Inlander 01/17/2019

LION KING THE BELOVED SHOW IS BACK! PAGE 29

THE MATH OF MEDICINE CAN OLYMPIA FIX HEALTH CARE? PAGE 13

MARY POPPINS’ WISDOM SHE’S PRIM, PROPER, PRACTICALLY PERFECT PAGE 6

JANUARY 17-23, 2019 | THINK GLOBAL. LIVE INLAND.

RETURN

OF THE

GRIZZLY PAGE 22

Can people really live alongside grizzly bears?

BY WILSON CRISCIONE

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2 INLANDER JANUARY 17, 2019

INSIDE VOL. 26, NO. 14 | COVER PHOTO: JOY ERLENBACH

COMMENT NEWS COVER STORY MILLER CANE

5 13 22 27

CULTURE FOOD FILM MUSIC

29 33 35 39

EVENTS 44 I SAW YOU 46 GREEN ZONE 48 ADVICE GODDESS 52

EDITOR’S NOTE

A

fter spending 300 days living in the wild among gigantic GRIZZLY BEARS, WSU researcher Joy Erlenbach came to an unshakeable conclusion: that the bears are misunderstood, that people can coexist with them and that people, not the bears, are the ones who really need to change.

It’s an unpopular view in some circles, especially now with bear populations rebounding in the West. The debate around grizzlies is not unlike the one surrounding the reintroduction of wolves: How do you reasonably live alongside wild animals that scare people at their core?

But it is partly their scariness, Erlenbach admits, that make bears so fascinating to many people. Don’t miss staff writer Wilson Criscione’s in-depth report, beginning on page 22.

— JACOB H. FRIES, Editor

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

HOW CAN HUMANS AND WILDLIFE BETTER COEXIST?

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LAUREN FINK

I feel like a lot of it is we’re so into development and so into making things grow outward that we don’t respect their habitats, and they were definitely here before we were, so just being conscious of that.

What’s your favorite wild animal?

Bison. I used to live in Wyoming.

FOOD & LISTINGS EDITOR

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I think a great way for us to coexist with wildlife is to add a certain aspect of separation. For example, if a cougar was to come into our city, instead of killing the cougar, we would capture it and put it in a secure place. I do think it’s appropriate for people to camp [near] wildlife, next to bears, if they have proper training. But other than that, you’ve gotta protect us, too, and that’s difficult.

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MICAH ESTELLE

I think it comes down to a lot of educating … I remember camping and my parents had this book of bear attack stories, and looking back that’s terrible. What if we instead read a handbook on how to interact with wildlife correctly when we come across them so it’s not this big scary thing?

What’s your favorite wild animal?

Bison.

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One of the things I think is really important is to understand the wildlife and their behaviors and to be able to set up our living environment that make it a safe place for them, and to not interfere with their natural behaviors and natural tendencies.

What’s your favorite wild animal?

Honestly, I have to say I love corvids. I love crows and watching them.

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I definitely think awareness to the endangered animals list, as well as stricter laws for hunting because that is wiping out a lot of animals and that is not good for the Earth.

What’s your favorite wild animal?

Giraffe.

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Staying woke with Mary Poppins

BY INGA LAURENT

W

MARCH 16 8PM

FEATURE FILM SCREENED WITH LIVE ORCHESTRA PERFORMING JOHN WILLIAMS’ EPIC SCORE JORGE LUIS UZCÁTEGUI, CONDUCTOR

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MARTIN WOLDSON THEATER AT THE FOX

Tickets: 509 624 1200 or FoxTheaterSpokane.org 6 INLANDER JANUARY 17, 2019

hen I first watched Mary Poppins as a wee thing, one song memorized me into silence. “Stay Awake” is a lullaby sung during a serene scene that stands in stark contrast to the shenanigans marking much of the movie. Mary sings Jane and Michael Banks to sleep by instructing them to do the opposite: “Stay awake, don’t rest your head, don’t lie down upon your bed, while the moon drifts in the skies, stay awake don’t close your eyes.” By the end of her melody, the children are lulled, duped ever so deeply into slumber. At my young age, I’d yet to possess the wherewithal to grasp why that particular song was so powerful, but little logic is necessary when the heart responds to

something so naturally.

How does this prim, proper, practically perfect Poppins produce pragmatic results with such impractical advice?

She understands human nature well — that we often act at odds with behaviors in our best interest. Mary has a way with words and capitalizes on our silly, stubborn streaks. She encourages autonomy, asking us to own all life’s contradictory choices with an express acknowledgment.

SAY WHAT?

DO SOMETHING!

“Mr. President, there’s no doubt that you have the authority to launch an attack.”

WOMEN+S MARCH SPOKANE: The independently organized event takes place on the same day as Women’s marches across the U.S., which started in 2016 as a national, nonpartisan call for social change, civil rights for all, regardless of age, gender, race, sexual orientation, ethnicity, ability, religion or economic status.

Spokane’s march also includes a volunteer action fair and rally with speakers and music preceding the 1 pm march through downtown. Sat, Jan. 19 from 10 am-3 pm. Free. All ages. Spokane Convention Center, 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. Facebook: Women+s March Spokane 2019

William P. Barr, in 1991, at the time the deputy attorney general, advising President George H. W. Bush that he didn’t need permission from Congress to launch a war in Iraq. Barr’s support of unfettered executive powers are in the news again now that President Trump has nominated him for U.S. Attorney General.

After spending just a few hours in her world, I am forced to return to mine and marvel at how my recalcitrance remains a recurrent truth. There are countless ways I continue fighting rest — from mundane battles, like choosing healthier options, brushing my teeth at night or making my bed in the morning, to more serious matters, like chasing after the unavailable, getting mired in losses, or making upward comparisons. However, messages of hope spring eternal because Mary believes. Enunciating our potential perpetually improves our possibilities.

She encourages autonomy, asking us to own all life’s contradictory choices with an express acknowledgment.

In her movie return, Mary Poppins reinvigorates opportunities for learning old-new lessons. Aside from a moving musical score, pretty pink and purple panoramas, awesome alliteration, and toe-tapping throwback choreography, this revival brims with nuggets of knowledge, carefully crafted building blocks of meaning. The movie doesn’t shy away from or shade over hard truths but searches for integration by confronting the pain we’re likely to endure in this life. Loss, for example, brings a sadness that can slay, but perspective (“you see when the world turns upside down the best thing is to turn right along with it”) plays an important role in determining whether we stay down — “some others bear an anchor and they sink in seconds flat” — or become buoyant, rising up “to polish the sky.”

We’re warned against getting stuck in the past — “too focused on where you’ve been to pay attention to where you’re going.” We are to “let the past take a bow, the forever is now.” We’re admonished, in absolutes, about forgetting the permanence and persistence of love — “nothing’s gone forever only out of place.” We are to “hold on tight to those you love.” We’re reminded that “we’re going to need a lot of help,” that we should each “enjoy the things you’ve got… and never try to be the person that you’re not,” and that “a cover is not the book, so c’mon and take a second look.”

And in a nod to “Stay Awake,” “Can You Imagine That” mirrors the tradition of bombastic rhetoric, poking fun at excessive intellect and logic, which excludes wonder — “too much glee leaves rings around the brain, take that joy and wash it down the drain.”

Fiddle-faddle and folderol, I’m over-analyzing again. I’ve wasted enough time exaggerating and extrapolating on the wisdom one can derive from whimsical fantasy. Far too many pressing problems are prevalent in our present reality, so I really must stop projecting… (insert umbrella emoji, a mischievous smile and an indignant “can you imagine that?”) End Scene. n Inga N. Laurent is a local legal educator and a Fulbright scholar. She is deeply curious about the world and its constructs and delights in uncovering common points of connection that unite our shared but unique human experiences.

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ALSO IN THIS ISSUE SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS IN SPOKANE 24

POWDER &Ice

IceThe New

NEWS Find out who’s sleeping in the Spokane County Jail 13

THEATER ARt examines faith in Agnes of God 33

FILM Justin Timberlake in his first major film role 41

JAN. 18, 2007: We reported that, after 15 years of legal wrangling, the Spokane Tribe had successfully negotiated a gaming compact with the state of Washington, laying the groundwork for a casino in Airway Heights (though, we noted, many obstacles remained).

That development, the Spokane Tribe Casino, would finally open its doors in January 2018.

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COMMENT | NEWSMAKERS

Q&A LIV LARSON ANDREWS The pastor of Salem Lutheran Church, which nows houses a homeless warming shelter, grapples with the tensions between faith and politics INTERVIEW BY DANIEL WALTERS

W

hen the city of Spokane scrambled to locate warming shelters in the midst of its homeless crisis late last year, it found the Salem Lutheran Church. Partnering with the Guardian’s Foundation, Salem Lutheran has been able to take in about 60 homeless men and women every night. Pastor Liv Larson Andrews isn’t just an advocate for the homeless — she’s been a vocal defender of immigrants and refugees, even speaking at a protest last year about the federal government’s child-separation policy in front of Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers’ office.

lose sight of the other parts of that work or the bigger conversation.

We have an affordable housing unit around the corner from us, a project with All Saints Lutheran.

We’ve been taking our time to discern what’s coming alongside the housing piece. What else is needed in West Central? Is it a clinic? Is it an education ministry?

It’s probably time to pick something.

What is the biggest misconception most American Christians have about Jesus?

I think we tend to make him in our own image.

INLANDER: How well have our churches done at [Laughs] A friend was actually trying to call out the responding to poverty and homelessness? more progressive leaders, saying “Jesus has ceased to LARSON ANDREWS: It’s mixed. I regret to see a be a voice from the outside. Now he’s just the ‘wokest lot of churches that have seemed to wall themselves off. dude at the party.’” I laughed so much. I was like, oh, I But I’m really heartened that — this warming center has might be guilty of that. The mistake we make is when seemed to fall in our lap. Our phone has been ringing Jesus is an echo chamber for our own priorities. off the hook, from other congregations In the American church, Jesus is from all across the region wanting to pale skinned, speaks English and is cool LETTERS give donations, saying “Way to go!” with wealth. I don’t see any of those Send comments to saying “Where can we help?” That was things reflected in the Biblical narrative. editor@inlander.com. cool, seeing, oh, OK, we’re not alone in this.

Have your sermons become more But it’s hard to look at a neighborhood like West political since Trump’s rise?

Central. It’s one of the most churched neighborhoods.

I think I’m a little more direct or frank about where There are a lot of churches. But it’s still a really blightI am. I strive to own where I am. We shouldn’t be of ed neighborhood. And so, what’s the missing piece? one political mind. But we are about telling the truth, to each other, to the world.

What’s been the biggest challenge for the warming I was pondering replying to a social media thread, center at Salem Lutheran? where someone was decrying “People are so cruel Catching up, or coming to understand the weight about Trump.” You know, you can be a child of God of the project. Sixty to 100 people sleeping in a room and a rapist and a white supremacist at the same time. every night? That’s a lot. I think we’ve needed to But if we’re only saying one of those things at any quadruple the size of the dumpster. The plumbing is given time about a person, that’s false. I affirm that getting a lot more use.

Trump is a child of God. But I also believe him to be a We’re very glad that we have been mobilized to be rapist and a white supremacist. n an emergency warming center, but know that it is only one tiny piece of addressing poverty, wealth inequity This interview has been lightly and homelessness in Spokane. I’m wanting to not edited for length and clarity.

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COMMENT | FROM READERS

Readers respond to an Inlander article about Spokane City Council President Ben Stuckart’s hope to change certain regulations to promote a denser urban area (1/10/18):

TREVOR BRADLEY: Parking minimums, height maximums, and single family zoning are all inhibitors to healthy urban growth. Some regulations are regressive and need to be removed. I applaud Stuckart for embracing the good urbanist policies Spokane needs to move forward.

Readers respond to an Inlander Q&A with Greenstone founder and developer Jim Frank about affordable housing in Spokane (1/10/18):

ELIZABETH PARKER: Now that’s some good thinking. We need to get busy on traffic issues now as well. In the three years since I moved back here (NC grad), traffic is getting worse and worse. Even during the off hours, the freeway through downtown to the Valley is now packed. Sure urban development will help, but where?

KEITH M. WELLER: Well, he has earned his kickback. His whole campaign is bought and paid for by the people at the Spokane Home Builders Association.

MICHAEL JOSEPH FERRELL: Why can’t we have necessary regulations and develop more housing? This man’s logic doesn’t make sense to me.

JULIE SHEPARD-HALL: I don’t like the idea of reducing required parking. In the Gonzaga area the infill building is crazy. Slapping up these oversize box houses and people having to park in the streets then causes a safety hazard for emergency responders. n

HOLLY ROBERTSON: We need to work on mass transit options too, faster and more frequent. Neighborhoods that have lots of abandoned houses can be turned into duplexes or townhouses. We have the land we just have to use it wisely.

MARLA MALMBERG: If you want more diversity in the downtown area, build smaller homes, condos and townhouses for retired people, working single and married couples.

Nothing in the downtown area is affordable now and people will gladly accept smaller, more affordable housing to move to the downtown area. n

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CLARIFICATION

In an article last week (“Trouble on the Block,” 1/10/19), we gave the incorrect age of Ridpath Hotel’s main tower. While the hotel originally opened in 1900, that tower, which is currently being converted into apartments, was destroyed by fire in 1950 and rebuilt by 1952. The Ridpath had been regarded as Spokane’s oldest continuously operated hotel, with its 108-year run, when it closed in 2008.

The Inlander is committed to getting things right. Honest mistakes still happen. If they do, we’ll correct them. Report any errors that warrant correction to editor@inlander.com.

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12 INLANDER JANUARY 17, 2019

HEALTH

MEDICAL EXPERIMENT Gov. Jay Inslee’s “public option” plan to reduce health care costs is ambitious — and untested

BY DANIEL WALTERS

W

ith his eye on a potential presidential campaign, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee already has made plenty of national headlines in 2019. Since the New Year, Inslee has announced he’d be pardoning thousands of marijuana convictions. He’s proposed remaking the state’s financial aid system, aiming to make college effectively free for low-income students.

But maybe his most dramatic proposal came last week, when Inslee proposed a health care innovation he’s calling “Cascade Care” — reminiscent of the “public option” proposals that were cut from Obamacare in 2010, back when Inslee was still in Congress.

Inslee’s “Cascade Care” public option plan, however, wouldn’t create a state-run insurance agency. Nor would it expand Medicaid. Instead, it would make the Inslee administration an insurance negotiator, tasking it with picking at least one insurer to offer Obamacare exchange coverage for the entire state. By wielding its powerful bargaining power, the argument goes, the state government could drive down prices, cap reimbursement rates and expand access in the individual market.

“This public option will ensure consumers in every part of the state will have an option for high-quality, affordable coverage,” Inslee said at a press conference last week.

Ideally, Inslee argues, the constraints of Cascade Care, combined with a host of subsidies, would drive down health care costs and calm the state’s shaky insurance market. Yet even with the strongest Democratic majority in Washington state since 2010, it’s a tough sell: Lobbyists for the powerful medical and insurance industries are wary.

Versions of a “public option” have been proposed by health care wonks for over a decade. But a proposal like Inslee’s has never ...continued on next page

It’s not just climate change, higher education and orcas: Jay Inslee is making health care reform a big priority in 2019. YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

JANUARY 17, 2019 INLANDER 13

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Jay Inslee argues that many counties in Washington state are “on the knife’s edge” of losing health-care coverage at a press conference announcing a “public option” this month. OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR PHOTO

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NEWS | HEALTH

been tested — not in Washington or anywhere else.

“It’s a bit of a unicorn,” says Larry Levitt, health care expert with the Kaiser Family Foundation. “This is uncharted territory, at least in the private insurance market.”

And the last time Washington state tried to make a big change to its health care system? It didn’t go so well.

THE OBAMACARE BETA TEST

Back in 1992, Washington state launched a radical overhaul of the state’s health care. In many ways, it was like the state had piloted Obamacare, two decades earlier. State Democrats expanded the state’s Medicaid program, banned insurers from discriminating because of preexisting conditions and featured an individual mandate requiring people to purchase insurance.

But voters rebelled: The next year, they booted Democrats from power, electing Republicans who promised to nix the most unpopular parts of the bill, like that individual mandate. But without a mandate to force them into the market, a lot of young healthy people opted not to buy insurance. Most of the people left on the individual market were old and sick people, the exact kinds of people who were the most expensive to insure — driving up premium costs.

Washington state was in the dreaded death spiral: By the time 1999 rolled around, the Seattle Times reported, not a single insurer in the state was offering individual coverage.

So when President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act passed a decade later, experts hammered home how crucial the individual mandate was to keeping the system afloat.

But in 2017, while Republicans failed to undo the Affordable Care Act, their tax bill effectively eliminated the individual mandate. Washington state risked a repeat of the 1990s, at a time when the state’s health insurance marketplace hasn’t exactly been thriving.

“Right now, we have 14 counties in the state that have only one insurer,” says Inslee health care advisor Jason McGill. Typically, the individual market is sicker or older — and more risky to insure. In 2017, the state’s insurance commissioner had to scramble to find any individual market insurers willing to serve Klickitat or Grays Harbor counties.

For now, thanks to federal health care subsi-

dies, there’s been no apparent death spiral. But there have been concerning signs.

“For the first time this year, we are seeing our uninsured rate blip up,” says McGill. “We have gaps in the system still. It’s going backward.”

For the governor, McGill says, the loss of the individual mandate was a catalytic event.

“Under the Obama administration and the Affordable Care Act, Washington was able to make tremendous progress in expanding coverage and start bringing down costs in our health care system,” Inslee said at last week’s press conference. “Under the Trump administration, all that progress is at risk.”

CARROTS AND STICKS

Effectively, the Cascade Care public option proposal would make Washington state the individual market’s personal shopper.

Under Inslee’s plan, the state would put out the call for bids for insurance companies to offer plans to the individual market. Anyone could apply, but with some major caveats. An insurer who partners with Cascade Care would have to cover the entire state, not just a handful of select counties. The health insurance policies would need to meet a litany of standards intended to decrease out-of-pocket costs and increase transparency.

And, crucially, the hospitals and doctors would only get paid as much as Medicare would pay them.

“Commercial plans pay more than the Medicare rates on average. Far more,” McGill says.

“Fifty percent more for some providers.”

(Still, Medicare, the federal health care program for seniors, pays more than the rockbottom reimbursement rates of Medicaid, which pays for health care for the lowest-income individuals.)

That cap represents the public option’s biggest potential asset — and biggest potential risk.

There’s plenty of evidence of public programs like Medicare and Medicaid lowering health care costs, says Levitt, the Kaiser Family Foundation health care expert. The question is whether Washington state’s proposed public-private hybrid can do the same.

After all, the state will have to convince insurers and providers to jump on board.

“I’d expect skepticism across the board from the health care industry,” Levitt says.

So far, lobbyists for insurance and hospital

industries in Washington state haven’t taken a position, saying they’re waiting to see the details of the bill. But they’re uneasy, worried that Inslee’s plan to calm the marketplace may destabilize it instead.

“The concern that we have is that the Medicare rate is unsustainable. It does not pay for the cost of care,” says Chelene Whiteaker, VP of government affairs for the Washington State Hospital Association. “Rural hospitals will have significant difficulty providing care to patients, while they’re trying to absorb patients from the public option plan.”

Having insurance doesn’t do much good if doctors refuse to take it.

“At the end of the day, we want patients to have not only health coverage, but health access,” says Whiteaker.

But that’s where the advantage of having the state as the negotiator comes in. Think about how Walmart is able to demand crazy low prices from their suppliers, thanks to its sheer domination of the market. If you tell Walmart no, you can say goodbye to a huge chunk of your business. Medicare works the same way, Levitt says.

“Hospitals can’t possibly walk away from Medicare, because it’s too much business and revenue,” Levitt explains.

So if it comes down to it, McGill says, the state can throw its weight around: It could require that any insurer or provider who wants to serve state or public school employees also has to serve those on the Cascade Care exchange.

“We intend to use our purchasing power if we need to,” McGill says.

Yet there’s another risk: Instead of reducing overall health care costs, the public option could simply shift the cost from the individual market to the rest of the private insurance market.

“If a health system is facing significant loss for the new program, the question is who is going to help make up that loss?”

