Inlander 01/02/2020

JANUARY 2-8, 202O | HAPPY NEW YEAR!

PROGRESS EDITION The Inland Northwest is on the rise.

POLICE DOGS THEIR USE BY SPOKANE POLICE HAS COME UNDER FIRE PAGE 13

BEST FILMS

NATHAN WEINBENDER PICKS THE TOP 10 MOVIES OF 2019 PAGE 37

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

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

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

2 INLANDER JANUARY 2, 2020

INSIDE VOL. 27, NO. 12 | COVER ILLUSTRATION: HUGH RUSSELL

COMMENT NEWS COVER STORY CULTURE

5 13 22 29

FOOD FILM MUSIC EVENTS

34 37 40 44

I SAW YOU ADVICE GODDESS GREEN ZONE BULLETIN BOARD

46 48 50 53

EDITOR’S NOTE

I

n mid-December, our reporters and editors squeeze around a conference table and reflect on the biggest developments of the past year. We look for local achievements, giant leaps forward, anything that could reasonably be seen as a sign of PROGRESS for the Inland Northwest.

Often, our list features very concrete things — like notable buildings that have dramatically changed the skyline — but also advancements in the local arts, culture and culinary scenes. In hindsight, 2019 was a solid year for our region. See what caught our attention beginning on page 22.

Also this week: Quinn Welsch profiles a local glass artist who’s amassed millions of fans on TikTok (page 29), Samantha Wohlfeil shares tips for Dry January (page 34) and CMarie Fuhrman takes on the appropriation of culture and dress for commerce or play (page 6). Cheers to an even better 2020!

— JACOB H. FRIES, Editor

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JANUARY 2, 2020 INLANDER 3

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

WHAT’S ONE OF YOUR GOALS FOR 2020?

PUBLISHER

J. Jeremy McGregor (x224) GENERAL MANAGER

EDITORIAL Jacob H. Fries (x261) EDITOR

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

NIKELL GREGERSON

One of my goals would be to get my life on track. … And just get good grades and do good in baseball. I’m the first and only girl on the L.C. baseball team.

What’d you mean by get your life on track?

I’d like to continue getting my grades good and continue bettering my mind and how I think of things.

Nathan Weinbender (x250) FILM & MUSIC EDITOR

Derek Harrison (x248) ART DIRECTOR

Quinn Welsch (x279) COPY EDITOR

Wilson Criscione (x282), Josh Kelety (x237), Daniel Walters (x263), Samantha Wohlfeil (x234) STAFF WRITERS

Young Kwak PHOTOGRAPHER

DENISE CEARBAUGH

Find contentment.

Do you not have that right now?

No, I’m a FOMO kind of person. We’ve been traveling the past couple years in our RV, so we just landed here in Liberty Lake. We’re gonna explore the Spokane area and see the Pacific Northwest and just find the beauty here.

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TOM VERGE

I hope that at the end of the elections, our country is united again.

Does it feel pretty divided where you live in Skagit County?

I think our country has never been more divided, whether it’s in our town or where our children live or anywhere else, and that’s sad. By the end of 2020, I just hope we come together again.

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DANE LAWSON

Making it through this semester of nursing school. I’m old and I’m going to school for my fourth degree, because the first ones were in business and economics, so I want to do something that I’m passionate about, helping people.

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LIBBY VIGIL

Get into grad school.

Do you know what you want to go to school for?

Sociology. I’d like to hopefully go into academia and research and teach. [In undergrad] I did some work in prisons, and I went to Argentina and did some work in prisons there.

So studying incarceration and race and how those kind of intersect.

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CALEB WALSH ILLUSTRATION

The appropriation of culture and dress for commerce or play

BY CMARIE FUHRMAN

F

irst, they put her in a glass case. The one up front, right beneath the register. Her black hair was split into two braids and placed over her shoulder; pony beads fastened the ends.

Feathers on strands of faux leather were glued to her hair. More pink and blue pony beads on the headband that haloed her head, her bangs, cut high on her forehead, seemed in constant rebellion to the forced regalia. The dress put on her was crocheted. Blue and red trim on ruffles of cream.

Silver plated conchos. She stood with the help of a white metal doll stand, though both tilted slightly

to the left. Her feet were bare, a red lipped smile was painted permanently on her sharp featured face.

Her eyes were brown with a sweep of blue eyeshadow.

Stuck atop her right foot, a price: $7.99.

In the 1960s and early ’70s when companies such as Fibre Craft were producing these 11-inch dolls for U.S. women to adorn with synthetic yarn,

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SAY WHAT?

DO SOMETHING!

“Should doctors pursue every possible step demanded by parents when, even if a child survives, its life expectancy will be short or spent paralyzed without higher brain function?”

TOWN HALL: The Justice Task Force has been working to research and develop targeted recommendations on the future of the Spokane County Jail. At this town hall on Wednesday, Jan. 8, at 6 pm, county officials and the Vera Institute of Justice will share an update on the Task Force’s recommendations and work to date.

Northeast Community Center, 4001 N. Cook St.

The Spokesman-Review’s editorial on Sunday argued that medical care should be “rationed” for gravely ill children and the elderly “already above average life expectancy” — because “government-insured patients” are bad for hospitals’ bottom lines. No, we’re not kidding.

Native American women were being sterilized by the thousands.

In a program initiated by the Indian Health Service, physicians were encouraged to perform sterilizations in the form of tubal ligations and hysterectomies on Native women — often without their consent. Some figures estimate that at least 70,000 Native women were sterilized during the 1960s and ’70s. The youngest was 11 years old. A poll taken by Northern Cheyenne tribal judge Maria Sanchez revealed the stories of two 15-year-old girls who were told they were having their tonsils taken out but returned from the hospital without ovaries.

Between 1969 and 1974, the Department of Health Education and Welfare increased its family planning budget, which included funding for abortions and sterilization, from $51 million to more than $250 million.

The next week I am back at the secondhand store. I find the doll sitting on a shelf with children’s toys. On her left a stuffed Shrek, leaning on her right arm an action figure. A woman comes up beside me to look at the doll. “My husband just loves to collect Native things,” she says reaching for the doll. The woman grabs her, lifting the dress and examining her naked legs, torso. “I wonder if she is worth more than they think.”

The Fibre Craft dolls, with or without their handmade clothes, never became collectible. Other dolls from the era, those with porcelain faces or eyes that closed when they were reclined, sell for anywhere from $16 to $650 dollars or more on eBay and Etsy. Sellers use words and phrases such as: Vintage, Highly Collectible, One-of-a-Kind, Unique, Like New. And as the bids for dolls rise, Indigenous female bodies continue to disappear. In 2016, the FBI’s National Crime Center pegged the number of missing Native American and Alaska Native women and girls at 5,712. An undoubtedly low figure.

For the next two days I worry about the fate of the doll. Is she better with some so-called collector, or as a child’s plaything?

Should I buy her? Redress her? Pull her from the shelf and silently return her in a pant suit? Maybe I should leave her on my desk as a reminder of a society that has objectified Native women and of non-Native women and companies that have appropriated culture and dress for commerce or play. Perhaps the right answer is to remove her from the public eye, because to let her sit is to let that same eye hold all Native women in a historical place, just as the stand holds her by the neck.

When I finally decide what to do, it is too late. I return to the store and find her gone from the shelf, a panting pink Beanie Baby puppy in her place. I ask the cashier if she was sold. “I don’t think so,” she answers, “that doll had been here forever.”

“What happened? Where is she?”

“Probably got re-donated. Maybe someone else will get a couple bucks for her.” n CMarie Fuhrman is the author of Camped Beneath the Dam: Poems (Floodgate 2020) and co-editor of Native Voices (Tupelo 2019). She has published poetry and nonfiction in multiple journals as well as several anthologies. She resides in the mountains of west-central Idaho.

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FROM THE VAULT DEC. 29, 1999: With the world about to welcome the new millennium, the Inlander asked local leaders to share their thoughts on what the future held for Spokane. The issue also looked at the soon-to-bereleased Fantasia 2000 and made minimal mention of Y2K mania, highlighting the many people like Avista engineers scheduled to work on New Year’s Eve to ensure power would continue to flow even if the world’s computers had a meltdown.

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JANUARY 2, 2020 INLANDER 7

COMMENT | NEWSMAKERS

Q&A DARYLL B. DEWALD WSU Spokane’s chancellor talks about the school’s strides in the medical field, and why Spokane is a great city for young academics

BY NATHAN WEINBENDER

D

aryll B. DeWald’s love of science started early when he got a chemistry kit as a Christmas gift. “I’ve always been curious,” he says, and he turned that natural curiosity into a career.

After working for the pharmaceutical company Upjohn, DeWald left the industry to obtain a Ph.D. in biochemistry.

He was on the faculty at Utah State University before joining Washington State University in 2011 as dean of the College of Science, transitioning into the role of WSU Spokane chancellor in 2017 and spearheading the formation of WSU’s College of Arts and Sciences.

As the child of a military family, DeWald has lived all over the country, but he has found a particular affinity for Spokane. He chatted with the Inlander about what makes the city special, and the recent strides that WSU has made in medical research. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

and how they essentially colonize. I’m driven to do this type of work because both of my sisters and my sister-in-law had dealt with breast cancer. So there’s a kind of a personal drive to do this, but it’s to serve society the best that we could.

INLANDER: You worked in the pharmaceutical industry for years. Can you explain why you decided to leave it for academia?

DEWALD: In the pharmaceutical industry, there’s usually a focus on applied research, and I was doing very enjoyable applied research, but I wanted to do more basic research, understanding human physiology. Some of my work has been in cancer research, so I didn’t have the opportunity at Upjohn to do independent research and I wanted to do independent research. So I was encouraged to go back to higher ed and earn a Ph.D.

Looking back at 2019, are there any projects or research operations happening within WSU Health that stand out to you?

We’re really excited about the growth of the research, because research is about impact. It’s about addressing challenges and problems and trying to bring solutions. This year, the grants that were awarded to nursing pharmacy and medicine exceeded $35 million, and that represents a growth trajectory that is exciting and very cool. It also is growing very rapidly.

To compare, eight years ago, our research awards were about $10 million. In the academic realm, that’s a short period of time to triple the amount of research.

What were some of those independent studies you were involved in?

As a faculty member, I was able to run programs that were connected but distinct. One of them was implant stress physiology. We would look at what we call abiotic stresses on plants, and how plants acclimate to that abiotic stress — that can be heat, cold, salt in the soil. When I was at Upjohn, and then later in my academic career, I branched out and we started doing more cancer research. Most of my research has been very collaborative. I like to work in groups. I think that groups bring different perspectives and different expertise, so you can address bigger problems. We looked at how breast cancer cells move from the primary tumor to different sites of the body

Having helped spearhead the College of Arts and Sciences, why do you think it’s important to merge those two concentrations?

Typically at a university like ours, the arts and sciences have about 50 percent of the educational responsibility. Everything from anthropology to biology to chemistry to music to history — there’s an understanding of their foundational role in the education of the students coming in. They’re like the living room that the students first come into. It’s how you embrace them, how you help them to recognize their inherent capabilities and to really capitalize on that.

You’ve lived all over the country, but what is it specifically about Spokane that makes it ideal for young academics?

Spokane is a very ambitious community. There’s a type of cohesion here, and a willingness to do hard stuff that I’ve never seen in my academic career. There seems to be a common commitment in trying to make the place better. From my office, I look at downtown and I see who I serve. I can also see the University District and some great opportunities there.

Can we make this an educational hub that’s nationally prominent and globally recognized? I think we can do that together.

It’s energizing. That’s something that I really find is part of why I love being here. n

DEREK HARRISON PHOTO

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS Spokane Symphony

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Saturday, Jan. 11, 7pm

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Friday, March 6, 8pm

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

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

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COMMENT | FROM READERS

State Rep. Matt Shea

DANIEL WALTERS PHOTO

AMERICAN ISIS t seems as though Matt Shea may have been radicalized when he served

I

in the Iraq War (“Domestic Terrorist?,” 12/26/19). He saw how well intimidation and guns worked on suppressing folks. So, here’s a state representative, communicating in code, establishing military-style LETTERS tactics to overcome the unwashed Send comments to masses, professing the notion to editor@inlander.com. kill all non-Christian believing male babies in a planned “holy war,” in a country where freedom of religion is built into the Constitution and somehow this doesn’t seem the least bit nutty to a whole district of voters.

Matt Shea is the American Christian version of an ISIS imam trying to form his own caliphate here in the Inland Northwest. Period. He is an extremist Christian zealot.

Wed & Thu, Feb 12 & 13 / 7:30pm Commodores Jan 16 Sawyer Brown Jan 30

STEVE LACOMBE, Spokane Valley, Wash.

Readers respond to an Inlander article about a new program in Spokane designed to keep low-risk defendants out of jail (“Free to Go,” 12/26/19):

Brian Regan

Conquest of the Cage-MMA Feb 8 DARCY HILDEBRAND: If the rate of crime drops, then it may be working. If the rate of crime increases, then it is not working. If the rate of crime stays the same, then it is not working. That should be the criteria used to evaluate this system. Unfortunately, we have a City Council that would prefer to deal with crime by decriminalizing crime.

DALE DAMRON: The article highlights an important follow-up question... Why should jails be used for anything except public safety risks?

Let’s discontinue this nonsense of using incarceration for people we’re angry at.

Sara Evans Feb 23 Rodney Carrington Mar 22 Australia’s Thunder From Down Under Mar 27 & 28 Champions of Magic Apr 11 Charley Pride May 3 Celtic Woman May 16 & 17

DAVID JAMES BEACH: Council President Breann Beggs allows District 2 in the downtown area to be crime-ridden and doesn’t give a crap.

JUDE SLATER: When justice and imprisonment are for-profit businesses in the U.S., don’t be surprised someone is making a ton of money in keeping crime profitable. n CORRECTION The Inlander’s story about Spokane Valley Rep. Matt Shea (“Domestic Terrorist?,” 12/26/19) misidentified former state Sen. Michael Baumgartner as a former state representative.

877.871.6772 | SPOKANE, WA

JANUARY 2, 2020 INLANDER 11

12 INLANDER JANUARY 2, 2020

Spokane Officer Dan Lesser and his K-9, pictured in 2014.

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

POLICING

DOG BITES MAN

Why some officials say Spokane Police are too quick to sicc their dogs on suspects

BY JOSH KELETY

A

graphic video showing Spokane Officer Dan Lesser lifting a police dog into the cabin of a truck where it mauled a suspect who appeared to be surrendering left many in the community outraged. And the fact that department brass ruled that the use-of-force was justified also raised eyebrows — causing some to question how the department uses dogs in policing.

“You see something like that and you’re like, ‘Boy, that doesn’t seem like a very good idea,’” says City Council President Breean Beggs.

Bites from police K-9s make up a significant share of all recorded uses of force by Spokane Police officers. For instance, two K-9 handlers accounted for 14 percent of all use-of-force incidents that occured between 2013 and 2018 — and most of those involved dog bites, according to a 2019 report compiled by Police Strategies LLC, a policing consultant firm. Dogs also accounted for the sec-

ond most frequently used weapon over that same six-year period, second only to stun guns. Additionally, dog bites have been increasing over time.

“A lot of our use of force, especially serious use of force, are K-9s,” Beggs says. “It opens up the city to potential substantial liability, not to mention the injuries and potential death of somebody.

“What I’ve seen over the years, there will be someone in a closet and instead of waiting for them to come out, they’ll send the dog in to bite them,” he adds. “That causes a lot of secondary trauma and damage.”

Currently, the Spokane Police Department has a total of six K-9 dogs, all of which are paired with officers who serve as “handlers.” They act as floating patrol units that can be called to specific situations where officers think they might be useful in locating or apprehending a suspect.

Officials within the department argue that K-9 units frequently get called to active situations involving highlevel crimes, such as robberies, burglaries and serious assaults.

“You have someone who robs a grocery store or a bank, they run into a building. How are we going to respond to that? We call a K-9 team,” says SPD Maj. Kevin King, a former longtime K-9 handler. “These are dangerous calls. It’s because of the situations.”

“Ours do have the higher number of uses of force because they are going to the most dangerous calls in the city,” says Police Chief Craig Meidl. “With property crime, burglaries, stolen vehicles, with domestic violence being one of our top calls, we will typically have a K-9 respond because they are better at locating these individuals because of their sense of smell.” ...continued on next page

JANUARY 2, 2020 INLANDER 13

NEWS | POLICING

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“DOG BITES MAN,” CONTINUED...

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till, Beggs, the council president, thinks that the way the department trains their dogs may also have an impact on the high frequency of dog bites. Specifically, he points to the fact that Spokane’s dogs are trained in socalled “find and bite,” meaning that, upon verbal command, they will locate a suspect and then apprehend them by biting until their handler calls them off.

“I’m totally supportive of K-9s either sniffing for drugs or bombs or finding people who are hiding, especially in dangerous locations, that’s a great thing,” Beggs says. “But using dogs to bite people… I don’t think that’s a good policy.

“We should at least have the discussion about whether we should have the dogs bite people. It doesn’t seem to serve a purpose and it causes a lot of damage.”

Beggs argues that the department should be looking into acquiring “find-and-bark” (also referred to as “find-and-hold”) dogs, who are reportedly trained to follow suspects and merely bark at them unless they flee or attack, in which case, they can bite. Using pain to make suspects compliant can be achieved through other tools, he says.

“If you didn’t have the dog, you’d probably use something else, like a Taser or a bean bag shotgun,” Beggs says. “If what you’re trying to do is use pain compliance on someone, which is how they use those dogs often, there’s other ways to use pain compliance.”

There has been a longstanding debate in the national K-9 community over the effectiveness of find-and-bite versus find-and-bark training techniques. While industry experts estimate that the vast majority of law enforcement agencies nationwide use find-and-bite dogs, the U.S. Department of Justice recommended that law enforcement agencies train their dogs in find-and-bark in a 2001 report, and the Los Angeles Police Department adopted the training technique for all of

their dogs in the early 1990s and also changed their policies governing when they deploy dogs after facing litigation.

One 1997 study published in Annals of Emergency Medicine found that bites, injuries and hospitalizations decreased after the department made the changes.

“If you have a hold-and-bark [dog] where you’re not actually biting the suspect, unless the suspect attacks the officer or the dog, that’s obviously going to lead to fewer bites and fewer injuries,” says Merrick Bob, executive director of the Police Assessment Resource Center, a consulting firm that worked with Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department on its K-9 practices and other issues. “The hold-and-bite [dogs] are still producing horrific stomach churning incidents that are awful, where there are very serious and painful injuries.”

“There is a controversy over the dogs that are trained to bite and hold. Is it really necessary?” says Kenneth M. Phillips, a Los Angelesbased attorney who exclusively focuses on police and domestic dog bite-related litigation. “And in many cases it probably would be necessary, but the problem is that the officers will deploy those dogs in all cases, not just the necessary cases.”

However, others — including defense attorneys and SPD officials — dispute the notion that find-and-bark dogs are safer than find-and-bite dogs. Additionally, a 2006 study published in Police Practice and Research found that find-and-bark dogs actually bite more often than find-and-bite dogs.

The main reason, critics argue, is that findand-bark training gives the dog discretion over when it can or can not bark, as opposed to its handler. Ultimately, police dogs want to bite suspects and will look for a way to do so.

“When the dog understands that as soon as the person moves ‘I can bite him’ and the bite is what they want to do, they find a way to make

the person move. The dog may bump him, the dog may fake charge him or lunge at him or whatever, and the average person is going to react,” says John Peters, a Michigan-based police liability attorney who conducts K-9 legal seminars for departments across the country. “What you’re doing is leaving it up to the dog’s discretion when a bite can occur. It’s not being determined by the handlers.

“That’s very dangerous in my opinion,” he adds. “At least as dangerous as a bite from a dog that is trained to bite and apprehend in the first place.”

Paul Gorman is a longtime K-9 handler with the Spokane Police Department and current president of the Washington State Police Canine Association. “You can’t ever let a dog make a decision. Because they’re dogs,” he says.

