Inlander 02/08/2018

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FEBRUARY 8-14, 2018 | YOU ARE WHAT YOU READ

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EDITOR’S NOTE

T

he experiment has escaped the lab and is running amok across our great land. Thanks, Facebook. Many once thought that SOCIAL MEDIA would save us — that it would break down borders, unite the globe, make us smarter, happier and more engaged in the world.

I’m not sure anyone believes that anymore.

Turns out, it hasn’t broken down borders, but rather helped create social bubbles where our beliefs harden. It hasn’t united us, but revealed how polarized we’ve become. It often hasn’t made us smarter, but instead tricked us with clickbait.

At this point, it’s clear that even Facebook’s founder didn’t anticipate how the site would be used and abused, or how foreign agents looking to sow some good ol’ chaos would game Facebook’s algorithms to subvert American democracy. Further, it’s apparent now that Facebook — and Google and Twitter, for that matter — didn’t look too closely at the money being exchanged to see who was paying and who was profiting from all the fakery.

Yet, at the same time these platforms — Google and Facebook, especially — were spreading misinformation and fake news like wildfire, they were also draining digital advertising dollars from LETTERS the very news outlets that could combat those forces with real journalism.

Send comments to That’s not exactly new: The news busieditor@inlander.com. ness has long been outwitted by these tech giants — lured by vast internet audiences, they’ve essentially provided free content to Facebook and Google, while the duopoly courted their advertisers — but I believe that the journalists who confronted that impossible choice ultimately wanted to deliver the news, even at their own expense.

And now Facebook is poised to change the rules of the game yet again.

Struggling to repel fake news and the antagonism permeating the site, founder Mark Zuckerberg announced last month that it would deprioritize news in favor of posts from friends and family. It’s sent a shockwave through the news industry, much of which has strategically aligned its priorities with Facebook’s, and raised serious questions for consumers, for news outlets and for our democracy.

The situation is still shaking out, as you’ll read in staff reporter Daniel Walter’s cover story this week (page 24), but hope is not lost. Indeed, the value of actual journalism — say, the New York Times or the very paper you’re reading — becomes really obvious when held up against flawed algorithms and fake news. With change coming to Facebook, however, you may have to directly seek out the news sources you like to follow, rather than counting on them to appear in the site’s revamped News Feed.

— JACOB H. FRIES, Editor

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EDITORIAL Jacob H. Fries (x261) EDITOR

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ANGIE BOMBONI

I think it’s a double-edged sword. I think it can really bring people together or tear them apart. Sometimes it feels like junior high, but sometimes it’s the only way to reach friends who you haven’t seen in decades. So I’m glad it’s there, because I’m still able to chat with friends I haven’t seen in forever.

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I’m not really happy with it personally, because I think what it does is separates families. I’ve noticed the older I’ve gotten, the less and less I’m able to share my time with family when we’re all together, because everybody is on Facebook or some other form of social media.

So, for me personally, I’m on what’s called a Facebook cleanse so I’m not even using Facebook.

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DILLON TORRES

I feel like it’s good if you use it correctly. I feel like it’s kind of abused, overused a little bit.

I was just having a conversation today, and somebody said it was like equivalent to not having an arm, like not having a social media site. I thought that was interesting, because I find myself happier when I’m disconnected from all of that.

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CHAD KELLY

I use it probably more frequently than I should.

I don’t know if it’s necessarily a place for realism, so I have been trying to kind of limit myself.

What do you use it for?

Mostly just looking and seeing what friends are doing.

What annoys you about Facebook?

Uneducated political posts.

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6 INLANDER FEBRUARY 8, 2018

Candidates in 2018 need to offer voters tangible reasons to earn their support

BY GEORGE NETHERCUTT

A

Spokane trial lawyer friend of mine believes President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech was an aberration, that Trump is incapable of conforming his conduct in office to the laudable points raised in his remarks. He may be right, but that was no excuse for Democrats to sit on their hands when the president made applaudable comments, devoid of clear political party hints or egotistical assertions.

They should reward dignity, and Trump was dignified.

Democrats, if they intend to retake Congress in 2018, must stand for something other than “We’re not Trump,” because if one believes national polls, 75 percent of Americans watching or listening to the speech liked it, believing that Mr. Trump intends to compromise with Democrats to move America ahead. Recent resignations of luminaries such as Rep. Trey Gowdy and Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen don’t bode well for Republican victories in 2018. Republican officeholders, if they intend to keep their seats and the majorities they’ve enjoyed under President Trump, must decide if they’re with Trump and the policies he articulated on January 30, or not. The resigning members, of which 34 or so are Republicans, are disgusted with the national political scene, specifically national polarization and conflict on most issues and policies.

Office-seekers must ultimately articulate policies that endear them to voters seeking change.

A populist, President Trump appealed to voters as a “change agent,” a quality endearing to many.

Running against unreliable Hillary Clinton didn’t hurt, either. Many voters in 2016 believed that America was on the “wrong track” and that change was necessary.

has entered the world of citizens and voters — it’s not enough to disagree with a friend. Now if one disagrees with another American on a political issue, one hates the opponent, and vice-versa.

Years ago, deceased former Sen. Ted Stevens and deceased Sen. Ted Kennedy were close friends. They came from opposite ends of the political spectrum — Kennedy, a liberal spokesman and Stevens, a conservative Republican from a big state (Alaska) but a sparse population. Stevens got along famously with liberal senators Warren Magnuson, Scoop Jackson and Robert Byrd, then powerful majority committee chairmen. Why? Because none of these men put politics or egomania above the national welfare. They realized they were sent to

“One can disagree with a political opponent without being disagreeable.”

– Heather Welsh, R.N., Interim Health Care of Spokane, Inc.

WORKSHOP II

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hile Trump brought change to politics, many in the American electorate also seek normalcy, including dignity and progress, not incessant dissension. That’s why so many in Congress are not seeking re-election — they desire progress for America, not just noise and conflict. Though Mr. Trump is a master at deflection and highlighting incompatibility, some office holders are fed up with it, believing there’s a better way.

Some assert that politics today is “civilized fighting” — the effort to have one policy prevail over another, no matter the cost, and that if one hasn’t the stomach for such fighting, one should avoid the political arena. More than anything, though, Americans want respect for their elected officials and desire for America to move forward.

The two aren’t mutually exclusive — one can respectfully disagree with a political opponent without being disagreeable, or consider the opponent the “enemy.” Today, conflict politics

Washington, D.C., to benefit America, instead of hating their political opponents because they philosophically disagreed. They realized that good elected officials were worth keeping.

Even though dislike has taken over Congress, as evidenced at the President’s State of the Union remarks (one could feel the Democrats’ disgust with President Trump, even though his remarks were largely “all-American”), voters can make a powerful statement in November 2018 by voting for candidates who love America and aren’t resentful of their political opponents.

W

hile there are those who will blame the current political climate on Donald Trump, voters are best served by selecting candidates who conduct themselves with the dignity due the high office they seek.

Humility and dignity, hard work and a commitment to voters, not lobbyists or the president, are most important as they commit themselves to moving America ahead, not by fighting with their political counterparts, but through reason and commitment to principles that are good for Americans. Pundits will likely always question motivations, but for 242 years the American voter has chosen wisely for the times, selecting public officials who represent the best America has to offer.

The few “populist” office-holders who seek to break the political mold of dignity in office that has sustained voters since America was founded must not be allowed to diminish America’s political system. n

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FEBRUARY 8, 2018 INLANDER 7

COMMENT | COMMUNITY down our heartbreaks.

Time passed. I went away for college and law school, moved to cities and into positions that further separated me from my roots, as I left much of my youth, including the music, behind. When I heard that Garth was coming to Spokane, I felt a longing to reconcile who I had become with who I had once been. My community now — my progressive, activist tribe — had some difficulty grasping my desire for this reunification. Sensing this rift makes my heart heavy.

We need to do a better job of trying to understand one another; if we fail to be open to finding ways of fitting together, we will surely miss an essential part of this American story.

My progressive, activist tribe had some difficulty grasping my desire for this reunification.

CALEB WALSH ILLUSTRATION

For a Moment, All Was Right The bridge between urban and rural, me then and me now

BY INGA LAURENT

A

s I looked out on the sea of faces at one of the sold-out Garth Brooks’ concerts in November, I don’t recall seeing more than a handful that were the same color as mine. I’d also venture a guess that our politics didn’t quite match up, but that didn’t stop any of us from having a good time.

You can blame it all on my roots. Just before my 11th birthday, my family moved from Brooklyn, New York, to Cambridge, Ohio, a town nestled among the foothills of the Appalachian mountains. The transition was not easy.

The only place I had ever seen grass growing was in the

small swaths around the few scattered trees planted in cement sidewalks. I had big-city ideals and Ohioans’ views seemed to be worlds apart.

Enter Garth Brooks. He was like a bridge straight into the heart of the rural values that my neighbors held close. Looking back, I’m now able to see that my appreciation was never solely about the notes, but more about the universal stories that lay beneath them. Music is transcendent, finding ways to connect our shared experiences and knocking down imaginary boundaries. Through his songs, I came to understand that while poverty might look a little different from one locale to another, the difficulties embedded within its generational cycles are readily transferable and that we are all struggling to scale

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So, I went to the concert seeking some kind of unification, and I was not disappointed. To be sure, Garth Brooks is a stunning performer. His energy and the whooping, hollering, running and giggling were well worth the ticket price, but the most valuable commodity was the common ground I found again.

Garth values family — the “baby” of his band has been on tour with the group for “just” 24 years. He promotes liberal ideology; I re-discovered some lyrics from his prophetic 1999 song “We Shall Be Free,” where he calls for an end to all types of inequality, and reminds us that we should be “free to love anyone we choose,” and that “this world’s big enough for all different views.”

He embodies Buddhist philosophy. Many of his lyrics, like from the song “The River,” could be confused with Zen poetry: “You know a dream is like a river, ever changing as it flows, and a dreamer’s just a vessel that must follow where it goes.”

And he softens and bonds us. As I was standing there, in a full arena, there was no doubt in my mind that this man has a gift for bringing people together.

“For a moment all the world was right,” as 10,000 of us sang “The Dance” in unison, as both a collective and as individuals, while we empathized on the complexity that “our lives are better left to chance, I could have missed the pain, but I’d of had to miss the dance.” 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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FEBRUARY 8, 2018 INLANDER 9

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

Wedding smarty.

How to plan a lovely day that doesn’t bust your budget.

S

o you’ve found someone to spend your life with. Congrats!

Now all you have to do is make it official and throw a party.

As you plan a wedding, it’s not unusual to watch the cost skyrocket. The national average cost of a wedding runs more than $35,000, according to a recent survey by The Knot.

But your wedding can be both memorable and affordable.

Maddie DeGeest, a former stylist at a Spokane-area bridal boutique who works in marketing at STCU, offers some advice.

Location, location, libation Venues, food and drink typically represent the biggest chunk of couples’ wedding budgets.

“The venue can run between $3,500 and $6,500 to hold about 200 people, not including meals,” DeGeest says. “On top of that, a lot of places will not let you bring in your own food.”

With popular or premium venues, you might be required to choose from their preferred caterers, who tend to charge from $15 to $35 a plate.

Otherwise, watch for trunk shows at boutiques ― typically, those are the only events where retailers will sell designer gowns at discounted prices.

Tux rentals can run $200 a person. But more couples are setting ground rules — such as choosing a color or style — and letting groomsmen and bridesmaids wear less-expensive outfits of their choosing Keep an eye on quality

That’s why DeGeest recommends looking for a reception spot that lets you choose your own caterer or bring in your own home-cooked food. Other tips: Whittle down your guest list so you can use a less pricey venue and cut back on food costs.

And for the best rates, book your venue on a Friday in the off-season. Or consider a nontraditional venue, such as a park shelter (check the park’s booking and alcohol policies) or a relative’s backyard.

DeGeest warns against skimping in some areas.

#TheDress

And regardless of your budget, read reviews and ask others’ opinions about every vendor you use.

A wedding dress will easily run you $1,500 or more. Consider buying one off the rack rather than a ordering a custom-made gown, DeGeest says: “You get your dream dress at a lower cost, and you can still make it your own with alterations.”

Photography, for example. Hire an experienced professional. While your amateur photographer uncle might be delighted to snap some pictures at your wedding, owning a nice camera is not the same as knowing how to direct groups of people, stick to a timeline, or use proper lighting.

With patience, healthy skepticism, and a keen eye, you can score some fabulous deals while planning a wedding you’ll love.

Check out more practical financial tips at stcumoney.org. paid advertisement

10 INLANDER FEBRUARY 8, 2018

COMMENT | FROM READERS

CALEB WALSH ILLUSTRATION

KUDOS FOR THE COLUMNIST ravo!! This article (Zach Hagadone’s “From Boors to Sh--holers,”

B

2/1/18) should be mandatory reading for all U.S. citizens smugly residing within the borders of these United States. The only suggestion I would offer would be the article should have been printed in bold print!

HEIDI PENFIELD Colbert, Wash.

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HELP THE CHILDREN magine a community that cared about all its children, from every home

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and family background — cared so much that they rallied together to support the education, enrichment, and social, developmental, emotional, cognitive, and physical well-being of all those children. Imagine a community that embodied the values of the true American spirit — that supported the opportunity for each young citizen to work towards the goal of a positive, vibrant, intentional life; liberty to learn more and explore new ideas and LETTERS pursue big goals; and possibilities Send comments to to pursue happiness for themselves, editor@inlander.com. their families, their Spokane community, and the Common Good. Let’s be that type of community, Spokane.

Vote “Yes for Kids” on your ballot for the 2018 levy, which replaces the expiring 2015 levy at a lower tax rate. It’s not a new tax. This levy will help enrich basic education programs and activities that our state does not fund.

Science, technology, music, art, school librarians and counselors, schoolbased nurses and behavior specialists, special education programs, and more — these will all continue to be funded with your support of this levy. As the mom of two elementary children in Spokane, thank you for voting Yes.

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Readers respond to our story about the shortage of Idaho teachers needed for the growing number of students who don’t speak English as their first language (“Idaho Schools Are Struggling to Keep Up with an Increase in English-language Learners,” 2/1/18):

CHRISTOPHER LASOTA: Don’t doubt for one second that making English the official language of the USA is on the agenda of those to whom Trump listens. Don’t be surprised if this becomes one of the issues engineered for use in the 2018 mid-term elections. I fully expect xenophobia to be rolled out again, this time as a false dilemma about “patriotism.”

STEVE BERDE: No problem. They’ll eliminate the position soon. n

FEBRUARY 8, 2018 INLANDER 11

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CRIME

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t only takes a few seconds. You leave your car warming up in the driveway before work, or maybe you parked that trusty old Honda on the street overnight.

Thieves have learned that almost anything — a shaved key, screwdriver, kitchen fork, rake tine — will pick the lock and start it up.

Property crime continues to be a problem in Spokane and across the state, and vehicle theft is a major contributor.

In 2016, the most recent year for which official data is available, Spokane police took in reports of 1,992 vehicles being stolen in city limits — a figure that’s held relatively consistent for the past five years.

That’s a rate of about 931 vehicles per 100,000 people, or an average of about five stolen cars per day.

Detroit had the highest 2016 vehicle-theft rate in the nation (1,330 per 100,000 people), and Portland’s rate is good for third among major cities (767 per 100,000).

For police, frustration lies with the justice system’s revolving door. People who’ve racked up five, six, seven or more vehicle thefts are released on relatively low bonds, in part because their alleged crimes are nonviolent.

Then they’re re-arrested again before the other charges are resolved, yet might not serve additional time for the subsequent crimes.

“Once these people are adept at stealing cars and driving them around for a few days, we catch ’em, but how many more are they responsible for?” asks SPD Capt. Brad Arleth. “Without some physical evidence or an admission, we don’t know about the other potential 15 in the past month.”

For prosecutors, one of the major hurdles for vehicletheft cases in the courtroom is proving that a person knew the vehicle was stolen, says Spokane County Deputy Prosecutor John Grasso. Often, a person found in a stolen car will say they borrowed it from a friend. They

had no idea the car was stolen, they’ll tell police. Without other evidence, that can make the crimes more difficult to prosecute.

But perhaps the biggest frustration of law enforcement is the fact that Washington state does not supervise vehicle thieves (and other property crime offenders) after they’re released from prison.

“I’ve been here long enough to remember when they still supervised property offenses,” Grasso says. “I’d give up jail time in exchange for community supervision.”

Last year, officials began looking for ways to curb the high rate of vehicle theft in Spokane.

Last January, SPD dedicated a team of five officers whose primary focus is searching for stolen vehicles, and catching the people who steal them. Additionally, a bill introduced last year in the state legislature would create a pilot program in Spokane where people convicted of ...continued on next page

FEBRUARY 8, 2018 INLANDER 13

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“Vehicles are the center of so many crimes: drugs, guns, robberies, residential burglaries, vehicle prowling,” says Sgt. Kurt Vigesaa, who leads the team of SPD cops focused on vehicle theft.

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T

he temporary license plate in the rear window tips him off — a common tactic vehicle theft suspects use to conceal their

crimes.

Vigesaa pulls behind the silver Chevy Malibu and flips on his lights.

The suspects counter. Rather than pull over, the Malibu speeds off, and there is nothing Vigesaa can do but watch. SPD’s internal policy bars officers from getting into vehicle chases if a stolen vehicle is the only suspected crime.

“And they know it,” Vigesaa says. “They’ll play the games. Get behind us. Wave and take off. All we can do is wave at ’em.”

But shortly after the vehicle flees, Vigesaa spots the two men, who he saw driving the car, now walking a few blocks away. A citizen saw them park it and pointed Vigesaa in the right direction.

When police arrest the men, they say, “They were nowhere near any car,” Vigesaa recalls.

“That they were just out walking, getting exercise.”

Police and prosecutors hear stories like that all the time. They can represent a major obstacle in the courtroom.

Grasso, the deputy prosecutor, gives this example: A person is stopped in a stolen car, but has the key to the car. The suspect tells police he borrowed the car from a friend, but declines to say who that person is. Without some circumstantial evidence, such as a history of stealing cars, a “punched out” ignition or further damage, “that might be a hurdle too great to overcome,” he says. “Sometimes there’s no way for us to prove they knew a car was stolen.”

In this case, the suspects denied even being around the stolen Malibu, yet police found the car’s key in one of the men’s pockets. They found a small baggie of meth and a 9mm pistol

as well. Drug addiction is behind so much car theft in Spokane, Vigesaa says.

“I saw ’em driving it,” he says. “It’s my word against theirs.”

Police call the victim to retrieve the car. It was stolen back in October 2017, and she never thought she’d see it again.

“Can you notice much difference to it?” Vigesaa asks the woman. “That stereo, is it new?”

“That’s not mine,” says the woman, who declined to give her name out of fear for her safety.

“All my stuff is gone. There’s a different stereo, and it has a lot of body damage that it didn’t have before.”

“Standard,” Vigesaa murmurs.

By now, she says she’s purchased a new vehicle.

“It’s been hell because now I have car payments, which I didn’t have before,” the woman says. “I’m a single mom of two. I work 40 hours a week. I work my ass off to take care of my kids, and unfortunately Spokane’s drug problem has affected my life, which sucks.”

V

igesaa speaks in clipped sentences. His graying crew cut lends credibility to his frustrations arresting people — some with 20 and 30 felony convictions — only to watch as they’re released with “no accountability.”

He points to these examples:  Adam Rusho was arrested in January and charged with three counts of taking a motor vehicle. He was released from jail without a bond the day after his arrest.

“Is this a deterrent that will keep him from immediately going out and stealing more vehicles?” Vigesaa asks.

Rusho was initially caught stealing Hondas, Vigesaa says. Since the man’s release, “there have been eight stolen Hondas that I am aware of,” he says.  Richard Hoffman pleaded guilty last spring to eight charges including theft of a motor vehicle, trafficking stolen property and burglary.

His criminal history includes similar crimes — all nonviolent property and drug offenses — dating back to 1990.

In the most recent case, Hoffman stole a pickup truck and more than $100,000 worth of

equipment from his former employer. The 42-year-old was sentenced to 36 months in prison, where he’ll get drug treatment.

Hoffman’s earliest release date is November of 2020, according to the Washington State Department of Corrections, though that includes a sentence out of Whatcom County as well.

“I know the judicial door is a rotating door and people are in and out,” he says. “We arrest people with 10, 15, 20 felony convictions all the time. If we can take some of these vehicle thieves off the street for a few days, that’s a couple days they’re not victimizing citizens.”

“The older [cars], because they have worn out ignitions, criminals will use shaved keys, screwdrivers, knives...”

Since January 2017, the team of five officers under Vigesaa’s command have recommended 184 felony charges to prosecutors, 121 of those were for vehicle theft or possession of a motor vehicle.

His team also found 83 stolen vehicles with someone inside, “which may not sound like a lot to you, but some cops don’t ever recover five occupied stolens in their career,” Vigesaa says.

Indeed, SPD has been pretty successful finding stolen cars. In 2015, for example, officers found 1,593 out of the 1,746 vehicles reported stolen, according to numbers provided by the department. What’s more difficult is figuring out who actually stole the car.

That’s why the vehicle-theft team has began fingerprinting recovered vehicles “in the hopes of identifying suspects who are taking more than one or two vehicles within a certain area,” says Arleth, the SPD captain.

V

igesaa can’t help but look for stolen vehicles. It’s dark now, and raining on a Tuesday evening in Spokane. Vigesaa’s unmarked car creeps slowly over the damp pavement in the city’s northeast neighborhood. Many stolen vehicles end up on the north side of town, he says.

He parks out from under the glow of street lights, and opens his computer revealing the list of about 30 or so cars currently reported stolen in Spokane — lots of Hondas, Toyotas and Subarus.

He starts to flip through photos on his phone: One shows a pocket knife jammed into a car’s ignition, which was used to start it; another is of a metal rake tine that he pulled out of an ignition.

“The older [cars], because they have worn out ignitions, criminals will use shaved keys, screwdrivers, knives, kitchen forks, rake tines,” he says. “That’s a unique Spokane thing — metal rake tines. You name it, and I’ve pulled it out of ignitions.”

