Local designer competes in San Diego Comic-Con show
PAGE 16
LOST MUSIC
Rediscovering local bands in box of old cassette tapes
PAGE 34
Colville’s Auto-Vue Drive-In Theatre is keeping a dying cinematic tradition alive
Story by SETH SOMMERFELD Photos by YOUNG KWAK
EDITOR’S NOTE
t’s been many years now, but I clearly remember my first visit to a drive-in movie theater. While it was the 99W in Newberg, Oregon, and not Eastern Washington’s historic AUTO-VUE DRIVE-IN up in Colville, the subject of this week’s cover story and photo essay pairing, I’m sure the atmosphere was similar. You’ve gotta get there early to get a good spot, and to load up on concessions. Grab a book or a tablet to keep yourself occupied while you wait for the show, or simply hang out and chat with friends and family. You can also bring your own snacks, and don’t forget blankets, especially if you plan to set up some camp chairs. A double-feature means you’ll get home super late, depending on how far you’ve come.
Unfortunately, experiences like this are hard to find, unless you live near one of the country’s rare, remaining drive-in screens — Washington only has five left, including the Auto-Vue. Read more starting on page 22 about how a local couple is working to save and preserve the retro theater for generations to come.
— CHEY SCOTT, Editor
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WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT GOING TO THE MOVIE THEATER?
REGINA PARDY
The food is good, too, but I think it’s cool how people come together with a common interest and are really hyped about the same movie.
Do you have a favorite movie theater snack? Coke slushies for sure. I feel like you can’t find that anywhere else.
RACHEL JOHNSON
Oh my gosh, I haven’t gone since pre-COVID. I don’t think I’m a movie theater person. So maybe I’m not the best person to ask. I guess the popcorn.
What do you like about it?
I like a salty, sweet snack, and I feel like it’s a good mix between the two.
TAYLOR SANTORO
I like the surround sound. I feel like it’s more of an experience than just sitting on the couch at home watching a movie.
Do you have a favorite movie theater snack? I want to say a slushie, but a mix of the red and blue flavors.
ABIGAIL CALL
I love the movies. Just like sitting down and experiencing, it’s having a social event with a show. I don’t know, that’s kind of a terrible explanation. But I like being silent. There’s no pressure to talk, but you’re still being social and interacting with people. So it’s funny, it’s like a zero-pressure but still going-out event.
Do you have a favorite movie theater snack? Definitely popcorn.
SPENCER PARDY
Probably popcorn — the popcorn with all the extra butter on it, I’d say.
Do you have a favorite memory associated with movie theaters?
Yeah, my mom used to work at a theater, so I got to go to her work sometimes and just like sit in and watch movies for free. And so I watched like four movies all in one day and ate free popcorn, so that was pretty cool.
INTERVIEWS BY ELLIS BENSON 7/23/25, KENDALL YARDS
A Shadow That Will Never Fade
Eighty years ago this week, the world changed with the atomic bombings of Japan. We are still feeling the poisonous fallout
BY JOHN HAGNEY
HTiroshima, Japan: Sunday, Aug. 6, 1945, 8:15 am. A 12-year-old girl was walking to her seijinshiki ceremony, a traditional Japanese rite of passage, dressed in her first kimono. In a millisecond, the atomic bomb “Little Boy” vaporized her in white, 7,000-degree heat, an unholy conflagration weaponizing the sun’s fierce fire and incinerating Hiroshima. All that remained was her shadow and the soft red blush from her irradiated sash on a wall. Robert Lewis, who co-piloted the plane from which the bomb was dropped, wrote, “My God! What have we done?” By December 1945, more than 140,000 were killed by this inferno.
Then a searing black rain of the radioactive ash lashed the living, “their faces burned, their eye sockets hollow, and fluid from their melting eyes running down their cheeks,” a horrified John Hersey wrote in his eyewitness account, Hiroshima. The city’s river was choked with charred corpses like Dante’s River Styx in Hell. In a savage irony, 168 workers who survived traveled back to Nagasaki, which three days later the “Fat Man” bomb, triggered by Hanford plutonium, decimated. They were the nij hibakusha, the “twice-bombed.” Seventy-thousand were annihilated in Nagasaki. Afterwards, there were more pervasive, more insidious casualties of The Bomb. (Out Aug. 5: Nagasaki: The Last Witnesses by M.G. Sheftall.)
he Atomic Age is enshrouded by the myth of Prometheus, who stole fire from the gods. Our Prometheus was Robert Oppenheimer. Between 1945 and 1962, the U.S. conducted 215 atmospheric tests of nuclear weapons. The Hiroshima bomb was the equivalent of 15,000 tons of TNT. By 1957, the U.S. was deploying weapons of one megaton (1 million tons of TNT).
The U.S. government knew the adverse health effects of the weaponized atom. The government knew these tests spewed airborne toxic radionuclides, yet it assured downwind populations that the radioactive dust was benign
In 1956, fallout from a test in Nevada drifted 130 miles to St. George, Utah, where a Hollywood film, The Conqueror, was being produced. Half of the 220 cast and crew died of cancers, including John Wayne. From 1951-1992, 928 nuclear tests — both atmospheric and underground — were done at the Nevada Test Site. A 1984 Journal of the American Medical Association study found significantly elevated rates of leukemia, lymphoma and other cancers in the St. George region. (See the 2023 documentary Downwind.) In science correlation is not necessarily causation, yet by the 1950s the epidemiological link between exposure to radiation and cancers was scientific fact.
Spokane County is home to 5,000 people from the Marshall Islands. Between 1946 and 1958, the U.S. conducted 67 atomic bomb tests there. After a 1954 test of a 54-megaton bomb, the government informed the Marshallese that they were exposed to “sub-lethal” radiation. For decades they have
Somehow, this building survived the Aug. 6, 1945, bombing of Hiroshima. Today known as the Genbaku Dome, or A-Bomb Dome, it stands untouched as part of the city’s Peace Memorial Park. 1945 PHOTO: SHIGEO HAYASHI, PUBLIC DOMAIN. MODERN PHOTO: CHEY SCOTT
had some of the highest cancer rates in the world.
If the pyro-atomic mushroom clouds over Nevada were visible, even reassuring, symbols of America’s Cold War power, Hanford radiation was a silent, imperceptible specter of Strangelove machinations. Of the 70,000 U.S. nuclear warheads produced since 1945, two-thirds contained plutonium manufactured at Hanford. The Bomb transformed nearby Richland from blue highway anonymity to military-industrial complex epicenter. In the 1950s you could dine in restaurants there that featured Fission Chips and Atomburgers, bowl at Atomic Lanes, dance to the hit song “Atomic Bomb Baby,” and reside on Proton Lane or Einstein Avenue. Richland High School’s mascot remains a mushroom cloud.
Richland in the 1950s appeared to be halcyon, Leave-It-To Beaver land, yet like the opening scene of David Lynch’s Blue Velvet, below the surface of manicured lawns and Tupperware parties, its homes were built on secrecy, disease and government deceit.
The secret was Hanford’s manufacture of plutonium subjecting unaware workers and thousands downwind to toxic radioactive isotopes. When they developed cancers and other illnesses, the government engaged in subterfuge often ascribing the symptoms to other causes or, when confronted with the epidemiological evidence in court, arguing that a causal link between exposure and disease was not definitive, especially decades later. (See Trisha Pritikin’s book, The Hanford Plaintiffs.)
Between 1944 and 1972, Hanford released 738,000 curies of radioactive iodine, intentionally or due to accidents or negligence. The most egregious was the 1949 “Green Run” experiment that released 8,000 curies of iodine-131. Compare this to the 15 curies released from Three Mile Island in 1979. It was a deliberate release of iodine-131 and other radionuclides into the atmosphere. In Kennewick, the safe exposure limit was exceeded by 600 times Significant concentrations of radioactive material fell on Spokane. Iodine-131 attacks the thyroid and is extremely hazardous to fetuses and children. Locals called the immediate zone assaulted by the Green Run “the death mile,” where only one in 10 farms escaped cancer. For decades after, there were downwind epidemics of cancers and lymphatic illnesses. The Downwinders were unwitting Cold War guinea pigs.
The revelations of this atrocity were due to the intrepid investigative journalism in the 1980s of Spokesman-Review reporter Karen Dorn Steele, who deserved a Pulitzer for her work. At the same time, through the diligence of a local citizens group, the Hanford Education Action League (HEAL), Tim Connor, Larry Shook and Jim Thomas illuminated Hanford’s opaque, duplicitous history. (Disclosure: I served on the HEAL board in the 1980s.)
On April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl reactor in Ukraine exploded. Typical of Soviet secrecy, then-President Mikhail Gorbachev remained silent until the evidence was irrefutable. On May 14, he announced the catastrophe by which time 200 million curies of radioactive material had been unleashed over western Russia, Ukraine and Scandinavia. Those living closest to Chernobyl received exposures of 37,000 times an X-ray.
In the following years, Soviets with a cluster of mysterious symptoms from exposures to Chernobyl radiation would hear from a doctor that it was “ordinary illness not caused by ionizing radiation.” In 1989, I visited a Kyiv clinic treating Chernobyl victims who were subjected to medical doublespeak and fraudulent treatments.
Yet how do we square U.S. policies that espoused democracy and freedom with how U.S. citizens were never informed and thus not free to consent to government acts that were lethal? Here there is a specious amoral rationalization that the exigencies of war justified the means — that U.S. atomic policies were “necessary evils.” Thus the Hiroshima and Nagasaki holocausts and the poisonings of the Marshallese and Downwinders were “necessary evils” to win World War II and the Cold War. Alas, if such “necessary evils” were ostensibly so necessary, do they cease to be evil? n
John Hagney, who taught high school and college history for 45 years, holds an M.A. in U.S.-Soviet Relations, and researched in Russia and Ukraine from 1988 to 1993. His oral history of Gorbachev’s reforms has been translated into six languages.
(Un)happy Trails
Blanket cuts to already allocated funding is keeping local groups and volunteers from clearing the trails of the Pacific Northwest for public use
BY SHI EN KIM, HIGH COUNTRY NEWS
Every year, a popular hiking destination in Washington’s Alpine Lakes Wilderness known as the Enchantments sees upwards of 100,000 visitors. It’s part of the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, and, like most public lands, its trails are maintained through exquisite coordination between federal agencies, stewardship organizations, private groups and armies of volunteers. But recent federal budget cuts have triggered rippling delays: In February, the Forest Service’s local equine stock program was gutted, meaning that mules could no longer carry supplies to support necessary trail work deep in the backcountry. As a result, the wilderness protection nonprofit Washington Trails Association (WTA) decided to withhold maintenance crews for the Enchantments area’s trails. Weeks later, the Forest Service
district regained its pack string, but by then, it was too late — the WTA no longer had the capacity to pencil in a new expedition for the season. This summer, visitors are more likely to encounter accumulated debris, damaged tread and overgrown brush on trails.
The business of trail work is like dominoes: When one tile falls, the next one lurches, and the effects cascade downstream. The Forest Service authorizes projects and provides much of the funding, logistical support and institutional knowledge needed to complete them, while trail associations like the WTA contribute crucial labor and technical expertise. “We’re most concerned about our ability to support gaps on the federal landscape,” said Jen Gradisher, WTA’s trail programs director, in an email. “It’s safe to say that a lot of high-use trails in [our]
districts are not seeing the level of support we would typically provide this year.”
The trail-work community is anticipating a chaotic summer of delayed or deferred maintenance, thanks to recent federal policy. Soon after President Donald Trump took office in January, he paused all congressionally approved federal spending, and — despite court orders for the release of those funds — grants and agreements between agencies and their partners have been slow to resume. Meanwhile, federal workers have also departed in droves, either fired or leaving voluntarily through multiple rounds of deferred resignation offers. Then, on July 8, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the executive branch can continue with its mass layoffs. Now, various
Volunteers help restore the Herman Creek Trail near Cascade Locks, Oregon, a year after the 2017 Eagle Creek Fire. TERRY HILL PHOTO / U.S. FOREST SERVICE
government departments, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, are expected to cull even more of their agencies’ staffs.
In the Pacific Northwest Region of the Forest Service, only three-quarters of the agency’s procurement team is on hand to process the paperwork needed for trail projects that involve external partners, according to one regional staffer, who spoke anonymously because he wasn’t authorized to engage with the media. His district will only be able to tackle a third of this year’s planned projects. On top of that, he is scaling back those projects: Instead of more ambitious fixes, such as replacing boardwalks and bridges, trail crews will do the bare minimum required to keep trails open — chores like logging out downed trees and clearing overgrown brush.
Having fewer employees also means delays in work approvals for projects that involve the agency’s nonprofit partners. A single late signature from the agency can derail an entire project. According to Jeff Kish, executive director of the Pacific Northwest Trail Association (PNTA), the association lost $200,000 worth of trail work opportunities because the agreement paperwork was not completed before the federal funding freeze in February. Though funding has resumed, he added, it’s not being put to work: “The money is moving, but there’s no people to actually move it.” Overall, the organization’s financial shortfall has been equivalent to nearly a third of its annual budget, so it has had to reduce its overall trail workforce from 70 members to 28.
In response to questions about the potential disruptions to trail upkeep, a USDA
spokesperson reiterated the importance of maintaining access to recreation areas as part of the agency’s mission. “The Forest Service remains committed to safeguarding public health and safety while maintaining access to recreation areas,” the agency wrote in a statement.
Nature is already relentlessly reclaiming existing trails. Underfunded and understaffed, the Forest Service can maintain only a third of the trails it oversees, according to one 2012 estimate. Usually, the coalition of organizations involved in trail preservation can, at least, protect the most popular trails. “This year, it’s not even going to be close,” Kish said. “It’s a catastrophe.”
The Pacific Northwest Trail Association has already seen delays in one of its annual priority projects: clearing debris from Washington’s Pasayten Wilderness before the bulk of Pacific Northwest Trail thru-hikers arrive. Before that work can even start, the crew needs to open up several 20-mile-long access trails so stock animals can ferry supplies for their human co-workers. This preparatory step alone normally takes up half the season, and that was when PNTA still had 12 full-time workers assigned to the expedition. This year’s crew will be just four people. “With the capacity that we’re at right now, my fear is we’ll spend all summer opening up the access trails and run out of money before we can even work on our trail,” Kish said.
Elsewhere, other projects have been canceled or severely downsized. The Montana Conservation Corps has called off trailmaintenance expeditions in the Kootenai
National Forest, and two crews working in the Big Prairie and Schafer Meadows ranger districts will now operate at half capacity — down from six people each to just three. “Getting to the starting line for the trail work season has been quite the struggle,” said Gavin Wisdom, regional director for the Northern Rockies branch at Montana Conservation Corps.
For now, the Forest Service and its partners operate in triage mode when deciding where to spend their drastically curtailed resources. Multiple organization leaders said their priority was keeping the primary trails open. But what gets left behind are the network of secondary and tertiary trails — and the people who use them. Having fewer trails funnels visitors onto the ones that remain, however crowded, increasing wear and tear on them and hastening the need for more upkeep.
The disrupted maintenance schedules will also affect local businesses that depend on recreation. Yve Bardwell is co-owner of Dropstone Outfitting, a company that offers hunting expeditions in Montana’s Spotted Bear Ranger District every fall, but she expects that she’ll have to cancel them this year. Two decades of burns have left toppled lodgepole pine, Douglas fir and spruce, and the backcountry trails Dropstone uses are unlikely to be on the Forest Service’s priority list for clearing. “I would anticipate [the Forest Service] not being able to get to it,” she said.
While her team tidies up some of the trails it uses, it won’t have time to get to all of them, as that would eat into the valuable summer tourist season. “People don’t think something as simple as clearing trees off of a trail impacts an economy the way that it does.”
With all the delays in trail upkeep, future maintenance costs will only grow exponentially. “The analogy I like to say is, it’s like maintaining your car,” said PNTA’s Kish. Neglecting basic trail maintenance will lead to bigger problems later — catastrophic damage that will cost more to repair than years of basic upkeep, Kish added.
But Kish is hopeful that after this whole fiasco, when the damage to unmaintained trails becomes too severe to ignore, the public will wake up to the importance of investing in the nation’s public lands. “In the short term, I think it’s very bleak,” Kish said, “but my hope is that, within a few years — maybe after an administration change — the public gets it, and there’s going to be a real outcry for restoring what’s been lost and making sure it never gets lost again.” n
This story was originally published at High Country News and is republished here by permission. Shi En Kim is an editorial fellow at HCN covering science, environment and society.