Chief Meidl says that he doesn’t know enough about findand-bark to have a definitive opinion on it and would have to do more research.

Besides, Maj. King argues, biting is a critical component of how they use dogs to apprehend suspects.

“It’s like saying ‘Well, let’s have police officers out there that don’t have the ability to use force,’” he says. “You’re minimizing the effectiveness of the tool.”

S

ome argue that dog bites, aside from causing injury and opening up departments to legal liability, are actually ineffective at gaining suspect compliance because research indicates that human survival instincts kick-in when they are being attacked by large animals.

“How do you think people react to dogs biting and attacking them? It gets back to something really primal,” says Donald Cook, a Los Angeles-based attorney who has extensive experience suing law enforcement agencies over dog bites. “It has an effect on people that is absolutely counterproductive to the cop.

The person becomes more concerned about the dog and getting the dog off them then doing what the cop was telling them to do.”

King admits that dogs aren’t always effective at making suspects compliant: “We’ve had plenty of people defeat the dog,” he says.

“What you’re doing is leaving it up to the dog’s discretion when a bite can occur. It’s not being determined by the handlers. ... That’s very dangerous.”

Dog training aside, there’s also the question of whether SPD’s policy governing police dog deployments is itself too liberal.

Current department policy states that a handler may use a dog to locate and apprehend a suspect when the suspect has “committed or threatened to commit any criminal offense” and “poses an imminent threat of violence or serious harm to the public, any officer, or the handler” or is physically resisting arrest or concealed in an area that poses a threat to officers or the public.

King says that the K-9 unit’s bite ratio — which is the number of apprehensions with bites divided by the number of apprehensions — is around 10 percent, well below the 20 percent threshold set by existing case law.

Peters argues that this policy is too liberal and could, “in theory,” result in a high number of K-9 bites because of the condition allowing K-9s to be used on suspects who have threatened to commit “any criminal offense.”

“The thing that bothered me the most about their policy was it allows for the use of the dog for ‘any criminal offense.’ And there is no qualification,” he says. “That is, to me, exceptional.

Not many agencies have that wide open of a K-9 use of force [policy].”

He adds that some agencies restrict K-9 deployments to people suspected of violent felonies: “They won’t even allow you to release them on a misdemeanor suspect.” n joshk@inlander.com

JANUARY 2, 2020 INLANDER 15

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A Clean Slate Spokane County to consider forgiving certain court fines

P

eople who have served their criminal sentences but still have unpaid court fees and fines may be able to get relief from some of that debt this April, as Spokane County hosts a Legal Financial Obligation Reconsideration Day. While the event isn’t until APRIL 17, people with unpaid court debts can sign up now to be one of the first 1,000 people who will be considered for debt waivers that day.

Applications should be completed before Jan. 31 and can be found through a Facebook event hosted by the organization I Did the Time, at facebook.com/ididthetime.

Civil infractions like parking tickets will not be considered, but fines from municipal, district or superior court will be.

The day follows the 2018 passage of a Washington law to allow waivers of court fees and fines that aren’t restitution and interest that has accrued on unpaid amounts. Some restitutionrelated interest may also be eligible for a waiver if the underlying restitution amount has been paid in full.

The law was created after it became clear that the 12 percent interest rates on unpaid court fees were stacking up, in particular for poor defendants who couldn’t afford their own at-

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torneys, with many people being put in jail again just for nonpayment of court fines. According to the ACLU, the fines and fees on a single case (including misdemeanors) in Washington is $1,128 on average, even for people who are homeless or have little to no income.

With the new law, interest is no longer allowed to be imposed on penalties, fines, bail forfeitures, fees, or costs imposed against a defendant in a criminal proceeding.

“Our judges and county clerk have graciously opened a day to help those who have been burdened by this crushing form of debt to relieve as much as possible,” writes Layne Pavey, director of I Did the Time and program director at Revive Reentry Services. “Thousands of dollars will be waived!” (SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL)

MAYBE THE DOG ATE IT

When it comes to student vaccinations, Washington schools seem to have trouble turning in their homework.

According to a state audit released recently, Washington does not know exactly how many students were vaccinated in the 2017-18 school year, because some schools failed to report IMMUNIZATION DATA at all. That’s despite schools being required by law to send their immunization data to the Washington Department of Health (DOH).

“DOH’s data shows not all schools in the state are following the law, nor are they collecting immunization records consistently,” says a summary of the report by the State Auditor’s Office.

“For this reason, DOH does not know the state’s

true immunization rate.”

As the state strives to have what’s called “herd immunity,” a goal of a 95 percent immunization rate to protect against disease, state law says schools must collect proof that students are immunized before the first day of school. If those records are unavailable, schools should not allow students to attend. But some schools are not reporting that proof, and principals are sometimes still allowing students to attend schools without receiving it.

The schools that chose not to exclude children did so because they “would rather educate students than exclude them,” according to the audit. And they felt that they had a better chance to work with families to get vaccines if the kids were kept in school.

Auditors examined data from the 2017-18 school year, before the state Legislature eliminated the personal and philosophical exemptions parents could claim to avoid vaccinating their kids. The audit found that the schools that had higher rates were better at engaging and educating parents on the legal requirements related to immunization. At least 8 percent of all kindergartners did not meet immunization requirements, and about one in 10 school districts did not submit data to the state.

The report recommends that every school in Washington follow the state requirements.

“We recommend school authorities make parents aware of legal requirements related to vaccination documentation, all of the ways to comply and the consequences of noncompliance,” the report says. (WILSON CRISCIONE)

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JANUARY 2, 2020 INLANDER 17

NEWS | POLICE

Move Along A complaint that Spokane Police were obstructing the ombudsman’s work turns up nothing

BY JOSH KELETY

I

n November 2018, the Office of Police Ombudsman Commission — a five-member panel designed to help provide civilian oversight of the Spokane Police Department — filed a complaint with the city alleging that the law enforcement agency was obstructing their work and violating city law. At the time, then Mayor David Condon promised a Human Resources investigation into the issue.

Roughly a year later, the city concluded that the department hadn’t engaged in obstruction or violated city law. But members of the commission and Bart Logue, the police ombudsman, dispute its findings, the length of time it took the city to complete the investigation, and its thoroughness.

“It’s like City Hall didn’t take it seriously,” says Jenny Rose, chair of the Office of Police Ombudsman Commission. “It just didn’t seem like a complete process.”

In their original complaint, which was sent to the mayor on Nov. 13, 2018, the commission accused Spokane Police Chief Craig Meidl of

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violating city law and that the department had engaged in “continuous interference” with the “independence” of the Office of the Police Ombudsman. They cited the department’s refusal to grant an employee of the ombudsman access to internal-affairs files and delays in handing over unredacted case files on use-of-force incidents involving people of color to a commissioner who requested them. The commission even explored pursuing legal action against the department over the issue.

At the time, Chief Meidl argued that staff in the city’s legal department had instructed him to not accommodate the requests, citing ongoing contract negotiations with the Spokane Police Guild, the union that represents rank-and-file cops. (The last contract expired in 2016.) Mayor Condon also cited the contract negotiations in a Dec. 4 letter responding to the commission’s complaint.

The city’s investigation into the complaint, which was conducted by former Human Resources Director Christine Cavanaugh and sent

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to Rose late last month, found both allegations to be unfounded.

Rose points to the fact that several stakeholders in the issue, like Chief Meidl, weren’t interviewed by Cavanaugh as evidence that the process was flawed.

“Some viable people weren’t interviewed,” she says.

Logue has long contended that the previous police contract gave both him and his staff access to internal-affairs case files. But Cavanaugh’s report argues that the department and the Spokane Police Guild have “always interpreted” language in the contract to strictly mean the ombudsman himself — and not his staff.

“I don’t think that a proper legal opinion was obtained,” Logue writes in a text message. “They just went with what the police said.”

On the question of allegedly delaying giving a commissioner access to files concerning use-of-force incidents involving people of color, the report notes that the commissioner who requested the information, James Wilburn, was eventually “provided the opportunity” to view the unredacted body camera footage and that no unnecessary delay occurred. n

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JANUARY 2, 2020 INLANDER 19

NEWS | ENVIRONMENT

The Lower Monumental Dam is one of four along the Snake River that some advocates say should be removed. COLUMBIA BASIN FEDERAL CAUCUS PHOTO

The $375,000 Question Why a new report examining dams along the Snake River is unlikely to break through the logjam

BY SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL

I

n the heated debate whether to remove dams along the Snake River, everyone mostly agrees on one point: Salmon matter, and it would be better if they were thriving.

Ask those different groups whether salmon are doing better or worse, and you won’t get the same response.

Ask whether they think removing the dams would help, and the responses vary widely. Ask what’s better for communities along the Columbia-Snake River System, and that’s all over the board, too.

The recently released draft of the Lower Snake River Dams Stakeholder Engagement Report underlines that division, finding that people can’t seem to agree on some of the basic facts needed to seriously discuss the value of four lower Snake River dams.

After months of consultant work summarizing state and federal scientific studies and conducting interviews with nearly 100 people on all sides of the issue, the draft report offers a broad, middle-of-the-road overview of a discussion decades in the making. Namely, it explores the pros and cons of removing four dams along the Snake River, including Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose and Lower Granite.

“There are significantly different views of the impacts from breaching the dams on salmon, orca, agriculture, transportation and economics,” the draft report summary states. “More information is needed to create opportunities for greater understanding.”

Rather than quote any of those interviewed, the 115page report sums up the dams’ benefits and drawbacks generally, including overall impressions alongside data.

On salmon, for example, the report states those who want to keep the dams generally said they don’t think breaching the dams is the most effective or cost-efficient way to spend billions of dollars on salmon recovery, and they felt improvements to the dams and court-ordered extra spill of water over them would likely help salmon,

20 INLANDER JANUARY 2, 2020

and therefore orca.

Those who support dam removal, on the other hand, said dam breaching is the only thing that hasn’t been tried yet that could make a significant difference, and while it would take time to do, removing the dams seems to be the best shot in increasing resiliency in the system in the long run, especially when taking climate change into account.

Regardless of viewpoint, the report notes that the dwindling quantity of salmon, and its effect on tribes, commerce and orcas was what sparked the whole process of letting people on all sides weigh in. Importantly, salmon runs have declined by more than 90 percent in the last 100 years, and all salmon species in the Snake River are endangered or threatened.

S

am Mace, Inland Northwest director of Save Our Wild Salmon, says she is encouraged by the stakeholder process, which Gov. Jay Inslee pushed for after a task force he convened to help save Puget Sound orca whales recommended it.

“I think Gov. Inslee took a big step forward in having a stakeholder process that is asking those ‘what if’ questions. What would the removal of the lower Snake River dams and restoral of that river mean for Washington state?” Mace says.

However, the $375,000 report leaves open some of the questions it was tasked with answering. For example, how much might it cost to restore short rail infrastructure for farmers to get their grains to market by train if the barging channel created by the dams were to go away.

Not everyone was pleased with the lack of new information in the report, including U.S. Reps. Dan Newhouse and Cathy McMorris Rodgers, who have consistently opposed any efforts to talk about removing the dams.

“What this report tells us is Gov. Inslee spent three-

quarters of a million dollars and a year’s time to conclude ‘there are differing perspectives’ and ‘more information needed’ on this issue,” Reps. Newhouse and McMorris Rodgers say in a joint statement. “We had no idea a year ago when we said this study would be a wasteful use of taxpayer dollars just how accurate we’d be.”

But their reference to $750,000 is misleading. While the state’s biennial budget included $375,000 for dam removal study in each fiscal year 2020 and 2021, the contract between Ross and Associates Environmental Consulting (aka Ross Strategic) and Washington state shows the cost for this entire report from start to finish will not exceed $375,000.

Two pages detailing labor costs show at least 11 individuals worked on the report, with Jim Kramer of Kramer Consulting doing about one-quarter of the overall labor and pulling in about one-third of the contracted amount, at $123,873 for about 16 weeks worth of fulltime equivalent work.

Kramer says that the report was intended to give everyone an objective starting point. Agreeing on basic facts, including decades of scientific study, will be necessary for any further conversation.

Indeed, across the board, those interviewed wanted conversations about the dams to be more respectful and informed in contrast to a “process that has so far been stuck in a cycle of study, legal actions and court decisions.”

A

s for questions that remain unanswered, such as the “real costs” that removing the dams could incur, Kramer says it was complicated.

In some cases, such as finding the potential cost of restoring rail infrastructure, Kramer says that he and the other consultants tried to find answers, but those who could analyze the numbers were already contracted with the federal government for an PUBLIC MEETINGS environmental study The draft Lower Snake River Dams that’s expected to Stakeholder Engagement Report can be released in early be found at lsrdstakeholderprocess.

2020. org, where written comments can be “The consultants submitted before 5 pm on Jan. 24. we talked to … were Before that, there will be three under contract and public meetings. At each, panels can’t disclose any inwith vested interests in the dams formation until [the will share their perspectives. Oral study] comes out,” comments won’t be taken during Kramer says. the meetings, but there will be an Meanwhile, the opportunity for written questions report isn’t final from the crowd. The closest one to yet. A public input Spokane is in Clarkston, at the Qualprocess is underway, ity Inn & Suites and Quay Convention with three public Center, on Jan. 7 from 6-9 pm. meetings scheduled in the first part of this month, and an online survey open through Jan. 24. Kramer says the online questionnaire has already received more than 5,000 responses.

For her part, Mace says she’s been frustrated that the science on salmon survival seems to have been somewhat muddied over the years, with the other side often bringing up other contributing factors such as ocean acidification to distract from the conversation at hand.

The report, she says, as well as the panel discussions in January, may help focus the conversation on the dams.

“If we’re going to not have the orcas go extinct in the next few years, not have runs of our salmon and steelhead blink out in the next few years, we have to focus on actions that we can take and take in a timeframe that is not 50 years out,” Mace says. “We have to be looking at some bold actions.” n samanthaw@inlander.com

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JANUARY 2, 2020 INLANDER 21

PROGRESS EDITION

On

the

Rise Some of the Inland Northwest’s big, upward developments from the past year

22 INLANDER JANUARY 2, 2020

LIGHTING UP THE SKYLINE

The U.S. PAVILION, according to what voters were told when they passed the $64.3 million Riverfront Park bond in 2014, was supposed to be covered. It’s not. But the complaints about the change in plans largely faded when the new Pavilion was, well, uncovered this fall. The upgraded structure included grassy terraces, an elevated walkway and kite-shaped shading panels to combat the heat. And that’s before you turn on the lights: Covered in customized light blades, the Pavilion can become nearly every color — and even dance to music.

“We love it,” Parks Department spokeswoman Fianna Dickson said a few days before Christmas. “I’m looking out at my window right now, and it looks like a Christmas tree.”

And the story of Riverfront Park isn’t over yet. The next two years will bring not one but two unique playgrounds, as well as a “theme stream,” a public art installation, a skate park and a permanent Hooptown USA-sponsored basketball court. (DANIEL WALTERS)

CENTER OF ATTENTION

The UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON School of Medicine and GONZAGA UNIVERSITY had been together for a few years already. But this year, they announced they were getting their own place.

McKinstry, a design and construction company, will finance and construct a new $60 million, 80,000-square-foot building at 840 E. Spokane Falls Blvd. The building will serve as a new center for medical education.

“We have reaffirmed our long-term commitment to broadening the array of healthrelated education and research endeavors, and to preparing the next generation of health care professionals here in Spokane and the Inland Northwest,” says Thayne McCulloh, Gonzaga president. (WILSON CRISCIONE)

The big “Wow!” at the Pavilion is the LED-illuminated blade structure covering its cables. YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

JANUARY 2, 2020 INLANDER 23

PROGRESS EDITION

JUMPING OVER HURDLES

TRUSTING THE ARTS

TREATMENT BY COP

IT’S A WONDER

After years of problems involving financing, land deals, price spikes and multiple government bodies, the Public Facilities District finally did it in December: The group broke ground on the 130,000-square-foot, $53 million SPORTSPLEX. “We’ve got big Tonka toys and we’re making big holes,” says Eric Sawyer (above), the Spokane Sports Commission CEO. Modeled after major sports facilities in places like Birmingham, Alabama, the Sportsplex — planning to open in late summer or early fall of 2021 — will feature a snazzy hydraulically banked indoor track and enough space for 17 volleyball courts, 10 basketball courts or 21 wrestling mats. And while it will feature plenty of Spokane Parks Department activities, the main intent is to draw out-of-towners and their wallets stuffed with potential economic impact.

“One thing that Spokane has never hosted is a true world championship event,” Sawyer says. “I think we’re going to host a world championship event. That puts us on an international stage.” (DANIEL WALTERS)

The SPOKANE POLICE DEPARTMENT has collaborated with Frontier Behavioral Health to pair up mental health specialists and patrol cops to help divert people suffering from behavioral health issues to help rather than jail since the summer of 2018. For instance, the specialists can refer people who officers encounter on patrol to drug and mental health treatment services, as well as beds in homeless shelters. The state grantfunded program has been lauded as both innovative and highly successful, with early data showing that the majority of people contacted by the co-deployed teams getting diverted to services rather than jail. Both the Spokane Police Department and the SPOKANE COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE received additional grant funding to add four additional co-deployed teams between the two agencies earlier this year. (JOSH KELETY)

24 INLANDER JANUARY 2, 2020

Artist Trust, a nonprofit that supports Washington artists and helps fund their upcoming projects, recognized a number of Spokane artists in its most recent batch of grants. Among the Spokane-based recipients were artist SHELBY ALLISON, who has collaborated with Susan Webber on a Stevens Street mural (above), and painter CALLIE McCLUSKEY, whose series Digital Identity merges visual art and technology. Also awarded were AMANDA CALDWELL, known for brightly colored geometric pieces, and curator and multimedia artist OLIVIA EVANS. Writer and occasional Inlander contributor CHELSEA MARTIN also received a grant, as did JON GOSCH, whose novel Deep Fire Rise crafts a mystery around the eruption of Mount St. Helens. Musician RYAN ABRAHAMSON is the one Spokane musician to be recognized by Artist Trust, and his recent album American Indian is a Salish-language record using traditional Native American instruments. If that doesn’t illustrate the vibrancy and diversity of the local arts scene, nothing will. (NATHAN WEINBENDER)

The new owners of the WONDER BUILDING in Spokane saw their vision reach its potential in 2019.

The 112,000-square-foot building, rebranded as “Wonder Spokane,” began to fill with new tenants this year. There are about a dozen entities occupying the building, including eateries like HIGH TIDE LOBSTER BAR, office space for businesses such as ROVER.COM, and even space for ART SPIRIT GALLERY. Future plans include a potential new bar and restaurant, spokeswoman Kim Deater says. A 2020 farmers market is also on the table.

“Our vision is clearly a market, but also a community space,” Deater says. “We’ve spent a lot of time reworking the brickwork.

We wanted to keep as much of that building as historical as we could, but make it as modern as we could. It’s the urban industrial vibe, but it’s really cozy in there.” (QUINN WELSCH)

MEET THE MYRTLE

In April, Gonzaga University opened its opulent new MYRTLE WOLDSON PERFORMING ARTS CENTER, a multifaceted 52,000-square-foot, $30 million performance space that adds both a premiere place for student productions and a new venue for the greater Spokane community to partake in national touring productions ranging from concerts to theater to dance. The Myrtle launched with an epic, student-led show, A New Season, that combined theater, dance and music students in a massive production. This fall, the Myrtle’s bookings started in earnest, with shows that included country legend Carlene Carter, a one-man theatrical production about Emmett Till and the classical guitarists in the California Guitar Trio. The venue was made possible by a $55 million donation by its namesake, a lifelong Gonzaga supporter who died in 2014 at 104 years old. (DAN NAILEN)

DEREK HARRISON PHOTO

THE CRAFT BEER BOOM

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

Craft beer shined through the 2010s. So it’s fitting that the final year of the decade saw a large expansion of craft breweries in the Inland Northwest. In Spokane proper alone, a handful of new breweries opened: BOTTLE BAY BREWING CO. (East 30th Avenue), FOR THE LOVE OF GOD BREWING (Northwest Boulevard, pictured), LUMBERBEARD BREWING (East Third Avenue), PRECIOUS THINGS FERMENTATION PROJECT (Orchard Prairie), PROJECT CRAFT BREWING launched out of Community Pint (East Sprague Avenue) and GOLDEN HANDLE PROJECT was the latest addition to the Steel Barrel incubator brewery (South Madison Street).

