed.

Happy New Year Spokane! Watch for exciting changes from us in 2018

DAN NAILEN, STAFF WRITER

CONNOR DINNISON, CONTRIBUTOR

1. MARGO PRICE, All American Made If you think country music is all rah-rah patriotism and beerbro party tunes, you need to meet Margo Price, a Nashville spitfire who knows the true meaning of populism and who isn’t afraid to raise a middle finger to the mainstream country scene. Her killer debut, 2016’s Midwest Farmer’s Daughter, revealed an artist happy to go toe-to-toe with anyone who questioned her ability to deliver lacerating lyrics chased with a whiskey shot. On her sophomore set, Price surveys an America of bankrupt farmers and women treated like second-class citizens, and leans into a run of sharp songs that touch on R&B, soul, doo-wop and indie-rock without losing her honky-tonk roots, all the while focusing on protagonists who have been left behind by promises to “make America great again.” It’s a brilliant, timely set that will prove timeless.

1. MOUNT EERIE, A Crow Looked at Me “Conceptual emptiness was cool to talk about,” sings Phil Elverum (aka Mount Eerie) on his record A Crow Looked at Me, “back before I knew my way around these hospitals.” His wife Geneviève, also an artist and musician, succumbed to pancreatic cancer in July 2016, shortly after the birth of their daughter. These 11 “songs” (Elverum has called the record “barely music”) read like private diary entries (think Karl Ove Knausgaard) of a widower grappling with a grim reality (“death is real,” he repeats over and over), entombed in the living grave of the past. It’s a haunted work of art (Crow was recorded at home in Anacortes, Washington, in Geneviève’s room with her instruments, mostly guitar and occasionally a sputtering drum machine), unapologetically sincere in its stark take on our common fate: obliteration. And yet the moral here is love. As Elverum explains in the liner notes, “I want it known.”

10. Filthy Friends, Invitation 9. Hiss Golden Messenger, Hallelujah Anyhow 8. Chris Shiflett, West Coast Town 7. Deer Tick, Deer Tick Vol. 1 & Vol. 2 6. St. Vincent, Masseduction 5. JD McPherson, Undivided Heart & Soul 4. Lorde, Melodrama 3. Lilly Hiatt, Trinity Lane 2. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, The Nashville Sound

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10. Pallbearer, Heartless 9. Bibio, Phantom Brickworks 8. Wiki, No Mountains in Manhattan 7. Kendrick Lamar, DAMN. 6. The Clientele, Music for the Age of Miracles 5. Ryan Driver, Careless Thoughts 4. Sam Gendel, 4444 3. Ariel Pink, Dedicated to Bobby Jameson 2. Avey Tare, Eucalyptus

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1. RAPSODY, LAILA’S WISDOM Rapsody (aka Marlanna Evans) has been a proficient and prolific presence in hip-hop for nearly a decade, with a slew of solid EPs, mixtapes and albums on her résumé. But in 2015, the North Carolina MC scored a coveted guest verse on Kendrick Lamar’s masterpiece To Pimp a Butterfly, and her career has been stuck in overdrive ever since. Her post-Pimp peak (so far) is Laila’s Wisdom, a potent amalgam of boom-bap roots, dizzyingly intricate rhymes, vintage funk ‘n’ soul sounds, elegant lyricism and unmistakably modern vibes. It’s an album that’s as stirring as it is sturdy, and as dynamic as it is efficient. Released via Jay-Z’s label Roc Nation, Laila’s Wisdom is also a Grammy nominee for Best Rap Album, and the best non-Kendrick hip-hop release of 2017. The woman’s career is on a steep upward trajectory. She deserves nothing less.

1. GAS, Narkopop Narkopop is the first album from German producer Wolfgang Voigt’s legendary GAS project in 17 years, and though the timing seems random, it couldn’t have been better. Voigt is arguably the biggest pioneer of ambient music since Brian Eno before him, and his return here is a gorgeous reminder of how he has earned that reputation. This is probably the most immediate of his records under the GAS moniker, and Voigt only needs the first 10 seconds of the opening piece to get you on his level, swathed in his melting, wheezing world of blissed-out tones. Narkopop is by turns fittingly dark and hauntingly comforting, a warm embrace that comes with the understanding that things are most certainly not alright, but it’s not time to give up.

1. DADDY ISSUES, Deep Dream In a year partially defined by women calling out dudes on their B.S., no one did it musically better than Daddy Issues. With a beautiful slow-moving haze of fuzzed out guitars and sweet voices spitting sour words, the Nashville trio’s Deep Dream manages to be both emotionally vulnerable and bluntly dismissive. It’s an albumlength side-eye at toxic masculinity. Backed by a bubblegum grunge sound played with a straightforward musical ease, frontwoman Jenna Moynihan sings with cutting zeal about a delusional exes (“In Your Head”) and societal forces that place blame and guilt on women for being sexually assaulted (“I’m Not”). You can practically hear her sharpening her lyrical fangs with each distorted guitar wail — as bassist Jenna Mitchell and drummer Emily Maxwell plod along — on the dark slow burn of “Dog Years.” Daddy Issues delivers a dreamy, melodic mess of Hayao Miyazaki films, unhealthy relationships, Don Henley covers and self-empowerment that’s heavy like the weight of oppressive humidity on an aimless Southern summer afternoon. n

10. Alvvays, Antisocialites 9. Julie Byrne, Not Even Happiness 8. Charly Bliss, Guppy 7. Elder, Reflections of a Floating World 6. Florist, If Blue Could Be Happiness 5. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, The Nashville Sound 4. Matt Jencik, Weird Times 3. Manchester Orchestra, A Black Mile to the Surface 2. The New Pornographers, Whiteout Conditions

10. Slowdive, Slowdive 9. Japanese Breakfast, Soft Sounds from Another Planet 8. Jlin, Black Origami 7. Björk, Utopia 6. Kendrick Lamar, DAMN. 5. Fever Ray, Plunge 4. SZA, Ctrl 3. Kelela, Take Me Apart 2. King Krule, The OOZ

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MUSIC | SOUND ADVICE

SOUL ORGONE

he California-based soul collective Orgone specializes in the kind of lean, funky R&B that’ll make you think it’s 1972 again, and they’re bringing their throwback jams to Sandpoint on New Year’s Eve. Fans of Sly and the Family Stone, Parliament and Curtis Mayfield will be in heaven. Currently touring as an octet, Orgone has been around (in one form or another) since the late ’90s, with a rotating group of L.A. session musicians filling needed roles. On top of their regular album releases, they’ve also served as a backing band for the likes of Cee Lo Green and Alicia Keys, and they once toured with the late, great Sharon Jones and her ace backing band the Dap-Kings. If that doesn’t tell you they’re the real deal, I don’t know what will. — NATHAN WEINBENDER The Hive New Years Ball with Orgone • Sun, Dec. 31 at 10:30 pm • $30 advance, $35 at the door • 21+ • The Hive • 207 N. First, Sandpoint • livefromthehive.com • 208-457-2392

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

Thursday, 12/28

ROCK NYE AT THE OBSERVATORY

J J THE BARTLETT, Fake News, Marina Obscura, Eliza Catastrophe J BOOTS BAKERY, The Song Project J BUCER’S COFFEEHOUSE PUB, Open Jazz Jam with Erik Bowen CORBY’S BAR, Open Mic and Karaoke THE CORK & TAP, Truck Mills CRUISERS, Open Jam Night J LAGUNA CAFÉ, Just Plain Darin LEFTBANK WINE BAR, Dirk Swartz NIGHTHAWK LOUNGE (CDA CASINO), PJ Destiny THE OBSERVATORY, Vinyl Meltdown RIDLER PIANO BAR, Dueling Pianos ZOLA, Blake Braley