After the Eagle Creek Fire in 2017, it took volunteers three years to reopen a 10-mile stretch of the Pacific Crest Trail — including replacing three bridges. TERRY HILL PHOTO / U.S. FOREST SERVICE
No Vacancy
Spokane City Council appoints temporary member to open seat. Plus, Spokane NAACP hires first executive director in 100 years; Maddie’s Place secures city funding
BY INLANDER STAFF
On Monday, the Spokane City Council voted to fill an empty seat that previously appointed council member Lili Navarrete left at the beginning of July. While conservative council members Michael Cathcart and Jonathan Bingle wanted to appoint Ryan Oelrich, who spent two months on the City Council in 2023, the council majority decided to go in a new direction. In a 4-2 vote, the council appointed Shelby Lambdin, population health director at CHAS Health, to a four-month tenure representing the south Spokane District 2 seat. In a public interview, she argued that her knowledge of public health systems would bring vital experience to the council. Lambdin will serve on the council until the November election, when either Kate Telis or Alejandro Barrientos will be elected to a full four-year term. (COLTON RASANEN)
A NEW CHAPTER
For the first time in the Spokane NAACP’s 106-year history, the all-volunteer organization has hired a leader. Last week, Spokane NAACP President Lisa Gardner announced the hiring of Melissa Mace as the organization’s executive director. “It’s impressive that we’ve maintained this work for over 100 years,” Gardner states in a press release, “but if we want to expand our outreach and advocacy, we need to grow both our capacity and strategy. Dr. Melissa Mace has proved to be the best person to help us do that.” A licensed behavioral therapist and social worker, Mace opened Spokane’s Discovery Counseling Group in 2009. She says her focus is primarily on community empowerment and inspiring change in Spokane as she transitions into her new role. “Our communities are built on rich histories, diverse voices and shared aspirations, and I firmly believe that transformational progress comes from collective action and inclusive leadership,” Mace says. “My commitment to civil rights, policy, advocacy and grassroots activism aligns with the NAACP’s mission to dismantle systemic barriers and create equitable opportunities for marginalized communities.” (MADISON PEARSON)
FUNDING FUTURES
When Washington lawmakers approved the state’s biennial budget in April, it allocated $2 million in opioid settlement funds — money companies that contributed to the opioid crisis had to pay in legal settlements — to Maddie’s Place, a local nonprofit nursery for babies born with neonatal abstinence syndrome and their parents. Since the South Perry district facility was founded in 2022, it has served more than 122 infants, with 95% able to stay in their parents’ care after recovery. Spokane County announced last week that it and the city of Spokane together would commit more than $1 million in funds for Maddie’s Place. In total, the Spokane County Board of Commissioners will contribute $750,000, and the city government approved a one-time allocation of $300,000 in opioid settlement funds at the beginning of June. “The increased support by Spokane County paired with our existing commitments, along with the investment by the City of Spokane, ensures that families with newborns receive the critical care and early intervention they need — helping them build a stronger foundation for long-term recovery and a brighter future,” Board Chair Mary Kuney states in a press release. (DORA SCOTT) n
Valley Values Safety
Incumbent Spokane Valley City Council member faces two first-time candidates in 2025 primary election
BY COLTON RASANEN
While most city council races in the Inland Northwest drew only enough candidates to appear on the ballot in November, Spokane Valley voters will see two races in the Aug. 5 primary election. Unlike other cities that vote within district boundaries, each Spokane Valley City Council member is elected in a citywide race.
The first race, reported on in our May 15 issue,
features four candidates hoping to fill the seat of outgoing City Council member Rod Higgins. The council’s other primary race is between incumbent Laura Padden and two political newcomers, Brad Hohn and Joseph Ghodsee. Padden, 71, was first elected to her seat in 2021 when she narrowly beat incumbent Linda Thompson. While the city council is her first elected experience, the wife of former longtime state Sen. Mike Padden says she’s been
deeply involved in politics for most of her life.
“We’ve come through some difficult years with all the inflation and the supply chain stuff and the high prices, and we’ve come out. We made it through, and I think we’re in a place to kind of take off,” Laura Padden says. “We can grow economic development and businesses, and that helps keep taxes low, but gives us a revenue stream where we’re in a good position. We’re not like
From left: Joseph Ghodsee, incumbent Laura Padden, Brad Hohn COURTESY PHOTOS
some other cities close by that have a huge deficit.”
Ghodsee, 26, grew up in rural North Idaho and has spent most of his life hyperfixating on politics, theology and the nation’s economic systems, he says. An Air Force veteran, Ghodsee has two associate degrees in criminal justice and political science from North Idaho College and is currently studying supply chain management at Gonzaga University.
“I wasn’t planning on running for a couple of years, I wanted to graduate [from] Gonzaga and go about that first,” Ghodsee says. “But my wife asked me to run. She wanted me to go get involved and try and help the people here lower the cost of living, and then just make the area the best it can be… because, quite frankly, she was kind of scared for the future.”
Hohn, 64, left his job managing High Mountain Horsepower’s salvage yard to focus on his City Council campaign. While this is his first time running for office, Hohn has spent decades in the Valley working for Spalding Auto Parts and volunteering for community events, such as the annual ValleyFest.
“I started seeing in the news the issues that our current council was having … so I started attending the meetings, and then I just really started paying attention to the issues that would come up during the meeting,” Hohn says. “I just see wasteful spending, and I know that our economy isn’t so great right now, and yet they keep approving all these projects above the normal budget.”
So far, Padden is the only candidate who has raised any money ($6,447) for her campaign, according to Washington’s Public Disclosure Committee. Neither Hohn nor Ghodsee had reported any campaign contributions as of Tuesday, July 29.
PUBLIC SAFETY
All three candidates say that public safety in Spokane Valley is one of the top issues they hope to address if voters choose them, but each has a slightly different approach.
Padden says she’s proud of the work the city has done during her first term to hire more police officers. In January, the City Council voted unanimously to hire 10 new police officers, including a night-time traffic officer, an additional officer for the city’s Homeless Outreach Team, five new patrol officers and three investigators. And in April, Padden voted to include a new 0.1% public safety sales tax on the August ballot that, if passed, would fund another 10 officers for Spokane Valley.
“We’re also doing more technology-assisted things, so those are what they call force multipliers,” she says, explaining that the city’s year-old Real Time Crime Center is being used to monitor parks, trails and the Valley’s roads, too.
Hohn also supports Spokane Valley’s quest for more officers, but he doesn’t think the city should have asked its voters to support another tax.
“I know we need the officers, but why weren’t they hiring these officers as we grew instead of this big panic to hire so many all at once,” Hohn says. “I see that the city already has the money to hire all these officers, it’s just that they need to pull back on some of these projects they keep approving.”
Specifically, Hohn rails against the roundabout the city opened in October 2024 at the intersection of 16th Avenue and Bowdish Road — a project he says people call the “circle of death” — and the Idaho Central Spokane Valley Performing Arts Center that is set to be open by mid-2026.
Ghodsee supports hiring more mental health professionals and social workers to assist police officers with their workload. Without that support, he says the officers he’s talked to feel like they’re expected to be jacks-of-all-trades.
“[Officers] want someone that is able to handle those situations that they aren’t super trained to do, and quite frankly, don’t want to be doing. They want to be protecting people not going to every single mental health crisis or disturbance in the city,” Ghodsee says. “On top of that, they want social workers to try and reduce recidivism rates, so that people who are doing crimes of necessity because they’re struggling and don’t know where to find help. The social workers can get them the help they need.” n coltonr@inlander.com
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Danger On Division
State and local transportation advocacy groups push for safety improvements to state-owned highways like Division Street
BY DORA SCOTT
On the evening of July 16, 74 people brave the heat for a walk and talk along a busy downtown portion of Division Street, the state-owned, high-speed arterial highway that bisects the city. Facilitated by the Transportation Choices Coalition (TCC), a Washington state nonprofit that advocates for safer and more affordable transportation, the gathering is stifling, dusty and loud; it’s incredibly difficult to hear speakers over the traffic.
It isn’t just unpleasant — it’s unsafe, too. Across six lanes of traffic, many cars whiz by at speeds far exceeding the 35 mph speed limit, just mere feet from the pedestrians on the sidewalk.
infrastructure improvements on major state thoroughfares like Division Street.
“With better sidewalks, more crosswalks, median islands, and with better bus stops and bus shelters, we can make them streets that are safer that work better for transit riders and [are] places we can be proud of,” Hovenkotter says.
The TCC’s 1-mile hosted walk starts at the Spokane Convention Center and heads east along Spokane Falls Boulevard before making a right turn to go up North Division Street. Eventually we cross back over the Division Street bridge, ending next to a bus stop at Main and Division.
There were three pedestrian fatalities on Division Street in 2024 and five in 2023, a majority taking place along Division Street’s one-way couplets (Division and Ruby from Cleveland Avenue to the Spokane River; and Division and Browne south of the river to I-90).
And in all of Washington state, nearly 50% of pedestrian deaths have happened on state-owned roads, says Kirk Hovenkotter, executive director of TCC.
The TCC has been lobbying the state Legislature to fund the Megaproject for Safety, which calls for $1.5 billion to be invested over 10 years into pedestrian, cyclist and transportation safety
The route puts attendees into the shoes of everyday pedestrians, but also touches on all the safety improvements envisioned with the Megaproject for Safety. Besides the changes Hovenkotter lists, upgrades could also include more street trees, wider sidewalks, better lighting and even pedestrian crossing beacons.
The project’s inspiration came from former Washington State Department of Transportation Secretary Roger Millar, who reported that $150 million would be needed annually to improve the safety infrastructure of main street highways like Division.
In the last legislative session, $100 million was allocated to the Megaproject for Safety for the
KWAK PHOTO
2027-2029 biennium, in addition to funds for routine maintenance and other state-required upgrades. Proponents, however, worry that amount is inadequate.
“$100 million is a drop in the bucket in terms of what we actually need,” says Erik Lowe, co-executive director of the local nonprofit Spokane Reimagined, which advocates for safer street infrastructure as well as more transportation funding. “And so that’s why Transportation Choices Coalition, I think, is going to make a continued push over the coming years to increase that investment, and Spokane Reimagined will be right there with them advocating as well.”
It’s not yet clear how the Megaproject for Safety’s current $100 million will be disbursed around the state, and whether any of it will be directed toward improving Division Street, according to Jon Snyder, the city of Spokane’s director of transportation and sustainability.
“I think they’re kind of still working on how that process would work,” Snyder says. “My guess is that this $100 million that we got this session will be the first step in coming up with [a plan].”
Outside of the Megaproject, pedestrian, cyclist and transit improvements have also been in the works following a two-year transportation and land use study that concluded in 2022 called DivisionConnects, led by the Spokane Regional Transportation Council and Spokane Transit Authority.
The study assessed opportunities and challenges in light of the expected 2030 completion of the North Spokane Corridor and the implementation of a bus rapid transit (BRT) on Division, also slated to launch in 2030.
Expanding the existing service of downtown Spokane’s City Line, Division’s planned BRT line will operate with all-electric, fivedoor buses serving 33 new stations with improved amenities like raised platforms and shelter structures. The line also includes the addition of dedicated transit lanes for buses and turning vehicles, and improved sidewalks and crosswalks for safer transit access.
“A project like the Division BRT has a mosaic of funding,” Hovenkotter says. “And [the Megaproject for Safety] money would really go toward what would be under the preservation and maintenance bucket of WSDOT.”
DivisionConnects also looked at land development opportunities along North Division, where vacant lots are abundant. In what’s called Transit-Oriented Development, the city aims to offer both housing and a mix of goods and services within a network of streets alongside safe walking areas and high-performance transit lines.
While safety improvements are planned along the entire length of the new North Division BRT route, stretching from downtown to Hastings Road in the Wandermere area, there are also dangerous intersections south of Riverside Avenue — specifically Sprague at both Division and Browne — where it would be nice to see Megaproject funding used, Snyder says.
Hovenkotter and Lowe agree that one of the major challenges of funding the Megaproject is that most of the state transportation budget has historically been allocated to expansion projects.
“There’s only so much money in these transportation budgets and until the Legislature stops funding highway expansions, including the North Spokane Corridor, they’re not going to have the kinds of money that they need to really address the traffic safety crisis on these urban highways,” Lowe says.
As the July 16 walk and talk group crosses the Division Street Bridge, a bicyclist braves rush-hour traffic. Sarah Rose, a volunteer with Spokane Reimagined, says her experiences navigating Spokane on foot or transit have been eye-opening.
“I’m such a bike advocate and I don’t cycle very much… I don’t feel safe,” Rose says. “I’ve had so many friends get hit on their bikes. I witnessed a pedestrian fatality earlier this year, and then two days later watched somebody else be taken by ambulance because they were hit by a car while walking.”
“Every street that’s got people living on it should be a livable street, and that’s what we’re trying to do to Division,” Snyder says. n doras@inlander.com
Local fashion designer featured in San Diego Comic-Con’s Her Universe Fashion Show for second year in a row
BY COLTON RASANEN
FASHION
Cosplay to Couture
techniques that we use to finish those are the same techniques that people use on auto body repair. So it’s a wide skill set that you gather.”
With a renewed interest in one of her oldest skills, Kidwell, who supervises the Spokane Community College campus in Republic, Washington, began to spend her off-time designing and creating chic and colorful creations based on the comic book characters she loves.
Kidwell showed her work for the first time professionally in 2024 at the Her Universe Fashion Show, an annual “geek couture” runway event at San Diego Comic-Con where designers from across the country apply to participate. She was the only contestant from Eastern Washington.
Margaret Kidwell has been making clothes for most of her life. When she was in second grade, her class learned to make fabric dolls. Kidwell, however, took it one step further than her classmates: She brought her doll home and asked her aunt to teach her how to make clothes for it.
In the years to follow she taught herself how to work on human-sized clothes. She spent a lot of time cutting up her jeans to make them into skirts or altering other store-bought clothes to fit her better. After taking a high school sewing class, Kidwell, now 39, began designing her own shirts to model through the halls, too.
Those high school creations were an early look at the competitive fashion runway experience she’d get more than two decades later.
“I just loved creating with fiber. It’s super fun to take nothing and turn it into
something, and then you have this internal excitement knowing that you’re wearing something that you made,” Kidwell says. “Or even when someone else is wearing something you made, I think that there’s this sense of accomplishment.”
After high school she stopped sewing, except for the occasional mending project. But in 2017, Kidwell rediscovered her love for the craft when she attended Seattle’s Emerald City Comic-Con with a friend. The very next year she went again, but this time she attended as Lady Loki, a variant of Marvel’s Norse trickster god. It was cosplay that brought her back into the world of creating outfits.
“For people who cosplay, there’s always something to learn. I think it’s really exciting because you aren’t just sewing, or you’re not just using foam or 3D printing, you’re using all of it at once,” Kidwell says.
“We do a lot of 3D printed armor, and the
“If there’s any stress in life, I can go and knit or sew and everything just kind of makes sense and calms down,” Kidwell says. “So being able to bring that to a bigger stage and a bigger audience is just very exciting. It’s very fulfilling. I almost can’t describe how great it makes me feel to have a project like this, where I’m almost forced to sit down and slow down and just focus on making something beautiful.”
Kidwell was again chosen to show her work for the 11th annual Her Universe show in San Diego on July 24. (Readers can learn more about Kidwell and her designs on Instagram: @madgical.creations.)
GO BIG OR GO HOME
Last year, Kidwell’s design for a sleek gown based on the mutant superhero Wolverine as he appeared in the popular animated series X-Men ’97 was selected for the Her Universe runway show. Us-
LEFT: Margaret Kidwell struts down the runway in her SNL-inspired gown during the 2025 Her Universe Show.
HC PHOTOGRAPHY PHOTO
ing mostly yellow, blue and red, the primary colors of X-Men uniforms, her floor-skimming, off-the-shoulder mermaid dress was matched with a pair of blue pumps, rhinestone gloves and a feathered fascinator.
As a designer, Kidwell prefers to keep her creations simple. Without any extravagance, she can focus on making a clear statement, she says. However, the judges’ main critique of her Wolverine gown was that it didn’t take up enough room on the runway.
So this year, her outfit was as loud and large as can be, something like a Vivienne Westwood piece that might have been in Emma Stone’s punk wardrobe for the 2021 film Cruella
Titled “In a Gown Down by the River,” Kidwell’s 2025 entry was inspired by the iconic sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live.
“Oh God, Saturday Night Live and I are like best friends. I’ve been watching SNL since I was a kid with my mom, you know, exploring what comedy is,” she says. “Now, I watch it with my kids. It’s just definitely something I have grown to love.”
Though she struggled to find a concept to encompass the show’s 50-year history, she eventually decided that her design would lean heavily on the New York punk scene with references in each detail.
The outfit’s base is a dress with a rhinestone bodice representing NBC’s colorful peacock logo and a creamy beige skirt over a wide, oval-shaped pannier (think mid-1700s rococo) that she made from 10 yards of steel hooping. Hot pink lettering on the skirt front reads “Live from New York,” while the back features a huge train lined in pink-and-yellow plaid that says “It’s Saturday Night.”
Hidden within the train’s plaid lining are a series of vertical black lines representing the NYC subway system leading to 30 Rockefeller Plaza, where the show is filmed. Kidwell handpainted more references on her thigh-high black leather boots.
A personal point of pride for Kidwell is the Italian lambskin jacket that she embellished with rhinestones, studs and pearls, plus embroidered designs calling back to her favorite SNL characters through the years.
“I designed all the patches, but then I went to four different embroiderers intentionally to utilize their unique style,” she explains. “Then all the patches were handsewn in place, and then I flashed them up with rhinestones, spikes, pearls, and then there is chain detailing as well.”
