Inlander 02/15/2024

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A Spokane lawyer suing the government thinks the U.S. House needs more members to reach the promise of “one person, one vote”

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VOL. 31, NO. 19 | COVER ILLUSTRATION: MALACHY EGAN

5 COMMENT 8 NEWS COVER STORY 16 SNOWLANDER 22

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EDITOR’S NOTE

T

iming is everything in politics. The surprise announcement last week from U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers that she wouldn’t run for an 11th term, for example, led to a stampede of local politicians tweeting, texting and teasing their potential campaigns for a seat that’s been locked down by the congresswoman for two decades. With 10 months to go before the election, I call that good timing.

Timing also has a lot to do with journalism. And this week, we had very good timing. Samantha Wohlfeil has been reporting on this week’s cover story — A HOUSE UNEVENLY DIVIDED — for weeks. She’d sent numerous requests for comment to McMorris Rodgers without a single reply. Not even a “no.”

Honestly, though, we expected to hear nothing from her because she hasn’t been the most accessible politician during her time in public service.

So, now, as the race to pick her successor begins, I’ll make a simple plea on behalf of all journalists: Answer our questions.

— NICHOLAS DESHAIS, editor

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omething rare happened last week when news came down that the job of representing Washington’s 5th Congressional District was opening up. When Cathy McMorris Rodgers announced she would not be seeking reelection after she completes 10 two-year terms of service, it was something that has not happened much around here. In fact, she’s only the fourth person to hold the office since World War II. History does offer lessons about the character of Eastern Washington: Voters tend to stand by their member of Congress. Walt Horan, Tom Foley, George Nethercutt and McMorris Rodgers were the only ones to hold the seat over the past 82 years, suggesting that the next person could be in line for a long tenure. But history also shows that turnover does come, but only during politically seismic times.

W

alt Horan was born in a cabin on the banks of the Columbia River in 1898; he served in the Navy during the big war — World War I, that is. An apple grower from Wenatchee, he became a popular politician by paying attention to his constituents, especially farmers and ranchers. “You can accomplish more in Washington,” he once said, “by making friends than by making headlines.”

Of course that appears to be the opposite of how things work now, but in 1943 the upheaval of World War II helped him become the first Republican to take the seat in 20 years. (He beat Spokane legends Joe Albi and Clarence Dill in the process.) Horan seemed to be secure in his seat until a big political shift came along, creating the conditions for the kind of sweeping change he’d once benefited from.

In 1964, a young lawyer from Spokane who was working in Sen. Henry Jackson’s office in Washington, D.C., was getting a little restless.

He decided to run for Congress! He borrowed some money for the filing fee, the story goes, set out for Olympia, running out of gas on the way but making the filing deadline by just 15 minutes.

That sliver of time turned into a 30-year adventure that ultimately took him to the highest office in Congress.

Young Tom Foley’s timing was impeccable as his longshot candidacy against mighty Walt Horan was powered by one of the biggest landslides in

American political history.

Fresh off the trauma of the murder of President John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson’s 1964 victory swept Foley and many other first-timers into office.

Foley found out that when you’re in the right place at the right time, just ride the wave. But he also learned how, once in office, he needed to take care of business, which he did masterfully, sticking up for the farmers and ranchers of Eastern Washington just like Horan did.

After 15 terms, Foley had become more like a feature of the landscape. The local Republicans had gotten so resigned to losing to Foley that they finally just asked the chairman of the party to run against him. The year was 1994, and that chairman — George Nethercutt — turned out to be just the ticket.

Meanwhile, a tide was rising against Bill and Hillary Clinton, who Tom Foley, then speaker of the House, was inextricably connected to. Ultimately Nethercutt, whose dog was a regular feature of his TV ads, just needed to ride the wave as the race in the 5th District became the focal point of the Republican Revolution and Newt Gingrich’s “Contract with America.”

Again, a landslide that was more about national issues than Eastern Washington issues brought big changes.

A

decade later, it looked like the one-time Spokane attorney Nethercutt had life tenure, but again a national wind blew our way when Karl Rove tapped him on the shoulder.

Rove was George W. Bush’s political mind, and he wanted to expand the Republican reach even into blue Washington; he kind of volun-told Nethercutt to run against (and lose to) Patty Murray for Senate.

When Nethercutt announced his candidacy — and that he’d be leaving the House — it set off a scramble to fill his seat. One of the most surprising candidates to emerge was the mostly unknown Cathy McMorris, a state legislator from Colville in her mid-30s (like Foley when he ran).

State legislators Todd Mielke and Larry Sheahan also entered the race, along with Spokane County Sheriff Mark Sterk and Spokane attorney Shaun Cross; TV anchor Randy Shaw nearly filed to run. All of the other candidates (Mielke and Sterk dropped out before the primary) had better name recognition than McMorris, but with a three-way vote split, she came through on top.

In the general election, she bested the well-funded, accomplished business leader, Democrat Don Barbieri, by 20 points.

So here she is, right where her predecessor was in 2004 — leaving Congress, with a pack of potential candidates wanting her job. Depending on how things play out, could McMorris Rodgers give her preferred replacement a huge, perhaps insurmountable boost with an endorsement? Certainly many within her party will hope she at least waits for the dust to settle before doing anything like that — or that she leave it entirely to voters by staying out of it.

B

THE FOUR WHO CAME BEFORE

WALT HORAN (R) 22 Years of Service — 1943-65

ut in light of history showing this now-reliably Republican post only turns over in tumultuous years, could her departure endanger the seat? Washington is very blue, with only two of 10 in the delegation being Republicans. (Neither has completely followed MAGA orthodoxy: Dan Newhouse voted to impeach Donald Trump over his TOM FOLEY (D) role in the Jan. 6 insurrection, 30 Years of Service — 1965-95 while McMorris Rodgers voted to certify Joe Biden as the winner of the election.)

If Trump is convicted of crimes over the coming months, and if that depresses turnout among Republicans, and if a wild GOP primary results in a weak candidate, and if the Democrats nominate a Foley-type with crossover appeal, the conditions might be ripe.

GEORGE NETHERCUTT (R) Thanks to some members’ 10 Years of Service — 1995-2005 behavior and tight voting margins, Congress is not a very serious place right now, with egos run amok and barely anything getting done. That has to be one of McMorris Rodgers’ reasons for leaving — same for so many others who have announced their plans to retire. David Condon worked for McMorris Rodgers in D.C., and part of the reason he left CATHY McMORRIS RODGERS (R) to become mayor of Spokane 20 Years of Service — 2005-25 was that he felt he could do more here than in the other Washington.

So, to all those who are thinking about making a run: You’re experiencing a very admirable, quintessentially American impulse.

You have public service in your heart, so no matter what happens, bottle up those feelings. If you feel called and qualified, you should run — that’s the rawest material of democracy. But understand that, the way things are right now, you could make just as big a difference by focusing on progress here locally as you could in D.C. Either way, Eastern Washington needs your energy and spirit!

Of course one of you will make it to Congress: Please be a force for reforming the institution to its original purpose. It’s going to be a big job. n Ted S. McGregor Jr. is the publisher of the Inlander.

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FEBRUARY 15, 2024 INLANDER 7

POLITICS

OFF TO THE RACES U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers was elected and reelected 10 times. YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers’ surprise retirement sent shockwaves through Spokane’s political world and sets the stage for a “mad scramble” 2024 election

BY NATE SANFORD

O

n Thursday, U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers — arguably the most powerful political figure in Eastern Washington — announced that she won’t run for reelection in 2024.

The surprise resignation is a major shakeup in what was otherwise expected to be a fairly standard year for Spokane politics.

It was like the “exploding head emoji,” says Carmela Conroy, one of three Democrats who have already filed to run against McMorris Rodgers this year. “I had not even considered the possibility.”

8 INLANDER FEBRUARY 15, 2024

McMorris Rodgers, 54, has maintained an iron grip on the 5th Congressional District for almost two decades now. The congresswoman is a fundraising juggernaut.

Numerous Democrats — including Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown — have tried and failed to unseat her.

In a January article, we said her run for reelection would be “potentially competitive” — a phrase her campaign’s spokesperson objected to, noting that the congresswoman has consistently won reelection by wide margins. Brown was one of the only challengers to come close, and she lost in 2018 by 10 points.

When Conroy filed to run this year, everyone told her it was at best a longshot.

But now? Conroy thinks anything could happen.

She describes it as a “once in a lifetime” opportunity for Democrats to take back Eastern Washington.

The other Democrats who filed to run earlier this year are Ann Marie Danimus, a small business owner, and Dr. Bernadine Bank, an OB-GYN. They also think McMorris Rodgers’ retirement will help Democrats’ chances.

MJ Bolt, the chair of the Spokane County GOP, disagrees.

“It’s definitely a different race than it would have been had Cathy McMorris Rodgers decided to run,” Bolt says. “That said, I am confident that we’ll be able to retain the seat.” ...continued on page 10

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NEWS | POLITICS “OFF TO THE RACES,” CONTINUED...

Bolt thinks the fact that the congressional race coincides with a presidential election and Washington’s gubernatorial race will help drive conservative turnout.

The congresswoman’s surprise last-minute announcement — just months before the May deadline for candidates to file — has triggered a wave of speculation about which Republicans will scramble to fill her shoes.

The stakes are undeniably high: Incumbent Congress members tend to get reelected, and whoever wins this year has a good shot at representing Eastern Washington for years — if not decades — to come.

“I’m holding on for dear life,” Conroy says. “We are off to the races.”

T

he news hit Spokane’s political world like a missile on Thursday.

“I was very surprised, I had no inclination,” Bolt says. “In fact, we weren’t really thinking too much about that race, honestly.”

Conservative Spokane City Council member Jonathan Bingle called several of the congresswoman’s staffers on Thursday to congratulate them on the “first government secret that’s actually been kept.”

“That’s insane! You guys did a great job,” he told them.

Don Hamilton, a local photographer and longtime critic of McMorris Rodgers, was meeting with other activists to discuss plans to unseat her this year when the news broke.

“It was whoops and hollers,” Hamilton says. “It’s like, ‘Wow, the war is over.’”

During the 2022 election, Hamilton mounted a billboard reading “BigLieCathy.com” to his car and parked it in a prominent spot each morning in an effort to remind voters of McMorris Rodgers’ cagey support for Donald Trump’s lie about the 2020 election being stolen. It didn’t work. McMorris Rodgers beat her opponent, Spokane attorney Natasha Hill, by 20 points that year.

Hamilton says McMorris Rodgers’ abrupt departure has him “cautiously optimistic” about Democrats’ chances this year.

“I don’t know what I’ll do with the old signs,” Hamilton says. “We fought the good fight.”

The timing was especially serendipitous for Bank, the OB-GYN, who was in Washington, D.C., to rally support and fundraise when her phone started blowing up.

“That was an exciting moment for sure,” Bank says.

Bank is an advocate for reproductive rights and says the Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade was part of what prompted her to run.

Bank says she’s seen a rush of new interest and support for her campaign, and is planning to extend her stay in D.C. so she can keep meeting with lobbyists, donors and advocacy groups.

Danimus and Conroy say the news has also triggered increased interest in their campaigns.

Conroy previously worked with the U.S. Foreign Service and was recently head of the Spokane County Democratic Party.

“Our next representative will be either voting for a total nationwide abortion ban, or she will be working to codify our basic human rights,” Conroy says. “If for no

other reason than this, we really need to elect a Democrat to the 5th Congressional District in 2024.”