Friday, 12/29

219 LOUNGE, The Somethings ARBOR CREST CELLARS, Truck Mills BEVERLY’S, Robert Vaughn BLACK DIAMOND, DJ Sterling BOLO’S, Dangerous Type CEDAR STREET BRIDGE, Marty Perron and Doug Bond CHINOOK STEAK, PASTA AND SPIRITS (CDA CASINO), Bill Bozly CORBY’S BAR, Karaoke CRUISERS, Karaoke with Gary CURLEY’S, Karma’s Circle FARMHOUSE KITCHEN AND SILO BAR, Tom D’Orazi and Friends FEDORA PUB & GRILLE, Wyatt Wood FREDNECK’S, Just Plain Darin GARLAND DRINKERY, Chad O. Moore J HOTEL RL AT THE PARK, Zachary Lombardo, Suzann Girtz IDAHO POUR AUTHORITY, Mostly Harmless IRON HORSE (CDA), JamShack J KNITTING FACTORY, Zoso: The Ultimate Led Zeppelin Experience LEFTBANK WINE BAR, Cris Lucas

42 INLANDER DECEMBER 28, 2017

f you’re a Spokane music fan, a good New Year’s resolution would be to support more local bands. And if you happen to be downtown on the last night of 2017, the Observatory is the place to go if you want to get that resolution off to a good start. Three of the region’s best active bands are taking the stage to ring in 2018, and the evening’s lineup includes the gritty drum-and-guitar two-piece Indian Goat (pictured), the raucous, R&B-inflected rock of Nat Park and the Tunnels of Love, and Coeur d’Alene’s psych-rock trio Wayward West. On top of all that excellent music, there’s no cover charge at the door. What could be better than that? — NATHAN WEINBENDER Indian Goat, Wayward West and Nat Park and the Tunnels of Love • Sun, Dec. 31 at 9 pm • Free • 21+ • The Observatory • 15 S. Howard • observatoryspokane.com • 598-8933

MICKDUFF’S BEER HALL, Tennis MOOSE LOUNGE, Loose Gazoonz MULLIGAN’S, Son of Brad NASHVILLE NORTH, Ladies Night with Luke Jaxon and DJ Tom NIGHTHAWK LOUNGE (CDA CASINO), KOSH & Vent NORTHERN QUEST RESORT & CASINO, DJ Patrick J THE OBSERVATORY, Haunted Summer, Newman, Pop Goddess Athena PEND D’OREILLE WINERY, Mike Wagoner Trio THE PIN!, DJ Americo, DJ Khali RIDLER PIANO BAR, Dueling Pianos SILVER MOUNTAIN SKI RESORT, Andy Rumsey SPOKANE EAGLES, Stagecoach West ZOLA, UpperCut

Saturday, 12/30

1210 TAVERN, Dee’s Nuts 219 LOUNGE, Brown Salmon Truck J AGING BARREL, Just Plain Darin J J THE BARTLETT, New Year’s Eve Spectacular with Super Sparkle BEVERLY’S, Robert Vaughn BLACK DIAMOND, DJ Stud BOLO’S, Dangerous Type CEDAR STREET BRIDGE, Brian Jacobs CHINOOK STEAK, PASTA AND SPIRITS (CDA CASINO), Bill Bozly COMMUNITY PINT, Schuyler Dornbirer CURLEY’S, Karma’s Circle FEDORA PUB, Donnie Emerson FLAME & CORK, Son of Brad IDAHO POUR AUTHORITY, Doug Bond and Patrice Webb IRON HORSE (COEUR D’ALENE), JamShack

THE JACKSON ST., Karaoke w/James LEFTBANK WINE BAR, Schuyler Dornbirer MICKDUFF’S BEER HALL, Devon Wade Band MOOSE LOUNGE, Loose Gazoonz MULLIGAN’S, Wyatt Wood NASHVILLE NORTH, Ladies Night with Luke Jaxon and DJ Tom NIGHTHAWK LOUNGE (CDA CASINO), KOSH & Vent NORTHERN QUEST, DJ Patrick J THE PIN!, Venture Crew’s Most Excellent New Year Adventure feat. Shauk, Domino, Tarvali and more POST FALLS BREWING COMPANY, Eric Neuhauser J PROHIBITION GASTROPUB, Joshua James Belliardo RIDLER PIANO BAR, Dueling Pianos SILVER MOUNTAIN, Ron Greene

SPOKANE EAGLES, Sharky & the Fins THE VIKING, Elephant Gun Riot, Evan Egerer, Bring Back Griffey WESTWOOD BREWING CO., Pamela Benton ZOLA, UpperCut

Sunday, 12/31

219 LOUNGE, Harold’s IGA J AUNTIE’S BOOKSTORE, Lyle Morse J J THE BARTLETT, New Year’s Eve Spectacular with Super Sparkle BEST WESTERN COEUR D’ALENE, Rox Music, Duryl Strawbury BLACK DIAMOND, DJ Sterling BOLO’S, Dangerous Type CHINOOK STEAK, PASTA AND SPIRITS (CDA CASINO), Bill Bozly CURLEY’S, Karma’s Circle DALEY’S CHEAP SHOTS, Jam Night DEER PARK EAGLES, Kidd Whiskey

GARLAND PUB, Usual Suspects J THE HIVE, New Year’s Eve Ball with Orgone (see facing page) J HOTEL RL AT THE PARK, William Nover, Wyatt Wood HOUSE OF SOUL, Black & White NYE Party feat. Nu Jack City IRON HORSE (CDA), JamShack IRON HORSE (VALLEY), Minor Adjustments KNITTING FACTORY, Ignite Festival J LAGUNA CAFÉ, Just Plain Darin THE LARIAT INN, Texas Twister LEFTBANK WINE BAR, Carey Brazil LINGER LONGER LOUNGE, Open Jam MOOSE LOUNGE, The Caretakers NASHVILLE NORTH, New Year’s Bash NIGHTHAWK LOUNGE (CDA CASINO), KOSH & Vent NORTHERN QUEST, The Spazmatics O’DOHERTY’S, Live Irish Music J THE OBSERVATORY, Indian Goat, Wayward West, Nat Park and the Tunnels of Love (see facing page) J THE PIN!, Dead Poet, Wildcard POST FALLS BREWING COMPANY, Andy Rumsey RIDLER PIANO BAR, New Year’s Eve Party RIPPLES, Yesterdayscake

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MUSIC | VENUES

Sept. 11: Sept. 18: Sept. 25: Oct. 2:

(half to half) Saints at Vikings, Chargers at Broncos - 4th St. Lions at Giants - Post Falls Cowboys at Cardinals - Hayden Redskins at Chiefs - 4th St.

THURS Oct. 5: Patriots at Buccaneers - Hayden Oct. 9: Oct. 16: Oct. 23: Oct. 30: Nov. 6:

Vikings at Bears - Post Falls Colts at Titans - Hayden Redskins at Eagles - 4th St. Broncos at Chiefs - Post Falls Lions at Packers - Hayden

THURS Nov. 9: Seahawks at Cardinals - 4th St. Nov. 13: Dolphins at Panthers - 4th St. Nov. 20: Falcons at Seahawks - Post Falls Nov. 27: Texans at Ravens - Hayden

THURS Nov. 30: Redskins at Cowboys - Post Falls Dec. 4: Dec. 11: Dec. 18: Jan. 6-7: Jan. 13-14: Jan. 21:

Steelers at Bengals - 4th St. Patriots at Dolphins - Post Falls Falcons at Buccaneers - Hayden WILD CARD ROUND - 4th St. DIVISIONAL ROUND - Post Falls AFC/NFC CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND - Hayden

Feb. 4: SUPERBOWL - 4th St.