YAYA BREWING COMPANY and BARDIC BREWING AND CIDER joined an expanding group of Spokane Valley brewers.

Coeur d’Alene also welcomed two new breweries: PARAGON BREWING, an established restaurant, began producing its own beer, and the Montana-based JEREMIAH JOHNSON BREWING COMPANY opened a taproom in Midtown. In Athol, BENT TREE BREWING and LONE MOUNTAIN FARMS opened as well.

TT’S OLD IRON BREWERY moved out of the Steel Barrel and opened its own taproom with a barbecue restaurant in Spokane Valley. THE HIDDEN MOTHER BREWERY relocated from its production-only location in Liberty Lake and opened its first taproom near the Spokane Arena. English Setter Brewing Company (Spokane Valley) became NATURAL 20 BREWING CO. and adopted a theme focused on tabletop gaming.

Opening in the coming days, the home of BRICK WEST BREWING CO. is easily among the biggest revitalization projects in the city — the transformation of a run-down automotive building into a modern brewery, taproom and restaurant.

(DEREK HARRISON)

JANUARY 2, 2020 INLANDER 25

PROGRESS EDITION

THE MUSIC WON’T DIE

In November, the final notes faded during the last night of live music at the BARTLETT, a downtown Spokane venue, and there was a genuine sense of mourning as the tight-knit group of local performers left the stage: The tiny all-ages venue had hosted thousands of shows in a five-year span, and it seemed that everyone who played there had an emotional attachment to the place. But owners Karli and Caleb Ingersoll (above) already had another iron in the fire in the form of LUCKY YOU LOUNGE, a Browne’s Addition nightlife spot that opened last summer. In terms of capacity, it’s twice the size of their old space, and it also offers a full restaurant and a separate basement bar that’s frequently packed with folks dancing to DJs or attending free rock shows. The Lucky You stage has already been graced by alt-rock royalty like Mudhoney and Son Volt, punk legend Mike Watt and the hip-hop samplings of A Tribe Called Red, and we’re excited to see what 2020 brings. It’s like they always say: One venue closes, and another one opens.

(NATHAN WEINBENDER)

SUSTAINABLE SPOKANE

North America’s most sustainable building broke ground in Spokane in 2019, as Avista and developer McKinstry partnered to create the CATALYST BUILDING. With an opening slated for spring 2020, Catalyst will soon start its life as a living laboratory for testing the most efficient heating, cooling and electrical systems, while generating its own power as part of a larger eco-district. Meanwhile, the building will house Eastern Washington University’s engineering program and bridge the divide between East Sprague and the University District, as the new eco-district sits at the south landing of the University District Gateway Bridge. (SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL)

26 INLANDER JANUARY 2, 2020

BIG FOOD MOOD

It was another boom year for growth and innovation across the Inland Northwest’s restaurant sector in 2019.

We welcomed many boundary-pushing eateries, as young and established food venues alike continued to boost the region’s identity as a dining destination. What follows are some of 2019’s culinary highlights.

Openings Right up to the year’s end, 2019 saw the debut of several noteworthy restaurants, including chef Tony Brown’s long-planned fine dining concept EYVIND, which launched in the final weeks of December. Brown’s connected basement bar HUNT also premiered.

Filling a prominent space in downtown Spokane, in the former home of Santé, GANDER AND RYEGRASS from chef Peter Froese opened in November and has so far left a positive impression on diners.

Chef Chad White celebrated two launches in 2019: HIGH TIDER LOBSTER BAR, now with two locations in the downtown core, and a collaboration with TT’S OLD IRON BREWERY AND BARBECUE in Spokane Valley.

Way back in January, one of the area’s top international eateries arrived with D’BALI ASIAN BISTRO in Airway Heights. Also in the year’s first half, the region welcomed the entirely plant-based RÜT BAR & KITCHEN to the lower South Hill.

Downtown Spokane continues to be a hotbed for drinks and dining; some of the past year’s notable arrivals there were MANGO TREE INDIAN KITCHEN + TAPHOUSE (former Hills’ Restaurant location), WANDERLUST DELICATO (West Main Avenue), WHIM WINE BAR (River Park Square) and OSPREY RESTAURANT & BAR (inside the rebranded Ruby River Hotel).

In North Idaho, chef Viljo Basso launched his third kitchen, MONARCH RAMEN AND NOODLE HOUSE, bringing steamy, hearty noodle bowls to the masses. The

Lake City also welcomed the British-themed pub CROWN & THISTLE, specializing in house-made sausages and imported beer.

Opportunities for growth here have not gone unnoticed by several west side restaurant groups. Seattle-area SHAWN O’DONNELL’S AMERICAN GRILL & IRISH PUB (former Milford’s spot), FLATSTICK PUB (The M Building) and LOCUST CIDER AND BREWING (West Main Avenue) all launched locations in Spokane this year.

Noteworthy Moments Beyond openings and expansions, the region saw its fair share of accolades and events.

In the first half of the year, Kris Kilduff announced the launch of the off-menu ticketed dining series SECRET BURGER, a Las Vegas-based project that expanded north.

Two dozen events have taken place, with many more to come in the new year.

Food events continue to attract attendees, including the third year of CRAVE! NORTHWEST in Spokane Valley and INLANDER RESTAURANT WEEK (which returns in February 2020 bigger than ever). Meanwhile, PIG OUT IN THE PARK celebrated its 40th anniversary in renovated Riverfront Park.

In other notable moments, Spokane chef RICKY WEBSTER, currently with Sysco Spokane, appeared on his third TV baking competition, Hallmark Drama’s Christmas Cookie Matchup. He won the five-episode contest, taking home a $25,000 prize.

TONY BROWN also saw a return to TV, when he appeared on the Food Network series Guy’s Grocery Games for a special Mother’s Day episode. Brown and his mother, Marti, ended up winning the $20,000 grand prize.

Finally, an old downtown haunt returned when chef Adam Hegsted revived ELLA’S SUPPER CLUB as a oncemonthly dinner and jazz club. (CHEY SCOTT)

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

ABOVE: D’Bali Asian Bistro Owner Jeannie Choi.

RIGHT: The Coeur d’Alene Casino

CASINO RESORTS KEEP GROWING

The Inland Northwest’s tribal casinos and resorts rarely take a pause from looking for new ways to grow, and 2019 continued that trend. This year the COEUR D’ALENE CASINO in Worley, Idaho, put the finishing touches on a $15 million renovation of more than 65,000-square-feet of gaming and entertainment space. Besides new and improved gambling options, the event space is really the most eye-catching update. The project more than doubled the size of the stage, added new hi-resolution video screens and a new bar area for concert-goers to enjoy.

In Airway Heights, NORTHERN QUEST RESORT & CASINO pushed its footprint into new areas, like the opening of the Northern Quest RV Resort, which includes 67 RV spots as well as cottages for folks who’d like to stay outside the resort’s hotel but still take part in its concert, gaming and family entertainment

options like Kids Quest and Cyber Quest. In 2019 Northern Quest also featured its biggest-ever slate of summer concerts, taking advantage of the outdoor stage expansion completed a year prior, including shows by Judas Priest, Snoop Dogg, Steve Miller Band and Toby Keith. (DAN NAILEN)

JANUARY 2, 2020 INLANDER 27

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FIRST INTERSTATE CENTER FOR THE ARTS

No turtles are harmed in the making of Maayan Gordon’s art.

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

TECHNOLOGY

BLOWING UP

Spokane glass artist Maayan Gordon finds millions of fans and maybe a new career path via TikTok

BY QUINN WELSCH

M

aayan Gordon had only been using TikTok for a couple weeks when her videos started to blow up.

In her first video, Nicki Minaj’s “Moment 4 Life” plays as a group of artists rotate and torch a glass sea turtle. A pair of gloved hands attach an arm to the shell.

“NO Turtles were harmed in the making of this video,” she quips in the post.

It turns out, the glass art videos were hugely popular.

They were getting hundreds of thousands of plays. Music artists began asking for her to play their tracks in her videos. She was receiving thousands of comments on her videos, like “sksksksk” and “I oop” — internet slang from so-called “VSCO girls,” an online subculture of teen girls obsessed with camera filters and “aesthetic.”

“I’m only 28. I thought I was young and hip, but there’s all this stuff I don’t understand,” she tells the Inlander.

In October, she was getting as many as 100,000 followers in a day. Her sea turtle video now has 10 million plays,

and her page, @worldofglass, has drawn a following of more than 1.6 million since she joined TikTok in August.

Originally from Seattle, Gordon stumbled into glass art by trading her graphic design work for a glassblowing lesson a few years ago. Having acquired some dexterity through high school sports, the work came somewhat naturally to her, she says. She and her husband spent the next couple years going through the ups and downs of running a business out of their glassblowing studio, Monkey Boy Art, in northeast Spokane.

But now, Gordon, who earns about $3,000 a month through TikTok, says she’s shifting away from the nuts and bolts of glassmaking and into social media marketing and consulting.

For the uninitiated (aka, anyone over the age of 30), TikTok is a place for teens to lip synch and dance to dirty pop songs and share memes. Its focus is on short-length videos similar to Vine (#rip), but in a vertical full-screen format as opposed to the traditional landscape format on Instagram and Facebook, and it supplies users with

a large catalog of readily available music to accompany those videos.

There’s a lot of cringe-worthy content on TikTok… but it is fun. Even better, Mom and Dad haven’t caught on yet.

I

f you’re only familiar with a handful of functions on the old guard formats of Instagram and Facebook, TikTok can seem chaotic, messy and, honestly, sort of intimidating. But there is a method to the madness, Gordon says.

“They’ve figured out how to use technology to tap into deeper psychological factors. When you’re scrolling through Instagram or Facebook, you’re making a decision in micro-milliseconds whether you want to even look at a post,” she says. “With TikTok, you have to spend a full second to actually fully decide if [you] want to watch it or not. I have to focus much more with my eyeballs to understand what’s going on.” ...continued on next page

JANUARY 2, 2020 INLANDER 29

CULTURE | TECHNOLOGY TIKTOK SUGGESTIONS FROM A SOCIAL MEDIA SAVANT

More than 1.6 million people follow Gordon’s TikTok page @worldofglass.

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

“BLOWING UP,” CONTINUED...

TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese tech company that acquired the app for a reported $1 billion back in 2017, and boasts about 500 million users, with an emphasis on the Gen Z crowd, according to a New York Times article “How Tik Tok is Rewriting the World.” The app made headlines in November for its potential ties to the authoritarian Chinese leadership and is under scrutiny from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.

The big difference between TikTok and other social media apps is its algorithm-first approach. You don’t need to do any-

thing before the app starts studying your habits and curating new content for you to watch.

And while TikTok has yet to be fully embraced by everyone, Gordon sees entrepreneurial opportunity.

“The big fish always have an advantage in resources, but any time there’s an advancement in technology, it levels the playing field,” she says. “Businesses need to start paying attention to technology and how it’s affecting advertising.

Our adult brains will change to accommodate what younger people say.” n

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30 INLANDER JANUARY 2, 2020

1. Be consistent. You have to post at least once every day, but ideally 3-5 times daily.

2. Be efficient. Take all the videos or pictures at one time. Do all the editing in a session, then schedule your posts throughout the day or week.

3. Experiment. You won’t know your audience until you test out different types of content and styles of posts. If you get a creative idea, don’t be afraid to try it out.

4. Pay attention to colors. Certain colors catch people’s eyes and will make them pay more attention to your posts.

5. Write a caption that drives engagement.

Make sure that your caption adds some type of value to your post.

6. Respond to comments. This helps drive more engagement and also lets your followers know you care.

7. Try shorter videos. Ten to 15 seconds seems to be great for creating videos that people will watch in their entirety.

8. Think about posting like compound interest. There will be many days where it will feel like you’re not getting anywhere, but if you continue working and posting you will see the results long-term.

9. Create a hypothesis for every post. Test out different theories with your content and analyze your results.

10. Follow other popular creators. Get an idea of what works and stay up on any trends happening in the app.

— MAAYAN GORDON

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CULTURE | DIGEST

INTRODUCING: THE END IS NEAR Every once in a while, a sign will smack you in the face, delivering an unmistakable message: The shit is going down. Pick your favorite aphorism: The world’s going to hell in a handbasket. Something’s rotten in the state of Denmark. This aggression will not stand, man.

For me, it was watching the Johnsonville Cornhole Championships on ESPN. The pro “athletes” looked like Nascar drivers — decked head to toe in sponsor logos — and swished every beanbag they tossed in the beloved backyard game. I was transfixed. This is what the world has come to — a sausage-maker-backed “sport,” broadcasted from sea to shining sea, feeding Americans their rotten culture back to them in between frequent commercial breaks. Or, maybe, I was just having a bad day.

Either way, it’s spawned what will become a periodic feature in 2020 wherein we’ll detail the newest, scariest and funniest signs that the end is near. You’ll find a few of them on this page and in this space in the weeks to come. Enjoy! (JACOB H. FRIES)

Five New Shows to Stream in January

N

BY BILL FROST

ew Year, new you? Likely not — but at least there’s new TV to stream.

You’re thinking, “New TV? I’m not even caught up on last year’s shows!” Onward and upward, or at least fast-forward. Here are five new streaming shows to kick off the New Year.

REPRISAL (streaming now on Hulu) A flashy bouillabaisse of Tarantino pulp, rockabilly fetishism and neon-noir camp, Reprisal was lost in December’s streaming overload — that WTF? synopsis certainly didn’t help. The plot is simpler than the execution: a wronged woman (Abigail Spencer) out for revenge against the savage hot-rod gang who left her for dead.

Reprisal is weird and imperfect, but rarely dull.

THE WITCHER (streaming now on Netflix) Speaking of weird and imperfect, you’ve probably heard of The Witcher; former Superman Henry Cavill’s pecs and He-Man wig are nearly as meme-able as Baby

THE BUZZ BIN Yoda. For a Netflix series with a mild TV-MA rating, The Witcher is as much blood ’n’ boobs as it is swords ’n’ sorcery, like a dollar-store Game of Thrones with a sense of humor. Beats the hell out of The Mandalorian.

MEDICAL POLICE (Streaming Jan. 10 on Netflix) A sequel to 2010-16 Adult Swim cult favorite Childrens Hospital, Medical Police stars several OG series doctors (including Erinn Hayes and Rob Huebel) as undercover CDC agents recruited to stop a global bioterrorism plot.

It’s a mashup of Childrens Hospital and Jack Ryan that’s still less ridiculous than Jack Ryan, or (stay with me here) a sub-homage to Baywatch Nights.

CONSPICUOUS CONSUMPTION My hatred of all things Kardashian/Jenner has maintained a low boil since I got rid of cable, thereby denying myself the ability to hatewatch the vacuous clan’s shows. And yet, I still can’t get away from getting new THE END information about these people.

IS NEAR This Christmas, I learned the name of Kylie Jenner’s child (that would be Stormi — yes, with an “i”) because her parents decided to give the not-yet-2-year-old girl a diamond ring so massive media outlets like Cosmopolitan wrote stories about it. That ring was in addition to a “playhouse” for Stormi bigger than most Spokane apartments. (DAN NAILEN)

THE OUTSIDER (streaming Jan. 12 on HBO Now) The murder of a small-town Georgia child leads to a solid-but-not-really case against a teacher (Jason Bateman), so it’s up to a pair of mismatched PIs (Ben Mendelsohn and Cynthia Erivo) to crack it. Spoiler: The Outsider is based on a Stephen King novel; there’s supernaturalism afoot. As with King adaptation Mr. Mercedes (which no one saw), subtlety makes it work.

STAR TREK: PICARD (streaming Jan. 23 on CBS All Access) As annoyingly reductive as the nostalgia-reboot trend is, there’s always room for more Star Trek — if it involves Capt. Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), even better.

Picard picks up with the retired Starfleet commander in 2399, taking on a new mission with help from new and classic characters (including Borg Seven of Nine in odd militant-hippie mode). Make it so! n Visit billfrost.tv for more trenchant television coverage.

SIMPLE PLEASURES Tom Hooper’s big-screen adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Cats is the scariest movie of the year, a fever dream filled with terrifying bipedal THE END cat creatures cavorting around with human IS NEAR faces grafted onto their bodies. But it’s not the movie itself that’s a sign of oncoming doom: It’s that it’s tanking at the box office. I mean, whatever happened to the fine art of hate-watching? Why hasn’t everyone on the planet shelled out the dough to gawk at such a singular cinematic car crash? In my world, Cats outgrossed Star Wars. (NATHAN WEINBENDER) HEALTH, WHO CARES? NPR’s “Bill of the Month” dives into the absurdities of health care and the December feature takes the cake: A woman had a head cold and went to her doctor to get tested for strep throat, and THE END get antibiotics. Weeks later, IS NEAR she got a bill for more than $28,000 for the lab test, with her insurance offering to cover about $25,000 of that.

Turns out, her doctor ordered a series of DNA tests to figure out if any of a slew of viruses or bacteria were causing the cold, despite the fact it wouldn’t matter, because the treatment wouldn’t change. When that kind of highway robbery gets built into the health care system, the end of the tunnel is getting closer. (SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL)

BABY BOSSES A recent Forbes report revealed that some of the richest personalities on YouTube haven’t even graduated from kindergarten yet. The site’s top-five earners of the year include 5-year-old Nastya, whose THE END father films her going to the zoo and IS NEAR dancing to “Baby Shark,” and 8-year-old Ryan Kaji, who raked in $26 million in 2019 by unboxing toys and playing with them on camera. He even has his own toy line in Target. Apparently, kids can’t spend their free time climbing trees and scraping their knees anymore; they have to get a head-start on pleasing our capitalist overlords. (NATHAN WEINBENDER)

JANUARY 2, 2020 INLANDER 31

CULTURE | REWIND

Greatest Hits Compilation A year’s worth of the best submissions to our “I Saw You” page

BY DAN NAILEN

A

s Inlander staffers navigate the community, we inevitably hear from people that the “I Saw You” page is their “favorite thing in the paper.” After we get done crying, we staffers (usually) accept that people like what they like, and (hopefully) move on from the “I Saw You” page to other parts of the paper full of hard-hitting news, cultural criticism and entertainment tips.

I did a deep dive into 2019’s “I Saw You” offerings in an effort to better understand the appeal, and these are my 10 favorite entries, capturing all the romance, petty complaints and surreal tangents you can find weekly:

GOTTA BE MORE TO THIS STORY

Baseball Game Super Glue Accident: I’m sure you

32 INLANDER JANUARY 2, 2020

saw me. I was the young, blue-haired teenager covered in instant nail glue. You were the woman in a tank top trying to enjoy a baseball game. I should have stopped to apologize to you and see if you were okay. I did not do that. I’m so sorry. We were headed to the hospital immediately. I got it in my mouth and throat. You, unfortunately, got a splatter of super glue over your back. I still feel bad. I was trying to assist a friend with fixing her broken fingernail.