Daminus previously ran for McMorris Rodgers’ seat in 2022 and lost during the primaries. She says she’s learned from her first run and is committed to focusing on her message of economic development, health care and support for small farmers.

“Amongst the three Democratic candidates, we’re all strong in our own ways,” Daminus says.

The three candidates are likely to have company soon.

S

pokane got a hint at what a race to replace McMorris Rodgers might look like in 2016, when it was rumored that Trump would be appointing McMorris Rodgers to lead the U.S. Interior Department.

In a single day back then, City Council President Ben Stuckart, Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich, state Sen. Michael Baumgartner and state Rep. Matt Shea all announced that they would be running to replace her.

Carmela Conroy (None of these men hold these positions anymore.)

Several days after the potential candidates’ announcements, McMorris Rodgers was called to a meeting with the incoming president at Trump Tower in New York, where he presented McMorris Rodgers with a folder of media clippings detailing “various times McMorris Rodgers had spoken out against him,” according to The Hill to Die On, a book by a pair of journalists with Politico.

Ann Marie Danimus McMorris Rodgers did not get the appointment.

Eight years later, some of the people who prematurely threw their hats in the ring are once again considering running.

Baumgartner, a Republican who is now Spokane County treasurer, said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter, that he had been approached by several potential donors and was considering running.

Dr. Bernadine Bank “We are taking a look and considering the practicalities of a young family,” Baumgartner wrote.

Knezovich, a Republican who retired in 2022 after 16 years as sheriff, is also considering the idea and talking it over with his family.

“The last five days now, my phone has not stopped ringing,” Knezovich says. “It’s quite frankly been a little bit humbling to realize just how many people would like me to do this.”

Knezovich says he’ll likely have a decision in the next two weeks. He moved to Wyoming after retiring and will have to move back to Washington state if he decides to run.

“It’s definitely a different race than it would have been had Cathy McMorris Rodgers decided to run. That said, I am confident that we’ll be able to retain the seat.”

10 INLANDER FEBRUARY 15, 2024

Knezovich says he recently talked to the congresswoman about the idea.

“Cathy and I have always had a very strong relationship,” Knezovich says. “She’s not making any endorsements, but she was supportive.”

Stuckart, a progressive who unsuccessfully ran for mayor in 2019, says he hasn’t made a decision yet, but that his odds of running are “pretty doubtful.”

He says he’s been looking over the numbers, and the recent redistricting doesn’t seem to have made the 5th any friendlier to Democrats.

“I’m not saying no, but I’m not saying yes,” Stuckart says.

Shea — a political lightning rod who was expelled from the Republican legislative caucus in 2019 after a report found that he participated in domestic terrorism — could not be reached for comment. (He has ignored media requests for years and has blocked many Spokane reporters on social media.)

In a Thursday episode of his “Patriot Radio” podcast, Shea thanked McMorris Rodgers for her years of service and didn’t seem to indicate that he would run for her seat.

“I’m sure there is going to be a mad scramble regarding that,” Shea said, adding that people need to be praying for “good leaders to be stepping into these positions as we come into one of the most tumultuous times in American history.”

Ferry County Commissioner Brian Dansel was the first Republican to signal his intent to run. In a Friday Facebook post, Dansel said he had formed an exploratory committee to look into a potential run. Dansel was previously a state senator and also served as a special assistant to the U.S. agriculture secretary under the Trump administration.

A number of other Republicans who have been floated by local politicos as potential candidates have LETTERS yet to publicly say whether Send comments to they will be running. The editor@inlander.com. list includes Spokane County Commissioner Mary Kuney, former state Rep. Kevin Parker and former Spokane mayors David Condon and Nadine Woodward.

Democratic state Rep. Marcus Riccelli was floated as a potential candidate on the left. But on Monday, Riccelli said he’s decided against running.

“I’m in a good position to deliver for the folks in Spokane and have a strong track record of doing so,” Riccelli said. “I want to continue my work in the state Legislature.”

Andy Billig, the Spokane Democrat serving as state Senate majority leader, also says he isn’t running.

M

cMorris Rodgers retirement follows a wave of House members who have decided not to seek reelection this year.

In a statement, McMorris Rodgers said it had been the “honor and privilege of my life to represent the people of Eastern Washington in Congress.” She thanked her family and staff for their support and highlighted her devotion to God. McMorris Rodgers didn’t elaborate on her reasons for not seeking reelection but said the “best is yet to come.” Her campaign manager didn’t respond to an interview request.

McMorris Rodgers began her political career in 1994, when she was appointed to the state House of Representatives. After U.S. Rep. George Nethercutt said he wouldn’t run for reelection in 2004, McMorris Rodgers ran for and won the seat representing Washington’s 5th Congressional District, which covers the eastern third of the state.

In 2012, McMorris Rodgers was chosen to serve as chairwoman of the House Republican Conference, which

made her the highest-ranking woman in the GOP. She’s also the only member of Congress to give birth three times while serving.

Knezovich describes McMorris Rodgers as “an individual that cares deeply about people,” and he fondly recalls their collaboration on the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office Regional Training Center that opened last year.

Bolt, the local GOP chair, praises McMorris Rodgers’ work advocating for better conditions at Fairchild Air Force Base and her opposition to breaching the Snake River dams.

Her critics have a much less positive view of her impact.

“I think that corporate money has gotten in the way of her doing anything real for this district,” Daminus says. “She fired off a lot of stern letters, but she’s not writing any policy.”

At the start of 2023, McMorris Rodgers became chair of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee. It’s an influential and highly sought after post that McMorris Rodgers could have maintained for several more years if she chose to run again.

Doug Heye, former communications director for the Republican National Committee, speculated in a post on X that “when a new chair of a top committee retires, it tells you exactly how bad a workplace Congress has become.”

In recent years, McMorris Rodgers often attempted to walk a

“It was whoops and hollers.

It’s like, ‘Wow, the war is over.’” fine line between mainstream Republicans and the more conspiratorial elements of her party.

After Trump lost the 2020 election, McMorris Rodgers said she planned to object to the election results, and she was one of 126 House Republicans who signed an amicus brief in a lawsuit seeking to contest the election results.

Riccelli says McMorris Rodgers’ actions “fanned the flames of insurrection.” Conroy says the congresswoman was “putting party over country.”

McMorris Rodgers briefly changed her tune after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, voting to uphold the election results. She said in a statement that Trump “showed a complete lack of leadership.”

“People on the right have excused and defended President Trump, including me,” she said then. “For Trump supporters like me, it meant turning a blind eye to arrogant, prideful, and bullying behavior.”

McMorris Rodgers later voted against forming a congressional committee to investigate the attack on the Capitol. She was also the only member of Washington’s congressional delegation to vote against impeaching Trump for his involvement in the events of Jan. 6.

“When she was tested, she failed for the people of our community, and the nation,” Riccelli says.

When the Inlander had a rare opportunity to ask her direct questions during a 2022 KSPS debate, McMorris Rodgers deflected when asked whether or not she believed she personally turned a blind eye to Trump’s behavior. Instead, she responded by saying “Republicans and Democrats have concerns about election integrity” while acknowledging that “President Biden is the legitimate president.”

Still, even McMorris Rodgers’ biggest critics recognize the time and energy she put into the job.

“You have to give her credit for having hung in here as long as she has,” Conroy says.

Riccelli recalls working with McMorris Rodgers to help Maddie’s Place, a Spokane treatment center for newborn children born addicted to drugs. He says the congresswoman’s actions on Jan. 6 made collaboration difficult, but that they were ultimately able to put it aside and work to help their constituents.

“I do appreciate anybody who gives a significant portion of their life to public service,” Riccelli says. n nates@inlander.com

FEBRUARY 15, 2024 INLANDER 11

NEWS | LEGISLATION

What affects my energy bill in winter?

Spokane council member Zach Zappone in front of a vandalized rainbow intersection.

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

Law and Hate Washington works to strengthen hate crime laws after a spate of anti-LGBTQ+ vandalism in Spokane, while Idaho fights to enforce its ban on gender-affirming care

BY COLTON RASANEN

L During the winter, your energy bill can differ from one month to the next for a lot of reasons.

A sudden cold snap may occur which requires your heating system to run more frequently. Fewer daylight hours mean your lights are on for longer periods. Having kids at home for school vacations and guests stay over the holidays can affect the amount of energy you use each month, as well.

Learn what else impacts your winter bill and better manage your costs using our helpful online tools.

Go to myavista.com/winterbill

12 INLANDER FEBRUARY 15, 2024

awmakers in Idaho and Washington are worlds apart when it comes to issues affecting LGBTQ+ communities.

In the 2023 legislative session, Idaho lawmakers passed House Bill 71, which prevented transgender minors from accessing gender-affirming care including puberty blockers, hormone replacement therapy, and surgical interventions like mastectomies.

The law also added a felony charge for the doctors who provided this care, with a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

The law was set to go into effect on Jan. 1, but an ongoing legal challenge over the law’s constitutionality has, so far, prevented it from being enforced.

Across the border, Washington legislators have already passed two bills in the state Senate that would strengthen hate crime laws in the state.

I

n October, vandals in Spokane threw paint over the city’s two rainbow crosswalks — one on South Perry Street in front of Odyssey Youth Movement and the other on Spokane Falls Boulevard near Riverfront Park. However, what looked like a targeted attack toward Spokane’s LGBTQ+ community couldn’t be designated as a hate crime because the vandalism took place on public property. (Washington law currently doesn’t consider the defacement of public property a hate crime.)

Because of this, Senate Majority Leader Andy Billig, DSpokane, introduced Senate Bill 5917 to expand the definition of a hate crime to include bias-motivated defacement of private and public property.

SB 5917 passed through a 35-14 floor vote on Feb. 2, with just six Republican senators voting in favor of the bill.

State Sen. Mike Padden, R-Spokane Valley, opposed the bill, in part, because he thought it applied too broadly without a specified victim. He authored an amendment that would change specific wording like “another person’s” to “the victim’s” in the bill, essentially maintaining the current legal language.

“Opening up this statute so that the perpetrator’s malicious and intentional crime does not need to be directed at a victim

because of the victims perceived inclusion in a protected class is a very slippery slope and could enable some questionable cases,” he said during a Jan. 25 committee hearing. “The ideal response to an unsolved crime is not to broaden the RCW in hope you catch the perpetrator the next time.”

Padden’s amendment did not receive enough support and was withdrawn.

Washington Senate Bill 5427 didn’t make it out of last year’s session but appears on track this year. The bill would establish a pilot reporting hotline for hate crimes in the attorney general’s office by 2025 and then a final statewide hotline will need to be implemented by 2027. This would also require the attorney general’s office to provide the data this hotline collects on an annual basis after implementation.

SB 5427 passed 30-18 in the Senate — largely along party lines. Sen. Ron Muzzall, R-Oak Harbor, was the sole Republican to vote in favor.

Both bills have already been referred to House committees, where public testimony will be heard later this week.

A

fter Idaho legislators passed HB 71 into law, two anonymous teenagers currently receiving gender-affirming care in Idaho filed a lawsuit against Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador and Ada County Prosecuting Attorney Jan Bennetts, alleging that the bill violates the rights of transgender youth and their parents under the U.S. Constitution.

The plaintiffs argue that because the law is targeted solely toward transgender youth, it violates the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.

Under HB 71, cisgender youth (people whose gender identity matches the sex they were assigned at birth) would still be able to access these types of care as long as they weren’t being used to “alter the appearance or affirm the child’s perception of the child’s biological sex.”