Whiteaker says.

Experts are divided on whether, say, artificially low Medicaid reimbursement rates actually make private insurance a lot more expensive.

“The economic theory suggests that if providers could charge those higher prices to payers, they would do that anyway,” Levitt says. “The evidence is pretty mixed. It really depends on the market.”

But Joe Schmick, Republican on the Washington state House Health Care and Wellness Committee, doesn’t have any doubt.

“One thing is absolutely clear,” he says, “this will raise costs.”

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Andy Billig argues that a public option isn’t unprecedented in Washington state: He points to the Basic Health Plan, a subsidized government-run insurance program that helped low-income Washington residents until 2014.

Arguably, as a “public option,” it was even more radical, involving more direct government control than Cascade Care would include.

“One of the lessons from the previous public option was that it worked and it was popular,” Billig says.

Yet during the recession, Washington state repeatedly struggled to pay for its Basic Health subsidies.

Inslee’s plan calls for funding subsidies to ensure that nobody on Cascade Care is spending more than 10 percent of their income on health care insurance premiums. But so far, Schmick argues, there’s no fiscal note, no explicit price tag and no clear plan for how those subsidies would be paid for.

“We just have to be very clear that this is going to cost more money,” Schmick says.

Ultimately, the political battle isn’t just about Inslee’s plan. It’s over what it will lead to. When Schmick hears Inslee talk about “health care for all,” he interprets it as Inslee saying that Cascade Care is just one step on the way to a government-controlled health care system. And that, Schmick argues, would be a disaster.

“Vermont? They tried single-payer, abandoned it. In North Carolina, to go to Medicare for All, they found it would have ended up doubling our state budget,” Schmick says. “As a general rule, I know my constituents are not in favor of universal health care.” n danielw@inlander.com

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NEWS | DIGEST

ON INLANDER.COM

STRANGE ATTRACTION Did you meet your boyfriend/girlfriend/wife/husband/partner/ lover in a unique or unusual way? Maybe they were the firefighter saving your house from a deep-fried turkey disaster. Or maybe you locked eyes at an all-you-can-eat crab feed and knew that shellcracking technique could only belong to a keeper. The Inlander is looking for couples who met in unique or unusual ways to share their stories for an upcoming VALENTINE’S DAY issue. Find our submission form on Inlander.com. (SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL)

FEATURING NATIONAL NEWS FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES

‘UNWARRANTED SURGERY’ Last week, newly elected Idaho Gov. Brad Little (R) announced that state Department of Corrections will be APPEALING a recent ruling from a federal judge that ordered Idaho to provide sex reassignment surgery to Adree Edmo, a transgender convict. Edmo, who was born male but identifies as female, twice attempted self-castration while in prison and was diagnosed with gender dysphoria by a staff psychiatrist. Edmo’s attorneys have vowed to fight the appeal in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. (JOSH KELETY)

‘TIME IS RIGHT’ John McGrath, the longtime director of the SPOKANE COUNTY Detention Services Department, will be stepping down from his position on Feb. 18. In a message to county staff, McGrath says that he decided that the “time is right” to “pass the baton onto new leadership.” His management of the county’s two detention facilities was marred by controversies, including a string of inmate deaths over the past year as well as allegations of a botched investigation into rape allegations against a staffer at Geiger Corrections Center. The county has not yet identified McGrath’s replacement.

(JOSH KELETY)

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UNDENIED KXLY TV anchor Nadine Woodward’s picture was above the fold in the Spokesman-Review on Jan. 9 beside the proclamation: “NOT RUNNING FOR MAYOR: Nadine Woodward, Michael Baumgartner claim no interest in City Hall.” But Woodward’s actual quote was a lot more ambiguous, only mentioning that she had “no immediate plans” to run for mayor. And when the Inlander reached out to Woodward asking if she could “promise” she wouldn’t run for mayor this year, she only would promise “that for the next two months I’m a news anchor and that is the entirety of my focus.” On Jan. 10, the Spokesman-Review issued a correction, acknowledging its print headlines about Woodward had been inaccurate. (DANIEL WALTERS)

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NEWS | BRIEFS

Mike and Mike Leach and Baumgartner want to team up on a leadership course

M

aybe you thought it was a joke when football coach Mike Leach tweeted in November that he was thinking of teaching a class called “Leadership Lessons in Insurgent Warfare & Football Strategy,” with former state Sen. Michael Baumgartner.

Maybe, even after Leach posted an outline of the course over the weekend, you thought there was no way WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY would actually offer such a course.

It turns out WSU is taking it seriously. University spokesman Phil Weiler tells the Inlander that WSU could potentially offer the course this semester, but there’s no guarantee it will be worked out in time.

It would be a noncredit course taught in the evening, he says. Noncredit courses aren’t unusual at WSU, but typically the university has those worked out and available for students to enroll before the start of the semester.

This semester has already started, and WSU can’t really offer it in the fall because Leach, of course, will be busy coaching football.

Leach posted an overview of the class to Twitter on Sunday. It would consist of five night classes over the course of the semester. The first one, theoretically offered on March 27, is called “Introduction to Insurgent Warfare & Air Raid Theory,” which would discuss the Arab revolt against the Ottoman Empire in World War I, then go

Mike Leach — coach and professor?

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

into a film break down of WSU’s game against USC in 2017.

One might ask: What do those two things have to do with each other? Good question. Baumgartner, however, doesn’t think it’s that out of the ordinary. He has experience teaching both economics at Harvard University and counterinsurgency efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan at the Paris Institute of Political Studies.

“I’ve used football as a vehicle to introduce some of the concepts because it’s something you can grasp onto,” Baumgartner says.

Baumgartner says he thinks some students will get a lot out of the class.

“I hope we find [students] interested in going into national security or diplomacy or intelligence,” Baumgartner says. “Also maybe we’ll find somebody who wants to be the next Mike Leach and be a football coach.”

(WILSON CRISCIONE)

‘A BIG WIN’

Federal courts have, for now, blocked new federal rules

that would create religious and moral exemptions allowing employers to opt out of providing free BIRTH CONTROL to women as required by the Affordable Care Act when offering insurance plans.

Washington is among 13 states that filed a case against the proposed rules and were first given an injunction. Their case challenges new rules the Trump administration first floated in 2017 that were set to take effect on Monday, Jan. 14. The day the new rule was set to start, a federal judge in Philadelphia issued an injunction that also prevented the rules from taking effect nationwide.

In her decision, U.S. District Judge Wendy Beetlestone wrote that, “The negative effects of even a short period of decreased access to no-cost contraceptive services is irreversible,” the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Up to 126,400 women could be impacted by the broadened exemptions and states could bear millions of dollars in costs related to unexpected pregnancies, according to court documents.

“This is a big win for reproductive health care but it’s unbelievable that we’re still fighting for access to birth control in 2019,” says Paul Dillon, vice president of public affairs for Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho, by email. “Birth control is health care — no matter what the Trump-Pence administration thinks or whether your boss agrees with it.”

Caitlin Oakley, a spokeswoman for Alex Azar II, secretary of Health and Human Services, tells the New York Times that the rules put forward by the Trump administration are intended to uphold Americans’ rights under the Constitution.

“No American should be forced to violate his or her own conscience in order to abide by the laws and regulations governing our healthcare system,” Oakley tells the Times. (SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL)

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The cost of attending college in Washington state has been a bit of a roller coaster during the past decade. During the recession, state schools had some of the steepest tuition hikes in the country. But after Republicans took control of the Senate, they successfully managed to first freeze — then reverse — many of those tuition hikes.

Now it’s Gov. Jay Inslee’s turn to try to propose a big reform to address the COST OF COLLEGE. Along with emphasizing climate change legislation and saving the orca whales in his State of the State speech Tuesday, Inslee touted a “statewide free college program that guarantees state financial aid to eligible students.”

Rep. Drew Hansen, chair of the House College Workforce and Development Committee, says the Legislature has underfunded the State Need Grant for years, locking out low-income students from accessing state aid.

“We cut tuition, but didn’t keep pace with financial aid,” Hansen says. “Each year, we have over 10,000 students in Washington who deserve financial aid, but don’t get it.”

Hansen and Inslee’s proposal is to convert the State Need Grant into what they’re calling the “Washington College Promise” scholarship program: By spending $103 million on the program, Inslee’s team believes an additional 18,000 students could be served.

“Combined with help at the federal level, this will be free tuition for families making under $44,000 for a family of four,” Hansen says. Not only that, but Hansen says the bill would provide aid for students who want to go into apprenticeship programs instead of traditional schooling.

In their response to the governor’s State of the State speech, however, state Republicans were highly critical of the governor making big promises without mentioning the costs — like tax increases — to get there.

(DANIEL WALTERS)

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JANUARY 17, 2019 INLANDER 19

NEWS | CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Double Take

Questions surround a fatal police-involved shooting, including whether a new law will be put to the test

BY JOSH KELETY

A

t a jam-packed funeral for David Michael Novak — the 35-year-old man shot and killed by Spokane Police last week — he’s described as adventurous, spontaneous, athletic and kind.

“This week I got together with David’s family and I asked: ‘What words would you use to describe David?’” says Bart Orth, a local pastor presiding over the funeral, in front of pictures of Novak and a wooden casket adorned with a dirt biking helmet. “His dad said ‘very outgoing.’ His mom said ‘very athletic.’ … His brotherin-law Shane said he’s ‘loyal.’ Crystal, his sister, said ‘high energy, on steroids.’”

It was a somber yet joyous celebration of a man who died inside his own home in the Emerson Garfield Neighborhood on Jan. 7 after being shot during an encounter with Spokane Police. The officers involved, who were responding to reports of gunshots, said that Novak was holding a rifle at the time, officials initially reported. But while investigators recovered a baseball bat, they found no gun.

That fact and others about the incident have left Novak’s family wondering what really happened. The incident also raises questions about whether Initiative 940 — a recently approved ballot initiative making it easier to prosecute cops who use deadly force — will be tested in this case.

Under I-940, prosecutors no longer have to prove that officers acted in “malice” when using deadly force in order to obtain a criminal conviction. Instead, the initiative enacted a new legal standard, a two-prong test that asks whether an officer believed that such actions were warranted in the moment and whether a reasonable officer in a similar situation would have done the same.

But even this standard is slated to change in the coming weeks, creating additional uncertainty. In early December, the backers of I-940 announced that they would be pushing for tweaks to I-940 during the 2019 legislative session.

“The issue that we had with it just was that it was complex,” Steve Strachan, executive director of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, says of I-940’s original standard. “It was hard to understand and it was hard to train [to officers].”

20 INLANDER JANUARY 17, 2019

Monisha Harrell, board chair of Equal Rights Washington and a representative of the I-940 backers, tells the Inlander that the changes to the initiative might get passed as early as “the second week of session.”

Both Harrell and Strachan stress that the new standard isn’t intended to convict cops who make mistakes. “This is not about officers making a good faith mistake.

This is about the outrageous and the cavalier,” says Strachan.

The officer who shot Novak has been identified as Brandon Rankin.

T

he incident is currently being investigated by the Spokane Investigative Regional Response Team, who will eventually turn over their findings to Prosecuting Attorney Larry Haskell for review.

(The investigation is “still in its infancy” and has no timeline for completion, Sgt. Jack Rosenthal of the Sheriff’s Office, tells the Inlander.)

The officers involved in Novak’s death were equipped with body cameras. The footage will be reviewed by the investigators and could prove pivotal in illustrating whether a reasonable officer should have known that Novak wasn’t carrying a gun.

Spokane County Prosecutor Novak Larry Haskell was noncommittal in an email about whether he will use the original I-940 standard — it went into effect on Dec. 6 — or any updated version that might emerge. “[It] will depend on the implementing language contained in any legislation that passes, what it says, when it passes, and when I receive the completed investigation,” he writes. “No way to know at this point.”

According to an SPD news release sent out after the incident, Spokane Police responded to a report of a male firing a gun at neighbors on West Montgomery Avenue at around 10:30 pm and arrived on the scene within minutes. “Shortly after arriving on scene, officers reported hearing what they believed to be at least one shot coming from the area of suspect’s house,” the release reads. “Just after that, officers advised shots had been fired.”

The suspect — later identified as Novak — then fled into his house. Officers and medics eventually entered the home and, after attempting life-saving efforts, they declared Novak deceased at the scene.

The next day, a follow-up statement from Chief Craig Meidl was released with new information. The chief described how the officers on the scene initially thought they saw Novak holding a “long object,” which “they believed to be consistent with a rifle or shotgun,” before noting that investigators at the scene recovered a “baseball bat” but did not find a gun.

According to court documents, police dispatch logs indicate that the officers who

responded to the call “heard a gunshot” and advised that an officer had fired their weapon within the next minute.

S

everal witnesses who lived across the street from Novak say that they were hanging out outside on the evening of Jan. 7 when Novak walked over and struck up a conversation, court records state.

One witness, Anton Wolfe, says Novak became agitated and started hurling racial slurs — the men outside the home were black — and claiming he was a KKK member before grabbing at another witness, Jolyn Maze. He says Novak then walked back to his home, allegedly saying something akin to “I’m going to shoot you” as he was leaving. Wolfe then went back into his residence and minutes later heard several gunshots, prompting Maze to call 911. They soon heard sirens and a volley of gunfire.

Maze, meanwhile, told police that he heard “two consecutive gun shots” as he began entering his home after Novak walked back across the street. (Maze later told the Spokesman-Review that while he was outside he believed that Novak fired “five or six times” after retrieving what looked like a shotgun from his house.) He then says he heard additional gun shots while he was in his kitchen, followed by an officer yelling “get down, get down” after the police arrived. Another volley of gunfire ensued.

One neighbor, Tyler Gerstbrein, told the Spokesman-Review that he saw Novak pacing, screaming, and hitting his pickup truck with an aluminum bat before officers arrived, who then told Novak to freeze and drop the weapon. Gerstbrein then claimed that Novak dropped the bat before the officer fired.

In a Jan. 10 statement from the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, investigators located a “silver and black aluminum baseball bat near the pickup truck where Novak was contacted” and that the truck “appeared to have damage consistent to being struck several times with a bat.”

In a statement released by the Novak family, they welcomed the investigation into his death. “While grieving, our family has had to deal with conflicting reports and account of events surrounding David’s death,” the statement reads. “This tragic event will inevitably evolve into the emotionally draining process of examining the events of the night January 7, 2019. The Novak family welcomes the forthcoming investigation and the process of sifting the truth from the sound bites.”

They also criticized local law enforcement for their initial handling of the incident: “The difficulties inherent in processing such a tragedy have been compounded by the lack of communication and transparency from authorities responsible for this case.”

On the front porch of Novak’s former home sits a small bouquet flanked by candles adorned with messages scrawled in marker. One simply reads: “Justice for David.” n

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JANUARY 17, 2019 INLANDER 21

The meadows in Alaska’s Hallo Bay are ideal grazing land for grizzly bears.

JOSH PALUH PHOTO

22 INLANDER JANUARY 17, 2019

THIS IS

GRIZZLY

COUNTRY A

small seaplane drops her off and flies back toward civilization, leaving Joy Erlenbach there among the bears and the wild.

Erlenbach looks for a place to set up camp as she hikes through Alaska’s Hallo Bay. Swarms of bugs fill the salty air. On one side, miles of sandy beach stretch along the shore undisturbed. On the other, towering, snow-covered volcanoes poke into the sky as dozens of grizzly bears graze below in an open meadow.

This is grizzly country — with no signs of humans, no roads and no trails leading into it. Erlenbach knows that if anything goes wrong, she could be days from help.

Erlenbach, a bear biologist and Ph.D. candidate at Washington State University, is there to study the bears.

Yet before that first research trip in June 2015, she had never lived with formidable, 1,000-pound predators in the wild before.

“All of the sudden,” Erlenbach says, “my life revolved around getting along with bears.”

Hallo Bay is part of Katmai National Park, on the southern coast of Alaska across from Kodiak Island. Katmai is slightly larger than the state of Connecticut, and it contains an estimated 2,200 grizzly bears, a number thought to exceed the entire grizzly population in all of the lower 48 states.

It’s a place yet unconquered by humans, where bears roam like they once did hundreds of years ago in North America. And it’s a place where food sources are

As part of her research, Joy Erlenbach takes a blood sample from a grizzly bear in Katmai National Park. WSU PHOTO abundant. The bears chomp on grass in the meadow.

They pull salmon from nearby creeks flowing from the mountains. They dig up clams on the beach during a low tide.

Uncoincidentally, they’re unbothered by the presence of people. Guided groups of tourists can get within feet of the bears with no problem. Documentary filmmakers come for unrivaled close-up shots of grizzlies.

Since spending 300 days living among grizzlies over the last four years, Erlenbach has gotten to know the massive creatures like few have before. She trusted them, and they trusted her. She didn’t worry when she woke to the sound of a bear chewing wild celery 3 feet from her head. The bears, in turn, didn’t worry about nursing

After living with bears for 300 days, a WSU researcher came away with a wild idea: that grizzlies and humans can coexist

BY WILSON CRISCIONE

their cubs with Erlenbach so close by.

For Erlenbach, it’s a sort of utopia, a rare and special place where humans and bears can live together in peace.

“I would like to see people realize that you can peacefully coexist with these animals, that they’re not out to get you all the time,” Erlenbach tells the Inlander.

Yet that’s a world that doesn’t exist in the lower 48.

After humans nearly wiped them out, grizzly bears have finally started to recover in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. As they spread, they’re increasingly moving into human territory, eating livestock and sometimes mauling hunters like Bob Legasa, a Coeur d’Alene man who survived an attack in the fall. In turn people are killing problem bears at higher rates — last year, 65 grizzlies died in the Yellowstone Ecosystem, and most of those deaths were human-caused. Some locals call for killing even more grizzlies to manage the population, while animal-rights groups sue to protect the creatures.

After a tumultuous, bloody history between humans and grizzly bears, the basic question posed by Erlenbach remains: Can people and bears really get along?

SURVIVING THE WILD

Erlenbach isn’t the first person to live among grizzly bears in Hallo Bay and spread a message of coexistence.

Timothy Treadwell, the subject of Werner Herzog’s 2005 documentary Grizzly Man, spent 13 summers living with ...continued on next page

JANUARY 17, 2019 INLANDER 23

WILDLIFE “THIS IS GRIZZLY COUNTRY,” CONTINUED...

Katmai bears, often in Hallo Bay. Treadwell felt the animals were misunderstood. He would film himself, with his floppy blond hair, playing with the wild bears. He had names for all of them. He became famous, appearing on the Discovery Channel and the Late Show with David Letterman. Yet many felt he was recklessly close to the bears. He didn’t carry bear spray, didn’t put an electric fence around his tent and he would camp at the intersection of bear trails. In October 2003, as the bears were trying to fatten up right before hibernation, Treadwell was attacked by an older male bear.

The bear killed and ate both Treadwell and his girlfriend, Amie Huguenard.

Erlenbach knew little of Treadwell or the Grizzly Man story before going to Katmai. Erlenbach, 32, has always loved animals, but she wasn’t born with an innate desire to get close to grizzlies. Growing up in Burlington, Washington, about an hour north of Seattle, she was drawn to the mountains and to the wild. In high school, Erlenbach joined a local search-and-rescue program for the chance to be outside. When she went off to Washington State University in 2004, she studied wildlife ecology and discovered the bears at the WSU Bear Center, which keeps them for research purposes. A wide-eyed, 5-foot-4 college kid, researchers had her take blood from a sleeping, 600-pound male grizzly. It was her first time touching a bear.

Erlenbach went on to do field work with bears in California and Yellowstone. She earned her Master’s degree in zoology working at the Bear Center, but she still felt like her calling was working in nature.

“When they told me there was a Ph.D. position in Alaska, I didn’t really want to do the Ph.D. But I wanted to go to Alaska,” she says.

While the grizzlies in Katmai are usually OK with humans, it’s still dangerous if you’re not careful. Erlenbach was reminded of that when she was scoping out places to camp in 2014. When she took a quick bathroom break, someone told her, “That’s right where Timothy Treadwell died.”