He turns back to the computer when something catches his eye in the rearview. A Honda Civic with a busted out back window scoots past his unmarked car and turns right. Vigesaa types the plate number into his computer and the results intrigue him.

He throws the car in gear and the V8 roars to life.

“That’s probably a ’93 Civic,” he says. “The plate belongs to a ’92 Ford.”

The Civic pulls into a gas station and Vigesaa follows close behind. The driver says he forgot his license at home. He tells the sergeant his name, birthdate and address.

“He’s lying to me,” Vigesaa says when he gets back to his car.

Turns out, the name matches someone with a Washington state license, but it’s not the guy sitting in the driver’s seat.

The car hasn’t been reported stolen, but the passenger said she recently bought it “from a well known criminal, who we know, who steals cars,” Vigesaa says.

Eventually, police find the man’s real name and arrest him for a warrant out of Idaho.

It seems obvious that lying will only delay the inevitable, that police will find out who the guy is, so why lie?

“He doesn’t want to go back to Idaho,” Vigesaa says. “Idaho is tough on crime, unlike Washington.” n mitchr@inlander.com

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Washington and U.S. Uninsured Rates: Total Population U.S.

WA

14.5% 11.7% 9.4%

14.0%

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5.4%

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2015

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WAIT AND SEE In the first three years of the Affordable Care Act, Washington’s UNINSURED rate dropped at a faster pace than the rest of the country, according to a study by the Washington State Office of Financial Management. Before the act, about 14 percent of Washingtonians didn’t have health insurance, but that dropped to a record low of 5.4 percent in 2016. By comparison, Idaho, which didn’t expand Medicaid, had an uninsured rate closer to 17 percent before ACA, and dropped to 13.5 percent by 2016. But because Washington’s rates changed more rapidly than the country as a whole, the state could also be impacted more than other places if the ACA is changed, as Congress did when it passed major tax reform, which included removing fines for people who don’t get insurance. (SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL)

GOT THEIR GUY Coeur d’Alene School Public Schools has finally found a permanent SUPERINTENDENT, the district announced Monday. Steven Cook, currently deputy superintendent for the Douglas County School District in Colorado, has been chosen by the board of trustees to lead the district. The five trustees narrowed the search to three candidates, choosing Cook over the district’s own Trina Caudle, director of secondary education, and Christopher Hines, from a school district in Houston, Texas. Cook will succeed Stan Olson, who is serving as interim superintendent this year. (WILSON CRISCIONE)

SUCKER PUNCH Rick Heinen made a simple request via Facebook: “Please Share: My wife walked into Rick’s Ringside tonight with a Valid ID and was told ‘this isn’t the immigration center’ by THE OWNER! Don’t support this bar!” The post from last Thursday has been shared more than 530 times and drew 135 comments, including from people who identified themselves as employees at RICK’S RINGSIDE PUB in the Garland District, who offered apologies for their boss. The owner, Rick, posted an apology to the bar’s Facebook page the following day, and offered to apologize to the woman, Lo Heinen, face-to-face. Mac and Jack’s Brewery chimed in, asking Rick “that you no longer serve our beer at your establishment.”

(MITCH RYALS)

We’re very involved in local charities and civic organizations.

Get to know us at myavista.com

16 INLANDER FEBRUARY 8, 2018

25 YEARS of...

HELD BACK After planning to expand and open a HIGH SCHOOL next school year, Spokane International Academy has delayed those plans and instead will focus on its expansion to a full K-8 school. Spokane International Academy, a charter school, had been seeking approval from Spokane Public Schools to offer ninth grade starting the 2018-19 school year. In 2015, it opened for just kindergarten, first and sixth grades, and it has grown since then as the students got older to maintain continuity. But the charter school ran into some obstacles in its high school goal, school founder Travis Franklin says.

Mainly, he says, they wanted to make sure they had a solid four-year plan for students in high school. “There’s a difference in running a K-8 program and a high school program,” Franklin says. (WILSON CRISCIONE)

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NEWS | BRIEFS

Bad Boys A new debate about local cops being featured on TV; plus, a “common sense” proposal to curb overdoses WHAT’CHA GONNA DO?

Police officers see people during what are arguably the lowest points in their lives — in the throes of domestic violence, mental illness, homelessness and drug addiction.

So should a person have control over whether those scenes are broadcast live across the country? And should a government be allowed to censor the reality of what its officers see every day?

Those are two major questions driving an ordinance recently proposed in the city of Spokane that would restrict how REALITY-BASED POLICE SHOWS interact with local law enforcement.

“To me it’s shocking that they don’t have to get people’s permission,” City Council President Ben Stuckart says of shows like COPS and Live PD. “I think it’s only fair that a company filming and making money off you should have to ask your permission.”

The ordinance would require any company that films police within Spokane city limits to get a business license with the city and purchase liability insurance. The ordinance would also require that the company get consent from those being filmed and agree to allow city officials to review footage before it’s broadcast. As written, the

February 16-25

ordinance applies to police working in the city’s limits, regardless of which agency the film crew is following.

Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich says the ordinance is an attempt to hide the realities of police work and questions how a city law could control crews embedded with his office.

“I’m confused about the censorship that Mr. Stuckart is trying to push onto the citizens,” Knezovich says. “It’s real. Nobody’s making that stuff up. It’s what the people are dealing with and what we’re dealing with.”

For the past two seasons, film crews with Live PD have embedded with Spokane County deputies, including those who work in the Spokane Valley. The show is among the highest rated on cable TV. Knezovich says the exposure has been a boon for recruiting efforts. The show also pays deputies’ overtime, if there is any, he says. Although the sheriff has decided to take a break this season, he expects film crews will resume with his office later this spring.

The Spokane Police Department has not been featured on Live PD, but the show COPS has filmed city officers in the past.

“We’re not banning them like some other communities have done,” Stuckart says of the ordinance. “Life is messy, but I think you have a right to say whether the worst day of your life is broadcast on TV or not.”

(MITCH RYALS)

TAKE HOME DRUGS

Last year, the Inlander spoke to Darin Neven, Sacred Heart emergency room doctor, for an investigation on how Spokane was tackling the OPIOID CRISIS. One of the things he mentioned was how doctors at Sacred Heart used to hand a drug called Narcan directly to overdose victims to let them take home. Narcan can save

2018

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Marcus Riccelli

lives, essentially reversing an opioid overdose.

But in 2015, a state Pharmacy Quality Assurance Commission rule banned hospitals from giving patients pre-packaged take-home medications. The legislature created an exception, but only for hospitals without access to 24-hour pharmacies.

But after the Inlander asked Rep. Marcus Riccelli about the issue, Riccelli started looking into it. It was a head-scratcher, he says. Nobody saw any reason not to create an exception for Narcan.

In an omnibus opioid bill, HB 2489, that passed out of a House committee last week, Riccelli added language that would allow ER doctors like Neven to once again hand patients Narcan packages to take home.

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“This is just one of those common sense deals that make sense,” Riccelli says. “This is an easy fix. Hopefully, it will save lives.”

The bill also includes a broad package of other reforms, including improving the state’s prescription monitoring program and rolling out a new model for opioid-assisted treatment programs. (DANIEL WALTERS)

‘A BIG STEP’

Last week, the Washington State Senate passed a bill that would require all health insurance plans that offer maternity care in the state to also cover abortions, and cover comprehensive contraception with no cost sharing.

Senate Bill 6219, which Democrats dubbed the REPRODUCTIVE PARITY ACT, passed 26 to 22 in the newly Democratically controlled chamber, with one Republican voting for it, one Democrat voting against it, and one Republican excused.

The move was applauded by progressives and women’s health organizations who said the bill, several years in the making, puts women’s health decisions in their own hands.

“This is a big step for Washington state,” says Paul Dillon, director of public affairs for Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho. “No woman’s pregnancy decision should be affected by their inability to pay for care.”

But conservatives said the bill infringes on the rights of people who don’t want to pay into an insurance pool that covers abortion.

“The underlying bill forces those of us who believe abortion takes a life to pay for people making that decision,” said Sen. Mike Baumgartner, R-Spokane, during floor debate of the bill.

Baumgartner introduced three amendments that would have prevented any health plans from covering abortions based on gender, Down syndrome or sexual orientation, but all failed.

The bill is now in the House, where it was scheduled for a hearing on Wednesday. (SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL)

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n one October night last fall, the newest members of the Alpha Kappa Lambda fraternity at Washington State University were allegedly told to line up in the “party room,” with their knees and noses touching the wall. The lights went dark. Pillowcases were put over their heads. Forty-ounce bottles of Hurricane malt liquor were tied to their hands.

Finish the bottles, the members were told, and they’d be let off the wall. It was a game they called “Edward Forty-Hands.”

The alleged incident described above is one of several allegations of hazing at the Alpha Kappa Lambda fraternity detailed in official records obtained by the Inlander. The investigation, by the university and the fraternity’s national headquarters, eventually led to the frat being shut down in December.

The discipline meted out to the fraternity mirrors actions taken across the nation following reports of hazing. With a string of deaths across the U.S., universities and Interfraternity Councils at colleges are taking new measures to prevent hazing and alcohol from putting more students at risk, says Hank Nuwer, a Franklin College professor who for decades has researched and documented hazing.

“This last year there’s been a shift in how things are done,” Nuwer says.

Yet even with more attention on the issue, changing the Greek culture has proven difficult.

The alleged hazing at Alpha Kappa Lambda occurred less than a year after WSU’s Panhellenic and Interfraternity councils announced in 2016 a “culture-changing” plan to cut down on sexual violence, drug and alcohol abuse. Still, according to notes from WSU investigators of the hazing at AKL, some members remain confused about what constitutes hazing.

“We didn’t think what we were doing was wrong,” an AKL member said.

‘THE PARTY ROOM’

WSU began in October to investigate several incidents that took place at Alpha Kappa Lambda starting near the beginning of the first semester.

Two new fraternity members had been hospitalized — one in August 2017 for alcohol poisoning, and one in October with a concussion. The investigative records also described how the fraternity would take the belongings of new members and force them against the wall to berate them, force them to do wall sits, or tape alcohol to their hands for them to drink.

Those initial allegations were all confirmed to be true, WSU Dean of Students Kathy MacKay says. In December, days before the fraternity was shuttered, members “admitted to everything,” she says. MacKay says what was concerning was that upperclassmen pressured new, underage members into drinking and they used physical

20 INLANDER FEBRUARY 8, 2018

restraints.

“This was clearly hazing,” MacKay tells the Inlander.

Hazing has gone on for centuries, says Nuwer, who has studied its history extensively. But combined with alcohol, it turns potentially lethal, he says. Nuwer has attempted to track every hazing death at universities since 1838. He found that since 1961, there’s been at least one death per year. And when alcohol increasingly became part of fraternity culture, starting in the 1980s, deaths similarly went up. The decade kicked off with seven hazing deaths in 1980, and an average of 2.6 deaths each year. In the ’90s, the rate increased slightly to 2.7 deaths per year, before increasing to 3.7 per year in the 2000s. So far this decade there’s been an average of nearly 5 deaths per year, according to Nuwer’s research.

Alpha Kappa Lambda But in 2017, something changed. Nuwer says it started with the death of Tim Piazza, a Beta Theta Pi pledge at Penn State University who was forced to drink too much alcohol in a hazing ritual. After he fell down the stairs, fraternity members put him on the couch, where he fell and hit his head multiple times and received a brain injury. His brothers waited nearly 12 hours before calling for medical aid, and Piazza died.

The media coverage of the grisly death, Nuwer says, brought more attention to the issue.

Then in mid-September, an 18-year-old pledge at Louisiana State University named Maxwell Gruver died in an alleged fraternity hazing incident.

“Those two incidents put fear into universities,” Nuwer says.

Likewise, the two new AKL members taken to the Pullman Regional Hospital caused WSU concern, MacKay says. Investigative notes reveal that on Aug. 20, the last night of Rush Week — when fraternities recruit students — one

upperclassman at AKL heard about a new member who was sick. The upperclassman walked into the bathroom, according to the upperclassman’s account of the incident, and found the new member “flopping” around, “vomiting and throwing his upper body around while staying seated.”

The upperclassman took him to the hospital, and the new member was released by early the next morning. (In the records provided to the Inlander, in response to a public records request, names of students were redacted.)

In early October, days before WSU launched their investigation of hazing, a new fraternity member fell out of his bed after drinking and got a concussion, MacKay says. He was taken to the hospital.

Incidents alleged to be hazing took place in what the frat called the “party room.” There, records say, new members were forced to finish bottles of beer. When they did “Edward FortyHands,” one new member reported that his hand was taped to another member’s hand with a bottle in between. Each person had another bottle taped to his free hand. They were told to finish all three bottles between the two of them.

At least once, the upperclassmen dumped out bean bags and made the new members clean all of it up while taped to another person. In another incident, a new member had his finger burned by an upperclassman’s lighter used to illuminate the dark party room, according to records.

Yet upperclassmen interviewed said that these types of things happened when they were pledges, too. And, at first, they told the school it was character building. One member said it was “not meant with malicious intent,” and instead was supposed to be about teaching accountability. He said the “definition of hazing has become muddy.”

But Jeremy Slivinski, CEO of the fraternity at its headquarters, told the members at WSU that the incidents were “abusive and a demonstration as to why fraternities are viewed poorly in this day and age. Brothers don’t hurt each other to prove or receive a demonstration of loyalty.”

The individual students involved are facing charges through the university’s student-conduct process that could result in discipline, MacKay says.

“We take this stuff really seriously,” MacKay says. “Protecting the health and safety of our students is critical.”

NO CHOICE?

To prevent future hazing incidents, Nuwer says there needs to be a change in culture. Fraternities are founded on principles of camaraderie and loyalty to one another. When they get in trouble, they tend to cover for one another.

“There’s a lot of self-delusion after the incident,” Nuwer says.

Fraternity members don’t know when they’re hazed, he says, because often they can’t identify hazing behaviors. And when they try to reform the system, they often get pressure from alumni.

Tyler O’Brien, a WSU student and president of the Interfraternity Council, says he’s aware of and supports the movement across campuses to curb hazing. The IFC is working on new education materials that will prevent hazing at all of WSU’s LETTERS fraternities.

Send comments to He admits turning around editor@inlander.com. the culture will be a “constant battle.” In his view, the challenge is less on educating about what hazing is, and more about why it’s wrong.

When asked about the alleged hazing at AKL, he says, “everyone knows that’s hazing.”

Nuwer’s prediction for how the issue could be solved, and lives saved, is a bit more involved than education and prevention efforts. He hopes someone besides him, ideally the government, would start tracking hazing deaths. He wants to shorten Rush Week. Mainly, though, he predicts more and more fraternity houses going dry by banning alcohol.

“I think they have no other choice,” Nuwer says. n wilsonc@inlander.com

FEBRUARY 8, 2018 INLANDER 21

NEWS | CRIMINAL JUSTICE

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y the time Puyallup tribal member Carolyn DeFord told police her mom was missing, she’d already spent days making sure it wasn’t just a miscommunication when she hadn’t shown up to a friend’s home after grocery shopping in La Grande, Oregon.

At first she thought of excuses — her car broke down, her pager died — but then DeFord learned her mom, who took pride in her work, hadn’t shown up, and her dog had been locked in her house.

“That was a key piece for me that, OK, I needed to be worried,” DeFord says, “’cause my mom didn’t go anywhere without the dog.”

So DeFord, living six hours away in Olympia, was certain something was wrong when she made the call. But initially, she says, the police spoke down to her. She had to argue to actually make a report.

“My mom fell into all these stereotypes that Native women fall into: addiction, victim of domestic violence, all those things that discredit their search,” DeFord says. “She’s a victim, and we victim blame.”

More than 18 years later, Leona LeClair Kinsey is still missing.

Now, DeFord is one of many Native American women who are building on the momentum of #MeToo and #TimesUp by calling on people to recognize missing and murdered indigenous women throughout the U.S. and Canada (using #MMIW) and demanding action to help a population that faces among the highest rates of violence, rape and murder.

They’re calling attention to women whose cases have gone cold, and asking why cases aren’t investigated more when someone is found murdered, says Monique Bourgeau, a member of the Colville Confederated Tribes.

“My mom, she said all my life, ‘I tell you girls, you watch where you’re going, you watch what you’re doing, you watch who comes around you,’ because she knows that when an Indian woman goes missing, nothing ever happens,” Bourgeau says.

And their stories largely go unshared.

But after marching in the Seattle and Spokane women’s marches, wearing red to remember the blood spilled by their sisters, mothers, daughters and elders, the women have called for an accounting in Olympia, and at least one bill could address one of the main barriers to resolving these cases: No one seems to know exactly how many are missing.

HOW MANY ARE GONE

American Indian women are more than twice as likely to face sexual-assault crimes as any other ethnic group, with one in three reporting being raped at some point, according to the Department of Justice. They and American Indian men are also far more likely than other groups to have experienced physical assault, and those who are subject to violence are more likely to go missing or be murdered.

To at least get a sense of how large the issue is, Washington State Rep. Gina McCabe, RGoldendale, threw together House Bill 2951 in just days, with guidance from women from tribes around the state. The place to start is by bringing the federal, state and federally recognized sovereign tribal governments together to ensure that everyone who goes missing is reported and listed in a central location, McCabe says.

“There seems like there’s this disconnect between local police and county police and tribal police and the FBI,” McCabe says. “My goal is to get everyone at the table.”

The bill tasks the Washington State Patrol with creating a list of missing Native American women in the state by June 2019, by working with tribal and non-tribal police agencies around the state.

Leona LeClair Kinsey It also asks they help identify barriers and recommend fixes. The bill passed through the House Committee on Community Development, Housing and Tribal Affairs on Feb. 1, just hitting the deadline to get to the next committee. It’ll take a few more moves to get it to the floor for a vote, and then it has to go to the Senate.

“I have to keep it alive for three or four weeks, and then hopefully it will go fast in the Senate, and hopefully people will testify, because I don’t think people know about this problem,” McCabe says, noting that the bill can still be adjusted if changes are needed. “I think we can lead the country in making sure this isn’t a problem anywhere else.”

DIFFERENT SYSTEMS

Adding to confusion about exactly how many people of any group are missing is the fact that there are several databases where someone may be listed. For example, Washington State Patrol maintains a public webpage with pictures and posters for missing people, but it only features a few dozen names.

“That is not all-inclusive of all missing persons in Washington,” explains Carri Gordon, manager of WSP’s missing and unidentified persons unit. “You can be entered into the FBI or state’s list as a missing person and never be entered on our website. Those photos on our WSP website are only posted at the request of family members or law enforcement.”

Another group maintains the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, but that doesn’t include every missing person in the country either.

The most comprehensive list is the National Criminal Information Center, or NCIC. Every police or law enforcement agency that wants

to can enter information into the database and check it to see if someone is listed as missing anywhere around the country. The cases it contains may be hours, weeks, or decades old.

But not every tribal police agency has access. Of the 29 federally-recognized tribes in Washington state, about 20 are listed as having access to NCIC, Gordon says.

While American Indian/Alaska Natives make up about 1.9 percent of the state’s 7.4 million people, they account for a disproportionate 5.5 percent of the roughly 1,800 Washington people listed as missing. Gordon notes that unless the ethnicity is entered by a family member, it’s never totally accurate, which means that figure could be higher or lower.

Among reports to NCIC by a handful of local law enforcement agencies, including the Spokane and Colville tribal police departments, there are at least 21 missing people listed as Native American in northeast Washington. The earliest case listed in a report Gordon pulled for the Inlander on Monday, Feb. 5, dates back to 1988. The most recent was entered on Sunday.

Aside from issues making sure law enforcement agencies are reporting to the same system, there is also an issue with people thinking there is a mandatory waiting period before they can make a report, Gordon says.

“Local law enforcement in the past have had that policy that they’ve had to be gone for 24 hours,” she says, “but in my experience at national conferences, that whole mindset is slowly starting to go away.”

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Niki Zacherle says now is the time for tribal communities to stand up and speak out against violence.” YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

CARRYING THE TORCH

While lawmakers consider changes at the law enforcement level, activists continue to push the issue at the local and potentially national level.

Niki Zacherle, a member of the Confederated Colville Tribes, is helping MAC (Music, Art, Creativity) Movement founders Drea Rose, a member of the Spokane Tribe, and Crystle Burgett, as they raise money to help shelter people walking across the country to Washington, D.C., as they draw attention to violence and drug abuse in Indian Country. They’ll start the “Longest Walk” Feb. 16 in Blaine, Washington, and make stops in Eastern Washington on their way to the capitol.

“So many people don’t understand that we do still struggle with colonization and domestic violence, and it’s a topic that nobody wants to talk about,” Zacherle says.

Standing outside the Spokane Tribal Gathering Place Monday evening, where MAC serves weekly meals and encourages the less fortunate to voice their concerns at city council meetings, the women are surrounded by dozens of red handprints painted on the sidewalk.

Their modern artwork calls on those walking by to recognize the missing and murdered, and remember their blood lost, as they enter City Hall. Joining them to speak to the city council are the members of Power 2 the Poetry, who sing and perform spoken word both in and outside council chambers, calling attention to violence and disparity faced by the black community, and standing in solidarity with the Native women.

“We are shoved under the rug by corruption even in our own homelands,” Zacherle tells the council. “I’m here to say we will not be silent anymore. We will not be shoved under the rug anymore.” n samanthaw@inlander.com

FEBRUARY 8, 2018 INLANDER 23 ProvidenceHealthcareFoundation_KidsatHeartLuncheon_020818_6H_WT.pdf

24 INLANDER FEBRUARY 8, 2018

feed frenzy

For years, media outlets desperately chased the clicks promised by Facebook; now the social media giant threatens to destroy them INLANDER SPECIAL REPORT BY DANIEL WALTERS ILLUSTRATIONS BY JEFF DREW

A

s with any toxic relationship, the possibility of a breakup sparks feelings of terror — and maybe a little bit of a relief.

That’s the spot that Facebook has put the news business in. Last month, the social media behemoth announced it would once again alter its News Feed algorithm to show users even more posts from their friends and family, and a lot fewer from media outlets.