Labrador argues that the bill doesn’t discriminate based on someone’s transgender status, however, due to its wording.

Instead, he claims the bill’s bans are meant to regulate “medical and surgical treatments for a particular psychiatric diagnosis,” according to court documents.

The psychiatric diagnosis that this bill hinges upon is gender dysphoria — a mental disorder characterized by an incongruence between one’s gender identity and their assigned sex.

While the case is still being heard in Idaho’s District Court, a few key decisions have already been made.

Both Labrador and Bennetts tried to have the case dismissed, claiming that they weren’t the proper parties to sue and that it was too early for litigation to begin since the lawsuit was filed before HB 71 took effect.

Labrador also tried to get the case dismissed by arguing that he’s not the one who would be enforcing the law — that’s up to the county prosecutors. Suing him, he argues, would be like suing the state, which is immune from that kind of lawsuit under the 11th amendment.

The court however, disagreed and denied both Labrador’s and Bennetts’ motions to dismiss.

The court also granted a preliminary injunction of the law, prohibiting any enforcement of HB 71 until all litigation in the case is completed.

Labrador made a motion to stay the injunction — basically pausing the pause on HB 71’s enforcement — which was also denied by the district court. And later, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where Labrador filed another emergency motion to stay the injunction, also denied his motion.

However, Labrador argued what appears to be the complete opposite point he made in his motion to dismiss the case, noting that the injunction is preventing him “from enforcing a law designed to protect vulnerable children.”

On Wednesday, Feb. 7, Labrador filed his most recent emergency motion to the appeals court, claiming that “every day this blanket injunction remains in place, Idaho and its children suffer irreparable harm.” n coltonr@inlander.com

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to call 911. Later that day, police shot a man who had reportedly been walking around downtown threatening people with a knife.

The man was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.

(NATE SANFORD)

IDAHO: YOU GUYS FIGURE IT OUT

The Children of the Sun Trail is being built next to the north-south freeway.

Two Violent Weeks Local police begin 2024 with a grim statistic. Plus, Kootenai is denied a state investigation; disproportionate jaywalking citations and the history of Northeast Spokane.

T

he year is off to a violent start. Over two weeks, Spokane law enforcement has shot four people — killing three and seriously injuring one. The number is equal to the total number

of police shootings with injury or death in 2023. Nine people were shot by police in 2022. “These situations are tragic for everyone involved,” Mayor Lisa Brown said in a statement Monday night, adding that she has been in steady communication with interim Police Chief Justin Lundgren and that the city is “committed to transparency in the process of reviewing these shootings.” On Jan. 30, deputies with the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office shot and killed a man who they say swung an ax at them in north Spokane.

One day later, nine Spokane police officers shot and killed a man in Spokane’s Cliff/Cannon Neighborhood. Police say he pointed a gun at them. On Feb. 12, police shot and killed a man in a home near Northtown Mall who reportedly shot a woman while she was trying

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In recent months, both Kootenai County Assessor Béla Kovacs and Treasurer Steve Matheson have asked the Idaho State Tax Commission to investigate what exactly is going wrong as their offices work each year to complete full and accurate tax roles by their statutory deadlines. The state tax commission did not open an investigation into Kootenai’s tax system after Kovacs’ earlier request, and this month, they also dismissed Matheson’s complaint, suggesting that the county hire a consultant to help them streamline their processes. Both complaints mentioned an aging, dysfunctional computer system, and communication failures occurring at various stages of the assessment process that determines how much each property owner owes in taxes. “Fundamentally, the issues that Kootenai County [has] brought to the Tax Commission’s attention are matters of administrative and management discretion. It would not be appropriate for the Tax Commission to involve itself with these issues,” a Feb. 2 letter from the commission states. Kovacs emailed the Inlander to make sure we knew the commission “essentially found no merit” in Matheson’s complaint, and to note, “It was much to do about nothing.” He says he plans to issue a lengthier response.

(SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL)

BROKEN CROSSINGS

A report from a statewide transportation policy group has found that 41% of people stopped for jaywalking in Washington state are

WINNING IS JUST THE BEGINNING homeless. The analysis by the Seattle-based Transportation Choices Coalition looked at over 10,000 records of stops and citations obtained from law enforcement, dispatch agencies and the courts from 2000 to 2023. Numerous studies have shown that jaywalking is often done out of necessity. A 2014 study by the Federal Highway Administration, which looked at more than 70,000 pedestrian crossings, predicted with 90% accuracy whether or not pedestrians would cross mid-block, a decision walkers generally made based on the distance between crosswalks or the location of bus stops. Studies from 2014 and 2018, published in the scholarly journal Transportation Research Record, found that motorists yield to pedestrians less than 20% of the time, a proportion that drops even more on streets with higher speeds. According to a recent Spokesman article, Spokane police recorded 196 instances of a motorist hitting a pedestrian last year, with nine fatalities. Spokane’s anti-jaywalking laws first went into effect in 1918, just as cars were making American roads more dangerous. But instead of placing the responsibility on the drivers, the rules placed blame on pedestrians, or “jays,” a slur against people who weren’t sophisticated or uneducated people. (NICHOLAS DESHAIS)

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Two Gonzaga University professors, Katey Roden and Greg Gordon, have received a second grant for their project Finding Our Way — a digital mapping project documenting the history of Northeast Spokane. The $100,000 award comes from the National Endowment for the Humanities and more than triples their first grant from 2022. Roden and Gordon plan to build a website dedicated to telling the stories of the neighborhoods along the Children of the Sun Trail, which is being built alongside the North Spokane Corridor. There are also plans to install QR codes along the trail so folks have direct access to the Finding Our Way website. “It is an opportunity for the Spokane community to ensure that often overlooked communities have a place to access information about the place they call home,” Roden said in a statement. Additionally, the pair plans to work with the Spokane Tribe to develop an “ethnobotanical discovery garden” at Wildhorse Park. (COLTON RASANEN) n

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FEBRUARY 15, 2024 INLANDER 15

GOVERNMENT

A House Unevenly Divided The U.S. House once had a representative for about every 30,000 people, but now lawmakers serve between 543,000 and 991,000 constituents — what happened?

BY SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL

I

magine this: You’re voting on a matter of national significance, you get to the front of the line, and the poll worker asks, “What state are you from?”

Montana? Great, you get a full vote for or against the measure.

Washington? OK, you get just under three-quarters of a vote.

Idaho? Welp, you get a little over half of a vote.

Wait… what? Why would some votes count less just because of the state you live in? How is that fair?

It’s not.

But in effect, that’s exactly how disparate the public’s voting power currently is in the U.S. House of Representatives, because congressional districts vary so dramatically that the largest district has nearly half a million more people in it than the smallest district.

While court cases in the 1960s established that congressional districts within a state need to be basically equal in size, recognizing the principle of “one person, one vote,” the same standard hasn’t been applied to districts across the country. Other than requiring at least one representative for each state, with at least 30,000 constitu-

16 INLANDER FEBRUARY 15, 2024

ents per representative, the U.S. Constitution leaves plenty of leeway for Congress to decide just how big the House should be and how its members should be apportioned “according to [states’] respective numbers” of residents.

Neighboring Northwest states perfectly illustrate the divide that has grown in recent decades.

As of 2022, Montana has the smallest House districts in the country, with each of the state’s two representatives covering about 543,000 people. Before gaining a seat during the 2020 apportionment, the state had only one district of nearly a million people, making Montanans’ voting power, through their representative, the weakest in the country. Now, it’s the strongest.

Meanwhile, Washington’s 10 U.S. representatives have about 772,000 constituents in each of their districts.

Idaho is currently the second-worst represented state in the country, with each of its two representatives covering almost 921,000 as of 2020. (Delaware gets the saddest slice of the vote cake, with only one representative covering nearly 991,000 people.)

Spokane attorney Will C. Schroeder, who most often handles trial cases such as wrongful death lawsuits, stum-

bled upon the dramatic difference in the size of House districts across the country in early 2022 after his kids asked him to explain: How does the government work?

“I started with a dad joke: ‘Not very well,’” Schroeder says.

After explaining the executive and judicial branches, and the Senate, which is made up of two senators from each state, Schroeder says he realized his knowledge was a little fuzzy when it came to the House. He told them that seats are split out based on population … basically … and there are currently 435 districts.

When his kids asked, “Why 435?” Schroeder says he had to answer, “Well, I don’t specifically know.”

So he did some research. What Schroeder found ultimately led him to file a lawsuit against the U.S. government in mid-2022, arguing that virtually every voter in the country has had their constitutional rights infringed.

District size is so varied that the idea of “one person, one vote” has been violated.

In his research, Schroeder learned that, while Congress used to increase the number of representatives after each census, doing so for the better part of 100 years,

Spokane lawyer Will Schroeder YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

the House stopped adding representatives after it reached 435 members in 1912.

Because the population growth in each state varies, and districts can’t be split between multiple states, the mathematical Method of Equal Proportions isn’t able to create perfectly balanced districts. While most districts in the country sit somewhere in the 700,000 range, 12 states have districts that sit outside that range.

Schroeder’s proposed solution? Since each state needs to have at least one representative, why not use the population of the smallest state (currently Wyoming, at about 580,000 people) to set the size of districts, and add more members to keep districts about that size?

“For the longest time, that’s just how I assumed it worked,” Schroeder says. “Every district should be the same size.”

Using that method, Idaho would get a third representative (due to its growth, the state is already poised to get that third seat after the 2030 census) and Washington would get three more representatives. Overall, the House would grow to about 570 members.

Schroeder says there may be many unknowns with how that could impact politics, but because of the principle, we should give ...continued on next page

FEBRUARY 15, 2024 INLANDER 17

District Size

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2

it a shot, because what we have now creates imbalances.

6 “The more people are in a district, the less access you have, practically, to your representative,” he says.

After his case was dismissed in U.S. District Court due to lack of standing, Schroeder appealed. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has asked to hear oral arguments in Seattle later this year. Schroeder hopes that the appellate judges will weigh in on some of the merits, even if the case ultimately gets dismissed, which he thinks is likely.

“What I’m hoping is that they see that there’s something to this, too,” Schroeder says, “and that they write a robust decision.”

A NOVEL, CREATIVE THEORY

7 10

1 9

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3

8

5

Spokane

4

1

5

771,595* People

CATHY MCMORRIS RODGERS (R)

# District

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U.S Representitive

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of a Vote

*Average district size assigned by the 2020 Census

apportionment, actual population varies It’s possible that one of the reasons there hasn’t been an appetite for increasing the Sources: 2020 Census, Will Schroeder size of the House over the last century is due to the impracticality of having a larger gressional districts with mathematical precision, governing body, says Jason Gillmer, who teaches that is no excuse for ignoring our Constitution’s constitutional law at Gonzaga University. plain objective of making equal representation for “The House, as it was tracking populaequal numbers of people the fundamental goal tion growth, had the potential of increasing the for the House of Representatives. That is the high numbers of representatives so much that it would standard of justice and common sense which the become an unruly governing body — to the exFounders set for us,” the ruling states. tent that it is not already. I think that’s why they But that case only applied to intrastate district settled on that number,” Gillmer says. “Obviously sizes, not interstate district discrepancies. that’s a good question: How many is too many?

Still, Schroeder is hopeful that the same logic … There’s no magic number.” from that case applies nationally.