"I HAD A COUPLE-FOOT ENCOUNTER WITH THREE GIANT BEARS, AND MY LEGS WERE SHAKING, BUT IN GENERAL I THOUGHT THAT IT WOULD END WELL BECAUSE I KNEW HER PERSONALITY." Erlenbach isn’t naive about the dangers of bears. She always had a partner in her Hallo Bay camp — Carly McCoy, an early 20s college student who volunteered for the Park Service, and later another park employee.

Erlenbach spent her time studying the grizzlies’ diet and habitat. This past year, she studied their interactions with humans. But she was always prepared for the worst. She had an electric fence to deter bears from walking into her camp, where she stashed a 30-day supply of freezedried meals in a supposedly bear-proof metal barrel. Out in the field, she carried bear spray and a flare on her belt. She stuffed an airhorn in her pocket and threw a shotgun over her shoulder. She often carried a garbage bag, too, because you can flap it at a bear and they might get scared. But she never used the shotgun. Of the other deterrents, she only used bear spray once.

To be sure, she had a number of close encounters.

24 INLANDER JANUARY 17, 2019

GRIZZLIES IN THE LOWER 48

NORTH CASCADES fewer than

20

SELKIRK MOUNTAINS about

80

NORTHERN CONTINENTAL DIVIDE CABINET YAAK

about

45

“Just to walk down the beach about in the morning, I had to pass three to four bears,” she says.

Once, Erlenbach was observing bears on the beach when she and McCoy saw some cubs 300 yards away — usually more than a safe distance. The mom (sow) lost the cubs, and came charging with fire in her eyes at Erlenbach and McCoy. McCoy had the shotgun ready, and Erlenbach had her bear spray. At the last second, the bear spotted her cubs nearby and veered off.

Erlenbach says she knows how to read bears’ body language. They are not much different than dogs in the way they express discomfort. She remembers once walking on a path through tall grass when she surprised a mama bear, whom Erlenbach called “Nina,” and two large cubs. Nina was almost within arm’s reach. Erlenbach took a step back, but that upset Nina. So instead, Erlenbach froze, and Nina decided to simply walk past Erlenbach.

“That bear, like, I knew her,” Erlenbach says. “I had a couple-foot encounter with three giant bears, and my legs were shaking, but in general I thought that it would end well because I knew her personality.”

While Erlenbach resists comparisons to Treadwell, she does share a similar message: Humans can get along with bears. In Katmai, for instance, Erlenbach can live with bears as long as she’s careful.

She’s not saying the same is possible in places like Yellowstone, or even nearby in the Selkirks of North Idaho and Eastern Washington. You have to stay further away from grizzlies in the lower 48. Not because the bears themselves are different. The difference is in their food resources and the space they have to roam.

“If you talk to most people around [the Inland Northwest] and you told them you walked through a field, and you were 50 yards from a bear, or 30 feet from a bear, they would think you’re crazy,” Erlenbach says. “But in these places it’s possible.”

Perhaps that’s how it could have been in in the lower 48, where 70,000 grizzlies once roamed from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Coast. Maybe, as humans took over the West, they could have had a friendlier relationship with the bears.

The reality, however, is a very different story.

KILLED AND CONQUERED

As European settlers increasingly moved west, it spelled doom for grizzly bears, the largest predators on land.

Being competitors for human food, including livestock and crops, grizzlies increasingly came in confrontation with humans. For hunters, grizzlies — more than black bears — were seen as the biggest prize. There were more than 3,100 grizzly bear hides shipped from the North Cascades area alone between 1827 and 1859,

765

YELLOWSTONE more than

650

SOURCE: U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE

research has shown.

Humans primarily saw grizzlies as a threat to their domination of the land, something in the way of European civilization, says David Mattson, a wildlife researcher and grizzly expert who has studied bear-human interactions. In 1874, less than two years before the Battle of the Little Bighorn, or Custer’s Last Stand, Gen. George Custer reached what he would call the “hunter’s highest round of fame.” He wrote in a letter to his wife: “I have killed my grizzly.”

One hundred years after Custer’s first grizzly, the bears had lost 98 percent of their range in the lower 48 states. They were listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 1975. Fewer than 1,000 grizzlies remained. In places where grizzly bears once thrived, like the North Cascades and the Bitterroot Mountains in Idaho and western Montana, the population dipped so low as to not be recoverable.

Since then, however, populations in some places — especially in Yellowstone and the Northern Continental Divide, encompassing Glacier National Park — have started to rebound. Where Yellowstone’s population had dropped to around 130, it’s now back up somewhere between 650 and 1,000. The Northern Continental Divide is likewise close to 1,000 grizzlies. (Those numbers still don’t compare to Alaska, where more than 30,000 grizzlies roam.)

It’s all pointing in one direction: more encounters with bears’ greatest threat, humans. Grizzlies roam to find food anywhere they can, leading them to ranches, garbages and other places where they might encounter people. Hunters sometimes shoot them, claiming they mistook it for a black bear. Drivers hit them with cars.

To this day, humans still kill bears at a far higher rate than they kill us. Roughly 90 percent of all grizzly deaths are human-caused, Mattson says. By contrast, the Yellowstone Park Service says the chances of being killed by a bear in the park are only slightly higher than being killed by a falling tree.

Still, this decade has seen enough bear attacks to

frighten people in the West. Despite the relatively small population of grizzlies in the lower 48, eight people died of grizzly attacks in all of Wyoming or Montana since 2010. That’s double the entire state of Alaska.

Mattson, who for years led investigations into bear attacks in Yellowstone, says aggressive bears are that way in large part because of their environment.

“There are some bears that I would call ‘psychopaths,’ or ‘sociopaths.’ They had a bad upbringing. These are sentient beings shaped by their cubhood experiences,” he says.

Bears who have preyed upon humans just once are liable to do it again. It’s why bears are euthanized when they associate humans with food.

“Once they learn about a new food source, they don’t forget,” Mattson says.

“And the problem with us is that we’re incredibly feeble and vulnerable.”

In 2017, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service pulled protections for Yellowstone grizzly bears, giving management authority to Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. Both Idaho and Wyoming were set to allow hunters to kill up to two dozen grizzlies last fall, but in the final hour U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen restored protections for the grizzlies. Christensen ruled that federal officials did not adequately consider threats to the bears’ long-term recovery, including climate change factors.

Erlenbach argues that if Yellowstone bears, which are typically smaller than Alaskan and Canadian bears, were fat and happy, then it might be easier to interact with them. But humans would also have to change their ways.

“I personally think [grizzly populations] should keep growing and expanding and that the people need to change,” Erlenbach says.

Try telling that to people like Bob Legasa, a regular elk hunter whose favorite spot

is just north of Yellowstone, in Montana.

In October, less than a month after Christensen’s decision, Legasa (who also does freelance writing for the Inlander) was bowhunting for elk there like he does every year. At dawn, Legasa and his hunting partner were tracking elk in the snow. Legasa carried bear spray and a pistol, just in case.

They knew grizzlies were around, so they tried to avoid spots with low visibility so as not to surprise a bear. Nevertheless, they took a couple steps into some tall sage, and right there stood a sow and her cub, about 12 yards away.

There was no time to read the body language of the bear like Erlenbach had done in Katmai. Almost immediately, Legasa says, the sow charged. Legasa stood his ground, thinking it was a bluff charge.

Then he realized it was real. He protected his face as the grizzly lept at him, knocked him down and chomped through bone in his arm. She let go when Legasa’s hunting partner deployed bear spray, then she retreated when he used it again. Legasa took out his own bear spray, but in the chaos he sprayed himself.

Blinded temporarily, the two were eventually able to make it back to safety. It was at least the seventh bear attack on a human of the year, news reports said at the time.

Legasa felt lucky to be alive. Just a month earlier, an elk hunter named Mark Uptain had been killed by a grizzly in Wyoming.

Legasa didn’t blame the bear — he knows she was just trying to protect her cub. But Legasa, who lives in Coeur d’Alene, was already an advocate for permitted bear hunts to manage the grizzly population, though he says he wouldn’t partake himself. The encounter solidified his belief that the grizzly bear population in and around Yellowstone is getting out of hand.

“There just needs to be management on the grizzly bears,” he says, “because their numbers are escalating.”

Bob Legasa (right), of Coeur d’Alene, survived a grizzly attack in the fall. PHOTO COURTESY OF BOB LEGASA

THE NEXT FRONTIER

The road to Joe Hawley’s ranch in Nordman, Idaho, just west of Priest Lake in the Selkirk Mountains, is covered in snow this time of year. You first must pass a gate with a sign that says “Wildlife Preserve.” Inside his house, Hawley, 89, looks out of a sliding glass door from his kitchen toward a blank white patch of land surrounded by trees.

In the summer, it’s a wet meadow, with tall green grass and wildflowers.

The piece of land is part of the Bismark Meadows, a lush 1,100-acre wetland that’s perfect for grizzlies waking up from hibernation in spring. A nonprofit land trust called Vital Ground purchased 1,000 acres of the meadows as part of its mission to preserve grizzly bear habitat. Conservationists hope it can serve as a haven for the roughly 50-80 Selkirk grizzly bears, perhaps a smaller version of the meadows in Hallo Bay. “These meadows are great for summer [grizzly] grazing,” Hawley says. “But, oh, it’s hell to keep cattle and sheep here.”

The future for grizzly bears in the Pacific Northwest is unclear, and depends on a variety of political decisions. But groups like the Selkirk Conservation Alliance (SCA) see a future for grizzlies and humans to get along. It involves education and, maybe most importantly, giving grizzlies the space they need.

“Protecting their land is a huge part of the equation,” says Jim Bellatty, a board member for the SCA. For 56 years, Hawley has lived on this ranch. He’s never had much of an issue with the grizzlies he encountered here, even when they ate his livestock. To him, living with wild animals is just part of living in the wild. Hawley hasn’t given his land to Vital Ground yet, but he likes the program and plans to meet with them soon.

Yet not all ranchers share Hawley’s live-and-let-live attitude. And bear interactions with ranchers illustrate a hurdle for conservationists hoping to expand the grizzly population. Between wolves, bears and cougars, ranchers are increasingly having a tough time protecting livestock. In places like western Montana where bears are spreading out, grizzly kills of livestock can outnumber that of wolf kills. (Those bears are then tracked down and killed by government officials.)

Giving up land that could be used for private citizens is politically unpopular in places like North Idaho. When Hawley previously allowed the Natural Resources Conservation Service to return his part of the meadow to its natural state, some locals wrongly assumed Hawley had sold his land to the government.

“They’re anti-government up here. If you gave land to the government, you’re a bad person for that,” says Bellatty, with the SCA. The grizzly population in the Selkirks is recovering, but slowly, at a rate that equates to less than one bear per year. The mortality rate has improved since 2006. Eventu...continued on next page

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JANUARY 17, 2019 INLANDER 25

WILDLIFE

Flying is the only way in to Katmai National Park. JOY ERLENBACH PHOTO

“THIS IS GRIZZLY COUNTRY,” CONTINUED... ally, the SCA hopes Selkirk bears could find themselves wandering into other grizzly ecosystems, like the Cascades, or central Idaho. The SCA has tracked Selkirk bears who have roamed all the way to the Columbia River, or down towards the Bitterroot Mountains.

If conservationists had their way, grizzly populations like those in the Selkirks wouldn’t be so isolated. The hope would be connectivity all around — from Yellowstone, north to the Northern Continental Divide, west into central Idaho, up through the Selkirks, then into the Cascades.

“The two big opportunities for grizzly bears are the Cascades and central Idaho,” Mattson says.

There’s no real scientific consensus on when the grizzly population will be healthy enough to delist them from the Endangered Species Act. Some say the population is there already, but scientists like Mattson say you might need 5,000-10,000 bears before delisting.

But the more grizzlies go after livestock, the tougher that connectivity will be. What makes the problem potentially worse, Mattson says, is that “baiting,” or using livestock parts or other food to lure black bears for hunting, is legal in both Idaho and Wyoming. Grizzlies are attracted to the food, too, and hunters often kill the grizzlies lured to the bait, thinking (or claiming to think) it was a black bear. Environmental groups filed a notice last month that they intend to sue the U.S. government for allowing the practice.

“People have pointed out that it’s illogical to be insistent about securing garbage [to avoid luring bears], and then on the other hand allow guys to go out and make profuse amounts of human foods available to bears,” Mattson says.

Still, it is possible for ranchers to reduce grizzly bear conflicts, Mattson argues. He points to the success of the Blackfoot Challenge, a conservation group in the Bob Marshall Wilderness in western Montana.

There, a mix of carcass removal, composting, electric fences and other measures have reduced grizzly bear conflicts with ranchers by 90 percent.

Do the same thing on a larger scale, Mattson argues, and coexistence is possible.

The larger issue, however, may be factors related to climate change.

Grizzlies in the Selkirks and Yellowstone have already lost one major food source: seeds from whitebark pine trees. Climate change could threaten other food sources, too, Mattson argues.

“I think it’s wrongheaded to think of it as us versus bears,” he says.

“Because our fates are intertwined.”

A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING

The grizzly bears in the WSU Bear Center in Pullman are groggy. It’s

26 INLANDER JANUARY 17, 2019

early January, and they’re hibernating. But they pick themselves up because they want to check out the people walking around outside their cages. As Joy Erlenbach approaches, the bears moan tiredly, like irritated teenagers rolling out of bed.

“Hi guys!” she whispers, putting the back of her hand out against the fence. The grizzlies slowly wander over to lick her hand. A bear kiss.

They do it when they’re comfortable, she says, and these bears are comfortable with Erlenbach. She helped raise some of them as cubs.

Erlenbach studies bears because of the mystery. We’re afraid of what we don’t understand, and there’s so much we still don’t understand about grizzlies, she says. If only people could get to know them a little bit more, maybe things could be different. She wishes everyone could go to Katmai like she did.

“I want people to have these experiences. I think ultimately what you need is tolerance of having bears around … just allowing them to be in the same place as you,” she says.

The WSU Bear Center is the only facility in the world that keeps adult grizzlies for research purposes. Some of the grizzlies came from the wild, like Cooke (pronounced “Cookie”), a sow named after the place where she came from, Cooke City, Montana. She was a “problem” bear.

She bit the hand of somebody who was camping more than 10 years ago.

Instead of being euthanized, government officials sent her to the Bear Center.

Cooke is the wildest of the bears here, prone to charging the fence if you look at her the wrong way, Erlenbach says. That’s the thing with grizzlies. Erlenbach says the bears will be licking her hand one second, then viciously attacking a fellow bear the next. Even for a bear biologist whose life has revolved around living with grizzlies, the animals can be unpredictable. That doesn’t scare Erlenbach. It makes her want to learn more.

“I love how misunderstood they are,” she says. “I love how resilient they are. And how they’re kind of scary.”

She approaches Cooke with a bottle of honey. Cooke nearly downs the whole bottle, but she doesn’t know it’s just a distraction. A man shoots Cooke in the shoulder with a tranquilizer. In a few minutes, Cooke will be asleep, and a bunch of researchers will lift the 350-pound bear onto a gurney and take blood samples.

Erlenbach gazes at Cooke, the caged bear who was too wild. She dreams of a world when we really understand bears, when grizzlies like Cooke can be set free.

“I would love to just let them be bears,” she says.

But she knows that day is not today. n

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Wilson Criscione is an Inlander staff writer covering education, social services and other issues. He grew up in Spokane and graduated from Eastern Washington University. He can be reached at wilsonc@ inlander.com or 325-0634, ext. 282.

LETTERS

Send comments to editor@inlander.com.

PREVIOUSLY...

Miller Cane is in Spokane, checking on his ailing mother.

He’s also been taking care of 8-year-old Carleen while her mother, Lizzie, is in jail for shooting her estranged husband, Connor. Before all this, Miller had been been making his living conning the survivors of mass shootings, but now, with Carleen, he plans to return to the road with a different purpose: completing a long-ignored writing gig.

Miller has been sending his editor, George, short profiles of historical figures for an 11th-grade history textbook. Each brief biography begins with a central question, “Hero or Villain?” But so far, Miller’s writing has missed the mark.

CHAPTER 4, PART 4

T

hat evening Miller got another email from George Sampson, his editor at Boundless Books. George was becoming a nuisance. “I know you’ve been through a lot with the work you’ve been doing,” he wrote, “these shootings. Maybe you’re not up for the Hero Villain project now?”

Miller wrote back right away: “Doing great here, George. Very into the Hero Villain project — just haven’t sent you a real one yet. Am still sort of finding my way.

Once I get the form, I’ll knock them down quickly. You know that. I need you to stay with me here.”

But another message came after Carleen was in bed, this one even more irritating.

“George Washington seemed promising,” George wrote, “at least as a subject, but then, I don’t know — George Kennedy? I’m not sure what you’re doing — out

ABOUT THIS PROJECT

Miller Cane: A True and Exact History, a new novel by Samuel Ligon, is being published for the first time in the pages of the Inlander.

The latest installments of the book will always appear in print first, then on the web the following Wednesday MADE POSSIBLE BY and then on Spokane Public Radio, which is broadcasting audio versions of each installment.

Visit MillerCane.Inlander.com for more details.

in the world or with this assignment. Maybe there’s another project we can get into, or maybe you’d like to talk to another publisher, who could really work with you on the shooting stuff. I think an examination of why these massacres keep happening might be valuable, or portraits of people surviving in the wake of such tragedy. I’m also still totally down for your contribution to the current project if you’re still interested — and if you can rein it in a bit.”

George wasn’t stupid — he’d just never been to a mass killing. Miller sat at the table for two hours writing “How To Survive a Massacre.” He attached it to an email that read, “Thanks for the idea, George, though I realize this might not quite work for you.

Still, I’m feeling super excited AND hopeful AND stoked over here. It’s super MEANINGFUL to write something that might be so USEFUL to someone, though I wish, of course, that NONE of this was necessary. Will send a reined in Hero Villain soon. Stay with me George. We’re getting there. It’s just a matter of finding the shape and the voice. Like John Lee Hooker said: “Let that boy boogie woogie. It’s in him and it’s got to come out.” XOXO MC.

HOW TO SURVIVE A MASSACRE

1. Don’t be born in America.

2. Don’t be born in Norway, Australia, Egypt, France, China, Somalia, Spain, the West Bank, the Ukraine, the Belgian Congo.

3. Don’t be born.

4. If you must be born, acquire a handgun you’re comfortable with and learn how to use it — make friends with it, make love with it under your bed or pillow or inside the special drawer where you keep your other lovemaking tools. Then get dressed and put your gun back on.

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5. Conceal it. Open-carry it.

6. Parade around the living room with it strapped to your person. Pull the kitchen curtain aside and look outdoors. Accept the awesome responsibility of staying inside with your gat strapped to your person until you die and the cats feast upon your remains.

7. Hide where the killer(s) could never find you — in a bulletproof room, for example, behind a secret panel nobody knows about.

8. Be the kind of person no one would dream of shooting in the face, or elsewhere.

9. Run for high office on the Second Amendment, promising free guns for children and nuns and the criminally insane. Be showered with campaign contributions, then ban assault weapons immediately upon election.

10. Prepare to be assassinated, but don’t be.

11. Though hard to believe, body counts will actually go down if killers have to massacre with knives or clubs or garrotes or pikes or boomerangs or swords or brass knuckles or slingshots, and your constituents, most of them, will be grateful, though there won’t be any money for your re-election campaign.

12. Before, during, and after holding office, surround yourself with Secret Service agents ready to be massacred in your stead.

13. Get shot in the face by your hunting buddy and die.

14. Shoot your hunting buddy in the face and spend the rest of your life in prison.

15. Decide to write comic books (isn’t that where the money is? Not that you’re a sell-out), then realize comic books are stupid (though really, really hard to write, and beautiful in their way, with lasting literary value. Or ...continued on next page

PER MONTH PER LINE

JANUARY 17, 2019 INLANDER 27

MILLER CANE: A TRUE AND EXACT HISTORY  Chapter 1, Part 6 continued... maybe they’re just comic books and every superhero is the same superhero, only in different costumes). Die of sadness.

16. Once the shooting starts, hide behind others.

17. Become a desk, a globe, a potted plant.

18. Cultivate a will to live so powerful that even when you do get shot in the face, you won’t succumb to death.

19. Become a movie star, a porn star, a baseball star.

Movie stars and porn stars and baseball stars are almost never massacred.