SILVER MOUNTAIN, Son of Brad SPOKANE AIRPORT RAMADA INN, Bobby Patterson Band SPOKANE EAGLES LODGE, Armed and Dangerous Band SPOKANE VALLEY EAGLES, NYE feat. Stagecoach West STIX BAR AND GRILL, 3D BAND ZOLA, UpperCut

Monday, 01/1

J CALYPSOS COFFEE, Open Mic EICHARDT’S, Monday Night Jam RED ROOM LOUNGE, Open Mic

Tuesday, 01/2

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GARLAND PUB & GRILL, Karaoke LEFTBANK WINE BAR, Turntable Tues. RAZZLE’S, Open Mic Jam RED ROOM LOUNGE, Tues. Takeover RIDLER PIANO BAR, Open Mic/Jam Night, Music Mavens Showcase ZOLA, Dueling Cronkites

Wednesday, 01/3

BLACK DIAMOND, Daniel Hall GENO’S, Open Mic w/Travis Goulding J THE LANTERN TAP HOUSE, Mama Doll and Friends LEFTBANK WINE BAR, Carey Brazil LUCKY’S IRISH PUB, DJ D3VIN3 POOLE’S PUBLIC HOUSE, The Cronkites RED ROOM LOUNGE, Blowin’ Kegs Jam Session RIDLER PIANO BAR, The Ronaldos THE THIRSTY DOG, Karaoke J TWO SEVEN PUBLIC HOUSE, Matt Mitchell ZOLA, Whsk&Keys

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219 LOUNGE • 219 N. First, Sandpoint • 208-2639934 315 MARTINIS & TAPAS • 315 E. Wallace, CdA • 208-667-9660 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 THE BARTLETT • 228 W. Sprague Ave. • 747-2174 BEEROCRACY • 911 W. Garland Ave. 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 BRAVO CONCERT HOUSE • 25 E. Lincoln Rd. • 703-7474 BUCER’S COFFEEHOUSE PUB • 201 S. Main, Moscow • 208-882-5216 BUZZ COFFEEHOUSE • 501 S. Thor • 340-3099 CALYPSOS COFFEE & CREAMERY • 116 E. Lakeside Ave., CdA • 208-665-0591 CHATEAU RIVE • 621 W. Mallon Ave. • 795-2030 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 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 THE FEDORA • 1726 W. Kathleen, CdA • 208-7658888 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 HOTEL RL BY RED LION AT THE PARK • 303 W. North River Dr. • 326-8000 HOUSE OF SOUL • 120 N. Wall • 217-1961 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 LA ROSA CLUB • 105 S. First Ave., Sandpoint • 208-255-2100 LEFTBANK WINE BAR • 108 N. Washington • 315-8623 LUCKY’S IRISH PUB • 408 W. Sprague • 747-2605 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 NECTAR CATERING & EVENTS • 120 N. Stevens St. • 869-1572 NORTHERN QUEST RESORT • 100 N. Hayford Rd., Airway Heights • 242-7000 NYNE • 232 W. Sprague Ave. • 474-1621 THE OBSERVATORY • 15 S. Howard • 598-8933 O’SHAY’S • 313 E. CdA Lake Dr. • 208-667-4666 PEND D’OREILLE WINERY • 301 Cedar St., Sandpoint • 208-265-8545 THE PIN! • 412 W. Sprague • 368-4077 RED LION RIVER INN • 700 N. Division • 326-5577 RED ROOM LOUNGE • 521 W. Sprague • 838-7613 REPUBLIC BREWING • 26 Clark Ave. • 775-2700 THE RIDLER PIANO BAR • 718 W. Riverside • 822-7938 RIVELLE’S • 2360 N Old Mill Loop, CdA • 208-9300381 THE ROADHOUSE • 20 N. Raymond • 413-1894 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 THE THIRSTY DOG • 3027 E. Liberty Ave. • 487-3000 TIMBER GASTRO PUB •1610 E Schneidmiller, Post Falls • 208-262-9593 ZOLA • 22 W. Main Ave. • 624-2416

DECEMBER 28, 2017 INLANDER 43

FOOD & DRINK CELEBRATE OLD SCHOOL

Throw on your best vintage duds — 1930s-era would be particularly appropriate — and head to the Garland Theater this Friday night for the seventh annual Repeal Day Holiday Party, a celebration of the end of Prohibition that went down on Dec. 5, 1933. This party has a little bit of everything, including whiskey tastings, vintage and pinup clothes vendors and themed cocktails from the excellent bartenders at Bon Bon. The main event, though, is a burlesque-themed variety show performed by The Vaude Villains, sure to lend an exciting, sexy air to the proceedings. Talk about a perfect way to toast the past and raise a glass to a new year — without all the New Year’s Eve insanity. — DAN NAILEN Repeal Day Holiday Party • Fri, Dec. 29 at 10 pm • $10/ advance; $15/door • 21+ • Garland Theater • 924 W. Garland Ave. • garlandtheater.com • 327-2509

GET LISTED!

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

44 INLANDER DECEMBER 28, 2017

MUSEUM FIRST DAY FUN

ARTS CONNECT THE MEANING

First Day at the Museum • Mon, Jan. 1 from 10 am-5 pm • Regular admission applies; $18/adults, $16 seniors, $10/youth, $13/college students with ID • Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture • 2316 W. First • northwestmuseum.org • 456-3931

Connectivity | Matters • Tue, Jan. 2 through Thu, March 29; open Mon-Fri from 8 am-5 pm; reception March 2 from 5-8 pm • Free • Chase Gallery • 808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. • spokanearts.org

For those who didn’t spend the evening partying it up until the wee hours of the morning, get up and out of bed early on the first day of 2018 for a fun family day at the museum. See a fascinating display of artifacts recovered from the ocean floor as part of the touring blockbuster exhibit Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition, alongside a glimpse into Spokane’s past, circa 1912. For those who come to the museum for some historical introspection on the Titanic’s tragic fate, special events on this day include live entertainment by local actors dressed in period costumes, who are performing songs popular during the era around the museum galleries. Don’t forget to stop by the Campbell House, also open for tours. Families who attended Spokane’s First Night festivities can also take advantage of a special offer for a one-year MAC membership, discounted to $65 for anyone carrying a First Night admission button. — CHEY SCOTT

With the new year comes the newest local art exhibition to Spokane’s Chase Gallery, the space overseen by Spokane Arts. The three-month showcase titled Connectivity | Matters features work by five local artists that seeks to explore how we connect with and relate to the world. Participating artists Heidi Farr, Jake Miller, Naoko Morisawa, Rachel Smith and Patrick Sullivan explore their own interpretations of this multi-faceted query through a variety of materials that present connections of people to place, and vice versa. “Connection, for me, has physical properties, and as such it can’t vanish; only change forms…” says contributing artist Heidi Farr. Come out and ponder your own connectivity narrative as you view the exhibit’s collage and mixed media works, in which each of the artists present unique, individual expressions of connections that matter to them. — CHEY SCOTT

EVENTS | CALENDAR

BENEFIT

VICTORIA SEASON 2 PREMIERE & TEA PARTY KSPS hosts an advanced screening of the highly anticipated Masterpiece: Victoria season 2 premiere, with a Victorian tea party with mimosas, a photobooth and more. Jan. 6, 10:30 am-noon. $40 donation. KSPS Public TV, 3911 S. Regal St. ksps. org (443-7700)