To top it all off, she used more than 150 hot pink zip-ties in her hair to create an over-the-top mohawk that was meant to balance out the outfit’s proportions. She says the look was well-received and wasn’t critiqued like last year.
“I had more people approach me afterward to say that they voted for me than I could have ever imagined. And so that audience support and the professional support was really there,” she says. “I don’t think that there was anything I could have done to make it better. It was exactly what I wanted, and I feel really proud of it.” n
Kidwell’s leather jacket is covered in custom-embroidered patches. MARGARET KIDWELL PHOTO
One Good Turn Deserves Another
After a hiatus, My Turn Theater is back to give special needs actors their time in the spotlight, this time with The Lion King Jr.
BY E.J. IANNELLI
When Danny Anderson sat in the audience of My Turn Theater’s 2022 production of Guys and Dolls Jr., he had no idea he’d be running the organization three years later.
All he knew was that the show was a “very inspiring, joy-filled experience” that made him want to become more involved.
Which is exactly what he did. The following year, he moved from the seats to the stage and joined Beauty and the Beast Jr. as a shadow, a volunteer position that’s unique to this theater group and the dozen or so like it around the country.
As a shadow actor, Anderson’s role was to accompany Brian Pearson, the actor playing The Beast.
If Pearson happened to miss a cue, Anderson was right next to him with a nudge or reminder. In the rare event of some onstage jitters, he would offer Pearson words of encouragement. From rehearsals to performances, they were a team for the entire duration of the show’s
run — one in the spotlight, the other dressed in black.
My Turn Theater’s model rests on that relationship. Ever since its start in Coeur d’Alene as Out of the Shadows Theater in 2016, the organization has existed with the express purpose of providing theatrical opportunities to adults with special needs.
By offering them practical and emotional support in the form of a shadow, My Turn enables the actors to transcend the challenges associated with conditions like autism, Down syndrome or impaired vision and enjoy some time in the limelight.
Lisa Pryne Edwards was part of the production of Guys and Dolls Jr. that compelled Anderson to volunteer. Most of her involvement in the local theater community up to that point had been with Stage Left and the Spokane Civic Theatre.
Then she bumped into Wendy Carroll, founder of Out of the Shadows, which had relocated to Spokane
and rebranded as My Turn Theater in 2021. (Celebrating Different Abilities through Art and Community Theatre, or CDA ACT, is a kindred organization that also stemmed from Out of the Shadows and is still very active in Coeur d’Alene.)
“I was a drama teacher on the west side of the state before I moved here, and I was really involved in the efforts to have students with special needs involved in my shows whenever they wanted. So I loved this idea and was on board from the minute she told me about
it,“ Edwards says.
It was a similar chat with Carroll that encouraged Anderson to make his second leap with My Turn Theater — this time from shadow actor to the organization’s artistic director. The group had gone on hiatus in 2024, and both he and Pearson were wondering if and when
My Turn Theater began as Out of the Shadows Theater, which staged Beauty & the Beast Jr. in 2016.
PHOTO COURTESY HEADS AND TAILS PHOTOGRAPHY
Danny Anderson, right, with one of the show’s actors. COURTESY DANNY ANDERSON
shows would resume.
“[Wendy] had moved down to L.A. to have a more comfortable lifestyle and climate for her son Toby and herself. I reached out because I had made a lot of connections with the actors when we did Beauty and the Beast Jr., and we were trying to figure out when we were going to do it again,” he says.
“Then she and I just had a deeper conversation, and she kind of — well, not kind of — asked me if I wanted to take over and run the theater.”
In part because of the close relationship that he had formed with Pearson, he agreed.
“With theater in general, as I always explain to people who aren’t familiar with it, you bond hard and fast. And then it dissolves, kind of like summer camp or a retreat. I found myself holding onto these connections a little deeper than I might normally on a project,” he says.
After taking the helm, Anderson’s top priority was to find My Turn Theater a permanent home. Previous annual productions had hopped from venues like Coeur d’Alene’s Kroc Center and The Bing to Gonzaga’s Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts Center.
“We had no consistency of knowing when the next show was or what the next show was. It was always kind of in limbo until something got locked in,” he says.
Thanks to a long acting résumé that includes acclaimed productions like Bug (at the Civic) and Pass Over (at Stage Left), Anderson was able to draw on his local connections to find a partner venue. The Civic’s Jake Schaefer saw how My Turn’s mission aligned with community theater and offered to host their annual show during the summer.
“Spokane Civic Theatre was where I always thought it kind of belonged because it’s for everybody. Now we have this summer slot potentially indefinitely where we can plan for the future. That consistency is so important, especially for people on the spectrum,” Anderson says.
The rekindled, re-energized My Turn is now gearing up for a one-week run of The Lion King Jr. that opens on Saturday evening on the Civic’s main stage. Around 30 actors — including Iris Bealer as Simba, Hannah Burgan as Nala and Collin Fossell as Mufasa — are taking part. Pearson, the former Beast, is making his return to the stage as Scar.
“Spokane Civic Theatre was where I always thought it kind of belonged because it’s for everybody”
And the faces of many of their shadows will be already familiar to local theatergoers. Dawn Taylor Reinhardt, Patrick McHenryKroetch and Thomas Heppler are all donning black for this show.
Even Edwards is returning — although, like Anderson, it’s in an augmented capacity. She’s co-directing this production with Heather McHenry-Kroetch, who previously oversaw Beauty and the Beast Jr
“The fact that she has directed for My Turn before is really helpful for me. I’ve done a lot of directing as well, but I haven’t done a show that was completely a cast of special needs actors, including shadow actors, before. And this is a full production. This is the real deal,” says Edwards.
At the same time, she says it’s a show that sets itself apart from any other you might see this year.
“Sometimes I’m dragging after being at work from 8 to 5,” Edwards says. “But when I get there, the energy that the actors bring, it just warms your heart and makes your soul happy to see what they’re doing. So come and see the show. You’ll be glad you did.” n
Disney’s The Lion King Jr. • Aug. 2 and Aug. 7-8 at 7:30 pm, Aug. 3 and Aug. 9-10 at 2 pm • Free, donations accepted • Spokane Civic Theatre • 1020 N. Howard St. • myturntheater. com • 509-325-0527
Table Tennis Takeover
Experience peak ping pong as the Podium hosts world-class players for WTT and ITTF tournaments
BY SETH SOMMERFELD
One might think cramming 44 ping pong tables into the Podium for a series of tournaments would cause something of a racket. But that’s simply not true. After all, these are table tennis players. So it will cause something of a paddle
Embarrassingly forced jokes aside, the Spokane venue will see plenty of action this week as over 300 athletes from around the world gather in the Lilac City for a dazzling showcase of table tennis wizardry. Four tournaments will be held in the Podium Aug. 5-12. Two World Table Tennis Feeder Series tournaments mix established players looking to up their rankings with hungry up-and-comers looking to crack into the world scene, and the International Table Tennis Federation’s Para Future event provides the same for rising para players. To cap things off, the best para players on the planet will compete in an ITTF Para Elite tournament. It’s actu-
ally the first time any of these World Table Tennis (WTT) and International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) series have been hosted in the United States.
Unfortunately, only two of the days of the tournaments are open to the public. Those who want to check out the action can do so Friday, Aug. 8, and Saturday, Aug. 9. Tickets are available via TicketsWest and run $20 for a single day or $25 for a two-day pass.
TABLE TENNIS AT THE PODIUM
WTT Feeder Spokane I: Aug. 5-8
ITTF Para Future Spokane: Aug. 6-8
WTT Feeder Spokane II: Aug. 9-12
ITTF Para Elite Spokane: Aug. 9-13 thepodiumusa.com
While table tennis might seem like kind of a novelty sport that the Podium happened to somewhat randomly host, the event management company Spokane Sports was actually envisioning plenty of ping pong action before the Podium was even built, according to CEO Ashley Blake.
There’s a lot of energy that’s added with all the other athletes and spectators and coaches that are brought together for the tournament.”
On the WTT side of things, the top -rated players scheduled to play men’s and women’s singles are respectively Australia’s Aditya Sareen (ranked No. 50 in the world) and India’s Sreeja Akulta (ranked No. 37). Really the two WTT Feeders are more about the players trying to get their foothold in the world of table tennis on a hopeful climb to world-class status.
That’s certainly not the case with the ITTF Para Elite tourney. This event will draw the best of the best on the para side, including the newly minted No. 1 wheelchair player in the world, Jenson Van Emburgh from the good ol’ US of A. Batting balls around runs in the family for the Paralympic bronze medalist, as his father is former pro tennis player Greg Van Emburgh, who made a singles run to the 1990 Wimbledon semifinals.
Para table tennis is fascinating in its categorical structure. There are actually 11 different classes of para table tennis ranging from sitting players (Classes 1-5) to players who can stand and play but have other impairments (Classes 6-10) to players with intellectual impairments (Class 11). Jenson is a Class 3 player, defined by the Paralympics as “[having] no trunk control, yet their arms are minimally affected by the impairment.” Some standing players in Class 6 with severe impairments or amputations even play by holding their paddle in their mouths.
The ITTF put a new circuit system in place for 2025, and so far, Van Emburgh has been one of the main beneficiaries.
“We’ve had our eyes set on hosting competitive table tennis in our market. It was actually one of the sports that we really dove deep into when we were looking at, in a partnership role with the Public Facilities District, when we were designing and building the Podium,” Blake says. “We spent too many hours looking at lighting and HVAC systems and how that would impact sports like table tennis and badminton where airflow really impacts the ping pong ball or birdie.”
Pairing the WTT and ITFF was also more thought out than merely cramming in more events.
“When opportunities arise where we can host para events alongside able bodied events, it’s pretty incredible. Because the benefactor is really the athletes,” Blake says. “They have this incredible, worldclass facility that they’re competing in.
“I’ve played three tournaments this year, and I’ve won them all, and I’ve shot up to the No. 1 in the world for the first time ever,” he says. “So I guess for me, it’s very good. It rewards the players that go and play tournaments and compete.”
While the WTT might provide a product audiences are more used to seeing, Van Emberg hopes that Spokane turns out to support the ITTF athletes as well during this week of table tennis tenacity.
“Being No. 1 in the world for the first time and playing my first tournament as world No. 1 in the United States, that is very important to me. I just can’t wait to be there and give my best for everyone that’s there,” Van Emberg says. “I would love for any locals to come and watch us play, because usually at these tournaments, we don’t really have too much of a crowd that’s coming out. … Some [players] have a problem with noise, and they prefer people to be quiet between the points or whatever. But cheer me on as much as you all want, I will feel all the support and the love.” n
The Podium is about to become a professional ping pong paradise. PHOTOS COURTESY SPOKANE SPORTS
FLOWERS GONE WILD
Spokane Parks & Rec’s wildflower walks offer beautiful views and camaraderie
BY MARTA SZYMANSKA
As a Washington native, something I’ve always appreciated about the region’s warmer months is how the flowers and foliage jump back up after their absence during long, cold winters.
Walking around Spokane’s ample green spaces, I often spot dozens of different blooms and blossoms, but my botanical shortcomings quickly become apparent when I can’t differentiate the flowers from one another.
To correct this lack of knowledge, I’ve considered using an online plant identifier, but I don’t trust a robot well enough to get it right. However, when I found out about Spokane Parks and Recreation’s seasonal wildflower walks, all of my wildflower woes were solved.
The walks, hosted at a couple different locations and only a few times each summer, give local nature enthusiasts the opportunity to hike with guides through an area ripe with native flowers. I eagerly signed myself up for a 9 am Saturday walk and waited in anticipation. This walk was near Bead Lake, about an hour and a half north of Spokane, so Spokane Parks provided a van for transportation. Myself and six others participating in the hike met at the Yoke’s Fresh Market parking lot on Market Street and began our journey up to the Kaniksu National Forest.
The van was comfortable and safe — perhaps too comfortable, as I found myself drifting to sleep, interrupted by my head bouncing against the window as I dozed off. When we pulled off onto the gravel road leading to the trailhead, the dips and bumps fully pulled me back to consciousness.
At our destination, our group of seven plus two guides gathered for brief introductions and ground rules such as staying with the group and staying on trail.
The first portion of our hike was a short but steep downward trail that I was already dreading climbing back up during the return portion of our adventure. It was a relief to get out of the blistering sun and onto the shaded trail within a cedar cove.
There were plenty of opportunities for great photos
of both the water and the vibrant nature. The trail we took weaved toward the lake and then back into the tree cover, maintaining my ideal distribution of scenery and shade. We saw a variety of different flowers in bloom, including lupine, yarrow and dogbane.
It was a group effort to identify the variety of flowers along our hike. I was then able to find out more about all the flowers when I got home and did some research on my own.
A friend I made in the group helped me identify a dense purple flower that I see in abundance around Spokane: lupine. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, lupine, specifically the silky lupines I saw on my walk, attract pollinators like bees and hummingbirds as well as serve as a food source for white-tailed deer, bighorn sheep, some birds and other small mammals.
We also saw many long-stemmed white flowers that we deduced were yarrow. Yarrow is native to Washington, grows about 3 feet high, and attracts pollinators such as butterflies and bees. According to the U.S. Forest Service, numerous Native tribes around North America have used yarrow as a tea to soothe fevers, headaches and colds, and can also be turned into an ointment for wounds and burns.
We also stopped to photograph a white and pink flower I later identified as spreading dogbane using a botany book our guides keep in the van. Dogbane got its name from its poisonous effect in dogs and other mammals.
By the end of our hike, following the dreaded climb back uphill, I felt much more confident about my wildflower knowledge. As we worked together as a group and used our shared knowledge to identify flowers, I felt like I was walking with old friends. It was amazing to be able to discuss nature and views with a group of people who share interests. I felt like I had made eight new friends by the time we arrived back at the van — a wonderful conclusion to a beautiful day. n
THE BUZZ BIN
VEDDER FOR BETTER
As part of an online auction benefiting The Lands Council, Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder has donated a signed ukulele to support Spokane’s longest-serving environmental nonprofit. The ukulele, which also features drawings by Vedder, is up for auction through Aug. 11. “Not only are we thrilled to have this really special gift from a musician who shares our passion for climate justice, but in a year of constant changes in funding due to federal budget decisions, we are just so grateful for opportunities like this to bring new donors into our circle of care,” says executive director Amanda Parrish. Vedder learned about The Lands Council through his friendship with Spokane local Bobby Whittaker. Visit landscouncil.org for more information. (MADISON PEARSON)
A ROSE IN BLOOM
A hidden gem up in North Idaho for years, musician Gabriella Rose has lately been making some serious waves in the country music world. After gaining an audience with the TikTok hit “Doublewide,” Rose’s profile got a huge boost a couple weeks ago via a new duet with country superstar Zach Bryan. On Bryan’s new single “Madeline,” the pair trade wistfully romantic lines about a burning passion for an old flame that might now be fully extinguished. Rose even joined Bryan onstage to sing “Madeline” in front of a massive crowd at Bryan’s Met Life Stadium shows in the New York City area. Things continue to come up roses for Ms. Rose. (SETH SOMMERFELD)
THIS WEEK’S PLAYLIST
Noteworthy new music arriving in stores and online on Aug. 1.
RENEÉ RAPP, BITE ME
After breaking out as Regina George in the musical version of Mean Girls, the rapidly rising pop star looks to claim a spot alongside the genre’s heavy hitters.
THE ARMED, THE FUTURE IS HERE AND EVERYTHING NEEDS TO BE DESTROYED
Gonna go out on a limb and say the hardcore punk collective isn’t stoked by the state of things.
WISP, IF NOT WINTER
After finding a viral audience with “Your Face,” indie dream shoegaze singer-songwriter Wisp unveils her first full-length album. (SS)
White yarrow
Spreading dogbane Western lupine
Cinema Taking the Long
New owners are reviving Colville’s historic Auto-Vue theatre, Eastern Washington’s only drive-in screen
Vue
Story by SETH SOMMERFELD
Photos by YOUNG KWAK
As a kid growing up in the northeast Washington town of Colville, Andrew Ross and his friends would occasionally drape themselves under a blanket in the bed of a pickup truck in an attempt to sneak into screenings at the Auto-Vue Drive-In Theatre without paying. It’s the type of low-stakes hijinks that often populate the dreamy corners of our memories.
These days Ross still sees plenty of kids trying to pull off his usually unsuccessful old trick, but now that he’s on the other end of the equation, it mainly elicits a nostalgic, knowing laugh. In June of 2024, Ross and his fiancée Scott Aslakson took over ownership of Auto-Vue, the Inland Northwest’s last remaining drive-in theater.
While drive-ins once dotted the U.S. — 4,000+ were in operation in the late 1950s — the unique outdoor moviegoing experience has been going the way of the dodo over the past few decades. Ross says the current estimate is that only 200 to 250 of the cinematic outposts are still in operation, and only five remain in Washington state. But he and Aslakson have no intention of letting the final credits roll on Colville’s rare gem.