20. Pray constantly, in every direction.

21. Retrofit your motorhome with a hyperspace engine that allows you to travel from massacres at warp speed, and into spiritual dimensions you’ve never before imagined.

22. Practice the kind of mindfulness that puts you into a coma.

23. Once in a coma, stay there the rest of your life.

Coma victims are almost never massacred.

24. If you see something, don’t say anything — run.

25. Pass legislation requiring everyone (except the security forces here for our safety) to be naked at all times (except after we make love, when we conceal-carry ourselves around the living room).

26. If your son’s the shooter, for God’s sake don’t run into the building to try to stop him. The cops have no idea who you are or what you’re doing, and they’ll blow your head off.

27. Stop eating chicken and beef and pork and fish

and rabbit and squirrel and buffalo and possum. Stop eating radishes and wheat and dairy and fruit and grass and dirt and fiber. Only eat cinnamon.

28. If you’re not part of the problem, you’re part of the solution, which means if you’re not part of the massacre, you won’t get shot in the face.

18. Cultivate a will to live so powerful that even when you do get shot in the face, you won’t succumb to death.

29. Develop a way to determine who will be a killer, then develop a treatment plan to make him a spiritual healer instead, with lots of adoring followers.

30. Refuse to be a victim.

31. If you have a child, spend time with the child, play Barbies with the child, ride horses and read pioneer stories with the child — but don’t ever let him/her/them/it out of the house.

32. Lobby for an amendment to make massacres unconstitutional.

33. Fund miscreant centers and killer centers so that killers and miscreants have places to go and things to do other than massacring, such as macramé and smoking and cricket and high colonics and coffee drinking and bocce and duplicate bridge and stamp collecting.

34. If you’re not sure if someone’s about to massacre you, shoot him in the face, saving yourself and those around you who are too irresponsible to conceal-carry.

35. Never offend a cop.

36. Never go outside.

37. If you must go outside, never go where a massacre’s happening.

38. Make extra effort to make the world a better place, and be outraged with people who aren’t even trying. They’re the ones who should be killed — not you!

39. Pass zero tolerance policies regarding bullying, fat shaming, slut shaming.

40. Require rich people and poor people to switch places, becoming each others’ butlers and gardeners and secretaries and cooks and maids and prostitutes and drug mules and lepers and minions and serfs, then switch them back again without warning.

41. Be more sex positive, more massacre negative.

42. Swaddle yourself in invisible safety shields.

43. Prohibit bad things from happening to good people and good things from happening to bad people.

44. Prohibit anything from happening to everyone else.

45. Be generous with your thoughts and prayers.

46. But look for massacres everywhere.

47. And deliver us from evil.

48. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the one nation under god.

49. And the glory. Don’t forget the glory.

50. [This last one, George, I’ll leave for you. Maybe you can lead me to a hero/villain who did something to stop the slaughter. I don’t mean regarding individual massacres. I mean someone who took on the contagion.

Have we ever had an American massacre doctor?] n

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THEATER

At Home on the Road For singer/actress Buyi Zama, The Lion King’s life lessons transcend borders and time

BY DAN NAILEN

B

Buyi Zama has played Rafiki in The Lion King for 16 years.

uyi Zama was no stranger to big stages before she first landed a gig in a London production of The Lion King. A singer since childhood, she’d grown into a gospel powerhouse in her native South Africa, working as a backup singer to some of the genre’s stars, recording in London and touring throughout her homeland. She even once shared a stage with Whitney Houston on the pop star’s only tour of Zama’s country.

Zama’s move from concert stage to one of the most successful Broadway musicals of all time, though, was less a natural progression of career ambition than just pure dumb luck.

Zama traveled with her friend to Johannesburg so her friend could audition for the London show. A casting director asked Zama to sing a bit while she was waiting for her pal, and four days later she got an offer to join the London cast in the role of Rafiki. The colorful mandrill is a spiritual guide of sorts in The Lion

DEEN VAN MEER PHOTO

King, appearing in times of joy and trouble and acting as a go-between for the audience and the action on stage.

Zama took the job even though she had no acting experience. More surprisingly, she had never seen The Lion King — the musical or the Disney movie it’s based on. She immediately ran out and rented a VHS copy to watch.

“I was in my mind going, ‘Oh my God, how are we going to do this?’” Zama recalls, talking from a Seattle stop of the touring production of The Lion King now heading to Spokane. “I was making up in my mind how we were going to do it. I was looking at the movie and taking it to the stage in my head: ‘How is this going to work? Are there going to be animals running everywhere?’ But the music itself was soothing to me, and it made me feel like it was OK to go away from South Africa because the music was going to make me feel ...continued on next page

JANUARY 17, 2019 INLANDER 29

CULTURE | THEATER “AT HOME ON THE ROAD,” CONTINUED... like I was at home all the time.”

It’s a good thing Zama was so attracted to the music and the songs penned by Elton John and Tim Rice that fill the movie and musical, because she was about to spend much of her adult life with them. Zama’s been on the road almost nonstop with touring productions of The Lion King for the past 16 years. As Rafiki, she brings a comedic jolt and serious voice to the story of young lion Simba and his efforts to take over the throne of his fallen father Mufasa, who’d been stabbed in the back by his own brother (and Simba’s uncle) Scar.

While she feels like she’s grown into the role through the years, as she’s grown closer in real life to the age of her character, Zama says the early stages of life in the show were “scary.”

“I didn’t know much about theater, and I always thought, ‘Oh God, they can tell,’” Zama says. “But now I really feel comfortable and I go out there and I just want to share.

Maybe I just didn’t see what they saw in me, that whole creative team at the time. I knew I could sing … but this whole acting business, I didn’t go to school for acting. I had never acted before, but they saw something.”

What they saw has led Zama to a dreamy life for someone who was obsessed with travel well before she joined the cast of barnstorming creatures. Not only has she performed in London and in the Broadway production, but in touring versions that have taken her to Australia, Europe, Japan, China and beyond.

Zama’s current trip across the United States includes a new addition, her seven-week-old baby, as well as her husband to help manage life as both a performer and new mother. Zama says she doesn’t get out to explore the cities The Lion King visits as much this tour as in the past, but she’s trying to make a point of taking a family photo at a notewor-

A NEW NOVEL BY

“I was looking at the movie and taking it to the stage in my head.

‘How is this going to work?’” it just depends what I’m going through in my life at that moment,” Zama says. “There will be something that will just pop up and I’ll hear it for the first time because of where my brain is, or because of something I’m going through or something someone I know is going through.

“There’s a line that Mufasa says that’s just, ‘Remember who you are.’ That always makes me think and remember I’m a good person, I’m kind, I’m loving, I am loved. I remind myself of these things that are good and it makes me feel good.”

No doubt that’s a feeling she shares with the millions of Lion King fans around the world. n The Lion King • Wed, Jan. 23 through Sun, Feb. 3, various times • $28-$147.50 • First Interstate Center for the Arts • 334 W. Spokane Blvd. • wcebroadway.com • 325-7328

SERIALIZED IN THE PAGES

Samuel Ligon

An

thy landmark in each stop (so keep an eye out for “Rafiki” at the Riverfront Park Red Wagon).

Since returning to the show in November after maternity leave, Zama also finds herself reflecting on The Lion King’s themes in new ways. In part that’s due to the new role in her life, but it’s something she’s always done during her nearly two decades playing Rafiki.

“I get different things at different times out of the show,

OF THE INLANDER

Adventure. Presented by

BINGE THE BOOK! Read all available chapters at MillerCane.Inlander.com 30 INLANDER JANUARY 17, 2019

DID YOU KNOW?  More than 95 million people have gone to see one of 25 global productions of The Lion King.  The Lion King has been performed in nine languages: Japanese, German, Korean, French, Dutch, Spanish, Mandarin, Portuguese, English.  The Lion King has played more than 100 cities in 20 countries, on every continent except Antarctica.  The Lion King won six Tony Awards in 1998, including Best Musical, Best Scenic Design, Best Costume Design, Best Lighting Design, Best Choreography and Best Direction of a Musical.  The Lion King musical has been running on Broadway since 1997, and grossed more than $1 billion on Broadway and more than $8 billion globally.  A new Lion King movie, directed by Jon Favreau (Elf, Iron Man, The Junge Book), is set for release on July 19, 2019.

CULTURE | DIGEST

Oscar Hosts with the Most OUT OF ORDER DYSTOPIA Until recently, I’d only seen the 2015 Amazon pilot of The Man in the High Castle, and was impressed with its alternate reality where the Axis powers won World War II and Japan and Germany split control over North America. Jumping back in, I accidentally started watching the third season and plowed through it, and it was a decent stand-alone experience, despite the lack of backstory. The pacing isn’t too slow as the show’s main character, Juliana Crane, moves among groups of American rebels.

The science fiction gets a bit overpowering, but the detailed world makes up for it, as do interesting exchanges between John Smith, the Nazi commander, and his wife as they navigate high-status life in the cutthroat global fascist empire. (JOSH KELETY)

I

BY NATHAN WEINBENDER

t happened in a matter of days. Comedian Kevin Hart was announced as the host of the 2019 Oscars. A string of homophobic tweets resurfaced. Hart refused to apologize and stepped down.

It’s a mess, and as of now, no replacement’s been announced. The Oscars air Feb. 24, so there’s still time for the Academy. A few options: TINA FEY & AMY POEHLER. A no-brainer. With their willingness to take seemingly untouchable Hollywood luminaries down a notch in their blistering monologues, they’ve single-handedly made the Golden Globes worth watching in the past.

JOHN LEGEND & CHRISSY TEIGEN. They’ve already got hosting experience, having starred in their own (pretty good) Christmas special last year. Plus they’re super funny, and easy to look at.

MAYA RUDOLPH & TIFFANY HADDISH. This pairing caught everyone’s attention when they presented at the Oscars last year, coming out on stage with their high heels in hand. Haddish can work a room, and Rudolph has the musical comedy chops; they’d be a dynamic duo.

THE BUZZ BIN

THIS WEEK’S PLAYLIST Some noteworthy new music arrives online and in stores Jan. 18. To wit: JAMES BLAKE, Assume Form. The soulful Brit recruited Andre 3000 and Travis Scott for his latest.

DEERHUNTER, Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared? The Atlanta band asks what many of us have been wondering for, oh, about two years now.

GUSTER, Look Alive. The Boston alt-rockers play the Bing Feb. 12.

PEDRO THE LION, Phoenix. One of the Northwest’s finest is back; this is the band’s first new album in 15 years.

SHARON VAN ETTEN, Remind Me Tomorrow. In the five years since her last album, Van Etten starred on psycho Netflix show The OA. (DAN NAILEN)

LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA. The Hamilton creator and star has made his transition to Hollywood, having snagged Oscar and Golden Globe nominations in the last couple years. And you know his requisite musical interludes wouldn’t be tedious.

TILDA SWINTON IN VARIOUS DISGUISES. An Oscar winner in 2008, Swinton is one of the most chameleonic actors of recent years. Perhaps the makeup department could make her appear older as the ceremony goes on, a cutting commentary on how damn long the show is.

OLIVIA COLMAN, EMMA STONE & RACHEL WEISZ. The trio at the center of Oscar hopeful The Favourite have such great chemistry on screen, and based on their interviews, it isn’t just acting. They’re all brilliant and effortlessly charming.

JOHN OLIVER. The Daily Show alum’s HBO show Last Week Tonight is smart, funny and employs actual journalism, and he has an amiable goofiness about him.

A Hollywood outsider always makes things more fun, too.

NICK KROLL & JOHN MULANEY. The comedians have hosted the Independent Spirit Awards, and their opening monologues are always hilarious. Maybe it’s time to give them a promotion.

THE OLD-SCHOOL VARSITY TEAM. Call up Billy Crystal, Steve Martin, Whoopi Goldberg, Ellen DeGeneres, Jon Stewart, Chris Rock and Jimmy Kimmel and just let them crowd each other off the stage.

NOBODY. So it turns out that hosting the Oscars isn’t exactly the dream gig we all thought it was. If there’s no host and all the jokes come courtesy of the presenters in between the big moments, will anyone notice nobody’s steering the ship? n

GETTING OVER THEM BY GETTING UNDER SOMEONE ELSE Originally filmed in French, the English-dubbed series The Hook Up Plan (Plan Coeur) on Netflix is a light and fun rom-com that uses the genre’s absurdity to its advantage. A young woman named Elsa can’t get over her ex, so her two best friends wind up paying a male prostitute to go on dates with her.

Only they don’t tell her they’re involved, or that he’s a hooker. What could go wrong? Her actually falling for this new guy, for one. Keeping viewers guessing as to whether the plan will only end in more heartbreak, the series is another binge-worthy show to add to your list. (SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL)

DEVIL HORNS HOISTED I hit the Roxie in Hillyard to check out Vain Halen, a Spokane-based Van Halen tribute band, fully expecting some giggles at most, and a quick exit at worst (especially if they delved into Van Hagar era tunes — thankfully, they didn’t).

And while I did giggle, mostly I was struck by the impressive guitar skills of the band’s “Shreddie Van Halen,” a cat named Matt Smith, who I learned also plays in a bunch of other bands and does classical guitar stuff as well. He made the show for me; check him out at mattsmithguitar.com. (DAN NAILEN)

RACCOON CITY REDUX Fans of the Resident Evil franchise can get a 30-minute sample of the highly anticipated remake of Resident Evil 2 on XBox, PS4 and PC as of Jan. 12.

Playing as rookie cop Leon Kennedy, head back to zombie-infested Raccoon City circa 1998 and survive one of the best horror games created, now realized on a modern console. The full game is set for release on Jan. 25, and it looks tasty. And by tasty I mean full of high-resolution gore. (QUINN WELSCH)

JANUARY 17, 2019 INLANDER 31

CULTURE | THEATER

In Plain English

The Memory of Water is about Alzheimer’s, death and grief.

It’s also an award-winning comedy.

BY E.J. IANNELLI

O

pen the playbill for The Memory of Water, currently being staged in the Spokane Civic Theatre’s studio space, and you’ll find something beyond the usual director’s notes, sponsor ads and cast list: a glossary.

With explanations of terms like “Pan’s People,” “dead like,” and “Barleycup,” the glossary is meant to serve as a kind of cultural crash course and pocket translator for the lesser-known Britishisms that crop up throughout the play. Sometimes they’re even responsible for lending the punchlines their punch.

“It’s very English,” says Dawn Taylor Reinhardt, directing the production. “There are so many references that I laughed out loud the first time I read the play. And then when we did the read-through, everybody’s looking at me, going, ‘Why is that funny?’”

For Reinhardt, the Englishness of Shelagh Stephenson’s 1996 play naturally comes as more of a comfort than a caveat. Now long rooted in Spokane as an actor, acting coach and director, she originally hails from Castleton, a small village on the northeastern edge of Manchester. The play itself is set not far away from that urban hub in a seaside town on the coast of Yorkshire, a region in England’s north where the spoken vowels flatten and the heady buzz of London seems worlds away.

But even for theatergoers who don’t have a native appreciation of the play’s terms and totems, Reinhardt says that The Memory of Water holds plenty of reward.

“I don’t think I would have agreed to do it if I thought the other way. It’s almost hanging myself, isn’t it, really? I’m going to do this piece of art and nobody’s going to get it all?” she chuckles. “But this is definitely not that kind of piece. It’s very relatable.”

Similar to Molly Allen’s Closing It Up, which debuted at Stage Left this past autumn, The Memory of Water brings a trio of 30- or 40-something siblings — all sisters in this

Rebecca Craven (left) and Nancy Gasper tackle some tricky “Britishisms” in The Memory of Water. case — back to a single location in order to come to terms with their mother’s passing and prepare for her funeral.

There’s Rebecca Bolster as Theresa, the eldest daughter; Nancy Gasper as Mary, the middle child; and Catherine, the youngest, played here by Molly Tage. Each sister has a personality that seems to break cleanly along the familiar lines of family dynamics.

“We have Theresa, who’s a little bit neurotic. She’s the organizer, the one who took care of the mother, a little bitter about that. Mary is kind of the golden child, who everybody feels got all the attention, couldn’t do anything wrong. And then we have Catherine, who lived in Spain and is just a little lost soul, very hyper, did a lot of drugs and can’t really find her way.”

Theresa’s husband Frank (Ben Dyck) is also among them, as is Mike (Dave Rideout), the married doctor with whom Mary is having an affair. Unusually, the sisters’ late mother Vi (Rebecca Earley Craven) is an onstage presence as well, though she remains visible only to one of the three.

“The question at hand — and something that the audience can answer themselves — is, is she a ghost or is she in the memory of this daughter because she’s the only one who sees her? The mother appears in her prime rather than as she has died, around her mid to late-70s of Alzheimer’s, which is also another topic of conversation.”

As the play’s title suggests, memory is a recurring theme, not just in the tragic way that Alzheimer’s catalyzes its dissolution but also the curious phenomenon of

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32 INLANDER JANUARY 17, 2019

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how it’s actively shaped by our private frustrations and desires. That shaping takes place when we first experience the remembered event as well as when we later recall it. Even when we strive for accuracy, memory can be as slippery and fluid as, well, water.

“The metaphor of water runs constantly throughout this play. There are references to tears, the frozen landscape, the surrounding sea.”

All this talk of tears, grief, pain and death might make The Memory of Water sound like a solemn and pensive drama, but that might be unfairly limiting. In 2000, the play won a Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy.

That categorization will mean different things to different people, which is why Reinhardt warns not to expect “doors slamming and people falling” and other “slapstick, farcical” elements.

“That’s not the kind of comedy it is. It’s feisty, witty, with comic relief, although I’ve tried to keep the characters as real as possible.”

As the director, however, the audience’s genre expectations aren’t her biggest concern. It’s the temptation they might have to sneak paper-rustling glances at the glossary during the performance. n The Memory of Water • Jan. 18-Feb. 10; Thu-Sat at 7:30 pm, Sun at 2 pm • $27 • Firth J. Chew Studio at the Spokane Civic Theatre • 1020 N. Howard St • spokanecivictheatre.com • 325-2507

OPENING

Mama Jeannie’s Kitchen D’Bali Asian Bistro on the West Plains is gaining a following for its authentic, scratch-made Southeast Asian cuisine

BY CHEY SCOTT

D

iners at the recently opened D’Bali Asian Bistro are welcomed not as valued guests, but in a manner more befitting beloved friends and respected family members of co-owner and chef Jeannie Choi, affectionately known as “Mama Jeannie.”

“If you look at the decor, the feeling we were trying to go for is that you are coming to her home, and everything has her fingerprint on it,” explains Choi’s close friend and the restaurant’s marketing manager, Kelly Bishop.

Framed black-and-white family photos are displayed around the Airway Heights restaurant. A large communal table near the kitchen evokes a family home’s dining room.

“It’s like a typical Asian family — Mama is in charge of everything,” Bishop continues, speaking for Choi due to Mama Jeannie’s language barrier. “Nothing goes out of the kitchen without her inspecting it. She also runs the front of the house.”

Indeed, on a recent weekday evening, Choi is the only one on shift taking and bussing orders, and greeting and seating guests with a warm smile. She moves around the dining room and in and out of the kitchen with ease and efficiency, checking in frequently with each table all the while.

D’Bali’s menu is a mix of Southeast Asian and Pacific Rim flavors and traditional dishes, all with Mama Jeannie’s personal touch. Though she’s a native of South Korea, Choi’s previous career in corporate hospitality took her across Southeast Asia where she was introduced to a range of regional cuisine.

“Because regions over time start to become influenced from foods from adjacent cultures, there is a lot of blending,” Bishop explains. “We have dishes that are Indonesian and [from] Singapore, all closely replicated to the flavors she had there.”

C

hoi moved to Spokane more than a decade ago, and finally realized her dream of opening a restaurant with her husband Tony when D’Bali debuted in mid-October 2018. The restaurant’s name — a play on the French abbreviation d’ meaning “of,” (as seen in Coeur d’Alene) paired with the name of the Indonesian island Bali, where the Chois honeymooned — pays homage to both her roots and adopted home in the Inland ...continued on next page

A spread of D’Bali’s colorful, flavorful Southeast Asian fare.

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Northwest.