There are also practical limitations: The The Supreme Court decision in Wesberry House Chamber would likely need to be expandstates, in part, “To say that a vote is worth more ed to add any members, and new offices would in one district than in another would not only run be needed for each of them and their staff. counter to our fundamental ideas of democratic Plus, there would be more salaries to pay. government, it would cast aside the principle of a Most senators and representatives make House of Representatives elected ‘by the People,’ $174,000 per year (it’s more for the handful in a principle tenaciously fought for and established leadership), and every House member gets about at the Constitutional Convention.” $1.9 million per year to pay for their staff, office “His theory is, ‘Well, if that’s true of a state, expenses, travel to their district, and mailings, acsurely it would have to be true of the nation as a cording to the Congressional Research Service. whole,’” Gillmer says. “It’s a novel theory, it’s a Regardless of any practical limitations on creative theory.” expanding the House, Schroeder’s lawsuit raises It’ll be an uphill battle to get a ruling to an important question, Gillmer says. affirm that theory though. Schroeder’s case was “Our collective influence over government dismissed in federal District Court for lack of has been diluted over the years because of how standing. However, he appealed, and the 9th Cirmany people a representative has to represent,” cuit has agreed to hear oral argument on the case Gillmer says. “He’s also no doubt right that sometime in May or July, rather than just dismisssome states have more representation because of ing it on similar grounds as the District Court. population size.”

Meanwhile, the federal government, repreOne of the cases Schroeder cites heavily in sented by the office of Vanessa Waldref, U.S. his appeal is Wesberry v. Sanders. In that case, votattorney for the Eastern District of Washington, ers in Georgia’s 5th Congressional District took continues to argue that Schroeder has no standissue with the fact that their district had two to ing and that the courts can’t decide how Congress three times the population of other congressional should be constructed, as it’s a political question. districts in their state, diluting their votes.

“In fixing the size of the House at 435 RepIn 1964, the Supreme Court ruled in Wesberry resentatives, Congress balanced the need to have that congressional districts within each state must enough members to be broadly representative have roughly equal populations, pointing to plenagainst the need to have a functional legislature,” ty of historical context that shows the framers states the government’s Dec. 20, 2023, brief. intended the House to be equally representative, “Schroeder asked the district court to overturn with “one person, one vote” guiding the equal the Congressional compromise of a multifaceted sizes of districts, or at-large voting for seats. problem that has no precise solution and, in so “While it may not be possible to draw con-

...continued on page 20

e Discrepancy

Discrepancy 1 2

Billings

1 920,689*

2 542,704*

RUSS FULCHER (R)

MATT ROSENDALE (R)

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2

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of a Vote

1

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TRACY MORGAN

FEB. 24

U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) COURTESY PHOTO

PAID FOR LIFE? For what it’s worth, that myth you’ve heard about people serving just one term in Congress and earning their salary for life is just that: a myth. Salaries are paid only during the terms that members are elected to.

However, full annual pensions are offered starting at age 62 to those who’ve served for at least five years, starting at age 50 for those who’ve served for 20 years and at any age for someone who’s served 25 years. According to the Congressional Research Service, each member vests into the plan based on their total years of service, and pays about 1% to 4% of their salary per year into the plan depending on the year they started in office. No member can receive more than 80% of their final salary as their pension, and under the current rules, you’d have to serve 66 years to vest to that full 80%.

With the announcement last week that U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers will be leaving office at the end of this year, she could be eligible for an immediate full pension, since she’s 54 and this will be her 20th year serving in Congress. If she accepts it, her pension could be $59,160 per year.

— SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL

Must be 21 or older. Management reserves all rights.

FEBRUARY 15, 2024 INLANDER 19

GOVERNMENT “A HOUSE UNEVENLY DIVIDED,” CONTINUED... doing, to restructure an entire branch of the federal government at its most fundamental level. Courts lack the power to do so.”

The federal brief also points out that a similar case calling to add representatives to the House to address population disparities, Clemons v. Department of Commerce, went to the Supreme Court in 2010 and was dismissed because the court lacked jurisdiction.

“The Supreme Court confirmed that the size of the House is not subject to challenge in Clemons,” the federal brief argues. “While the Supreme Court did not specify the precise jurisdictional flaw in [Clemons], those plaintiffs raised a challenge similar to Schroeder’s, and a similar disposition is therefore warranted here.”

At first, when Schroeder saw Clemons, he thought he might be out of luck with his attempt to have his complaint heard in court. However, because the court didn’t weigh in on the merits in Clemons, and a ruling in the 2019 case Rucho v. Common Cause reaffirmed that courts could weigh in on “one person, one vote” cases, he feels confident the court can weigh in on the merits here.

“All the court’s technically being asked to do is declaratory relief: say whether it’s constitutional or not,” Schroeder says. “It looks like you can at least get at some of our equal representation problems without having to amend the Constitution, which is a bit of a relief.”

vote), and excluding Native Americans who weren’t taxed.

While Article 1 set a minimum size for districts, it didn’t set a cap. And it didn’t dictate how many members could or should be in the House.

Though it’s not an apples-to-apples example, by way of comparison, the U.K.’s House of Commons today has 650 members representing about 63 million people in Parliament. The U.S. has nearly 336 million people.

Interestingly, the Supreme Court’s decision in Wesberry outlines some of the mistakes of the British Parliament (which was also soon to be reformed) that delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 hoped to avoid repeating. They especially wanted to avoid what were known as “rotten boroughs” — communities that had extremely outsized representation in Parliament. “[James] Wilson urged that people must be represented as individuals, so that America would escape the evils of the English system, under which one man could send two members to Parliament to represent the borough of Old Sarum, while London’s million people sent but four,” the 1964 ruling says of what was shared during the convention.

You might be thinking, what do our regional representatives think about this whole idea of expanding the House? Well, we tried multiple times over the last few weeks to talk to U.S. Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and Russ Fulcher, R-Idaho, but after emailing Back in 1787, the framers at the Constitutional Contheir staffs specific questions and trying to schedule a vention were big on the whole concept of “no taxation phone call multiple times, we didn’t hear from either without representation,” and they devised a decennial representative. census to count all the people in each state with the Regardless of what happens with Schroeder’s idea of fairly assigning representatives based on popula- lawsuit, Shasti Conrad, chair of the Washington State tion. To make sure no one had the motivation to fictiDemocratic Party, says she doesn’t think it’s likely that tiously report a larger population in order to get more Washington will get additional representation in Conmembers of the House, the count also came with a tax gress anytime soon. (The Washington GOP did not burden. Taxation, hand-in-hand with representation. provide comment after multiple requests.)

It’s also important to remember that for the first Conrad would rather focus on other reforms, such 100-plus years, the Senate received as moving Washington’s local electwo members from each state who tions from odd years to even years were elected by state legislatures. so there’s greater participation in It wasn’t until 1914, after the 17th things like city council elections Amendment was ratified, that senathat are more likely to impact tors were first elected by popular people close to home. vote like representatives.

“There are far more realistic From the outset, Article 1 of the goals related to electoral reform Constitution guaranteed that each that are much closer to actually bestate would have at least one reping able to make an impact,” Conresentative, and no representative rad says. “One of those, I think, is should have a district smaller than moving to even-year elections.”

30,000 people. Early House memShe also thinks Electoral Colbers (through 1833) had 34,000 to lege reform is picking up steam 50,000 constituents each, and they around the country. were elected to at-large positions by Another quick civics refresher: voters in their state.

The number of electors assigned U.S. Rep. Russ Fulcher (R-Idaho) By the mid-1800s, the voting to each state is determined by the COURTESY PHOTO switched to district-based House number of members of Congress seats, in an attempt to have even more localized reprea state has (one for each senator and representative). sentation.

Schroeder thinks that part of the disparity between the Of course, early census data used to set the popular vote and what’s been seen in the electoral vote overall number of House members was problematic. has to do with the House being capped at 435, making It counted only the “whole number” of people per districts uneven by population. So, if Schroeder wins state, with Black people counted as 3/5 of a person (a his lawsuit, it could directly impact the Electoral compromise with Southern states that wanted more College, and the way we elect our presidents. n representatives even though slaves were not allowed to samanthaw@inlander.com

MORE HISTORY AND A LOOK AHEAD

20 INLANDER FEBRUARY 15, 2024

A CENTURY AT 435 As envisioned by the framers of the Constitution in 1787, the once-per-decade census was created in large part so that Congress could figure out how many representatives there should be, based on the population.

For more than a century, Congress added House members each decade as new states joined the union and the population grew. Every representative initially covered about the same number of constituents, which was roughly 34,000 to 50,000 people per representative during the first 50 years, when representatives were elected to at-large seats by state. That grew to almost 174,000 constituents per representative over the next 50 years as members started serving districts.

Over time, the House grew from 65 members serving 13 states in 1790, to 241 members serving 25 states in 1836, and to 391 members serving 46 states in 1907.

But since 1912, the House has remained at 435 members. The number was updated to 433 after the 1910 census, allowing for two additional members should Arizona and New Mexico become states. Both did in 1912. (The House temporarily grew to 437 members from 1959 to 1963 to accommodate one member each for the new states of Alaska and Hawaii until the 1960 census was used to reapportion the 435 members.)

There’s some complicated, xenophobic history involved, but part of why the number stalled at 435 is that Congress rejected the 1920 census and heavily debated whether immigrants should be counted in population totals used to apportion House seats. By 1929, Congress passed the Permanent Apportionment Act, setting 435 as the permanent number and ensuring that seats would be reapportioned among the states after every census, whether Congress acts or not.

While the House hasn’t grown in 112 years, the U.S. population has tripled, from about 92 million in the 1910 census to more than 331 million in 2020. Representatives in 1913 served an average of about 211,000 constituents.

In 2023, the average was about 761,000 constituents.

For much of the 20th century, the mathematical “Method of Equal Proportions,” which was devised in the 1940s to divvy up the 435 seats, seemed to give states roughly similarly sized districts. But Spokane attorney Will C. Schroeder says the population divide between the smallest and largest districts in the country has grown dramatically since the early 1990s.

— SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL

FEBRUARY 15, 2024 INLANDER 21

LOCAL RESORTS

TWO MORE MONTHS

Yeah, it’s been an El Niño kind of season, but the five local resorts have snow — and they plan to keep skiing as long as possible

49° NORTH

SCHWEITZER

Conditions change quickly, like the foot of fresh snowfall atop Schweitzer Mountain earlier this month that added plenty of fresh powder. Since Schweitzer is open until April 14, the mountain is only about halfway through its season and there’s plenty of snowsport left, says Taylor Prather, marketing communications manager at Schweitzer.

“Once March and April come around, skiers and riders can enjoy the feeling of having the mountain to themselves,” says Prather. “Many people pack up their gear early, but some of the best days on the mountain are in the spring!”

Plus, the second half of the season is full of signature Schweitzer events, starting this President’s Day weekend with twilight skiing, free live music, the “Let It Glow” parade and a fireworks show on Feb. 18.

Get geared up for next year at MegaDemo Day on March 2. You’ll be able to check out next season’s skis and snowboards, all while helping the Panhandle Alliance for Education. Other big events in March are Community Day on March 29, followed by the Snow Ghost Banked Slalom on March 30-31.

And no season would be complete without the Schweitzer Schpring Finale on closing weekend. The annual celebration only requires your best cardboard box racing skills, silliest costumes and heartfelt toasts to lasting winter memories. (ELIZA BILLINGHAM)

22 INLANDER FEBRUARY 15, 2024

It’s been an unusually warm and unpredictable winter, but fortunately, that hasn’t stopped 49 Degrees North from providing an exciting escape to the snowy peaks of Chewelah Peak. And thanks to the resort’s focus on snowmaking in recent years, that unpredictability has been mostly mitigated.