The tube of glue was jammed, and my brilliant idea to bite the tube and “fix” it bit us both back. I completely understand if you’re angry. I would have been too. Just know that kid at that baseball game didn’t do it on purpose, and got to explain what happened to several doctors at the ER, who probably agreed I was an idiot. Again, I’m sorry. (July 18)

NEAR NATURE, NEAR PERFECT

Manito fly fishing instructress: I was with a friend and saw you teaching fly casting from afar. I spoke to you about fly fishing for bonefish and cutthroats. You’re lovely and an artist of the fly cast. Should we talk? Or just share a half lit canyon with river and trout? Somewhere that nobody goes, except the deer? You are the keeper in these waters. Hope to see you again. (May 9)

NO WAY THIS IS REAL

What the heck! Pardon me for selling my SoCal mini mansion and moving to Spokane and finding this. Everyday is flannel day apparently. I was in the drive thru of Starbucks yesterday and couldn’t believe the tread of the tires in front of me. I took my daughter to take photo-

graphs of the city, do you know how many trees and birds got in the way of her perfect pictures? Also, the apples at the organic grocer are great with your added beard hair.

Does no one shave? (March 21)

WHEN BONNIE MET CLYDE

Cute biker boy: Handsome, tall, blonde/brown haired dude with old man/hipster glasses. You ride a red fixedgear bike with black rims and your frame is covered with stickers. I’m in love. Let’s rob a bank, get away on our bikes, and start a new life together in South America. You are HOT! (Sept. 19)

PROGRESS AT THE AIRPORT

Free bleeding: As a member of the human race whose uterine lining sometimes leaks out of her, I want to shout out Spokane International Airport for making the period products in their bathroom complimentary. Thanks for doing your part to make travel less stressful and more equitable! (Nov. 21)

’80S SOUNDTRACK

Teenage love and rockets: JB I saw you, in the hallways, in the high school. We embarked on a friendship, a romance, a teenage love and rockets. And when the teardrop exploded it was louder than bombs. Now, drifting, falling, 30 years on, it’s a question of time. With bells and horns in the back of beyond. If I could say anything, it would be I’m sorry, I tried to go beyond love and in the same deep water as you. Tonight, under the Milky Way, staring at the sea, I think about you with tenderness. (March 21)

TER GIC LAN N THEATER MA RD TH

MAYBE LET IT GO

I didn’t see you: Hey you three missing tortillas. It was 11:29 pm and my growling stomach led me to the Safeway on Northwest Boulevard for the ingredients to make my favorite meal. I had been dreaming about stuffing a melty cheesy quesadilla into my mouth and sped home to my apartment to create the culinary masterpiece. When my excited hands went to open the tortilla package, I discovered it was already open and I quickly took inventory of my new tortillas.

There were only 7 remaining of the original 10 that were advertised on the package.

This happened in 2001 and I am still forlorn and have dreams about you. I hope wherever you ended up you were happy. (Dec. 19)

WAIT FOR THE TWIST

Back in town: Hi Tom & Kathy, we see you have moved back to Spokane. We do not have your phone # so we are trying to reach you this way. Since we do have your address, several of us are planning to visit you. We will make it a surprise. We guess you heard about the office. It is sad to think that one person could destroy a business and ruin so many lives. Well, we will see you soon. (Oct. 31)

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Thanks for the consideration! Looking for a friend just like me: Physically in their 20s, emotionally about 8 years old, humor of a 5 year old, laughs like a 2 year old, relates to the nonphysical world, inspired by every color, shape, sound, strong will and desire to be alive and play all day, must enjoy other cultures of humanity, long conversations about how to empower others, and is a fan of drinking tea on floor cushions in my garden porch in the trees near the river.

Contact me by astral travel.

(June 27)

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13 year flipper: Cheers to the off-duty firefighter who flipped me off after I flipped him off: I just wanted to say I didn’t know you were a firefighter and I’m sorry for doing that and thanks for your service. (March 28) n

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DRINKS

Personal Prohibition How to keep your tastebuds happy this Dry January by getting out in the Inland Northwest

BY SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL

A

A Blue Moon Matcha, Grapefruit Spritzer and Black Tea Highball at Bijou. YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

34 INLANDER JANUARY 2, 2020

fter the excess of the holidays, as many people try to start eating a little better, a growing number each year are opting to take a month off alcohol by participating in Dry January.

For the uninitiated, going sober for those few cold, dark weeks of winter quickly illuminates just how often alcohol is involved in social settings, and it can make it easier to recognize and start addressing personal bad habits.

While there are debates over exactly how beneficial just a few weeks off can be, there are generally health perks — such as better sleep and possible weight loss — that can come with going sober or sober-ish.

That last word’s important: If your ultimate goal isn’t to permanently cut alcohol out of your life (in which case there are programs and medical professionals that can help) you may find more overall success by not thinking about this month of sobriety in pass/fail terms. If you wind up having a drink or two, or even spend a whole night out, it doesn’t have to be an excuse to give up your sober goal for the rest of the month. Start over the next day. It’s OK to spend the month sober-ish.

Because of America’s deep dependence on alcohol in social settings, it can seem like spending time with friends and being sober for the month are at odds, especially in the early weeks. But Dry January can be a great time to try new activities and visit places off your normal social circuit.

And for those who still crave that bar scene social time, there’s great news: you won’t be stuck with just soda, juice or water if you choose to go out.

R E S TA U R A N T Many local watering FINDER holes are more than Looking for a new place to happy to whip up a eat? Search the region’s personalized mocktail most comprehensive bar with unique flavor and restaurant guide at combinations that can Inlander.com/places. make it a lot easier to stick to your goal. Plus, you’ll quickly find those alcoholfree options easy on the wallet, with most ranging from $1 to $6.

Bijou owners Tyson and Shelayna Skidmore are familiar with mixing up flavors that tickle the taste buds with their Skidmore Alchemy line of bitters and many simple syrups they make with Rishi Tea. The tiny Browne’s Addition bar also offers a full coffee menu, and several soda options, but the chance to play around with flavors like cinnamon plum and blueberry mint is where the real fun comes in.

FOOD | OPENING For those who aren’t opposed to three to five drops of alcohol in a drink, Tyson Skidmore says a very popular option is to get soda or tonic water with a dash of bitters and some citrus zest.

With their in-house bitters line, flavor options include basil lavender, cherry, chocolate, curry, huckleberry jalapeño, and many more.

“When someone wants a nonalcoholic drink we try to work with their tastes,” he says. “Do you like smokey? Do you like sweet? Do you like citrus?”

Spitballing with the Inlander, Skidmore brainstorms a mock Old Fashioned, which could be served warm with 2 ounces of Lapsang Souchong tea, 1/2 ounce demerara simple syrup, and 1/4 ounce orange or cinnamon plum syrup.

Skidmore says he has plenty of friends who participate in Dry January, and while it differs from person to person, choosing to go out during the month can be a good option.

“Most of the time, when you’re not drinking, you want an activity, whether that’s cribbage or dominos, or something like shuffleboard,” he says. “Sometimes you just want to get out of the house and curl up in the corner of a quiet bar. I think of Cease & Desist Book Club, Volstead Act, Sapphire Lounge, places where you can find that atmosphere.”

For many, going out is about finding camaraderie, he says, which is something he’s seen growing at Bijou, which seats only seven inside, with standing room for others.

“You’re sort of stuck in conversation here. Though you don’t have to be part of it, you’re in it,” Skidmore says. “It’s nice because you aren’t so alone as you might be in a bigger bar.”

“Sometimes you just want to get out of the house and curl up in the corner of a quiet bar.”

About a mile up the road, in the west side of downtown, Steel Barrel offers a casual and popular nightlife setting for sipping on craft mocktails made with fresh-squeezed juices and house syrups.

As a major bonus for those who want to get out and do something, the brewery incubator on Madison Street offers shuffleboard and darts free of charge — FREE! — and there’s a shelf full of board games to help pass the time.

While Steel Barrel’s focus is primarily on beer, the full bar has a variety of soda and fruit juices, and plenty of off-menu options for those looking to avoid alcohol.

Feel free to draw inspiration from the cocktail menu and ask for a nonalcoholic mojito or margarita, or better yet, work with the bartender to create something suited to your tastes. With simple syrup flavors like rosemary and hops, as well as a full stock of fresh fruits and garnishes, the options are only limited by your imagination.

Go another block into the heart of downtown and you’ll find Gilded Unicorn, just off Monroe, offering another popular gathering spot to escape the cold.

Don’t pass on the food menu, which is full of ridiculously tasty options, from garlic cheesy bread appetizers (Bocce Rolls) to savory entrees like the Duck Stroganoff with mushroom gravy, which is solidly a “treat yo’ self” version of comfort food.

Berry lemonade made with fresh berry syrup is a popular option at Gilded, as are the mocktails from the printed menu, such as the Ramos Rose, made with cream, lime, berry and soda, and the often-ordered Tokyo Sakurambou, made with a sweet combination of ginger beer, cherry soda and orange bitters.

Chris Deitz, city director of Big Table Spokane, which in part helps industry workers address substance abuse, says other mocktail-friendly options include Durkin’s and Luna, while Iron Goat has kombucha on tap.

For those looking to avoid the bar atmosphere altogether, Indaba coffee on Riverside is regularly open until 10:30 pm, offering nightlife vibes in a quiet, modern setting. n

Raci Erdem’s new Liberty Lake spot is on target.

Headquarters of Happiness

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

A Liberty Lake venue is reshaped into the new neighborhood hangout Pentagon Bistro & Martini Bar

BY CARRIE SCOZZARO

T

he Pentagon doesn’t sound like a place one would expect to invoke enjoyment, yet that’s exactly what longtime restaurateur Raci Erdem hopes will be the case with his new Liberty Lake restaurant named for the D.C.-based military headquarters.

Erdem not only has a history of naming restaurants after iconic Washington D.C. institutions — the White House Grill and Oval Office, both in Idaho, and the former West Wing — he also has an admittedly irreverent sense of humor.

Take the photographs in the restrooms, for example. They’re of Dalmo Santos, Erdem’s original partner in the White House Grill, being silly. On another wall are framed photographs of local restaurants that have survived 20 years or more: Frank’s Diner, the Onion, the Elk, but also White House Grill. Another photo is from the Disney/Pixar animated film Ratatouille.

“This one is the first time I did not put my ego in the restaurant,” says Erdem, who sports a Sasquatch hoodie and faint stubble as he both answers questions and directs bustling staff.

He learned from prior experience opening the short-lived West Wing on the South Hill and had noticed that many customers at his Post Falls restaurants were from Liberty Lake. Besides a more manageable distance between his three locations, Erdem was also intrigued by the potential of the location which has been Café Liberty, Stilo’s, Barlow’s first location, and most recently the Cork House.

“I want people to come gather here,” says Erdem, noting the proximity to a lot of businesses and residential homes. “Neighborhood restaurants are it,” he adds, noting that the kitchen stays open until 11 pm and the bar even later to create more of a social club environment.

Pulling much of his menu inspiration from the Oval Office, Pentagon offers numerous shared plates: baked Brie in phyllo dough ($12), spicy Brussels sprouts ($9.50) and Indian naan pizza ($11), a new dish. Entrees include chicken fettuccine ($16), a lamb burger ($14) and large salads, such as the Moroccan spinach salad ($6.50/$9.50).

Most of the changes Erdem made to Pentagon involved décor, such as the bright yellow walls and a revamped bar space. Look for a few new cocktails that poke fun at prominent people in both political parties of the Turkish-born chef’s adopted country.

When he opened up the kitchen to offer a partial view into its inner workings, for example, Erdem installed satirical political artwork on either side of the opening: one Republican, one Democrat.

“I had to separate them from each other,” quips Erdem. n Pentagon Bistro & Martini Bar • 1400 N. Meadowwood Ln., Liberty Lake • Open daily 11 am-11 pm • Facebook: Pentagon Bistro & Martini • 891-7790

JANUARY 2, 2020 INLANDER 35

FOOD | OPENING

Fun and Games

Games and grub go hand in hand at downtown Spokane’s new Flatstick Pub.

Seattle-based Flatstick Pub brings food, beer and fun for all ages to downtown Spokane

BY CONNOR GILBERT

“T

here are only two rules at Flatstick Pub,” the Seattle-based casual eatery states on its website: “Drink local and have fun.”

That fun recently arrived to downtown Spokane with the regional chain’s new location on Main Avenue on the ground floor of the M Building and near Riverfront Park.

Flatstick offers drinks, food, a challenging nine-hole miniature golf course and a variety of games for people of all ages. Murals by Seattle artist Ryan Henry Ward and other artists cover the walls of the expansive space, along with massive windows and a high, vaulted ceiling.

It looks like they’re going to need every inch of that space, too. The new location proved popular almost immediately after its debut, with more than 400 memberships sold during Flatstick’s Dec. 7 grand opening. Those lifetime memberships go for $99 a pop and include a T-shirt, pint glass and bottle opener, in addition to free access to Flatstick’s many pub games and member-only events and benefits.

Owners Andy and Sam Largent, brothers and Spokane natives, had long been waiting to expand to the eastern part of the state since opening the original Flatstick location in Kirkland in 2014. Since then, they’ve added locations in Seattle’s South Lake Union and Pioneer Square, along with Spokane, and plan to add two

36 INLANDER JANUARY 2, 2020

more restaurants on the west side.

“It’s kind of like their coming-home tour,” says Rob Forbes, Flatstick’s brand manager.

A wide variety of locally crafted beverages is Flatstick’s calling card. The Spokane location currently touts 34 choices, including 24 beers specifically from Washington breweries, alongside hard seltzers, ciders, draft cocktails and wine. Drinks are $1.50 cheaper during happy hour, Monday through Friday from 3-6 pm, and tap choices are always rotating, meaning guests are likely to see new options during each visit. The full tap list is continually updated on Flatstick’s website.

“It’s a great community that we’re bringing to Spokane,” Forbes says of incorporating local breweries from both sides of the state.

“Spokane needs something like that. It’s about working with the breweries, making fun events and bringing people together.”

A Flatstick Pub app serves as a digital beer punch card with 16 levels of rewards and allows users to keep score while playing in-house games. As with the other locations, the pub is completely cashless, primarily to make transactions easier and faster.

“It’s very efficient,” Forbes says. “We get through lines faster and it makes it easy on our staff… It’s just

ERICK DOXEY PHOTO

swipe and go. You can open your tab and we don’t need to hold on to your card.”

The food menu, created in collaboration with Seattle chef Ethan Stowell, includes a variety of brick-oven pizzas ranging from classics to more original creations ($14-$17).

The pizzas, which feed roughly two, are only $10 during the pub’s regular happy hour, and during a daily latenight pizza happy hour from 10 pm to close.

A mix of salads ($11-$13) and other snacks are also available. Classic bar food like french fries ($7) and spicy chicken wings ($12) are present and accounted for, along with specialty items like multi-flavored monkey bread ($6) and charcuterie ($16), a good option for groups.

Beyond the beer and food, it’s the games that keep people coming, and there’s plenty to choose from.

Miniature golf is a Flatstick Pub mainstay, but a game the Largent brothers invented — “Duffleboard,” a tabletop mix of golf and pool — is less of a time commitment and offers more fast-paced fun. Golf is $7 per round and Duffelboard is $4, while buying a pass to play games of each is $10. A variety of smaller games are located around the pub floor, waiting to be explored.

Forbes says Flatstick plans to host a variety of community events, including golf tournaments and socials for its members.

Customers under age 21 are welcome before 7 pm and a visit can be great for a family mini-golf outing or daytime meal. But young ones are certainly not the only patrons encouraged to have a good time.

“Everyone lets loose and has a good time,” Forbes says. “The adults are often having more fun than the kids.” n food@inlander.com Flatstick Pub • 618 W. Main Ave. • Open Sun-Thu 11 am-midnight, Fri-Sat 11 am-2 am; 21+ only after 7 pm • flatstickpub.com • 368-9477

TOP 10

A DECADE

CLOSES Our picks for the best films of 2019

BY NATHAN WEINBENDER

I

n storytelling, tone is a delicate thing. Take one step too far in a certain direction, or lean too heavily on one style over another, and the spell is broken. But so many of 2019’s best movies took big chances and successfully oscillated between seemingly conflicting poles — consider the undefinable genre gymnastics of Parasite, the mix of broad comedy and wounding drama in Marriage Story, the queasy hilarity that propels Uncut Gems.

Before I get into my top 10 proper, here’s another handful of movies (in no particular order) that also made an impression on me.

Consider them in a tie for 11th place. u The Aretha Franklin concert film Amazing Grace and the NASA visual essay Apollo 11, historical texts refurbished for 21st century audiences u One Cut of the Dead from Japan and Long Day’s Journey into Night from China, both using long, unbroken takes to wildly different effect — one for slapstick comedy, the other for dreamlike abstraction u Marielle Heller’s A Beautiful Day in

the Neighborhood, a strange and gentle testament to the power of kindness u The Last Black Man in San Francisco, a collaboration between director Joe Talbot and star Jimmie Fails, which used flights of fantasy and bursts of musicality to explore urban gentrification u Greta Gerwig’s luminous Little Women, which found something fresh to say about a 150-year-old novel u Us, another stylish, disarmingly funny horror film from Jordan Peele about identity, race and class u Jennifer Kent’s brutal revenge tale The Nightingale, which upends genre conventions as it reveals the cultural scars of colonialism u Olivia Wilde’s uproarious and inventive teen comedy Booksmart, the funniest American film of the year u Diane, by film historian Kent Jones, a meditation on the beautiful mundanity of life, aging and death ...continued on next page

Adam Sandler in Uncut Gems.

JANUARY 2, 2020 INLANDER 37

FILM | TOP 10 “A DECADE CLOSES,” CONTINUED...

And that’s just scratching the surface. Of the nearly 200 new releases I saw in the last 12 months, the following titles are the ones that surprised, enchanted and moved me most, that took the notions of conventional narrative structure and smashed them to bits, the movies that I’ll be thinking about and arguing about and revisiting over and over again.

tography and a deliberately overwhelming sound design, and its bracing lead performance by Elisabeth Moss inspires as much awe as genuine fear.

4. THE LIGHTHOUSE

10. PAIN & GLORY

Pedro Almodóvar has often mined his life and career in metatextual ways, yet this is the closest he’s gotten to a cinematic memoir. Antonio Banderas, who owes his career to Almodóvar, does his best-ever work as a fictional version of the great Spanish filmmaker, confronting his own physical deterioration and reflecting on the decisions he’s made with wistfulness and maybe a tinge of regret.

Pain & Glory

9. ASH IS PUREST WHITE

3. PARASITE

From Chinese master Jia Zhangke, this begins as the tale of a gangster and the woman who loves him but soon becomes, following a moment of sacrifice and a journey toward independence, something much deeper. It’s really a study in contrasts — of a life in crime versus a life lived honestly, of China’s hard-and-fast traditions coexisting with its newfound modernity — that has the sweep of a great novel.

Bong Joon-ho’s twistiest contraption yet, the story of a con artist family insinuating itself into a wealthy household and getting much more than they bargained for.

He’s never been one for subtlety — not only does he trot out Metaphors-with-a-capital-M, his characters comment on how metaphorical they are — but Bong manages to make this into a compelling look at the literal and figurative barriers separating the haves and the have nots, an evisceration of capitalistic tyranny that has the clockwork timing of a screwball comedy. It’s shocking, hilarious, biting and unbearably tense, sometimes within the same scene.

8. THE FAREWELL

Another portrait of contemporary China, this one a bittersweet comedy about the universality of grief and how different cultures deal with death. Writer-director Lulu Wang was inspired by her own family and even cast some of them as fictional versions of themselves, and she details how they all conspired to keep her beloved grandmother in the dark about her own terminal cancer diagnosis. Funny, yes, but also quietly devastating, and buoyed by rich, humane performances from Awkwafina and Zhao Shuzhen.

2. THE IRISHMAN Her Smell

7. MARRIAGE STORY

Noah Baumbach, the poet laureate of bilious comedies featuring prickly artist types, has made one of the most generous films about the pains and contradictions of divorce. Anchored by brilliant performances from Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson, Baumbach gets uncomfortably close to a couple coming apart at the seams, letting us in on the minutiae of the legal process and the daily microaggressions that boil over into contempt. It’s a movie of small, nearly imperceptible gestures, and the cumulative power of everything you’ve seen comes crashing into you at the very end.