Located in a space just off of Sunset Highway’s main drag through Airway Heights, D’Bali Asian Bistro is already quite popular with West Plains locals (military members and Alaska/Horizon Air employees get a 10 percent discount) and residents across the region seeking authentic flavors and homestyle preparation.

Though it’s only been open a few months, D’Bali was already recognized as the region’s best ethnic dining spot at the Spokane Culinary Arts Guild’s 2018 awards gala earlier this month.

While the restaurant is not strictly Korean-influenced, each meal begins with a Korean tradition called banchan, which are various small side dishes served with rice. At D’Bali, banchan is complimentary, and the dishes served, usually numbering around six, rotate based on availability and season. On a recent night, Choi brings out dried seaweed flakes, pickled radish, steamed kale, her

Owner Jeannie Choi has lived in countries across Southeast Asia.

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special kimchee and a few other pickled vegetables.

“Those are served as a symbol of her hospitality,” Bishop says. “In Korean culture, it’s served as a means to stimulate your appetite.”

D’Bali’s ranging influences — traditional and contemporary Chinese, Malaysian, Indonesian, Balinese, Thai, Korean and Indian cuisine — are recognizable throughout the menu in featured ingredients, flavor profiles and preparation. There’s fried rice, stir fry, spring rolls, satay, soups, ssam-style lettuce wraps and more.

Choi’s famous chicken wing recipe ($8/six) is also featured as an appetizer (friends and family begged her to put it on the menu) tossed in a caramelized sauce and topped with garlic chips, cilantro and lime.

Menu highlights that showcase Choi’s culinary experience and commitment to scratch cooking are numerous, and include her boat noodle soup ($11), inspired by a traditional Thai dish and featuring 11 herbs in a rich, scratch-made bone broth. The Malaysian curry ($11), also popular, is described on the menu as follows: “our homemade baba-nyonya curry is sensational — you’ll swear you’re in a Peranakan-Chinese grandma’s home!”

The complexly flavored dish is served with sticky rice and a choice of protein, including organic tofu.

“It’s all made in the old traditional style in small batches; there is a reason it tastes really homemade and delicious,” Bishop says of the curry. “It’s smoother and has a significantly more silky texture, with more coconut milk used.”

Customers also rave about D’Bali’s fall-off-the-bone Singapore-style smoked barbecue pork ribs ($16). The savory meat is served with a side of steamed greens and a small portion of thin egg noodles.

“Jeannie’s story is one she’s really proud of,” Bishop summarizes. “She came with an open heart and a lot of opportunity. She wanted to do this for quite some time and worked really hard to make this a reality.” n D’Bali Asian Bistro • 12924 W. Sunset Hwy., Suite 6, Airway Heights • Open Mon-Thu, 11 am-3:30 pm and 4:30-9 pm, Fri 11 am-10 pm, Sat 1-10 pm • facebook.com/dbaliasianbistro and dbaliasianbistro.com • 230-8629

UPSIDE DOWN E

Wannabe inspirational drama The Upside is the cinematic equivalent of hospital Jell-O

BY ERIC D. SNIDER

verything about The Upside feels contrived and phony, like the movie version of an inspiring-butfake anecdote your aunt shared on Facebook.

Which is impressive, considering it’s a true story.

Of course, it’s more directly a remake of the French film The Intouchables, which itself was inspired by a documentary about a wealthy Parisian quadriplegic who hired an unqualified French-Algerian ex-con as his caregiver.

The inauthenticity that plagues The Upside could have crept in at any point during that game of telephone (and plenty of people thought The Intouchables was shallow glurge to begin with).

This version, directed by Neil Burger (Divergent, Limitless) from a screenplay by first-timer Jon Hartmere, stars Kevin Hart as Dell Scott, a rude parolee with a bad attitude who doesn’t want a job so much as he wants to get signatures from potential employers showing that he tried to get a job, to appease his parole officer. Thinking he’s applying for a janitorial position, Dell barges into a Park Avenue penthouse where morose quadriplegic tycoon Phillip Lacasse (Bryan Cranston) and his executive, Yvonne (Nicole Kidman), are interviewing full-time live-in caretakers, complains about being kept waiting and demands a signature so he can get out of there. Over

Yvonne’s strenuous, well-founded objections, Phillip offers Dell the caretaker job.

Dell, self-centered and emotionally stunted (note: the movie does not realize this; the movie thinks he’s a lovable, shoot-from-the-hip rascal), is not qualified to take care of a quadriplegic man, and he flat-out refuses to do some of the tasks associated with the job. He takes the job because of the salary, but this doesn’t explain why Phillip offered it or why Yvonne lets him keep it. The implication is that Phillip, who was hurt in a paragliding accident and lost his wife to cancer, chose the worst applicant because he just wants to die. But that doesn’t come across except by implication, and even then doesn’t feel plausible.

The rest is just as artificial, peppered with wacky comedy moments like Dell being surprised by the hightech shower in his bathroom, Dell refusing to change Phillip’s catheter or even say the word “penis,” Dell driving recklessly through Manhattan with Phillip in the passenger seat and telling cops that they were rushing to the hospital. Phillip gradually gets a new lease on life, which is attributed to Dell’s influence, though I’m hard-pressed to point to an example of Dell being helpful.

Dell comes to share Phillip’s love of opera (after

talking and laughing through one and threatening to beat up the people who dare shush him) and catches up on child-support payments to his ex-wife but doesn’t really change in any other way. He never realizes what an A-hole he is, and by the end he’s claiming he was the most qualified applicant on the grounds that he and Phillip have become pals. It’s a story about a jerk who learns nothing, disguised as a heartwarming story of oppositesattract friendship.

The Upside might have been better if it had focused on the character who does evolve, the one whose emotions are relatable and who seems more or less like a real person. But despite a game THE UPSIDE performance by Cranston, Phillip is rendered a supporting Rated PG-13 player in his own life. Even the Directed by Neil Burger things about him that are probStarring Kevin Hart, Bryan ably based on fact, like his love Cranston, Nicole Kidman of opera, feel like movie clichés.

It probably goes without saying that the realities of being paralyzed from the neck down are not addressed in any meaningful way. This is weak stuff all the way around, a blob of unflavored Jell-O that you’re supposed to find delicious just because it went through the motions. n

JANUARY 17, 2019 INLANDER 35

NTERN THEAT GIC LA ER MA

FILM | SHORTS

FRI, JAN 18TH – THURS, JAN 24TH TICKETS: $9

NOW SHOWING FREE SOLO GREEN BOOK VICE ROMA THE FAVOURITE For Movie Times, Visit:

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with Broad Comedy

OPENING FILMS GLASS

The newest chapter in M. Night Shyamalan’s Unbreakable saga, with the indestructible Bruce Willis returning to fight supervillains Samuel L. Jackson

January 26, 2019 8:00 p.m.–10:00p.m.

Bing Crosby Theater Get tickets at: bit.ly/broadspokane19

Help Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho give care. No matter what.

ROMA

The best film of 2018 is finally hitting the big screen in Spokane, and it’s

THE INLANDER

AQUAMAN

The half-man, half-fish superhero gets his own vehicle, in which he inherits the Atlantean throne and fights with his evil brother. It’s got some crazy visuals and hammy performances but still manages to be kind of a slog. (JB) Rated PG-13

BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY

The band Queen and late frontman Freddie Mercury (played by Rami Malek) get the biopic treatment, and the results won’t exactly rock you. It takes a disappointingly conventional approach to a wildly unconventional figure. (JB) Rated PG-13

BUMBLEBEE

CREED II

The Rocky saga continues with Adonis Creed preparing to fight the son of Ivan Drago, who killed his father in the ring all those years ago. It hits all the plot points you expect, but the formula still works like gangbusters. (NW) Rated PG-13

A DOG’S WAY HOME

36 INLANDER JANUARY 17, 2019

and James McAvoy. (NW) Rated PG-13

worth a trip to the theater. Alfonso Cuarón’s black-and-white epic is sweeping yet intimate, a powerful study of class divide in 1970s Mexico. At the Magic Lantern. (NW) Rated R

NOW PLAYING CRITICS’ SCORECARD

A surprisingly fun Transformers origin story, with the yellow Autobot coming to Earth in the ’80s and befriending a teenage outcast (Hailee Steinfeld).

Unlike its Michael Bay-directed predecessors, it coasts by on low-key charm.

(NW) Rated PG-13

...continued on next page

Glass

A plucky canine is separated from its owner, and makes a dangerous crosscountry trek to get back to him. If you saw the trailer, you’ve basically seen the whole movie. (NW) Rated PG

NEW YORK VARIETY (LOS ANGELES) TIMES

METACRITIC.COM (OUT OF 100)

AQUAMAN

55

THE FAVOURITE

91

IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK

87

ON THE BASIS OF SEX

60

ROMA

96

SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE

87

THE UPSIDE

45

DON’T MISS IT

WORTH $10

ESCAPE ROOM

In this Saw/Cube hybrid, a group of strangers are drawn to an escape room that promises a reward to whoever can get out. No surprise — it turns out to be deadly. About two-thirds of a compelling thriller. (NW) Rated PG-13

THE FAVOURITE

In 18th-century England, two women jockey for a position of power within the coterie of an ailing Queen Anne. A lacerating, cutthroat dark comedy with great performances from Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone.

(SS) Rated R

GREEN BOOK

A white driver (Viggo Mortensen) ferries a black jazz pianist (Mahershala Ali) through the American South in the 1960s. Its racial politics are undoubtedly simplistic, but its central perfor-

WATCH IT AT HOME

SKIP IT

mances more than make up for it. At the Magic Lantern. (MJ) Rated PG-13

IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK

Barry Jenkins’ follow-up to Moonlight is a tender adaptation of James Baldwin’s novel, a touching drama about a young couple separated by imprisonment as they prepare to welcome a baby.

It balances artistry and activism in its exploration of the black experience in America. (JB) Rated R

MARY POPPINS RETURNS

In this long-awaited sequel to the Disney classic, the magical nanny lands again in London to again help out the Banks children, now adults and with kids of their own. A slab of candy-coated excess that laboriously tries to copy the original’s charm. (JB) Rated PG

MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS

SECOND ACT

THE MULE

SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE

A study of the personal relationship and professional rivalry between the dethroned Mary Stuart and the steely Queen Elizabeth I. Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie star. (NW) Rated R Clint Eastwood squints and scowls his way through this thriller, inspired by the true story of a WWII veteran transporting cocaine for a Mexican drug cartel. (NW) Rated R

ON THE BASIS OF SEX

After the success of the documentary RBG, we now get the Hollywood dramatization of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s trailblazing legal career. It’s well intentioned, but it’s also pretty forgettable and clumsily told. (JB) Rated PG-13

RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET

This animated sequel finds Wreck-It Ralph exploring the vast unknown of the internet in an attempt to stop the shutdown of his friend’s video game.

When it isn’t retreading the original, it relies on pop culture references that already feel dated. (JB) Rated PG

REPLICAS

Keanu Reeves stars as a scientist who goes full-on Frankenstein, bringing his dead wife and kids back to life with predictably harrowing results. Incoherent and unintentionally hilarious.

(NW) Rated PG-13

Through a series of comic misunderstandings, a blue-collar college dropout (Jennifer Lopez) fudges her way into a high-profile job on Madison Avenue. (NW) Rated PG-13

Spider-Men from various dimensions converge in the world of a teen web slinger, and they help him find his powers. A brilliant and funny animated feature that looks and feels like a comic book come to life. (SS) Rated PG

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A STAR IS BORN

This third remake of the classic ragsto-riches story finds a booze-soaked musician (Bradley Cooper) eclipsed by his protege and lover (Lady Gaga, who can really act). An engaging rock melodrama that offers both the glitter of escapism and the grit of serious issues. (EB) Rated R

THE UPSIDE

A remake of the French hit The Intouchables, with Bryan Cranston as a paralyzed millionaire and Kevin Hart as the troubled man who becomes his caretaker. It thinks it’s a feel-good drama, but it’s actually manipulative trash. (ES) Rated PG-13

VICE

Adam McKay’s follow-up to The Big Short is another experimental dark comedy, this one following the career of Dick Cheney (an unrecognizable Christian Bale). The gimmicks and gags feel limp and unfocused this time around. (JB) Rated R n

NOW STREAMING ANNIHILATION (HULU)

In Alex Garland’s sci-fi head-trip, a group of scientists venture into a mysterious forbidden zone, searching for the soldiers that have gone missing there. It isn’t for everyone, but if you’re on its wavelength it’ll hook you with its terrifying set pieces, precise cinematography and haunting third act.

(NW) Rated R

JANUARY 17, 2019 INLANDER 37

Presents

First Bite

FOR SECOND HARVEST

Get the first taste of what’s on the menu this year during Inlander Restaurant Week, accompanied by artisan cheese and wine from Washington.

Featuring Samples From:

Darigold, Ferndale Farmstead, Downriver Grill, Palouse Bar and Grill, Timber Gastro Pub, Honey Eatery and Social Club, Max at Mirabeau, and more!

Live Music:

From Singer/Songwriter Kyle Richard

THURSDAY, JANUARY 31 BARRISTER WINERY

TICKETS $31 • ON SALE NOW InlanderRestaurantWeek.com

All proceeds benefit Second Harvest Food Bank

38 INLANDER JANUARY 17, 2019

ROCK

A Career in Transcendence Post-hardcore legends Cursive return to their early 2000s roots on the album Vitriola

BY HOWARD HARDEE

T

im Kasher recognized at an early age that time has a way of dulling the edges of creativity and stripping songwriters of their emotional potency, especially in the realm of rock music. And that’s why enduring artists like Tom Waits — who, despite advancing age, “didn’t lose his edge, or didn’t let the dullness consume him,” Kasher says — inspire him to this day.

“I try to be aware of the dullness — I can feel it — because it’s impossible to avoid as you get older,” he says.

“But in my case, you can tamp it down and push it away for another year. And that’s what you have to do.”

That’s especially true for Kasher, frontman of the long-running emo/post-hardcore band Cursive out of Omaha, Nebraska. He can’t afford to lose his edge because his songwriting has always benefited from feeling emotions to an “excessive and insane” degree.

“I’m a child still, essentially,” he says. “As a person who suffers from arrested development, I can use my tantrums to continue to write music.”

Cursive hits Spokane in support of Vitriola, the band’s first album in six years. Speaking from his home in Los

Angeles, Kasher shares “vague memories” of his earliest forays as a songwriter and how his younger self helps guide his creative output.

In high school and college, he fronted the seminal indie-rock band Slowdown Virginia, a group credited with influencing another Omaha-based emo band, Bright Eyes. Though the band had a dedicated following and he was proud of the music, Kasher recalls wanting more from himself as a songwriter.

“I never took myself seriously, probably because I was young and self-conscious and scared to,” he says.

“Cursive was a response to that. It was the first time I made the decision to really take music seriously and I felt like the music had to be deadly serious, too. I didn’t really want to joke around anymore. …

“Other than that, I was just influenced by the ’90s.

I had a lot of respect for stuff I considered harder and heavier and noncommercial sounding.”

Cursive developed an angst-ridden sound far from easy listening; it’s more like anxiety-inducing, with stabs of distortion and Kasher’s anguished wail keeping the

listener on pins and needles even during softer moments.

The music is based in the soft-then-loud paradigm of 1990s rock, but with such moody flourishes as the bowed cello that helped define Cursive’s 2003 opus The Ugly Organ.

Kasher himself is partial to the cello’s movingly bittersweet voice, but the band decided a long time ago not to replicate the formula that made The Ugly Organ such a surprising success.

“We didn’t want to feel like a novelty band or ‘the band with the cello,’” he says. “We didn’t want it to be used as a gimmick, but maybe we were navel-gazing pretty hard at the time.”

Cursive made a series of creative departures on subsequent records, experimenting with different musicians, instruments and producers. But Kasher recently revisited the band’s earliest recordings. In 2017, Cursive reissued its first two records, 1997’s Such Blinding Stars for Starving Eyes and 1998’s The Storms of Early Summer: Semantics of Song, and spending so much time “listening to this ver...continued on next page

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MUSIC | ROCK “A CAREER IN TRANSCENDENCE,” CONTINUED... sion of myself 20 years ago” must have seeped into his subconsciousness.

“It kind of helped remind me why I started writing this type of music to begin with,” he says. “In a sense, I was influenced by that much younger version of myself.”

The result is Vitriola, which sounds more like early 2000s Cursive than later iterations. Several factors cement the similarities between the two albums: Drummer Clint Schnase rejoined the group in the studio for the first time in 12 years, as did Saddle Creek house producer Mike Mogis.

But perhaps most noticeably for listeners, Vitriola prominently features the work of cellist Megan Siebe, who had previously toured with Cursive.

“She’s become a really close friend, so it just kind of organically happened,” Kasher says. “I suggested to the rest of the band that we’d likely bring a cellist out on tour anyway, and that cellist will likely be Megan, so maybe we should just cut to the chase and try some cello on the record.”

Siebe’s contributions sound especially badass when paired with the chugging, palm-muted power chords on album closer, “Noble Soldier / Dystopian Lament.” The seven-minute epic is melodic, paranoid and harshly abrasive, perfectly encapsulating Cursive’s past and present. Kasher sings, “It’s just a shell, just a shell / It’s a vessel of who you once were.”

“In most ways, I believe rock ’n’ roll is for the young,” he says. “It’s a young person’s game; I really think that’s true. But I love it myself, and if nobody minds too much, I’m going to keep doing it and people can choose to listen or not.” n Cursive with Summer Cannibals and Campdogzz • Wed, Jan. 23 at 8 pm • $20 • All ages • The Bartlett • 228 W. Sprague • thebartlettspokane.com • 747-2174

40 INLANDER JANUARY 17, 2019

MUSIC | FOLK-ROCK

AT THE BING 1/20/19 2PM SPONSORS

 Tickets available at: TicketsWest.com

From the Lovin’ Spoonful to Woodstock to Welcome Back, Kotter, John Sebastian is a genuine rock legend.

Believe in Magic As John Sebastian comes to Spokane, we make the case for his great, unsung band the Lovin’ Spoonful

BY NATHAN WEINBENDER

I

n retrospective critical pieces about the best and most adventurous music of the 1960s, there’s one band that often gets left out and always stands out to me as a glaring omission: the Lovin’ Spoonful.

Sure, they’re members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but they’re nowhere to be found on Pitchfork’s recent list of the best songs of their decade, and Rolling Stone left Spoonful scribe John Sebastian off its roundup of the 100 greatest songwriters of all time.

What is it about the Lovin’ Spoonful that has robbed them of 21st-century street cred? Is it their weird name, which might have seemed cool in the ’60s, but now comes off cutesy or awkward? Is it the fact that each of their biggest hits, many of which you still hear on oldies stations, sounds like the work of a totally different band?

Or is it simply the fact that the Lovin’ Spoonful just haven’t aged as well as the Beatles or Bob Dylan?

I’m not sure, but it’s nonetheless an oversight. I’d like to make a case for the Lovin’ Spoonful’s legacy, just as frontman Sebastian is set to perform a solo set in Spokane.

QUALITY OVER QUANTITY. The first incarnation of the band only recorded for about three years, so they didn’t have that much output. Perhaps that’s part of the reason they’ve been left in the dust. But like other short-lived but still beloved bands of the era, like the original iterations of CCR or the Zombies, the Lovin’

Spoonful left behind a number of indelible singles in a short amount of time.

VERSATILITY. And each of those classic songs has its own unique personality, which some critics might qualify as lack of focus. I don’t think so: It proves that Sebastian and company could pull off just about anything. The ferocious “Summer in the City” is a blast of insistent, organdriven urban rock, and “You Didn’t Have to Be So Nice” a sweet, doe-eyed teenage love song.

And then there’s the lilting “Daydream,” which Paul McCartney reportedly loved so much he tried to top it with “Good Day Sunshine.” They also provided the soundtrack for two popular ’60s comedies — 1966’s What’s Up, Tiger Lily? and the early Francis Ford Coppola film You’re a Big Boy Now. JOHN SEBASTIAN AS A SOLO ARTIST. Sebastian left the band he helped start in 1968, and his post-Spoonful career is nothing to sneer at. In case there was any question of his rock legend bona fides, he played during the second day of Woodstock, and he wasn’t even scheduled. Sebastian happened to be attending the now-iconic festival, and organizers asked him to take the stage while other artists were still arriving. He also produced one of his finest songs a decade after the Lovin’ Spoonful had its first hit, the theme song to the popular sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter. It became a No. 1 Billboard hit in 1976, and it also showed up on the adult contemporary and country charts.