COMEDY

2.0PEN MIC Local comedy night hosted by Ken McComb. Thursdays, from 8-10 pm. Free. The District Bar, 916 W. First Ave. (244-3279) ANDY WOODHULL Andy is a former resident of Chicago, where he was named one of four comedians to watch by the Chicago Tribune, and has appeared on the Tonight Show, Conan, Comics Unleashed and Comedy Central. Dec. 28-31 at 8 pm, Dec. 30-31 at 10:30 pm. $16-$30. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. (509-318-9998) GUFFAW YOURSELF! Open mic comedy night hosted by Casey Strain; Thursdays at 10 pm. Free. Neato Burrito, 827 W. First Ave. (509-847-1234) DUOS Several BDT players are paired up two-by-two and given free rein for 15 minutes to do whatever style of improv they want. Last Friday of the month, at 10 pm. For mature audiences. $7. Blue Door Theatre, 815 W. Garland Ave. 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. reddragondelivery.com AFTER DARK A mature-rated version of the Blue Door’s monthly, Friday show; on the first and last Saturday of the month, at 10 pm. $7. Blue Door Theatre, 815 W. Garland. (747-7045) SAFARI The fast-paced short-form improv show for mature audiences relies on audience suggestions to fuel each scene. Saturdays at 8 pm, through Dec. 30. $7. Blue Door Theatre, 815 W. Garland. bluedoortheatre.com NEW YEAR’S EVE WITH ANDY WOODHULL Andy Woodhull has been on “The Tonight Show,” “Conan,” and Comedy Central. Dec. 31 at 8 and 10:30 pm. $20/$30. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub. com (318-9998) THE SOCIAL HOUR COMEDY SHOWCASE Featuring comics from the Northwest and beyond, and hosted by Deece Casillas. Sundays, from 8-9:30 pm. Free. The Ridler Piano Bar, 718 W. Riverside. socialhourpod.com 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. (318-9998) IVAN PECEL The stand-up comedian and juggler has appeared on MTV, America’s Got Talent, and the “Tonight Show with Jay Leno.” Jan. 4-5 at 8 pm and Jan. 6 at 7 and 9:30 pm. $8-$22. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com IMPROV! A show by Ignite’s in-house, family-friendly improv troupe the Fire Brigade. Shows on the first Saturday of the month, at 7 pm. $5. Ignite! Community Theatre, 10814 E. Broadway. igniteonbroadway.org (795-0004)

TIM MEADOWS Tim Meadows is known for his roles on SNL and in movies like and “Ladies Man,” “Mean Girls,” and “Walk Hard, The Dewey Cox Story.” Jan. 12 at 8 pm and Jan. 13 at 7 and 9:30 pm. $20/$27. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. (318-9998) HOG WILD AT THE HOGFISH Mark Morris Comedy presents a night of comedy featuring Mika lahman, headliner Harry J Riley and special guests. Hosted by Mark Morris. Jan. 13, 9-11 pm. Hogfish, 1920 East Sherman Ave. facebook.com/hogfishbarcda

COMMUNITY

CAMPBELL HOUSE HOLIDAYS Explore the house at your own pace, participate in fun crafts and activities. This year’s cast of characters includes the cook, the coachman, the first floor maid, and the Campbell’s daughter Helen. Free with admission to Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition. Dec. 16-31, open Thu-Sun from 10 am-5 pm. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First. northwestmuseum.org CDA HOLIDAY LIGHTS SHOW The 31st annual holiday tradition includes the “Journey to the North Pole” lake cruises. Lights on display through January 1; 40-minute cruises ($7.50/ages 6-12; $22.25/adults; $21.25/seniors) depart nightly on the lake at 5:30, 6:30 and 7:30 pm. The Coeur d’Alene Resort, 115 S. Second. cdaresort.com FESTIVAL OF TREES & ART Two rooms of decorated trees provide a scenic backdrop for artwork and photography, on display through December; Mon-Wed 10 am-8 pm, Thu-Fri 10 am-6 pm and Sat-Sun 1-5 pm through Dec. 31. Colfax Library, 102 S. Main St. whitco.lib.wa.us (509-397-4366) SCHOOL’S OUT DAY CAMP Kids can enjoy supervised swimming, rock climbing, gym games, art, cooking and more. Lunch and snacks are provided. Dec. 27-29 from 9 am-4 pm each day. Ages 6-13. $36-$45/day. Kroc Center, 1765 W. Golf Course Rd. kroccda.org SPOKANE WINTER GLOW The fourth annual holiday lights show features themed displays including the North Pole, Enchanted Forest, Gingerbread House, Train and Animal Light Zoo. Lights are on daily at dusk from Nov. 22-Jan. 1. Free. Cowley Park, Sixth Ave. and Division. spokanewinterglow.com 3RD ANNUAL KRAMPUS TAKEOVER Unit 55 Spokane has been taken over by Krampus. Groups of with have 60 minutes to right the wrong Krampus has done and put Christmas back together again. (Use promo code “inlander55” for 30 percent off your order at checkout). Through Jan. 15; open Thu-Sun from 4:30-10 pm. Unit 55, 225 N. Ella Rd. cartelhaunts.com TITANIC: THE ARTIFACT EXHIBITION This blockbuster exhibit takes visitors on a journey back in time to experience the legend of Titanic as never before. It features more than 120 real artifacts all recovered from the ocean floor. The objects, along with room recreations and personal stories, offer haunting, emotional connections to lives abruptly ended or forever altered. Through May 20, 2018; Tue-Sun 10 am-5 pm (Wed until 8 pm). $18/adults, $16/seniors, $10/ages 6-17, $13/college students w/ID. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org (456-3931)

JAN 6-7

Sat. 10am-6pm Sun. 10am-4pm

Spokane County Fair & Expo Center FREE CLASSES & SEMINARS

Yoga - Barre - Jazzercise & More Sign Up Online

Vendors & Free Samples DON’T MISS! Lilac City

ROLLER DERBY

Sunday at 10am, 12pm, & 2pm

COME TRY

Ninja Warrior Obstacles - Disc Golf Fitness Equipment - Aerial Silks Massage - Climbing Wall - Supplements

North Park Athletic Club

PICKLEBALL FREE PARKING!

Admission / $5 Kids 6-12

Cash Only Please (5 & Under Free)

Good ALL Weekend

www.SpokaneHealthFitExpo.com DECEMBER 28, 2017 INLANDER 45

W I SAW YOU

S S

CHEERS JEERS

I SAW YOU REEL ROCK RECONNECT We chatted briefly while grabbing a beer at the Reel Rock Film Festival. We both forgot each other’s names since it’s been a while. Somehow we forgot to exchange contact info. Hoping this reaches you somehow. Love to reconnect. WAS IT ME YOU WERE DESPERATELY LOOKING FOR? I just had that feeling...as I stumbled upon you in this aisle, in that aisle, in the other aisle in Yokes at Latah. I considered just running my cart into... well, into your very sturdy tall body...but thought perhaps you would find me a dolt. So here I am - potential dolt looking for you randomly. You, tall black man, red socks that didnt appear strange at all. I do like a man who can carry off red socks. You appeared somewhat lost, perhaps it wasn’t your store...or you found yourself going to a gathering and had that “what does one bring to this sort of thing?” moment. I kept bumping into you...with only a few things in my huge cart - you distracted me from whatever it was I was looking for. I..short dark hair, somewhere between 45 and 55, black dress with flowered shirt. I am not often so easily drawn to someone...so it must mean SOMETHING. Me. liberal, well travelled, independent, professional, normal-ish. morningstar@fastservice.com HUNGRY MAN You: A nice blue-eyed fellow having dinner at my workplace

a little over a month ago; ordered the pasta special and a beer and proceeded to inhale your food faster than I could say, “enjoy!”. It was like that scene from Coneheads where the alien chick ate a subway sandwich in basically one bite and Chris Farley’s character was all, “my mom’s the only other woman I’ve ever known that can take a sandwhich like that!” Anyway, I guess that makes me Chris Farley so, color me impressed. And come back for dinner sometime. We got new specials ;)

YOU SAW I UPDATE ON ADONIS SIGHTING YouAdonis (with black hair to waist) & mad at me because I didn’t recognize you! You looked so young, like the 30 years have not occurred! Me-I have dementia and it took me all these months (March to December) to realize who you were! (Maybe Gene?) But, no way to contact you! I tried the library, restaurants (you might visit)! Your business card is stored in a storage locker and I have looked thru many boxes and addresses books to no avail. So sorry!!! Drabbag@juno.com

CHEERS NOT SO SILLY? The first time you came out of the back room of that small local business, my body reacted with a shiver, a tingle. That was a surprise! Nothing like that had ever happened before. I kept coming back, to see if would happen again (it did.) I had no plans to do anything about this. I was just going to enjoy the feeling, and your company as I got to know you over many months. But with your moment of risk, letting me know it was mutual, the shiver exploded into fireworks. Everything in my life changed in an instant, for the better. Suddenly, I am ALIVE again, laughing again, at the strangest things. And the little shiver of attraction has deepened into love and desire beyond what I’ve experienced in many years of life. You once, early on, called me “silly” for my feelings. Doesn’t seem so silly to me, now. You? If it does, then all I want is for you to stay silly with me. Always.