The move isn’t all that surprising. Ever since the 2016 election, Facebook’s been under siege for creating a habitat where fake news stories flourished. Their executives were dragged before Congress last year to testify about how they sold ads to Russians who wanted to influence the U.S. election, and so, in some ways, it’s simply easier to get out of the news business altogether.

But for the many news outlets that have come to rely on Facebook funneling readers to their sites, the impact of a separation sounds catastrophic.

“The End of the Social News Era?” a New York Times headline asked. “Facebook is breaking up with news,” an ad for the new BuzzFeed app proclaimed.

When a giant like Facebook takes a step — until recently, the social media site had been sending more traffic to news outlets than Google — the resulting quake can cause an entire industry to crumble.

Consumers, meanwhile, have grimaced as their favorite media outlets have stooped to sensational headlines to lure Facebook’s web traffic. They’ve become disillusioned by the flood of hoaxes and conspiracy theories that have run rampant on the site.

A Knight Foundation/Gallup poll released last month revealed that only a third of Americans had a positive view of the media. About 57 percent said that websites or apps using algorithms to determine which news stories readers see was a major problem for democracy.

Two-thirds believed the media being “dramatic or too sensational in order to attract more readers or viewers” was a major problem.

“[Web] traffic is such a drug right now. The industry is hurting so bad that it’s really hard to detox.”

Now, sites that rely on Facebook’s algorithm have watched the floor drop out from under them when the algorithm is changed — all while Facebook has gobbled up chunks of print advertising revenue.

It’s all landed media outlets in a hell of a quandary: It sure seems like Facebook is killing journalism. But can journalism survive without it?

“Traffic is such a drug right now,” says Sean Robinson, a 53-year-old investigative reporter at the Tacoma News Tribune. “The industry is hurting so bad that it’s really hard to detox.”

YOU WON’T BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

It’s perhaps the perfect summation of the internet age: a website that started because a college kid wanted to rank which co-eds were hotter became a global goliath powerful enough to influence the fate of the news industry itself.

When Facebook first launched its “News Feed” in 2006, it ironically didn’t have anything to do with news.

At least, not how we think of it. This was the website that still posted a little broken-heart icon when you changed your status from “In a Relationship” to “Single.”

The News Feed was intended to be a list of personal-

ized updates from your friends. When Facebook was talking about “news stories,” it meant, in the words of Facebook’s announcement, like “when Mark adds Britney Spears to his Favorites or when your crush is single again.”

But in 2009, Facebook introduced its iconic “like” button. Soon, instead of showing posts in chronological order, the News Feed began showing you the popular posts first.

And that made all the difference.

Facebook didn’t invent going viral — grandmas with AOL accounts were forwarding funny emails and chain letters when Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was still in grade school — but its algorithm amplified it. Wellliked posts soared. Unpopular posts simply went unseen.

Google had an algorithm too. So did YouTube.

Journalists were given a new directive: If you wanted readers to see your stories, you had to play by the algorithm’s rules. Faceless, mystery formulas had replaced the stodgy newspaper editor as the gatekeeper of information.

So when the McClatchy Company — a chain that owns 31 daily papers including the Tacoma News Tribune and the Bellingham Herald — launched its reinvention strategy last year, knowing how to get Facebook traffic was central.

“Facebook has allowed us to get our journalism out to hundreds of millions more people than it would have otherwise,” says McClatchy’s Vice President of News Tim Grieve, a fast-talking former Politico editor. “It has forced us, and all publishers, to sharpen our game to make sure we’re writing stories that connect with people.”

With digital ad rates tied to web traffic, the incentives in the modern media landscape could be especially ...continued on next page

FEBRUARY 8, 2018 INLANDER 25

media “FEED FRENZY,” CONTINUED... perverse: Write short, write lots. Pluck heartstrings or stoke fury.

In short, be more like Upworthy. A site filled with multi-sentence emotion-baiting headlines, Upworthy begged you to click by promising that you would be shocked, outraged or inspired — but not telling you why.

(One example: “His first 4 sentences are interesting. The 5th blew my mind. And made me a little sick.”)

By November of 2013, Upworthy was pulling in 88 million unique visitors a month. With Facebook’s help, the formula spread.

The McClatchy-owned Bellingham Herald headlined a short crime story about the arrest of a carjacker this way: “Four people, two cars, one gun. What happens next?”

A short Herald story asking for tips about a recent spree of indecent exposure was headlined, “She was looking at her phone, but the man wanted her to watch him masturbate.”

Even magazines like Time and Newsweek — storied publications that sent photojournalists to war zones — began pumping out articles like, “Does Reese Witherspoon Have 3 Legs on Vanity Fair’s Cover?” and “Trump’s Hair Loss Drug Causes Erectile Dysfunction.”

Newsweek’s publisher went beyond clickbait; the magazine was actually buying traffic through pirated video sites, allegedly engaging in ad fraud.

On Monday this week, Newsweek senior writer Matthew Cooper resigned in disgust after several Newsweek editors and reporters who’d written about the publisher’s series of scandals were fired. He heaped contempt on an organization that had installed editors who “recklessly sought clicks at the expense of accuracy, retweets over fairness” and left him “despondent not only for Newsweek

but for the other publications that don’t heed the lessons of this publication’s fall.”

Mathew Ingram, who covers digital media for Columbia Journalism Review, says such tactics might increase traffic for a while. But readers hate it. Sleazy tabloid shortcuts gives you a sleazy tabloid reputation.

“Short-term you can make a certain amount of money,” Ingram says. “Long-term you’re basically setting fire to your brand.”

One strategy throughout the industry is to downplay the location of a story: readers in other markets are more likely to click if they don’t know it happened thousands of miles away.

Robinson, the veteran Tacoma News Tribune reporter, says local cops have complained about crime stories from elsewhere that were being shared on Facebook by local TV stations without context — worrying local readers were being misled into thinking they happened in Tacoma.

Grieve, the McClatchy executive, says that he doesn’t ever want to sensationalize a story. But he also says that “internet and social media are noisy places,” and papers have to sell their stories aggressively to be heard over the din.

“If you’re writing stories that aren’t getting read,” Grieve says, “you’re not a journalist — you’re keeping a journal.”

quickly got a nasty surprise: That foundation can collapse in an instant.

As Facebook’s News Feed became choked with links to Upworthy and its horde of imitators, the social network declared war on clickbait. It tweaked its algorithms, which proved catastrophic for Upworthy.

“You pretty much have to do something with Facebook. You have to. It’s like gravity. You can’t avoid it.”

CLICKBAIT AND SWITCH

Plenty of media outlets have tried to build their business on the foundation of the News Feed algorithm. But they

“There is no other place like this in Spokane.”

“It keeps changing,” Ingram says, “Even if the algorithm was bad in some way, at least if it’s predictable, you could adapt.”

A 2014 Time magazine story estimated that two to three global algorithm tweaks on Facebook were happening every week.

Six years ago, for example, KHQ, a TV news station in Spokane, told readers they’d have “an ENTIRE day here on FB dedicated to positive local news” if the post got liked 500 times. It worked. The post got more than 1,200 likes, and KHQ followed through a with a puppy-picture-laden “Feel Good Friday!!!”

Under the current Facebook algorithm that tactic could get their entire page demoted. So could using

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shameless “you-won’t-believe-what-happened-next” style phrases.

Much of the time, Facebook and Google don’t announce their shifts up front. Media outlets often have had to reverse-engineer the changes, before issuing new commands to their troops in the field.

“Oh, they changed their algorithm again?” Robinson says.

“Oh, what is it today, coach? OK, it’s 50-word [headlines] instead of 60?”

A pattern emerged. Step 1: Media outlets reinvent themselves for Facebook. Step 2: Facebook makes that reinvention obsolete.

Big publishers leaped at the chance to publish “Instant Articles” directly on Facebook, only to find that the algorithm soon charged, rewarding videos more than posts and rendering Instant Articles largely obsolete. So publishers like Mic.com, Mashable and Vice News “pivoted to video,” laying off dozens of journalists in the process.

“Then Facebook said they weren’t as interested in video anymore,” Ingram says. “Classic bait and switch.”

Which brings us to the latest string of announcements: The News Feed, Zuckerberg announced last month, had skewed too far in the direction of social video posts from national media pages and too far away from personal posts from friends and family.

They were getting back to their roots.

And now, news organizations who’d dumped a lot of money into eye-catching pre-recorded video would suffer the most under the latest algorithm changes, Facebook’s News Feed VP Adam Mosseri told TechCrunch last month, because “video is such a passive experience.”

Even before the announcement, news sites had seen their articles get fewer and fewer hits from Facebook. Last year, Google once again became the biggest referrer of news traffic as Facebook referrals decreased. Many sites published tutorials pleading with their readers to manually change their Facebook settings to guarantee the site’s appearance in their news feeds.

“Some media outlets saw their [Facebook] traffic decline by as

much as 30 to 40 percent,” Ingram says. “Everybody knew something was happening, but we didn’t know what.”

It might be easy to mock those who chased the algorithm from one trend to another with little to show for it. But the reality, Ingram says, is that many of them didn’t really have a choice.

“You pretty much have to do something with Facebook,” Ingram says. “You have to. It’s like gravity. You can’t avoid it.”

Zuckerberg’s comments that stories that sparked “meaningful social interactions” would do the best on Facebook caused some to scoff.

“For Facebook, it’s bad if you read or watch content without reacting to it on Facebook. Let that sink in for a moment,” tech journalist Joshua Topolsky wrote at The Outline. “This notion is so corrupt it’s almost comical.”

In subsequent announcements, Facebook gave nervous local news outlets some better news: They’d rank local community news outlets higher in the feed than national ones. They were also launching an experiment for a new section called “Today In,” focusing on local news and announcements, beta-testing the concept in cities like Olympia.

But in early tests, the site seemed to have trouble determining what’s local.

Seattle Times’ reporter Joe O’Sullivan noted on Twitter that of the five stories featured in a screenshot of Facebook’s Olympia test, “NONE OF THEM ARE OLYMPIA STORIES. ZERO.” The Seattle Times and other outlets say they’re taking a “waitand-see” approach to the latest algorithm, analyzing how the impact shakes out before making changes. They’ve learned to not get excited.

“It just, more and more, seems like Facebook and news are not super compatible,” says Shan Wang, staff writer at Harvard University’s Nieman Journalism Lab. At least not for real news. For fake news, Facebook’s been a perfect match. ...continued on next page

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Daniel Walters, born and raised in Spokane, has been writing for the Inlander since 2008. In that time, he’s conducted investigations into investor fraud, online bullying and how social media has inflamed division on college campuses.

He’s also written essays about how millennials are desperate to be liked, how Facebook’s “On This Day” feature plagues users with unwanted memories and about how Twitter has made him a worse writer.

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media “FEED FRENZY,” CONTINUED...

FAKING IT

There was a time Facebook was positively smug about their impact on the world. After all, they’d seen their platform fan the flames of popular uprisings during the Arab Spring in places like Tunisia, Iran and Egypt.

“By giving people the power to share, we are starting to see people make their voices heard on a different scale from what has historically been possible,” Zuckerberg bragged in a 2012 letter to investors under the header, “we hope to change how people relate to their governments and social institutions.”

And Facebook certainly has — though not the way it intended.

A BuzzFeed investigation before the 2016 presidential election found that “fake news” stories on Facebook, hoaxes or hyperpartisan falsehoods actually performed better on Facebook than stories from major trusted outlets like the New York Times.

That, experts speculated, is another reason why Facebook, despite its massive profits, might be pulling back from its focus on news.

“As unprecedented numbers of people channel their political energy through this medium, it’s being used in unforeseen ways with societal repercussions that were never anticipated,” writes Samidh Chakrabarti, Facebook’s product manager for civic engagement, in a recent blog post.

The exposure was widespread. A Dartmouth study found about a fourth of Americans visited at least one fakenews website — and Facebook was the primary vector of misinformation. While researchers didn’t find fake news swung the election — though about 80,000 votes in three states is a pretty small margin to swing — the effect has endured.

Donald Trump has played a role. He snatched away the term used to describe hoax websites and wielded it as a blunderbuss against the press, blasting away at any negative reporting as “fake news.”

By last May, a Harvard-Harris poll found that almost two-thirds of voters believed that mainstream news outlets were full of fake news stories.

The danger of fake news, after all, wasn’t just that we’d be tricked with bogus claims. It was that we’d be pummeled with so many different contradictory stories, with so many different angles, the task of trying to sort truth from fiction just becomes exhausting.

So you choose your own truth. Or Facebook’s algorithm chooses it for you.

Every time you like a comment, chat or click on Facebook, the site uses that to figure out what you actually want to see: It inflates your own bubble, protecting you from facts or opinions you might disagree with.

And when it does expose you to views from the other side, it’s most likely going to be the worst examples, the trolls eager to make people mad online, or the infuriating op-ed that all your friends are sharing.

That’s partly why many of the 3,000 Facebook ads that Russian trolls bought to influence the election weren’t aimed at promoting Trump directly. They were aimed at inflaming division in American life by focusing on such issues as race and religion.

Facebook has tried to address the fake news problem — hiring fact checkers to examine stories, slapping “disputed” tags on suspect claims, putting counterpoints in related article boxes — but with mixed results.

The recent Knight Foundation/Gallup poll, meanwhile, found that those surveyed believed that the broader array of news sources actually made it harder to stay well-informed.

And those who grew up soaking in the brine of social media aren’t necessarily better at sorting truth from fiction.

Far from it.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has become the target of intense criticism.

“Overall, young people’s ability to reason about the information on the internet can be summed up in one word: bleak,” Stanford researchers concluded in a 2016 study of over 7,800 students. More than 80 percent of middle schoolers surveyed didn’t know the difference between sponsored content and a news article.

It’s why like groups like Media Literacy Now have successfully pushed legislatures in states like Washington to put media literacy programs in schools.

“Even if it doesn’t result in any sales and foot traffic, it at least has this report.”

28 INLANDER FEBRUARY 8, 2018

That includes teaching students how information was being manipulated behind the scenes, says the organization’s president Erin McNeill.

“With Facebook, for example, why am I seeing this story on the top of the page?” she asks. “Is it because it’s the most important story, or is it because of another reason?”

But Facebook’s new algorithm threatens to make existing fake news problems even worse, Ingram says. By focusing on friends and family, it could strengthen the filter bubble even further. Rewarding “engagement” can just as easily incentivize the worst aspects of the internet.

You know what’s really good at getting engagement?

Hoaxes. Conspiracy theories. Idiots who start fights in comments sections. Nuance doesn’t get engagement. Outrage does.

“Meaningful social interactions” is a hard concept for algorithms to grasp.

“It’s like getting algorithms to filter out porn,” Ingram says. “You and I know it when we see it. [But] algorithms are constantly filtering out photos of women breastfeeding.”

Facebook hasn’t wanted to push beyond the algorithm and play the censor. In fact, it’s gone in the opposite direction. After

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STAY CONNECTED WITH THE INLANDER  Of course, pick up a copy of the paper every week. It’s distributed in 1,200 locations around the region. For years, the Inlander has enjoyed the highest market penetration of any urban weekly in America.  Visit our website, Inlander.com. We’re producing tons of original online-only content and maintain vast databases of events, restaurants, bars and happy hours. From your phone, you’ll be automatically directed to our mobile-optimized site (found at m.inlander.com), and we recommend you bookmark it or click “add to home screen,” which makes an easy-to-find shortcut to the site. It creates an icon, like one of your apps, that links you directly to our mobile website.  Subscribe to our weekly email newsletters, which go directly to your inbox. Currently, we produce Entrée, our food-centric email, and Weekend Countdown, highlighting the weekend’s big events.  Pick up our sister publications. In addition to the Inlander, we publish the Health & Home six times a year; Annual Manual, the insider’s guide to the region, once a year; and Green Zone Quarterly, covering cannabis, four times a year. We also print two specialty guides: The Menu and Shop Local.  Follow us on social media. We’re regularly sharing content on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Go directly to our account pages to make sure you don't miss anything.  Check out one of the Inlander-organized events.

Aside from its journalism, the paper has over the years identified gaps and created essential community events to fill them, launching Spokane’s only multi-venue music festival (Volume) and the region’s annual Inlander Restaurant Week (which starts later this month).

— JACOB H. FRIES, Editor

Facebook was accused of suppressing conservative news sites in its Trending Topics section in 2016, it fired its human editors. (Today, conspiracy theories continue to show up in Facebook’s Trending Topics.)

Instead, to determine the quality of news sites, Facebook is rolling out a two-question survey about whether users recognized certain media outlets, and whether they found them trustworthy. The problem, as many tech writers pointed out, is that a lot of Facebook users, like Trump, consider the Washington Post and the New York Times to be “fake news.”

The other problem? There are a lot fewer trustworthy news sources out there. And Facebook bears some of the blame for that, too.

FEAST AND FAMINE

It’s not fair, exactly, to say that Facebook killed the alt-weekly in Knoxville, Tennessee. But it probably landed the final blow.

The internet, obviously, has been killing newspapers for a very long time. Why, say, would you pay a monthly subscription to the Daily Cow, when you can get the milk online for free?

It killed other revenue sources as well.

Craigslist cut out classified sections. Online dating killed personal ads. Amazon put many local mom-and-pop advertisers out of business.

Yet the Metro Pulse, Knoxville’s longtime altweekly, was still turning a slight profit in 2014 when the E.W. Scripps Company shut it down.

So editor Coury Turczyn and a few other staffers set out to start their own paper.

But in the six months it took to get the Knoxville Mercury off the ground, the market had changed.

“We lost a lot more small-business advertisers than we expected,” Turczyn says. Facebook had captured them.

At one time, alt-weeklies could rake in advertising money by selling cheaper rates and guaranteeing advertisers to hit a younger, hipper, edgier audience. But then Facebook came along.

The site let businesses micro-target their advertisements at incredibly specific audiences.

Like Google, Facebook tracks you across the web, digging deep into your private messages to figure out whether to sell you wedding dresses, running shoes or baby formula.

“You go to Facebook, you can try to pick your audience based on their geographic location, their interests,” Turczyn says. It’s cheaper.

It’s easier. And it comes with a report chock-full of stats on who the ad reached.

“Even if it doesn’t result in any sales and foot traffic, it at least has this report,” Turczyn says.

Mercury ad reps would cite examples of businesses who advertised in print and saw their foot traffic double the next day — but the small businesses wouldn’t bite. Attempts to rally reader donations weren’t enough. The Mercury shut down in July.

“It’s just more of the same sad story,” Turczyn says. “It’s a slaughter, there’s no doubt about it.”

Turczyn says two decades of journalism experience hasn’t helped much with the job search.

Journalists aren’t what outlets are looking for.

“The single biggest job opening I see consistently is social media manager. Or ‘digital brand manager,’” Turczyn says. “Those are the jobs on

the marketplace right now.’

It’s not that nobody’s making massive amounts of money on advertising online. It’s just that only two are: Facebook and Google — and they’re both destroying print advertising.

The decline in print advertising has ravaged the world of alt-weeklies, killing icons like the Boston Phoenix, the San Francisco Bay Guardian, the Philadelphia City Paper and the Baltimore City Paper.

Dailies keep suffering, too, no matter how prestigious or internet-savvy.

The West Virginia Gazette-Mail won a Pulitzer Prize last year for reporting on the opioid crisis.

It filed for bankruptcy last month. Eleven staffers were cut from the Oregonian on Jan. 31, the same day Silicon Valley’s San Jose Mercury News slashed staff.

McClatchy’s made a lot of cuts in the last year, too, though Grieve declined to say exactly how many positions have been eliminated. He, for one, doesn’t blame Facebook.

“Our newsrooms are smaller than they once were, but because we’re so focused on serving the needs of our communities, we’re actually reaching more readers than we ever have before,” Grieve writes in an email.

Yet the convergence of layoffs with the pressure to get web traffic, Robinson says, has influenced coverage. When potential traffic numbers are an explicit factor in story selection and you’re short-staffed, you have to make choices. Stories about schools don’t get many clicks. Weird crime stories do.

But as a long-time reporter, Robinson knows that bombshell scoops can sometimes begin with mundane reporting. Fail to report on the dull stuff, and you don’t know what else you’re missing.

“The media companies want the traffic, the traffic, the traffic,” Robinson says. “The stuff [readers] need to know — but don’t know they need to know — disappears.”

Asked if there’s any reason for optimism, Ingram, at the Columbia Journalism Review, lets out a wry laugh.

If you’re not a behemoth like BuzzFeed, he says, your best bet is to be small enough to be supported by die-hard readers.

“If you’re really, really hyper-focused — geographically or on a topic — then you have a chance,” Ingram says. “Your readership will be passionate enough to support you in some way.”

That’s one reason some actually welcome the prospect of less Facebook traffic. Slate’s Will Oremus recently wrote that less news on Facebook would eventually cleanse news of “the toxic incentives of the algorithm on journalism.”

Maybe, the thinking goes, without a reliance on Facebook clicks, newspapers would once again be able to build trust with their readers.

Maybe, the hope goes, readers would start seeking out newspapers directly again.

But even if Facebook suddenly ceased to exist, there are other sites with other algorithms that can drive traffic and shape coverage. As traffic referred by Facebook falls, the focus at McClatchy is already shifting. You can optimize your news coverage to appear high in the Facebook News Feed — but you can also optimize it to appear higher in the Google search results.

“We’re all about Google, again,” Robinson says. “Google, Google, Google.” n danielw@inlander.com

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OPEN TUE-SAT 12PM-7PM • 208-301-5125 • ColtersCreek.com

FEBRUARY 8, 2018 INLANDER 29

Elegant

IS ON THE MENU What are you having?

FEBRUARY 22 - MARCH 3

Menus now available online Pick up the Event Guide in the February 22nd Inlander •

InlanderRestaurantWeek.com

#InlanderRW

Benefiting

30 INLANDER FEBRUARY 8, 2018

ANIMAL INSTINCTS Spokane poet Ellen Welcker is launching her new poetry collection with a collaborative “feral opera”

BY CHEY SCOTT

F

erociously untamed and femininely evocative, the fairytaleinspired voices of Spokane poet Ellen Welcker’s forthcoming collection The Pink Tablet are coming to life for an unusual collaborative performance.