“DO YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC.” If there’s only one song that should cement the Lovin’ Spoonful’s legacy, it’s the band’s first (and likely most famous) single, 1965’s “Do You Believe in Magic.” Simply put, it’s one of the best, most irresistible tunes of its decade. If you want to study the architecture of a perfect pop single, look no further: In just two minutes, Sebastian employs a sugary-sweet melody, a shuffling drum beat, chiming guitars and an irrepressible hook, and it all builds until the fade-out. It’s so simple and yet so catchy, the kind of song that makes you want to restart it the second it’s over.

That’s a feat all songwriters wish to accomplish, but few ever do. n An Evening with John Sebastian • Fri, Jan. 18 at 8 pm • $37 • All ages • Chateau Rive at the Flour Mill • 621 W. Mallon • ticketswest.com • 325-7328

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MUSIC | SOUND ADVICE

R&B JACOB BANKS

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

Thursday, 01/17

J J THE BARTLETT, Noah Gundersen with Mama Doll & Harrison Whitford BERSERK, Vinyl Meltdown 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 DARCY’S RESTAURANT & SPIRITS, Dance and Karaoke w/DJ Dave FIZZIE MULLIGANS, Country Dance THE GILDED UNICORN, Kori Ailene THE JACKSON ST., Songsmith Series J LAGUNA CAFÉ, Just Plain Darin THE LANTERN TAP HOUSE, Brian Stai J THE LOCAL DELI, KOSH MICKDUFF’S BEER HALL, Brian Jacobs J MONARCH MOUNTAIN COFFEE, Open Mic Hosted by Scott Reid NIGHTHAWK LOUNGE (CDA CASINO), Alex Williams; PJ Destiny J J NORTHERN QUEST RESORT & CASINO, REO Speedwagon O’SHAYS IRISH PUB & EATERY, O’Pen Mic Thursdays THE OBSERVATORY, Reverend Yo’s Blues Hour PEND D’OREILLE WINERY, Open Mic Night THE PIN, High Note, Jacob Vanknowe, Creek, Gavin Lyon POST FALLS BREWING COMPANY, Christy Lee RED ROOM LOUNGE, ZEKE BEATS, Quackson, VitaminV, Gestüt & BNGRZ THE RIDLER PIANO BAR, Dueling Pianos feat. Christan Raxter & Steve Ridler THE ROCK BAR & LOUNGE, Jam Series THE ROXIE, Music Challenge ZOLA, Blake Braley

42 INLANDER JANUARY 17, 2019

T

he first thing you notice about Jacob Banks is that distinctive voice. A rich, sonorous baritone, with just a hint of his Birmingham accent barely sneaking through, it gives you the impression that you’re listening to an artist with more mileage than Banks’ 27 years. Born in Nigeria and raised in the U.K., Banks channels both places in his music, mixing retro blues and contemporary R&B into a beguiling concoction. Following three EPs, Banks recently released Village, his debut full-length, an effortlessly cool and deeply felt collection in which he examines his roots and explores black identity, encouraging young people of color to “wear your afro like your backbone.”

— NATHAN WEINBENDER

REGGAE TOMORROWS BAD SEEDS

Jacob Banks with Jamie N Commons and LIAM • Fri, Jan. 18 at 8 pm • $18 • All ages • Knitting Factory • 919 W. Sprague • sp.knittingfactory.com • 244-3279

F

or more than a decade, the quartet known as Tomorrows Bad Seeds have been honing their fusion of reggae, rock and hip-hop. And despite their name, they’re all about positive vibes: Per their Facebook profile, they’re using “bad” in, well, a good way (“‘bad’ as in ‘rad,’” they explain). Based out of Hermosa Beach, California, the Seeds recently released an album called Illuminate, and its songs are mostly blissful jams that’ll have you forgetting the freezing Spokane temperatures. The band is on the road for a majority of the year, so expect them to be a well-oiled machine on stage.

— NATHAN WEINBENDER Tomorrows Bad Seeds with River City Roots and Balance Trick • Fri, Jan. 18 at 7:30 pm • $12 advance, $15 day of • All ages • The Big Dipper • 171 S. Washington • bigdipperevents. com • 863-8098

Friday, 01/18

219 LOUNGE, The Liabilities ARBOR CREST WINE CELLARS, Kevin Gardner J J THE BARTLETT, Water Monster, T.S The Solution J J THE BIG DIPPER, Tomorrows Bad Seeds (see above), Balance Trick, River City Roots BOLO’S, The Happiness BOOMBOX PIZZA, Karaoke BOOMERS, Mojo Box J BUCER’S COFFEEHOUSE PUB, Colby Acuff THE BULL HEAD, Working Spliffs THE BUZZ PIZZERIA, BAR AND LOUNGE, Nick Canger J J CHATEAU RIVE, An Evening with John Sebastian (see page 41) CHINOOK STEAK, PASTA AND SPIRITS (CDA CASINO), Bob Sletner

CORBY’S BAR, Karaoke COSMIC COWBOY GRILL, Clint Darnell CRAFTED TAP HOUSE + KITCHEN, Magna Vox Duo CRUISERS, Karaoke with Gary CURLEY’S, Dragonfly DARCY’S RESTAURANT & SPIRITS, Karaoke and Dancing w/DJ Dave DOWNDRAFT BREWING, Pamela Jean EICHARDT’S, Bright Moments Jazz J FORZA COFFEE CO., Jake Stevens & Danielle Nicole J THE HIVE, Yonder Mountain String Band HUMBLE ABODE BREWING, Nick Grow IDAHO POUR AUTHORITY, Muffy and the Riff Hangers IRON GOAT BREWING CO., Dario Ré with Michael Starry and Zack Zuniga JOHN’S ALLEY, Push the Button

J J KNITTING FACTORY, Jacob Banks (see above), Jamie N Commons, LIAM THE LANTERN TAP HOUSE, Dodgy Mountain Men MAX AT MIRABEAU, Bobby Patterson Band MICKDUFF’S BEER HALL, Devon Wade MOOSE LOUNGE, Dangerous Type MULLIGAN’S, Frank Moore NASHVILLE NORTH, Ladies Night with Luke Jaxon and DJ Tom NIGHTHAWK LOUNGE (CDA CASINO), Alex Williams THE OBSERVATORY, Brotha Nature, Bendi, Project Kid, Willis the Rillist OMEGA EVENT CENTER, Jan Harrison Blues Experience J OUTLAW BBQ & CATERING MARKET, Songsmith Series PEND D’OREILLE WINERY, Brian Jacobs

PRIME TYME BAR & GRILL, Wild Wooly Band RIDLER PIANO BAR, Dueling Pianos THE ROCK BAR, DJ Steve Baker SILVER MOUNTAIN SKI RESORT, Christy Lee (at Noah’s) UP NORTH DISTILLERY, Bill Bozly ZOLA, Tuck Foster and the Tumbling Dice

Saturday, 01/19

12 TRIBES RESORT CASINO, The Marlin James Band 219 LOUNGE, B Radicals 1210 TAVERN, Jan Harrison Blues Experience ARBOR CREST WINE CELLARS, Nobody Famous Trio w/Craig Catlett BARLOWS, Into the Drift J J THE BARTLETT, The Bartlett Awards feat. Von the Baptist, Gabriella Rose, CATE

BOLO’S, The Happiness BOOMERS CLASSIC ROCK BAR & GRILL, Mojo Box J BUCER’S COFFEEHOUSE PUB, Dan Maher CHINOOK STEAK, PASTA AND SPIRITS (CDA CASINO), Bob Sletner COSMIC COWBOY GRILL, Bill Bozly CRUISERS, Dysfunktynal Kaos, Bleed the Stone, Jacob Vanknowe, In Coming Days CURLEY’S, Dragonfly GARLAND PUB & GRILL, Roundabout J HOP MOUNTAIN TAPROOM AND GRILL, Just Plain Darin J HUCKLEBERRY’S NATURAL MARKET, Nick Grow IDAHO POUR AUTHORITY, BareGrass IRON GOAT BREWING, Lucas McIntyre THE JACKSON ST., Karaoke JOHN’S ALLEY, The Bedspins and Brothers LAUGHING DOG BREWING, Chad Patrick LEFTBANK WINE BAR, Chuck Dunlop MARYHILL WINERY, Katie Fisher MATCHWOOD BREWING CO., Browne Salmon Truck MAX AT MIRABEAU, Bobby Patterson Band

GET LISTED!

Submit events online at Inlander.com/getlisted or email relevant details to getlisted@inlander.com. We need the details one week prior to our publication date.

IMBIBE MAGICAL the

DINNER, DRINKS, MAGIC

110 S Monroe St, Spokane Near The Montvale and Ruby Hotels

MICKDUFF’S BEER HALL, Son of Brad MOOSE LOUNGE, Dangerous Type MULLIGAN’S, Kyle Swaffard NASHVILLE NORTH, Ladies Night with Luke Jaxon and DJ Tom NIGHTHAWK LOUNGE (CDA CASINO), Alex Williams THE OBSERVATORY, Foxtrot Epidemic, Fahrenheist, Better Daze ONE SHOT CHARLIE’S, Down South ONE TREE HARD CIDER, Kristen Marlo ONE WORLD CAFE, Zach Sharp PEND D’OREILLE WINERY, Bridges Home THE PIN, Pegboard Nerds POST FALLS BREWING, Echo Elysium REPUBLIC BREWING CO., Jeff Scroggins & Matt Sircely RIDLER PIANO BAR, Dueling Pianos THE ROCK BAR & LOUNGE, Karaoke THE ROXIE, DJ LG SCHWEITZER MOUNTAIN RESORT, B Radicals J THE SHOP, Zach Lombardo SILVER MOUNTAIN SKI RESORT, Larry Myer (at Noah’s) STORMIN’ NORMAN’S SHIPFACED SALOON, Karaoke WESTWOOD BREWING CO., Pamela Benton ZOLA, Tuck Foster and the Tumbling Dice

Sunday, 01/20

THE BLIND BUCK, Show Tune SingAlong Sundays CRAVE, DJ Dave EICHARDT’S, Larry Myer GARLAND PUB & GRILL, Karaoke

IRON HORSE (VALLEY), Jody Piper LINGER LONGER LOUNGE, Open Jam MARYHILL WINERY, Nick Grow MATCHWOOD BREWING CO., Ken Mayginnes NIGHTHAWK LOUNGE (CDA CASINO), Alex Williams O’DOHERTY’S, Live Irish Music ONE WORLD CAFE, Elwood PEND D’OREILLE WINERY, Piano Sun. J SOUTH HILL GRILL, Just Plain Darin STORMIN’ NORMAN’S SHIPFACED SALOON, Karaoke ZOLA, Lazy Love

Monday, 01/21

THE BULL HEAD, Songsmith Series J CALYPSOS COFFEE & CREAMERY, Open Mic CHECKERBOARD BAR, Open Mic CRAVE, DJ Dave EICHARDT’S, Jam with Truck Mills RED ROOM LOUNGE, Open Mic with Lucas Brookbank Brown ZOLA, Perfect Mess

Tuesday, 01/22

219 LOUNGE, Karaoke with DJ Pat J THE BARTLETT, Open Mic BOOMBOX PIZZA, Karaoke CRAVE, DJ Dave GARLAND PUB & GRILL, Karaoke LEFTBANK WINE BAR, Turntable Tue. LITZ’S BAR & GRILL, The ShuffleDawgs Blues Power Happy Hour RAZZLE’S, Open Mic Jam THE RIDLER PIANO BAR, Country Swing Dancing THE ROXIE, Open Mic/Jam

SWEET LOU’S, Jimi Finn THE VIKING, Local Lounge Night ZOLA, Dueling Cronkites with Greg Mahugh

Wednesday, 01/23 219 LOUNGE, Truck Mills & Carl Rey J J THE BARTLETT, Cursive (see page 39), Summer Cannibals, Campdogzz CRAVE, DJ Dave CRUISERS, Open Jam Night GENO’S, Open Mic w/Travis Goulding IRON HORSE (CDA), Open Jam IRON HORSE (VALLEY), Just Plain Darin THE JACKSON ST., Karaoke JOHN’S ALLEY, Beers, Beats & Bombs LEFTBANK WINE BAR, Carey Brazil J THE LOCAL DELI, Devon Wade LUCKY’S IRISH PUB, DJ D3VIN3 J THE PIN, Juggalo Unity Tour with Blaze and ABK RED ROOM LOUNGE, Blowin’ Kegs Jam Session RIDLER PIANO BAR, Dueling Pianos SEASONS OF COEUR D’ALENE, KOSH ZOLA, Cruxie

Coming Up ...

J THE BARTLETT, Atari Ferrari, BaLonely, Ataurus Minor, Jan. 25 J KNITTING FACTORY, Hell’s Belles, Jan. 25 THE OBSERVATORY, Shannon and The Clams, Fun Ladies, Jan. 25 J THE BARTLETT, The Posies (Duo), Jan. 26

MUSIC | VENUES 219 LOUNGE • 219 N. First, Sandpoint • 208-2639934 315 MARTINIS & TAPAS • 315 E. Wallace, CdA • 208-667-9660 ARBOR CREST WINE CELLARS • 4705 N. Fruit Hill Rd. • 927-9463 BABY BAR • 827 W. First Ave. • 847-1234 BARLOWS • 1428 N. Liberty Lake Rd. • 924-1446 THE BARTLETT • 228 W. Sprague Ave. • 747-2174 BEEROCRACY • 911 W. Garland Ave. 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 BUCER’S COFFEEHOUSE PUB • 201 S. Main, Moscow • 208-882-5216 BUZZ COFFEEHOUSE • 501 S. Thor • 340-3099 CALYPSOS COFFEE & CREAMERY • 116 E. Lakeside Ave., CdA • 208-665-0591 CHATEAU RIVE • 621 W. Mallon Ave. • 795-2030 CHECKERBOARD BAR • 1716 E. Sprague Ave. • 535-4007 COEUR D’ALENE CASINO • 37914 S. Nukwalqw Rd., Worley, Idaho • 800-523-2464 COEUR D’ALENE CELLARS • 3890 N. Schreiber Way, CdA • 208-664-2336 CRAFTED TAP HOUSE • 523 Sherman Ave., CdA • 208-292-4813 CRAVE• 401 W. Riverside • 321-7480 CRUISERS • 6105 W Seltice Way, Post Falls • 208773-4706 CURLEY’S • 26433 W. Hwy. 53 • 208-773-5816 DALEY’S CHEAP SHOTS • 6412 E. Trent • 535-9309 EICHARDT’S PUB • 212 Cedar St., Sandpoint • 208-263-4005 THE FEDORA • 1726 W. Kathleen, CdA • 208-7658888 FIZZIE MULLIGANS • 331 W. Hastings • 466-5354 FOX THEATER • 1001 W. Sprague • 624-1200 THE HIVE • 207 N. First, Sandpoint • 208-457-2392 HOGFISH • 1920 E. Sherman, CdA • 208-667-1896 HOLLYWOOD REVOLVER BAR • 4720 Ferrel, CdA • 208-274-0486 HOUSE OF SOUL • 120 N. Wall • 217-1961 IRON HORSE BAR • 407 E. Sherman Ave., CdA • 208-667-7314 IRON HORSE BAR & GRILL • 11105 E. Sprague Ave., CdA • 509-926-8411 JACKSON ST. BAR & GRILL • 2436 N. Astor St. • 315-8497 JOHN’S ALLEY • 114 E. Sixth St., Moscow • 208883-7662 KNITTING FACTORY • 911 W. Sprague Ave. • 244-3279 LAGUNA CAFÉ • 2013 E. 29th Ave. • 448-0887 THE LANTERN TAP HOUSE • 1004 S. Perry St. • 315-9531 LEFTBANK WINE BAR • 108 N. Washington • 315-8623 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 NECTAR CATERING & EVENTS • 120 N. Stevens St. • 869-1572 NORTHERN QUEST RESORT • 100 N. Hayford Rd., Airway Heights • 242-7000 NYNE • 232 W. Sprague Ave. • 474-1621 THE OBSERVATORY • 15 S. Howard • 381-5489 OMEGA EVENT CENTER • 25 E. Lincoln Rd. O’SHAY’S • 313 E. CdA Lake Dr. • 208-667-4666 PEND D’OREILLE WINERY • 301 Cedar St., Sandpoint • 208-265-8545 THE PIN! • 412 W. Sprague • 368-4077 RED LION RIVER INN • 700 N. Division • 326-5577 RED ROOM LOUNGE • 521 W. Sprague • 838-7613 REPUBLIC BREWING • 26 Clark Ave. • 775-2700 RIDLER PIANO BAR • 718 W. Riverside • 822-7938 RIVELLE’S • 2360 N Old Mill Loop, CdA • 208-9300381 SEASONS OF COEUR D’ALENE • 209 E. Lakeside Ave. • 208-664-8008 THE SHOP • 924 S. Perry St. • 534-1647 SOULFUL SOUPS & SPIRITS • 117 N. Howard St. • 459-1190 SPOKANE ARENA • 720 W. Mallon • 279-7000 THE THIRSTY DOG • 3027 E. Liberty Ave. • 487-3000 TIMBER GASTRO PUB •1610 E Schneidmiller, Post Falls • 208-262-9593 ZOLA • 22 W. Main Ave. • 624-2416

JANUARY 17, 2019 INLANDER 43

COMMUNITY WE HAVE A DREAM

Get your walking shoes ready for several worthy causes happening nearly back-to-back this weekend. On the heels of Spokane’s Indigenous Peoples March (Jan. 18) and Women+s March (Jan. 19) is the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day rally and resource fair in downtown Spokane (Jan. 21) to commemorate the icon of social justice and to rally our community to uphold the values he championed. For this year’s MLK weekend events, Spokane’s Martin Luther King Jr. Family Outreach Center is hosting a Day of Service on Jan. 19 (8 am-noon), which involves preparing hygiene kits and a canned food drive.

Monday brings the rally through downtown starting at 10 am, followed by a resource fair at the convention center from 11:30 am to 2 pm. Find all the details on the MLK Center’s Facebook page.

— CHEY SCOTT MLK Day Weekend Celebration • Sat, Jan. 19 through Mon, Jan. 21; times and locations vary • Free • Spokane Convention Center (rally and resource fair) • 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. • facebook.com/mlkspokane

44 INLANDER JANUARY 17, 2019

WORDS RISING STAR

BEER WINTER WARMER

EWU Visiting Writer Series: Bonnie Nadzam • Fri, Jan. 18 at 7:30 pm • Free • Spark Central • 1214 W. Summit Pkwy. • spark-central. org • 279-0299

Winter Beer Fest • Thu, Jan. 17 through Sat, Jan. 19 • The Lantern Tap House • 1004 S. Perry • Facebook: Winter Beer Fest - Lantern Tap House • 315-9531

Bonnie Nadzam’s short stories, poetry and essays have made their way into all manner of popular magazines and scholarly journals, but it’s her work as a novelist that has truly put her on the map and on the road to Spokane for a reading. Her debut novel Lamb won the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize and was made into a feature film that debuted at SXSW in 2015. Her follow-up, Lions, arrived in 2016 and was a finalist for the PEN USA Literary Award for fiction. Nadzam’s latest novel, 31, is coming soon, and she’ll be in town as part of Eastern Washington University’s Visiting Writer Series where, if you’re nice, maybe she’ll offer a sneak peek.

— DAN NAILEN

The Lantern Tap House sure has made a name for itself in the local beer scene with its various celebrations throughout the year. Now for the sixth time, the South Perry pub is preparing to host its annual Winter Beer Fest. The event kicks off Thursday and features dozens of craft beers from outside the region. On Friday night, Oregon breweries are highlighted, followed by a Washington brewery night on Saturday. Expect to see a total of 28 winter beers on tap from 24 different breweries paired with live music throughout the weekend. Event entry of $15 includes a commemorative tasting glass with the first pint included. Additional tasting tokens are $5.