“Snowmaking has been a huge benefit to us and our guests for better conditions, better coverage and more [snowpack] durability in these variable weather conditions,” says Rick Brown, director of skier and rider services. “Honestly, the skiing and riding this season is pretty darn good.

“People are having a very good time, and we’re seeing both new participants and our core skiers and snowboarders coming out,” he adds.

The season is halfway through with only a few months left to shred the slopes. But Brown says that’s often the best time to hit the mountain.

“The second half of a season is when things start to get really good,” he says. “The views are great and the days are longer — this is the place to be.”

The resort also plans a number of events, like live music in the Boomtown Bar and the upcoming Snow Moon Dinner, which promises attendees an elegant three-course meal surrounded by a collection of art from local artists.

So even if you don’t plan to ride the wintry wave down the almost 90 marked trails at 49 Degrees North, it’s almost guaranteed that there will be something fun waiting for you at the mountain resort.

(COLTON RASANEN)

l F iv r e id m a u y s n ic ig h t s !

Mt. Spokane Is open for fun

day& Night

SILVER MOUNTAIN

This winter hasn’t been as cold and snowy as your average winter sports enthusiast might have hoped. Yet despite the slightly underwhelming conditions, those working at Silver Mountain are committed to making the best of the remaining winter months.

“Snowfall isn’t something that we can control,” says Silver Mountain’s marketing coordinator Gus Colburn.

“But luckily we have a very dedicated group of passionate skiers who are happy to come out and enjoy the slopes no matter what the conditions are.”

And to help foster a fun, enjoyable time on Silver Mountain, Colburn says the resort has a few events coming up, such as the annual Doug E. Fresh Banked Slalom on March 2. The annual snowboard-only race and fundraiser is held in memory of Fresh and all proceeds go directly toward the Doug E. Fresh Foundation.

And right after the race, Silver Mountain is throwing a Ski Bum Prom, marking the first time since 2020 that mountain guests can hit the slopes at night. There will be live music by Jamshack at Mogul’s, drinks from Grand Teton Brewing and a raffle.

Overall, Colburn says the plan is to keep as much of Silver Mountain’s terrain open for as long as conditions permit.

“We have some lift ticket deals coming up here pretty soon that we haven’t announced yet,” he says. “Keep a lookout on the Silver Mountain Facebook and website for those announcements, because they’re coming soon.”

(SUMMER SANDSTROM)

9am–9pm: Wednesdays–Saturdays 9am–4pm: SundaYS All day tickets include nights. night ski, 3pm–9pm, only $39 www.mtspokane.com

...continued on next page

FEBRUARY 15, 2024 INLANDER 23

LOCAL RESORTS

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When the Inland Northwest’s usual leader in total snowfall is still just shy of having 100 percent of its terrain open in the dead of winter, you can bet El Niño is to blame. Visitors have been greeted with easy trips over Fourth of July Pass and rainy weather through the Silver Valley on their way to the mountain this winter.

“Not having snow in their backyard, people don’t know there’s snow on the mountain,” says Matt Sawyer, director of marketing and sales at Lookout Pass.

Those deceptive conditions around the low-lying areas have kept many away from the slopes, and while not ideal for the region’s ski areas, it’s been a bright spot in an otherwise dreary season for winter sports enthusiasts, who are finding fresh powder and smaller crowds.

To help convince more people that it is in fact winter, and there is snow on the mountain, Lookout Pass is running some deals through the rest of the season — as of now, the mountain is hoping to stay open through April 14.

Every Thursday, visitors can buy two lift tickets for $75 compared to the usual midweek adult price of $55 per ticket. And 2024-25 season passes will go on sale the first week of March and include the rest of this season at no extra cost. If your season-long allegiance lies elsewhere, bring your current and valid season pass from any other mountain and receive 50 percent off a single-day lift ticket. (WILL MAUPIN)

MT. SPOKANE

Like all mountains around the region, Mt. Spokane has had to adapt to a less-than-ideal winter snowpack, but that hasn’t stopped the mountain from doing what it does best.

Mt. Spokane is the area’s premier destination for night skiing, which it offers until 9 pm Wednesdays through Saturdays — closing time is 4 pm on Sundays, and the mountain is closed Monday and Tuesday to preserve and recover snowpack. Nearly a third of the mountain’s runs are illuminated, providing the after-work and night owl crowds with a variety of terrain to enjoy under the stars.

The nights get even more fun on Fridays with live music at Foggy Bottom Bar in Lodge 2 from 5 to 8 pm.

Despite El Niño’s best efforts to put a damper on the season, the crew at Mt. Spokane has worked to keep the mountain in prime shape for those looking to get their footing on the slopes.

“The groomers make an optimal place to learn to ski,” says Jodi Kayler, assistant general manager at Mt. Spokane. “Group lessons are available every weekend, and private lessons are available most days with advance notice.”

If you’re eager to scratch your winter itch, the fastest way to do that is by making the 35-mile drive from downtown to the lifts at Mt. Spokane. Regardless of the weather, it will always be the closest mountain to the city. (WILL MAUPIN)

43 : Schweitzer | Snowlander : First RHP Snowlander : 20 S : CFP

FEBRUARY 15, 2024 INLANDER 25

PODCAST

THE SKI WHISPERER Ski dude Mike Powell felt an urge one day that resulted in an epic Powell Movement that’s been staying regular for nearly 400 weeks now

Podcaster Mike Powell’s journey took him from the tiny mountains of Virginia to Seattle and all the glories of the Great PNW.

STORY BY BOB LEGASA | PHOTOS COURTESY OF MIKE POWELL

“W

hen I was a kid, I always told myself if I was ever to start a band, I was going to call it the Powell Movement, and the first album would be called Because We’re The Shit. That just always stuck with me.”

That’s Mike Powell of the Powell Movement, what I consider the best weekly skiing podcast out there. The Powell Movement talks with the Who’s Who of the ski industry — past, present and future. I started listening to the Powell Movement a few years back when I was painting the inside of my house. I found myself binge-listening, sucked into all the little backstories on his guests. His podcasts made my paint job go by fast.

One thing I quickly learned is that Powell doesn’t sugarcoat his questions. Yeah, many of his questions are the typical “where’d you grow up, how’d you start skiing,” but he digs deep and sometimes asks uncomfortable questions. One of the first podcasts I listened to was a two-parter with Jeremy Nobis, a former U.S. Ski Team downhill skier and a guy who made a huge name for him-

26 INLANDER FEBRUARY 15, 2024

self in Big Mountain skiing.

In fact, Nobis changed the game of Big Mountain skiing. Back in the ’80s, ’90s and even early 2000s, when skiing a big open Alaskan face, pro skiers would ski a run like that with 20 to 40 turns. Not Nobis. He put his downhill training and knowledge to work and tackled these steeps full throttle with five or six turns. His attitude also rolled into Nobis’ day-to-day life with hard partying and running from the cops — so much so that he found himself in jail and rehab several times.

Powell wasn’t afraid to ask Nobis the tough questions about his past, his addictions and his dark side. As a listener, there have been times I was uncomfortable, but I wanted to hear Nobis’ story, good or bad. Powell’s the guy to get the story.

P

owell grew up an average kid plunked into the elite outskirts of Washington, D.C. “My dad was a home builder, but all my friends were different. They were all in government it

seemed. Dan Quayle’s kid, the Scalias’ kids went to my high school. My history teacher was Tom DeLay’s wife.

My best friend Johnny, well, his dad left the government to deal arms in Budapest,” Powell recalls.

Powell started skiing by age 5, spending every weekend with his family in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia at Wintergreen Resort.

“Every other year, we would go out to Colorado on ski vacation with my family and then later on with my friend’s family, whose parents had a condo in Beaver Creek. [Then] I went every spring break and Christmas for about five or six years.”

Powell was hooked, and he got his start in the ski industry with K2 as a brand ambassador for inline skates in Seattle. He quickly moved up, but “then the bottom dropped out on inline skating,” he says. “K2 laid off everyone but two people in that division. I was one of the two. That was three months after I’d moved my whole life to Seattle.” ...continued on page 28

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FEBRUARY 15, 2024 INLANDER 27

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The Powell Movement’s super power is the killer guests; here is Mike, left, with Washington state ski legend Phil Mahre.

Working at K2, Powell became good friends Jeremy Jones, Jeff Ament from Pearl Jam, Gerry with the crew who was running the K2 ski diviLopez… the list of high-profile guests goes on and sion. His roommate at the time was K2 graphic on. artist Ryan Schnee.

“The way I look at it, with these interviews, “Anytime one of K2’s ski pros would come I’m not telling stories about myself,” he says. “It’s into Seattle, they would end up staying at our all about the person I’m interviewing and their house. I wouldn’t call it a party house, but it was role in the sport, how they came up through it a party house. I’d say, over the years, we had and the impact they’ve had on it… every different probably 30 different athletes stay with us, and I week is just a different little nook and cranny of became good friends with them all.” the history of these sports.”

With change in the inline industry Powell Sometimes these history lessons or backstomoved over to the ski side of things in 2004, ries come through what Powell calls “Inapprothen moving up to U.S. marketing manager for priate Questions.” This is where a close friend K2 skis. During that time, lots of changes were or associate of the guests asks, you guessed it, happening with K2, including the sale of the com- an inappropriate question. They can be damn pany. After 15 years, Powell walked away, trying funny, like the episode with the ski company different things, ultimately doing marketing for a president whose business lunch in Japan went national craft brewery. awry. Apparently, the sushi didn’t agree with him “People have always opened up to me for and he had to make a mad dash to the toilet only some reason,” says Powell. “I have a weird way of to find it was one of those that was just a hole in questioning people when I meet them. I want to the ground. For the next few minutes, you get to learn about them. One time my wife had a friend listen to this guest describe how he had someover, and I was just interrogating thing that rhymes with “Powell her, my wife’s like, ‘God, you Movement,” destroyed his pants Check out The Powell should just start a podcast.’” and had to wash them right there in the bathroom sink, only to do Movement anywhere you n Father’s Day a few the walk of shame and return can hear podcasts; also visit years back, Powell’s to the business meeting with his thepowellmovement.com. wife bought him a pants soaking wet. podcast starter kit.

By the time the Powell Move“It was all really garbage gear,” he laughs. ment hits episode 1,000, there will be a great un“But you know what? With nothing else going derstanding of where the sport of skiing has come on in my life, I decided to quit that job and start a from, from a ’70s hot-dogger’s perspective all the podcast. And that’s it. I rolled the dice, and it has way through the modern freeriders of today. kind of worked out.”

When you listen to Powell’s weekly podcast, When it comes to research on his guests, you can tell he takes pride in his work.

Powell is diligent about getting the lowdown, so “It’s cool telling these stories,” he says. “I much so I think he could be a private investigator. really enjoy helping these people tell their stories He typically spends about 10 hours researching better than they told them anywhere else. I take each of his guests. Whether it’s going through pride in them, taking pride in listening to them their social media or getting on the phone and and sharing them with other people. I think that’s making calls, Powell finds those stories that the coolest part of it.” n haven’t been told before.

With close to 370 episodes in his library, the Bob Legasa has written for Snowlander since Powell Movement has definitely created a follow1994. He’s also a Hayden-based videographer, ing. Whether it’s talking with guests like Glen TV producer and snowsports event promoter Plake, Jonny Moseley, Tanner Hall, Scot Schmidt, with his Freeride Media company.