6. ONCE UPON A TIME… IN HOLLYWOOD

Parasite

5. HER SMELL

38 INLANDER JANUARY 2, 2020

A towering American epic from Martin Scorsese, who revisits the themes and motifs that have defined his career and imbues them with an old timer’s wisdom. Robert De Niro hasn’t been this good in so long, playing a middleman for the mob who alienates his own family and buddies up to Jimmy Hoffa over the course of 50-plus years. At 200 minutes, the film has the luxury to show us the scope of an entire life, and it ends as a rebuke to so many flashy gangster stories that Scorsese’s influence has wrought, emphasizing the hopelessness and loneliness of the violent men he has so long been fascinated by.

1. UNCUT GEMS

The first time I saw Quentin Tarantino’s ode to Tinseltown and the waning moments of ’60s innocence, it seemed a bit too shaggy and shapeless for its own good.

Rarely has a movie transformed so completely upon rewatch: All its apparent lulls and discursions serve a dramatic purpose, and while some of its narrative decisions still give me pause (it launched a thousand think pieces for a reason), it’s a surprisingly wistful period piece that luxuriates in the look and feel of a bygone era.

Intense, challenging and, in the end, weirdly cathartic, Alex Ross Perry’s portrait of a rock star in the final stages of her downward spiral is one of the most unapologetically raw depictions of excess I’ve ever seen. It practically pummels you with the sheer force of its vision, trapping you in its protagonist’s headspace with woozy cinema-

A wind-whipped nightmare, a deranged comedy, a slimy Lovecraftian mystery — The Lighthouse is oh so many things, none of them easily definable. As with his impressive debut The Witch, Robert Eggers wrings paranoia and pitch-black humor from a plot that has the allegorical simplicity of a folk tale, with Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe hamming it up as lighthouse keepers who succumb to the claustrophobia and isolation of their jobs. On top of everything else, its disturbing, stomach-churning imagery is made lustrous by the most beautiful black-andwhite photography this side of the German expressionist movement.

The Irishman

Josh and Benny Safdie really get a kick out of ratcheting up our blood pressures, and they do it a million times over with this white-knuckle, ticking-clock thriller that places the unbearable weight of one man’s increasingly bad decisions squarely on our shoulders. In one of their wildest gambits, the Safdies have cast Adam Sandler as their tragic hero, and he reminds you how WEEKEND great he can be when C O U N T D OW N he actually tries. His Get the scoop on this Howard Ratner is a weekend’s events with Long Island jeweler our newsletter. Sign up at and compulsive gamInlander.com/newsletter. bler who’s always in the process of making just one more bet to get himself out of the red, and he’s the kind of weirdly charismatic stooge who’s either the dumbest guy on the planet or a stealth genius. Hilariously tense and exquisitely structured, Uncut Gems harkens back to the down-and-dirty filmmaking of the 1970s, with overlapping dialogue and restless cinematography and a bustling cast of two-timers and petty crooks played by a mix of amateurs and old pros. It’s exhilarating and horrifying in equal measure, and features some of the most electric, unpredictable filmmaking of the year. n

FILM | SHORTS

The Grudge

OPENING FILMS THE GRUDGE

Yet another remake of the Japanese horror hit about a vengeful curse that haunts a house where a murder once took place. Expect creaky ghosts with stringy hair. (NW) Rated R

MYSTIFY: MICHAEL HUTCHENCE

INXS singer Michael Hutchence was a mesmerizing frontman, leading a band of Aussie pop-rock savants to international fame that for a time rivaled that of his buddy Bono’s U2. After achieving stadium-packing heights, though, the band’s trajectory came crashing

down under strange circumstances that culminated with the singer’s 1997 suicide. I got to see an advance screening of the new documentary Mystify: Michael Hutchence, and it’s a must for fans. Not only will the joy of INXS’s rise to fame bring back fond memories for fans, but it reveals the never-before-public violent attack Hutchence suffered — a brain injury that led to a new darkness in his personality, addiction and, ultimately, his demise. Mystify: Michael Hutchence screens at Regal Northtown on Jan. 7 at 7 pm. (DAN NAILEN)

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

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

BOMBSHELL

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

CATS

A true boondoggle for the ages, an eyesearing, nightmare-inducing CGI spectacle based on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical about singing, dancing felines.

So inexplicable it’s almost worth seeing.

(NW) Rated PG

FORD V. FERRARI

From director James Mangold, a slick

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

FROZEN II

Solid sequel to the Disney juggernaut, with Queen Elsa, Princess Anna and friends venturing into the wintry wilderness to save their kingdom from a mysterious force of the past. There’s no “Let It Go,” but it’s good enough. (NW) Rated PG

JOJO RABBIT

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

LEVEL

THE INLANDER

JUMANJI: THE NEXT

Another week, another unnecessary sequel. The teens from the first Jumanji return — with their grandpas this time

NEW YORK VARIETY (LOS ANGELES) TIMES

METACRITIC.COM (OUT OF 100)

BOMBSHELL

64

CATS

32

FROZEN II

65

JUMANJI: THE NEXT LEVEL

58

LITTLE WOMEN

91

THE RISE OF SKYWALKER

54

UNCUT GEMS

89

DON’T MISS IT

NOW PLAYING A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

CRITICS’ SCORECARD

WORTH $10

— and leap back into the video game realm to rescue a missing friend. (MJ) Rated PG-13

KNIVES OUT

Rian Johnson’s all-star whodunit centers on the death of a wealthy patriarch, and the craven relatives that would profit off his demise. As a mystery, it’s merely OK. As an evisceration of the one percent, it’s satisfying. (NW) Rated PG-13

LITTLE WOMEN

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

PARASITE

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

Surprises abound. At the Magic Lantern.

(NW) Rated R

WATCH IT AT HOME

SKIP IT

RICHARD JEWELL

Clint Eastwood takes on the FBI and the media in his portrait of the security guard wrongfully accused as the bomber of the ’96 Olympics. Indifferently structured and styled, it aims at big targets and misses. (MJ) Rated R

SPIES IN DISGUISE

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

STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER

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

UNCUT GEMS

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

JANUARY 2, 2020 INLANDER 39

Buffalo Jones recorded their new album in Athens, Georgia.

NEW RELEASE

The Right Stuff

Spokane’s Buffalo Jones releases their new album, produced by indie-rock pioneer David Lowery

BY DAN NAILEN

40 INLANDER JANUARY 2, 2020

B

RAJAH BOSE PHOTO

eing a Spokane band with some ambition comes with inherent challenges. Among them, long drives between tour dates, the openings and closings of venues, and the possibility of overexposing yourself to the dedicated fans of local live music if you play too many shows in our relatively small scene.

Buffalo Jones has been navigating those challenges for more than a decade, and much of it is recounted in “Every Word,” a new song that winningly encapsulates the experiences of working musicians (“there were nights when we knew all 12 people in the room”) while name-dropping Spokane venues past and present and expressing wonder that the band’s been able to keep going (“after all this time, our light it flickers still”).

“We’ve never been the biggest band in Spokane,” jokes singer/guitarist Jason Johnson, “but we’ve lasted longer than almost every band in Spokane.”

“Every Word” is one of nine songs on Buffalo Jones’ new album Standing By, a set the quartet — Johnson,

PAGING DR. LOWERY David Lowery’s had one of the more interesting careers in modern rock music. Over the past 30-plus years, he’s gone from being the lead singer and primary songwriter of a weirdo punk-ska crew in a surf town (Camper Van Beethoven), to a platinum-selling band leader during so-called “alternative” rock’s commercial heyday with Cracker, to, now, sharing his expertise on the music business and artists’ rights as a professor at the University of Georgia.

In between semesters, the Ph.D. in higher education goes on the road with Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven, still playing 60-80 shows a year for fans who still revere tunes like “Take the Skinheads Bowling,” “Ambiguity Song,” “Low” and “Get Off This.”

And to hear Lowery tell it, the path from playing punk clubs and dive bars in the ’80s to a college campus in Athens, Georgia, was natural thanks to his first band’s early decision making, and one strong mentor.

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“We had this sort of random, rich rancher cowboy guy, I’m not kidding,” Lowery says. “Like out of a frickin’ movie. He loaned us a truck to go out and do our first shows out of state, he loaned us money to press our first record.

And he played in a band, and he helped set the tone. So we set up our own record company, our own publishing company, we copyrighted our own material. We were pretty sophisticated right from the start.”

The lessons learned as an indie band and indie label served Lowery well when Camper Van Beethoven and then Cracker later recorded for major labels, and gave Lowery a keen sense of how rough the streaming era is for artists once the digital revolution hit. He’s penned a couple of viral pieces on music’s streaming economy: Google “Meet the New Boss, Worse Than the Old Boss?

My Song Got Played on Pandora a Million Times and All I Got Was $16.89” and you might think twice about listening to your favorite band online.

—DAN NAILEN

01/02 THE PHARCYDE 01/05 CRACKER CAMPER VAN BEETHOVEN BUFFALO JONES 01/09 HORSE FEATHERS 01/12 THE KNIT PRESENTS SHOOTER JENNINGS 01/17 HILLSTOMP

guitarist Brandon Humphreys, bassist Andy Rumsey and drummer Joshua Martin — recorded in Athens, Georgia, with David Lowery, the leader of indie-rock pioneers Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven. Lowery does a little producing when he’s not busy teaching classes on the economics and finance of the music industry at the University of Georgia. (See “Paging Dr. Lowery.”) He’ll bring both his bands to Spokane for a show that will be the release party for Buffalo Jones’ album and the culmination of a short-but-sprawling western tour.

The circumstances of Buffalo Jones working with Lowery came through a strange night in the Tri-Cities, when Cracker found themselves without an opening band, or any gear to actually perform the show. A mutual friend contacted Johnson and Buffalo Jones motored down with a van full of equipment for a show where, Johnson says, “no soundman showed up. Bad stuff.”

“It was this really weird kind of club that seemed to have people quitting just as we were loading in and setting up,” Lowery recalls over the phone from his Georgia home. “[Buffalo Jones] had a really good sense of humor about it, and then they played and we’re like, ‘Wow, these guys are good.’”

That was a few years ago, and Buffalo Jones has regularly opened for Lowery’s bands in Portland and Seattle since. After one of those shows about a year ago, Johnson half-jokingly suggested Lowery produce Buffalo Jones’ next record. Lowery emailed him the next day and they started planning for some summer sessions.

N

ot every band could make their way across the country to spend 11 days recording, but Buffalo Jones was in the position to pull it off. Humphreys and Martin are teachers and would be on summer break, and Rumsey and Johnson could make it happen.

“I’ve been listening to Cracker since I was 12,” says the 38-year-old Johnson. “It was the kind of opportunity where, I wouldn’t be

David Lowery (second from right) and Camper Van Beethoven.

01/18 FUNKY UNKLE

able to live with myself if I said, ‘Hey, sorry, David.’”

Buffalo Jones brought 15 new songs to Athens and played through them all for a day as Lowery listened before they recorded for 10 days in the windowless studio space where the guys also slept.

The nine songs that made the cut include two featuring Lowery on vocals, and was mostly recorded live, with the whole band in a room playing the songs over and over again until they got a take they liked. While the overall sound isn’t a giant move away from Buffalo Jones’ older albums, it’s a tight collection of rootsy rock with the best songwriting of the band’s career so far.

“For most of it, [Lowery] liked our songs and wanted them to be what they are,” Johnson says. “The record itself is the best-sounding record we’ve done. It’s definitely the biggest rock record we’ve done.”

Humphreys concurs. “It’s more ‘live’ feeling,” the guitarist says. “That really is us as a band. I’m so glad we tracked it live. There’s some bands where that’s part of the charm.

Tight, but loose. … We’re a live band.”

Lowery enjoyed the experience as well, and notes that he doesn’t produce many records these days because there’s just not much money in recorded music. But watching Buffalo Jones the last few years inspired him.

“If there’s anybody out there who represents what I really consider the true spirit of indie rock — recording it yourself, writing your own songs, doing it your own way, getting in the van and driving all night — true believers in indie-rock ideals, it has to be these guys,” Lowery says. “And like many bands that have been together so long, they’ve really honed their craft, their songwriting, the way they play together. It’s a dying art almost, what bands like Buffalo Jones do.” n

01/19 ZONKY JAZZ NIGHT

Cracker, Camper Van Beethoven and Buffalo Jones • Sun, Jan. 5 at 7 pm • $25-$30 • 21+ • Lucky You Lounge • 1801 W. Sunset Blvd. • luckyoulounge.com

01/30 DOWN NORTH

BASEMENT SHOWS EVERY

THURSDAY

SPONSORED BY GLOBAL CREDIT UNION 01/09 SCOTT RYAN / CATE 01/16 BLUE DISCO 01/23 MARINA OBSCURA 01/30 DATE NIGHT

DJ’S EVERY FRIDAY & SATURDAY 10PM-2AM IN THE BASEMENT 01/03 OFFICIAL CALEB 01/04 DJ EXODUS 01/10 ROSETHROW 01/11 STORME 01/17 OFFICIAL CALEB 9/22 NOAH GUNDERSEN 01/18 WESONE 01/24 ROSETHROW 01/25 STORME 01/31 AYZIM 1801 W SUNSET BLVD. LUCKYYOULOUNGE.COM

JANUARY 2, 2020 INLANDER 41

MUSIC | SOUND ADVICE

PUNK WASTED BREATH

H

eads up, Spokane — the first great local show of 2020 is happening this weekend. The headliners: hard rock trio Wasted Breath. The occasion: the release of their self-titled debut album, which is going to be distributed through the local label Blackhouse Records and follows the band’s five-track, 12-minute EP that came out in 2018.

This new LP is as fast and furious and timelesssounding as you’d expect, with tenacious riffs that keep coming at you with fangs bared. The upcoming release show has Wasted Breath backed by a who’s who of A-plus Spokane artists — the feline punk quartet Itchy Kitty, the thrashy and surfy sounds of Bad Motivator and the long-running Coeur d’Alene punk favorites Scatterbox.

— NATHAN WEINBENDER Wasted Breath Album Release with Scatterbox, Bad Motivator and Itchy Kitty • Fri, Jan. 3 at 7:30 pm • $8 • All ages • The Big Dipper • 171 S. Washington St. • bigdipperevents.com • 863-8098

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

Thursday, 01/2

A&P’S BAR AND GRILL, Open Mic Night with KC Carter BERSERK, Vinyl Meltdown BEVERLY’S, Robert Vaughn J BOOTS BAKERY & LOUNGE, The Song Project BRIDGE PRESS CELLARS, Open Mic J BUCER’S COFFEEHOUSE PUB, Open Jazz Jam with Erik Bowen CRUISERS, Open Jam Night FIZZIE MULLIGANS, Country Dance J HOUSE OF SOUL, Jazz Thursdays LION’S LAIR, Karaoke with Donny Duck J LUCKY YOU LOUNGE, The Pharcyde, Kung Fu Vinyl J MONARCH MOUNTAIN COFFEE, Open Mic Hosted by Scott Reid MOOSE LOUNGE, Country Night with Last Chance Band MY PLACE, DJ Dave THE NYC PIANO BAR, Dueling Pianos: Dinner and a Show THE RIDLER PIANO BAR, Dueling Pianos feat. Christan Raxter & Steve Ridler THE ROCK BAR & LOUNGE, The Rock Jam Series TAPP’D OFF, Karaoke on the Patio YAYA BREWING COMPANY, Jonathan Tibbetts ZOLA, Blake Braley Band

Friday, 01/3

J 49 DEGREES NORTH, One Street Over ARBOR CREST WINE CELLARS, Spare Parts Trio BEVERLY’S, Robert Vaughn

42 INLANDER JANUARY 2, 2020

ROCK ERIC JOHNSON

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ric Johnson’s style is a true fusion, one that’s impossible to box in. The Grammywinning guitarist cherry-picks from jazz and blues, with some new age and folk influences thrown in for good measure, but his technique is still distinct enough that he’s had his own namesake line of Fender Stratocasters.

He’s probably best known outside guitar buff circles for the bright, dextrous instrumental “Cliffs of Dover,” though you don’t have to be an ax slayer yourself to recognize the true magic that comes out of his fingers. Johnson is calling this particular tour Classics: Present and Past, and it bridges the various eras and periods of his long career into a cohesive whole.

— NATHAN WEINBENDER Eric Johnson • Wed, Jan. 8 at 8 pm • $32-$52 • All ages • Bing Crosby Theater • 901 W. Sprague Ave. • bingcrosbytheater.com • 227-7638 J J THE BIG DIPPER, Wasted Breath Album Release (see above) with Itchy Kitty, Scatterbox & Bad Motivator BOLO’S, My Own Worst Enemy BOOMBOX PIZZA, Karaoke BRIDGE PRESS CELLARS, SideStep J BUCER’S COFFEEHOUSE PUB, Pick Axe CHINOOK STEAK, PASTA AND SPIRITS (CDA CASINO), Wiebe Jammin CORBY’S BAR, Karaoke COSMIC COWBOY GRILL, Nick Canger CRUISERS, Karaoke with Gary EAGLE’S LODGE, Sweet Memories J FORZA COFFEE CO. (SOUTH HILL), Lucas McIntyre

HAPPY TRAILS TO BREWS, Kyle Richard HOGFISH, Dodgy Mountain Men J IRON GOAT BREWING CO., Lucas Brookbank Brown IRON HORSE (COEUR D’ALENE), The Rub LUCKY YOU LOUNGE, Party Jams with DJ Official Caleb MAX AT MIRABEAU, DA & The Blue Notes MICKDUFF’S BEER HALL, Devon Wade MULLIGAN’S BAR & GRILLE, Ron Greene MY PLACE, DJ Dave NASHVILLE NORTH, Ladies Night with Luke Jaxon and DJ Tom

THE NYC PIANO BAR, Dueling Pianos: Dinner and a Show PACIFIC PIZZA, The Naturalystics PEND D’OREILLE WINERY, Dustin Drennen PEND OREILLE PLAYHOUSE, Open Mic THE RIDLER PIANO BAR, Dueling Pianos feat. Christan Raxter & Steve Ridler J RIVER CITY BREWING, Marina Obscura J SARANAC COMMONS, Kevin Partridge SILVER MOUNTAIN SKI RESORT, Son of Brad (at Noah’s) STORMIN’ NORMAN’S SHIPFACED SALOON, DJ Danger

J WEST CENTRAL EPISCOPAL MISSION, Lacey Brown ZOLA, Haze

Saturday, 01/4

ARBOR CREST WINE CELLARS, Hanna Rebecca BEVERLY’S, Robert Vaughn THE BIG DIPPER, House Therapy feat.