— DEREK HARRISON

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Submit events online at Inlander.com/getlisted or email relevant details to getlisted@inlander.com. We need the details one week prior to our publication date.

MUSIC IT’S A CELEBRATION

This will be the fourth time Spokane’s venerable all-ages venue hosts the Bartlett Awards, and the evening has a lot going for it that you typically don’t find in an awards show. For one thing, no TV commercials! For another, you’ve probably actually seen most of the nominees in categories like “Best Local Rock Band” or “Best Local Singer-Songwriter” if you’ve spent any time at all checking out local music over the past year. Sure, there’s a little competition involved as Bartlett fans and friends vote in the winners in 10 categories, but consider this night a celebration of every artist nominated as well as one for the venue that provides vital sustenance to Spokane’s music scene. Between award presentations and teary/funny acceptance speeches you’ll get sets by Von the Baptist, Gabriella Rose and CATE. — DAN NAILEN The Bartlett Awards feat. Von the Baptist, Gabriella Rose and CATE • Sat, Jan. 19 at 8 pm • Free • All ages • The Bartlett • 228 W. Sprague • thebartlettspokane.com • 747-2174

ONE OF AMERICA’S BEST PLACES TO LIVE IN FEAR OF SOMEONE YOU LOVE.

Last year in Kootenai County, Safe Passage served more than 1,300 women and children who were victims of sexual or domestic violence. But there were many more victims who didn’t report. With your help, we can heal their pain and make this a beautiful place again, for everyone.

Donate at safepassageid.org 24-hour hotline: 208.664.9303

FOOD TAKE IT CHEESY

Macaroni and cheese — it’s one of the great unifiers of the culinary world.

Is there anybody who doesn’t crave that cheesy, gooey goodness on a daily basis? That makes the second annual Coeur d’Alene Mac & Cheese Festival a can’t-miss proposition, with a number of regional restaurants bringing out their best mac and cheese recipes for your dining pleasure. Participating Idaho eateries include Cricket’s Bar, Cosmic Cowboy Grill, Bardenay Restaurant and more. Vote for your favorites, as the winner takes home the so-called Golden Noodle Award. Entry of $30 includes six cheesy samples, as well as eight beer samples from local breweries and a commemorative pint glass. Kids are welcome, too, and get their own special tasting package option ($10; ages 12 and under).

— NATHAN WEINBENDER Mac & Cheese Festival • Sat, Jan. 19 from 12-6 pm • SOLD OUT • All ages • Coeur d’Alene Resort Plaza • 210 Sherman Ave. • cdadowntown.com

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JANUARY 17, 2019 INLANDER 45

W I SAW YOU

S S

CHEERS JEERS

&

I SAW YOU GARLIC BREAD & SMILES I saw you at the Spaghetti Factory’s 50th anniversary night. You were sporting a tie and enjoying some cheese garlic bread.

Your smile was contagious. Don’t stop enjoying the little things.

BASEBALL GAME I Saw You in the stadium at the game. I was the batter.

CHILDREN AT GU BASKETBALL I saw hundreds of children at the Jan. 12 Women’s Basketball Game without hearing protection. Using Decibel X on my smartphone, I found the average noise level was 94dB over the course of 2 hours, and that was without a pep band. The maximum daily exposure for that noise level is 1 hour. Those kids with hearing protection will thank you in 20 years when all their friends are buying aids and suffering from tinnitus.

METALLICA POLICE OFFICER There you were standing by the steps in the G.P. section by the doors. I came out of the concert to rest my feet killing me... You spoke to

me once at the end of the concert.

You know who you are… coffee?

YOU SAW ME PUTT PUTT GOLF You saw me online and we started playing Words with Friends and we decided to meet and when I saw you. You were This Tall redhead man and we talked about who would win playing putt-putt golf and if you’re reading this you’ll know what I mean. So we played and you were so nervous and blushing... it was a lot of fun. Contact me sometime and we can replay that memory. Your words with friends.

GOOFY You just moved up from California you saw me in junior high I was the goofy cowgirl. You yelled at me and called me goofy and ran into the bathroom that was our first meeting of being best friends. We have seen each other go through good times and bad times and watched our kids grow up. I am so thankful for that day and Junior High that I met you.

Your best friend, Dee

CHEERS INDIAN EYES This goes out to my beautiful Indian eyes. I want to thank you for being the mother that you are, which is a great one. You’ve given me great Joy by being my baby’s mama. I love you for being you and seeing my faults and through it all still call me babe, your man. I love you. Tyla K Buckles love is what it’s all about. Through Christ our Lord we will survive. Love your man. Joshua Roberts X3

L CHOOSE YOU I don’t think I could manage or somehow enjoy the hecticness of three kids at Costco, or the craziness that is a candy and slurpee run on a mid-sunday with anyone else.

“

GOOD SAMARITANS I want to say that I am extremely thankful to the people who went out of their way and helped me when my truck got hit on Northwest Blvd. on the night of January 6th. A special thank you to Natalie and Stephan who stopped and waited with me for the police to come; helped me change my damaged tire and followed me home to make sure I got home safe. And to the other three guys that also helped with changing the tire I am extremely grateful

JEERS

SERIOUSLY SPOKANE Hey Spokane!

Did you know there are a few places in this town where one can actually buy headlights for cars. You don’t have to be a hazard on the road, other than your operating abilities or lack thereof.

Same goes for tail/brake lights. I know

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

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

ment repaired or take the bus!

HIGH AND DRY Hi! After you assured me you were ready to commit, and I left my job, moved across the country, convinced my ex to quit her job and bring the kids to Spokane so you and I can begin our life together, you drop me like it’s hot. After all the psychics and astrologers talk us both into being soul mates, you continue your viscous cycle and head for the exits when your fear-of-commitment kicks in. Your actions were despicable, and you will be paying off this karmic debt for eons.

ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME? My ex-husband submitted one of these and now I’m going to also. You know who you are. You lied and tricked someone who cared so much about you. You told him he could share your home and then you changed your mind. You had months to let him know that you weren’t ready. He left his job and I even put my job at risk just so you guys could be together. I hope you think about what you’ve done.

RESORT HOTEL

™

For Tickets Call 509.535.PUCK

46 INLANDER JANUARY 17, 2019

BUCK NIGHT & RALLY TOWEL GIVEAWAY

FRIDAY 1/18 vs. VANCOUVER GIANTS

SATURDAY 1/19 vs. TRI-CITY AMERICANS

Win Prizes from the Chiefs and Coeur d’Alene Casino when the Chiefs host Vancouver.

$1 hotdogs and Coca-Cola products all game long plus the first 5,000 fans will receive a Military Appreciation rally towel courtesy of The General Store.

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”

only leads to bigger and bigger rocks creating an eyesore for the hundreds of people who enjoy the pond for what it is... one of the iconic sights in our city. What is completely insane are the nuts who felt it necessary to throw trash cans, garbage, plastic barriers and yes, huge rocks onto the pond.

Stupidity for sure... remember there are turtles resting under this insulating frozen barrier. n

THIS WEEK'S ANSWERS A N S A R I

T O U C A N

H I G H S C H O O L S

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

C A R M S L I P U M F A S E A W A H A B R O R Y R E F E E S N E D S E E K F C H A R A E A L N G A

I S I T M E R I C O C B S

N A O N R Y W A X E S P O E T I C

A H C H T S E L O R E N A

S H A R O N

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

THURS 1/17, Inlander

CASINO NIGHT

A FEW SPOIL FOR MANY Jeer to those that feel compelled to throw stuff out onto the Manito pond for whatever reason. I get the occasional rock to see if the ice will break. Unfortunately this

Your actions were despicable, and you will be paying off this karmic debt for eons.

I choose you every day. Always. Thank you for your patience, unwavering dedication and compassion and most of all, thank you for choosing me back.

!

that the city feels it is somehow now in indentured servitude to ticket for faulty equipment on a vehicle, but that doesn’t mean your rolling deathtrap should be on the road. Get your equip-

™

www.SPOKANECHIEFS.com

EVENTS | CALENDAR

BENEFIT

VOLUNTRIVIA: VOLUNTEERING + 80S TRIVIA Participate in a volunteer food sort activity, then 80s trivia night hosted by Colin Burk. Light snacks provided, with beer and wine available. Dress in 80s attire for a chance to win a special prize. Jan. 17, 5:30-8 pm. $25. Second Harvest Food Bank, 1234 E. Front Ave. secondharvestkitchen.org GLOBAL-GOAT PINT NIGHT Iron Goat donates $1 to Global Neighborhood for every IG pint sold. Includes live music

by Dario Re. Global Neighborhood’s Job Readiness Program offers on site job training to former refugees. Jan. 18, 5-9 pm. Iron Goat Brewing Co., 1302 W. Second. global-neighborhood.org KARAOKE FUNDRAISER A benefit for Cowgirls and Women Warriors NPO. Nine percent of sales are donated to the NPO during Wednesday karaoke nights in January; Jan. 16, 23 and 30, from 6-9 pm. nYne, 232 W. Sprague Ave. nynebar.com (509-474-1621) BENEFIT RECEPTION FOR HUMAN TRAFFICKING AWARENESS MONTH Twenty percent of the sales of original art, prints and greeting cards during this reception support Lutheran Community Services to aid victims of human trafficking. Jan. 25, 5:30-7:30 pm.

Free admission. Avenue West Gallery, 907 W. Boone Ave. (838-4999) GET OUT & PLAY! A community fundraiser hosted by the Active Minds student chapter at the University of Idaho and the Palouse Advocacy League. In addition to Zeppoz in Pullman, activities take place at Wild at Art Ceramics in Moscow and PLAYlive Nation gaming lounge. Jan. 26. varies. Zeppoz, 780 SE Bishop Blvd. (592-5626) GOWNS GALORE FASHION SHOW The Royal Closet assists high school students attending school dances with high quality formal wear free of charge. Local students, including the Ronald McDonald House Teen Board, models these gowns at this event. All proceeds support Daybreak Youth Services. Includes dessert before dinner and a hot chocolate bar. Jan. 27, 4-5:30 pm. $25. CenterPlace Regional Event Center, 2426 N. Discovery Place Dr. bit. ly/2satTC8 (444-7033 Ext. 2001)

COMEDY

COMEDY NIGHT Featuring Chelsea Tolle and musical improv talent Michael Glatzmaier. Hosted by Mark Mor-

ris. Jan. 17, 8-9:30 pm. $10. Brothers Bar, 111 W. Shaffer. (258-8875) GUFFAW YOURSELF! Open mic comedy night hosted by Casey Strain; Thursdays at 10 pm. Free. Neato Burrito, 827 W. First Ave. (847-1234) I SAW YOU! Join the BDT Players as they pull the comedy from the weekly reader-submitted section of the Inlander. Guests are encouraged to bring their favorite (family friendly) posting to the show. Fridays at 7:30 pm through Feb. 8. $8. Blue Door Theatre, 815 W. Garland. bluedoortheatre.com MARK MORRIS COMEDY NIGHTS Featuring Chelsea Tolle and musical improv artist Michael Glatzmaier. Jan. 18, 8-9:30 pm. $10. American Legion Post 143, 1138 E. Poleline Ave. postfallspost143.org GOOD TIMES AT GOODTYMES Mark Morris comedy returns with Chelsea Tolle and musical improv talent Michael Glatzmaier. Jan. 19, 8-9:30 pm. $5; two-drink min. Goodtymes Bar & Grill, 9214 E. Mission Ave. (928-1070) SAFARI The BDT’s version of “Whose Line,” a fast-paced short-form improv show that’s generally game based and relies on audience suggestions to fuel each scene. Ages 16+. Saturdays at 7:30 pm through March 30. $8. Blue Door Theatre, 815 W. Garland Ave. bluedoortheatre.com (747-7045) 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

7

8

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COMMUNITY

MLK CELEBRATION AT WSU New York Times best-selling author Ibram X. Kendi delivers the keynote address at the 32nd annual Martin Luther King Celebration on the Pullman campus, with the event livestreamed to other WSU locations. Jan. 17, 7 pm. Free.

WSU Compton Union Building, 1500 NE Terrell Mall. mlk.wsu.edu/home/ THURSDAY NIGHT LIVE! The museum hosts a monthly, rotating mix of programs including music by local artists, happy hour, gallery talks, Art@Work exhibition openings, films, courses, lectures and more. Third Thursday of the month, from 6-9 pm. $5. The MAC, 2316 W. First. northwestmuseum.org

JANUARY 17, 2019 INLANDER 47 IdahoBrewersUnited_DestinationBeer_011719_6H_AA.pdf

EDIBLES

The Magic of Marmas Some gummies are hitting the perfect high notes

BY TUCK CLARRY

A

s the Washington regulation of candy edibles remains in flux, now is as good a time as ever for consumers to start engaging with some of the great sweets that are still found in shops.

This last week was the first time I tried Magic Kitchen’s Marmas, a chewy gummy that packs a wallop for 10 milligrams of THC and a recently released alternative of 1:1 CBD. The soft candy comes in an array of flavors like apple, raspberry, grape and watermelon. I landed on the 10 milligram Blue Raspberry flavor when I took a

visit to downtown Spokane’s Cinder.

What is readily apparent when you try Marmas for the first time is the level of packaging and production that Magic Kitchen and other producers have gotten to. In the early stages of the industry, after the cannabis-legalizing Initiative-502 was passed, there was a level of amateurism in the packaging and consistency of many of the edibles that found their way to recreational shops.

Now, customers know exactly what they’re getting, which is a dialed-in product that rivals the taste of sweets

that line the candy aisle of grocery stores. Five years ago when I’d grab a chocolate or baked good, I’d try to get past the pungent and loud taste of the cannabis in every bite. That poor taste is nowhere to be found.

The individually wrapped candies have an ideal texture and consistency for a fruit chew, as their sugary outside hides a uniquely soft-gummy texture. The candy is definitely worth savoring while chewing and it avoids the notorious feeling of remnants gunked in your molars or caked onto and between your teeth.

The first time indulging, it was clear that the Magic Kitchen candy excels at offering a warm, cozy high. A weekend of binge watching The Sopranos and going to the theater didn’t require a good dosing of Marmas, but it sure didn’t hurt. You can’t help but melt when you properly dose and find that body high bliss.

The experience of the CBD version of the product is relaxing as well, with the expected clear-headed high that may be ideal for more medicinal-seeking consumers.

Though the THC iteration did contribute to a greater obsession in Tony Soprano’s guy “Paulie Walnuts.” n

NOTE TO READERS Be aware of the differences in the law between Idaho and Washington. It is illegal to possess, sell or transport cannabis in the State of Idaho. Possessing up to an ounce is a misdemeanor and can get you a year in jail and up to a $1,000 fine; more than three ounces is a felony that can carry a five-year sentence and fine of up to $10,000. Transporting marijuana across state lines, like from Washington into Idaho, is a felony under federal law.

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FRIENDS OF THE SPOKANE VALLEY LIBRARY BOOK SALE Proceeds from the sale support various library programs and services. Jan. 18 from 3-5 pm (presale; $10 admission) and Jan. 19 from 9 am-3 pm ($3 bag sale). Free.

Spokane Valley Library, 12004 E. Main. scldfriends.org/events (893-8400) GEM OF THE VALLEY AWARDS GALA The event features raffle items, a live auction, dinner and awards program honoring the Citizen of the Year, Volunteer of the Year, Businesses of the Year and more. Jan. 18, 5:30-8:30 pm. $55/person. Mirabeau Park Hotel, 1100 N. Sullivan. spokanevalleychamber.org INDIGENOUS PEOPLES MARCH SPOKANE Spokane joins this national event to show support of the many environmental activists, traditional wisdom-keepers, organizers, tribal leaders, social entrepreneurs, artists, educators, innovators and change makers working for the rights of Indigenous peoples around the world. Jan. 18, 11 am. Spokane Tribal Gathering Place, 347 N Post. bit.ly/2RJvoWB 26TH ANNUAL HUMAN RIGHTS BREAKFAST The annual breakfast honors the memory and ideals of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and to affirm the community’s commitment to justice, equality, and inclusion. This year’s keynote address is presented by Dr. Shirley Jackson, who speaks on “From Civil Rights to Human Rights.” Dr. Jackson is a professor and chair of Black Studies at Portland State University. Jan. 19. $5-$10. Moscow Middle School, 1410 E. D St. humanrightslatah.org MLK DAY WEEKEND CELEBRATION Saturday (Jan. 19) starts off with a Day of Service to prepare hygiene kits to be distributed, along with a canned food drive. Sunday (Jan. 20) is followed by a day of fellowship and Monday (Jan. 21) features the rally and march in commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., followed by the MLK Family Outreach Center’s resource fair at the Spokane Convention Center. bit.ly/2FrY7t6 WOMEN+S MARCH SPOKANE An allinclusive, non-partisan, issue-driven event to rally the community together for the good of all women+ and allies. Includes a volunteer action fair, rally with speakers and music, march through downtown and post-march activities. Jan. 19, 10 am. Free. Downtown Spokane. bit.ly/2Rcnk0e CIVIL RIGHTS TEACH-IN Gonzaga students, faculty and staff attend the MLK march and rally downtown and return to campus for the teach-in, “Historic Perspectives & the Fierce Urgency of Now.” Public welcome to attend; space is limited and registration is required. Jan. 21. Gonzaga University Hemmingson Center, 702 E. Desmet Ave. bit.ly/2PAzHyg CLIMATE JUSTICE PRESENTATION Suzanne Marshall is a historian who taught environmental history at universities in Alabama, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Oregon. She’s also a scholar-activist who conducted research, wrote, and organized around environmental justice issues for over 25 years. She currently lives in Coeur d’Alene and is a member of Kootenai Environmental Alliance and its Climate Action. Jan. 21, 1-2:30 pm. Free. Human Rights Education Institute, 414 W. Fort Grounds Dr. hrei.org (208-660-8485) PRESUMPTION OF INNOCENCE A panel discussion on the impact of

bail and incarceration in Spokane. The event also unveils a new initiative with The Bail Project, an organization that pays bail for folks in poverty who are in pretrial. In the Cataldo Hall Globe Room. Jan. 22, 6-8 pm. Free. Gonzaga University, 502 E. Boone. facebook. com/spokane.naacp (919-3042) THE MYTH OF MERITOCRACY What is Meritocracy? How is the word defined and what are some common myths around the subject matter? Join a small exercise on the subject matter.

In SFCC Bldg. 17, Rm 102. Jan. 24, 11:30 am-12:30 pm. Free. SFCC, 3410 W. Fort George Wright Dr. (533-4331)

FILM

BANFF MOUNTAIN FILM FESTIVAL WORLD TOUR Presented by Mountain Fever is three nights of films celebrating high octane mountain fun. Jan. 1820 at 6 pm. $16/$20. Panida Theater, 300 N. First. panida.org WILD & SCENIC FILM FESTIVAL Presented by the Idaho Chapter Sierra Club, the films combine beautiful cinematography and storytelling to inform and ignite solutions to ensure the conservation of wild and scenic places we all love. Jan. 18, 6-10 pm. $10. The Kenworthy, 508 S. Main. kenworthy.org A PRIVATE WAR In a world where journalism is under attack, Marie Colvin is one of the most celebrated war correspondents of our time. Jan. 19 at 5 and 8 pm; Jan. 20 at 4 and 7 pm. $7.

The Kenworthy, 508 S. Main. kenworthy.org GREEN BOOK A working-class ItalianAmerican bouncer becomes the driver of an African-American classical pianist on a tour of venues through 1960’s American South. PG-13. Jan. 24-27 and Jan. 31-Feb. 3; times vary. $5-$8. Panida Theater, 300 N. First. panida.org

FOOD

SHREDDING THE CELLAR The bar brings out a collection of barrel aged beers, offering a taster special with all five beers and individual 10 ounce pours. Community Pint, 120 E. Sprague. bit.ly/2CTvT7Z WINTER BEER FEST The 6th annual beer fest features 28 winter beers from 24 regional breweries, along with live music each night. Jan. 17-19 from 4-10 pm. $15. The Lantern Tap House, 1004 S. Perry St. bit.ly/2Fdfc9Y (315-9531) WINE TASTING Taste the wines of Hightower Cellars. Includes cheese and crackers. Jan. 18, 3-6:30 pm. $10. Vino!, 222 S. Washington St. vinowine.com WINE TASTING ‘Where did it grow?” explores the difference terroir makes.