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28 INLANDER FEBRUARY 15, 2024

Join us for OUR 51ST ANNUAL WEIRD WONDERFUL WINTER CARNIVAL

February 16-25,

featured events:

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 18

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16

Let it Glow at Schweitzer February 18

PRESIDENTS’ DAY WEEKEND AT SCHWEITZER. All carnival action moves onto the mountain with skiing, riding, snowshoe hikes and more, capped by the Coca Cola Let it Glow night parade and fireworks at 6 p.m.

PARADE OF LIGHTS kicks off the carnival with the small-but-select parade through downtown @ 5:30 p.m. Afterwards, enjoy drink, dining, music and more downtown. Sponsored by Ting.

MONDAY, FEB 19 - FRIDAY, FEB 23

THE GREAT WINTER CARNIVAL CHILI COOKOFF. Sample fine chili from local cooks 3-5 p.m. and vote on your favorites, at Pierce Auto Center.

IN TOWN AND ON THE MOUNTAIN. Activities galore with live music around town, activities at Schweitzer and more.

LIVE MUSIC WITH PAPER FLOWERS @ THE HIVE. Multi-media concert and show reprising Fleetwood Mac’s heyday, 7-11 p.m. at The Hive downtown.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 17 PRESIDENTS’ DAY WEEKEND AT SCHWEITZER. Mountain activities all day, with snow bar, summit snowshoe hike, tubing, twilight skiing and more.

SLEIGH RIDE, DINNER & CONCERT @ WESTERN PLEASURE. Rides at 5 or 6 p.m., dinner at 6:30 p.m.

Reserve in advance!

CARNIVAL EVENTS AT SCHWEITZER. Ski and ride, including twilight hours 3-7 p.m., plus all-day activities including tubing, live music and a hosted moonlight snowshoe hike.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 25

PEGGY REICH PIANO RECITAL. Acclaimed visiting artist plays at the Music Conservatory, 7-9 p.m.

FOR MORE FESTIVAL INFO OR LODGING OPTIONS GO TO

2024

EICHARDT’S K9 KEG PULL. It’s the capstone of Winter Carnival, as dogs and owners race down a snowy course downtown beginning 11 a.m. Dogs pull appropriately sized kegs – for a St. Bernard, that’s a full-size keg, but for a chihuahua it’s a beer can – as they race the clock for best time and prizes. It’s heart-warming fun!

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FEBRUARY 15, 2024 INLANDER 29

EVENTS

Maybe you’ll be crowned Ski Bum Prom royalty. SILVER MOUNTAIN PHOTO

SUIT UP

Have you ever wanted to relive your glory days from high school? Maybe prom night was a disaster and you’re down for a redo. This event invites skiers to ski under the lights and dance the night away at 5,700 feet. It’s not prom without music, so JamShack will be there to provide the tunes. There’s no need to spike the punch bowl because there are drink specials all night from Grand Teton Brewing. Put on your retro ski bum attire and get ready to take some awkward pics, cause it’s prom night!

— MADISON PEARSON Ski Bum Prom Night Ski • Sat, March 2 from 4-8 pm • Cost of a lift ticket ($56-$72; children 6 and under free) • Silver Mountain Resort • 610 Bunker Ave., Kellogg • silvermt.com

CROSS COUNTRY SKI LESSONS Learn the basics of cross-country skiing. Fee includes day-long equipment rental and two hours of instruction. Feb. 15 and Feb. 25, 10 am-noon. $77. Selkirk Lodge, N. Mt. Spokane Park Dr. spokanecity.org MT. SPOKANE NIGHT SKIING Ski after the sun sets under the lights at Mt. Spokane. Wed-Fri from 3-9 pm through March 16. $40-$80. Mt. Spokane Ski & Snowboard Park, 29500 N. Mt. Spokane Park Dr. mtspokane.com (509-238-2220) CLUB SHRED A club aimed at kids learning and practicing ski skills. Also includes fun activities, movies, dinner and more.

Ages 4-10. Skiers only. Fridays from 5-8 pm through March 15. $45. Mt. Spokane Ski & Snowboard Park, 29500 N. Mt. Spokane Park Dr. mtspokane,com SANDPOINT WINTER CARNIVAL This annual event features a parade, chili cookoff, snow sport activities on Schweitzer, live music and more. Feb. 16-25; times and locations vary. See website for schedule. sandpointwintercarnival.com MOUNT SPOKANE NORDIC CUP Test your skiing skills on challenging courses of jumps, moguls and more. Feb. 17-18, 8 am-3 pm. Free to attend; $25-$50 for skiers. Selkirk Lodge, N. Mt. Spokane Park Dr. spokanenordic.org SNOWSHOES & BREWS MOUNT SPOKANE A tour through the woods of Mount Spokane State Park. Afterwards,group head to Big Barn Brewery to learn about their locally crafted beer. Feb. 17, 9 am2:30 pm. $53. Yoke’s Fresh Market, 14202 N. Market St. spokanerec.org WILDERNESS FIRST AID TRAINING A first aid course covering patient as-

sessment, musculoskeletal injuries and splinting, anaphylaxis and epinephrine administration, would care and management as well as backcountry medical emergencies. Feb. 17-19, daily from 8 am-5 pm. $700-$750. Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge, 26010 S. Smith Rd. longleafmedical.com CHEAP SKATE TUESDAYS Free skate rentals are provided with each paid admission. Tue from 11 am-8 pm through Feb. 27. $6.95-$9.95. Numerica Skate Ribbon, 720 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. riverfrontspokane.org (509-625-6600) SPOKANE CHIEFS VS. REGINA PATS Promotions include Shriners Hospitals for Children School Night and Boomer Pillowcase Giveaway. Feb. 23, 7:05 pm. $13-$32. Spokane Arena, 720 W. Mallon Ave. spokanechiefs.com CROSS COUNTRY MOONLIGHT SKI & DINNER Make your way on cross-country skis through the woods and enjoy a meal from Greenbluff Fresh Catering afterward. Feb. 24, 6-9 pm. $79. Selkirk Lodge, N. Mt. Spokane Park Dr. spokanecity.org (509-363-5414) SNOW MOON DINNER A night of food and art celebrating the snow moon featuring a four-course meal and a curated selection of pieces made by local artists.

Feb. 24, 6 pm. $60-$100. 49 Degrees North, 3311 Flowery Trail Rd. ski49n.com SNOWSHOE MOONLIGHT TOUR & DINNER Travel the winter landscape of Mt. Spokane by the light of the moon. Afterwards, return to the Selkirk Lodge for dinner from Greenbluff Fresh Catering Co. Feb. 24, 6-9 pm. $79. Selkirk Lodge, N. Mt. Spokane Park Dr. spokanerec.org

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A special Inlander preview, a day early EVERY WEDNESDAY

Visit Sandpoint, Idaho this month to catch these and other events 2/16-2/25 winter carnival

Fun all around town and on the mountain with live music, festivals and events for kids and adults.

2/16-2/18 Let it Glow show

Big Winter Carnival event, the kids’ parade and fireworks highlights the weekend at Schweitzer.

2/23 hankers barn dance

Award-winning country and bluegrass band lights up The Hive downtown.

There will be line dancing!

Get visitor information at 208.263.2161 • www.visitSandpoint.com 30 INLANDER FEBRUARY 15, 2024

2/25 k9 keG puLl

CapstoneWinter Carnival event, dogs pulling kegs race down a snow course.

It’s heartwarming fun!

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32 INLANDER FEBRUARY 15, 2024

SPOKANE CHIEFS VS. MOOSE JAW WARRIORS Promos include Inland Imaging Chiefs Fight Cancer and Family Feast Night. Feb. 24, 6:05 pm. $13-$32.

Spokane Arena, 720 W. Mallon Ave. spokanechiefs.com (509-279-7000) CROSS COUNTRY SKI LESSONS Learn to cross-country ski and tour the trails of 49 Degrees North Nordic Area. Instruction includes basics of equipment, ski area rules, etiquette and techniques. Ages 13+. Feb. 25 and March 9, 10 am-2 pm. $67. 49 Degrees North, 3311 Flowery Trail Rd. spokanecity.org TOYOTA FREE SKI FRIDAY The driver of any Toyota will receive a free lift ticket valid for that day only. March 1.

49 Degrees North, 3311 Flowery Trail Rd. ski49n.com (509-935-6649) DOUG E. FRESH BANKED SLALOM A snowboard race through a banked slalom course in the terrain park. All proceeds from the event goes to the Doug E. Fresh Foundation. March 2. Silver Mountain Resort, 610 Bunker Ave. silvermt.com SNOWSHOE TOUR Tour the trails of 49 Degrees North while a tour guide instructs how to better control your snowshoes. Fee includes: guides, snowshoes, poles, trail pass, instruction and lunch.

Ages 16+. March 2, 10 am-2 pm. $53. 49 Degrees North, 3311 Flowery Trail Rd. spokanecity.org (509-363-5414) SORTA NATURAL BANKED SLALOM This event is held in the Rolling Thunder Natural Terrain Park. The course layout is a natural banked slalom. Runs will be timed on a technical banked course, challenging riders to carry speed from top to bottom. March 2, 10 am. $68. Lookout Pass Ski & Recreation Area, I-90 Exit 0. skilookout.com (208-744-1301) SNOWSHOE MOUNT SPOKANE WITH TRANSPORTATION Take a tour of majestic Mount Spokane by snowshoeing up and down hills through snow-covered trails. March 3, 9 am-1 pm and March 16, 9 am-1 pm. $41. Yoke’s Fresh Market, 14202 N. Market St. spokanerec.org THE SPOKANE LOPPET This long-distance cross-country ski race allows participants to choose between 20, 30, and 50k courses. Skiers can also create their own custom routes to challenge their friends. March 3, 8 am-3 pm. $50-$65.

Selkirk Lodge, N. Mt. Spokane Park Dr. spokanenordic.org/loppet WOMEN’S CLINIC SERIES This series provides a safe and supportive environment for all ability levels of skiers and snowboarders to develop new skills. Lift ticket or season pass required to participate.

March 3, 1-3 pm. $69. 49 Degrees North, 3311 Flowery Trail Rd. ski49.com SPOKANE CHIEFS VS. VICTORIA ROYALS Promotions include TicketsWest Player Magnet Giveaway. March 5, 7:05 pm. $13$32. Spokane Arena, 720 W. Mallon Ave. spokanechiefs.com (509-279-7000) SHEJUMPS: GET THE GIRLS OUT! Hit the slopes with other women and girls at this female-focused event aimed at getting people to embrace the outdoors. March 9, 9:30 am-3 pm. Free. Mt. Spokane Ski & Snowboard Park, 29500 N. Mt. Spokane Park Dr. shejumps.org (509-638-5331) SNOWSHOE & MEAD TASTING WITH TRANSPORTATION Take a tour of majestic Mount Spokane by snowshoeing up and down hills through snow-covered trails. After the tour, the group heads to Hierophant Meadery on Green Bluff for an educational tasting of some of Washington’s finest Meads. March 9, 9 am-

2:30 pm. $53. Yoke’s Fresh Market, 14202 N. Market St. spokanerec.org SPOKANE CHIEFS VS. SEATTLE THUNDERBIRDS Promotions include CocaCola Derek Ryan Bobblehead Giveaway & Family Feast Night. March 9, 6:05 pm. $13-$32. Spokane Arena, 720 W. Mallon Ave. spokanechiefs.com (509-279-7000) BARKERBEINER This event pairs dogs and their owners for an exciting day full of high-level skijoring competition and fun. March 10, 11 am-3 pm. $20-$30. Selkirk Lodge, N. Mt. Spokane Park Dr. spokanenordic.org/barkerbeiner SPOKANE CHIEFS VS. PORTLAND WINTERHAWKS Promotions include TicketsWest Player Magnet Giveaway. March 12, 7:05 pm. $13-$32. Spokane Arena, 720 W. Mallon Ave. spokanechiefs.com ( FAMILY NORDIC WEEKEND All kids under 18 receive trail passes and equipment rental for free when accompanied by a paying parent/guardian. March 16-17 and April 10-11. Free. 49 Degrees North, 3311 Flowery Trail Rd. ski49n.com MARCHI GRAS Celebrate Mardi Gras with bead necklaces at the base of the gondola and a special New Orleans-inspired menu at the top of the mountain. March 16. Silver Mountain Resort, 610 Bunker Ave. silvermt.com (208-783-1111) SHEJUMPS: WILD SKILLS JUNIOR SKI PATROL Girls learn mountain safety and first aid while working with the women of the 49 Degrees North Ski Patrol.