Radikill, SKIPPER, Kinda Spicy & FYSH BOLO’S, My Own Worst Enemy BRIDGE PRESS CELLARS, Lucas Brookbank Brown & Friends J BUCER’S COFFEEHOUSE PUB, Jake Hanchey CHINOOK STEAK, PASTA AND SPIRITS (CDA CASINO), Wiebe Jammin

MUSIC | VENUES COSMIC COWBOY GRILL, Gemini Dei CURLEY’S, Mojo Box THE FISCHIN’ HOLE SALOON, Pamela Jean IRON HORSE (COEUR D’ALENE), The Rub THE JACKSON ST., Karaoke LAKERS INN, Bad Motivator, BattleSex, Hobo Hangout MAX AT MIRABEAU, DA & The Blue Notes MOOTSY’S, Greying, The Hague, Depth Charger MULLIGAN’S BAR & GRILLE, Kosh NASHVILLE NORTH, Ladies Night with Luke Jaxon and DJ Tom THE NYC PIANO BAR, Dueling Pianos: Dinner and a Show PEND D’OREILLE WINERY, Monarch Mountain Band POST FALLS BREWING COMPANY, Son of Brad THE RIDLER PIANO BAR, Dueling Pianos feat. Christan Raxter & Steve Ridler J RIVER CITY BREWING, Chicken on the Bone SILVER MOUNTAIN SKI RESORT, Echo

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Elysium (at Noah’s) STORMIN’ NORMAN’S SHIPFACED SALOON, DJ Danger ZOLA, Haze

Sunday, 01/5

CRAVE, DJ Dave DALEY’S CHEAP SHOTS, Rev. Yo’s VooDoo Church of Blues Jam GARLAND PUB & GRILL, Karaoke HOGFISH, Open Mic IRON HORSE (VALLEY), Jan Harrison Duo LINGER LONGER LOUNGE, Open Jam J LUCKY YOU LOUNGE, Cracker, Camper Van Beethoven, Buffalo Jones MARYHILL WINERY SPOKANE, Mark Holt THE NYC PIANO BAR, Dueling Pianos: Dinner and a Show O’DOHERTY’S IRISH GRILLE, Traditional Irish Music PEND D’OREILLE WINERY, Piano Sunday with Annie Welle RED ROOM LOUNGE, Jason Perry Trio THE ROXIE, Hillyard Billys ZOLA, Glass Honey

Monday, 01/6

THE BULL HEAD, Songsmith Series J CALYPSOS COFFEE ROASTERS, Open Mic COSMIC COWBOY GRILL, Pat Coast CRAVE, DJ Dave

EICHARDT’S, Monday Night Jam with Truck Mills THE NYC PIANO BAR, Dueling Pianos: Dinner and a Show RED ROOM LOUNGE, Open Mic with Lucas Brookbank Brown ZOLA, Perfect Mess

Tuesday, 01/7

219 LOUNGE, Karaoke with DJ Pat BOOMBOX PIZZA, Karaoke CRAVE, DJ Dave GARLAND PUB & GRILL, Karaoke THE NYC PIANO BAR, Dueling Pianos: Dinner and a Show RAZZLE’S BAR & GRILL, Open Mic Jam THE RIDLER PIANO BAR, Country Swing Dancing THE ROXIE, Open Mic/Jam SWEET LOU’S RESTAURANT AND TAP HOUSE, Gemini Dei TAPP’D OFF, Karaoke on the Patio THE VIKING, Songsmith Series ZOLA, Desperate 8s

Wednesday, 01/8

291 BREWHOUSE, Pat Simmons BEVERLY’S, Robert Vaughn J J BING CROSBY THEATER, Eric Johnson Classics: Present & Past (see facing page) CRAVE, DJ Dave CRUISERS, Open Jam Night Hosted by The Jam Band GENO’S TRADITIONAL FOOD &

ALES, Open Mic with Host Travis Goulding IRON HORSE (COEUR D’ALENE), Open Jam IRON HORSE (VALLEY), Kyle Swafford THE JACKSON ST., Karaoke LEFTBANK WINE BAR, Carey Brazil LION’S LAIR, Funk You Up Wednesdays w/ Storme LUCKY’S IRISH PUB, DJ D3VIN3 MAD BOMBER BREWING COMPANY, Open Mic THE NYC PIANO BAR, Dueling Pianos: Dinner and a Show RED ROOM LOUNGE, Blowin’ Kegs Jam Session THE RIDLER PIANO BAR, Dueling Pianos feat. Christan Raxter & Steve Ridler SOULFUL SOUPS & SPIRITS, Open Mic ZOLA, Cruxie

Coming Up ...

LUCKY YOU LOUNGE, Horse Feathers, Nick Delffs, Jan. 9 J KNITTING FACTORY, The M Show

by Mateusz Wolski, Jan. 11 THE HIVE, Yonder Mountain String Band, Jan. 12 LUCKY YOU LOUNGE, Shooter Jennings, Jan. 12 J BING CROSBY THEATER, Big Head Todd & The Monsters with JD SIMO, Jan. 14 J NORTHERN QUEST RESORT & CASINO, The Commodores, Jan. 16

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

JANUARY 2, 2020 INLANDER 43

As part of First Friday, don’t miss the solo exhibition by Joe Hedges at the Chase Gallery inside Spokane City Hall.

ARTS NEW YEAR, NEW ART

The first First Friday of 2020 is packed with must-see exhibits and local arts immersion. One highlight on the calendar for January is Shifting Horizons: Perspectives on Landscape and Our Relationship to the Planet, showing at the Wonder Building, with art by Laura Truitt and Victoria Brace. The exhibition explores land abuse, climate change and the character of place. We also recommend the deeply contemplative Too Frozen to Bury group show at Richmond Art Collective and a stop

by Iron Goat Brewing to see Elliott Kolbe’s Western-inspired screenprints. Add two concurrent shows at Saranac Art Projects to your gallery list: Passengers, by Ann Porter, featuring the candid photographs of people waiting in airports, and Content Aware by Ashley Vaughn, which includes a participatory element.

— CHEY SCOTT First Friday • Fri, Jan. 3 from 5-8 pm • Free • Locations vary • Details at firstfridayspokane.org

HEALTH FIT & FUN

Just in time for all those New Year’s resolutions to get in shape — or shed some extra pounds acquired through recent holiday feasting — the Spokane Health & Fitness Expo is back. The weekend health and recreation fest is filled with fitness class demos, competitions and spectator events, including roller derby bouts, an all-women Crossfit competition and jiu-jitsu tournament. Among many kid-friendly activities is a Strider balance bike course (attendees under age 12 get in free). No matter your age, make sure to dress in movement-friendly clothing and be ready to sweat a little as you try out fitness activities ranging from kickboxing to rock climbing; aerial silks to pilates; jazzercise to spinning.

— CHEY SCOTT Spokane Health & Fitness Expo • Sat, Jan. 4 from 10 am-6 pm and Sun, Jan. 5 from 10 am-4 pm • $8; $5/ages 6-12; good both days • Spokane County Fair & Expo Center • 404 N. Havana St. • spokanehealthfitexpo.com

44 INLANDER JANUARY 2, 2020

FOOD LEARN COOKING FAST

My unofficial poll says that roughly 98 percent of my friends either gave or received an Instant Pot pressure cooker for Christmas, and that means a whole lot of folks are about to start experimenting with cooking their vegetables in mere seconds, and large cuts of meat in not much more than that. Thankfully, libraries throughout the area are here to help, with a series of free Instant Pot Cooking classes taught by expert Meegan Ware happening throughout the region, starting Saturday in Deer Park. You’ll walk out with all the basics, plus some handy recipes for using your new cooking toy to its maximum benefit.

— DAN NAILEN Instant Pot Cooking • Sat, Jan. 4, 2-3 pm • Deer Park Library • 208 Forest St., Deer Park • Tue, Jan. 7, 6:30-7:30 pm • Argonne Library • 4322 N. Argonne Rd., Spokane Valley • Free

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COMEDY THIS IS HAPPENING

These days, it’s not enough to just be a comedian: You have to master every possible auditory and visual medium. Ari Shaffir has been doing that for years now, and long before it was the norm, first gaining notoriety as a regular presence on The Joe Rogan Experience and for confronting fellow comedian Carlos Mencia about stealing his jokes. That pilfered material typically — and frankly — dissects race, sex, psychedelics and Shaffir’s own orthodox Jewish upbringing. Shaffir created and hosted a Comedy Central series called This Is Not Happening and he’s approaching the 400th episode of his own podcast Ari Shaffir’s Skeptic Tank, wherein he and a guest take an entire episode to unpack a single topic that defines that person’s life, from the New York Knicks to The Simpsons fandom, meth addiction to snowboarding.

— NATHAN WEINBENDER

5 4 Y R A JANU S a t u rd a

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-4pm m a 0 1 y | Sunda TER N m E p C 5 O m EXP 10a

AIR & F Y T N NE COU A K eminars S O • P s S t n e • Ev ctivities • Vendors • s e s s ess Cla

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Fitn

Ari Shaffir • Thu, Jan. 2 at 7:30 pm and Fri-Sat, Jan. 3-4 at 7:30 pm and 10 pm • $25-$33 • 21+ • Spokane Comedy Club • 315 W. Sprague Ave. • spokanecomedyclub.com • 318-9998

FREE PARKING! $8

OUTDOORS HIT THE SLOPES

It’s been a mild, mostly dry winter so far, but it’s a snowy wonderland up on Mt. Spokane. That’s where the Spokane Nordic Ski Association will be hosting its annual Nordic Winterfest on Sunday, and they’ll be offering 45-minute classes throughout the morning that cater to beginners to intermediate skiers of all ages. Even better: They’ll only cost you $5 (not including equipment rentals), and maybe it’ll inspire a new love of winter sports. But the day isn’t just about skiing. There’s also a kid’s treasure hunt, a free lunch in the Selkirk Lodge and $25 clinics focused on skijoring, a winter sport that involves being pulled by dogs, horses or snow vehicles. See a full schedule of activities and register for a class at spokanenordic.org; you have until Friday before the event to sign up.

— NATHAN WEINBENDER Nordic Winterfest 2020 • Sun, Jan. 5 at 9 am • $5 • All ages • Mt. Spokane State Park • 26107 N. Mt. Spokane Park Dr. • spokanenordic.org

Admission (Cash Only Please) Kids 12 & Under FREE! Good ALL Weekend expo powered by

SpokaneHealthFitExpo.com JANUARY 2, 2020 INLANDER 45

love to reconnect and catch up on things.

And, yes, the unfriendliness was only an act. I think you know why. I really do miss you and I’d absolutely love to get that glass of wine! missngu413@gmail.com

YOU SAW ME MAYBE I SHOULD HAVE WAITED A little over a year ago, I saw you in passing for a quick minute. You started to say something to me, and at the same time another person was right there and started talking to you. It felt awkward to me, so I walked away. I felt more comfortable leaving, but did not intend to be rude. I would have liked to hear what you were going to say.

I SAW YOU CALM IN THE CHAOS I was you at Walmart by Shadle in Saturday. While I was panicking, you were calm. I was inspired by your enduring spirit. Hope you holidays are as amazing as you.

MOD PIZZA ENCOUNTER Your suggestion for those finishing sauces was really a highlight. Not only are you a pizza genius but your dimples had me smiling from ear to ear. Really lucky I ran into you.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR FAITH. My character was beginning to fade from the emptiness that surrounded me day to day. I began to question the value of virtue and the worth in integrity... Many people have come into my life but none have showed me the generosity and promise that you have. You awaken in me the person I felt I had lost inside. Like a new lease on life filled with laughter, there you are. A friend only heaven could have designed with loyalty that until now I have only ever given, finally I am allowed to receive. Eagles & God. Thank you Rhonda!

RE: OVER THE YEARS Your post “Over the Years” has been gnawing on my mind for years. What really struck a chord was, “your early retirement might change things, maybe missing your kids...” Just in case this might be you, I’d

CHEERS DATE NIGHT SURPRISE A huge thank you to the wonderful couple at Twigs on the 19th that surprised my husband and I by picking up our check. We appreciate the gesture more than you know, and will pass on the kindness that you have shared with us. Thank you!

HOLIDAY RUSH KINDNESS With the line going out the door at the MAC, an older man was buying tickets for his wife and himself after waiting in line for about 10 minutes. A gentleman behind him noticed his “veteran” hat, and interrupted the sale to hand the cashier $20 to cover the admission of the older man and his wife. He asked the older man what branch he served in, and noted that his father had served in the same branch. They wished each other a Merry Christmas and went on their ways. With everyone in a hurry around the holidays, it was nice to see a genuine, generous exchange. Cheers to both of them!

KEEP IT SHORT! Cheers to the folks on this page who make their point in <30 words. Jeers to the long winded souls.

Hey it’s not all about you!

AIRWAY HEIGHTS MOVIE THEATER Thank you to Airway Heights Movie Theater for showing, free of charge, all of the WSU Cougar football games! A

family friendly atmosphere to cheer on the Cougs on a big screen!

CHEERS TO GREG! Thank you Greg for making Christmas a reality for my child and I. For allowing me to feel accepted and valued. For being a perfect gentleman. They do exist. Or at least you do.

“

fun of buying and giving gifts. Heck, she would have given you the cash as a reward if you’d only left her the cards and keys. Way to go, you two Spokane sleaze-bags. Rob the low-income elderly in a thrift store at Christmastime. You have no conscience or class. May you receive 10 times worse someday.

live here. So many sucky people.

GET SOME CLASS! It was dark at 11 on Thursday, so I couldn’t tell if you were the kind of troll who’d be excited for any opportunity to be with a non-vinyl girl, or if you were just some loser who didn’t have his own place in which to share that

Cheers to the folks on this page who make their point in <30 words. Jeers to the long winded souls. Hey it’s not all about you!

CHEERS TO SECURE YOUR DOGS To the person who posted about idiots who drove with unsecured dogs in pickups...

THANK YOU! Putting your dog in a truck bed without a secured leash that will not let the dog fall or jump is a recipe for disaster. And the leash, or preferably a harness, must be short enough that the dog will not die by hanging or dragging if there is a fall out of the truck bed. And please remember the risk of hypothermia in winter, and of eye injury any time of year, when you carry any animal in an unprotected vehicle space.

Thank you again for the person who posted “SECURE YOUR DOGS.” We and our beloved dogs appreciate you.

JEERS HOLIDAY THIEVES Jeers to 2 women at Value Village on Boone Wednesday evening, Dec. 18 who stole the wallet and keys of a kind and honest senior citizen. She was shopping for Christmas gifts with her entire gift budget of $60.

You grabbed the wallet and keys, then speed-walked out of the store, straight to Safeway where you used her VISA for $70 of gas for your car before she had time to cancel all her cards. Your selfish holiday theft cost her hundreds, as she had to change the locks on her house and car, as well as having to cancel the

”

CRANIAL-RECTAL FUSION SYNDROME A voluntarily contracted, irreversible neurological disorder marked by uncontrollable Caps-Lock usage while ranting — in a public forum or on a bar stool — about real or imagined slights to one’s object of worship. Can be mistaken for genuine religious fervor, or excessive alcohol consumption, as the case may be.

private moment. But you were right out there in the alley and audible through my closed window. Forget the prophylactics... next time, get yourself a dictionary.

With such a trashily limited vocabulary and your limited endowments pathetically frostbitten, I expect you’ll be paying for any future assignations. If you really want a woman’s love, get some selfrespect first.

MANITO CHRISTMAS LIGHTS Monday 12/23 4:30 pm: Was one of 50+ cars of people at the Gaiser Conservatory to see the Christmas lights. Completely DARK. Sign on door says: Open Noon to 3:30 through Dec. 23-31. The prime days for family and out of town visitors.

WHY BOTHER? The lights are meant to sparkle AFTER DARK. Kids are on vacation, but most parents get off work after 5 pm. MANY DISAPPOINTED FOLKS, PERPLEXED BY VIEWING TIME. Many hours went into the display!

WAY TO GO SPOKANE PARKS DEPT. Al Vorderbrueggen

THE CON MAN COMETH The most disturbing fact isn’t about the con man who occupies the White House, it’s about the people who give him a 43% approval rating. If this group supports this man now, who might they support down the road?

Some other person with dictatorial aspirations? Probably. If he gets reelected, we’d better start flying Old Glory upside down... we all know what that means. n

THIS WEEK'S ANSWERS

RE: BOX STORE NAZIS Word. Spokane is markedly rude. I am a transplant here since 2005 (not from California) and have noticed the gradual worsening of people here. Most everyone seems to be an a$$hole. It’s sad. It’s reflective in driving and just a general lack of manners or care for a fellow person. I travel a lot and each time I come back I wonder why I

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COMEDY

2.0PEN MIC Local comedy night hosted

by Ken McComb. Thursdays, from 8-10 pm. Free. The District Bar, 916 W. First Ave. facebook.com/districtbarspokane/ ARI SHAFFIR Shaffir has two Netflix specials: Double Negative, presented in two 45-minute episodes, “Children” and “Adulthood.” Jan. 2-3 at 7;30 pm, Jan. 3-4 at 10 pm. Jan. 2, Jan. 3 and Jan. 4. $20+. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com GUFFAW YOURSELF! Open mic comedy night hosted by Casey Strain; Thursdays at 10 pm. Free. Neato Burrito, 827 W. First Ave. (509-847-1234) STAND-UP COMEDY Live comedy featuring established and up-and-coming local comedians. Fridays at 8 pm. No cover. Red Dragon Chinese, 1406 W. Third Ave. reddragondelivery.com FIRE BRIGADE IMPROV The theater’s in-house, family-friendly comedy troupe performs the first Saturday of each month at 7 pm. $5. Ignite! Community Theatre, 10814 E. Broadway Ave. igniteonbroadway.org (795-0004) JOSH FIRESTINE Firestine is a an up and coming stand-up comedian from Tacoma, Washington. Jan. 5, 7:30 pm.

Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com (509-3189998) THE SOCIAL HOUR COMEDY SHOWCASE Featuring comics from the Northwest and beyond, and hosted by Deece Casillas. Sundays from 8-9:30 pm. Free.

The Ridler Piano Bar, 718 W. Riverside Ave. socialhourpod.com (509-8227938) OPEN MIC A free open mic night every Wednesday, starting at 8 pm. Doors open at 7 pm. Free. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com DUSTIN NICKERSON A Seattle native now suffering in Southern California, Nickerson is an in-demand comic on the rise. He’s currently touring the country and was recently featured by Kevin Hart on Comedy Central’s Hart of the City. Ages 13+ show. Jan. 9, 7:30 pm. $10-$16. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub. com (318-9998) NICOLE BYER Nicole hosts the baking show “Nailed It” on Netflix and has a sitcom loosely based on her life streaming on Facebook Watch called “Loosely Exactly Nicole.” Jan. 9-11 at 7:30 pm; Jan. 11 at 10 pm. $15+. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com (509-318-9998) COMEDY OPEN MIC Tell some jokes, share some laughs. Signups at 6, funnies start at 6:30. Third Friday of the month from 6-8 pm. Free. Calypsos Coffee Roasters, 116 E. Lakeside Ave., Coeur d’Alene. bit.ly/2LVJXET (208665-0591) JESSIMAE PALUSO Best known from MTV’s “Girl Code,” Jessimae can be heard weekly hosting the “Sharp Tongue” and “Highlarious” podcasts.

Jan. 17-18 at 7:30 pm; Jan. 18 at 10 pm. $12+. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com (509-318-9998)

COMMUNITY

CRAFTERNOON: MAKE AN ART JOURNAL Start 2020 off creatively

with an art journal. Drop in any time from 3-5 pm. All supplies provided, bring your imagination. All ages welcome; young children should bring a grown-up. Jan. 2, 3-5 pm. Free. South Hill Library, 3324 S. Perry St. spokanelibrary.org (444-5300) MOUNT ST. HELENS: CRITICAL MEMORY An exhibit commemorating the 40th anniversary of the eruption on May 18, 1980 of Mount St. Helens, which remains the most destructive volcanic event in U.S. history. Experience material artifacts, film, photography, recordings, first-hand accounts and virtual experiences and learn how Mount St. Helens has advanced our understanding of volcanoes more than any other eruption in history. Tue-Sun 10 am-5 pm; third Thursdays until 8 pm through July 31. $5-$10. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org (456-3931) GENEALOGY-ANCESTRY SERIES This monthly series with the Eastern Washington Genealogy Society focuses on the ancestry aspect of genealogy, including how to navigate Ancestry.com, ancestry DNA and other topics related to the subject. Jan. 9, 1-3 pm. Free. Indian Trail Library, 4909 W. Barnes Rd. (444-5300) 100 YEARS OF WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE: WHERE WERE YOUR FEMALE ANCESTORS CELEBRATING THE VOTE? Your grandmothers: Where did they come from and where did they call home in the U.S.? Beyond the basics of genealogy, women’s studies is an academic field that draws on feminist and interdisciplinary methods in order to place women’s lives and experiences in historical context. Jan. 11, 10:30 am-noon.