Includes cheese and crackers. Jan. 19, 3-6:30 pm. $10. Vino! A Wine Shop, 222 S. Washington St. vinowine.com DINNER WITH A DOCTOR Through a live-food demo and presentations, this health education event teaches how to gain control of your blood sugars. Jan. 20, 3-6 pm. Free; RSVP required. Spokane Valley Seventh-Day Adventist, 1601 S. Sullivan Rd. dinnerwithadr.com ANTI-INFLAMMATORY CLASS This class reviews main sources of inflammation in our diet and how to replace them with nutrient dense, whole foods. Jan. 23, 6-8 pm. $35. My Fresh Basket, 1030 W. Summit Pkwy. myfreshspokane.com

JANUARY 17, 2019 INLANDER 51

RELATIONSHIPS

Advice Goddess CLING KONG

My girlfriend of three years recently took a trip home for a weekend wedding. Before she left, I asked her, “Can you set my expectations as to how often I’ll hear from you?” She said she’d call every day. She called each of the three days but never stayed on the phone very long, always giving some excuse: She was in a bar, the hosts were sleeping, etc. In three days, she spent a total of 43 minutes speaking and reconnecting with AMY ALKON me. I told her I felt really hurt by how little time she allocated. She responded that there were things planned, that she was sometimes at the behest of others driving her places, etc. I am sure that’s all true. Though I’m not insecure, I’ve felt insecure about my relationship with her. So...what do you think? Do I have a valid reason to feel neglected and invisible? —Ignored Where there’s smoke — like, say, puffs of it coming out of a first-floor window — there’s sometimes a stick of incense burning; no reason to run for the garden hose and turn the living room into a stylishly furnished wading pool.

If your girlfriend imagined what you’d be doing in her absence, it probably wasn’t standing over the phone for 72 hours straight, willing it to ring. Chances are, she isn’t entirely tuned in to how insecure you are about her commitment to you. Also, wedding weekends these days tend to be packed with activities from breakfast to nightcap. So...there’s an initial idea of how much alone time one would have, and then there’s the actual free time between sleep, showering, and “Our ride’s here! You can take your rollers out on the way to the church!”

As for the het-up state you found yourself in, what I often call our “guard dog emotions” can be a little overprotective — and that’s actually an evolved feature, not a flaw. It’s sometimes in our best interest to see unclearly. In fact, human perception evolved to be inaccurate at times — protectively inaccurate, explain evolutionary psychologists Martie Haselton and David Buss, in favor of helping us survive and pass on our genes.

This makes us prone to be oversensitive to signs of infidelity — which is to say, our suspicion is easily triggered, even by harmless, innocent behavior.

This oversensitivity is evolutionarily sensible — protective of our interests. For example, it’s typically much more costly for a man to be undersensitive — all “Naw, I’m sure everything’s fine!” — when he’s about to be deceived into paying for college, grad school, and rehab for a kid with some other dude’s genes.

The problem is, an infidelity alarm system that defaults to DEFCON “HOW DARE YOU, YOU HUSSY!” can also take a toll, even on a partner who really loves you. The jealousy, possessiveness, and badgering for reassurance that ensue can make the cost of the relationship start to outweigh the benefits. This isn’t to say you can’t ask for reassurance; you just need to do it in a way that doesn’t make your partner long to put you out on the curb like an old couch.

First figure out whether there’s anything to those alarm bells going off in you — whether you have any reason to believe your girlfriend is cheating or is unhappy in the relationship. If not, chances are, your compulsion to turn her iPhone into her wireless leash stems from what the late psychologist Albert Ellis called “catastrophizing” — telling yourself it would be HORRIBLE and TERRIBLE and you would just DIE EVERY DAY FOREVER if your relationship ended. (Drama queen!)

(P.S. We’ve all had our turn wearing the dingy tiara of gloom.)

The reality is, a breakup could lead to a stretch of mope-apalooza — weeks or months snot-sobbing into a pillow, along with the occasional sobfest in the frozen foods aisle. Obviously, you’d rather not go through this. HOWEVER!...if you did, you’d eventually recover, get back out there, and maybe even get into a relationship that’s better for you.

Reflect regularly (like, daily) on this rational corrective to your irrational thinking; accept that your relationship could end and admit that you could deal if it did. Once you calm down a little, ask your girlfriend for clarification and reassurance about her feelings for you. In time, when she’s away, you could be obsessing over those highly enjoyable activities we women call “weird gross guy stuff”: Eat black bean taquitos and try to break your previous records for fart volume and velocity. Play “Minecraft” for 46 hours straight, wearing only a pair of superhero underwear. And finally, seize the opportunity to create timeless art — which is to say, draw a face on your penis and shoot remakes of classic films: “Help me, ObiWan Kenobi. You’re my only hope!” n ©2018, Amy Alkon, all rights reserved. • Got a problem? Write Amy Alkon, 171 Pier Ave, #280, Santa Monica, CA 90405 or email AdviceAmy@aol.com (www.advicegoddess.com)

52 INLANDER JANUARY 17, 2019

EVENTS | CALENDAR

MUSIC

LILAC CITY LIVE! The monthly awardwinning “late-night” talk show celebrates local talent at the downtown library, with drinks, music and more.

January’s event features special guest, Teacher of the Year Mandy Manning.

Jan. 17, 7-9 pm. Free. Downtown Spokane Library, 906 W. Main. (444-5300) COEUR D’ALENE SYMPHONY CLASSICAL FAMILY FUN CONCERT A program featuring Bolero, the Mother Goose Suite and more with the North Idaho Youth Symphony. Jan. 18 at 7:30 pm, Jan. 19 at 2 pm. $10-$20. Kroc Center, 1765 W. Golf Course Rd. cdasymphony. org (208-765-3833) LOCAL ALTERNATIVE BAND VIDEO SHOOT Alternative rock band Sciandra’s Game is shooting a video at the Pin and is seeking audience members.

Includes a giveaway of 50 posters and a free digital download of the new 10 song album. Jan. 21, 7-11 pm. Free. The Pin, 412 W. Sprague. (499-3717) IMAGINE JAZZ PRESENTS THE BLACK ART JAZZ COLLECTIVE The Black Art Jazz Collective is a collaborative ensemble comprised of jazz’s finest rising stars including New York musicians Jeremy Pelt, Wayne Escoffery, James Burton III, Xavier Davis, Vicente Archer and Johnathan Blake. Jan. 23, 8-10 pm. $10-$25. SFCC, 3410 W. Fort George Wright Dr. imaginejazz.org (936-0819) WEDNESDAY NIGHT CONTRA DANCE The Spokane Folklore Society’s weekly dance, with the Jam Band playing and caller Larry Simmons. No experience necessary; beginner workshop at 7:15 pm. Jan. 23, 7:30-9:30 pm. $5/$7.

Woman’s Club of Spokane, 1428 W. Ninth. myspokanefolklore@gmail.com

SPORTS & OUTDOORS

RUBBER CHICKEN: FERRIS VS. LEWIS & CLARK The annual GSL rivalry spirit game; games at 5:30 and 7:30 pm. Jan. 17. $5-$7. Spokane Arena, 720 W. Mallon Ave. spokanearena.com (279-7000) SPOKANE CHIEFS VS. VANCOUVER GIANTS Promo night with the Coeur d’Alene Casino. Jan. 18, 7:05 pm. $11$25. Spokane Arena, 720 W. Mallon Ave. spokanearena.com (279-7000) 50TH ANNIVERSARY SNOWSHOE SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT This annual game of softball on snowshoes began as a challenge between the younger and older men of the Priest Lake community in 1969. Jan. 19-20 and 26-27.

Hill’s Resort, 4777 W. Lakeshore Rd. hillsresort.com (509-435-2920) CROSS COUNTRY MOONLIGHT SKI AND DINNER Includes ski equipment, dinner and guides. XC skiing experience recommended. Sno-Park and Discover Pass permits required. Ages 18+. Jan. 19, 6-9 pm. $49. Mt. Spokane State Park, 26107 N. Mt. Spokane Park Dr. spokaneparks.org (755-2489) SNOWSHOE MOONLIGHT HIKE + DINNER Travel through the winter landscape of Mount Spokane by the magic of moonlight before returning to Selkirk Lodge for meal from Greenbluff Fresh Catering Company. 18+. Jan. 19 and Feb. 16 from 6-9 pm. $49. spokaneparks.org SPOKANE CHIEFS VS. TRI-CITY AMERICANS Promo of the night is the General Store buck night and jersey

rally towel giveaway. Jan. 19, 7:05 pm. $11-$25. Spokane Arena, 720 W. Mallon Ave. spokanearena.com (279-7000) SPOKANE’S HISTORY OF SKIING Cris Currie’s book illuminates how government and private entities can come together in a successful partnership for the benefit of the larger community.

Jan. 19, 1 pm. Free. Auntie’s, 402 W. Main. auntiesbooks.com (838-0206) CROSS COUNTRY SKI LESSONS Learn the basics of cross-country skiing at Mt. Spokane Selkirk Nordic Area. Includes equipment, fees, instruction and transportation (departs from Yoke’s in Mead). Additional info emailed after registration. Ages 13+. Jan. 20 from 9 am-3 pm. $49. spokaneparks.org FREE STATE PARK DAYS Visitors to state parks will not need a Discover Pass for day-use visits on Jan. 21. Includes access to Mt. Spokane, Riverside and Palouse Falls state parks. Free. parks.state.wa.us

THEATER

SHE LOVES ME A warm romantic comedy with an endearing innocence and a touch of old world elegance. Jan. 11-27; Thu-Sat at 7:30 pm, Sun at 2 pm. $23$25. Lake City Playhouse, 1320 E. Garden Ave. (208-673-7529) THE CONTROVERSY AT VALLADOLID A courtroom drama with a decidedly different spin… imagine a time when the Catholic Church had the right to determine whether or not you were human. Jan. 11-27; Fri-Sat at 7:30 pm, Sun at 2 pm. $20. Stage Left Theater, 108 W. Third Ave. spokanestageleft.org THE MEMORY OF WATER Three sisters gather for their mother’s funeral. Each has her own memories of her childhood and this creates conflict, which is, by turns, angry, desperate, poignant and wildly funny. Jan. 18-Feb. 10; Thu-Sat at 7:30 pm, Sun at 2 pm. $14-$27. Spokane Civic Theatre, 1020 N. Howard. spokanecivictheatre.com (325-2507) STAGE TO SCREEN: THE KING & I One of the best loved Rogers and Hammerstein musicals is this magical real-life story of Anna, the widowed schoolteacher who comes halfway round the world from England to teach the court of the King of Siam. Jan. 20, 2-4 pm. $4-$10. Bing Crosby Theater, 901 W. Sprague. bingcrosbytheater.com DISNEY’S THE LION KING The six-time Tony-winning musical returns to Spokane with its story filled with hope and adventure set against an amazing backdrop of stunning visuals. Jan. 23-Feb. 3; times vary. $28-$147.50. First Interstate Center for the Arts, 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. inbpac.com (509-279-7000)

ARTS

JUMPING OFF: PAT SILER & TANDEN LAUNDER Pullman artist Pat Siler possesses a half century career as a professional artist and educator, and fills the gallery with over 55 paintings, ceramics, stencils and woodcut prints. Artist, entrepreneur and local small business owner Tanden Launder showcases two dozen mixed media works that feature well-known Americana characters created using vintage books and papers, and found objects. Jan. 11-Feb. 2; WedSat 11 am-6 pm. Free. Art Spirit Gallery, 415 Sherman. theartspiritgallery.com PUSH FACTORS: PERSPECTIVES ON GUATEMALAN MIGRATION An exhibit

of provocative photography that explores the factors driving residents of Guatemala from their homes in search of a better life. Jan. 16-Feb. 24; Tue-Sat 10 am-8 pm, Sun 10 am-6 pm. Reception Jan. 22 from 5-7 pm; gallery talk with James Rodriguez Jan. 24 at noon.

Free admission. Prichard Art Gallery, 414 S. Main, Moscow. uidaho.edu/caa/ galleries/prichardartgallery SCRUTINEARSIGHTED Richard Smolinski’s exhibition responds to the current wave of “Toxic White Masculinity” evident in the Trump administration, the UK’s accidental “Brexit” referendum and the deluge of sexual misconduct revelations that inspired the #MeToo movement. Thu-Sat from 6-8 pm through Jan. 26. Free. Terrain, 304 W. Pacific Ave. bit.ly/2RrbRe1

WORDS

EWU VISITING WRITER SERIES: BONNIE NADZAM Hear from the American writer whose first novel “Lamb” was recipient of the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. The book was made into an award-winning independent film. Jan. 18, 7:30 pm. Free. Spark Central, 1214 W. Summit Pkwy. spark-central.org SCI-FI WRITER MILO SEK The fantasy/sci-fi writer visits Hillyard to meet, greet, sign, and introduce her second book “Truth in the Dark,” from her “The Exies” series. Jan. 19, 1-4:15 pm. Free. At 5022 N. Market. (503-395-0013) MLK DAY READING FT. CLAIRE RUDOLPH MURPHY Murphy reads from her novel “Martin and Bobby: A Journey to Justice” and discusses the powerful relationship and inspirational leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King and Senator Bobby Kennedy. Books available for sale and signing. Jan. 21, 5 pm. Free.

BookPeople of Moscow, 521 S. Main St. bookpeopleofmoscow.com DROP IN & WRITE: Aspiring writers are invited to be a part of Spark’s supportive local writing community. Bring works in progress to share, get inspired with creative prompts and spend some focused time writing. Tuesdays from 5-6:30 pm. Free. Spark Central, 1214 W. Summit Pkwy. spark-central.org (2790299) BROKEN MIC: Spokane Poetry Slam’s longest-running, weekly open mic reading series, open to all readers and all-ages. Wednesdays at 6:30 pm. Free.

Neato Burrito, 827 W. First Ave. spokanepoetryslam.org (509-847-1234) PEG FORUM: FREEDOM OF THE PRESS A panel with Shawn Vestal, S-R columnist and Spokane author, discussing the role media plays in public discourse, and the importance of truth, balance and the free press. Includes a Q&A session. Jan. 23, 7 pm. Free and open to the public. Whitworth University, 300 W. Hawthorne Rd. pegnow.org BREAD & CIRCUSES: EXPLORING THE LEGACY OF THE “REAL” MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. Darryl Brice, a sociology professor from Highline College in Des Moines, Wash., delivers this year’s MLK Day presentation in The Lair Auditorium (Bldg 6, Rm 135). The talk explores why a myopic view of King has become the most popular and accepted version of the civil rights leader and what is omitted from most dialogues about King’s life and legacy. Jan. 24, 11:30 am.

Free and open to the public. Spokane Community College, 1810 N. Greene St. scc.spokane.edu (434-5150) n

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ACROSS 1. In 7. Orff’s “____ Burana” 14. Boom, zoom and vroom 15. Gets into easily 16. Tchaikovsky dancer 18. German’s “Oh!” 19. Place to go in Britain?

20. “Save me a ____!”

21. Speak with a gravelly voice 23. Piglet producer 25. “Kisses, dahling!”

29. Machu Picchu builder 30. Battle site of June 6, 1944 34. Four-baggers: Abbr.

36. McIlroy who was 2014’s PGA Player of the Year 37. Old IBM PCs 38. One who penalizes icing 42. Opposite of paleo43. Blade with no sharp edge

44. Kim, to Khloé, for short 45. Fully merited 49. Inferiors to sgts.

52. “Not only that ...”

53. “Understand?”

54. “I’m intrigued!”

55. Lions, Tigers or Bears 59. Fast-food chain with a goateed spokesman 61. Follower of Kennedy or Clinton 62. Improve one’s endurance and self-reliance, say ... or solve 16-, 30-, 38- and 45-Across 66. Like waves on a shoreline 67. Typical lab rat, e.g.

68. One standing in the back of an alley 69. Stranded motorist’s boon DOWN

1. Aziz of Netflix’s “Master of None” 2. Bird on a Froot Loops box 3. Classy places?

4. Mama grizzly, south of the border 5. Jazzman Saunders 6. Husband, in Hidalgo 7. Ft. Collins campus 8. Charitable donations 9. Widespread 10. Film-rating grp.

11. “Am I nuts?”

12. Neither’s partner 13. “____ takers?”

17. Weaving machine 22. Setting for Seurat’s “La Grande Jatte” 24. Elizabeth and Earl 26. Uses flowery language

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40. “____ durn tootin’!”

41. Puerto ____ 42. “Straight Outta Compton” rappers 46. Bottle in a beach bag 47. Reggae artist ____-Mouse 48. Reorganize computer data to improve performance, informally 50. ____ Ochoa, 2017 Golf Hall of Fame inductee 51. Actress Stone of “Casino” 56. Besides that 57. Take ____ in the pool 58. DLIII + DLIII 60. ____ d’Or (touristy Majorca

town) 62. “Uncle” on a food package 63. Celebrity psychic Geller 64. Egg producer 65. “Young Sheldon” airer

JANUARY 17, 2019 INLANDER 53

celebrate love

COEUR D ’ ALENE

visitcda.org for more events, things to do & places to stay.

AT T H E L A K E

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Four things to know before setting out on an eagle watching adventure in North Idaho

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agle watching cruises are done for the season, but that doesn’t mean you have to forego witnessing the unique congregation of one of America’s largest raptors feeding on spent fish in Lake Coeur d’Alene. Now that the holiday crowds have thinned, cash in on these tips for where to go to view America’s national symbol.

What to bring? Wear sturdy shoes and expect to walk in winter conditions from the parking area to the viewing area, which may or may not be paved. Higgens Point offers a view of Wolf Lodge Bay and is easily accessible from Coeur d’Alene Lake Drive (parksandrecreation.idaho.gov/parks/ coeur-d-alene-parkway).

Expect to stand. A lot. Eagle watching requires patience and is best on clear, cold days in the early morning when birds actively feed.

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If parking along the side of the road, such as off Highway 97 at Mineral Ridge — there is also a trailhead and parking area near the boat ramp — be mindful of cars and

other wildlife viewers too. Leave the dog at home; loud noises, including barking, can upset the birds. In fact, do not approach eagles, ever; it’s bad for them and could earn you a fine as these birds are federally protected.

Bundle up. Eagles typically arrive in November when the kokanee salmon, a favorite food, reproduce. Eagle-watching peaks in December, sometimes numbering more than 200 birds, and wanes in mid-tolate January when they head south. That being said, there were still oodles of eagles spotted last week on the lake.

Bring Binoculars. Experts suggest you have your binoculars at the ready, scanning the treeline for the birds’ telltale shape and bright white head so you know where to look with your lenses. Speaking of lenses, if you’re hoping to “catch” an eagle on camera, you’ll need to upgrade your camera to include a telephoto lens. A tripod is also helpful. And use faster shutter speeds to capture these majestic birds.

D ’A L E N E

Upcoming Events

COEUR D’ALENE

Mac & Cheese Dinner Cruise

Macaroni & Fromage Wine Dinner

JANUARY 18

JANUARY 18

$25, 5 and under free; 5 pm and 7:30 pm.

Reservations $99; Beverly’s at the Coeur d’Alene Resort; 6 pm; call 855-379-5478.

Kick off the Mac & Cheese Festival Weekend right with a family-friendly dinner cruise on the lake which features an “Around the World Macaroni & Cheese Menu” with pasta creations from Mexico, Italy and America. Adults $35, children 6-12

Make the Mac & Cheese Festival into a weekend — and start it with an exclusive five-course dinner which will artfully pair exquisite macaroni and fromage (aka cheese) with exceptional wine.

Mac & Cheese Festival JANUARY 19

Get your tickets before they’re gone!

During this delicious festival local chefs compete for the Golden Noodle award, and ticket holders get to benefit from this friendly competition. The MAC PAC

($20) includes six tasters. The MAC & Beer package ($30) includes six tasters plus eight (4-ounce) beer tastings and a commemorative pint. Coeur d’Alene Plaza Shops; noon-6 pm.

visitcda.org for more events, things to do & places to stay.

54 INLANDER JANUARY 17, 2019

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