Throughout the day, participants are taught a range of outdoor skills that are utilized by ski patrollers to keep the mountain safe. This event is intended for intermediate to expert skiers/snowboarders ages 8-15. March 16, 8:30 am4:30 pm. $40. 49 Degrees North, 3311 Flowery Trail Rd. shejumps.org SPOKANE CHIEFS VS. WENATCHEE WILD Promotions include Coeur d’Alene Casino Family Feast Night & Rally Towel Giveaway and Regular Season Finale.

March 17, 5:05 pm. $13-$32. Spokane Arena, 720 W. Mallon Ave. spokanechiefs. com (509-279-7000) TOYOTA SKI FREE FRIDAY Drive your Toyota to the mountain and receive a free lift ticket for that day. Limit one free lift ticket per vehicle. March 22. Lookout Pass Ski & Recreation Area, I-90 Exit 0. skilookout.com (208-744-1301) GIRLS ON SHRED Girls on Shred seeks to empower and build community through free adventure sports events for youth and marginalized genders, including women, non-binary and trans folk. This event features a selection of free gear for young people to choose from and use.

March 24. Lookout Pass Ski & Recreation Area, I-90 Exit 0. skilookout.com PARKER SUBARU SKI FREE FRIDAY Stop by the Parker Subaru dealership to pick up on of a limited number of lift tickets.

Lift ticket is only valid the day of the event. March 29. Lookout Pass Ski & Recreation Area, I-90 Exit 0. skilookout.com SNOW GHOST BANKED SLALOM A traditional hand-dug banked slalom competition. The event also serves as a fundraiser for Sandpoint’s skatepark expansion plan. March 30-31. Schweitzer, 10,000 Schweitzer Mountain Rd. schweitzer.com HEROES SILKIES WALK An in-person or virtual walk in awareness of ending veteran suicide. The event also features a community resource fair. April 20, 10 am-2 pm. $15-$22. Riverfront Park, 507 N. Howard St. heroeshomestead.org n

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FEBRUARY 15, 2024 INLANDER 33

Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Angelica Generosa and Jonathan Batista perform the Black Swan Pas de Deux. ANGELA STERLING PHOTO

DANCE

On Pointe The renowned Pacific Northwest Ballet comes to Spokane to showcase a range of classic and contemporary ballet choreography

BY SUMMER SANDSTROM

H

ighly regarded and one of the largest ballet companies in the United States, Seattle-based Pacific Northwest Ballet is taking center stage in Spokane — for the first time ever.

“There may be three top ballet companies in the United States, and they’re one of them,” says Suzanne Ostersmith, director of Gonzaga University’s dance program.

“It’s a pretty big deal that we got them here.”

Pacific Northwest Ballet was founded in 1972 as part of the Seattle Opera, performing a smattering of shows before gaining two artistic directors who changed the trajectory of the company.

“Really, the company started to become the identity that we know it as today when Kent Stowell and Francia Russell came to direct in 1977,” says current artistic director Peter Boal, who took up the position after retiring from dancing with New York City Ballet for 22 years.

Currently, Pacific Northwest Ballet has around 50 dancers and performs over 100 shows each year, both at Marion Oliver McCaw Hall in Seattle and on tour in the U.S. and internationally.

“We have a pretty broad reach in the region, but we actually haven’t toured much in the state of Washington,” Boal says. “It’s really nice to have this opportunity to take a trip to Spokane and to show what we’ve got in Spokane.”

34 INLANDER FEBRUARY 15, 2024

Pacific Northwest Ballet is performing at Gonzaga’s Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts Center, which opened in 2019 and has two theaters, one with 759 seats and another with 168, which host a variety of music, dance and theater performances and lectures.

“I did take a trip to Spokane about five years ago to look at the Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts Center, and I was just so taken by that theater,” Boal says. “I’m excited to greet audiences there and also to put this show on the stage.”

T

he program is the same on both nights, showcasing acts of classic story ballets, as well as some modern and contemporary ballet pieces.

“A lot of what we’re bringing to Spokane is fresh from the stage in Seattle,” Boal says.

The evening is set to begin with Jirí Kylián’s Petite Mort, which Pacific Northwest Ballet opened its current season with in September.

“It hadn’t been done in seven years, so it’s just been revived,” Boal says. “It’s a kind of iconic work that’s done by a number of different companies, and it’s hard to do well, but our dancers look spectacular in it.”

Pacific Northwest Ballet will also perform the Black Swan Pas de Deux and White Swan Pas de Deux from

Swan Lake, one of the company’s signature works.

Boal says that in Swan Lake, the swan plays two roles — Odette, or the white swan, and the black swan Odile — and is played by the same dancer. For the Spokane performances, two dancers are playing these roles.

“People should expect all the bravura in Black Swan, that’s the iconic 32 fouettes, the spectacular high jumps that the male dancers are known for — heavy on the drama,” he says. “They’ll get the poetry and the lyricism in the White Swan Pas de Deux just done to the most beautiful violin music.”

Additionally, they’ll be performing The Calling, which was choreographed by Jessica Lang.

This piece features a singular dancer, standing in the center of a sweeping white skirt that Boal says goes out about 10 feet in all directions.

“The dancer takes four steps forward and four steps back, and that’s all they do,” he says. “It’s a very meditative work done to 12th-century music, which is essentially humming and a soprano, but it has a poignancy that I think resonates very clearly even in that brief amount of time.”

Pacific Northwest Ballet concludes the evening with Twyla Tharp’s Sweet Fields, a more contemporary piece celebrating community.

“It’s many of our corps de ballet dancers, and it’s about coming together in ritual and in joy and in dance,” Boal says.

Gonzaga is also leading a post-show discussion with Boal after both shows, allowing the audience to learn even more about the company and dances they just watched.

“These are the kinds of things that cities need for their communities to thrive,” Ostersmith says. “It’s such a sparkly thing in the middle of winter.” n Pacific Northwest Ballet • Fri, Feb. 16 and Sat, Feb. 17 at 7:30 pm • All ages • $50-$80 • Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts Center • 211 E. Desmet Ave. • gonzaga. edu/mwpac

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CULTURE | SHOPPING

The result is Pigasus Toys & Vintage, which sells an assortment of toys, books and clothes that are primarily vintage, gently used or handmade. Rebekah stocks new toys made of cloth or wood, such as hand-sewn puppets, over buying new plastic toys. She sources — or, as she says, “hunts and gathers” — the majority of her inventory from thrift stores, estate sales, garage sales, Ebay and Etsy.

“The work of children is play,” Rebekah says, and as such she works to place a child’s perspective at the forefront of her business.

Die-cast cars (50 cents each), Barbie clothes and animal figurines sit on bottom shelves, easily accessible for children to play with. Pigasus also offers a variety of in-person activities for kids and their families. Art classes ($6-$15), music time, playdough fun ($10 including natural playdough), storytime (free), picture bingo (free) and easy-to-play board games ($1-$2) are among those offered, and an event schedule can be viewed on Instagram (@Pigasustoys).

The store’s whimsical name is a combination of a pig and a pegasus — essentially a flying pig.

“Ever since I was little, I always loved flying pigs because they are a symbol of hope, like the impossible happening,” Rebekah says. “Of course we want to make a living — it is a job — but the other side of it is that’s why we did it, to create community.”

While Bear Totem is, by design, a retail store, it also exists to bring people together. A flexible weekly event schedule includes board game Tuesdays, Magic: The Gathering Wednesdays (6 pm, $6 entry), and public drop-in D&D on Thursdays (6 pm, newcomers play free, $5 for returning players). Players can bring food (including delicious barbecue from Locos) and drink (such as one of 20 Bellwether beers or a latte from Derailer) up from downstairs, or can choose from eight beers on tap at Bear Totem. D&D nights are hosted by skilled dungeon masters, and players can use any of the 3,000 miniatures from Seth’s impressive collection.

Many of these figurines Seth paints himself, and a newly purchased 3D printer lets him make any character a player might want to use. Additionally, guests can paint their own minis with primer, paint and varnish available for their use. Bear Totem also sells gaming dice and Magic: The Gathering cards.

“Most people who want to play Dungeons & Dragons have always heard of it, but have no idea where to start,” Seth says, which is largely why he hopes to introduce more people to the imaginative world of D&D. Seth himself has been playing for 15 years.

It was also important to the Millers to make tabletop gaming accessible, though the endeavor required them to craft a somewhat complex “cover” system.

“The original idea was just to create a draw for people and then let beer sales kind of make up the difference,” he says. “But we were running the numbers and there’s no way to make it work, we have to charge to have people come up and play here.”

Bear Totem’s current in-store play pricing offers a whole table (typically six to eight seats) for $15 per hour, though that’s capped at a max of $45 even if the players stay longer than three hours. Individual players can also reserve a seat for $3 an hour, and the same principle applies if they stay past the three-hour mark. The cover fee also gives customers access to use the store’s entire miniature and terrain collection. “[Seth] is trying to create a net that catches everybody.

He didn’t want to make it simple because then some people would fall through the cracks,” Rebekah says, adding that ideally, individuals won’t pay more than $6 to $9 for a game that can last for hours.

Just months into the stores’ operations, the couple is still trying to figure out their audience.

“We want people to come and feel like family. It’s like Cheers where everybody knows your name,” Rebekah says.

The Millers aim to provide that place for everyone — parents, children, young and old — to find community.

“I think we were meant to be together,” she says. “So we put out our welcome mat.”

Hopefully there’s smooth sailing ahead. n

T

Pigasus Toys & Vintage • Open Tue-Sat 11 am-8 pm • Bear Totem • Open Tue-Sat 11 am-10 pm • 5016 N. Market St. • Instagram: @beartotemspokane and @pigasustoys

When Pigs Fly

Rebekah and Seth Miller opened both shops last fall. ERICK DOXEY PHOTOS

A local couple opens two shops focused on creative play and community inside Hillyard’s historic United Building

BY LUCY KLEBECK

S

eth and Rebekah Miller are, in a metaphorical sense, steering a ship at sea through tumultuous waters.

The scene in their imaginations is perhaps not dissimilar to what it would be like to traverse the virtual ocean map in the middle of one of their customized Dungeons & Dragons game tables.