A group of more than a dozen local artists are lending their talents to the staged production, a multimedia feast for the senses combining dance, song, spoken word, music and visual stage effects. Welcker calls the experimental mash-up a “feral opera.”

A “casual, visual circus” is another appropriate way to describe The Pink Tablet’s translation from page to stage, according to performance producer Rebecca Chadwell, an interdisciplinary artist who began helping Welcker after a brainstorming session over coffee several months ago.

Rather than a traditional poetry reading behind a mic, Welcker thought a live performance could better translate the collection’s theme, and would better align line with how she’s always heard the poems recited in her head. Thus, The Pink Tablet evolved into a col-

laboratively wild experience involving numerous other local creatives who are translating Welcker’s poetry into their chosen forms of expression.

“The whole experience of collaborating with everyone mirrored my experience writing the poems,” Welcker reflects. “It feels like a total wilderness. Sometimes we’re fumbling around and reaching for each other, sometimes we find each other and sometimes we don’t.

It was a lot of that feeling of wildness and ferality that was captivating to me as I was writing the poems, and that was mirrored in the process of collaborating.”

W

elcker’s main work beyond writing poetry and contributing to the local artistic scene involves coordinating a national lecture series with other professional poets. She wrote the contents of The Pink Tablet some years ago, and the collection is named for the pink-hued writing tablet in which she first ...continued on next page

Local dancer Elise Divens choreographed her own interpretation of Spokane poet Ellen Welcker’s work for The Pink Tablet Project: A Performance. YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

FEBRUARY 8, 2018 INLANDER 31

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

“ANIMAL INSTINCTS,” CONTINUED... composed the poems.

“The name stuck because, to me, it’s evocative of femaleness and something being wrong; something being wrong that you take medicine for, or something like that,” she says. “It held that meaning for me a little bit because the poems are reminiscent of fairy tales, in that they follow these two children who are girls and, like fairy tales of the past, they aren’t really helped by the adults in their life. They are left to their own wits to survive, and the way they do that is by morphing into wolves.”

The expression of these literary and social themes in Welcker’s poetry, and subsequently in the performance itself, is often indirect and may even be difficult for viewers to interpret.

“If someone has a hard time talking about it, that creates ambiguity and that is powerful, and we need more of that,”

32 INLANDER FEBRUARY 8, 2018

Chadwell explains. “The challenge is taking the unknown and putting it into a physical form that people can relate to… As I get more and more into the arts and develop my own aesthetic, caring about if people understand it is less and less, but offering a genuine experience outside what they would in their daily life is valuable.”

T

hat indecipherability on behalf of the reader or audience is partly inherent of the work itself. Each of the performance’s contributors reworked their individual translations of Welcker’s work in ultimately unique ways, as influenced by their own life experiences, skills and beliefs.

Artists contributing to the performance include classically trained opera singer Madeline McNeill, who composed five original songs she’ll perform, along with several other vocalists, including the local Love and

The Pink Tablet Project: A Performance • Fri, Feb. 9 at 7:30 pm and Sat, Feb. 10 at 3 pm • $5 • Community Minded TV Spokane • 104 W. Third, Suite B • bit.ly/ PinkTabletProject

2018 EVENT GUIDE

Ellen Welcker felt The Pink Tablet would be better expressed by performance than a traditional reading.

Outrage choir.

Harpist Ellicia Jones will create an improvised soundtrack during the live performance, which is narrated by fellow poet Maya Jewell Zeller. Young Spokane dancer Elise Divens is performing a selfchoreographed modern dance segment.

High school writer, singer and poet Zoey McCall-Smith is performing selections of The Pink Tablet’s poetry. Another contributor is artist Darrien Mack, who created visual elements of the show, including the event’s promotional images, and a pastel-hued portrait of Weckler holding a costume wolf head.

“To make something and let it evolve in other people’s hands is such a mindblowing experience, and it has just felt so incredible to watch all of these talented artists lay their hands on these poems,” Welcker says. “I am very excited about the chapbook, but this is the life I wanted [the poems] to have.”

Two performances of The Pink Tablet Project, staged inside the studio of Community-Minded TV Spokane, are being recorded in front of a live audience with plans for a later broadcast and online streaming. At both of the performances, guests will be able to purchase special, limited-release copies of the poetry chapbook for $25. Only 100 copies of the handmade books are being printed.

“One of the first things Rebecca said to me when we met over coffee was this phrase, ‘the experience of wonder,’ and I think that that’s strong in this performance,” Welcker reflects.

“I think we are still feeling that at this point — even after having been working on this for several months now — and I hope that is something that people will leave with. I think it’s a performance that’s going to be felt more than articulable, and in part that’s because there are so many people who are expressing things in different ways... People can just come in the door and they will have an experience.” n

PULL OUT & SHOP

CULTURE | PERFORMANCE

CULTURE | DIGEST

Two Dads Walk into a Bar… BURGERS FOR BREAKFAST, ANY TIME The wrapper never stood a chance against the Brunchburger at Incrediburger & Eggs — easily a four- or fivenapkin ordeal. The hangover-cure-worthy breakfast fare (which yes, you can order at 2 pm on a Saturday, if that happens to be when you roll out of bed) was dripping with delicious over-medium egg yolk, dijonnaise, and juice from an Angus beef patty cooked to a perfect medium. The maple pancake buns were a tad too small to handle the meaty goodness, topped with a stack of bacon, caramelized onions, and cheddar cheese, but played a nice slightly sweet counterpart to the savory $6.99 burger. With their grand opening Feb. 8, they’re ready to grill one up for you now. (SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL)

I

BY JACOB H. FRIES

t’s 2:30 in the afternoon, on one of those defiantly sunny winter days in Spokane, and rather than spend time outside, two guys slink into the bar at the Blackbird, a sleek wood-and-steel-accented gastropub on North Washington Street. They should be at work, or the gym, or reading a book, or thinking about 401ks and tax liabilities — anything but this: day drinking. But when you’re married, with a toddler at home, staring down 40, your free time is mostly spoken for. Besides, if a pint is drank and no one is around to see it, does it really count?

The men slide onto two stools in an otherwise empty bar.

Is it happy hour yet?

Not ’til 3, a smartly dressed barman replies.

The two men are, on the whole, upstanding citizens: one a successful real estate agent, the other a bald and bearded newspaper editor. Both became fathers a year

THE BUZZ BIN

ON THIS WEEK’S PLAYLIST Some noteworthy new music arrives online and in stores Feb. 9. To wit:  FRANZ FERDINAND, Always Ascending.

Expect another refreshing blast of dancerock from these lively Scots.  DASHBOARD CONFESSIONAL, Crooked Shadows. Has the time for an emo rebirth arrived?  FU MANCHU, Clone of the Universe. How “stoner” do you like your “stoner-rock”? The correct answer is “very.”  MGMT, Little Dark Age. They took five years between albums. Is that a good or bad sign?  DAVID DUCHOVNY, Every Third Thought.

Hey, Mulder made a record!

and a half ago, and both find comfort in knowing they’re not alone. Age and responsibilities haven’t stolen the passions of youth, exactly. But as they raise their first pints of the day, they discuss how growing older has taught them to not obsess as much. With life half gone, it seems wasteful to worry so much about high hairlines, lost deals, petty arguments.

Or the occasional pint in the middle of the workday.

They enthusiastically agree with what the other says, in a way that drinking buddies sometimes do. Yes! Exactly! That’s what I was saying... They tell each other that they still try to be better men — indeed, they want to be great — but, in what feels like a revelation, they agree that part of being better is realizing you’ll never be perfect.

Yeah, like that Shakespeare quote, the real-estate agent says: “For there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”

Oh, Hamlet — that guy knew a thing or two about obsessing.

And just like that, a couple of pints lifted and drained, and it’s time to return to reality, to the parking lot, where their late-model cars reveal the men they really are, with diaper wipes, pacifiers and toys on the seats and floors. One has to do grocery shopping before heading home; the other plans to tidy up the kitchen before his wife gets off work. They linger in the parking lot for a moment — the winter sun showering light as though it were August instead of January — and then they slide into their getaway cars, having pulled off the perfect crime. n

ARE YOU A BAD JUNKRAT? Overwatch is a fast-paced, team-based, multiplayer shooter with 26 competing characters. I mostly play the gleefully mad bomb thrower Junkrat, blasting around the map as others yell at me for being a Bad Junkrat. An international Overwatch e-sports league has cropped up with some of the best Junkrats in the world competing for millions of dollars. The really crazy thing, though? The announcers. Imagine calling a game with no time-outs, where players have ridiculous names like “Biggoose” and can rollerskate on walls, teleport or pilot a motorized explosive tire. You’ve got to talk fast and somehow make all the lunacy make sense. Watch the madness at overwatchleague.com.

(DANIEL WALTERS)

HE DID IT FOR SPOKANE It’s not like Spokane needed a reason to celebrate the underdog Philadelphia Eagles taking down the evil empire that is the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl. But Spokanites can take some extra joy in the fact that one of our own, Bryan Braman, a Shadle Park High School graduate, is now a Super Bowl champion.

Braman, a defensive end for the Eagles, recorded one tackle on the world’s biggest stage. (WILSON CRISCIONE)

STACKS & SLEEVES As one sci-fi-loving friend likes to say, we’re living in the “golden age” of great genre TV: The Expanse, Star Trek: Discovery, Orphan Black, Westworld. Now attempting to join that respectable line-up is Netflix’s Altered Carbon. The 10-episode series, based on a 2002 novel, is a gritty, cyberpunk detective noir set in a semi-dystopian universe in which the human consciousness can be stored in a tiny device that can be inserted into a new physical body. Altered Carbon’s twisting murder-mystery/conspiracy plot is complex, but those who loved any of the shows listed above may also enjoy this far-future adventure that feels eerily familiar (and maybe too unoriginal, at times).

All episodes are streaming now. (CHEY SCOTT)

FEBRUARY 8, 2018 INLANDER 33

CULTURE | WORDS Whitehead’s skills as a writer were apparent well before this book, whether penning sports nonfiction (The Noble Hustle: Poker, Beef Jerky & Death, 2014), zombie stories (Zone One, 2011), surreal mysteries (The Intuitionist, 1999) or essays for The New Yorker.

But The Underground Railroad is a tour de force blending real history, rich character development and winning fantastical devices. (Not a spoiler: the underground railroad of the title is literally a slave-saving railroad running under America.) My experience in reading it was awe at the author’s abilities, and shocked horror at what I was learning about America’s greatest shame through Cora’s life on a Georgia plantation and the brutal experiences of those she encounters during her flee for freedom.

Whitehead says audiences both in the states and overseas seem struck most by what he discovered through his research before he started writing.

“History in general, and the history of slavery, is not taught very well,” Whitehead says. “The book does lay out the brutality of the system in sort of a very matter-offact way, so if you haven’t read about slavery in a while or aren’t acquainted with how it actually worked, then the book is quite eye-opening and startling.”

W

Author Colson Whitehead visits the Palouse Feb. 12.

Train Keeps A Rollin’

MADELINE WHITEHEAD PHOTO

Colson Whitehead is still feeling the effects of writing his Pulitzer-winning The Underground Railroad

BY DAN NAILEN

F

or author Colson Whitehead, the release of a new book typically meets with little in the way of fanfare, and he figured that would probably remain the case when his eighth book came out in the summer of 2016.

Sure, he’d been a MacArthur fellow and a finalist for an array of literature awards before the release of The Underground Railroad. Whitehead thought he knew what to expect.

“Usually, it comes out and you do like a month or a couple of weeks [of interviews and appearances], and nobody cares and you’re back in your cruddy office again,” Whitehead says in a recent call from his New York City home.

His office is probably a lot less cruddy after the 18 months that have passed since The Underground Railroad’s story of a young slave woman named Cora’s dramatic escape and race across the pre-Civil War American South became a literary phenomenon. A Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. A National Book Award for Fiction. A choice for Oprah’s book club. A place on the highly publicized sum-

34 INLANDER FEBRUARY 8, 2018

mer reading list for the most recent U.S. president you can imagine actually having a summer reading list.

“It’s surreal. A year and a half later, I’m still like, ‘Did that really happen?’” Whitehead says of the accolades and international attention the book has brought his way.

“This is the first time I’ve had a book that’s been this widely accepted and embraced. It’s gone on a long time, promotion and talking about it, but I figure it’s a once-ina-lifetime experience to kind of hit the road and enjoy it while I can.”

That road leads him to the University of Idaho next week for a Feb. 12 talk about his book, one of a lengthy series of live appearances this winter and spring that would do a touring rock band proud. Whitehead says a trusty 2,000-song playlist and ever-changing collection of short stories and novellas helps make the travel sustainable — as well as hitting the hay by 10 pm most nights.

I

t’s hard to imagine audiences let him get away very easily or early from his conversations about The Underground Railroad.

hitehead first had the idea for The Underground Railroad 18 years ago, but he didn’t feel he had the writing skill or emotional ability to deal with slavery in a way that would do the book justice.

The fact that it stuck with him through the years made him feel it was meaningful enough to work on once he reached a place in his life when he believed he could pull it off.

“The older you get, the more you understand the way things work,” Whitehead says. “I was in my mid-40s [when he started researching for The Underground Railroad] and it’s one thing to read about a child being sold and never seen again, reading that in your 20s versus when you’re a parent and can sort of understand how devastating that is.

“The older we get the more we understand how terrible things are, and also the capacity for hope and heroism.”

All those things come through in the book, a testament to both Whitehead’s deep dive into the history and his facility at taking some horrific facts and spinning them into a thrilling read that illuminates as much about America today as is does about America in Cora’s day.

And while Whitehead’s work has clearly struck a chord with readers, the work the author put into The Underground Railroad — years’ worth of making himself a writer worthy of Cora’s story — inspired self-reflection most of its readers can’t comprehend.

“Realizing that in many ways I shouldn’t be here,” Whitehead says of emotional aspect of creating this book.

“It’s just luck that this or that ancestor wasn’t killed in the Middle Passage or on the plantation. In many ways, it’s sort of a miracle that my family made it through.

“The book is brutal, and it’s brutal because it’s realistic, and it’s brutal because I want to testify for the people who went through it in any small way I can.” n Colson Whitehead: Revisiting The Underground Railroad • Mon, Feb. 12, at 7 pm • free • Bruce M. Pitman Center, University of Idaho, 709 Deakin Ave., Moscow, ID • uidaho.com

CULTURE | THEATER

Comic infidelity fuels the romatic farce opening at Ignite! Community Theatre.

Appetite for Seduction Ignite! is staging a wild romantic farce about chefs playing mistresses and vice versa

BY E.J. IANNELLI

T

heatergoers who were left hungry for more after Marc Camoletti’s farce Boeing Boeing ran at the Modern Spokane three years ago can have their appetites sated when the follow-up opens at Ignite! this weekend.

Don’t Dress for Dinner takes place some time after the events of the “prequel,” which saw roué Bernard juggling an international trio of stewardesses who flew on different schedules. Until those schedules suddenly changed. Cue the frantic confusion, the hasty excuses, the rapid opening and closing of doors.

Bernard is up to his old tricks in Don’t Dress for Dinner. He’s now married to Jacqueline, one of the erstwhile stewardess from Boeing Boeing, in that most French of arrangements, with both husband and wife involved in separate affairs.

Bernard is secretly seeing Suzanne, a Parisian model, and Jacqueline is secretly seeing Robert, Bernard’s old school friend from America who attempted to get him out of hot water in the previous play.

“If you’ve seen Boeing Boeing, you’ll catch the references, but this show actually stands on its own as well,” says director Bryan Durbin. “It’s written by the same person, so you’ve got similar themes going on.”

In Don’t Dress for Dinner, as in Boeing Boeing, those themes can be distilled to a single premise: comic infidelity. Under the assumption that Jacqueline (played here by Emily Geddes) is leaving

CHRIS WOOLEY PHOTO

town for the weekend, Bernard (Nich Fortner) invites his mistress Suzanne (Dana Sammond) to a birthday dinner catered by a chef named Suzette (Stephannie Gerard). Jacqueline, however, gets wind of it and cancels her plans.

Robert (Christian Thomas), who’s supposed to be Bernard’s alibi, soon arrives and mistakes one “Suzy” for another, which, owing to a long concatenation of mixups, misunderstandings and hurt feelings, forces the chef to play the mistress and the mistress to play the chef. That’s when the cook’s outfit quickly gets torn apart to create a “chic” evening dress. Things spin even further out of control in the second act when Suzette’s husband George (Andrea Tate) shows up looking for his wife.

“Bernard is trying to have his cake and eat it too,” says Durbin. “It’s just fun to watch them dig this huge, giant hole and then see if they can get themselves out of it.”

Durbin has high praise for Robin Hawdon’s English translation of Camoletti’s play but says the careful balance of interlocking assumptions and circumstances leaves no room for error.

“It’s a very well-written script, but you have to be almost word-perfect. Someone feeds off one line, and that line gets fed off later on, so if you mess up that line, that joke doesn’t work. And if you mess up that joke, that situation doesn’t work,” he says.

As a result, Durbin has come to view Don’t Dress for Dinner as “all choreographed — it’s really not blocked or staged.” And, oddly enough, it’s his work on sword-and-ponytail swashbucklers like Three Musketeers and Treasure Island at the Spokane Civic Theatre and Cyrano at Stage Left that has put him at ease with the fluid motion and timing it calls for.

“It’s so quick with all the lines and the movement that it’s basically a huge dance that you’re watching,” he says.

And farce-loving audiences will have to be sure to relish every moment of that dance. Camoletti didn’t write a third course to follow Don’t Dress for Dinner. n Don’t Dress for Dinner • Feb. 9-25 • Fri-Sat, 7:30 pm; Sun, 2 pm • $15 • Ignite! Community Theatre • 10814 E. Broadway Ave, Spokane Valley • igniteonbroadway.org • 795-0004

FEBRUARY 8, 2018 INLANDER 35

LOCAL BREWERY EVENTS The taproom of the newly-opened Millwood Brewing was part of a $1 million renovation project.

DEREK HARRISON PHOTO

BEER

Something’s Always Brewing A round-up of the latest craft beer developments happening across the Inland Northwest

BY DEREK HARRISON

T

he brewing scene in Spokane and the surrounding region still shows no signs of slowing. Options for local craft beer drinkers continue to grow, with more than 40 breweries to date throughout the Inland Northwest. While doors of a couple of breweries closed near the end of 2017, many others remain successful, or are trying to find innovative ways to keep up with the trends, with more than a handful of breweries expected to open later this year.

ANTICIPATED OPENINGS

The latest brewery to debut in the region is MILLWOOD BREWING COMPANY. Chuck and Shelley Watkins purchased the property for the brewery off of North Argonne Road, at 9013 E. Frederick, three years ago. Chuck, an area manager for the technology company Cisco, and Shelley, former espresso stand owner and West Valley native, had dreamed of opening a brewery, and saw

36 INLANDER FEBRUARY 8, 2018

a demand for craft beer from the Millwood community. After about $1 million in renovations, the taproom is finally open to the public.

The couple recruited Jordan Conley, a homebrewer and welder, as head brewer for their 10-barrel system. Conley is brewing a variety of traditional beers with the help of two assistant brewers. At opening, Millwood Brewing tapped a pale ale, IPA, Irish red and porter. They recently added a blonde ale and a Scotch ale served on nitro.

Set up for 12 taps, the kid-friendly taproom will also feature house-made root beer, cream soda and cold brew coffee. Shelley says they also plan to host a local food truck every week in their parking lot, starting with Mac Daddy’s on Thursday, Feb. 8.

O

penings of several more new breweries in the region are right around the corner.

Dave Basaraba and Tim Hilton of MOUNTAIN

THE YEAR OF THE SAINTED BREWERS Bellwether Brewing Co., 2019 N. Monroe Second and fourth Thursdays, from 3-9 pm Bellwether is celebrating the patron saints of brewing with special beer releases throughout the year. This Thursday, Feb. 8, the brewery is releasing St. Brigid, an ancient Celtic beer, and St. Comlumbanus, a traditonal altbier. Check out the brewery’s Facebook page for future event details.

FOURTH ANNIVERSARY PARTY English Setter Brewing, 15310 E. Marietta Ave. Saturday, Feb. 10, from 1-9 pm After a change in ownership earlier this year, English Setter is ready to celebrate four years of craft beer brewing.

Along with the releases of a new imperial oatmeal stout and Northwest-style IPA, there will be a raffle for a year-long mug club membership.

FLIGHTS, FOOD AND PAINTING FUN Iron Goat Brewing Co., 1302 W. Second Tuesday, Feb. 13. from 6:30-9:30 pm Head to the Iron Goat taproom for a chance to paint a small growler. For $30, participants get a flight of six 4-oz. pours of their choice, along with hors d’oeuvres, a 32 oz. glass grunt, painting supplies and a coupon for a free grunt fill. Reserve your tickets by contacting Iron Goat.

LAKES BREWING COMPANY have begun brewing their first batches and are planning for a March 14 grand opening. The small-batch brewery is located downtown, at 201 W. Riverside, next door to the Lion’s Lair bar.

In Liberty Lake, Erin and Richard Whitney are in the permitting process for their operation called SNOW EATER BREWING COMPANY. While an opening date is uncertain at this point, they’re looking at some time in early summer.

Across the border, Idaho’s PRIEST LAKE BREWING is planning to be operational by this summer. Kent Feldman’s fivebarrel brewery won’t have a typical taproom, but will focus on supplying Priest Lake restaurants and pubs with local beer.

FRESH STARTS

Within the first week of 2018, two local breweries announced changes in ownership.

After four years, Jeff and Anita Bendio sold ENGLISH SETTER BREWING COMPANY, based in Spokane Valley, to local couple Reece and Jackie Carlson.

The Carlsons have been brewing for a couple of years, and had started to consider opening their own brewery. However, after Jeff Bendio approached the two about potentially selling English Setter, things started to move more quickly than they originally imagined.

“It couldn’t have happened ENTRÉE in a more perfect way,” Jackie Get the scoop on local Carlson says. “Jeff and Anita food news with our weekly are great mentors.”