The Auto-Vue Drive-In Theatre first opened in June 1953, near the peak of the format’s popularity. Nestled amongst beautiful rock-faced cliffs and evergreen trees a few miles outside of Colville (roughly 75 miles north of Spokane), it seems more like a spot one would expect to find a scenic concert venue rather than a drive-in. With space to park up to 235 vehicles, it’s technically possible for an Auto-Vue crowd to exceed 1,000 moviegoers (though typical highs are closer to 500), an incredibly high number considering Colville itself only boasts a population of around 5,000.
The Auto-Vue and the Alpine Cinema in Colville were bought in 1974 by Earl and Jane Wisner, and it stayed in the family when their son Steve took over the business in 1993. But as the movie industry changed, keeping the Auto-Vue viable became more difficult, especially when 35mm film was replaced by digital projection systems.
In 2012, Wisner announced that the Auto-Vue would close the following year, as it would cost somewhere in the high five figures to get a new digital projector system. But the Colville community rallied to support their outdoor theater. After a couple years on pause, which involved replacing the old squarish screen with a proper rectangular one from the defunct Skyline Drive-In Theater in Moses Lake, and obtaining and installing a digital system, the Auto-Vue reopened in 2016. But that didn’t mean things were thriving, as the movie theater industry was still taking a dip due to factors like more people choosing to digitally stream movies at home.
Looking to retire, Steve Wisner put both the Auto-Vue and the Alpine up for sale in 2024. Ross and Aslakson, who were living in the Seattle area (respectively working in tech leadership and real estate) until relocating to Ross’s hometown in 2023, bought both properties. While Ross still hops across the Cascades frequently for tech work, the pair now
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A vehicle passing as Jurassic World Rebirth plays at Auto Vue Drive-In Theatre leaves a long-exposure light trail.
Cinema
also plies their trade in movie magic.
“It’s a part of history that so many people have lost access to,” Ross says. “Being that we’re the only drivein east of the Cascades, we have people that come from British Columbia, from Alberta, from Montana, from Idaho, from Oregon, because all the other ones around us have gone away. They’ve disappeared. So I want to be able to preserve that, because it was an important part of my youth.”
When the Inlander team arrives at the Auto-Vue an hour and half before the box office opens on an overcast Sunday in July, preparations for the evening have already begun. (There’s even one vehicle already in line.)
Ross is loading up his rig with old toilets that have recently been replaced as part of a bathroom upgrade, while Aslakson is strolling across the grounds picking up the remains of last night’s littered trash. It’s only the start of the many hands-on tasks the ownership pair handle over the night. Aslakson, who serves as general manager for both the Auto-Vue and Alpine, draws on his retail background to work the concession stand. Meanwhile, Ross mans the box office, gives announce-
ments before each screening and starts the projector.
Currently the Auto-Vue runs double features of new, first-run movies every Friday, Saturday and Sunday night from May through October with occasional special events in between. Movies start at dusk, which means showtimes vary as the season progresses, but the second feature usually stretches into the A.M. hours. Each week’s film lineup can be found via the theater’s Facebook and Instagram pages.
Tickets for the double features are a screaming deal: only $8 for adults and $4 for kids 11 and under, plus Sundays are “carload nights” where as many people as can fit in a vehicle get in for a flat $10 fee (which has even included buses in the past). It’s certainly a goal of ownership for the drive-in to be a budget-friendly entertainment option for the region.
“We pride ourselves on being affordable family fun. Both here and in the Alpine Theater, we’ve kept our ticket prices low,” Ross says. “I’ve got family in the area still. My nieces and nephew are growing up here, they’re pretty young. We’ve had them out here several times to watch shows, and they’ve had so much fun. They’re not huge movie aficionados yet, but they’re out here having fun with friends and family.”
As their dwindling numbers make clear, economic factors are working against drive-ins.
“The sad thing is the land is worth more as almost anything but a drive-in. At the end of the day, that’s what property developers want — profitable, not cool,” Ross says.
There are also many complexities and restrictions for theaters that are put in place by movie studios — especially when showing new movies — which is particularly harsh on drive-ins. These include being forced to screen a movie at every showing of a given week and steep fees.
Ross explains that studios tend to take 70% of ticket sales for each new feature, but with a double feature that means two 70% cuts. So for every ticket sold on $10 carload night, the Auto-Vue must pay back $14. It doesn’t take leading economic theorists to figure out why that might be an issue, so by and large the concessions sales are the only thing that gives the theater a chance to make money.
The Auto-Vue’s screen towers over onlookers, 30 feet tall and spanning 70 feet horizonatally. One lone building on the grounds houses concessions,
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“TAKING THE LONG VUE,” CONTINUED...
Manager Josh Martin checks the concessions area.
TOP RIGHT: Co-owner and General Manager Scott Aslakson picks up trash from the previous night at Auto Vue Drive-In Theatre.
MIDDLE RIGHT: Co-owner Andrew Ross helps customers Karen Hamel and Ron Davis at the box office at Auto Vue Drive-In Theatre.
BOTTOM RIGHT: Ross helps customers at the box office at Auto Vue Drive-In.
Cinema
a kitchen, bathrooms, the ticket booth, the projector room and an upstairs apartment occupied by manager Josh Martin.
While the old-school speaker system has long since gone kaput, patrons can tune into the feature via set AM and FM radio frequencies (rentable radios are also available). The digital projector is a NEC NC2000C with massive bulbs — compared to normal movie theaters, projectors at drive-ins are more expensive because they need to be brighter due to the uncontrolled environment. The mammoth machine actually rests on the stand of the old 35mm projector from yesteryear.
In the digital age, studios upload their movies to a server which can then be uploaded to the theater’s server and unlocked for limited use via a soundkey. The whole rundown including trailers, commercials and the feature film itself is digitally built ahead of time, so all someone needs to do is click a button. Everything can then pretty much play unsupervised without a hitch.
There’s clearly still some appetite for drive-ins. A half hour before the box office opens, the line of cars waiting to get in already stretches out of sight. In May, the new Lilo & Stitch led to the new owners’ first sold out screening. After cramming in 235 cars, Ross had to tell vehicles still in line to park their cars down at the gravel pit down the road and walk up if they wanted to buy tickets to join the friends and family who might’ve already got in.
“We’re the only theaters in the county, and it’s nice to be a part of the community,” Aslakson says. “There’s not a lot to do here, so a lot of people are very glad we’re here.”
Despite concessions being the Auto-Vue’s moneymaker, prices are quite affordable. Basic popcorn ranges from $4-$8, candy runs $2.50-$5.25, and soft drinks cost $3.75$6.75. Ross emphasizes that the Auto Vue can be a dinner and a movie, with pizzas starting at $12 and burgers costing $4.25 to $8. They’ve also recently added an ICEE machine to cool patrons down on hot nights, and the collectable popcorn buckets that cost a premium have been a hit, too.
The atmosphere behind the concession counter is quite jovial as well. On this Sunday night, 17-year-old locals Matthew Lopez and Gabe Serrano man the counter, which moves at a brisk pace once the box office opens and patrons begin stocking up on goodies before the films begin.
“I really like the environment, and I’m kind of a movie nerd myself. So working behind the counter and watching the movies, I feel like it’s a really cool experience,” Lopez says. “All the other people around town really appreciate it, because the drive-ins are slowly closing down.”
“I find it fun just talking to all the people,” Serrano adds. “Just chatting and figuring out how people are and having some side jokes. C’mon, you can’t just be like, ‘Here’s your bill, now shoo shoo.’”
A wide swath of folks can be found wandering the grounds once the cars and trucks start to trickle in. Local regulars like Fritz Flottman have been coming out to the AutoVue with his kin since before 1980, while others have driven four hours just to get that drive-in experience.
Coeur d’Alene’s John Clendennen and his family enjoy the open-air cinema in part because as a cancer survivor, prolonged time huddled in indoor spaces with potential airborne illnesses can be a bit terrifying.
There are loads of kids (and some adults) who’ve never watched a movie at a drive-in before, many of whom run playfully around the grounds waiting for things to start. There are Spokanites like Andrew Colgan and Courtnie Roquemore, who wanted to visit a drive-in this summer with their nieces, visiting from the southeast, and found Auto-Vue via an online search.
There are out-of-towners like Elk residents DeAnna and Bob Prichard and their big white dog Cali, who drive up for the double feature and then camp at the Kettle Falls Campground instead of driving back super late. No matter what relationship the patrons have with drive-in theaters, there’s a general giddy excitement in the air.
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The reflection from the theater’s NEC NC200C projector lens is seen on a window.
Ross starts the show in the projection room.
Concessions employee Gabe Serrano, left, serves food and drinks to 16-year-old Kane Larson, his father Jesse and 14-year-old brother Cash.
Auto-Vue concessions employee Matthew Lopez makes popcorn.
Cinema
Auto-Vue Drive-In Theatre
444 Auto View Road, Colville
Open seasonally, Friday-Sunday (movies start dusk)
See website for weekly box office opening times
Adults $8, Children $4 (11 and under); Sunday $10 per car Instagram: @autovuedrivein
“TAKING THE LONG VUE,” CONTINUED...
When talking to Ross and Aslakson, ideas for ways to improve the Auto-Vue in the long term practically come pouring out of them. They’d like to do more special events like a repeat of last year’s season-closing Trunk-or-Treat with a free double feature of Hocus Pocus and The Nightmare Before Christmas. Other options they’re pondering include concerts, car shows paired with films like Grease and American Graffiti, and swap meets.
Ross would love to get some less kiddie-oriented fare on the schedule for the fall months once kids are back in school. One of his dreams is to host a marathon of Quentin Tarantino (his favorite director) films including Pulp Fiction (his favorite movie), Reservoir Dogs, and Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2. Aslakson would love to do a Harry Potter marathon.
There’s also plenty of improvements to the site that could be made, such as adding another exit road, building a balcony on the main building to provide shade, pouring a concrete patio outside the concessions stand and possibly adding picnic-style seating. They also need to address a ground squirrel problem that results in little holes across the grounds, and would like to upgrade to a 4k projector (which cost around $500,000 new) and maybe even figure out if a second screen could be viable.
They’re also working to revitalize aspects of Colville. Ross is also on Colville’s Airport Board and Parking Commission. Aslakson, who serves with the local Chamber of Commerce, will soon relaunch Barmans, a local retail spot that began as a department store in 1887 before closing in 2017 (he’s also working to try to bring back the town’s holiday parade that Barmans long ran).
It’s all an effort to bolster the place they call home, a place where you can still watch movies under the stars from the comfort of your car.
“Drive-ins are all about community,” Ross says. “Any movie is meant to be watched in a shared environment with friends and family, but a drive-in especially. You’re watching on a big screen in a vehicle or in chairs in front of your vehicle, but it’s a very different experience than you’re going to get in town. You’re coming from your home, from your town, coming out of that comfort zone to a new place to be with your friends and family.” n
Moviegoers watch Jurassic World Rebirth at Auto Vue Drive-In Theatre.
Customers wait in the concessions line on a Sunday night in July.
DeAnna and Bob Prichard brought their dog Cali to the show.
Andrew Colgan and his wife
Courtnie Roquemore, along with nieces Brooklyn Moore, back left, and Jessica Colgan, wait for the movie to start.
WINE
Wine for the Masses
Pacific Northwest author Nicholas O’Connell releases entertaining new nonfiction book for wine connoisseurs and newcomers alike
BY BOB JOHNSON
Every writer has a toolkit of strategies and techniques that can be tapped when telling a story: setting a scene, character development, plot twists. Nicholas O’Connell, founder of The Writer’s Workshop in Seattle, part-time resident of Coeur d’Alene and author of five books (including On Sacred Ground: The Spirit of Place in Pacific Northwest Literature), says one of his favorites is to incorporate dramatic scenes.
“I’m always looking for an interesting moment when something happens that will change the circumstances of the person,” he says.
For instance, his 2012 The Storms of Denali begins near the top of Denali (aka Mount McKinley) with characters who are “in the middle of a hellacious snowstorm, and if they get it wrong, they’re all going to die.”
In O’Connell’s newest book, Crush: My Year as an Apprentice Winemaker, released in July, the opening drama revolves around whether a borrowed Ford 250 diesel truck nicknamed the “Beast” will make it from Seattle to a vineyard in Central Washington in time to pick up some just-harvested wine grapes — and then get back in time for crushing and fermenting in a home garage before they spoil.
Writes O’Connell: “After crossing Snoqualmie Pass, the low point in the Cascade Range that vertically bisects the state, I turn south onto I-82, which rises steeply toward Umtanum Ridge. The truck grumbles as the grade increases. I keep my foot on the gas, willing it up the hill. My coffee cup dances along the top of the dashboard. A burnt smell seeps out of the heater. I keep it floored, praying the heap will make it over the top. Black, acrid smoke billows out of the dashboard vent. I open the window and stick my head outside to avoid asphyxiation. I ease up on the pedal, but the smoke keeps coming.
Seattle-based author Nicholas O’Connell documents one year as a winemaker in his newest book.
R. OLSON PHOTO
Finally, the truck clears the top of the ridge. I pull off to the side and let the Beast cool off. Leaning against the side panel, I take a drink of water, resolving never to drive this piece of shit again!”
And that was before a flat tire sent the Beast out of control, heading for a ditch and narrowly missing a truck before coming to a stop on the shoulder of the road.
Eventually, O’Connell gets to his destination, Ciel du Chuval Vineyard in the Yakima Valley’s Red Mountain viticultural area, loads the waiting grapes into the Beast, and returns home to a waiting crew of fellow wine enthusiasts.
“I’d been thinking about the experience of making wine with friends and weaving in the stories of influential winemakers for about three years,” O’Connell says. “Before I started making wine, I thought of it as just something that showed up in a bottle. But there’s so much that goes into it.”
Why tell the story of the harrowing road trip?
“I wanted people who are not necessarily connoisseurs of wine to be able to participate,” O’Connell explains. “I wanted there to be a certain degree of demystification. Throughout the book, when I’m working with these famous people, I’m in awe of their knowledge and talent and skill.
“I wanted the narrator to be someone that people could identify with,” he continues. “I didn’t want my persona to be too preachy or annoying. There have been lots of books on winemakers, so while I wanted to include chapters on the ones who have influenced my own winemaking, I felt it was important to include some of the mistakes we made in trying to emulate them — our foibles. We’re kind of the comic relief. In writing, to be a little bit of a fool can be a useful strategy.”
No foolishness, however, could find its way into making the decision to write a book. O’Connell says he likes to “test the waters” by writing pieces and doing research.
In this case, the pieces included a story he’d written on fruit flies for Wine Spectator magazine, other stories on West Coast wineries he’d written for Alaska Airlines Magazine, and a tour of Eastern Washington vineyards he’d taken with veteran vintner David Lake — the man who produced Washington’s first syrah in 1988 and introduced vineyard-designated wines to the state.
“David is a master of wine and such an astute and humble person,” O’Connell says. “He’s so good at explaining things. Getting to know him and writing his story was one of the key moments in getting the book off the ground.”
So was securing an interview with legendary winemaker Warren Winiarski, the man widely credited with igniting the growth of the California wine industry when his 1973 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon beat out several French wines in a 1976 wine tasting that came to be known as the “Judgment of Paris.”
“Being able to sit down with Warren was really the cornerstone of getting the book going,” O’Connell says. “Once I got going, having access to so many of the winemakers I’d written about previously really helped.”
That also helps with O’Connell’s own winemaking, which is done under his noncommercial label Les Copains (“the friends” in French).
“I learned something from every interview I did,” he says. “Often, after conducting an interview about someone’s wine, I’d ask them a question about my wine. I learned so much from all of them.”
It was like getting a master’s degree in oenology without attending formal classes. And there was so much to learn:
y The judicious use of oak barrel aging, which “adds a nice dimension to the wine without overpowering the flavor of the grapes.”
y Creating “wines of a place with the stamp of the winemaker,” something O’Connell learned from Tony Soter, known for both Napa Valley cabernet and Willamette Valley (Oregon) pinot noir. “Tony’s wine tastes different from other winemakers’,” O’Connell notes.
y The importance of balance, to which an entire section of the book is devoted.
O’Connell says that among the many lessons he learned from Lake is that “wine is always made to be served with food.”
“A meal is sort of this fundamental human activity,” he says. “Wine adds a social dimension. It’s the circumstances and the people and the moment that you’re opening the bottle that I really honor. So, with the wine we make, if it isn’t perfect but is still excellent, I’m satisfied with that.”
Throughout the book, O’Connell also tells of performing tasks — many menial — at various wineries, each adding to his winemaking tool kit. That kit, combined with his writer’s toolkit, help make Crush an entertaining read for wine lovers and wine newcomers alike. n
O’Connell: Crush • Wed, Aug. 6 at 7 pm • Free • Auntie’s Bookstore • 402 W. Main Ave. auntiesbooks.com • thewritersworkshop.net
Pet Issue
Meet the author at Auntie’s on Aug. 6.