CASCADIA’S OPTIONS Cheers to Cascadia for having a TON of vegan options. Every time my girlfriend and I go up there, it seems like you have more! Tonight we

“

BOOBALOO I’LL ALL WAYS LOVE YOU AND BE EVER THANKFUL AND GREATFUL YOUR YOU AND YOU CHOSE ME!

one you’ll like” to your son as you proceeded to take about 15 children’s books. What about the other 14 books? Do you think your child is the only one that might

The last I read, cutting across private property so you don’t have to wait behind a few cars to make a right turn at a red light intersection is still illegal.

had the tofu buffalo sticks, the impossible burger and the fried avocado tacos and they were all delicious! Thank you for putting so much effort into having phenomenal options for a group of people that is so often overlooked! COACH FEW So the Gonzaga basketball team has been to the NCAA tournament many years in a row and the team has had many good showings and many good players over the years. What do they all have in common? Coach Few. He’s the one person who would never take credit for all of the success, but he’s the reason for all of the success. So, cheers to Coach Few. He doesn’t just create great basketball teams. He also provides a model for what a great person should look and act like beyond basketball. Thank you for continuing to stay in Spokane and saying “no” to the NBA and many other colleges across the US. God bless Coach Few. TO MY SOULMATE We have been pushing through this journey of what is called life for the better part of 6 yrs now and I couldn’t be happier! A child, an addiction, a number of different homes. You and me have had our bad times but on the other side of things we also have one of the most B.E.A UTIFUL RELATIONSHIPS there could ever be! Thank you so much for all that you do for our little family and especially for me. I love you, I love us! Cheers

JEERS RIVER PARK SCROOGE Jeers to River Park Square for replacing the company that does the Santa photos. The past couple of years you’ve been able to purchase a disc with up to 3 images, no prints, for a reasonable price. This worked great for us because my son and his cousin are 4 weeks apart, so we’ve always done 2 individual photos and 1 photo of both. It was affordable and didn’t come with unnecessary crap. This year the disc isn’t an option, and not only that but you can only get one pose per package. And the cheapest package is $30. The prints are awful quality and we had to pay $60 for them. Not only are the options terrible, Santa and the staff clearly hated their jobs this year. SCOFFLAWS The last I read, cutting across private property so you don’t have to wait behind a few cars to make a right turn at a red light intersection is still illegal. You know who you are out there and I’m sure it’s just part of your general makeup and way of living. Believe me, law abiding drivers notice you and we think you’re total a-holes!

”

benefit from this wonderful FREE library? These Little Free Libraries are for everyone to enjoy- “Take a book, leave a book” means - don’t take all of them and leave nothing! Please consider bringing some children’s books back for others to enjoy. Also consider only taking one or two so others may also benefit from the free books. I spend my money going to thrift stores and yard sales, specifically looking for children’s books. I believe that we need to encourage children to read, instill a love of books in them at an early age, and feed that love by making sure books are available to them. When you take all of the children’s books in my Little Free Library, you are leaving nothing for the many other children in the neighborhood that might want a book. n

THIS WEEK'S ANSWERS

BOOK HOG BOOK HOG: I saw you at my Little Free Library, armload of children’s books, hubby waiting in the car, son in the back seat. You said, “I think I found

SOUND OFF 1. Visit Inlander.com/isawyou by 3 pm Monday. 2. Pick a category (I Saw You, You Saw Me, Cheers or Jeers). 3. Provide basic info: your name and email (so we know you’re real). 4. To connect via I Saw You, provide a non-identifying email to be included with your submission — like “petals327@yahoo.com,” not “j.smith@comcast.net.”

46 INLANDER DECEMBER 28, 2017

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.

RELATIONSHIPS

EVENTS | CALENDAR DROP IN & CODE FOR KIDS Explore the world of coding using game-based lessons on Code.org and Scratch. For kids grade 3 and up. Meets the last Friday of the month, from 3-5:30 pm. Free. Spark Central, 1214 W. Summit Pkwy. sparkcentral.org/events/drop-in-code CHRISTMAS TREE RECYCLING Boy Scout Troop 400 is recycling natural Christmas trees in two locations of the Spokane Valley, CVHS and U-High. Home pickup also available. Offered Dec. 30-31 and Jan. 6-7, from 9 am-3 pm. All proceeds support Scout troop activities, service projects, supplies and more. $5-$10. troop400.net/trees DROP-IN HOURS: THE LAB Community members can stop by the new Lab center at the North Spokane Library to use laptops with access to Adobe Creative Cloud and Microsoft Imagine Academy. Wednesdays from 6-8 pm and Saturdays from 10 am-1 pm, through Dec. 31. Free. North Spokane Library, 44 E. Hawthorne Rd. scld.org MODEL RAILROAD OPEN HOUSE See the HO layout that features 18 bridges, 18 tunnels, a major city, small towns and more. Dec. 30, 1-6 pm. Free. Evergreen Model Railroad Club, 18213 E. Appleway Ave. (939-5845) NOON YEAR’S EVE PARTY A special celebration of the New Year without having to stay up late, with crafts and a snack. For families and kids of all ages. Young children should be accompanied by a caregiver. (Also offered at the Indian Trail branch.) Dec. 30, 11 am. Free. South Hill Library, 3324 S. Perry St. spokanelibrary.org (444-5331) FIRST NIGHT SPOKANE The city’s 17th annual all-ages celebration of the New Year includes arts displays, demonstrations, film, performances, live music, family activities and more. Dec. 31, starting at 7 pm. $15/$17. Downtown Spokane. firstnightspokane.org JOYA-E NEW YEAR’S SERVICE Ring in 2018 with the “Bell of the Last Night,” a cultural, spiritual Buddhist observance. Includes a 40-minute service. Dec. 31, 7-7:45 pm. Free. Spokane Buddhist Temple, 927 S. Perry St. SpokaneBuddhistTemple.org NEW YEAR’S EVE AT SILVER Celebrate NYE with skiing and boarding under the lights until 6 pm and an extra late (5-7 pm) tubing session. Festivities include a balloon drop, lazy river duck race, and a family New Year’s Celebration in Silver Rapids Waterpark with a 9 pm countdown. In Noah’s Loft will be a special NYE buffet-style prime rib dinner from

6-9 pm. Dec. 31, 8:15-midnight. Silver Mountain Ski Resort, 610 Bunker Ave. silvermt.com FIRST MONDAY NETWORK FOR SPOKANE ENTREPRENEURS A networking event held the first Monday of the month (5:30-7:15 pm), hosting sponsors and speakers who can help business owners and entrepreneurs in taking their business to the next level. $10. Mirabeau Park Hotel, 1100 N. Sullivan Rd. mirabeauparkhotel.com PINES & GRACE PROJECT COMMUNITY MEETING Community members can learn about the upcoming project to add left turn lanes, safety improvements, pedestrian ramps, and a stormwater drainage swale. Jan. 3, 5-7 pm. Free. CenterPlace Event Center, 2426 N. Discovery Place Dr. (720-5001) OPEN HOUSE Visit the local studio, sample classes, meet staff, and bring friends and family. See schedule online. Jan. 6, 9 am-6 pm. Free. Harmony Yoga, 1717 W. Sixth. harmonyoga.com