Entrée newsletter. Sign up She says they plan to keep at Inlander.com/newsletter. brewing English Setter’s staple beers, but they also want to slowly integrate their own recipes, like the recently tapped The Yard Scotch Ale. The couple are preparing for the brewery’s fourth anniversary party on Saturday, Feb. 10, during which they’ll be releasing two new beers: The Grimm, an imperial chocolate oatmeal stout, and Guard Dog, a Northwest-style IPA. In Post Falls, DOWNDRAFT BREWING CO. closed its doors in November after three years in business. Early in January, it reopened under new ownership of Ginger and Josh Cantamessa, longtime regulars of the brewery. The couple decided to make an offer to buy and keep the brewery going.

Ginger Cantamessa started homebrewing 10 years ago, and while she hadn’t brewed for the past five years, she says it wasn’t hard to pick back up.

Last week, Downdraft tapped its first new beer, a 6.5 percent ABV American stout. The couple plan to keep the current recipes, as well as cycle in their own creations. They are planning for a Feb. 24 grand re-opening.

A

prominent Spokane brewery also closed its taproom doors at the end of 2017. RIVER CITY BREWING may no longer have its own space for locals to enjoy its beers seven days a week, but distribution of its lineup will continue throughout the region.

The brewery is now putting full attention on the production side. Its team plans to phase out the current core lineup, as well as revamp its beer recipes. The VB Stout is to be replaced by Oako Coco, a low ABV (5.5 percent) stout brewed with French oak chips and cocoa nibs to give it an intense flavor profile.

The Afternoon IPA will also be replaced by a rotating series of pale ales. With a quarterly release schedule, the Experience Pale will be an experiment in the various styles of pale ales. The first release boasts Simcoe and Amarillo hops.

“We saw a shift in how people are experiencing beer,” River City head brewer Todd Grove says. “I feel hopeful and positive about us making changes.”

The brewery will open its doors monthly for First Friday garage parties featuring live music, art and beer releases. Grove says the monthly event is a great way for River City to continue interacting with customers.

Next up for the brewery is packaging two of its most popular beers. Starting March 5, River City Red and Riverkeeper IPA will be bottled by a mobile bottling company. Soon after, the two beers will be available in most local grocery stores. n

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MOVIE PREMIER & FUNDR AISER

SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2018

6PM – SOCIAL WITH RICH LANDERS AS MC 7PM – DINNER AND PREMIER BEGINS Hosted by the Kalispel Tribe at Northern Quest Resort & Casino Airway Heights, WA 99001 • Meet the movie producer and production team • Fundraising auction to follow premier • Purchase tickets online at www.kalispeltribe.com/caribou • All proceeds will go to caribou recovery efforts and maternal pen operations

To learn more about the Caribou cause visit www.kalispeltribe.com/caribou

FEBRUARY 8, 2018 INLANDER 37

FOOD | COFFEE

Eat Better.

See our complete IRW menus on our FB page.

Full Vegetarian/ Vegan menu $21 Meat menu $31 EatCentralFood.com • (509) 315-8036

February Tastings at Vino!!

FRIDAY Tastings

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Coffee Culture

Iryna and Igor Anisimov opened Cedar Coffee in November.

How a Ukrainian refugee pursued the American dream to open his own business, Cedar Coffee on North Monroe

BY CHEY SCOTT

F

leeing a brutal war in their home country Ukraine, Igor Anisimov and his family arrived to the U.S. in September of 2015.

Soon after, Anisimov discovered a local coffee shop on the corner of North Monroe Street. He began stopping by every day, so when that shop, Coeur Coffeehouse, closed its doors rather unexpectedly last spring, he was deeply saddened to see the end of a familiar place in his new city.

“Like always, I came here and the door was closed,” Anisimov recalls. “It was terrible for me and my wife. And then, I don’t know how, but I just thought maybe we could continue the business.”

He tried to track down the shuttered shop’s owner, but was unsuccessful. Determined to revive the corner coffee shop in some way, and become a business owner himself, Anisimov eagerly pursued these dreams. All of his hard work came to fruition when Cedar Coffee opened its doors in November.

“I am a businessman in my mind and my heart,” Anisimov says with a smile, seated at a wooden table inside the brightly sun-lit business.

“I love business, and I love coffee. The coffee shop is not just business, it’s my life, my love,” he continues.

As a refugee with no financial history in the U.S., Anisimov had trouble getting a bank loan to start his dream business. Eventually, he connected with Spokane Neighborhood Action Partner’s (SNAP) Financial Access and Business Development services, which guided him

HECTOR AIZON PHOTO

through processes of permitting, licensing and other requirements to open Cedar Coffee.

Roast House Coffee owner Deborah DiBernardo was also instrumental in helping Anisimov get Cedar Coffee ready for business, connecting him with employees who’d previously worked for her (a few also still do), and becoming Cedar Coffee’s exclusive local roaster. DiBernardo’s connections led Anisimov to hire Cedar’s manager, Kira Elmer, and one of its baristas, Kyle Siegal, who was also a former employee of its predecessor, Coeur.

Cedar’s drink menu offers the traditional coffee house espresso lineup: lattes, mochas, cappuccinos, macchiatos and more, along with more than 13 varieties of tea, and locally made chai tea from Mandala Chai Company. Pastries served there are made locally by Common Crumb Artisan Bakery. Drink syrups are made in house, including Anisimov’s favorite, a maple bourbon syrup that he personally crafted.

Anisimov plans to continue adding other drinks to the menu, like ginger tea. He would also like to add a traditional Russian beverage called kvass, a fermented drink similar to kombucha, but slightly sweeter. It’s very popular in Ukraine, but Anisimov doesn’t think American customers would have the same taste for it.

Cedar Coffee’s name and logo, featuring a squirrel and a cedar cone, are nods to Anisimov’s homeland Ukraine.

“Cedar means strong, and long life,” he explains, adding that he owned an unrelated company by the name Cedar back home, along with a couple of coffee shops.

Anisimov closed one of the shops after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine back in 2014; he still owns the other. He hopes to open additional businesses, perhaps coffee shops, in Spokane as he becomes more familiar with American business practices, and more comfortable speaking English.

“Igor is one of the most genuine and kind people, he really cares about everyone’s safety and happiness,” says Cedar Coffee manager Kira Elmer. “People who used to go to Coeur say ‘I feel like I have my second home back,’ and they love hanging out, and a lot of people in the coffee community are very supportive.” n cheys@inlander.com Cedar Coffee • 701 N. Monroe • Open MonFri 7 am-6 pm, Sat-Sun 8 am-5 pm • facebook. com/coffeeatcedar • 315-9321

FOOD | BRIEFS

What’s Cooking?

News and notes from the Inland Northwest’s culinary community

BY CHEY SCOTT

MILFORD’S FISH HOUSE CLOSES

The longtime Spokane institution serving fresh seafood and more at the corner of Monroe and Broadway went dark over the weekend, closing after nearly 40 years in business to the surprise of many customers. A message from Milford’s owners posted on the restaurant’s website (milfordsfishouse.com) explained that the shuttering is to allow its owners to enjoy retirement: “Milford’s is closed now - Saturday past was our last day in business.

Thank you so much to all our good friends made over the years… it took us nearly forty years to get to know all of you. It’s just a case of old age and it’s time to retire.”

Customers with outstanding gift cards can contact the restaurant for a refund. No word yet on the future of the historic building.

HISTORIC TITANIC MENU AT THE DAVENPORT

In conjunction with the ongoing Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition, on display at the MAC through May, the Historic Davenport Hotel is getting in touch with dining trends circa 1912. Served in the Palm Court Grill, the special five-course menu is based on an original First Class dining menu served aboard the ill-fated ocean liner. Created

Milford’s Fish House opened in 1980 and closed last weekend, after 38 years in business. by chef Adam Swedberg and team, the fixed price ($50/ person) menu includes suggested wine pairings to go with each course: canapés a l’Amiral (baguette with shrimp and shrimp butter), asparagus salad with Champagne-saffron vinaigrette, poached salmon with mousseline sauce, filet mignon lili, and Waldorf pudding. Reservations for the menu, served from 5 pm to close, are not required; the hotel is also offering special overnight guest packages that include two tickets to the MAC exhibit, dining credit and valet parking.

INLANDER RESTAURANT WEEK MENUS ARE LIVE

Start working out your gastronomical attack plan for all 10 days of Inlander Restaurant Week, happening Febru-

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

ary 22 through March 3. Menus for all 107 restaurants went live online Feb. 1 at InlanderRestaurantWeek.com.

Three-course, fixed-price menus offered at participating restaurants are $21 or $31 per person, and include diners’ choice of up to three options for each course. If you’d rather browse the printed event guide, which will be inserted into the Feb. 22 edition of the Inlander, stop by a Numerica Credit Union branch, or a participating restaurant, to pick one up. The guides also include profiles on local chefs, highlights of interesting menu items and suggestions of what to do before and after dinner. This year marks the sixth installment of the culinary celebration highlighting the growth and innovation of the region’s flourishing hospitality industry. n

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FEBRUARY 8, 2018 INLANDER 39

The Silent Child

MOVIES IN MINIATURE We look at this year’s Oscar-nominated live-action and animated shorts, and predict which ones will win

BY NATHAN WEINBENDER

I

f you’re participating in your office’s Oscar pool, there’s one surefire way to give yourself an instant advantage every year: Know the short films.

This year’s nominated live-action and animated shorts hit theaters this weekend, and even if you aren’t a gambler, there are some great examples of short-form storytelling worth checking out. Here’s a rundown of the films and what’s most likely to win, though take our predictions with a grain of salt: These awards don’t always go to the most obvious candidates.

(Note: The animated films should be suitable for older kids, although a few contain some potentially disturbing images. The live-action package is ostensibly R-rated.)

ANIMATED

DEAR BASKETBALL Kobe Bryant is now an Oscar nominee. Wrap your mind around that one. The L.A. Lakers legend wrote and narrates this sweet and inspirational short (illustrated with mostly black-and-white pencil sketches), in which he muses on the sport he loves and grapples with the end of his long career. Minor, but well-done.

GARDEN PARTY What begins as a comedy about mischievous frogs indulging in the luxuries of an abandoned mansion turns far darker when we discover exactly why it has been left to nature. Rendered in a photorealistic style — everything from leaves floating in a pool to the glistening skin of the amphibious protagonists looks like you could reach out and touch it — this is an unexpectedly morbid cartoon that probably could have used a stronger punchline.

LOU Disney-Pixar got some flak when it put that half-hour Olaf the Snowman short before Coco, though they deserved plaudits earlier in the year for LOU, which was paired with Cars 3. Here, some objects in a lost-and-

40 INLANDER FEBRUARY 8, 2018

found bin come to life and reckon with a schoolyard bully, who must change his ways in order to retrieve a misplaced toy. Not one of the great Pixar shorts, but a fine example of the studio’s trademark blend of wordless slapstick and genuine heart.

NEGATIVE SPACE This French-American coproduction, built around a poem by Ron Koertge, is a stop-motion meditation on a man’s troubled relationship with his late father, as examined through the fine art of efficient suitcase packing. It beautifully juxtaposes fantastical imagery with the bluntness of real life, a wistful memory shot through with dark irony.

REVOLTING RHYMES Based on a Roald Dahl book and inspired by the angular drawing style of illustrator Quentin Blake, a fractured fairy tale that finds the Big Bad Wolf settling scores with Red Riding Hood, Snow White and the Three Little Pigs. The longest of the five nominees, it’s not as subversive (or, really, as revolting) as its title suggests, though Dahl fans will enjoy his clever turns of phrase.

What’s going to win: It wouldn’t be surprising if the Academy honors Bryant, the only recognizable name in the category, but anything with the Pixar logo attached to it has an automatic leg up on its competition. LOU, then, is probably the favorite to win. It’s also quite delightful.

LIVE ACTION

DEKALB ELEMENTARY A seemingly normal morning in an elementary school administration office is disrupted when a man walks in with a semi-automatic weapon. Inspired by a true story, the film is told in real time and photographed in a matter-of-fact style, as the office secretary tries to lend a sympathetic ear to the gunman.

THE ELEVEN O’CLOCK The only comic short in the live-action lot, in which a psychiatrist is informed his

newest patient has a delusion that leads him to believe he’s also a psychiatrist. A battle of wits ensues. Built upon a screwball concept you might expect from a Monty Python or Kids in the Hall sketch, although you’ll probably be able to see its punchline coming.

MY NEPHEW EMMETT The Emmett of the title is Emmett Till, the black teenager who was beaten and lynched in 1950s Mississippi after he whistled at a white woman. Director Kevin Wilson Jr.’s film limits its focus to Till’s elderly great-uncle Mose in the day leading up to the tragedy, and he structures it as a mood piece that communicates dread and pain through moody, evocative photography.

THE SILENT CHILD A young teacher (played by writer Rachel Shenton) is hired by a British family to look after a deaf 4-year-old girl, and she begins teaching the girl sign language, much to the chagrin of the harried mother. Although it takes a few unexpected turns and has two wonderful central performances, this story would be more powerful with a longer run time.

WATU WOTE (ALL OF US) Another fictionalized version of real events, this one set in Nairobi in 2015, when a busful of mostly Muslim passengers protected the identity of a Christian woman upon being hijacked by jihadist militants. A harrowing snapshot of spontaneous violence that espouses a message of tolerance while avoiding mawkishness.

What’s going to win: The voting body tends to favor shorts that either end with a nifty twist or veer into outright sentiment. In that case, THE SILENT CHILD, with its heartbreaking final scene, probably has the edge; it also plays like a trial run for the expanded feature we might get later. (The Eleven O’Clock, the punchiest and shortest of the five, could be the spoiler.) The best of the bunch, though, is the stark DeKalb Elementary, a simple but perfectly modulated piece of storytelling. n

FILM | SHORTS

OPENING FILM THE 15:17 TO PARIS

Clint Eastwood’s latest bit of rah-rah American patriotism is a fictionalized account of three U.S. soldiers who thwarted a terrorist attack on a Parisbound train in 2015. The twist here: The director has cast the actual men to play themselves and recreate their act of heroism. (NW) Rated PG-13

FIFTY SHADES FREED

E.L. James’ trilogy mercifully ends with Anastasia and Christian settling into married life, only to have their idyll disrupted by vengeful exes. Expect the requisite handcuffs and riding crops, and also a car chase or two, because these characters are apparently action stars now. (NW) Rated R

OSCAR-NOMINATED SHORTS

This year’s Academy Award-nominated short films hit theaters this weekend in two separate programs: animated and live-action. (Still no word on whether the documentary shorts will ever reach us.) Both are pretty strong and varied collections, showcasing myriad styles, tones and storytelling methods. (NW) Not Rated

PETER RABBIT

Beatrix Potter’s beloved children’s character gets the anthropomorphic, wise-cracking CGI treatment, voiced

by James Corden and perpetually pestering Domhnall Gleeson’s bumbling Mr. McGregor. Sounds a bit unbearable, but, hey — it worked for the Paddington movies. (NW) Rated PG

NOW PLAYING 12 STRONG

A true story about the first Special Forces who were deployed to Afghanistan in the weeks following 9/11 and witnessed the escalation of the war in the Middle East. Chris Hemsworth, Michael Shannon and Michael Peña star. (NW) Rated R

CALL ME

BY YOUR NAME

One of the best films of the year, a swooning romance in which a 17-yearold American kid (Timothée Chalamet) spending a summer at his family’s Italian villa becomes infatuated with his dad’s slightly older research assistant (Armie Hammer). A delicate work of art and a passionate love story, simultaneously ethereal and earthy. At the Magic Lantern. (NW) Rated R

COCO

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

THE COMMUTER

Liam Neeson plays a former cop who swings into action-star mode when a shadowy cabal offers him a fortune to locate a mysterious object on his train ride home. As preposterous as you’d expect, but only sporadically exciting.

(NW) Rated PG-13

DARKEST HOUR

Gary Oldman is unrecognizable under pounds of makeup and prosthetics as British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who’s settling into his first term right as Hitler’s power intensifies.

If Oldman doesn’t take home the Oscar for this one, it won’t have been for lack of trying. (ES) Rated PG-13

DEN OF THIEVES

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ler that runs 140 minutes? This should be good. Here he’s an LAPD officer on the trail of an elusive group of bank robbers planning to knock over the Federal Reserve. (NW) Rated R

FOREVER MY GIRL

In what’s sure to be the best Nicholas Sparks story Nicholas Sparks didn’t actually write, a hunky country star returns to his small hometown only to discover he has a daughter with the woman he left at the altar. (NW) Rated PG

THE GREATEST SHOWMAN

A lavish, Moulin Rouge-y musical fantasy inspired by the life and career of P.T. Barnum (Hugh Jackman), the circus empresario who created modern show biz as we know it. The splashy songs are co-written by Oscar-winning La La Land lyricists Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. (NW) Rated PG

HOSTILES

A racist military man (Christian Bale) is forced to transport a dying Cheyenne chief (Wes Studi) to his homeland in the 1890s. Scott Cooper’s brutal tale of frontier justice is unfortunately far more concerned with the redemption of the white man than the Native American experience. (MJ) Rated R

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A raucous bio-comedy about figure skater Tonya Harding, who tripleaxelled into infamy in the early ’90s.

The film may be predicated on questionable morals — it wants us to laugh at its subjects, then condemns us for laughing — but it’s also centered on blistering performances by Margot Robbie as the disgraced Harding and Allison Janney as her monstrous mother. (NW) Rated R

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JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE

That magical board game becomes an old Atari-esque gaming console in this better-than-you’d-expect reboot, with a ragtag group of high schoolers get...continued on next page

FEBRUARY 8, 2018 INLANDER 41

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FILM | SHORTS

NOW PLAYING CRITICS’ SCORECARD ting sucked into a perilous video game world. Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan and a scene-stealing Jack Black star as the kids’ in-game avatars.

(NW) Rated PG-13

THE INLANDER

MAZE RUNNER: THE DEATH CURE

Yes, they’re still making Maze Runner movies, and in this third and final installment, our generic post-apocalyptic hero and his friends must escape yet another trap-filled labyrinth. Or something. (NW) Rated PG-13

PADDINGTON 2

Another lovely adaptation of Michael Bond’s classic children’s books, with the raincoat-wearing, marmaladeloving bear (voiced by Ben Whishaw) getting framed for theft and wrongly tossed into prison. It’s funnier and more visually inventive than its predecessor, and Hugh Grant does some of his best work in scenery-chewing villain mode.

(NW) Rated PG

PHANTOM THREAD

VARIETY

METACRITIC.COM

(LOS ANGELES)

(OUT OF 100)

WINCHESTER

28

I, TONYA

77

MAZE RUNNER: THE DEATH CURE

51

PADDINGTON 2

88

PHANTOM THREAD

90

THE POST

83

THE SHAPE OF WATER

86

LADY BIRD

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

At the Magic Lantern. (NW) Rated R

NEW YORK TIMES

DON’T MISS IT

WORTH $10

turn from Sally Hawkins. (SS) Rated R

STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI

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

THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI

When her daughter is murdered, an angry mother (Frances McDormand) erects a trio of uncouth billboards call-

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ing out the local police department, causing a stir in her tiny town. While the all-star cast delivers emotionally wrenching, award-worthy performances, writer-director Martin McDonagh’s inconsistent script occasionally veers into idiotic absurdity that undercuts the gravity of the drama. At the Magic Lantern. (SS)

WINCHESTER

California’s Winchester Mystery House seems an ideal setting for a horror film, but it’s wasted in this conventional ghost story, as is Helen Mirren as the mansion’s widowed owner. Standard PG-13 scares, with Conjuring-style specters that pop out of dark corners accompanied by musical stings on the soundtrack. (ES) Rated PG-13 n

Writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson explores the world of 1950s fashion, with Daniel Day-Lewis in his (supposedly) final screen role as a high-end dress designer whose relationship with a much younger woman (Vicky Krieps) becomes fraught. Not exactly what you think it’s going to be, a sly dark comedy sewn inside a stunningly beautiful costume drama. (NW) Rated R

PITCH PERFECT 3

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

THE POST

Steven Spielberg’s latest concerns 1970s Washington Post publisher Kay Graham (Meryl Streep) and editor Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks) fighting for the paper’s right to publish the Pentagon Papers, which detailed the Johnson administration’s lies regarding the Vietnam War. A thrilling fact-based drama about the importance of the free press.

(MJ) Rated PG-13 “Your Hometown Professionals”

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THE SHAPE OF WATER

With apologies to Pan’s Labyrinth, this is Guillermo del Toro’s finest film to date, a grisly adult fairy tale about a mute cleaning woman’s plans to free a captive amphibious creature from the government facility where she works.

Weird, gory, eye-popping, disarmingly sweet and featuring a masterful star

The Cloverfield Paradox

NOW STREAMING THE CLOVERFIELD PARADOX (NETFLIX)

The only surprise surrounding the new Cloverfield film is its unexpected, post-Super Bowl release, because it’s otherwise a painfully derivative sci-fi chiller. A little bit Alien, a little bit Sunshine, it’s about an international space station crew discovering their experiments have unwittingly disrupted the spacetime continuum. We relate to their confusion, as none of it makes much sense. (NW) Not Rated

WONDERSTRUCK (AMAZON PRIME)

Todd Haynes’ kid-friendly fantasy, adapted from Brian Selznick’s book, follows parallel stories of two deaf children — a girl in the 1920s and a boy in the 1970s — mysteriously drawn to one another across decades. The mechanics of the story don’t quite click, but the visuals, particularly the silent and blackand-white segments, are beguiling.

(NW) Rated PG

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No, we don’t know why Helen Mirren is in Winchester, but we’re certain she was paid handsomely.

Second-Hand Boos Helen Mirren tries to class up the ghost story Winchester, but she’s as wasted as the movie’s real-life setting

BY ERIC D. SNIDER

T

he Winchester Mystery House is a real of creepy kid who points at nothing and whisplace in San Jose, California, built in pers, “He’s coming for us.”)