REVIEW
Liam
IALSO OPENING
CAT VIDEO FEST 2025
Ugh. Stop looking at cat videos on your phone to distract from the horrors of the world! Start looking at cat videos on the big screen instead! Each year, the team behind Cat Video Fest compiles a new compilation of adorable and funny videos of furry felines for binge. It’s over an hour of cinematic purrrrrfection. Not rated At the Magic Lantern
THE BAD GUYS 2
The reformed team of former animal thieves struggles to adjust to life on the right side of the law, before an allfemale crew pulls in for one last job in this family-friendly computer animation sequel. Rated PG
SHE RIDES SHOTGUN
This crime thriller follows a recently released convict (Taron Egerton) searching for a fresh start, but instead having to go on the run from his enemies with his young daughter in tow. Rated R
TOGETHER
Dave Franco and Alison Brie star in this supernatural body horror feature about a couple whose bodies mysteriously and horrifically begin to fuse together. Rated R
SON OF A GUN
Neeson is no Leslie Nielsen, but his The Naked Gun is a spectacularly stupid chuckle-fest
BY CHASE HUTCHINSON
n our modern movie landscape, much has been made of the death of the comedy film.
The argument goes that not only are there significantly fewer of them coming out in theaters each year, those that do still exist largely go straight to streaming, ensuring even the good ones are at greater risk of landing with a dull thud. This context makes The Naked Gun, a frequently delightfully absurd if not always quite as consistently funny as you’d hope for it to be, a rarity of sorts. A reboot of the original The Naked Gun movie series that finds Liam Neeson doing his darndest to fill the mighty big clown shoes of the late deadpan comedy genius Leslie Nielsen, it’s never able to fully live up to its predecessors, yet has plenty of fun in the attempt. At the very least, it boasts a scene-stealing turn by a pitchperfect Pamela Anderson, the silliest gags you’ll see in any movie this year and some surprising bite that holds it all together even as the modern Los Angeles setting threatens to come apart as the world’s worst cops go careening through it.
The Naked Gun
Rated PG-13
Directed by Akiva Schaffer
Hauser) is only a bit better in this regard, ensuring that the exhausted Chief Davis (CCH Pounder) is always calling them in for a reprimand. It’s all familiar police movie nonsense, but the joy comes in seeing how The Naked Gun pushes every familiar cop cliché to absurd extremes, making everything from the way it undercuts internal monologues to a recurring gag surrounding coffee cups earn a chuckle. When Frank then gets a case that involves the mysteriously dead brother of femme fatale Beth Davenport (Anderson) and the plotting of nightmarish tech billionaire Richard Cane (Danny Huston), who is initially like an Elon Musk cartoon before becoming more overtly fascist à la Peter Thiel, he’ll have to launch into action to save not just the city, but the world as we know it.
Starring Liam Neeson, Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser
At the center of this is Neeson’s Frank Drebin Jr., son of Nielson’s original cop, who now seeks to do his daddy proud and lead the more self-conscious though no less chaotic Police Squad. The only problem is that he’s an idiot and his partner Ed Hocken Jr. (Paul Walter
Directed by The Lonely Island’s Akiva Schaffer, who previously made the similarly silly Hot Rod and the criminally underrated Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, every scene is just about jamming in as many silly jokes as possible. Some of these are visual gags whose humor comes from how they make next to no sense at all, where others are more dialogue-driven and rely on Neeson channeling his Taken persona to make them work. Not all of these latter jokes hit consistently, meaning there are some stretches that start to drag and stumble awkwardly to punchlines that don’t fully earn the time invested in them. What does work is whenever
Anderson (who was great in the recent The Last Showgirl) is on screen, brings a more confident absurdity when the film needs her to. She gives the film’s best scenes greater life and helps you forgive the ones that don’t quite work.
With that in mind, as the film continues to escalate, the best bits are ones that Schaffer (in a script he co-wrote with collaborators Dan Gregor and Doug Mand) can truly call his own. Where the original film was much more about slapstick and broad tropes of cop investigations, this one is also very much about poking fun at recent action thrillers. Namely, there is a late killer bit that expands on and skewers a scene from the opening of 2018’s Mission: Impossible - Fallout to magnificent results. It’s all part of an experience where, even if a joke or two falls flat, there are several more coming in rapid fire that win you back over. That the film isn’t above making the most disgusting, juvenile and groan-inducing poop jokes you’ve ever heard is a testament to its comedic range. It’s quite clever when it needs to be and simultaneously childish as all hell, demonstrating how even the stupidest movies around can also be quite smart.
Even as the ending is a little anticlimactic and a litany of forced needle drops ring hollow, it’s in the moments where the film (and Anderson, in one standout scene) sings that The Naked Gun strikes comedy gold. Even if it won’t save the modern comedy as we know it on its own, it may prove how the many rumors of the genre’s premature death have been greatly exaggerated. n
The Naked Gun riddles viewers with a barrage of gags.
Return of the King
Animated sitcom King of the Hill returns with its simple charm intact
BY JOSH BELL
One advantage of animated series is that characters never need to age or evolve, since they can always be drawn to look exactly the same. That kind of eternal present has proved useful for Fox’s long-running animated lineup, with shows like The Simpsons, Family Guy and Bob’s Burgers airing essentially unchanged for decades.
For 13 years, King of the Hill was part of that block, with a similar comforting familiarity in its stories of a suburban Texas family. It would have been easy for creators Mike Judge and Greg Daniels to return to the
exact same set-up for King of the Hill’s first new season since 2010, but the Hulu revival allows the characters to grow and change, while retaining the core qualities that make them so appealing.
About a decade has passed as propane salesman Hank Hill (Judge) and his teacher-wife, Peggy (Kathy Najimy), return to their hometown of Arlen, Texas. Hank has spent that time working in Saudi Arabia, although an amusing flashback shows that he and Peggy lived on a corporate compound mimicking a stereotypical American small town, so it’s a bit like they’ve been living in a bubble.
Thanks to Hank’s petroleum-company earnings, the Hills are set for retirement, and they pick up right where they left off, moving back into the same house, where they’re surrounded by the same old neighbors.
In the meantime, their son Bobby (Pamela Adlon) has been making more significant changes. Now 21, he lives in Dallas and is the head chef at a German-Japanese fusion BBQ restaurant. Bobby is still awkward, but he’s remarkably focused and accomplished for someone so young. While Hank and Peggy are more likely to fall back into their old patterns, Bobby offers the writers new storytelling opportunities as he navigates life as an entrepreneur and culinary innovator.
He’s still smitten with his former neighbor Connie Souphanousinphone (Lauren Tom), who’s now a college engineering major, and he’s still best friends with Joseph Gribble (Tai Leclaire), who’s now his roommate. Bobby’s life in the comparatively big city gives Judge, Daniels and new showrunner Saladin K. Patterson the chance to poke fun at modern cultural trends, with the show’s trademark gentle, accessible approach.
The first episode goes a little overboard in showing Hank’s horrified reactions to various progressive changes to Arlen, and it already seems a little dated given the current reactionary climate in Texas and the U.S. at large. Later episodes deal more effectively with present-day political divisions, especially in storylines featuring Joseph’s conspiracy-theorist dad, Dale (the late Johnny Hardwick).
Although he’s conservative in a personal sense, Hank has always been an antidote to toxic masculinity, and he can be baffled by veganism and gig-economy apps while also standing up for women’s rights and opposing online disinformation. Dale, who now has a Substack and was briefly Arlen mayor (before becoming a denialist of his own election), has become the perfect avatar for rightwing grievance culture, without the creators having to make a single adjustment to his character.
King of the Hill isn’t an overtly political show, though, and most of the storylines in the 10-episode season are straightforward and grounded in everyday life. As always, the humor evokes more chuckles than big laughs, but the show is consistently amusing and never pushes too hard for a joke. Like Judge’s equally successful Beavis and ButtHead revival, King of the Hill captures exactly what made the show work in the first place, with slight adjustments to keep things fresh.
The passage of time affects the real world, too, and both Hardwick and fellow voice actor Jonathan Joss get memorial tribute cards during their final episodes. King of the Hill is well-equipped to deal with the melancholy of daily existence, and there’s a bittersweet quality to the adult Bobby’s interactions with his aging but still feisty parents. The characters could have remained frozen in time like their animated peers, but it’s more meaningful — and more entertaining — to see them as they are now. n
The new King of the Hill isn’t a stagnant revival.
King of the Hill
Created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels Starring Mike Judge, Kathy Najimy, Pamela Adlon Streaming August 4 on Hulu
Movie
OLOCAL MUSIC
Luck of the Analog Draw
I randomly bought 11 old local cassette tapes to sonically discover Spokane’s past
BY DORA SCOTT
MANITO PARK - MANITO PARK
ROOK
myself a music aficionado. While I’m always on the hunt for a good tune to share, I definitely don’t claim to have vast knowledge of music history or terminology. I don’t even play an instrument. In fact, my musical exploration rarely strays far from my Spotify algorithm. I did leave the confines of that digital world, however, to visit 4,000 Holes Record Store on North Monroe in order to buy some cassette tapes for a friend’s birthday gift. Feeling overwhelmed, I asked the shop’s new owner, Isaac Robbins, if he had any local tapes. He proceeded to pull out a big cardboard box full of old, supposedly local ones, and I picked out a few at random — purely based on the album art, funny names or just vibes
But that box of tapes triggered a curiosity within me, so I returned soon after buying a portable cassette player to pick my own haul of 11 tapes. While I don’t have the space to delve into them all, here are five smatterings from a rookie music-lover navigating an analog era local music scene that existed not only before I moved to Spokane one year ago, but before I was even born.
You’re a young hooligan in the ’90s cruising down Spokane Falls Boulevard and over the Monroe Street Bridge in an open convertible. This Manito Park tape from 1991 is blasting melodic rock, giving you major main character energy (as fellow Gen Zers would say).
Spokane-based band Manito Park is likely familiar to many Inland Northwest music fans (the band’s earlier incarnation, Gotham, just had an album reissued via an Australian label). The tape I chose features 11 of their songs, with some more popular tunes like “One Last Look,” yet the one that stood out was “Idaho Eyes.”
Unlike the powerful, clear vocal harmonies from the other songs, “Idaho Eyes” takes on a spoofy Southern twang with a bouncy guitar rhythm. The words are hard to catch, but luckily the tape’s inner slip provides the lyrics, telling the story of an idealistic Idahoan who sees the world through “Idaho eyes” and is thrown off by the unfriendly nature of Los Angeles.
I’m a sucker for abstract art, and that’s what drew me to the Rook tape. Drawn in black marker over a violetcolored background, wiggly creatures (a cross between anteaters and dogs) intermesh to form a Celtic-like symbol. The tape itself is white plastic with pastel purple front and back labels. Though the copyright dates to 1995 and was produced by Dead Center Productions, my internet scrounging was fruitless so I can’t confirm the band’s origins.
There are only two songs on each side, and the first I plopped in turned out to be “Butterneck.” It revs with an electric guitar, but soon melts into a funky bass and drum rhythm with saxophone joining in. The coherency of the male vocals are somewhat lost among all the instruments. Halfway through, however, listeners are in for a jumpscare. A grainy, autotune-y male voice comes out of the wood work: “Oh, I really dig the way you make me feel.”
I don’t quite know how that makes me feel.
Turning the tape over, “Save Me” eases listeners in with a slow, steady drum beat and delicate cymbal taps.
RESIN - FOR ALL INTENSE PORPOISES
John Johnson chimes in, introducing The Playboys as one of the Inland Northwest’s best garage bands from the ’60s. Johnson clarifies that the term “garage band” was applied retroactively in the ’70s, having little to do with actually playing or practicing in a garage. Adding that it’s more of a catch-all for the homegrown nature of these bands.
“Tonight we’re listening to the lucky ones who left some sort of legacy,” Johnson says of the few among hundreds of Eastern Washington bands of that era that actually recorded their music.
While some of you may have heard this radio show live decades ago, its legacy was a buried tape in that cardboard box at 4,000 Holes. Blue ink is scrawled on the side and the front of the white cassette label, letting me know the radio taping’s air date and the lineup of 16 Eastern Washington garage bands from the 1960s that Johnson showcased.
From the 1994 album title’s play on words to the hand drawn labeling and art on the tape’s J-card (a term I had to Google), I knew this pick would be interesting. When I fold open the inner red paper, black pen art of a naked woman, drugs and alcohol greets me alongside the lyrics to the last
sive guitar solos and raw vocals. “The Junkie Song” has a comparatively softer opening with faint chimes
in: “Come on baby take a walk with me // down the
With a tape so quirky, what I wouldn’t give to see Resin live in
The catchy outro “...that’s all” on Royball’s 11song 1992 album is the perfect dessert. The mainsauce” — heavy rock songs as funny and filling as
I obviously have never heard these bands before — I never even knew they existed — but they tugged childhood heartstrings. My dad was born in the ’50s, and this was the type of music that he was constantly singing around the house.
Throughout the tape, Johnson introduces a handful of bands at a time, with The Ventures, Chambermen, Mark 5 and Madd Hatters on the line up. As someone more versed in smartphones, it quickly became a struggle to repeatedly hit the clunky pause, rewind and play buttons on my tape player to make sure I didn’t mishear anything. Embarrassingly, at some points I even reflexively reach for my phone instead of the physical buttons.
Some standouts from the tape’s first side include “It’s Your Heart” by Spokane-based Mark 5. Suspenseful chimes and guitar start things off before hauntingly sweet male vocals spin a song about heartbreak and a broken engagement. Another, “It’s Not The Same” by Billy and the Kids, came from a band composed of 12- and 13-year-olds from Wenatchee. Johnson fittingly describes their sound as “prepubescent” with soft tenor harmonies reminiscent of choirboys.
Flipping the tape over, The Bards, originally from Moses Lake, kick things off with a cover of “My Generation” by The Who. Johnson also included The Bards’ scandalous 1968 number “The Owl & the Pussycat.” You can infer yourself as to why this song had some people tsk-tsking
After the hourlong recording, the tape concludes with a goodbye from our host: “This is John Johnson for KPBX-FM, and thanks for
On that note, this is Dora Scott for the
“6 songs for the fashionably oppressed”
An Urgent Dispatch
Brad Corrigan of the indie roots band Dispatch chats about living in Coeur d’Alene, Festival at Sandpoint, and being a documentarian
BY SETH SOMMERFELD
While its legacy extends well beyond dorm room walls, in many ways Dispatch has been the quintessential band for crunchy college freshmen. The group that started up in Vermont back in 1996 checks so many of the boxes that new undergrads can sink their teeth into: good jam band vibes, introspective lyrics that challenge the status quo, social activist leanings for those looking to better the world, acoustic anthems that can be banged out on an acoustic guitar, and a genrespanning sound that marries acoustic folk rock, roots music and reggae.
If you’re under 50 and have ever gathered with buddies to play hacky sack on the quad, there’s a decent chance you’ve also listened to Dispatch albums like Bang Bang and America, Location 12 or know the patter song lyrics to the band’s cult hit “The General.”
After initially disbanding in 2002 and doing a few benefit reunions, Dispatch fully became a going concern again starting in 2011. Founding members Brad Corrigan and Chadwick Stokes are still holding down the fort with their multi-instrumentalist skills, as showcased on the group’s new 2025 album Yellow Jacket. In recent years, Corrigan (second from left above) has also become a local to these parts, relocating to Coeur d’Alene with his family. Before Dispatch plays Festival at Sandpoint for the first time on Aug. 2, we caught up with Corrigan to chat about the new album, filmmaking and more.
INLANDER: Were there any intents y’all had in mind when making the new album Yellow Jacket?
CORRIGAN: We’ve toured kind of relentlessly for the last eight or so years, but we haven’t recorded fully as a band of five. Chad and I did most of the recordings with production teams. So we were just like, “Let’s just go in and do it the old school way — live takes — and let’s throw back to some of our early roots with ska and reggae and more summer-y vibes.” So it was really fun and motivated
by the simple this is our band and this is what we sound like. And then the second half of the record, we recorded five months later in a really short session — maybe four or five days total. We were still really enjoying playing and recording as a full band. There’s more blues and straight ahead rock takes from that.
How did you approach the thematic messages on Yellow Jacket?
All of us are dads now, so I think we’re motivated by questions way more profoundly about “What are we leaving to our kids?” There are bigger things in the world that we were oblivious to in our 20s, things we really didn’t think had an impact on us. I think now that we’re protecting and raising up littles, we really want to understand, macro to micro, what we can do to try to set up our kids for the best experience that they can have inheriting the world.
How has having other projects outside of Dispatch — like your documentary Ileana’s Smile and Chad working on a rock opera — helped keep the band fresh?
I think we learned in the first iteration of the band — the first seven years — where the only thing that Chad and Pete [Heimbold] and I did was Dispatch. So we were trying to force everything that was inspiring us into one outlet. And we needed a long break. We almost broke the band up because of it.
I went to Nicaragua on a really long Dispatch break and found a group of kids living in a trash dump. And I was just so blown away and inspired and heartbroken to think that kids live like that, so that became a place where my creativity went. And then the film came out recently, and I’m creating as many collaborative songs with other artists who are inspired by the film to release the benefit soundtrack. And all of those things keep Dispatch firing because we need less from it. We love playing so much, but it doesn’t have to be the thing that sustains all of us.