Free. Hayden Library, 8385 N. Government Way. (208-772-5612)

WEEKEND C O U N T D OW N

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

VISION & GOAL SETTING FOR A MEANINGFUL LIFE Is this the year you change your life? Do you have New Year Resolutions that need a little nudge along? Molly Kreyssler, certified life coach, helps define the vision and path to a new you as part of the library’s “New Year New U” series. Jan. 11, 1-2 pm. Free. Hillyard Library, 4005 N. Cook St. (444-5300) EMERGENCY HOME PREPAREDNESS COURSE During this three-hour interactive lecture, local preparedness expert Vern Page covers how to survive a winter power outage and stay safe during a disaster whether you live in a home or apartment. Jan. 11, 2:30-5:30 pm. Free. Hillyard Library, 4005 N. Cook. (444-5300) PETER AND THE WOLF + STUDENT CHOREOGRAPHY SHOWCASE Spokane Youth Ballet presents the beloved folktale narrated by David Bowie and featuring the familiar score by Prokofiev. Following this short ballet, Academy of Dance students led by choreograper-in-residence Phaedra Jarrett present a lecture/demonstration about how choreographers create ballets, featuring structured improvisation by students and an example of a student-choreographed work. Jan. 11,

2-3:30 pm. $7-$15. Bing Crosby Theater, 901 W. Sprague Ave. bingcrosbytheater. com (227-7638) TAKING CARE OF YOUR FAMILY PAPERS & PHOTOGRAPHS Riva Dean, librarian for the Downtown Library’s Northwest Room, presents a workshop on the storage, handling, display and digitizing of family treasures. Jan. 11, 10:30-11:30 am. Free. East Side Library, 524 S. Stone St. (509-444-5300) TEDXCOEURDALENE 2020: COMFORTABLY UNCOMFORTABLE Leaders from diverse industries and backgrounds come together to speak to community members about their big ideas and solutions for changing our city and the world. Jan. 11, 8:30 am-5 pm. $55. Kroc Center, 1765 W. Golf Course Rd. tedxcda.com WILDLIFE SCIENCE SERIES Washington Dept. of Fish & Wildlife biologists take over the Mobius lab one Saturday a month, tackling a different local wildlife topic each time. Get your hands dirty (or at least wet) while learning about trout spawning, water ecosystems, threatened species, the wildlife in our region, aquatic invasive species, and Spokane’s “signature” fish, the Redband Trout. Upcoming sessions: Jan. 11, Feb. 22, March 7 and April 4, from 10 am-1 pm. Free with admission.

Mobius Science Center, 331 N. Post. bit. ly/35dsU5Q (509-321-7137) HUMAN TRAFFICKING AWARENESS DAY RECEPTION Join Lutheran Community Services Northwest for visual storytelling with the Silhouette Project, art created by foster children who’ve experienced human trafficking in the U.S. and other nations, a candlelit moment of silence for victims of human trafficking and acknowledgement of efforts addressing human trafficking in the Inland Northwest. Jan. 14, 4-5:30 pm. Free. Downtown Spokane Library, 906 W. Main Ave. spokanelibrary.org (444-5300) UNACCOMPANIED REFUGEE MINORS INFORMATION NIGHT An information night for anyone interested in becoming a foster family for refugee youth.

LCSNW is looking for families who want to provide a loving and caring environment for these refugee youth coming to the U.S. Second Tuesday of the month, from 5:30-7:30 pm. Free. Lutheran Community Services, 210 W. Sprague. lcsnw.org WRITING RESUMES THAT WORK Discover the components of resumes to create one that best highlights you during your job search. Bring your work history information to get started. Registration required. Jan. 14 at 1 pm and 7 pm. Free. North Spokane Library, 44 E. Hawthorne Rd. scld.org/events (8938350) INTRODUCTION TO WEB DEVELOPMENT Have you played with WordPress/Divi, or used drag-and-drop tools like SquareSpace, Wix, or Shopify, but it isn’t looking the way you want? In this two-day workshop, build a one-page portfolio site with pure code (HTML/ CSS). Register online; for adults. Jan. 15 and 16 from 7-9 pm. Free. Spark Central, 1214 W. Summit Pkwy. spark-central.org JIGSAW PUZZLE SWAP Trade those jigsaw puzzles you’ve completed for a new challenge. Please only bring puzzles that have all of their pieces. Jan. 15, 1-4 pm. Free. Medical Lake Library, 3212 Herb St. scld.org/events (509893-8330)

HELP PLANNED PARENTHOOD PROVIDE

CARE. NO MATTER WHAT. by attending

JANUARY 25, 2020 8:00 p.m. at the Bing Crosby Theater Get tickets at: bit.ly/broadspokane20

JANUARY 2, 2020 INLANDER 47

RELATIONSHIPS

Advice Goddess THE NOBEL SAVAGES

My husband’s parents interact with our 3-year-old in upsetting ways. They overfocus on her appearance, asking whether she’s washed her hair or where her comb is. (She has naturally stringy hair.) They constantly quiz her, making her name colors, numbers, etc. They once spent an entire dinner trying to train her to use a napkin. My husband finally exclaimed, “She’s not a performing seal!” After their last visit, she started showing anxiety that her hair doesn’t AMY ALKON look nice. How can I keep my daughter’s spirit from being squelched by her grandparents? —Worried It’s cute to see your kid playing doctor on her stuffed animal — until you find out she’s gotten a head start on a residency in plastic surgery: “Teddy felt bad about his big furry stomach, Mommy, so I’m giving him a tummy tuck and then we’ll talk about laser hair removal.”

Assuming Grandpa and Grandma aren’t sadists with a thing for toddler torture, they’ve probably just succumbed to the widely believed myth that little Aristophanes or Clove will have an edge over all the other diapered Harvard hopefuls by being drilled in academics from the binky years on.

Their premature focus on your daughter’s appearance probably comes from a similar place: “Can’t start too early on thinking about how you present yourself!” Um, actually, you can. Research by experimental psychologist Rick M. Gardner found that girls as young as 6 had negative thoughts and feelings about their appearance. Because men evolved to prioritize physical attractiveness in a partner, women evolved to be sensitive about their looks and their placement on the prettiness totem pole. This can lead to crippling insecurity and body dysmorphia — unfortunate at any age, but especially at age 4.

Rushing what researchers call “direct instruction” on toddlers — expecting them to memorize and recite colors, numbers, and facts — actually seems to set them back, harming them socially and emotionally, as well as...get this: academically!

Psychologist Gabrielle Principe explains in “Your Brain on Childhood” that neuroscience research suggests it’s play, not academics, that’s vital to young children’s brain development. For example, when children use their imagination — by improvising with props, creating their own games, developing storylines — they stimulate the growth of brain cells in the frontal cortex. This area is involved in “self-regulation — a critical skill for controlling emotions, resisting impulses, and exerting self-control and discipline.”

Principe traces the myth driving today’s joyless, test-prep-filled childhoods to 1960s research by UC Berkeley’s Mark Rosenzweig comparing rats with super-stimulating stuff in their cages — wheels, slides, tunnels, etc. — with rats raised in the equivalent of empty closets. Rat Disneyland occupants did better on intelligence tests than those raised in Rat Closetland, and that’s what the media reported. What the media did not report was that the rats that did best of all were the ones raised in nature, dealing with spiders, snakes, cats, fleas, and boxing matches with their rat buddies. Unfortunately, this “let the natural environment do its job” finding doesn’t sell learning toys or suggest to parents that they can give their kid a leg up by treating him or her like a jar to cram with information.

Though your daughter is only 3, even slightly older children seem to be harmed by being hammered with early academics. Psychologist Peter Gray writes: “The research is clear. Academic training in kindergarten has no long-term benefit. ... It slightly increases academic test-scores in first grade, but by third grade the benefit is lost and, according to some of the best studies, by fourth grade those subjected to academic kindergartens are doing worse” academically “than those who were in play-based kindergartens.”

Ultimately, it’s particularly unhelpful to treat child development as a sort of race.

Take the age that children start walking. Psychologist and pediatrician Arnold Gesell noted that some children walk as early as 9 months, while others start as late as 15 months. Ultimately, the early walker is no better a walker than the later one.

As for getting the grandparents to stand down, start positive: Tell them you know they love their granddaughter and want the best for her. Next, explain the research findings on both learning and appearance. Then explain that for you, what matters is that your daughter has a happy, meaningful, productive life, and this starts with her not being pushed to do things she isn’t developmentally ready for.

Be prepared to remind them a few times when they forget or, um, “forget.” (Wellmeaning grandparents can have something in common with stubborn toddlers.) On a positive note, they did wait till after the kid was born to go all psycho “Harvard or bust!” instead of getting down by your big pregnant belly and yelling calculus theorems into your uterus. n ©2020, Amy Alkon, all rights reserved. • Got a problem? Write Amy Alkon, 171 Pier Ave, #280, Santa Monica, CA 90405 or email AdviceAmy@aol.com (www.advicegoddess.com)

48 INLANDER JANUARY 2, 2020

EVENTS | CALENDAR COLLEGE FINANCIAL PLANNING NIGHT This workshop covers the FAFSA form and other important information to understand in order to maximize the amount of financial aid your student is eligible for. Jan. 16, 7 pm. Free. Northwood Middle School, 12908 N. Pittsburg St. (509-465-7500) ORGANIZE YOUR FINANCES Experience the benefits of getting your files and money organized. Great for emergencies and everyday living. Registration required at stcu.org/workshops.

Jan. 16, 6-7 pm. Free. Spokane Valley Library, 12004 E. Main. scld.org/events CARROUSEL STORY TIME An early literacy activity designed to engage the young imagination with stories, songs and preschool activities. Free rides are offered to those who attend. Third Fridays, from 11 am-noon. Free. Riverfront Park, 507 N. Howard St. spokaneriverfrontpark.com (509-625-6600) CHINESE FOLK DANCES In celebration of Chinese New Year, the Spokane Chinese Association Dance Troupe perform traditional Chinese dances ushering in the Year of the Rat. Jan. 18, 3-4 pm.

Free. To Be Continued: A Spokane Public Library, 4750 N. Division St., Suite 1074. spokanelibrary.org (444-5300) JIGSAW PUZZLE SWA: Trade jigsaw puzzles you’ve completed for a new challenge. Please only bring puzzles that have all of their pieces. Jan. 18, 10 am-noon. Free. North Spokane Library, 44 E. Hawthorne Rd. scld.org/events OPEN OFFICE HOURS WITH FUTURE ADA Drop by with any general technology or computer-related questions during open office hours, as local IT professionals assist the public. Offered Jan. 18 and Feb. 15 from 2-4 pm. Free.

Downtown Spokane Library, 906 W. Main Ave. spokanelibrary.org (5930840) TAI CHI MARTIAL ART DEMO Steve Wang, 7th generation disciple of this uniquely Chinese art and master instructor for Spokane’s Tai Chi Culture House, sheds insight into this long and successful art form with various health, spiritual aspects. This event is held at North Town Mall, in the atrium by Blue Zoo Aquarium. Jan. 18, 2-3 pm. Free.

To Be Continued: A Spokane Public Library, 4750 N. Division St., Suite 1074. spokanelibrary.org

FILM

CATS The new film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s beloved smash hit musical “Cats,” starring Taylor Swift, James Corden, Judi Dench, Ian McKellen and many others. PG. Dec. 20-Jan. 2; times vary. $5-$8. Panida Theater, 300 N. First Ave. (208-255-7801) HOW TO PITCH YOUR MOVIE Join us to practice the art of pitching a movie.

Sign up online; for grades 2-6. Jan. 3, 9 am and Jan. 4, 9 am. Free/$20. Spark Central, 1214 W. Summit Pkwy. sparkcentral.org (509-279-0299) THURSDAY MATINEE MOVIE CLASSICS: HEARTLAND (1979) KSPS Saturday Night Cinema co-host Shaun Higgins continues his classic movie screenings at the MAC with the final film of four based on “The Western: Myth, Legend and Reality.” This indie film stars Rip Torn and Maria Conchata Ferrell and starts as the Wild West has ended but hardships of homesteading continue. Jan. 9, 1:30 pm. $7. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First

Ave. northwestmuseum.org DAMMED TO EXTINCTION A documentary taking a hard look at four obsolete dams on the lower Snake River and the impacts they have on orca, salmon and people, as well as the potential benefits of removing them. Co-hosted by Upper Columbia River Group of Sierra Club and Save Our Wild Salmon. Jan. 14, 7-8 pm. Free. Magic Lantern Theatre, 25 W. Main Ave. bit.ly/38kcUBi (515-2309003) JAY & SILENT BOB REBOOT ROADSHOW WITH KEVIN SMITH The New Jersey stoner icons who first hit the screen 25 years ago in Clerks are back.

When Jay and Silent Bob discover that Hollywood is rebooting an old movie based on them, the clueless duo embark on another cross-country mission to stop it all over again. Jan. 15, 7:3010 pm. $50. Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox, 1001 W. Sprague. foxtheaterspokane.org

FOOD

SCOTCH & CIGARS Select a flight of whiskey, scotch or bourbon paired with a recommended cigar during an event on the outdoor patio. Thursdays, from 6-10 pm. $15-$25. Prohibition Gastropub, 1914 N. Monroe. (474-9040)

GET LISTED!

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

INSTANT POT COOKING Instant Pot maven Meegan Ware shares basic tips for pressure cooking, how to create at least two recipes and hands out additional recipes that can be prepared and cooked quickly. For adults. Jan. 4, 2-3 pm. Free. Deer Park Library, 208 Forest St. scld.org/events (509-893-8300) WINTER CHEER TOUR Join Wander Spokane for a guided walking tour combining aspects from its food, wine and beer tours with a bonus craft cocktail stop. This experience includes history, art viewing, architecture and more.

21+. Offered Jan. 4, 9, 11, 16 and 18 from 2-5:30 pm. $45. Historic Davenport Hotel, 10 S. Post St. wanderspokane.com (279-2929) INSTANT POT COOKING Instant Pot maven Meegan Ware shares basic tips for pressure cooking, how to create at least two recipes and hands out additional recipes that can be prepared and cooked quickly. For adults. Jan. 7, 6:30-7:30 pm. Free. Argonne Library, 4322 N. Argonne Rd. scld.org/events (893-8250) WINE WEDNESDAY Stop in for wine tastings and light appetizers every Wednesday from 4:30-6 pm. 4:30-6 pm. The Culinary Stone, 2129 N. Main St., Coeur d’Alene. culinarystone.com COOKING WITH CHEF AARON FISH This intimate cooking class with chef Aaron Fish of the Eat Good Group offers entertainment and hands-on learning, covering chef skills while teaching and creating new recipes. Wine is served.

Jan. 9, 6 pm. $50. Jacklin Arts & Cultural Center, 405 N. William St., Post Falls. thejacklincenter.org (208-457-8950) INSTANT POT COOKING Instant Pot maven Meegan Ware shares basic tips for pressure cooking, how to create at

least two recipes and hands out additional recipes that can be prepared and cooked quickly. For adults. Jan. 9, 6:307:30 pm. Free. Airway Heights Library, 1213 S. Lundstrom St. scld.org/events SPICEOLOGY SPICE + COCKTAIL DINNER Chef Travis Dickinson and team host Spokane-based Spiceology for a six-course dinner with cocktail pairings by Kristy White and featuring their spices and blends. The “feast if five moles” also includes several variations of mole from the culinary team. Jan. 12, 6 pm. $75. Cochinito Taqueria, 10 N. Post. facebook.com/cochinitotaqueria (509-474-9618) WHOLE FOOD COOKING Join nutritionist Karmen Gregg in this program focused on whole foods and start the new year with some healthy and smart cooking tips and new recipes. This is part of the library’s New Year New U series. Jan. 12, 2-3 pm. Free. To Be Continued: A Spokane Public Library, 4750 N. Division St., Suite 1074. spokanelibrary.org COOKING WITH CHEF BLACK Chef Black entertains, educates and prepares food for participants to enjoy.

Includes wine. Jan. 14, 5:30 pm. $50.

Jacklin Arts & Cultural Center, 405 N. William St., Post Falls. thejacklincenter. org (208-457-8950) INSTANT POT COOKING Instant Pot maven Meegan Ware shares basic tips for pressure cooking, how to create at least two recipes and hands out additional recipes that can be prepared and cooked quickly. For adults. Jan. 14, 6-7 pm. Free. Fairfield Library, 305 E. Main St. scld.org/events (509-893-8320) WINE WEDNESDAY DINNER SERIES 2020 marks the 9th year and 15th session of Nectar’s popular dinner series, which began as a way to get people downtown during the deserted summer but has turned into a educational and delicious way to explore culinary creations from around the world.

Wednesdays at 6 pm, through Feb. 19. $25-$140. Nectar Catering and Events, 120 N. Stevens St. nectartastingroom. com (509-869-1572) LUNCH & LEARN LECTURE SERIES WITH WSU Spokane Public Library, in partnership with WSU College of Medicine and De Leon Foods, presents this ongoing lecture series delivered by WSU students of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology Department. Topics cover all aspects of nutrition and exercise and how they relate to your health and daily life. Lunches provided by De Leon Taco and Bar. (First come, first served.) Sessions on Jan. 16, Jan. 30, Feb. 6, Feb. 27, March 5 from noon-1 pm. Free. Hillyard Library, 4005 N. Cook St. (444-5300) ENJOY A PLANT-BASED DIET A local nutrition educator covers how a plantbased diet is good for people, animals and the planet. Take home practical tips on healthy diet changes. Jan. 18, 2-3 pm. Free. East Side Library, 524 S. Stone St. (444-5300) MAC & CHEESE FESTIVAL Celebrate this favorite childhood and comfort food dish with variations by Coeur d’Alene chefs, who compete for the Golden Noodle Award. Attendees enjoy tastings of different cheesy dishes with craft beer pairings, and can vote for their favorite dish to help award the People’s Choice Trophy. Jan. 18 at 12:30 pm. $10-$35; $50/VIP. The Coeur d’Alene Resort, 115 S. Second. bit. ly/2X7IxZH

MUSIC

EL GRAN FESTIVAL DE MUSICA CUBANA Traditional Cuban music by Kiki Valera, CoCo Freeman, Nachito Herrera, Manuel el Guajirito Mirabal, Pedro Vargas and many more. Jan. 11, 7-9:45 pm. $35$125. Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox, 1001 W. Sprague. foxtheaterspokane.org THE M SHOW The M Show, created and hosted by Spokane Symphony Concertmaster Mateusz Wolski, features Mateusz with a small ensemble of orchestra musicians, plus special guests, including Spokane Symphony trumpet player and newly-appointed Spokane Poet Laureate Chris Cook, and aerialist John Hernandez.

Jan. 11, 8-9 pm. $24-68. Knitting Factory, 919 W. Sprague Ave. spokanesymphony. org (624-1200) BOGDAN OTA: REVERIE European piano sensation Bogdan Ota brings his artistry to Post falls. His classical crossover and epic symphonic genre albums were acclaimed by music critics. Jan. 17, 7 & 7:30 pm. $25. Jacklin Arts & Cultural Center, 405 N. William St. (208-457-8950) SPOKANE SYMPHONY MASTERWORKS 5: BEETHOVEN’S 250TH BIRTHDAY Celebrate the 250th birth year of Beethoven!