1883 and expanded upon by its owner, Dr. Price, who has recently suffered a loss Sarah Winchester, who married into the rifleof his own and is addicted to laudanum, spends making family and inherited much of its wealth some time stumbling around the house and getwhen her husband died. It’s supposed to be ting scared by spectral images that appear for a haunted, but what old house isn’t? More interestsplit-second, accompanied by musical stings on ing is how Mrs. Winchester had workers attachthe soundtrack to startle us. The Spierigs achieve ing new rooms, wings and floors to it 24 hours a one truly great scare along these lines by playing day for months at a stretch, with no master plan, on our expectations, but the bulk of their efforts resulting in a labyrinth of architectural oddities follow conventional patterns. The imagery is that serves no purpose except to confuse visitors. often creepy but nonsensical — sort of, “Hey, let’s Sounds like a good setting for a horror goose ’em with one of these, never mind whether movie, right? A haunted house that’s also a it fits.” maze? Winchester, directed by the Spierig brothers What’s strange is that the film (written by (Jigsaw), even spent a few days filming in the acthe Spierigs and Tom Vaughan), while making tual location, yet it still arrives as a watered-down hay out of the house’s many rooms and Sarah’s supernatural thriller about the reasons for building them, ignores same old vengeful spirits trying to the other chilling possibilities: WINCHESTER right the same old wrongs. Unlike Rated PG-13 rooms with no exits, secret pasreal estate, location isn’t the most Directed by Michael and Peter Spierig sageways, getting lost, etc. The important thing in a movie. house is so heavily populated Starring Helen Mirren, Jason Clarke, It helps to have Helen Mirren, Sarah Snook by workers and household staff though. The elegantly feisty Brit that it never feels like an isolated, adopts an American accent (which diminishes her creepy old mansion. It’s a labyrinth that apparpowers, but oh, well) to play Sarah Winchester ently doesn’t actually confuse anyone. Which in 1906, when psychologist Eric Price (Jason makes it a pretty useless labyrinth.

Clarke) is hired by the Winchester company — of ’Tis also a pity to have Helen Mirren in which Sarah owns 51 percent — to assess her something this middlebrow without giving her mental fitness. anything fantastic to do. She gets no meaty Her erratic behavior isn’t limited to the speeches, no over-the-top behavior, nothing that constant construction: It is also her belief that her will make future generations say, “Ah, remember family is haunted by the spirits of people killed the time Helen Mirren was in a run-of-the-mill

by Winchester rifles. Sarah’s niece (Sarah Snook) PG-13 horror film?” If you’re going to put her in and her young son (Finn Scicluna-O’Prey) are a horror movie, drench her in blood and entrails, living in the house at the moment, the latter or have her get possessed and eat a goat, or someplagued by sleepwalking nightmares and similar thing. Otherwise she’s just another old lady in just unnerving horror-movie behavior. (He’s the kind another haunted house. n

FEBRUARY 8, 2018 INLANDER 43

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DYNAMIC DUO Lindsay Johnston (left) and Cherri Woith are Donna Donna, a ferocious, back-to-basics blues-rock twosome.

KAT SKYE PHOTO

With just drums and guitar, Spokane’s Donna Donna are shredding, snarling rock ’n’ roll purists

U

ntil the end of time, drum-and-guitar duos will inevitably (and not always accurately) be likened to the White Stripes. But for Donna Donna, that comparison is both warranted and welcome: They’re aiming to capture the lean, uncluttered rock that Jack and Meg White re-popularized. It’s stripped-down, but still ferocious.

The first time Donna Donna’s guitarist-vocalist Lindsay Johnston and drummer Cherri Woith played together a year ago — when Johnson only had a handful of potential songs and before they’d even come up with a band name — it was their shared love of the White Stripes that forged their bond.

“I have a lot of butterflies just remembering it, thinking ‘This could be a thing,’” Woith recalls.

“That first practice, it was almost like a first date where you’re trying to feel each other out still,” Johnston says. “Like, ‘Do you like this? Because I don’t want

BY NATHAN WEINBENDER to say I like it if you don’t like it.’ And then one of us brought up Jack White, and we just started nerding out on deep cuts of White Stripes stuff.”

“We have almost the exact same musical styles,” Woith says, “and even the stuff people wouldn’t necessarily consider an influence, we’ll quote back and forth all the time. Like this, for instance.”

She’s referring to the music bumping over Boots Bakery’s sound system. We all stop to listen. It’s TLC’s “Creep.”

That might come as a bit of a surprise to anyone who’s ever heard the raucous barroom rock of Donna Donna, but even if they don’t sound anything like ’90s R&B’s most famous girl group, certainly they’re channeling their take-no-bullshit attitude. Janis Joplin and Grace Slick are also notable influences, as is Queen: Basically, anything that slays while maintaining a melodic vocal line is right up their alley.

But before she and Woith became bandmates, Johnston was mostly playing as a solo singer-songwriter, following a stint as guitarist in the quartet Violet Catastrophe.

“I couldn’t find anyone to play with me, and I wasn’t having fun playing by myself,” Johnston says. “Which is honestly why I started writing rock ’n’ roll music, hoping a drummer would want to play. I remember going to every show I played and being excited for it to be over. … It always felt lonely up there.”

J

ohnston started asking around, and quickly discovered that finding someone who’s adept behind a drum kit is easier said than done. But she was eventually introduced to Woith, who had been playing drums in a local cover band, and their connection was instant.

They work well together, it seems, because they’re flip ...continued on next page

FEBRUARY 8, 2018 INLANDER 45

MUSIC | TOPIC

Donna Donna’s debut album Basement Noise drops this weekend at the Bartlett.

KAT SKYE PHOTO

“DYNAMIC DUO,” CONTINUED... sides of the same creative coin: They’re both conceptual thinkers, but while Johnston has a lot of the big ideas, Woith helps rein them in a bit. When, for instance, Johnston announced her intentions to have at least 15 decent songs written before recording, Woith suggested an album half that length would suffice.

And now that debut record, Basement Noise, is about

to drop. It gets its name from a lyrical aside on the Bob Dylan bootleg collection The Basement Tapes, an appropriate reference point for a couple reasons: Not only was the album recorded in Woith’s basement, but it’s channeling the same shaggy, off-the-cuff energy that Dylan was going for.

All of the jagged edges you hear are completely deliberate.

“We brought the mics to our house and recorded it all,

which I loved,” Woith says. “If Lindsay wanted to come over at midnight and record vocal tracks, we could do that. It was so convenient and comfortable. And hopefully that comes through in the songs.”

“And that was on purpose,” Johnston says, “just to try and get some of that raw energy we have playing live.”

Spanning seven tracks and clocking in at just under a half hour, Basement Noise is heavy with smoldering blues guitar licks and cheeky lyrics about all those rock mainstays: wild parties, unbearable sexual tension, whirlwind relationships that are doomed to fail. But what’s refreshing about Donna Donna’s approach is that they aren’t adopting a style as some kind of ironic put-on. They’re unapologetic rock purists.

Because Woith and Johnston have wildly different work hours — Woith is a preschool teacher and barista, while Johnston is a bartender — their free time is a commodity. (“We always joke about we’re the most punctual band in rock ’n’ roll,” Woith says.) But their live schedule is no less busy: Most of their shows have been outside Spokane, and they’d like to tour in the future.

If they’re going to devote their time to this band, they say, they might as well go all in.

“We both had different ideas of [what makes] a successful band at the beginning,” Johnston says. “Cherri respected my ideas and I respected hers, and we both started compromising and committing early on.”

“And I think we’re both like, let’s just do it all then,” Woith adds. “You want this and I want this, so let’s just do it all.” n Donna Donna Album Release with Motopony and Nat Park and the Tunnels of Love • Sat, Feb. 10 at 8 pm • $8-$10 • All-ages • The Bartlett • 228 W. Sprague • thebartlettspokane.com • 747-2174

Roses are red violets are blue

& you Suck if you don't get your sweetheart something for Valentine's day

K.I.S.S. KEEP IT SIMPLE, SWEETHEART. ♥

Valentines’ Day Wednesday, February 14

Find special Valentine’s gift packages at Concierge on Level 1.

Downtown Spokane on Howard St.

46 INLANDER FEBRUARY 8, 2018

The perfect Valentine’s date — this time with WINE!

924 W GARLAND AVE, SPOKANE

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15TH $

5 ADMISSION

Advance tickets available at the box office

DOORS @ 7:00PM | PROGRAM STARTS @ 8:00PM ENTER TO WIN A DATE NIGHT PRIZE PACK

FREE POPCORN WHILE SUPPLIES LAST

MARYHILL WINEMAKERS RED AND VIOGNIER

COURTESY OF

MUSIC | SOUND ADVICE

R&B THE POINTER SISTERS

T

he funky, soulful Pointer Sisters were already popular when MTV came along in the early ’80s, thanks to the Oakland sisters’ harmonious vocal blends. (They even won a Grammy for Best Country Vocal Performance in 1975 for “Fairytale.”) Music videos, though, took them to a whole new level when the former quartet shrank to just Ruth, Anita and June, and they started focusing more on sexy dance-pop and R&B. In 1984, they reeled off four straight Top 10 hits — “Automatic,” “Jump (For My Love),” “I’m So Excited” and “Neutron Dance” — and their cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Fire” remains a killer. The current touring version is Ruth, her daughter Issa and granddaughter Sadako, so while they might not be the exact Pointer Sisters you remember, they kept it in the family to deliver a show full of hits.

— DAN NAILEN The Pointer Sisters • Sun, Feb. 11 at 7:30 pm • $45-$75 • Northern Quest Resort & Casino • 100 N. Hayford, Airway Heights • northernquest.com • 242-7000

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

Thursday, 02/8

J J THE BARTLETT, Songwriter Showcase with Eric Anderson J J THE BIG DIPPER, Marbin, Spyn Reset, Funky Unkle BOLO’S, Monthly Blues Boogie J BOOTS BAKERY, The Song Project J BUCER’S COFFEEHOUSE PUB, Open Jazz Jam with Erik Bowen J J COEUR D’ALENE CASINO, The Spinners CORBY’S BAR, Open Mic and Karaoke THE CORK & TAP, Truck Mills CRAVE, DJ Stoney Hawk CRUISERS, Open Jam Night THE GILDED UNICORN, Dave McRae HOUSE OF SOUL, Take 2 J HUMBLE BURGER, Jeffrey Martin, Taylor Kingman THE JACKSON ST., Songsmith Series JOHN’S ALLEY, Coral Creek, Dead Set J LAGUNA CAFÉ, Just Plain Darin MICKDUFF’S BEER HALL, Open Mic NIGHTHAWK LOUNGE (CDA CASINO), PJ Destiny THE OBSERVATORY, Vinyl Meltdown RED ROOM LOUNGE, Red Room Goes Boom RIDLER PIANO BAR, Dueling Pianos THE ROADHOUSE, Karaoke THE THIRSTY DOG, DJ WesOne ZOLA, Blake Braley

Friday, 02/9

219 LOUNGE, ‘80s Party with Cubik’s Rube, DJ Josh 3RD WHEEL, Maple Bars, Wide Stance ARBOR CREST, Son of Brad J J THE BARTLETT, Runaway Symphony, Brian Stai BEVERLY’S, Robert Vaughn

48 INLANDER FEBRUARY 8, 2018

ELECTRONIC LOTUS

L

otus is probably best known within jamband circles, but perhaps that categorization oversimplifies what they’re up to in their music. The Indiana-based five-piece is the kind of act designed for a live setting: Their elaborate light displays are a thing to behold, they rarely play the same setlist twice, and they’re adept at onstage improvisation.

But their musical influences are all over the place, incorporating elements of classic funk, disco and Top 40 pop into their electronica soundscapes. Lotus’ most recent release was last year’s Drink the Light, a four-song EP that barrels through danceable grooves and shimmering synth lines, and even if you’re not the kind of person who would follow a band around the country (as some of Lotus’ fans do), you’ll still find something to like in it.

— NATHAN WEINBENDER Lotus with Marvel Years • Wed, Feb. 14 at 8 pm • $22 • All-ages • Knitting Factory • 919 W. Sprague • sp.knittingfactory.com • 244-3279

J THE BIG DIPPER, Extortionist Distinguisher, Castaway, Born a New Plague, Shaman BIGFOOT PUB, Last Call Band BLACK DIAMOND, DJ Sterling BOLO’S, Gladhammer BOOMERS, My Own Worst Enemy BRIDGE PRESS, JoLynn Yates CEDAR STREET BRIDGE, Bright Moments CHINOOK STEAK, PASTA AND SPIRITS (CDA CASINO), Kicho CORBY’S BAR, Karaoke CRAFTSMAN CELLARS, Robinsong CRAVE, DJ Stoney Hawk

CRICKETS RESTAURANT, Perfect Mess CRUISERS, Karaoke with Gary CURLEY’S, Haze DRY FLY DISTILLERY, Nick Grow FARMHOUSE KITCHEN AND SILO BAR, Tom D’Orazi and Friends FEDORA PUB & GRILLE, Echo Elysium HOGFISH, New Couch Party, Better Daze, The Drag HOUSE OF SOUL, Blake Braley IDAHO POUR AUTHORITY, Muffy and the Riff Hangers IRON HORSE (CDA), JamShack THE JACKSON ST., Tufnel JOHN’S ALLEY, Breakfast for Dinner

KOOTENAI RIVER BREWING CO., Truck Mills LEFTBANK WINE BAR, Carey Brazil LIBERTY LAKE WINE CELLARS, Karen McCormick MARYHILL WINERY, Dylan Hathaway MICKDUFF’S BEER HALL, Ron Greene MOOSE LOUNGE, Cary Fly Band MULLIGAN’S, Eric Henderson NASHVILLE NORTH, Ladies Night NIGHTHAWK LOUNGE, Royale J NORTHERN QUEST RESORT & CASINO, Sara Evans Acoustic THE OBSERVATORY, Wasted Breath, Snakes/Sermons, Itchy Kitty

PALOUSE BAR AND GRILL, Bill Bozly PATIT CREEK CELLARS, Ken Davis PEND D’OREILLE WINERY, Brian Jacobs THE PIN!, Imurge, Alterum, Cats & Pajamas, J-Costa and more REPUBLIC BREWING, The Lowest Pair RIDLER PIANO BAR, Dueling Pianos RUSTIC BAKERY, Wyatt Wood SILVER MOUNTAIN, Devon Wade SPOKANE VALLEY EAGLES, Stagecoach West THIRSTY DOG, DJ WesOne & DJ Big Mike: I Love the ‘90s ZOLA, Chris Rieser and the Nerve

Saturday, 02/10

219 LOUNGE, Devon Wade 1210 TAVERN, Black Jack ARBOR CREST, Pamela Benton J ARLO’S, The Cole Show BARLOWS, Jan Harrison J J THE BARTLETT, Donna Donna (see page 45), Motopony, Nat Park and the Tunnels of Love J BEEROCRACY, Misty Mountain Pony Club, The Lowest Pair BEVERLY’S, Robert Vaughn BIGFOOT PUB, Last Call Band BLACK DIAMOND, DJ Kevin BOLO’S, Gladhammer BOOMERS, My Own Worst Enemy CEDAR STREET BRIDGE, Oak Street Connection CHINOOK STEAK, PASTA AND SPIRITS (CDA CASINO), Kicho COMMUNITY PINT, Cassandra Wheeler CURLEY’S, Haze FEDORA PUB, Keanu and Joey FLAME & CORK, Son of Brad GARLAND PUB & GRILL, Slow Cookin’ HOUSE OF SOUL, Nu Jack City IDAHO POUR AUTHORITY, Truck Mills IRON HORSE (CDA), JamShack THE JACKSON ST., Karaoke w/James

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.

JOHN’S ALLEY, DJ Miles J KNITTING FACTORY, AyZiM, Daethstar, Radikill, VitaminV J LAGUNA CAFÉ, Diane Copeland MICKDUFF’S, The Groove Black MIDTOWN PUB, Jessica Haffner MOONDOLLARS BISTRO, Rusty Jackson MOOSE LOUNGE, Cary Fly Band J MOOTSY’S, Rex Vox, The Normans, Double Bird MULLIGAN’S BAR & GRILLE, Pat Coast NASHVILLE NORTH, Ladies Night with Luke Jaxon and DJ Tom NORTHERN QUEST, DJ Patrick J THE OBSERVATORY, Fundamental feat. John August, Joey Treasure, Dave Keset, Josh Johnsson PALOUSE BAR AND GRILL, Bill Bozly J THE PIN!, Project (X), Serenity and Psychosis, Jacob Vanknowe, God’s Money Shot, Omission POST FALLS BREWING, Pamela Jean RIDLER PIANO BAR, Dueling Pianos J SEASONS OF CDA, Ron Greene J THE SHOP, Dario Ré SILVER MOUNTAIN SKI RESORT, Echo Elysium SPOKANE VALLEY EAGLES, Stagecoach West THE THIRSTY DOG, DJ WesOne and DJ Big Mike: Sexy Saturday J VFW POST 3067, Texas Twister WESTWOOD BREWING, Robby French ZOLA, Chris Rieser and the Nerve

Sunday, 02/11

CURLEY’S, Haze DALEY’S CHEAP SHOTS, Jam Night

GARLAND PUB & GRILL, Karaoke J HUMBLE BURGER, Joseph Hein, Mise IRON HORSE (VALLEY), LittleFish LINGER LONGER LOUNGE, Open Jam MARYHILL WINERY SPOKANE, Brown Salmon Truck J J NORTHERN QUEST, The Pointer Sisters (see facing page) O’DOHERTY’S, Live Irish Music J THE PIN!, Young Neves J SCHWEITZER MOUNTAIN RESORT, One Street Over Band ZOLA, Lazy Love

Monday, 02/12

J CALYPSOS COFFEE, Open Mic EICHARDT’S, Monday Night Jam with Truck Mills RED ROOM LOUNGE, Open Mic with Lucas Brookbank Brown ZOLA, Evan Dillinger

Tuesday, 02/13

219 LOUNGE, Karaoke with DJ Pat J THE BARTLETT, Northwest of New Orleans w/Abbey Crawford, Jazz NW Big Band, Hot Club of Spokane GARLAND PUB & GRILL, Karaoke J KAIJU SUSHI, Ethereal in E LEFTBANK WINE BAR, Turntable Tue. RAZZLE’S, Open Mic Jam RED ROOM LOUNGE, Tues. Takeover with Storme RIDLER PIANO BAR, Open Mic/Jam THE ROADHOUSE, Karaoke SPOKANE COMMUNITY COLLEGE, Nick Grow ZOLA, Dueling Cronkites

Wednesday, 02/14

219 LOUNGE, Truck Mills J J THE BARTLETT, The Wind & the Wave, Haley Johnsen, Rachel Price CHINOOK STEAK, PASTA AND SPIRITS (CDA CASINO), Bill Bozly GENO’S, Open Mic w/Travis Goulding IRON HORSE (VALLEY), Minor Adjustments JOHN’S ALLEY, Mike Dillon Band J J KNITTING FACTORY, Lotus (see facing page), Marvel Years J LAGUNA CAFÉ, Just Plain Darin LEFTBANK WINE BAR, Carey Brazil THE LOCAL DELI, Wyatt Wood LUCKY’S IRISH PUB, DJ D3VIN3 POOLE’S PUBLIC HOUSE, The Cronkites RED ROOM LOUNGE, Blowin’ Kegs Jam Session RIDLER PIANO BAR, Dueling Pianos THE ROADHOUSE, Open Mic SOULFUL SOUPS & SPIRITS, Open Mic THE THIRSTY DOG, Karaoke TWO SEVEN PUBLIC HOUSE, Matt Mitchell WESTWOOD BREWING, Echo Elysium ZOLA, Whsk&Keys

Coming Up ...