What does the documentary cover?
Well, Ileana’s Smile is a film to honor the girls that we first met in the trash dump. I had no idea that kids lived in a trash dump anywhere, so I guess that’s the first bit of the elevator pitch. Then realizing that these kids didn’t have access to school or sports or anything along those lines, we started a nonprofit called Love Light + Melody.
And then the girls tragically died within five years of us meeting because of child prostitution and all kinds of horrible abuses inside the dump. So we built a school called Ileana’s School of Hope to memorialize Ileana and her sister. And then this particular film tells the story of Ileana’s life and all of the proceeds — any penny, any dollar, anything that comes from the film — goes directly to sustaining Ileana’s School of Hope.
People can watch it on Apple TV and on Amazon. Sit on your couch and pay $12.99 to watch this film and you just donated $12.99 to a school that’s being built in Nicaragua for these kids.
I’ve been living in Coeur d’Alene with my wife and our kids for about four years now, and we’re planning on doing a screening of Ilena’s Smile at a movie theater here in September.
So have you been to Festival at Sandpoint before? My friend Drew Holcomb played up there last year. So I went up and got to see him play, and saw where the venue was and thought it was really cool. I told our agents, “Hey, if there’s any way that we could play the Sandpoint festival in the next few years, let’s see if we can do it.” And I remember they sent me a note last year and said, “How about this year?” And I was like, “Come on, let’s do it!” n
Festival at Sandpoint: Dispatch, John Butler, G. Love & Special Sauce, Donavon Frankenreiter • Sat, Aug. 2 at 6 pm • $74-$110 • All ages • War Memorial Field • 801 Ontario St., Sandpoint • festivalatsandpoint.com
Dispatch, not wearing yellow jackets. SHERVIN LAINEZ PHOTO
AUGUST 1ST — 4TH
FRI Regular Session –Lucky 7 Bingo
SAT Matinee Session –
Sweeter Than Money Bingo
Receive a sweet treat with your bingo.
$7
Regular Session –
Sweeter Than Money Bingo
SAT Matinee Session
Receive a sweet treat with your bingo.
SUN Regular Session –
Regular Session –Lucky 7 Bingo
$7 buy-in and if you bingo on any number ending in 7, you win $77 EPC.
SUN Regular Session –Lucky 7 Bingo
$7 buy-in and if you bingo on any number ending in 7, you win $77 EPC.
MON Monday Night Bingo
AUGUST 8TH — 11TH
FRI Regular Session–Sweet Birdie Drawings
10 winners will receive a certificate for a round of golf and $50 gift card to Circling Raven Golf Club.
SAT Matinee Session
Regular Session
SUN Regular Session –Lucky 7 Bingo
$7 buy-in and if you bingo on any number ending in 7, you win $77 EPC.
MON Monday Night Bingo
AUGUST 15TH — 18TH
Lucky 7 Bingo
$7 buy-in and if you bingo on any number ending in 7, you win $77 EPC.
MON Monday Night Bingo –Free-bee Dauber Day
Receive a dauber with bingo buy-in. Limit one per customer.
AUGUST 22ND — 25TH
FRI Regular Session–
Lucky 7 Bingo
$7 buy-in and if you bingo on any number ending in 7, you win $77 EPC.
SAT Matinee Session
Regular Session –
Lucky 7 Bingo
$7 buy-in and if you bingo on any number ending in 7, you win $77 EPC.
SUN Regular Session –Lucky 7 Bingo
$7 buy-in and if you bingo on any number ending in 7, you win $77 EPC.
MON Monday Night Bingo
AUGUST 29TH — 31ST
*Session types and hours are subject to change on holidays and during other special event celebrations. Please see the Bingo venue for more details.
FRI Regular Session –Lucky 7 Bingo
$7 buy-in and if you bingo on any number ending in 7, you win $77 EPC.
Special Session –Bzzzzzing Blacklight Bingo
Glow-in-the-dark fun with a matineestyle session. Sales begin shortly after the regular session.
FRI Regular Session–
Honey Pot Giveaway
5 winners receive $200 cash, $50 Extra Play Cash and one certificate for one-night stay.
SAT Matinee Session
Regular Session
SUN Regular Session –Lucky 7 Bingo
$7 buy-in and if you bingo on any number ending in 7, you win $77 EPC.
CLASSIC ROCK KANSAS
INDIE ROCK SNAIL MAIL
Thursday, 7/31
ARBOR CREST WINE CELLARS, Flip Side
J THE BIG DIPPER, System of a Clown
J COEUR D’ALENE CASINO, George Thorogood and The Destroyers
J COEUR D’ALENE PARK, Soul Proprietor and Robert Vaughn
GARLAND DRINKERY, Speak Easy: Open Mic Night
PJ’S PUB, The Dirty Champions
J QQ SUSHI & KITCHEN, Just Plain Darin
RED DRAGON (THIRD AVENUE), Thursday Night Jam
RED ROOM LOUNGE, Thurrsdays EDM Night
J SPOKANE TRIBE CASINO, Ashley McBryde
STELLA’S ON THE HILL, Whack A Mole
J TIMBER RUN RESERVE, Sounds of Summer: Milonga
J TRUE LEGENDS GRILL, Jerry Lee Raines
J WAR MEMORIAL FIELD, Festival at Sandpoint: Brothers Osborne, The Kruse Brothers
J WATERFRONT PARK, Linger at the Lake: The Sara Brown Band ZOLA, X24, Frances Browne
Friday, 8/1
219 LOUNGE, Snacks At Midnight
J 2231 CONCERTS, Warren Dunes
AK ASIAN RESTAURANT, Frankie Ghee
Outside of the groups that are absolute pop culture monoliths — The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, etc. — few classic rock acts have been able to maintain a coolness cachet like Kansas. It helps that the group’s major hits still infiltrate other mediums in ways that always seem additive, ranging from “Dust in the Wind” being a hilarious eulogy sung by Will Ferrell in Old School to The Elite stable in All Elite Wrestling employing “Carry on Wayward Son” as kickass entrance music. With a deep discography of album-oriented rock hits and original drummer Phil Ehart and guitarist Rich Williams still holding down the fort, Kansas can still put on a show that suggests the band won’t fade away like dust in the wind just yet.
— SETH SOMMERFELD
Kansas, Vika & The Velvets • Fri, Aug. 1 at 7:30 pm
• $69-$105 • All ages • War Memorial Field • 801 Ontario St., Sandpoint • festivalatsandpoint. com
Toxic Vengeance THE CHAMELEON, Spokane is Dead GARDEN PARTY, Storme
J GORGE AMPHITHEATER, Watershed Festival
J THE GRAIN SHED, Haywire
GREEN CITY SALOON, DJ KJ
IRON GOAT BREWING CO., Son of Brad NIGHT OWL, Four On The Floor Fridays
J PARK BENCH CAFE, Under the Trees Concerts: Frank Dancey
RED ROOM LOUNGE, Emerald City Posse Takeover
SPOKANE EAGLES LODGE, Into the Drift Duo
J TRUE LEGENDS GRILL, Ron Criscione
TRVST, Millz Maverick
J J WAR MEMORIAL FIELD, Festival at Sandpoint: Kansas, Vika and The Velvets ZOLA, Max Daniels Soulful Brothers
Saturday, 8/2
J THE BIG DIPPER, Hayes Noble, Lottery Plot, Skin Slicing Horse
J CENTRAL LIBRARY, Get Loud in the Library: Madrona Hollow, Comin’ Home
J GORGE AMPHITHEATER, Watershed Festival
J INDABA FLAGSHIP CAFÉ, Rosethrow & Spro
NOAH’S CANTEEN, Jason Perry
J ONE SHOT CHARLIE’S, LakeTown Sound
RED ROOM LOUNGE, Ekali, Vanda, DJ F3lon, Jawun and Only
J SPOKANE TRIBE CASINO, Andy Grammer
Back in 2018, teenage indie rock singersongwriter Lindsey Jordan (aka Snail Mail) burst onto the scene with the ultra buzzy debut LP, Lush. The album evoked mid-tempo fem indie heroes like Chastity Belt, though slightly less disaffected due to youth’s blissful ignorance. Pairing her candid lyrical observations with lo-fi guitar noise has helped Snail Mail carve out a nice little niche for herself. That sound will be on full display when Snail Mail joins beloved noise rock veteran Dinosaur Jr. for a show at the Knitting Factory where earplugs are most certainly recommended.
— SETH SOMMERFELD
Dinosaur Jr., Snail Mail, Easy Action • Wed, Aug. 6 at 6:45 pm • $49 • All ages • Knitting Factory • 919 W. Sprague Ave. • sp.knittingfactory.com
Sunday, 8/3
ARBOR CREST WINE CELLARS, David Raitt and the Baja Boogie Band
Approximately 900 years ago, Scottish King Malcolm Canmore established the first Highland Games. Continuing that longstanding tradition, Spokane has been hosting its very own Scottish Highland Games since 1959. Featuring Highland dancing, heavy athletics, massed bands, pipe band exhibitions and a Highland cattle exhibition, the games are a celebration of everything Scottish. For those interested in classic British cars, the event also features an auto exhibition, including iconic brands such as Austin-Healey, MG and Jaguar. Want to test your strength? The games host a Scots versus Irish tugof-war. Whether you’re a lover of everything Scotland, or have Scottish heritage, the Spokane Highland Games is a great way to connect to Scottish culture without having to buy a plane ticket.
— ELLIS BENSON
Spokane Highland Games • Sat, Aug. 2 from 9 am-5:30 pm • $5-$12 • Spokane County Fair & Expo Center • 404 N. Havana St. • spokanehighlandgames.net
VISUAL ARTS IT’S FRIDAY, FRIDAY
As a wise philosopher/popstar once said: “You gotta get down on Friday.” Maybe Rebecca Black wasn’t referring to Spokane’s First Friday celebration, but the meaning of the phrase still rings true. Get down on Friday at Entropy Gallery with the opening of “Uncanny Valence,” a show about the inauthenticity of social media, or head across the street to the Liberty Gallery above Auntie’s Bookstore to catch artist Lauren Urlacher’s vibrant paintings of dahlias (pictured). The Terrain Gallery features Walla Walla-based artist Emily Somoskey’s abstract mixed-media paintings that reflect on how our lives are shaped by both steady constants and everchanging variables. No matter where you end up this First Friday, in the words of Rebecca Black, it’s gonna be “fun, fun, fun, fun!”
— MADISON PEARSON
COMMUNITY GLOW BRIGHT
Don your brightest glowsticks and neon colors and roll on over to Riverfront Park to experience a glow-in-the-dark rollerskating night at the Numerica Skate Ribbon. For those who show up dressed on-theme, skate and scooter rentals will be buy one, get one free. Keeping with the spirit of the night, the Skyway Cafe is offering specials such as a hot dog, pizza or burger meal to enjoy once you’ve skated up an appetite. These themed skate nights continue every Friday until Aug. 22 with different themes like Beach Night (Aug. 8) and Color Run Ribbon Night (Aug. 15). Spend some time with the community and enjoy the summer nights while they’re still around by listening to themed music and skating to your heart’s content.
— MARTA SZYMANSKA
Riverfront Skate Night • Fri, Aug. 1 from 5-9 pm • Free • Riverfront Park • 507 N. Howard St. • riverfrontspokane.org
YOUNG KWAK PHOTO
GET LISTED! Submit events online at Inlander.com/getlisted or email relevant details to getlisted@inlander.com. We need the details one week prior to our publication date.
THEATER EVERYBODY LOVES PUPPETS
What do you do when the rise of artificial intelligence leads to an apocalypse? Well, you tell the story through puppets in a hilarious musical, of course. This weekend, the Southern Oregon-based theater company Puppeteers for Fears, an all-puppet horror and science fiction musical comedy troupe, puts on Robopocalypse: The Musical in the Inland Northwest. Written and composed by the troupe’s artistic director, Josh Gross, and directed by Hunter Prutch, this cyberpunk adventure takes the stage at The Chameleon on Saturday and then shows Sunday at the Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre in Moscow. Plus, with music direction from Katy Curtis, the musical’s entire score will be played live on analog synthesizers.
— COLTON RASANEN
Robopocalypse: The Musical • Sat, Aug. 2 at 8 pm • $20-25 • The Chameleon • 1801 W. Sunset Blvd. • chameleonspokane.com
Also on Sun, Aug. 3 at 7 pm • $20-$25 • The Kenworthy • 508 S. Main St., Moscow • kenworthy.org
VISUAL ARTS GREEN MEANS GO
For the 57th year, the volunteer-run Art on the Green returns to the grounds of North Idaho College. Regardless of age, there’s something for everyone to enjoy with three days of free entertainment, handcrafted art vendors, a food court and beer garden, a juried art show, and a children’s art garden. The popular Clothesline Booth at the festival gives artists a chance to sell without buying an entire booth space and for attendees to buy affordable art. The event’s organizer, the local nonprofit Citizens’ Council for the Arts, puts donations and proceeds from the festival and food court toward providing art supplies to local schools. The event happens the same weekend as downtown Coeur d’Alene’s Street Fair, so you’re sure not to run out of things to see or do during your visit to the Lake City.
— DORA SCOTT
Art on the Green • Aug. 1-3; times vary • Free • All ages • North Idaho College • 495 N. College Dr. • artonthegreencda.com
I SAW YOU
WHY DID THE CHICKEN DO IT? Tuesday the 22nd at 2:22 PM I saw you walking along S. Ray between 16th and 17th on the west side of the street where it’s very narrow with a stone wall and lots of traffic. I so wanted to stop but traffic was heavy and moving along quite fast. You being a chicken, a quite beautiful white and black spotted hen. My mind spun! The temptation was tremendous. It being 2:22 PM on Tuesday the 22nd, was it cosmic timing? I felt as though I had to stop but I just couldn’t. I thought I’ve been here for 70 years and I’ve never seen this before and I’m not going to see this again. It was my one chance! Traffic was fast and heavy I just couldn’t, but had I stopped I may have been able to answer the age old question... (This is a true story and I’m glad to say no chickens were injured)
CIRCLE K You work graveyard shift on Hamilton and foothills, you have very beautiful eyes and make the late night/ early morning caffeine stops way more enjoyable. thank you for the smile... maybe next time the purple mtn dew won’t be out
MARKET STREET PIZZA 7.26.25 8 PM
Looking for a girl that was at MSP Saturday evening 7.26.25 around 8 PM: Curly hair, Blue hat, Pink tank top, Denim shorts, I was wearing a turkey trot shirt. I tried to “bump into you” when you went to the restroom since I couldn’t figure out the relationship between you and the gentleman you were with but I missed you. Hope you see this!
YOU ARE THE WORST! Nicholas, we met
2 years ago and its been the best 2 years of my life:) You are my person!!! I am so excited for all of the adventures to come. I love you too much:) Love, Jessie
YOU SAW ME
GROSS Not only did you see me, you also lied to me, took advantage of me, and broke two hearts in the process. You’re too cowardly and selfish to even take accountability or offer a basic apology. You should be ashamed. I hope every moment of joy you experience in the future is tainted in knowing how utterly you destroyed someone, and then chose callous disregard instead of having the decency to offer closure or an apology. You truly are disgusting. Thanks for the trauma, you absolute garbage human. P.S. You can have your pants back anytime, hemmed and neatly pressed — you just have to man up and ask for them. The payment for the alterations is a simple apology, so I’m sure they’ll be in my care forever. What a waste of closet space...
CHEERS
WHY JOHNNY CAN’T COMPOSE Love the Inlander editor publishing some submissions exactly as sent! Content and syntax get a
TO THE SWEET CORBIN SENIOR CENTER LADIES WHO DRESSED ME Thank you, thank you, thank you! I had half an hour before an impromptu meeting with Rep. Baumgartner’s staff and I was wearing a T-shirt and sneakers. The Corbin Senior Center “Thrifty Boutique” saved my bacon that morning! You helped me put together an entire new outfit minus the jeans I was already wearing (blouse,
His commission was 9k for himself and 9k for the company that he owned. his friend painted the interior, remodeled the kitchen and bath for about 15k. He then had the same realtor who a month earlier set up the first sale place it on the market who inturn listed it and sold it in two days for 490k. The commission for that sale was 14k for the agent and another 14k for his company.
point across, spelling errors reveal a lack of educational effort. Rants are entertaining, dismissive, and laughable when a dictionary was not consulted. Readers get the intelligible choices, wonder what percent line your digital cat box! Content to let others employ critical thinking skills.
CROSSWORD LOVERS? Cheers to us for over 15 years of date nights spent filling out the Inlander crossword together. From drinks at the 27 to gummy bears at the kitchen table, I have cherished every one. Happy anniversary!
THE HIGH NOTES Hey music man! Has anybody ever told you that you have beautiful hands? Lyrical me.
cardigan, and shoes) for under $20. Now if only our meeting had gone as well as my shopping spree... but unfortunately, Mr. Baumgartner doesn’t seem to want to hear too much from his constituents or apply any of what he hears to his voting record.