FOOD & DRINK

HOTEL RL LIFESIZE GINGERBREAD HOUSE Corporate Exec. Chef Ricky Webster and his team have assembled a life-size gingerbread house for the community to walk through, and with special treats to enjoy, sold to benefit local nonprofit Blessings Under the Bridge. Treats and DIY gingerbread house kits from $3-$12; house is free to view and is open daily Nov. 24-Jan. 1. Hotel RL by Red Lion at the Park, 201 W. North River Dr. redlion.com/parkspokane (509-326-8000) BUBBLES & MORE! A tasting of champagne and other “fancy stuff” to prep for New Year’s and beyond. Reservations requested; includes tasting of 8 wines, plus artisan cheese and bread. Dec. 29, 7-9:30 pm. $25. Rocket Market, 726 E. 43rd. rocketmarket.com REPEAL DAY PARTY The Garland and Bon Bon’s 7th annual celebration of the repeal of Prohibition. Includes live entertainment by the Vaude Villains (10 pm), a vintage-inspired clothing pop-up shop, themed cocktails in Bon Bon and a spirits tasting by American Northwest. Ages 21+ only. Dec. 29, 10 pm. $10-$15. Garland Theater, 924 W. Garland. garlandtheater.com VEGAN STUFFED PEPPERS COOKING CLASS Learn a new healthy recipe and other techniques to make fresh, home-

cooked meals. Dec. 29, 7-8:45 pm. $29. Modernist Cooks & Catering, 1014 N. Pines Rd. modernistcooks.com VINO WINE TASTING Fri, Dec. 29 features Guardian Cellars, from 3-6:30 pm. On Sat, Dec. 30, sample wines from Bookwalter Winery, from 2-4:30 pm. Tastings include cheese and crackers. Vino!, 222 S. Washington. vinowine.com ELEVATE YOUR PARTY FAVORITES Take your holiday party foods to a healthier level with easy-to-make, healthy party treats. Dec. 30, 12-12:45 pm. Free. Natural Grocers, 4603 N. Division. naturalgrocers.com CDA CASINO NEW YEAR’S EVE Break out the wide leg jeans and mood rings for a “$145,000 Baby Got Back to the ‘90s” New Year’s Eve celebration, with dining specials, live music, costume contests and gaming promotions. Dec. 31. Coeur d’Alene Casino, 37914 S. Nukwalqw. cdacasino.com THE GRAND EXIT OF 2017 Celebrate the year 2017 with a glass of cranberry champagne, book your 2018 event, tour the venue, sample farmers market food items and more. Dec. 31, 11 am-2 pm. Free. Commellini Estate, 14715 N. Dartford Dr. commellini.com (466-0667) OYSTERS & BUBBLES NYE BASH Celebrate the start of 2018 with champagne, cocktails, craft beer and an oyster bar by Chef Chad White. Dec. 31, 3 pm. The Steel Barrel Taproom, 154 S. Madison. bit.ly/2kIhwKy (509-315-9879) DINNER WITH A PSYCHIC MEDIUM Celebrity medium, psychic and empath Tesa Harster appears for a group reading and dinner. Tickets include demonstration, dinner, dessert, tax and gratuity. Jan. 3, 6:30-9 pm. $55. The Yards Bruncheon, 1248 W. Summit Pkwy. bit. ly/2kHPcI3 (509-290-5952) KIDS COOKING CLASS: SHEPPARD’S PIE Kids can learn to make this traditional dish with a modern twist. Ages 6+. Jan. 4, 6-7:30 pm. $29. Modernist Cooks & Catering, 1014 N. Pines Rd., Ste. 120. modernistcooks.com STIGGY ART + DINNER WITH AUSTIN STIEGEMEIER Emerge presents an intimate evening of Spanish tapas, signature cocktails, music, and art. Stiggy’s work, inspired from his trip to Spain, will be on display along with limited prints (silent bidding available). Includes music by Rhys Gerwin. Proceeds benefit Stiggy and Emerge. Jan. 4, 6-9 pm. $49/person. The Wandering Table, 1242 W. Summit Pkwy. emergecda.com (208-660-5142)

INTERNS WANTED THE INLANDER IS HIRING Spring 2018 interns to contribute to the paper’s News and Culture sections. Eligible applicants must be currently enrolled in a college degree program, and available for 10-15 hours a week. TO APPLY Send your resume, cover letter and three writing samples to intern@inlander.com. * Interns must provide own fedora and press badge. Positions are unpaid.

Advice Goddess ALICE IN WANDERLAND

I follow you on Twitter, and I was disgusted to see your tweet about marriage, “No, humans aren’t naturally monogamous — which is why people say relationships ‘take work,’ while you never hear anybody talking about what a coal mine an affair can be.” If a person finds fidelity so challenging, they should stay single. —Ethical Married Person

AMY ALKON

Reality has this bad habit of being kind of a bummer. So, sure, that person you married all those years ago still has the capacity to surprise you with crazy new positions in bed — but typically they’re yogi-like contortions they use to pick dead skin off the bottoms of their feet. That line you quote, “relationships ‘take work,’ while you never hear … what a coal mine an affair can be,” is actually from one of my old columns. I tweeted it along with this advice: “Don’t just assume you & romantic partner (will) stay monogamous. Maybe discuss how, exactly, you’ll go about that.” From where I sit — opening lots of letters and email from cheaters and the cheated upon — this is simply good, practical marriage- (and relationship-) preserving advice. But from some of the responses on Twitter, you’d think I’d suggested braising the family dog and serving him on a bed of greens with a “tennis ball” of candied yams. Though some men and women on Twitter merely questioned my take, interestingly, the enraged responses (ranging from impersonally rabid to denigratingly hateful) came entirely from men. Granted, this may just have been due to chance (who was shirking work on Twitter just then), or it may reflect research on sex differences that suggests men tend to be more comfortable engaging in direct conflict. However, though evolutionary psychologist David Buss, among others, finds that both men and women are deeply upset by infidelity — or the mere prospect of it — there seems to be a sex difference in who is more likely to go absolutely berserko over it. Buss, looking out over the anthropological literature, observes: “In cultures the world over, men find the thought of their partner having sexual intercourse with other men intolerable. Suspicion or detection of infidelity causes many men to lash out in furious anger rarely seen in other contexts.” Evolutionary psychologists have speculated that the fierceness of male sexual jealousy may be an evolved adaptation to combat the uniquely male problem of “paternity uncertainty” — basically the “who actually is your daddy?” question. A woman, of course, knows that the tiny human who’s spent a good part of nine months sucker-punching her in the gut is hers. However, our male ancestors lacked access to 23andMe mail-in DNA tests. So male emotions seem to have evolved to act as an alarm system, goading men to protect themselves (like with a scary expression of anger to forewarn their partner), lest they be snookered into raising another man’s child. The problem with the enraged response is that it kicks our brain into energy conservation mode — shunting blood flow away from our higher-reasoning department and toward our arms and legs and organs needed for “fight or flight.” So the mere mention of cheating — even coupled with suggestions for how to prevent it — kills any possibility of reasoned thinking. In our dumbed-down enraged state, all we’ve got is the knee-jerk response: “I am so totally moral, and so is my wife, and anyone who needs to discuss how they’ll stay monogamous is the Whore of Babylon!” Unfortunately, aggressive denial of reality is particularly unhelpful for infidelity prevention. It’s especially unhelpful when it’s coupled with feelings of moral superiority. Organizational behaviorist Dolly Chugh and her colleagues find that people’s view of themselves as “moral, competent, and deserving … obstructs their ability” to make ethical decisions under pressure. So, as the late infidelity researcher Peggy Vaughan advised, “a couple’s best hope for monogamy lies in rejecting the idea that they can assume monogamy without discussing the issue.” They should instead admit that “attractions to others are likely … no matter how much they love each other” and “engage in ongoing honest communication about the reality of the temptations and how to avoid the consequences of acting on those temptations.” For example: What’s the plan if, say, marital sex gets a little sparse? If the marriage hits a rough patch? If that hot co-worker starts hitting on you when you’re drunk and a little unhappy while on a business trip? Maybe it seems depressing to discuss this stuff. However, a wedding ring is not an electrified fence. Accepting that is probably your best bet for avoiding emotional devastation and divorce when, 25 years in, a “jug of wine, a loaf of bread, and thou” still keeps the old spark alive in bed -- but only when supplemented with a wellcharged cordless cattle prod. n ©2017, 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)