Grammy Award-winning violinist Augustin Hadelich, performs Beethoven’s lyrical Violin Concerto, a musical journey filled with sweeping melodies, dense knots of sound and a jubilant finale. Jan. 18 at 8 pm; Jan. 19 at 3 pm. $21-$66. Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox, 1001 W. Sprague. foxtheaterspokane.org

SPORTS & OUTDOORS

NBC HOLIDAY HOOP CAMP Camp covers fundamental skills in a fun and encouraging environment. Ages 10-14 attend from 9 am-3 pm both days, while ages 7-10 can attend 9 am-noon both days. Jan. 2-3. $60-$120. The Warehouse, 800 N. Hamilton St. nbccamps.com (466-4690) SKATE RIBBON COLLEGE NIGHT Show your student ID to receive free skate rentals with admission. Thursdays from 4-9 pm through Feb. Riverfront Park, 507 N. Howard St. riverfrontspokane.org PROVING GROUNDS Check out the local MMA fight scene as they face off in the cage. Jan. 3, 7 pm. $20+. HUB Sports Center, 19619 E. Cataldo Ave. hubsportscenter.org (509-927-0602) SPOKANE HEALTH & FITNESS EXPO The weekend is filled with fitness class demos, competitions and spectator events like roller derby and jiu-jitsu. Attendees should come ready to try something new ,with sessions introducing activities from kickboxing to rock climbing; aerial silks to pilates. Jan. 4 from 10 am-6 pm and Jan. 5 from 10 am-4 pm. $5-$8/weekend admission. Spokane County Fair & Expo Center, 404 N. Havana St. spokanehealthfitexpo.com (509-477-1766) FREE ICE SKATING LESSONS Weekly ice skating lessons at the Numerica Skate Ribbon, skate rentals included. Registration available on-site; lessons are on a first-come, first-served basis. Sundays at 11 am through February. (Paid lessons also available; see website for details).

Riverfront Park, 507 N. Howard St. riverfrontspokane.org (509-625-6600) SPOKANE BADMINTON CLUB Meets Sundays from 4:30-7:30 pm and Wednesdays from 7-10 pm. $5+/visit.

West Central Community Center, 1603 N. Belt St. spokanebadminton.com

CHEAP SKATE MONDAY Admission to the ice ribbon includes free skate rentals all day. Mondays from 11 am-8 pm through Feb. 24. $5.25/$7.25. Riverfront Park, 507 N. Howard St. spokaneriverfrontpark.com (509-625-6600) WOMEN’S SNOWSHOEING BASICS Whether you’re looking for a fun winter sport or want to meet other women looking to get outdoors, join experienced staff for a class on the basics of snowshoeing. Jan. 8, 5:30-7:30 pm. Free. REI, 1125 N. Monroe St. rei.com/spokane (3289900) OPEN CLIMB AT REI SPOKANE Indoor rock climbing is a great way to stay in shape even when the weather outside is frightful. REI provides certified belay staff, shoes and harnesses. Jan. 12, 1-4 pm. Free. REI, 1125 N. Monroe St. rei.com/ spokane (328-9900) TUBE CLINIC A hands on clinic using your own bike to learn how to replace your tire and/or tube. Bring your bike, toolkit and portable pump kit. Jan. 15, 5 pm. Free. Wheel Sport North, 9501 N. Newport Hwy. wheelsportbikes.com

MORE EVENTS Visit Inlander.com for complete listings of local events.

THEATER

AN AMERICAN IN PARIS In post-war Paris, romance is in the air and youthful optimism reigns. Gershwin’s soaring melodies are matched by gravity-defying dance as the world rediscovers the power of love in this breathtaking production.

Jan. 14-15 at 7:30 am. $49.50-$89.50.

First Interstate Center for the Arts, 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. broadwayspokane. com (800-325-7328) “FUN HOME” THEATER NIGHT Join North Idaho Pride Alliance for a special evening at Lake City Playhouse to experience this award-winning musical with character. Jan. 16, 5:30 pm. $0-$25.

Lake City Playhouse, 1320 E. Garden Ave. facebook.com/lakecityplayhouse/ (208673-7529) MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 LIVE The hilarious Peabody Award-winning hit TV comedy is coming to Spokane with an all-new Mystery Science Theater 3000 Live: The Great Cheesy Movie Circus Tour. Join show creator and original host Joel Hodgson and the world’s greatest (and only) movie-riffing robots, Tom Servo, Crow, and Gypsy, as they take you on an exhilarating roller coaster ride through some of the cheesiest films ever made. Jan. 16, 7:30-9:30 pm. $39.50$59.50. First Interstate Center for the Arts, 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. broadwayspokane.com (800-325-7328) AUREUM An adventure tale told through heart-stopping aerial routines and amazing acrobatics. Featuring original music, choreography and never-seenbefore aerial performances. Jan. 17, 7:30 pm. $25-$35. Kroc Center, 1765 W. Golf Course Rd. kroccda.org (208-667-1865) THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST In this popular Oscar Wilde classic that pokes fun at Victorian society, two bachelors create alter egos to escape their tiresome lives and attempt to win the hearts of two women who, conveniently, claim to only love men called Ernest. A Readers Theater production. Jan. 17-18 at

7:30 pm, Jan. 19 at 2 pm. $13-$15. Ignite!

Community Theatre, 10814 E. Broadway Ave. igniteonbroadway.org (795-0004)

VISUAL ARTS

IDAHO INSPIRATION Featuring artwork by 2019 Artist of the Year Terrie Kremer, a quilt artist and teacher who experiments with a wide variety of cutting edge techniques. Mon-Fri 9 am-5 pm through Jan. 31. Columbia Bank Community Plaza, 414 Church St., Sandpoint. artinsandpoint.org NORMAN ROCKWELL’S AMERICA A remarkable collection of 22 oil paintings, seven charcoal/graphite studies, original posters and all 323 vintage Saturday Evening Post magazine covers spanning six decades. This exhibition reviews selected works in chronological order, making the stages of Rockwell’s career recognizable and his images more poignant. Through Jan. 12; Tue-Sun from 10 am-5 pm; third Thursdays from 10 am-8 pm. $5-$10.

Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org ARTS BUZZ Locals can network, collaborate and plan with other artists, performers, arts organizations and stay up-todate on local arts events. First Fridays at 9 am. Free. Coeur d’Alene Chamber of Commerce, 1031 N. Academic Wy. artsandculturecda.org/arts-buzz FIRST FRIDAY Art galleries and businesses across downtown Spokane and beyond host monthly receptions to showcase new displays of art. Jan. 3 from 5-8 pm. Details at firstfridayspokane.org.

SHIFTING HORIZONS: PERSPECTIVES ON LANDSCAPE & OUR RELATIONSHIP TO THE PLANET This exhibit focuses on the distinct perspectives of two artists: Laura Truitt and Victoria Brace. Truitt’s work wrestles with the conflict between the earth, climate change, land abuse and over consumption, while Brace’s work strives to unveil the “character” of “place.” Jan. 3-Feb. 29. The Wonder Building, 835 N. Post St. wonderspokaneleasing.com INTRODUCTORY POTTERY Join local ceramics artist and potter KC Loveland in this six-week introductory pottery course. Meets Tues 10 am-noon or 6-8 pm, or Wed 6-8 pm. Starts Jan. 7. $160.

Emerge, 208 N. Fourth St., Coeur d’Alene. emergecda.com (208-818-3342) CARICATURE WITH TOM QUINN Caricature is an old and respected art form. In this workshop, we’ll discuss the ways to exaggerate and simplify an individual’s distinctive features to depict someone in a way that’s both funny and instantly recognizable. Jan. 11, 10 am-2 pm. $40.

Spokane Art School, 811 W. Garland Ave. spokaneartschool.net (325-1500) BEGINNING PEN & INK WITH JENIFER LEMONTAGNE A class for beginners, covering basic techniques of pen and ink drawing. We will be focusing on strokes, building depth, tone and value. Meets Mondays, 5-7 pm, Jan. 13-Feb. 17. Ages 13+. $120. Spokane Art School, 811 W. Garland Ave. spokaneartschool.net INTRODUCTION TO PHOTOSHOP Instructor Roger DuBois tailors this class to the needs and skill levels of each student, beginner or advanced. For high school and adult students. Meets Tue, 6:308:30 pm, Jan. 14-Feb. 18. $120. Spokane Art School, 811 W. Garland Ave. spokaneartschool.net (509-325-1500) OPEN DRAW WITH RANDY PALMER Join local illustrator Randy Palmer for this open draw for all skill levels. Second Tuesday of each month from 6-8 pm.

Free. Emerge, 208 N. Fourth St., Coeur d’Alene. emergecda.com (208-818-3342) TRIMPIN: AMBIENTE432 In 2018, the museum commissioned Trimpin, a ground-breaking composer and sculptor, to design and create a major new work for the WSU community. Ambiente432 debuted at the inauguration of the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art WSU and has now entered the museum’s permanent collection. This January, the work will be restaged in the gallery space it was originally designed for. Jan. 14, 10 am-4 pm. Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art WSU, 1535 NE Wilson Rd., Pullman. museum.wsu.edu (335-1910) ACRYLIC PAINTING WITH TOM QUINN In this class students (high school to adult) are introduced to the highly forgiving, versatile medium of acrylic paint.

Meets Wed, 10:30 am-12:30 pm, Jan. 15Feb. 19. $120. Spokane Art School, 811 W. Garland Ave. spokaneartschool.net ART HISTORY WITH TOM QUINN A survey of western art, from prehistory to the 20th century. For high school and adult students. Meets Wed, 1-3 pm, Jan. 15Feb. 19. $120. Spokane Art School, 811 W. Garland Ave. spokaneartschool.net INTRODUCTORY FILM DEVELOPMENT WITH ANGUS MEREDITH Develop the skills to develop your film and learn basic photography skills from Angus Meredith, including how to operate in a darkroom.

Jan. 15, 6 pm. Free. Emerge, 208 N. Fourth St., Coeur d’Alene. emergecda. com (208-818-3342) PEN + INK DRAWING WITH JENIFER LEMONTAGNE This class is a combination of beginning and advanced students. Beginners learn the basic techniques of pen and ink drawing and focus on strokes, building depth, tone, and value. Advanced students perfect the techniques they’ve already learned in the beginning class by doing additional exercises increasing in difficulty. Ages 13+.

Meets Wed, 5-7 pm, Jan. 15-Feb. 19. $120.

Spokane Art School, 811 W. Garland Ave. spokaneartschool.net (325-1500)

WORDS

BEAUTY IN THE USA January’s guest speaker Phyllis Stephens presents on natural and manmade attractions to be found across the U.S. Jan. 2, 6:30-9 pm.

Free. CenterPlace Regional Event Center, 2426 N. Discovery Place Dr. tieg.org DIVERSE VOICES WRITING GROUP A writing group for all experience levels (adults and teens) that supports and elevates diverse voices. First Thursday from 5:30-6:45 pm. Free. Spark Central, 1214 W. Summit Pkwy. spark-central.org 3 MINUTE MIC Auntie’s long-running first Friday poetry open mic continues. Readers can share up to 3 minutes’ worth of poetry. Signups at 7:45 pm. Content is not censored, though efforts are made to be sensitive to young and impressionable ears. Jan. 3, 8-9 pm. Free. Auntie’s Bookstore, 402 W. Main. auntiesbooks.com BOOTSLAM Spokane Poetry Slam’s allages performance poetry competition with a $50 grand prize. First Sunday of the month; sign-ups at 7, slam at 7:30 pm. Poets have three minutes to read their work and are scored by five random audience members. First Sunday at 7:30 pm. $5. Boots Bakery & Lounge, 24 W. Main Ave. spokanepoetryslam.org POETRY RISING A program offered every other month, featuring poetry and prose readings and music and art presentations. January features poets Gaye

Hallman and Beth Camp, and musician Steve Schennum. Jan. 7, 6:30-7:30 pm.

Free. South Hill Library, 3324 S. Perry St. spokanelibrary.org (444-5300) BROKEN MIC Spokane Poetry Slam’s longest-running, weekly open mic reading series. Wednesdays at 6:30 pm; signups at 6:15 pm. 6:30 pm. Free. Neato Burrito, 827 W. First Ave. bit.ly/2ZAbugD PEN & PAPER: TEEN WRITING GROUP Teens can drop in to this supportive young writers’ event. Bring works in progress to share, get inspired by creative prompts and spend some focused time writing. Hosted by local writer Kailee Haong. Second Thursdays from 5:30-7 pm. Free. Spark Central, 1214 W. Summit Pkwy. spark-central.org MEMOIR WITH WINE: A CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP This two-hour memoir writing course with Jenny Davis covers the how-tos of storytelling from life. Learn fictive techniques that bring memories alive, including structural and stylistic conventions. Include a complimentary glass of wine. Jan. 16, 5:45-7:45 pm. $36/$40. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org (456-3931) POMPEII IN THE 21ST CENTURY In this fourth Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) lecture in the 2019-20 series, Dr. John Dobbins, University of Virginia, offers the first AIA talk in connection with the Museum’s upcoming “Pompeii: The Immortal City” exhibition (opening February), which takes you into the world of this first-century Roman town, buried under volcanic ash and pumice in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. Jan. 16, 6:30 pm. Free. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org (456-3931) EWU VISITING WRITERS SERIES: CHRISTOPHER DOMBROWSKI Christopher Dombrowski is the author three books of poems, most recently Ragged Anthem (Wayne State University Press, 2019). His nonfiction debut Body of Water (Milkweed Editions) made numerous “Best Books” lists, and was named a Bloomberg News Book of the Year in 2016. His essays and poems have appeared in Orion, Outside, Poetry, Poetry Northwest, The Southern Review, The Sun, and many others. Jan. 17, 7:30-8:30 pm. Free. Spark Central, 1214 W. Summit Pkwy. spark-central.org BOOK SIGNING: JENNIFER M. ZEIGER The local author signs copies of her choose-your-own adventure book, “The Adventure.” Jan. 18, 11 am-3 pm. $18.

Barnes & Noble, 15310 E. Indiana Ave. (509-922-4104)

CRAFTS

HOLIDAY UNWIND WITH WINE Destress from the holidays with an afternoon of working with traditional cozy crafts, such as knitting and cross stitch, or Zentangle drawing. Bring a current project, or learn something new, while enjoying honey wine from Hierophant Meadery. 21+. Jan. 11, 3 pm. $27/$30.

Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS FOR KIDS Learn about the history of illuminated manuscripts and how to draw medieval letters and designs with Hannah Charlton. Then try it out by illuminating a short text using modern materials. Registration required; grades 2+. Jan. 11, 1:30-3 pm.

Free. North Spokane Library, 44 E. Hawthorne Rd. scld.org/events (893-8350) n

JANUARY 2, 2020 INLANDER 49

Idaho’s state capitol.

LEGISLATION

The Decade of Pot Big changes came to America — minus Idaho, of course

BY WILL MAUPIN

T

he 2010s were a monumental decade for marijuana reforms across the nation, other than Idaho. But now, as we enter the 2020s, the Gem State looks ready to enter the 2000s. Or, at the very least, to try.

A group called the Idaho Cannabis Coalition is currently gathering signatures to get the Idaho Medical Marijuana Act on the 2020 ballot. If passed, it would establish a legal medical marijuana program within the state for patients suffering from specific conditions. Its proposals are similar to many other comprehensive medical marijuana programs established in states across the country, such as New Jersey.

Ten years ago this month, at the dawn of the previous decade, New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine signed into law a bill legalizing medical marijuana. At the time, New Jersey was the 14th state in the country to do so. Ten years later, at the dawn of this decade, Idaho could become the 47th state to legalize medical marijuana in some form.

California was the first state in the union to do so, way back in 1996. If you’re a 23-year-old lifelong Californian, you’ve never known a time without medical marijuana in your state. Likewise, since Washington legalized recreational marijuana in 2012, it’s possible that there are kids reading this very paper who have never known a time without legal recreational marijuana — for

KEN LUND PHOTO

responsible, adult use only, of course.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, there are just four states remaining without any form of legal marijuana, be it medical or recreational. But it’s worth noting that Nebraska decriminalized cannabis in the late 1970s, and Kansas, in November, kind of decriminalized low-THC CBD oils for medical use. Which leaves Idaho, along with South Dakota, as the only two states stuck in the 1990s.

In Idaho’s case, it’s no accident. In March 2013, on the heels of neighboring Washington’s vote to legalize recreational marijuana, the Idaho Senate passed Senate Concurrent Resolution 112 which stated the Legislature’s commitment to not legalizing marijuana in any way, for any purpose, ever. That commitment lasted just two years before the Legislature voted to legalize CBD oil for treatment of epilepsy. It didn’t happen, because it was vetoed by Gov. Butch Otter.

Which brings us to today and the Idaho Medical Marijuana Act. Deep red states across the nation have been opening up to medical marijuana and now it’s Idaho’s turn to take on the issue. Except this time, unlike in years past, it’s up to the people rather than the lawmakers. n

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NOTE TO READERS Be aware of the differences in the law between Idaho and Washington. It is illegal to possess, sell or transport cannabis in the State of Idaho. Possessing up to an ounce is a misdemeanor and can get you a year in jail and up to a $1,000 fine; more than three ounces is a felony that can carry a 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.

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1. “____ Be Alright” (2002 Alan Jackson country hit) 2. “Napoleon Dynamite” star Jon 3. Stem (from) 4. Rachel who was Debbie Downer in a series of “SNL” sketches 5. Holier-than-____ 6. 70-Across, for one 7. Narrow advantage 8. Not much, as of lotion 9. Hit soundtrack album of 1980 10. Pop star who launched the Born

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65 49. Remark from Don Rickles 50. Eva Perón’s maiden name 68 53. “____ you loud and clear” 54. Online dating site that 71 uses the slogan “Mazel tov for “ASS BACKWARDS” finding love” 55. “Quaking” tree 57. “Ugh!” 25. Many Israelis 58. Courtroom fig.

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COEUR D ’ ALENE

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anuary is time for a new calendar and we have the dates to know when it comes to local skiing. Celebrate Silver Mountain’s 52nd annual JACKASS DAY Jan. 10-11 when lift tickets are only $12, the same price they were on opening day in 1967, says Gus Colburn, marketing manager. That’s a $31-$46 savings for more than 1,600 acres of skiable terrain.

“We will be celebrating with a birthday cake and singing happy birthday in Moguls at 2 pm,” Colburn says. “Those who skied here when it was Jackass are encouraged to attend and wear any merchandise or gear they have from those days.”

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On Feb. 8, it’s DAY 56 NIGHT SKI in honor of Silver Mountain’s 56th day of the season. “The theme is light up the night, so

On Feb. 23, celebrate FAT TUESDAY at Lookout, with a barbecue and gumbo party, drinks and beads. Visit skilookout.com.

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Dueling Pianos

The Coeur d’Alene Resort’s Hot Winter Nights are back by popular demand.

They’ve turned their giant infinity pool into a hot tub, complete with a lakeside bar, warming fires and hot toddies.

Sing along with the talented dueling piano players at the NYC Piano Bar. Song requests are taken all night and a full dinner service is offered until 10 pm.

Overnight packages start at $199.

Look out for fun at LOOKOUT PASS, with 540 skiable acres, most of them geared towards intermediate, advanced and expert skiers.

Get ready to get down Feb. 1 at Kellogg’s UPTOWN THROWDOWN in collaboration with local Radio Brewing. Show your stuff on special ramps and jumps while the party goes on around you.

Hot Winter Nights THROUGH FEBRUARY 16

Do you own a Toyota, Scion or Lexus? Drive it to your ski destination on TOYOTA SKI FREE DAY, Jan. 24 at Schweitzer, and Jan. 31 at Silver. On Jan. 25, enjoy free access to Nordic trails at Schweitzer.

Jan. 12 is WINTER CARNIVAL FAMILY FUN DAY, including silly games for adults and kids alike. Adults can enter the “wife-carrying contest,” while kids and adults can try the three-legged race, egg carrying contest, and try their hand at snow bowling. Prizes will be awarded for all kinds of winners or just watch and enjoy the mountain brewfest and grilled brats available until 2 pm.

On Saturday, Jan. 11, enjoy $12 night-ski tickets after 3 pm.

B O O K Y O U R L I V E W E L L R E T R E AT

bright attire and wearable illumination is encouraged,” Colburn says. Tickets are $15; $8 with four food cans to benefit Silver Valley Food Bank, 3-9 pm. Visit silvermt.com for more info.

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Shows run daily from 8-11:30 pm; 208-930-1504.

Bingo Night at Slate Creek JANUARY 3

Every Friday night is bingo night and a chance to raise money for a different local nonprofit at Slate Creek Brewing.

Warning, there will be rhymes, jokes, a megaphone and a good time for all.

7-9 pm; $1 cash donation suggested per bingo card.

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