CHEERS TO THE STAFF AT NINE MILE RECREATION AREA I launch my boat at Nine Mile a lot. Sometimes early enough to snag a spot, sometimes not. But even when the parking’s packed and the grumps are out in full force, the staff always greets
In less then sixty days this agent made 47k. And this was for a fifty year old home and less then a thousand square feet. Two bedroom, one bath. And you wonder why most people can’t afford to live in spokane. Everything has gone up, but this was pure and simple greed. Want to save money.... sell it yourself and avoid the people who drive up in thier new Lexus or bmw.
Northwest, just 98% Spokane. From an Idaho reader who doesn’t really know why I bother.
DISPLAY THE PROPER SIZE FLAG This is a response to the individual that posted we should display a proper sized flag on the historic Courthouse. Do to the historical nature and construction of the Courthouse we cannot display any flags larger than the ones that are engineered for wind drag that could possible damage the structural integrity of the inside frame. Even when winds exceed 50mph we have to take them down. I would love to display a much larger flag but we have to abide to the historical codes that are in place. The Courthouse is over 125 years old and anything we can do to maintain its integrity so its last many more years is priority one.
me like I’m Norm from Cheers. Big smile, a wave, maybe even a quick chat. The park hosts are just as friendly, and everyone genuinely seems to care. You just can’t get mad when the people working are this good. Whenever I am there, the restrooms are pretty darn clean too! Now if only they served cold beer at the dock, we’d really be in business.
JEERS
HOUSING PRICES Recently my neighbor had an appraisal on her home for 249k. She hired an agent who told her that was to low. He arranged to sell it to a friend for 350.
FOR THE LIFE OF ME KPND is the only commercial station I listen to: great music; and DJs who aren’t adolescent jerks. So why was a 7th grader DJing on 7/23/25? For the kids heading to 9th grade in a few weeks, he played Verve Pipe’s “The Freshman.” Had I just tuned in, I’d have thought an inspired DJ was using music to give kids a heads up about the lifelong reverb some of our decisions produce. But I hadn’t just tuned in. Seconds before, I’d heard his laughter as he told a vulgar joke in which Monica Lewinsky decorates her cake with cigars. HEY KPND guy! In 2021, Lewinsky produced “15 Minutes of Shame”, an HBO documentary about public shaming, online shaming & ostracism? HEY! KPND guy with the Big Man on Campus voice, how did you get from your laughing re-enactment of the sexual and public humiliation of a very young woman on the national stage — which is what high school often feels like, especially given social media — to offering, to the 14-year-old 9th graders among your listeners, Brian Vander Ark’s wise exploration of youthful decisions and often painful reverb? You are not a freshman. Pls be the man wise enough to offer the song & wise enough to skip the joke.
THE REAL SPOKANDER Inlander: why don’t you get honest and call yourself the Spokander. You don’t cover the real Inland
THE QUIET VIOLENCE OF YOUR TEXT You didn’t leave me. You sent a few words like a memo, like I was some casual fling, not your wife. You didn’t face me, didn’t own your choice. You ghosted the life we were building. And worse? You rewrote our story. Spun lies and told them to your children in casual conversation on a car ride. You tried to teach them to unlove me. You want them to hate me. You should be ashamed. Not for ending it, but for how you buried it. You couldn’t sit with it. You protected your ego instead of their understanding. You knew how much I loved them and still made me the villain. I didn’t return fire. Even when I stood in front of them holding back truths you buried. When their eyes filled with confusion and tears as I said I didn’t know when I’d see them again. I let them believe something gentler. I took the pain YOU should have carried. I won’t choose revenge. I won’t waste my energy correcting your lies. Because I know. I know everything you cling to, everything you love built on half-truths and hollow pride, will rot in your hands. Not by anyone’s will but your own.
GOLF BALL WHACKER GUY Happy Gilmore 2 sucks n
NOTE: I
EVENTS | CALENDAR BENEFIT
BRICK WEST X MANZANITA BENEFIT
NIGHT A benefit concert to support Manzanita House featuring live music from Dry and Dusty with raffle prizes and beer sales benefitting the nonprofit. Aug. 2, 6-10 pm. Free. Brick West Brewing Co., 1318 W. First Ave. manzanitahouse.org (509-279-2982)
TOUCHMARK CLASSIC CAR SHOW
An annual family-friendly car show featuing an array of cars and opportunities to support the Spokane Walk to End Alzheimer’s effort. Aug. 2, 10 am-2 pm. Free. Touchmark South Hill, 2929 S. Waterford Dr. spokane.touchmark. com/2025-car-show (509-536-2929)
FAMILY PROMISE FUN RUN A 5K celebration run through Riverfront Park benefitting Family Promise. Arrive in your favorite gear, or costume and enjoy food trucks and activities for the whole family before and after the race. Aug. 2, 9:30 am. $25. Riverfront Park, 507 N. Howard St. familypromiseofspokane.org (509-934-5891)
NORTHEAST YOUTH CENTER LEMON -
ADE STAND The kids from Northeast Youth Center sell lemonade to fund an excursion of their choosing. Lemonade price is by donation. Aug. 8, 8 am-3 pm. By donation. Northeast Youth Center, 3004 E. Queen Ave. spokaneneyc.com
COMEDY
JASON MEWES Indie film icon, Jason Mewes, is perhaps best known as the vocal half of the on-screen comedic duo, Jay and Silent Bob. July 31, 7 pm.
$30-$37. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com
CAGE MATCH An improv battle featuring various improvisation games. See which team makes it to the finals and wins the coveted award. Fri.. through Aug. 29. $9. Blue Door Theatre, 319 S. Cedar St. bluedoortheatre.org (509747-7045)
JARED FREID: Jared Freid is a stand-up comedian and podcaster based out of New York City. His most recent stand up special, 37 & Single premiered on Netflix last year. Aug. 1-2, 7 & 9:45 pm.
$27-$37. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com
LATE LAUGHS Each show features a rotating lineup of performers from independent troupes to new voices performing 20-minute sets that push boundaries, test new formats and take creative risks. Every First Friday of the month at 9:30 pm. $6. Blue Door Theatre, 319 S. Cedar. bluedoortheatre.org
EXPEDITION A family-friendly improv show featuring the Blue Door Theatre players playing a variety of improv games with audience suggestions. Every Saturday at 7:30 pm. $9. Blue Door Theatre, 319 S. Cedar St. bluedoortheatre.org (509-747-7045)
CAROLANNE MILJAVAC Carolanne is married with four kids residing in Saint Joseph, MO. She has cultivated a massive online presence across multiple social media platforms. Aug. 7, 7 pm. $27-$37. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com
FUNNY FUNNY FUNNY JOKE JOKE
JOKE A unique comedy experience combining stand-up comedy, live sketches, and other mixed-media comedic bits. This month features Jess Everett, Brock Terrano and host Josiah
Carlson. Aug. 7, 7:30-9 pm. $15. Garland Theater, 924 W. Garland Ave. garlandtheater.org (509-327-1050)
T.J. MILLER Miller is a skilled improviser with three comedy specials. Aug. 8, 7 & 9:45 pm and Aug. 9, 7 & 9:45 pm. $37-$7. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com
COMMUNITY
FIRE: REBIRTH AND RESILIENCE An exhibition exploring the catastrophic 1889 fire that destroyed more of Spokane’s downtown core. The exhibit features information on historic and contemporary fires, illustrating how destruction is a catalyst for rebirth and resilience. Tue-Sun from 11 am-5 pm through Sep. 28. $9-$15. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org
SUMMER BLOCK PARTY SCAVENGER HUNT SERIES A scavenger hunt run between local businesses in which runners collect tickets and enter to win prizes. Last Thursday of each month at 6 pm through Aug. 28. Free. Kendall Yards, Summit Parkway. fleetfeet.com
ART ON THE GREEN Explore over 120 fine art booths including painting, pottery, jewelry, woodworking, metal work, photography, glass, clothing, fiber, leather, clay and more. The weekend also includes free live entertainment and food available for purchase. Aug. 1-3; Fri from 11 am-7:30 pm, Sat from 10 am-7:30 pm, Sun from 10 am-4 pm. Free. North Idaho College, 1000 W. Garden Ave. artonthegreen.com
COEUR D’ALENE STREET FAIR A street vendor fair featuring 250+ booths selling food, fine arts, clothing, crafts and more. Aug. 1-3; Fri-Sat from 10 am-8 pm, Sun from 10 am-5 pm. Free. Downtown Coeur d’Alene, Sherman Ave. cdadowntown.com (208-415-0116)
RIVERFRONT SKATE NIGHT Enjoy a themed night of skating and discounts each Friday. Themes include glow in the dark (Aug. 1), Beach Night (Aug. 8) and more. Every Fri from 5-9 pm through Aug. 22. Free. Numerica Skate Ribbon, 720 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. riverfrontspokane.org (509-625-6600)
SUMMERWEEN PARTY A part that with a costume contest, cake walk, pie contest, scary movie screenings and more. Aug. 2, 4-10 pm. Free. Crime Scene Entertainment, 3960 W. 5th Ave. crimesceneentertainment.com
HILLYARD FESTIVAL An annual event celebrating Spokane’s Hillyard neighborhood featuring food, unique vendors, a parade and activities for all. Aug. 2, 8 am-10 pm. Free. Hillyard, Spokane. hillyardfestival.com
SNAP BACK TO SCHOOL RESOURCE
CARNIVAL A carnival for families featuring free food, games and face painting, haircuts, backpacks, school supplies, and new back-to-school outfits (available while supplies last). Aug. 2 from 11 am-2 pm. Free. Mission Park, 1208 E. Mission. snapwa.org/school
SPOKANE HIGHLAND GAMES Enjoy traditional features of Scottish Highland Games such as massed bands, pipe band exhibitions, individual piping, heavy athletics, highland dancing and more. See website for full schedule. Aug. 2, 9 am-5:30 pm. $5-$12. Spokane County Fair & Expo Center, 404 N. Havana St. spokanehighlandgames.net
SUNDAYS AT THE CROSBY HOUSE A series of educational workshops featuring local authors, historians and various experts who share information about Bing Crosby and his hometown. Aug. 3, 3:30 pm. Free. Crosby House Museum, 508 E. Sharp Ave. gonzaga.edu
NATIONAL NIGHT OUT A family funfilled evening featuring live music by the Atomic Jive, children’s activities, community information booths, ice cream, police horses and a visit from the Spokane Indians’ Otto. Aug. 5, 6-8 pm. Free. Manito United Methodist Church, 3220 S. Grand Blvd. natw.org
OVERDOSE AWARENESS SERIES: THE WASHINGTON POISON CENTER The Washington Poison Center’s Overdose Awareness Series invites professionals and the public to hear from experts on topics such as fentanyl education and cleanup, chemicals used as crowd control and gas station highs. Aug. 5-26, Tue from 9 am-noon. Free. wapc.org
SPOKANE SINGLES MIXER Play games, mingle and make connections with fellow singles. Reservation includes one free drink. Aug. 7, 7-8:30 pm. Free. Brick West Brewing Co., 1318 W. First Ave. brickwestbrewingco.com
THE WAVY BUNCH NIGHT MARKET & STREET FAIR A night market and street fair featuring vendors, live music, art installations, a beer garden and more. Second Friday of each month from 5-9 pm through Oct. 10. $3. Catalyst Building, 601 E. Riverside Ave. thewavybunch.com (509-828-1393)
EDUCATOR’S DAY Free materials for teachers and homeschool parents available, including paper, fabrics and textiles, mixed media supplies, interior design samples, craft items, art tools and more. Aug. 9, 11 am-2 pm. Free. Art Salvage Spokane, 610 E. North Foothills Dr. artsalvagespokane.com
VIETNAM VETERANS EXHIBITION A showcase of 30 posters commemorating 50 years since the end of the Vietnam War. The event also features traditional Vietnamese food and other activities. Aug. 9, 3 pm. Free. Shadle Library, 2111 W. Wellesley Ave. spokanelibrary.org (509-899-5058)
FILM
MOSCOW FILM SOCIETY: INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS When strange seeds drift to earth from space, mysterious pods begin to grow and invade San Francisco, replicating the city’s residents one body at a time. July 31, 7-9 pm. $8. The Kenworthy, 508 S. Main St. kenworthy.org (208-882-4127)
SUMMER FAMILY MATINEE: HAPPY FEET Dive into the world of the emperor penguins, who find their soul mates through song, a penguin is born who cannot sing. But he can tap dance something fierce. July 31, 1-3 pm. Free. The Kenworthy, 508 S. Main St. kenworthy.org (208-882-4127)
OUTDOOR MOVIES IN THE PARK: INSIDE OUT 2 A screening of Inside Out 2 in Mirabeau Point Park. Snacks are available for purchase, bring your own seating. Movie begins at sunset. Aug. 1. Free. Mirabeau Point Park, 2426 N. Discovery Place. spokanevalley.org
MOONLIT MOVIES: E.T. A screening of E.T. under the stars. Film begins at sunset. Aug. 6. Free. Commellini Estate, 14715 N. Dartford Dr. commellini.com
EVENTS | CALENDAR
DRIVE-IN MOVIE AT THE LIBRARY:
PAW PATROL: THE MIGHTY MOVIE
Bring a large cardboard box from home and the library will provide all the decorations and supplies to make your car movie-ready. Some cardboard boxes will be available while supplies last. Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie is rated PG. Aug. 8, 1-3 pm. Free. Central Library, 906 W. Main Ave. spokanelibrary.org (509-444-5336)
MOVIES IN THE PARK: WICKED A screening of Wicked in Pavilion Park. Movie starts at dusk. Aug. 9. Free. Pavillion Park, 727 N. Molter Road. libertylakewa.gov (509-755-6726)
FOOD & DRINK
SUNSET DINNER CRUISES A buffet featuring baked salmon, roasted beef, summer salads and more. Cruise length is two hours. Daily at 7:30 pm through Sep. 1, 7:30 pm. $57-$84. The Coeur d’Alene Resort, 115 S. Second. cdacruises.com
BARRISTER WINERY 25TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION This anniversary event features free tastes of Barrister’s 25th anniversary wine, a photo booth, food trucks, live music by the Kevin Shay Band and more. Ages 21+. Aug. 1, 5-9 pm. Free. Barrister Winery, 1213 W. Railroad Ave. barristerwinery.com
PRODUCE SWAP Bring in your extra fresh produce and take home something from another garden. Leftovers will be donated to a local food bank. Aug. 1. Free. Cheney Library, 610 First St. scld.org
ROOTED A farmers market-to-table cooking challenge featuring local chefs creating food submissions using locally sourced ingredients. Located on Jefferson and Lake Streets. Aug. 2, 9 am-3 pm. Free. Medical Lake, Jefferson & Lake Street. reimaginemedicallake.org
UNCOMMON VARIETALS SIP & LEARN
Join a sommelier led tasting of uncommon varietals of wine. Sip, learn together and share stories. Aug. 3, 1-3 pm. $60. Cellar & Scholar, 15412 E. Sprague Ave. cellarandscholar.com (509-218-6226)
CHILI RELLEÑOS CLASS Vira demonstrates how to prepare this classic Mexican dish using fresh peppers, show you how to properly roast and remove their skin and prepare the filling with your favorite choice of cheese. Aug. 5, 12-1:30 pm. $65. The Kitchen Engine, 621 W. Mallon Ave. thekitchenengine.com
SWEET & SAVORY SUMMER GALETTES Kristi demonstrates how to make, basic galette dough, seasonal fruit galette and a seasonal vegetable galette. Aug. 5, 5:45-8 pm. $85. The Kitchen Engine, 621 W. Mallon Ave. thekitchenengine.com
MUSIC
MUSIC BRIDGES BORDERS Student musicians from Mexico perform orchestral music. July 31, 7 pm. Free. The Jacklin Arts & Cultural Center, 405 N. William St. thejacklincenter.org (208-457-8950)
THE SOUNDS OF JAZZ The Max Quartet plays jazz and swing music. Bring your own blanket and lawn chairs. Aug. 1, 7-8:30 pm. Free. Olmsted Brothers Green Park, N. Nettleton Street and Summit PKWY. greenstonehomes.com
BLUE WATERS BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL
A music festival featuring folk and bluegrass bands as well as bluegrass jam and vendors. Aug. 8-10. Waterfront Park, 1386 S. Lefevre St. bluewatersbluegrass.org
STANDARD DEVIATION: SCREEN TIME
Standard Deviation, a local jazz group, plays themes from iconic TV shows and video games like Duck Tales, Star Wars, the Legend of Zelda and more. Aug. 8, 7-9 pm. $10. Hill House Event Center, 3023 E. Diamond Ave. larsenjazz.com
SPORTS & OUTDOORS
RIVERFRONT MOVES: POWER VINYASA In this class, hold each pose for an extended period of time in order to strengthen both body and mind through challenging postures and sequencing, Instructed by Rare Wellness. July 31, 6-7 pm. Free. Riverfront Park, 507 N. Howard St. riverfrontspokane.org