DECEMBER 28, 2017 INLANDER 47

CALEB WALSH ILLUSTRATION

DELIVERY

On Demand Will Washington state embrace pot-delivery services? BY MITCH RYALS

ou settle in after a hard day’s work. Or maybe you’re just waking up — whatever you do. You pull out the rolling papers (or vaporizer or bowl or bong, or whatever your prefered marijuana delivery method), then reach for the weed: Crumbs. Barely enough to fill a one-hitter, and the shops have already locked up for the night. If only there were a number you could call, some kind of service that would ferry a frosty nug right to your door. An UberEATS, but for weed. “I think there is a possibility for it,” says Kevin Oliver, executive director of the Washington chapter of

NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. “There’s been a lot of talk about it. Other states have included delivery in their rules and regulations.” But unlike Oregon, which has built a marijuana delivery system into its laws, such an obvious entrepreneurial venture is illegal in Washington state. “It would take a legislative change,” says Mikhail Carpenter, spokesman for the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board. Currently, any enforcement of illegal delivery services falls to the discretion of local law enforcement, not the WSLCB, he says. State lawmakers did consider creating a legal pot de-

livery system this year. Under the proposed law, a trained delivery person could sling bags right to your house (or hotel, hostel, boarding house, resort or trailer). Those in favor of the bill cited concerns that people delivering weed illegally (mostly in Seattle) were not checking identification, some carried more than a pound of weed with them at one time and often sold other illicit drugs, according to a summary of the proposed bill, which never made it out of committee. Still, that hasn’t stopped what appears to be a thriving cannabis delivery market on the Westside. A quick Yelp or Craigslist search for “marijuana delivery” in Seattle yields plenty of results. And in 2016, the Seattle Police Department arrested eight weed delivery people in sting operations, sparking a debate about how exactly to handle the accused runners. The police demanded felony charges, the Seattle Times reports, in an attempt to send a message that black market weed sales would not be tolerated. But King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg declined to prosecute the cases, saying that harsh felony charges were “unwarranted, disproportionate to the harm caused, and would have little or no impact on the larger delivery business in Washington.” Police in Eastern Washington take a similar view. “There’s so much other stuff going on with our drug investigations. We’ve seen the volume of meth and heroin skyrocket,” says Spokane Police Capt. Brad Arleth. “It’s a matter of capacity, and what really serves the community as far as the use and expenditure of our time and resources.” Arleth suspects that if illegal weed delivery networks were operating in Spokane, the shops would likely say something. “They generally want to have a good relationship with law enforcement because they’re running a legitimate business,” he says. Aside from outside delivery services, Spokane attorney Frank Cikutovich, who frequently handles marijuana-related cases, says the marijuana black market in Eastern Washington is alive and well. He points to three major recent busts, including one in Adams County where police seized about 2,000 pounds in plants and processed marijuana. “I used to see it coming from Canada or Mexico, but now they’re setting up grows here,” Cikutovich says. “I haven’t seen that before.” n A version of this article first appeared in the Inlander’s cannabis-centric magazine, GZQ.

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50 INLANDER DECEMBER 28, 2017

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DECEMBER 28, 2017 INLANDER 51

EVENTS | CALENDAR

GREEN ZONE

MUSIC Marijuana use increases the risk of lower grades and dropping out of school. Talk with your kids.

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STRAIGHT NO CHASER: THE SPEAKEASY TOUR A concert by the male a cappella group. Dec. 28, 8-10 pm. $31.50-$59.50. Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox, 1001 W. Sprague. foxtheaterspokane.com (624-1200) SINGING IN THE NEW YEAR SEMI-FINALS Listen to the top ten semi-finalists who will be competing to become one of the three finalists during First Night Spokane. Dec. 29, 6:30-9 pm. $5/$15. Downtown Spokane Library, 906 W. Main. firstnightspokane.org FIRST NIGHT SPOKANE: SINGING IN THE NEW YEAR Enjoy a night of local talent as the top three contestants compete for the $1,000 prize. Dec. 31, 7-8:30 pm. $15 event admission. Spokane Convention Center, 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. firstnightspokane.org NYE WITH BEETHOVEN’S NINTH It’s become a Spokane tradition to listen to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony performed by the Spokane Symphony and the Spokane Symphony Chorale. Music Director Eckart Preu conducts this exhilarating testament to the human spirit with the final hymn, “Ode to Joy.” Dec. 31, 7:30-8:30 pm. $18-$52/adults; $12-$36/ages 12 and under. Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox, 1001 W. Sprague. spokanesymphony.org SINGER AUTUMN EVERLAND Bridge Press Cellers hosts up-and-coming outlaw country singer Autumn Everland. Includes food and wine specials all night. Jan. 5, 5-10 pm. Free. Bridge Press Cellars, 39 W. Pacific. (209-1346)

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52 INLANDER DECEMBER 28, 2017

SPOKANE FALLS HOLIDAY LIGHTS HELICOPTER TOURS This 25 minute helicopter flight heads over Spokane Falls, Riverfront Park’s new ice ribbon, and some of the best Christmas light displays. Call to schedule. $75/person; weight restrictions apply. Felts Field, 6105 E. Rutter. inlandhelicopters.com SPOKANE CHIEFS Versus the Tri-City Americans. It’s also $1 hot dog and Coca-Cola product night at select concession stands all game long. Dec. 30, 7:05 pm. $10-$22. Spokane Arena, 720 W. Mallon Ave. spokanearena.com FIRST DAY HIKE Start the new year off with a hike at more than three dozen state parks across Washington. Local events take place at Mt. Spokane (9:30 am; two options offered) and Riverside state parks (9:30 am, Bowl & Pitcher). (Park visitors don’t need to display a Discover Pass on vehicles to access state parks for the New Year’s activities, or for other state park visits that day.) Jan. 1. Free. parks.state.wa.us SILVER MOUNTAIN COLLEGE DAYS Tickets can be pre-purchased online; must have a current, valid college ID to pick up your ticket. Limit of one per customer per day. Jan. 2-4. $26 lift tickets. Silver Mountain Ski Resort, 610 Bunker Ave. silvermt.com

THEATER

CIRQUE DREAMS HOLIDAZE The show’s 10th anniversary national tour features elaborate costumed acrobats who fly, balance and stretch imaginations in a groundbreaking holiday celebration. Dec. 27-28 at 7 pm. $35-$65.

INB Performing Arts Center, 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. inbpac.com AT THE SWEET GUM BRIDGE This play is dedicated to the Choctaw nation and particularly to Choctaw chief Apushamatahahubih, who was a contemporary of Andrew Jackson as a general fighting the early Indian wars. Jan 1228; Fri-Sat at 7:30 pm, Sun at 2 pm. $20. Stage Left Theater, 108 W. Third Ave. spokanestageleft.org

ARTS

CONNECTIVITY | MATTERS Through collage and mixed media, five local artists construct their own narratives through pieced-together fragments as they form their own connections with what matters. Jan. 2-March 29; opening reception March 2 from 5-8 pm. Open Mon-Fri from 8 am-5 pm. Free. Chase Gallery, 808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. spokanearts.org/chase-gallery/ DROP IN & DRAW Adults and teens can join Spark to explore mediums, develop skill and cultivate imaginative thinking. Wednesdays, from 4-5:30 pm. Spark Central, 1214 W. Summit Pkwy. sparkwestcentral.org MONOLITHS & MEMORIES: TYBRE NEWCOMER AND COZETTE PHILLIPS This exhibition seeks to underscore the dualities of the beautiful and devastating elements, both natural and manmade. Jan. 3-Feb. 9; Mon-Fri from 8:30 am-3:30 pm. Lecture with Tybre Newcomer Jan. 10 at 11:30 am. Free. SFCC Fine Arts Gallery, 3410 W. Fort George Wright Dr. spokanefalls.edu/gallery SONG OF SILENCE: EMBROIDERED TAPESTRIES OF KYRGYZ NOMADS EWU student Angeline Nesbit curated the gallery exhibit with Kyrgyzstan tapestries from Anne Marie Burk’s collection located in Spokane. Jan. 8-Feb. 9;l open Mon-Fri from noon-5 pm. Artist reception Jan. 25, with refreshments and hors d’oeuvres. Free to the public. EWU Downtown Student Gallery, 404 Second. ewu.edu/downtowngallery (359-6802)