J THE BARTLETT, Songwriter Showcase w/Natalie Schepman, Feb. 15 J KNITTING FACTORY, Anthrax, Killswitch Engage, Havok, Feb. 17 BING CROSBY THEATER, Petty Fever, Feb. 17 J J KNITTING FACTORY, Matisyahu, Feb. 21

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. THE BIG DIPPER • 171 S. Washington • 863-8098 BIGFOOT PUB • 9115 N. Division St. • 467-9638 BING CROSBY THEATER • 901 W. Sprague Ave. • 227-7638 BLACK DIAMOND • 9614 E. Sprague • 891-8357 BOLO’S • 116 S. Best Rd. • 891-8995 BOOMERS • 18219 E. Appleway Ave. • 755-7486 BOOTS BAKERY & LOUNGE • 24 W. Main Ave. • 703-7223 BRAVO CONCERT HOUSE • 25 E. Lincoln Rd. • 703-7474 BUCER’S COFFEEHOUSE PUB • 201 S. Main, Moscow • 208-882-5216 BUZZ COFFEEHOUSE • 501 S. Thor • 340-3099 CALYPSOS COFFEE & CREAMERY • 116 E. Lakeside Ave., CdA • 208-665-0591 CHATEAU RIVE • 621 W. Mallon Ave. • 795-2030 CHECKERBOARD BAR • 1716 E. Sprague Ave. • 535-4007 COEUR D’ALENE CASINO • 37914 S. Nukwalqw Rd., Worley, Idaho • 800-523-2464 COEUR D’ALENE CELLARS • 3890 N. Schreiber Way, CdA • 208-664-2336 CRAFTED TAP HOUSE • 523 Sherman Ave., CdA • 208-292-4813 CRAVE• 401 W. Riverside • 321-7480 CRUISERS • 6105 W Seltice Way, Post Falls • 208773-4706 CURLEY’S • 26433 W. Hwy. 53 • 208-773-5816 DALEY’S CHEAP SHOTS • 6412 E. Trent • 535-9309 EICHARDT’S PUB • 212 Cedar St., Sandpoint • 208-263-4005 THE FEDORA • 1726 W. Kathleen, CdA • 208-7658888 FIZZIE MULLIGANS • 331 W. Hastings • 466-5354 FOX THEATER • 1001 W. Sprague • 624-1200 THE HIVE • 207 N. First, Sandpoint • 208-457-2392 HOGFISH • 1920 E. Sherman, CdA • 208-667-1896 HOTEL RL BY RED LION AT THE PARK • 303 W. North River Dr. • 326-8000 HOUSE OF SOUL • 120 N. Wall • 217-1961 IRON HORSE BAR • 407 E. Sherman Ave., CdA • 208-667-7314 IRON HORSE BAR & GRILL • 11105 E. Sprague Ave., CdA • 509-926-8411 JACKSON ST. BAR & GRILL • 2436 N. Astor St. • 315-8497 JOHN’S ALLEY • 114 E. Sixth St., Moscow • 208883-7662 KNITTING FACTORY • 911 W. Sprague Ave. • 244-3279 LAGUNA CAFÉ • 2013 E. 29th Ave. • 448-0887 THE LANTERN TAP HOUSE • 1004 S. Perry St. • 315-9531 LA ROSA CLUB • 105 S. First Ave., Sandpoint • 208-255-2100 LEFTBANK WINE BAR • 108 N. Washington • 315-8623 LUCKY’S IRISH PUB • 408 W. Sprague • 747-2605 MAX AT MIRABEAU • 1100 N. Sullivan • 924-9000 MICKDUFF’S • 312 N. First Ave., Sandpoint • 208)255-4351 MONARCH MOUNTAIN COFFEE • 208 N 4th Ave, Sandpoint • 208-265-9382 MOOSE LOUNGE • 401 E. Sherman • 208-664-7901 MOOTSY’S • 406 W. Sprague • 838-1570 MULLIGAN’S • 506 Appleway Ave., CdA • 208- 7653200 ext. 310 NASHVILLE NORTH • 6361 W. Seltice Way, Post Falls • 208-457-9128 NECTAR CATERING & EVENTS • 120 N. Stevens St. • 869-1572 NORTHERN QUEST RESORT • 100 N. Hayford Rd., Airway Heights • 242-7000 NYNE • 232 W. Sprague Ave. • 474-1621 THE OBSERVATORY • 15 S. Howard • 598-8933 O’SHAY’S • 313 E. CdA Lake Dr. • 208-667-4666 PEND D’OREILLE WINERY • 301 Cedar St., Sandpoint • 208-265-8545 THE PIN! • 412 W. Sprague • 368-4077 RED LION RIVER INN • 700 N. Division • 326-5577 RED ROOM LOUNGE • 521 W. Sprague • 838-7613 REPUBLIC BREWING • 26 Clark Ave. • 775-2700 THE RIDLER PIANO BAR • 718 W. Riverside • 822-7938 RIVELLE’S • 2360 N Old Mill Loop, CdA • 208-9300381 THE ROADHOUSE • 20 N. Raymond • 413-1894 SEASONS OF COEUR D’ALENE • 209 E. Lakeside Ave. • 208-664-8008 THE SHOP • 924 S. Perry St. • 534-1647 SOULFUL SOUPS & SPIRITS • 117 N. Howard St. • 459-1190 SPOKANE ARENA • 720 W. Mallon • 279-7000 THE THIRSTY DOG • 3027 E. Liberty Ave. • 487-3000 TIMBER GASTRO PUB •1610 E Schneidmiller, Post Falls • 208-262-9593 ZOLA • 22 W. Main Ave. • 624-2416

FEBRUARY 8, 2018 INLANDER 49

The cover for Lilac City Fairy Tales Vol. IV: Towers & Dungeons, by Keely Honeywell.

WORDS + BENEFIT TOWERING TALENT

Annually for the past four years, award-winning Spokane author Sharma Shields gathers up a volunteer team of fellow wordsmiths to help her compile the ultra-local writing collection Lilac City Fairy Tales. Proceeds from the anthology support West Central/Kendall Yards literacy and education center Spark Central. Each year, the number of submissions grows, and so do the quality and diversity of poems, essays and short fiction printed within the themed editions. This year’s work was inspired by the prompt “Towers and Dungeons,” with contributors given the freedom to interpret the words literally or figuratively. For the fourth volume’s launch, several contributing poets, writers and local musicians are set to perform, with ticket proceeds also supporting Spark’s programming for kids, teens and adults in subjects such as writing, the arts and technology. (Full disclosure: I am one of the local writers whose work is featured in this year’s anthology.)

— CHEY SCOTT Lilac City Fairy Tales Vol. IV: Towers & Dungeons • Wed, Feb. 14 at 7 pm • $11-$16 • Bing Crosby Theater • 901 W. Sprague • friendsofthebing.org • spark-central.org

WORDS UNCOMFORTABLE HISTORY

Spokane Falls Community College is in the midst of celebrating its 50th birthday, and as part of the celebration they’re hosting what is sure to be an interesting discussion of controversial local figure Colonel George Wright. Author Donald Cutler will be on hand to talk about his book Hang Them All: George Wright at the Plateau Indian War, and he’ll be joined by Gonzaga faculty member and Colville tribal member Laurie Arnold, as well as Spokane tribal member Warren Seyler. Expect the talk to address Wright’s role in the region, and the effect of naming places after figures from America’s darkest historical moments.

— DAN NAILEN Fireside Chat: History of Col. George Wright • Tue, Feb. 13 at 5:30 pm • Free • Spokane Falls Community College • 3410 W. Fort George Wright Dr. • spokanefalls.edu

50 INLANDER FEBRUARY 8, 2018

ARTS A DECADE PLUS

Terrain’s 10th annual local art and performance showcase already happened this past fall, but the local arts organization is continuing to celebrate that big milestone into the new year with the new gallery show Ten Years of Terrain. The decade-long look back, on display at the organization’s permanent art gallery space in the Washington Cracker Co. Building, features numerous pieces from past years’ events, with at least one piece from each year.

Nods to past Terrain inceptions include Cabby Barnard and Tiffany Kendrick’s balloon room from Terrain 4, along with Alan Chatham’s Choose-Your-Own-Adventure pay phone from Terrain 7, and much more. More than 35 local Terrain contributors are featured in the showcase, which opens Friday and runs through late March.

— CHEY SCOTT Ten Years of Terrain • Opens Fri, Feb. 9 from 5-8 pm; gallery open Thu-Sat from 5-7 pm through March 24 • Terrain Gallery • 304 W. Pacific • terrainspokane.com

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.

BENEFIT PUPPY & KITTEN KISSES

I’m know I’m not alone in considering my dear, sweet kitty an equal “valentine” with the special humans I adore. My love for her runs just as deep. Yet before you plan to spend the evening of Feb. 14 snuggled up at home with the human and animal stars of your own heart, perhaps with some wine and chocolate in hand, consider heading to this annual outpouring of love for one of the region’s largest animal welfare nonprofits. This year, the Spokane Humane Society’s Puppy Love celebration is taking place at the scenic, new Maryhill Winery Spokane tasting room overlooking the Spokane River gorge.

Tickets include a glass of wine, complimentary appetizers and the chance to bid on silent auction packages donated by local businesses and SHS supporters. Word is that even a few furry guests will be in attendance and looking for their perfect match, too.

— CHEY SCOTT Puppy Love • Tue, Feb. 13 from 5:30-8:30 pm • $15 at the door • Maryhill Winery • 1303 W. Summit Pkwy. • bit.ly/2DX5lRB • 467-5235 x. 211

PERFORMANCE AFRO-MEXICAN FUSION

For one of the final performances to be hosted by Washington State University’s soon-to-be-unfunded Performing Arts department, foremost American dance company Cleo Parker Robinson Dance introduces a culturally infused performance with “MictlanRx.” Created by Mexican artists Betsy Pardo and Jairo Heli, with musical arrangements by Edwin Bandala, “MictlanRx” conveys the struggles of indigenous and Afro-Mexican people. It also asks the audience to partake in some reflection, posing questions like how modern socio-economic systems impact indigenous and Afro-Mestizo communities.

The performance features avant garde dance styles and a traditional AfroMexican instrument called the donkey jawbone. The performance’s name is a reference to Mictlan, a place of the dead in Aztec mythology, and the abbreviation for prescription, “Rx.” — ALLA DROKINA “MictlanRx” • Sat, Feb. 10 at 7:30 pm • $16-$22 • Jones Theatre at Daggy Hall • WSU Pullman campus • performingarts.wsu.edu • 800-325-SEAT

FEBRUARY 8, 2018 INLANDER 51

W I SAW YOU CHEERS JEERS

&

I SAW YOU CHIVALRY IS NOT A FLIRTATIOUS ATTEMPT To the young, blonde and not unattractive young lady who thought my “good deed” of opening the door for you at the Barnes & Noble was an attempt to hit on you. I could tell by the look on your face afterwards that you or cautiously concerned that this would lead up to further conversation or possibly sharing coffee together... It turns out it was simply opening the door for someone because chivalry is not dead. And it is also not a constant attempt to hit on you. Perhaps getting over yourself would help?

LET’S CONTINUE ... SFG, You have been my light at the end of a dark tunnel. You bring me such JOY and HAPPINESS. You are Yang to my Yin. Let’s continue this journey we began and not let it end.

Everyday my love grows deeper and I cherish our life together. I Love You Babe RESPONSE TO TRUMP HYPOCRACY Lol don’t go blowin your stack on Trump, then using his name and Christianity in the same sentence. From how you described this self-proclaimed messiah, the bible promises that people will be saying “peace and security” when the end of this world finally comes. So, although I consider his ego too enlarged for the christian faith, it appears he may indeed fulfill prophecy.

Take heart :) TO THE ONE I LOVE: I’ve known you for many years, I can hardly remember being

CANADIAN BACON I would cross any border for you. Your blue eyes are rare like unicorns. I want to eat street tacos with you until we grow old together. We will laugh together, and you might make me pee. I want to reel in this fish-because you caught me with that beard.

15, 10, HERE’S TO 20 MORE, BEAUTIFUL Sixteen years ago I saw you really for the first time when you told me who the fourth Beatle was while you were trying to hide a cramp in your hip. You held my Mickey glove at Groovy Shoes and everyday since that day I have Loved you more everyday. Ten years ago this week I said I do, and I look forward to another ten, and ten more tens after that. I Love you, Beautiful.

SLURPEE SUPER HERO On Super Bowl Sunday, I saw you picking up slurpees, soup and treats for some especially sick kiddos.

You not only made the night easier for everyone but you looked cute doing so. You really know how to save the day. Superman curl and all.

MY VALENTINE I saw you…first, on campus, in the lecture hall, and at the library.

Our eyes always met. That was the start of something magical. Soon after, I saw you in my peripheral vision, riding shotgun in the Dodge filled with our camping gear as we traversed the country, visiting the National Parks. We’ve explored dozens together. Then, I saw you as my beautiful bride, in your approach up the aisle that hot August afternoon. Our traveling adventures continued, and I saw you in the mirrors of a rented Penske truck, following in the Dodge – our small convoy toward our new home in the West. Soon after we planted new roots, I saw you, my travel mate, backpacking Europe for

the summer. Years later, I saw you in pain, quickly converted to bliss, as you brought our daughter into the world, and two years later, our son. I saw your strength and pride. And now I still see you as I first saw you at UIC, but now as my beautiful wife, and loving mother of our children. Love might be blind…but I’m lucky that I saw you. I love you Sheila.

CHEERS MY WIFE, MY BEST FRIEND, MY SOULMATE Cheers to my beautiful ginger wife.

I cannot imagine life without you. We have had our share of ups and downs and thankfully the ups significantly outweigh the downs. I could not have asked for a better wife or a better friend or a more perfect soulmate. I love the two wild and crazy children we’ve created and I love our

“

THANK YOU The day i almost died, and my life flashed before my eyes, the crazy idea that i could spend my life with you was the reason i saved my own life, at deaths door all i could see was your face, and all i could hear was your name. And to this day you still call me crazy for loving you, but it was you who saved my life that day and you never even knew, so thank you. #HOW LONG WILL THIS FLY? So the car racing world is stepping up to the plate and dropping the Sexist Degraded “Babes” (no longer of course PC) that hold umbrellas over the drivers heads as they sit in the car waiting for the race. BTW F1 has FAR more viewers than probably ALL the sports in the US combined--kind of like European Football (worldwide). Well might as well wake up Spokane and get set to face

SOUND OFF

46

PRIME RIB

40

MEDITERRANEAN PASTA

$

AND/OR

SALMON

AND/OR

JAEGERSCHNITZEL RESTAURANT & LOUNGE OPEN AT: 11AM MON-FRI & 9AM SAT-SUN

1812 W. Francis Avenue • Spokane • 509.326.2214

52 INLANDER FEBRUARY 8, 2018

JEERS TO TIMELESS COGNITIVE DISONANCE SEMANTICS?: Why is it that when a group of “white people” move into an area inhabited by “un-white-people”

one group or individual step up and defend this woman! The disbanding of sport’s cheerleaders can’t be far off in this country at ALL levels as the # women of America will Not stand for it! What position will the women of Spokane take? Or the people of Spokane in general? Where is Your Voice?

Why is a male writing about this rather than a woman? Yes I know there is Nothing that upsets the people of Spokane more than someone that brings this kind of issue up. It’s like incest. We all know it happens but have the decency to Not bring it up.

Is it time to join the 21st century here in Spokane?

MY WONDERFUL HUSBAND I want to say cheers to my amazing husband Baron! We have been married almost a month now and wanted to share with everyone how happy I am and how much of a good man he is! Happy valentine’s day I love you!

THIRTY NINE COUNTIES I think I’m in love! Tod Marshal’s essay, THIRTY NINE COUNTIES (WITH INTERLUDES)is pure poetry. It makes my heart sing.

”

and take over it is a Discovery that leads to Manifest Destiny but when a group of “not-white-people” move in later it is an affront and an “illegal immigration”?

I guess it depends on who is writing the history book.

“HOW INCREDIBLY SAD” IS WRONG! Yes, a young man died by suicide. But is it really important to chastise or criticize people who don’t understand his actions and try to seek a why? The real issue here is how do we address the mental health crisis in our community? n

THIS WEEK'S ANSWERS G U E V A R A

A P R I C O T

T I E G A M E

W A D S U P

C L U E S I N

S E R R A N O

Y E L I L S E A N M U P E T A N I A R M T E O S

E L I A A N T R E

A E T N A

O H R A T L S Y R E

R C A B A R E A L L A H A

H I G T H U B B M A A N N D S C D E R C O U M A

U N L E A R N T

R V E R S

E L O I S H B U O R N

L I N E S U P

S E N S A T E

W E T N A P

E R O T I S M

G E R A L D O

G E T N E A R

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WAR AND PEACE I know you love me, but why do speak to me like someone you might hate? Stop lying to my face. Stop listening to racist hate rhetoric. Stop believing the lies these traitors are telling you about me. You have eyes but you can not see, and ears but you can not hear. You do not know the whole story. You have to choose between this gang of ignorant hate mongers or the woman you love. Choose wisely. You know i love you more than anyone. You have to be accountable with me and the Almighty with these false accusations you have made of me. Do you think God is blind and deaf?

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.

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.”

COMPLETE DINNER FOR TWO

JEERS

I want to eat street tacos with you until we grow old together.

family life together. Thanking you for saying yes all those years ago in that park in Paris. I’m so happy that we’re growing old together and that we can laugh with each other and hold hands all the way to the end. I love you. I respect you. Thank you for our life together.

Valentine’s Special

the grim reality that ALL sexist similar organized groups will get demanded to disband! ANY form of female scantily clade exhibits will NO Longer Be Tolerated. Think of the degradation of our daughters prancing in front of men of Any age! The day of the elephant in the circus is Over! You can’t have it Both ways! You can’t throw men out of their jobs without trial for transgressions and demand equal respect/pay for women then hang on to such antiquated degrading sexist rituals! Now the fact that women in Spokane were completely silent on the female police officer that was “raped” (look up the legal threshold in the law) at a party put on by other police officers and completely mistreated by the courts has me a bit confused as to whether this city’s women are even at the level of the 19th century in terms of enlightenment. Go back and study the suffragettes who paid Heavy prices for their gains! And yet I didn’t see

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CH O

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without you. Our trip to Waikiki showed us the beauty of God’s creation. (It also reminded me of the beauty of you) You’ve always been a strength to me, there is peace in your arms. Thank you for showing me what true love and friendship means.

I don’t know where we’d be without the Lord in our lives, so I thank Him for what He has done in both of us. So many blessings! I wrote this poem for you. Happy Valentine’s Day! Whether we are walking on the beach, Or walking through the snow, My heart will not be out of reach, Wherever you may go.

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EVENTS | CALENDAR

BENEFIT 4-H FUNDRAISER: PEN THE PIGS! The evening benefit includes dinner, auction, dance and more, with food provided by Scheffelmaier Meats and music by Earl Wear. Feb. 9, 6-10 pm. $10. Kootenai County Fairgrounds, 4056 N. Government Way. northidahofair.com BEYOND WORDS: SONGS OF COMMUNICATION A concert to benefit the Spokane Valley Partners Food Bank. Feb. 9, 6:30 pm. $5-$30. St. Joseph’s Church, 1503 W. Dean Ave. (509-328-4841) INSPIRE! BENEFIT AUCTION Support Spokane Public Montessori at its fourth annual auction, featuring silent/live auctions, live music, a fairytale photo booth, a dinner buffet, live DJ and more. Feb. 10, 6-11 pm. $40-$50. Riverside Place, 1108 W. Riverside. spm.schoolauction.net/inspireauction2018 SPOKANE ALUMNAE PANHELLENIC SCHOLARSHIP LUNCHEON All women of the community are invited to the Spokane Alumnae Panhellenic Scholarship Luncheon with guest speaker Rob Curley, editor of the Spokesman-Review.

Feb. 10, 11 am-2 pm. $15-$25. Spokane Valley United Methodist Church, 115 N. Raymond. (954-8980) PUPPY LOVE! A Valentine’s Day event benefiting the Spokane Humane Society; admission includes a glass of wine, light foods and an opportunity to bid on romantic silent auction items. Feb. 13, 5:308 pm. $15. Maryhill Winery Spokane, 1303 W. Summit Pkwy. bit.ly/2D1Uvwu HEARTS FOR HORSES Join Full Circle Equine Rehabilitation Center for a buffet

dinner and two glasses of Townshend’s award-winning wine, along with carriage rides with Teddy ‘n’ Tater. All proceeds supporting Full Circle Equine Rehabilitation. Feb. 14, 5:30-8:30 pm. $50. Townshend Cellar, 8022 E. Greenbluff Rd. townshendcellar.com (220-2800) LILAC CITY FAIRY TALES The fourth annual benefit for Spark Central features original stories, poems, and songs from some of the brightest artistic talent in our region. The evening includes a collection of short stories read aloud by local authors accompanied by local musicians, based on this year’s theme, “Towers & Dungeons.” Feb. 14, 8 pm. $11-$16. Bing Crosby Theater, 901 W. Sprague. bit. ly/2nYMQIW (509-227-7404)

COMEDY PABLO FRANCISCO Pablo’s Comedy Central specials “They Put It Out There” and “Ouch!” continue to stay on the networks most requested list. Feb. 8-9 at 8 pm, Feb. 10 at 7 and 9:30 pm. $15-$28.

Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com (318-9998) CHOOSE TO LOSE Audience members compete in this wacky all-improvised game show, in which winning is losing!

Fridays at 8 pm through Feb. 9. Rated for general audiences. $7. Blue Door Theatre, 815 W. Garland. bluedoortheatre.com SAFARI The BDT’s fast-paced, shortform improv show in a game-based format relies on audience suggestions to fuel each scene. Ages 16+. Saturdays from 8-9:30 pm. $7. Blue Door Theatre, 815 W. Garland. bluedoortheatre.com

DRINK N’ DEBATE A monthly, improvstyle debate show, featuring four teams of three comedians from across the Pacific Northwest. Feb. 11, 8 pm. $11-$14.

Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com DEBRA DIGIOVANNI The award-winning Canadian comic competed on Last Comic Standing and is also an accomplished voice performer. Feb. 14-16 at 8 pm; Feb. 17 at 7 and 9:30 pm. $10-$22. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com (509-318-9998)

COMMUNITY LET’S MAKE A WEBSITE! A relaxed, beginner-friendly and hands-on introduction to coding the web. Bring your own laptop to follow along and take your own creation home. Feb. 8, 6-8:30 pm. Free.

Startup Spokane Central, 610 W. Second. unicorncode.org TIME’S UP SPOKANE TOWN HALL Community leaders host a forum to discuss what can be done locally to prevent sexual violence, and to achieve justice for survivors. Feb. 8, 5:30-7 pm. Free. Northeast Community Center, 4001 N. Cook St. (487-1603) TITANIC: THE ARTIFACT EXHIBITION This blockbuster exhibit takes visitors on a journey back in time to experience the legend of Titanic through more than 120 real artifacts recovered from the ocean floor. The objects, along with room re-creations and personal stories, offer haunting, emotional connections to lives abruptly ended or forever altered.

Through May 20; Tue-Sun 10 am-5 pm (Thu until 8 pm). $13-$18. The MAC, 2316

W. First. northwestmuseum.org STATE OF THE CITY ADDRESS A presentation with Mayor David Condon, discussing transformational ideas, initiatives, and investments that are enhancing residents’ quality of life and accelerating new investment in Spokane. Feb. 9, 11:30 am. $40-$55. Spokane Convention Center, 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. greaterspokane.org DROP IN & ART: DIY VALENTINE’S CARDS Join creative mastermind Annmarie Edwards to design and create your own personalized Valentine’s day cards, flowers and envelopes for your special someone. Feb. 10, 3-4:30 pm.

Free. Spark Central, 1214 W. Summit Pkwy. spark-central.org (279-0299) FATHER DAUGHTER DANCE Join Rathdrum Parks & Recreation for its annual dance, with two sessions available, from 4-6 pm and 7-9 pm. At KETC, 6838 W. Lancaster Rd, Rathdrum. Feb. 10, 4-6 & 7-9 pm. $15 per couple; $5/additional child. rathdrum.org/rec HOMEBUYER EDUCATION SEMINAR Explore the major aspects of the homebuying process in an unbiased format with instructors certified by the Washington State Housing Finance Commission.

Registration required, email Dunning@ SNAPWA.org or call 319-3032. Feb. 10, 9 am-2 pm. Free. Argonne Library, 4322 N. Argonne Rd. (893-8260) REVISITING LEWIS & CLARK David Casteal discusses the Lewis and Clark Expedition through the eyes of York, William Clark’s childhood companion and slave and the only Black man in the Corps of Discovery. Mr. Casteal also presents the

story of West African drumming and its migration to America and place in Black history. Feb. 10, 3 pm. Free. Shadle Library, 2111 W. Wellesley. (444-5390) COEUR D’ALENE MAKERS MARKET The local makers market includes kids activities, shopping and more, with free parking in the Resort parking garage.