MARCH TO THE MATCH March to a Spokane soccer home match with The 509 Syndicate group. Begins north of the Rotary Fountain in Riverfront Park. Aug. 2, 6-6:30 pm. Free. Riverfront Park, 507 N. Howard. the509syndicate.com
SPIKE & DIG An outdoor, co-ed, six-onsix volleyball tournament with over 200 teams competing. Registration opens Aug. 2. $230-$300. Dwight Merkel Sports Complex, 5701 N. Assembly St. spikeanddig.com
SPOKANE MIDNIGHT CENTURY A 100-mile bike ride through Spokane, to Liberty Lake, through the Palouse, into Spangle and back into Spokane. There is no registration required for this ride. Aug. 2, 11:59 pm. Free. The Elk Public House, 1931 W. Pacific Ave. midnightcentury.com
SPOKANE VELOCITY VS. UNION OMAHA Regular season game. Aug. 2, 7 pm. $17-$95. ONE Spokane Stadium, 501 W. Gardner Ave. uslspokane.com
EAGLE AVIARY TOUR A tour of the first tribal Eagle Aviary in the Northwest, owned by the Coeur d’Alene tribe. Aug. 5, 8:45 pm. $65. Coeur d’Alene Casino, 37914 S. Nukwalqw. cdacasino.com
MONTHLY BIRD WALK Join a birding expert on a bird walk around Saltese Flats. These walks are aimed at identifying birds, teaching basic birding skills and taking a census of what is present at Saltese Flats. Walks range range from 1-4 miles depending on weather conditions. First Wed of each month from 8 amnoon. Free. Doris Morrison Learning Center, 1330 S. Henry Rd. spokanecounty.org
ITTF PARA FUTURE SPOKANE Para table tennis athletes compete to showcase their skills on an international stage and build their rankings. Aug. 6-8; times vary. The Podium, 511 W. Joe Albi Way. thepodiumusa.com (509-279-7000)
MEDICAL LAKE GEOLOGY WALK & WATER SAMPLING Walk along the trail around Medical Lake with Chad Pritchard, professor of geology at EWU. During the walk, learn about the lake’s history and natural science and assist in gathering water samples for stormwater research along the way. Be prepared to walk three miles. Aug. 6, 5-7 pm. Free. Waterfront Park, 1386 S. Lefevre St. scld.org
RIVERFRONT MOVES: ECLIPSE POWER
YOGA A unique exploration on the mat featuring fun playlists designed to uplift and invigorate. Instructed by Eclipse Power Yoga. Aug. 7, 6-7 pm. Free. Riverfront Park, 507 N. Howard St. riverfrontspokane.org
RAFTING THE CLARK FORK RIVER An all-day excursion in which whitewater rafting experts guide participants through 4-6 notable class lll-lV rapids
with many small rapids in between. See website for location information. Aug. 8, 9 am-2:30 pm. $89. Clark Fork. my.spokanecity.org
TREE IDENTIFICATION WALK: GLENROSE-DISHMAN HILLS NATURAL AREA Educators from The Lands Council introduce the fundamentals of tree identification during this interactive walk. Aug. 8, 8 am-noon. Free. Dishman Hills, 625 S. Sargent Rd. scld.org (509-328-9900)
COEUR D’ALENE TRIATHLON Options for the annual race include an Olympic distance triathlon, the scenic sprint and a duathlon. Race starts/ends in downtown Coeur d’Alene. Aug. 9. $133-$224. Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. cdatriathlon.com
HIAWATHA FULL MOON NIGHT RIDE
Ride the historic route of the Hiawatha Scenic Bicycle Trail under the light of a full moon. Riders meet at the east portal of the Hiawatha Trail. Aug. 9. $40. Lookout Pass Ski & Recreation Area, I-90 Exit 0. ridethehiawatha.com (208-744-1301)
THEATER & DANCE
TORCH SONG This play follows Arnold Beckoff—a drag queen and torch singer searching for love, family, and acceptance in 1970s New York. Thu-Sat at 7:30 pm through Aug. 2. $37.50. Hamilton Studio, 1427 W. Dean Ave. theaterontheverge.com (509-327-9501)
JOSEPH & THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT The beloved musical by Tim Rice & Andrew Lloyd Weber reimagines the biblical story of Joseph, his father Jacob, eleven brothers and the coat of many colors. Aug. 1-17; Wed-Fri at 7:30 pm, Sat-Sun at 2 pm. $25-$48. University High School, 12320 E. 32nd Ave. svsummertheatre.com (509-368-7897)
CATCH ME IF YOU CAN Based on the hit film and the incredible true story, Catch Me If You Can is about chasing your dreams and not getting caught. Aug. 1-10; times vary. $23-$30. Aspire Community Theatre, 1765 W. Golf Course Road. aspirecda.com (208-696-4228)
THE LION KING JR. A production of the Lion King Jr. with a cast of adults with special needs. Aug. 2-10; Thu-Fri at 7:30 pm, Sat-Sun at 2 pm. By donation. Spokane Civic Theatre, 1020 N. Howard St. myturntheater.com (509 270-8472)
PETER PAN Travel through the land where children never grow up and help Peter Pan, Wendy Darling and friends battle the fearsome Captain Hook and his band of pirates. Aug. 2-3, daily at 2 pm and 5 pm. $16. Hartung Theater, 625 Stadium Dr. uidaho.edu (208-885-6465)
ROBOPOCALYPSE: THE MUSICAL Puppeteers for Fears, the world’s premiere all-puppet horror and science fiction musical comedy troupe, presents a hilarious cyberpunk escapade exploring the meteoric rise of artificial intelligence. Aug. 2, 8 pm. $20-$25. The Chameleon, 1801 W. Sunset Blvd. chameleonspokane.com
SHE LOVES ME Set in a 1930’s European perfumery, we meet shop clerks, Amalia and Georg, who, more often than not, don’t see eye to eye. After both respond to a “lonely hearts advertisement” in the newspaper, they now live for the love letters that they exchange, but the identity of their admirers remains unknown. Aug. 8-17; Fri-Sat at 7:30 pm, Sat-Sun at 2 pm. $50-$192. Schuler Performing Arts Center, 880 W. Garden Ave. cstidaho.com
VISUAL ARTS
CITY OF MOSCOW PORTABLE COLLECTION The Portable Collection is comprised of over 120 works, which are prominently displayed in City of Moscow buildings. It represents a broad spectrum of artistic media and styles and reflects the City of Moscow’s commitment to the arts. Mon-Fri from 8 am-5 pm through Aug. 28. Free. Third Street Gallery, City Hall, 206 E. Third St. ci.moscow. id.us/230/Third-Street-Gallery
LAUREN URLACHER: DAHLIA DAYS OF SUMMER Lauren Urlacher, a Spokanebased floral artist, displays paintings of dahlia flowers. Daily from 10 am-7 pm through Aug. 30, 10 am-7 pm. Free. Liberty Building, 203 N. Washington St. potterplaceplus.com/liberty-gallery
MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY JAPANESE PRINTS A display from the museum’s permanent collection featuring a selection of thirty mid- to late 20th century Japanese prints. Mon-Sat from 10 am-4 pm through Aug. 30. Free. Jundt Art Museum, 200 E. Desmet Ave. gonzaga.edu/jundt (509-313-6843)
PRESTON SINGLETARY: RAVEN AND THE BOX OF DAYLIGHT An immersive exhibition that tells the Tlingit story of Raven and his transformation of the world. Featuring works from internationally acclaimed artist Preston Singletary, the exhibition takes visitors on a multisensory odyssey through the transformation of darkness into light, brought to life through narration, original music and projected images. Tue-Sun from 10 am-5 pm through Jan. 4. $9-$12. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org
TOBE HARVEY & ARLON ROSENOFF Tobe Harvey displays recent botanical work and Arlon Rosenoff showcases mosaics of palette knife strokes. Aug. 1-30, Fri-Sat from noon-8 pm. Free. Saranac Art Projects, 25 W. Main. sapgallery.com
DREAM STUDIO SHOOTOUT FIRST FRIDAY Meet 21 local photographers showcasing their work and vote on your favorite image. The event also features live music from Tonya Ballman Lakewolf. Aug. 1, 5-8 pm. Free. Dream Studio, 811 W. Second Ave. dreamstudionw.com
EMILY SOMOSKEY: CONSTANTS Drawing inspiration from physics diagrams and elements of everyday life, the works in this exhibition transform abstract equations and scientific notations into layered visual narratives, bridging the empirical with the intuitive. Aug. 1-30, Thu-Sat from 4-7 pm. Free. Terrain Gallery, 628 N. Monroe. terrainspokane.com
VIVIENNE VARAY: FEINT-HEARTED
Vivienne is a contemporary art jeweler whose sculptural work examines how materials carry emotional, cultural and personal meaning. Aug. 1, 5-8 pm. Free.
D2 Gallery and Studio, 310 W. First Ave. d2gallerystudio.com (509-309-6754)
FIRST FRIDAY Art galleries and businesses across downtown Spokane and beyond host monthly receptions to showcase new displays of art. First Fridays of each month from 5-8 pm. Free. Spokane. firstfridayspokane.org
CELEBRATING THE SOUL OF BLUES
Nicholas Sironka displays acrylic paintings of blues musicians. Live music by John and Monique Dingledein and works by Bob Lloyd, John Thamm, Rick Davis, Roch Fautch. Aug 1-31; Fri from 1-7 pm and Sat 1-4 pm by appointment. Free. Shotgun Studios, 1625 W. Water Ave. ShotgunStudiosSpokane.com
MIRANDA TOWNSEND & SHANNON SPILKER The gallery displays works by Shannon Spilker and Miranda Townsend as well as 20 member artists on display and live music by guitarist, Jonathan Nicholson. Aug. 1, 3-7 pm. Free. Avenue West Gallery, 907 W. Boone Ave. avenuewestgallery.com (509-325-4809)
MIKI WILLA Miki Willa began creating art quilts in 1980, with a small piece designed to bring back an important memory. These days she enjoys creating landscapes, as well as abstract pieces. Aug. 1, 4-7 pm. Free. Helix Wines, 824 W. Sprague. helixwine.com (509-242-3190)
JUSTYN HEGREBERG: FORCED INTO WARRENS THAT SUDDENLY WIDEN Justyn Hegreberg makes paintings, assemblage, and collage out of found materials. This show features work made while staying in Coeur d’Alene over recent years. Aug. 1-30, Wed-Fri from 11 am-5 pm. Free. Kolva-Sullivan Gallery, 115 S. Adams. mobile.kolva.comcastbiz.net
SHERI MEDFORD Mixed media artist Sheri Medford displays artwork. Aug. 1-29, Mon-Fri from 10 am-5 pm. Free. Spokane Art School, 503 E. Second Ave., Ste. B. spokaneartschool.net
TRACKSIDE ANNUAL STUDIO SALE
Everything in Trackside Studio is marked down 10% with many featured items marked down as much as 50%. Aug. 1-30, Wed-Fri from 11 am-5 pm. Trackside Studio, 115 S. Adams St. tracksidestudio.net
YES, AND ART GALLERY OPENING The Blue Door Theatre and Chrysalis Gallery as we have teamed up to launch the Yes, And Gallery, a brand-new community art space, blending Spokane’s visual arts and improv scenes with rotating exhibits, community-created work and events. Aug. 1, 3-9 pm. Free. Blue Door Theatre, 319 S. Cedar St. bluedoortheatre.org
WORDS
3 MINUTE MIC Auntie’s Bookstore’s long-running first Friday poetry open mic where readers may share up to 3 minutes worth of poetry. Sign ups begin at 6:30 pm. First Fri. of every month, 7-8:15 pm. Free. Auntie’s Bookstore, 402 W. Main Ave. auntiesbooks.com (509-838-0206)
POETRY AFTER DARK EWU MFA students lead discussions about craft elements, style and form in poetry. Every Saturday from 12:30-2 pm. Free. Spark Central, 1214 W. Summit Pkwy. sparkcentral.org (509-279-0299)
SCLD ONLINE AUTHORS SERIES: JAY FALK Delve into the fascinating world of birds through astonishing photography and clear explanations in Falk’s book, The Bird Book: The Stories, Science, and History of Birds. Aug. 5, 11 am. Free. scld.org
NICHOLAS O’CONNELL: CRUSH Nicholas O’Connell discusses his memoir, Crush: My Year as an Apprentice Winemaker. Each ticket includes a guaranteed seat, a lass of wine and a copy of a book. Aug. 6, 7-8:30 pm. $0-$36. Auntie’s Bookstore, 402 W. Main Ave. auntiesbooks.com (509-838-0206)
BROKEN MIC A weekly open mic reading series. Wednesdays at 6:30 pm; sign-ups at 6 pm. Free. Neato Burrito, 827 W. First Ave. bit.ly/2ZAbugD (509-847-1234)
HIROSHIMA REMEMBERED Honor the 80 years since the nuclear bombing of Japan with a reading of Sadako and the Thousand Paper Crane by Eleanor Coerr. After the reading, learn how to make origami cranes. Aug. 6, 1-1:45 pm. Free. Shadle Library, 2111 W. Wellesley Ave. spokanelibrary.org (509-444-5300) n
Newsletter Notables
Three stories from the summer edition of Washington state’s cannabis newsletter
BY WILL MAUPIN
The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) released the summer edition of its quarterly newsletter in late July, highlighting several important regulatory actions, administrative changes, and state programs. We’ve picked out three of the most interesting and important stories and broken them down.
STATS FOR THE STATE
Earlier this summer, the Washington section of the 2024 International Cannabis Policy Study was released. The LCB dug through the 59 page report and highlighted six interesting statistics, two of which focused on edibles.
According to the survey, edibles were the second-most popular form of cannabis consumption in Washington. Survey participants on average reported consuming 35 milligrams of THC when using edibles, which is more than three times the typical dosage of 10 milligrams per serving.
Among edibles, beverages represent a large share of the market. 30 percent of consumers reported consuming a cannabis beverage within the prior year. Sodas represent the most popular subset of beverages, with smaller shooters coming in second — the popularity of shooters, often with 100 milligrams of THC, could help explain the high average dosage when consuming edibles.
BE AWARE: Marijuana is legal for adults 21 and older under Washington State law (e.g., RCW 69.50, RCW 69.51A, HB0001 Initiative 502 and Senate Bill 5052). State law does not preempt federal law; possessing, using, distributing and selling marijuana remains illegal under federal law. In Washington state, consuming marijuana in public, driving while under the influence of marijuana and transporting marijuana across state lines are all illegal. Marijuana has intoxicating effects; there may be health risks
sociated with its
and it may be
It can also impair concentration, coordination and judgment. Do not operate a vehicle or machinery under the influence of this drug. Keep out of reach of children. For more information, consult the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board at www.liq.wa.gov.
KIDS AT WORK
A temporary rule change allowing specific minors on the premises of producers and processors that came into effect during the COVID-19 pandemic was made permanent on July 19.
Two groups of minors are allowed on the premises of a producer or processor. The first is children and grandchildren of the licensee, when the licensee is present. The second is minors over age 18 who are employees of a contractor providing construction, electrical, plumbing or similar such work, with a supervisor present.
SOCIAL EQUITY UPDATES
The state’s cannabis social equity program reached a major milestone on July 1 when the window to apply for a licence under the program closed. Initially established by the Legislature in 2020, progress with the program has been slow to this point, but things are starting to speed up.
Alta Point Consulting, the third-party firm contracted by the state to vet applicants, has begun the process of contacting registrants. In the newsletter, the LCB warned of other non-contracted third-parties offering to “guarantee” a licence under the program should an applicant purchase their services.
The pool of applicants for the 52 licences that will be issued under the program was frozen at the 880 who registered by the July 1 deadline. n
NOTE TO READERS
Be aware of the differences in the law between Idaho and Washington. It is illegal to possess, sell or transport cannabis in the State of Idaho. Possessing up to an ounce is a misdemeanor and can get you a year in jail and up to a $1,000 fine; more than three ounces is a felony that can carry a five-year sentence and fine of up to $10,000. Transporting marijuana across state lines, like from Washington into Idaho, is a felony under federal law.
half-courses
Most distant point 61. Like some livestock
DOWN
1. “Wrecking Crew” guitarist Tommy (whose surname means “German” in Italian)
2. Capital of the territory featured in Netflix’s “North of North” (2025)
3. { }, mathematically 4. Certain locks
5. “So Wrong” singer Patsy 6. Rush, quaintly 7. Caldecott Medal winner ___ Jack Keats
8. First-come, first-served arrangement, maybe
Like suspicious eyes 10. Prefix with valent
“
Lead from your head and your heart .”
– Lindsey Myhre, President and CEO
Long before she was named President and CEO of STCU, Lindsey Myhre worked at another Northwest icon: Ronnie D’s Drive-In. Fellow employees were her Colville High School classmates. Many customers were family friends. It was a fun workplace, with high expectations.
Lindsey brought that work ethos to STCU. For 25 years, she has been integral to shaping a culture of unparalleled service and growth, with a rewarding mission. And a lot of fun.
Congratulations, Lindsey! We’re thrilled to have you in the corner office.