WORDS

BOOK RELEASE: SALLY VANTRESSLODATO Local author Sally Lodato is on site to celebrate the release of her new book, “A Woman’s Journey Around the World on a Bicycle.” Dec. 29, 5-7 pm. Free. Riverfront Park, 705 N. Howard St. bit.ly/2B1nufD BROKEN MIC Spokane Poetry Slam’s longest-running, weekly open mic reading series, open to all readers and all-ages. Wednesdays at 6:30 pm. Free. Neato Burrito, 827 W. First Ave. spokanepoetryslam.org A FIESTA OF COLOR IN THE GARDEN The Inland Empire Gardeners kick off the year with a presentation by local speaker and gardening expert Phyllis Stephens. Jan. 4, 6:30-9 pm. Free. CenterPlace Regional Event Center, 2426 N. Discovery Place Dr. tieg.org KATHLEEN SCHRUM: “WHAT DO WRITERS HAVE IN COMMON?” The poet discusses the links between poetry and writing at the January meeting of Spokane Authors and Self-Publishers (SASP). SASP meets on the first Thursday of each month. Jan. 4, 2:30-4:30 pm. Lunch purchase required to enter. Golden Corral Buffet, 7117 N. Division. spokaneauthors.org n

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Jax has been in our care since January 30, 2017. He was so stressed in the kennel that he was overlooked and lost a tremendous amount of weight. For the last 5 months he had had the privilege of living with a dog trainer, being spoiled rotten, and learning all sorts of fun (and essential) behaviors. Now he is healthy, happy, and adopt-a-bull. He is 5 years old, crate trained, potty trained, and knows basic obedience. He is not a fan of cats and would prefer a single dog home. He needs a secure fence and lots of tennis balls to destroy. He comes with a one month gift of training if adopted locally. Do you have a special spot in your heart and home for Jax this Holiday season? If so, please call his friend Stephanie at 509 202-0587.

“TORI”

12. Ed. provider 13. “I already ____” 21. Neighbor of Nor. 22. Porkpie, e.g. 25. Vessel of 1492

26. Bankrupt 27. ____ Theaters (national cinema chain) 29. Support 30. Prefix with sex

Psychic Readings Mentoring Coaching Counseling

31. 801, on a cornerstone 32. Father of une princesse THIS W 33. Theme in a music drama 35. Part of RSVP ANSWE EEK’S 36. They may create a buzz I SAW RS ON 37. Paper size: Abbr. YOUS 38. Tic-____-toe 39. Singer Yoko 40. Where you may get steamed 43. Viking ship need 44. Stirred up 45. 8 x 10, say: Abbr. 46. 1985 title film character played by Anjelica Huston 47. Rack-and-____ steering 48. Got soaked 51. Jimmy of DC Comics 52. What a gang protects 53. Hot 54. Beatle who sang “Michelle” to Michelle Obama at the White House 55. “Das Rheingold” goddess 56. Decks in a ring 57. Lawyer: Abbr. 58. Potpie vegetable

DECEMBER 28, 2017 INLANDER 53

THIS WEEK

Coeur d ’Alene

Play, Stay, and Celebrate New Year’s Day

Amazing aerial acrobatics will be on display at the Coeur d’Alene Resort’s Hollywood Affair.

Explore places to go and things to do in Coeur d’Alene that fit your style and your budget

he COEUR D’ALENE RESORT has several options for party-goers this New Year’s, all of which include the best views of the Resort’s annual fireworks over the lake, 9 pm and midnight. Although you could just hang out at the Resort to view the free pyrotechnic display, why not dance your way into 2018 on the Resort’s PARTY CRUISE for adults-only fun (Tickets $27.50)? A sweet way to celebrate the evening is the DESSERT CRUISE with delectable dishes like cappuccino cheesecake cups, caramel peanut butter tart cookies, lemon meringue cake and more (Tickets $38.50 Adults; 55-andover $36.50; $20 Children; Ages two and under free). Make it a night to remember at the HOLLYWOOD AFFAIR where you’ll enjoy a buffet feast, live entertainment, a complimentary midnight champagne toast, and the opportunity to win several prizes, including for your most glamorous, movie star attire (Tickets $79 Adults; $20 Children; Ages five and under free). Wish the night would never end? It doesn’t have to with the Resort’s New Year’s Grand Celebration Package, including two tickets to the Hollywood

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Affair and overnight accommodations starting at $174/person. Call 855-3795478; cdaresort.com. There’s always room at the BEST WESTERN PLUS CDA INN, especially for New Year’s. Visit Mulligan’s Bar inside the Inn from 5-7 for some pre-funk fun, then transition to the event center for a night of live rock music at this popular adults-only party. Stay the night and enjoy free parking and hot breakfast in the morning, with packages starting at $79. Tickets $15/person; Call 208.765.3200.

The Dessert Cruise is delicious.

RING IN 2018 AT OUR SPECTACULAR NEW YEAR’S EVE BASH!

a hollywood

New Year’s Eve Triple Play style means family fun.

affair

And for a family-friendly way to celebrate, check out TRIPLE PLAY this New Year’s where you’ll have exclusive access to the water park, ropes course, laser tag, bowling and more. You’ll also get $5 in arcade tokens, be entered to win an Xbox One, and if you purchase tickets in advance, you get into the park an hour early. Tickets $24.95 (plus tax); Call

208-762-7529; 3play.com. t

CDA

Upcoming Events

Polar Bear Plunge JANUARY 1

Start the New Year “freezen for a reason,” braving the icy waters of Lake Coeur d’Alene during the annual Polar Plunge. Cash and check donations, in addition to warm items, like socks, blankets and sweaters will be collected to help the homeless who utilize St. Vincent de Paul’s warming centers. Sanders Beach; noon; visit

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 31 ST Roll out the red carpet and ring in 2018 Hollywood-style! Featuring a gourmet dinner buffet with live music, aerial performers, a best-dressed contest, dancing with MOJO The Party Band and DJ Epic Vibes, TWO firework shows and a champagne toast at midnight!

areasonforfreezen.org for a list of needed donations.

Ski Silver DEC. 31-JAN 1

If your New Year’s resolution is to ski and ride more, than start the New Year at Silver Mountain. Silver’s staying open late for skiing, boarding and tubing under the lights, then look for parties at Silver Rapids Waterpark and a prime rib dinner and party at Noah’s loft. New Year’s day starts with Bloody Mary specials at Noah’s and Moguls. Visit silvermt.com or call 866345-2675 for lodging packages and reservations.

Jackass Day JANUARY 5

Fifty years ago on this day, Jackass Ski Bowl opened in the Silver Valley, eventually becoming Silver Mountain. Celebrate with retro priced $12 lift tickets, fireworks, night skiing, a retro outfit contest, a benefit rail jam (canned food donations encouraged) and more.

Rail jam at 7 pm; night skiing until 9 pm; night tubing until 7 pm; Fireworks at 9 pm.

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

COEUR D’ALENE

R I N G I N T H E N E W Y E A R O V E R N I G H T S TA Y PA C K A G E

from

174

Includes overnight accommodations, buffet per person dinner for two, access to after-party, champagne toast at midnight and late 2pm check-out.

Adults $79 ($100 at the door) Ages 6-12 $25 / Kids 5 & Under FREE Social starts at 6pm All Ages Grand Dinner Buffet 7pm CALL 855/850-9275 OR VISIT CDARESORT.COM TO PURCHASE TICKETS

SPONSORED BY THE COEUR D’ALENE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU

DECEMBER 28, 2017 INLANDER 55