Feb. 11, 10 am-4 pm. Free admission. The Coeur d’Alene Resort, 115 S. Second. bit. ly/2nP6Kmf (208-765-4000) SAVE YOUR PHOTOS Learn to create a back-up plan for your treasured photographs and videos and avoid heartbreaking losses. Feb. 12, 2 pm. Free. South Hill Library, 3324 S. Perry. spokanelibrary.org GARDEN STARTERS Master Gardener Kurt Madison shares his experience on how to bring a garden along from seed to harvest. Learn about layout and design, propagation by seed, and selecting plants for the region’s climate. Feb. 13, 6:30-7:30 pm. Free. Fairfield Library, 305 E. Main. (893-8320) ONE BILLION RISING A global dance disrupt with the intention of raising awareness of exploitation against women in all its forms - economic, sexual, political, social. Feb. 14, 4-5 pm. Free. River Park Square, 808 W. Main. onebillionrising.org

FILM OSCAR NOMINATED SHORTS Come and see the nominated shorts before the Academy picks. See all three categories, or just your favorite. Showtimes on Feb. 8 at 7 pm; Feb. 9 at 5:30 and 8 pm; Feb. 10 at 1:30, 5 and 8 pm. $10-$21. Panida Theater, 300 N. First. panida.org

FEBRUARY 8, 2018 INLANDER 53

Even where medical marijuana is legal, some doctors remain reluctant to prescribe it.

BUSINESS

Life in Limbo How the uncertainty surrounding cannabis is being felt in other industries

BY TUCK CLARRY

54 INLANDER FEBRUARY 8, 2018

D

espite assurances from federal prosecutors, physicians throughout America are reeling back their prescription-writing and recommendations of cannabis for their patients.

In many states, cannabis-as-medical-solution has only reached its infancy stage, due to doctors’ hesitancy to use a product due to either their practice’s corporate ties or even the stigma that pot has with dealing.

But the patient demand does not match practitioner reluctancy. According to the Washington Post, 20,000 patients have registered with Maryland’s Medical Cannabis Commission, with 200 plus new applications coming every day.

But the enrollment of doctors has plateaued at around 700, making availability increasingly difficult.

The Maryland State Medical Society is reporting that enrolled doctors who were tepidly writing pot prescriptions are starting to reverse their course. It’s hard to make doctors seriously consider a solution not taught in med school and still considered illegal by the federal government.

“I don’t think we’re ready for it,” orthopedic surgeon Gary Pushkin told the Washington Post about patients’ modern alternative. “It seems we’re being driven by YouTube videos now.”

Maryland’s slow doctor registry is paralleled by reluctancy from professionals in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York and Massachusetts. Only 218 doctors have registered

into Massachusetts’ program that has been open for three years.

And doctors are not alone, with foreign investment groups like Canada’s Aphria Inc. now shying away from their investments in the United States’ medical marijuana industry. The company, which had investments in operations and companies in Arizona, Colorado and Florida, is beginning to sell its stakes.

The change in course is centered around the company’s fear of how Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) stance could change with the Trump administration’s evolving view of cannabis. In October, the TSX released guidance that suggested companies with ongoing U.S. marijuana-related business ventures in violation of federal law were acting out of compliance with the TSX requirements.

Meanwhile, the CSA, which previously demanded an outlined disclosure from companies invested in U.S. marijuana practices, is debating guidance for these companies moving forward, leaving the transnational industry in limbo.

“The CSA is considering whether our disclosure-based approach for issuers with U.S. marijuana-related activities remains appropriate,” officials stated. “Issuers with no U.S. marijuana-related activities and that otherwise operate in compliance with applicable Canadian laws are not the focus.” n

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

FEBRUARY 8, 2018 INLANDER 55

GREEN ZONE

BE AWARE: Marijuana is legal for adults 21 and older under Washington State law (e.g., RCW 69.50, RCW 69.51A, HB0001 Initiative 502 and Senate Bill 5052). State law does not preempt federal law; possessing, using, distributing and selling marijuana remains illegal under federal law. In Washington state, consuming marijuana in public, driving while under the influence of marijuana and transporting marijuana across state lines are all illegal. Marijuana has intoxicating effects; there may be health risks associated with its consumption, and it may be habit-forming. It can also impair concentration, coordination and judgment. Do not operate a vehicle or machinery under the influence of this drug. Keep out of reach of children. For more information, consult the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board at www.liq.wa.gov.

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FEBRUARY 8, 2018 INLANDER 59

RELATIONSHIPS

Advice Goddess MIXED EMOJIS

I’m dating again now and annoyed by how texting’s become the way you get to know somebody you might want to go out with. I type all day at work. I’ll talk on the phone, but the last thing I want to do when I’m off is type text messages. —Contrary Millennial Woman Back in, say, 539 B.C. in Sumer, if you wanted to tell somebody you were “laughing out loud,” you’d have to AMY ALKON dispatch your eunuch across town with the message on a cuneiform tablet. Okay, so the “tablets” are way more tricked out these days, but oh, how far we haven’t come.

Texting can be a great way to get to know somebody — somebody who can’t talk on the phone because they’re hiding in a closet from kidnappers in a Liam Neeson movie. However, assuming neither of you is in immediate danger of being sold into sex slavery by the standard swarthy Hollywood terrorists, you should hold off on any text-athons until after you put in some solid face-to-face time.

Sure, in texting, it seems like all sorts of information is getting “bloop!”ed back and forth. However, you end up missing some vital elements — tone of voice, emotion, body language — that you’d have in person or even FaceTiming on your phone.

People shrug that off: “No biggie…I’ll just see all that stuff when we meet.” Well, there’s a problem with that. “Nature,” it’s said, “abhors a vacuum,” and it seems the human brain isn’t so hot on it, either. Research by neuroscientist Michael Gazzaniga suggests that when people lack information, their brain helps them by making up a narrative that seems to make sense. So there’s a good chance your brain is going to be your helpful little servant and fill in the missing bits — with ideas about a person that may not correspond all that closely with reality.

In other words, you’re accidentally onto something with your dislike of textathons. That said, the telephone isn’t the best way to get to know somebody, either — not even via FaceTime, which only gives you a partial picture. That’s why I think you and anyone you’re considering dating should communicate minimally online or by phone and get together in person ASAP. Ideally, your first date should be three things: cheap, short, and local — making it low-cost in time, money, and, on some occasions, “lemme outta here, you sick pumpkin latte-slurping degenerate!” (Apologies to any degenerates who don’t befoul their latte with autumn Febreze.)

Tell guys your preference, and don’t be swayed by texting aficionados who insist that you simply MUST engage in marathon text sessions before meeting somebody… because…because safety! Sure, meet your dates in public places (rather than have them pop by your place so they can zip-tie you and stuff you in their trunk). The reality is, texting somebody till your fingers bleed is not the equivalent of an FBI report on their trustworthiness — though it will leave you well-prepared to testify at The Hague on their war crimes against the apostrophe.

KINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX

My wife and I have our differences in bed. Let’s say that I like A and she likes B. So we alternate — A one time and B the next — meaning we’re each only satisfied half the time. Is this a smart compromise? —Curious Relationships do take compromise — especially when one of you’s in the mood for foreplay with whipped cream and strawberries and then a glance at the calendar reveals: “Oh, crap. It’s Medieval Torture Device Monday.”

As for whether your sex compromise is “smart,” it depends. Research by social psychologist Shelly Gable finds that in a relationship, you can do the exact same activity on your partner’s behalf — say, picking up their thumbscrews from the welder — and have it be good or bad for the relationship, depending on your motivation.

Couples in Gable’s studies were happiest when partners’ efforts for each other were driven by “approach” rather than “avoidance” goals. “Approach” involves moving in a positive direction, making an effort for positive reasons — such as barking like a gibbon in bed because you love your partner and want them to be happy. “Avoidance” involves doing it to prevent rejection or conflict (like being exiled to the couch for three days).

An “approach” approach to sex, especially, appears to pay off. Social psychologist Amy Muise found that partners who took pleasure in giving their partner sexual pleasure “felt more satisfied and committed both at the … time and three weeks later.” The message in all of this? A smart sex compromise runs on enthusiasm for rocking each other’s world in bed — even if the thing your partner’s into plays for you like “How ‘bout we sneak out to my car for a quick endoscopy?” 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)

60 INLANDER FEBRUARY 8, 2018

EVENTS | CALENDAR SPIFF 20 The 20th annual Spokane International Film Festival features screenings of local, national and international films of all genres.n Feb. 2-9.

Screenings at the Bing Crosby and Magic Lantern theaters. $6-$12/film; $100/ weekend pass. spokanefilmfestival.org

FOOD VALENTINE’S NIGHT OUT CULINARY CLASS A culinary class with instructor Kristi Fountain, covering how to make beet salad, followed by a main course of cheesy stuffed shells in red sauce, and chocolate mousse. Feb. 12, 5:30-7 pm. $39. Kitchen Engine, 621 W. Mallon Ave. thekitchenengine.com LOVE YOUR FARMER, LOVE YOUR FOOD A panel of North Idaho farmer/ ranchers present stories about their farms and farming practices. Sponsored by the Inland Northwest Food Network.

Feb. 13, 5:30-8 pm. $12-$17. Kootenai County Fairgrounds, 4056 N. Gov’t Way. inwfoodnetwork.org CIGAR PARTY & DINNER A threecourse dinner paired with Crispin Rosé hard cider, Kiona Rosé and three cigars from La Palina. Feb. 13, 6-8 pm. $50.

Legends of Fire, 100 N. Hayford Rd. northernquest.com FRIED CHICKEN & LOCAL BEER The monthly event from Chef Adam Hegsted features fried chicken paired with beers from a local brewery. Second Wednesday of the month, 6-9 pm. $35. Wandering Table, 1242 W. Summit Pkwy. thewanderingtable.com SWEETHEART WINE DINNER Dinner features dishes created by Chef Brian, with wine pairings by Wine Steward Drew Smith. Menu includes shrimp, filet mignon, gateau entremet and wines from around the world. Feb. 14, 6-8 pm. $125/couple. My Fresh Basket, 1030 W. Summit Pkwy. bit.ly/2noBPha VALENTINES DATE NIGHT COOKING CLASS Executive Chef Jeannie Lincoln shares how to make gnocchi during a hands-on class, culminating in a familystyle meal inside the historic venue.

Feb. 14-15 from 6-9 pm. 50$. Commellini Estate, 14715 N. Dartford Dr. commellini.com SIPS & CINEMA: DATE NIGHT A Valentine’s Day-themed installment of the Inlander’s beer+movie series, this time with wine from Maryhill Winery. Movie starts at 8 pm, doors open at 7. Feb. 15, 8 pm. $5. Garland Theater, 924 W. Garland Ave. bit.ly/2nwiKcr

MUSIC WORLD MUSIC CELEBRATION A concert featuring Yacouba Sissoko, a kora player from Mali, and Navin Chettri, a Nepali musician who serves as the celebration’s creative director and a lecturer in U of I’s Lionel Hampton School of Music. Feb. 9, 7:30 pm. $5-$8. U of Idaho Admin Bldg, 851 Campus Dr. uidaho. edu/class/music/events/wmc SPOKANE SYMPHONY: BACH, BEETHOVEN & SHOSTAKOVICH Daniel Hege returns to conduct a program of powerful works spanning the centuries, including Bach’s Suite for Flute and Orchestra, featuring Principal Flutist Bruce Bodden. Feb. 10 at 8 pm, Feb. 11 at 3 pm. $17-$60. Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox, 1001 W. Sprague. (624-1200) MONTREAL GUITARE TRIO: DANZA The virtuosic classical guitar trio of Marc Morin, Glenn Levésque, and Sébastien

Dufour pay tribute to the great composers of Spanish music. Feb. 11, 7:309:30 pm. $10-$25. Panida Theater, 300 N. First Ave. panida.org SPOKANE SYMPHONY CHAMBER SOIREE Ensembles perform, with program selections including music from Zhou Long, Dvorak and Bernstein. Table seating with wine and light bites, or seating in the gallery, is available. Feb. 13-14 at 7:30 pm. $20-$58. Davenport Hotel, 10 S. Post. spokanesymphony.org GUITAR, CHOCOLATE & A ROSE Panida welcomes local classical guitarist Leon Atkinson, host of KPBX Thursday morning show The Guitar Hour. Feb. 14, 6:30-8:30 pm. $15-$24. Panida Theater, 300 N. First Ave. panida.org A NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN A musical journey celebrating Joplin and her biggest musical influences. (Rescheduled from Oct. 15). Feb. 14, 7:30 pm. $29.50$79.50. INB Performing Arts Center, 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. inbpac.com

THEATER ACROSS THE DIVIDE Coeur d’Alene Summer Theater uses the story of Lewis and Clark to teach about history and the modern-day social challenges faced by students in a presentation. Feb. 8, 7 pm. Free. CdA Public Library, 702 E. Front Ave. cdasummertheatre.com COMING HOME: A SOLDIERS’ PROJECT A theatrical production exploring the experiences of returning from war to study at Gonzaga. Through Feb. 11; Thu-Fri at 7:30 pm, Sun at 2 pm. $10$15; free/active-duty, retired military.

Gonzaga Magnuson Theatre, 502 E. Boone. bit.ly/2DnMeDQ THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST A whimsical romantic comedy and sharp-witted satire of Victorian society. Feb. 8-10 and 15-17 at 7 pm. $6-$8. Lake City High School, 6101 N. Ramsey Rd. bit.ly/2GmEIH5 WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? Winner of the 1963 Tony Award for Best Play, this intense drama exposes the gritty, visceral breakdown between an affluent middle-aged couple. Through Feb. 11; Thu-Sat at 7:30 pm, Sun at 2 pm. $27. Spokane Civic Theatre, 1020 N. Howard. spokanecivictheatre.com YORK A powerful one-man play, performed by David Casteal, who portrays York, William Clark’s personal slave, who was the only black man on the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Feb. 8, 6:30-8 pm. $10. The MAC, 2316 W. First. northwestmuseum.org DON’T DRESS FOR DINNER While Bernard’s wife is away, he plans a romantic weekend with his mistress; an evening of hilarious confusion ensues. Feb. 9-25; Fri-Sat at 7:30 pm and Sun at 2 pm. Fri.-Sun.. through Feb. 25. $12-$15.

Ignite! Community Theatre, 10814 E. Broadway. igniteonbroadway.org SHOPKINS LIVE! A live production with performances featuring the Shoppies, who dance, sing and show off the trendiest fashions. Feb. 9, 7 pm. $25+.

INB Performing Arts Center, 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. inbpac.com SWEET CHARITY: A MUSICAL A production exploring the turbulent love life of Charity Hope Valentine, a hopelessly romantic but comically unfortunate dance hall hostess in NYC. Feb. 9-10 and 14-17 at 7:30 pm; Feb. 10-11 and 17-18 at 2 pm. $15-$21. Kroc Center, 1765 W. Golf Course Rd. aspirecda.com

CLEO PARKER ROBINSON DANCE: MICTLANRX A powerful reflection on Mexico’s Afro-Indigenous people and their unique cycles of oppression and triumph through culture and tradition.

Feb. 10, 7:30-9:30 pm. $16-$22. Jones Theatre at Daggy Hall, WSU Pullman. performingarts.wsu.edu/ (335-8522)

ARTS KATHY GALE, GORDON WILSON & MICHAEL DE FOREST A showcase of new work by three accomplished artists of our region: oil painters Kathy Gale and Gordon Wilson, and mixed media artist Michael de Forest. Feb. 9-March 3; open Tu-Sat from 9 am-6 pm. Opening reception Feb. 9 from 5-8 pm. Free to view. Art Spirit Gallery, 415 Sherman Ave. theartspiritgallery.com TEN YEARS OF TERRAIN In honor of Terrain’s 10th Anniversary, this gallery show looks back at noteworthy pieces/ performance from past Terrain events.

Opening reception Feb. 9 from 5-8 pm; open Thu-Sat from 5-7 pm through March 23. Free. Terrain, 304 W. Pacific Ave. bit.ly/2DNzuXo FLAT & FRACTURED: PICASSO’S WOMEN OF AVIGNON In this fourth of five lectures on French Modernism, Dr. Meredith Shimizu discusses one of the most important paintings of the 20th century, Picasso’s “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon.” Feb. 11, 2-3 pm. $9. The MAC, 2316 W. First. (363-5324)

WORDS PIVOT MAINSTAGE: LOVE HURTS At the fourth mainstage event for Pivot, eight storytellers tell true stories from their own lives that revolve around the theme “love hurts.” Feb. 8, 7 pm. $10.

Washington Cracker Co. Building, 304 W. Pacific. bit.ly/2DwDszx THE WINTER SALON Lost Horse Press of Sandpoint and Auntie’s host a reading, lecture and signings with authors David Axelrod, Melissa Kwasny, and Christopher Howell. Readings at 4 and 7 pm; see link for details. Feb. 9. Free.

Auntie’s, 402 W. Main. bit.ly/2Emli77 COLSON WHITEHEAD The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “The Underground Railroad” gives a public talk, with a book signing to follow. Feb. 12, 7 pm. Free and open to the public.

University of Idaho, 709 S Deakin St. uidaho.edu (208-885-7716) VISITING WRITERS SERIES: CHRIS ABANI A reading and conversation with award-winning author Chris Abani, a novelist, poet, essayist, screenwriter and playwright.Feb. 12, 7:30-8:30 pm.

Free. Gonzaga Hemmingson Center, 702 E. Desmet Ave. (313-6942) POETS DORIANNE LAUX & JOE MILLAR Laux, winner of the National Book Award, and Millar, a recipient of a Guggenheim and National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships, both from North Carolina State University, read selections from their work. Feb. 14 at 6 pm (Lair) and Feb. 15 at 9:30 am (Hagan Center.) Free. SCC, 1810 N. Greene St. scc.spokane.edu (533-7079) READING: LENI ZUMAS The Portland author is in conversation with Alexis Smith for her new title “Red Clocks,” noted as “the Handmaid’s Tale for the new millennium.” Feb. 15, 7 pm. Free.

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FEBRUARY 8, 2018 INLANDER 61

THIS WEEK

Coeur d ’Alene

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FEBRUARY 9TH 2018 5 PM – 8 PM

Starts in Plaza Shops (210 SHERMAN)

20+ Tasting Locations

Last Year’s !

Winners Tickets range between $15 - $25

Cdadowntown.com

Romance is always in season at the Coeur d’Alene Resort

Where’s the Love?

Finding Your Favorite Spots to Savor Romance in Coeur d’Alene

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here’s no reason to let winter weather ice your romantic aspirations, especially when Coeur d’Alene has so many ways to float your collective couple bubble. Here are a few of our favorites: Drop by BAKERY BY THE LAKE for coffee and cinnamon rolls, or share a burger and brews at nearby SWEET LOU’S, both located across from McEuen Park. Stroll hand-in-hand through town, along the water, or wherever your conversation takes you. Note: Cold weather is good for snuggling.

Meander down to the Coeur d’Alene Resort and Hotel BOARDWALK to get out on the water or get your blood pumping with a hike through nearby TUBBS HILL. Either way, both routes offer numerous scenic places to stop and sneak a smooch. Or two.

In town, several places facilitate sitting close to each other.

CALYPSO’S COFFEE is a funky spot to grab breakfast

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or see the occasional social event with comfy chairs, couches and little nooks to tuck into. Good things also happen at STUDIO 107, like live music, great wine, artsy décor and even a few shared plates for that whole feeding-eachother love scene. And if you ask locals where they go for a top-shelf meal in a romantic and charming bistro, they’ll say a table in the back at MIDTOWN BLUEBIRD, of course.

Looking for something sparkly? Dress to impress each other and have an elegant dinner at BEVERLY’S on the seventh floor of the Coeur d’Alene Resort. The food, the ambience, the view of the lake — it all makes for a memorable outing. Have a nightcap near the fire inside the Resort’s WHISPERS lounge to put a period on a perfect evening together.

And if you’re feeling equally amorous about spending another day in Coeur d’Alene, look no

further than the Resort for a special place to rest your heads together. In fact, the entire month of February is part of the VALENTINE BED & BREAKFAST package, starting from $169 (contact cdaresort.com). How about a little pampering? Ask about the Resort’s SPA PACKAGES for couples, including dining and overnight stay.

together is better AT T H E L A K E

CDA Upcoming Events Music Walk FEBRUARY 9

Folk, blues, indie acoustic, cover tunes and more are awaiting your arrival during Music Walk, with 13 locations including your favorite restaurants, shops and galleries. Free, 5-8 pm, Visit artsandculturecda.org for details.

Chocolate Affair FEBRUARY 9

Have a sweet evening sampling the decadent delights of local chocolatiers during this annual event, which this year features wine tastings at select locations. Tickets $15 chocolate only; $25 wine and chocolate; 5-8pm. Visit cdadowntown.com for details or call 208-4150116.

Makers Market FEBRUARY 11

Thinking about a gift for that special someone?

Find it at the February Market inside the Coeur d’Alene Resort, featuring local vendors and goods. Free;10 am-4 pm. Visit cdaresort.com/ discover/activities/events.

M O N T H O F R O M A N C E PAC K AG E

DINE, SPA & STAY

Backcountry Weekend at Silver Mountain

STARTING AT $199* PER NIGHT

FEBRUARY 10-11

Is skiing the backcountry in your plan for 2018? Learn preparedness skills in a free, fun environment. Go to silvermt.com/Things-ToDo/Event-Calendar for details.

Includes accommodations, $100 dining credit and two 50-minute Swedish massages at our award-winning Spa.

Love on the Lake Dinner Cruise

*Per person, based on double occupancy.

FEBRUARY 10 & 14

First date or 50th Valentine’s together, this cruise is ideal for lovebirds of any feather, including people who just want to celebrate and the lake we all love so dearly. Tickets $58; 6 pm boarding; Call 855-703-4648 or go to cdaresort.com/discover/cruises/tickets.

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

208.765.4000 cdaresort.com

COEUR D’ALENE

SPONSORED BY THE COEUR D’ALENE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU

FEBRUARY 8, 2018 INLANDER 63