The aforementioned ship is their new business venture, two stores inside the United Building in Hillyard: Pigasus Vintage & Toys, a carefully curated toy and vintage children’s shop, and Bear Totem, a tabletop roleplaying and board game cafe. The shops fill the United’s second floor, above the ground level’s Locos restaurant, Bellwether Brewing and Derailer Coffee.

Opening a new business is a daunting challenge, not to mention opening two at once, but discovering space for rent in the building lit a fire in Seth and Rebekah to pursue a dream they’d long shared.

Originally the United Hillyard Bank, more recently an antique mall, the historic building was purchased in 2021 and renovated into a multiuse space by Dave and Brianna Musser, owners of Bellwether Brewing. Almost a year ago, Rebekah initially inquired about leasing space there and two weeks later the Millers set out on their new venture, opening both shops in October 2023.

The impetus to open a toy store, rather than solely a vintage store, came with the June 2020 closing of the White Elephant, a Spokane landmark on North Division Street for 74 years.

“It broke my heart. And I went, ‘I want to take up the mantle,’” Rebekah says.

36 INLANDER FEBRUARY 15, 2024

he meaning behind Bear Totem, on the other hand, is three pronged: an esoteric reference to Dungeons & Dragons, a nod to Seth Miller’s Norwegian background, and to his favorite animal, a bear.

CULTURE | DIGEST

THE BUZZ BIN

Dead Ringers surpasses its 1988 source material.

MORE MOVIE-TO-TV REBOOTS

GRAND RETURN After a two-month hiatus while its new owners spruce things up, the Garland Theater is almost ready for its return. New business owners Jasmine Barnes, Tyler Arnold and Chris Bovey announced that the theater’s grand reopening is set for Friday, March 1 with a showing of the Spokane-made 1993 film Benny & Joon. Tickets are $5 and will be on sale soon via a new, yet-to-launch website (garlandtheater. org). In the meantime, follow along on Instagram (@garlandtheater) or on Facebook for updates. Throughout January and this month, the Garland has been undergoing plenty of upgrades: fresh paint, movie-themed murals, an updated concessions menu and more.

Throwback screenings (lots more of them) and second-run hits will remain the historic theater’s cinematic focus. (CHEY SCOTT)

TV adaptations of films aren’t slowing down, but they are getting better

BY BILL FROST

L

ast year, I looked at some movie-to-TV adaptations that didn’t quite work. We’ve all erased 2023’s True Lies and Fatal Attraction series from memory, I presume. This time around, I’m highlighting some that not only worked but also surpassed the original film, and most of them premiered just within the last 12 months. (It’s worth noting that none of these are from Paramount+, the Temu of streaming knockoffs.)

TED (2024; PEACOCK)

Seth MacFarlane’s Ted (2012) deftly sold the comic story of a foul-mouthed teddy bear come to life, but Ted 2 (2015) flopped. Ted the series sidesteps that fail by going back to John’s ( Max Burkholder as a teen Mark Wahlberg) 1990s high school days with Ted (voiced by MacFarlane). Between the over-the-top Boston accents, ’90s pop-cultural stingers, and the absence of Wahlberg, the prequel is actually better than the original movie. So is the supporting cast: Alanna Ubach, Scott Grimes, and Giorgia Whigham flesh out Ted delightfully.

FARGO (2014-2023; HULU)

Specifically, the recent fifth season of Fargo starring Jon Hamm and Juno Temple — whoa. Noah Hawley’s anthology series has been hit-and-miss since season 1 (the pitfall of a perfect debut), but 2023’s comeback tale was as funny, terrifying and measured as TV or movies can dream to be. Christo-psycho Sheriff Roy’s (Hamm) dogged pursuit of “housewife” Dot (Temple) is wildly unpredictable from episode to episode, with Jennifer Jason Leigh and Dave Foley providing hysterically arch reinforcement along the way.

DEAD RINGERS (2023; PRIME VIDEO)

If Emmy awards meant anything, Rachel Weisz would have won them all for her dual role in the genderflipped Dead Ringers, a miniseries that topped the original 1988 movie. Twin OB-GYNs Beverly and Elliot Mantle (both Weisz) are dedicated to furthering the science of fertility and childbirth but from different

angles: Compassionate Beverly wants to make the process easier for her patients, while the audacious Elliot would rather just burn the system down. Dead Ringers is a tense but rewarding watch… if you’re cool with blood.

SCOTT PILGRIM TAKES OFF (2023; NETFLIX)

The animated Scott Pilgrim Takes Off is an adaptation of both the Scott Pilgrim graphic novels and the 2010 cult-classic movie, which is probably more Scott Pilgrim than most normies can handle. Crucially, Takes Off wrangled all of the film’s actors to voice the series: Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kieran Culkin, Anna Kendrick, Chris Evans, Jason Schwartzman, Alison Pill, Brie Larson, Aubrey Plaza, Brandon Routh, and Ellen Wong. Even more crucially, the series deviates from the previously established stories.

A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN (2022; PRIME)

Broad City’s Abbi Jacobson reimagined the 1992 movie A League of Their Own as a more inclusive and topical (for 1943 and now) eight-episode series; Prime Video eventually reimagined it as canceled. The rise of pro women’s baseball team the Rockford Peaches gets equal time alongside multiple personal stories in this setting, which also takes the faintly gay subtext of the movie and blows it up into full-on supertext. A League of Their Own works effortlessly as a comedy, a drama and a sports time capsule.

IRMA VEP (2022; MAX)

French director Olivier Assayas remade his own 1996 movie Irma Vep into an eight-episode miniseries for HBO, which itself chronicles the shooting of a TV remake of a silent French film, Les Vampires — follow?

American actress Mira Harberg ( Alicia Vikander) has been cast as Les Vampires lead Irma Vep, and soon finds her life and her vampiric role blending into one. Irma Vep’s dark, restless dreamscape is balanced with comic relief from characters like Zelda ( Carrie Brownstein), Mira’s agent who’d rather she just do a Marvel movie than French art-house fare (so meta). n

CHAMELEON KARMA It may look like Lucky You Lounge, but if you squint your eyes closely you’ll notice a new creature camouflaging with the erstwhile music venue. Starting in March, The Chameleon will become the latest addition to Spokane’s concert scene, opening in the former Lucky You under the ownership of Josh Lorenzen (founder and chef of Rüt Bar & Kitchen and producer/DJ for local rapper Jang the Goon) and his artist wife, Hazel Miller. The venue’s name comes from a reimagining that will include shape-shifting and moving visuals while also trying to open the space up to a broader local DIY art and music community (the downstairs space will eventually host all-ages shows).

The Chameleon’s opening weekend includes shows headlined by Nothing Shameful and Travis Thompson on March 1 and 2. We’ll report more as it develops, but for now tickets and more info can be found at chameleonspokane.com. (SETH SOMMERFELD) THIS WEEK’S PLAYLIST Noteworthy new music arriving in stores and online on Feb. 16.

LAURA JANE GRACE, HOLE IN MY HEAD The Against Me! frontwoman’s latest solo album delivers plenty of venom and self-reflection in colorful twominute bursts of punk energy.

IDLES, TANGK The firebrand English post-punk band turns its simmering ferocity away from political commentary to make IDLES versions of love songs… which are still loud and menacing.

JENNIFER LOPEZ, THIS IS ME… NOW A decade since her last LP, the age-defying pop R&B singer and pop cultural polymath returns with more swaggering singles.

(SETH SOMMERFELD)

FEBRUARY 15, 2024 INLANDER 37

Hot pot: a choose-your-own-adventure meal! YOUNG KWAK PHOTOS

OPENING

ARE YOU PHO REAL? Hot Pot & Pho in Spokane Valley is officially open as the first hot pot restaurant in the Inland Northwest

BY ELIZA BILLINGHAM

I

f you drive far enough east from downtown Spokane on Sprague Avenue — about 8 miles, give or take — you’ll be greeted by an ill-timed sign.

“Happy Father’s Day!” it says in black letters on the marquee.

Underneath it, also in black letters, is a typical passerby’s reaction.

“What the pho?”

It’s the sign outside Hot Pot & Pho (pronounced “fuh”), one of Spokane Valley’s newest restaurants. The building sat empty and unattended for a while, which is why the Father’s Day greeting was never taken down. But now it’s a joke between owner Thuy Pham, her business partner Brian Naccarato, and the internet.

“One day a year it’s gonna be exactly right,” Naccarato says. “Everyone on social media is talking about it.

I think when we’re done with the grand opening I’ll put Mother’s Day on the other side.”

It’s not just the self-aware sarcasm that sets the new lunch and dinner spot apart. Pham’s new restaurant

38 INLANDER FEBRUARY 15, 2024

offers traditional Vietnamese soups like pho, but it’s also the first dedicated hot pot restaurant to open in the Spokane area. Hot pot is a traditional meal centered on a pot of boiling broth that each person gets to add to and cook the food they want.

In Vietnam, the hot pot might be a big pot over a bonfire or a bowl over a hot plate in the middle of the dining table. At Hot Pot & Pho, there are high-tech hot pot tables, each with inset, heated basins for the broth so the top of the pot is level with the top of the table. Diners get to choose a combo of broth, meat, veggies, noodles or tofu to cook at the table. Big plates of ingredients and pots of broth are brought out by a rolling, singing robot.

It’s an immersive experience that Spokanites have already been flocking to.

The restaurant has been quietly open since December, serving customers who found out about the opening by word of mouth. The operators were still putting finishing touches on the building and service into the beginning of 2024. But on Feb. 11, the start of the Lunar New

Year, Pham and Naccarato held their grand opening. Hot Pot & Pho is officially open and ready for business.

B

ehind two carved wooden doors, the dining room at Hot Pot & Pho is soft gray-blue with dark wooden accents. Faux floral arrangements over the archways and gilded gold ceiling tiles add the perfect touch of kitsch.

Pham is in the kitchen, overseeing the broths that take 16 hours to make, or prepping hot pot ingredients like meat and fresh veggies. Naccarato is in the front room, helping guests, training servers, solving problems on the fly. He does most of the talking for the establishment because Pham is self-conscious about her English.

But she’s fluent enough to initiate a lot of joking around.

There are plenty of typical tables for regular menu items. Bowls of pho come with tofu, chicken or beef, in both small and large portions ($14.95-$17.95). Spring rolls and egg rolls (both $6.95 for two) are popular appetizers, and Pham’s bun bo Hue, ($18, and pronounced

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Hot Pot & Pho owner Thuy Pham and chief operating officer Brian Naccarato “boon bah Hway”) is a traditional Vietnamese soup from the nation’s ancient capital that’s popular with spice lovers.

Ten of the tables are designated hot pot tables ($28.95 per person). Some are family-style with a big pot in the middle, others are individual with little pots for each seat. There are three broths to choose from, and the family-style pot can be split in half to include two different kinds.

“Most people are picking the clear or the sweet and sour,” Naccarato says. “There is a spicy option that people can do — up to level nine or 10 — which has a habanero ghost pepper and jalapeño mix.

You’ll remember it for weeks.”

The whole hot pot experience starts with a robot. It has shelves for a torso, a high-pitched voice, and big, blinking, digital eyes. Each hot pot requires lots of heavy ingredients, and carrying all that weight can take a toll on human servers working long hours, Naccarato says. The robot can roll through the dining room and deliver ingredients to a table, which are then unloaded and set out by an accompanying server. The humans stay fresh, and the restaurant gets an unofficial mascot. “[Pham] had to get the robot because she thought it was the cutest thing ever,” Naccarato says. “It just makes her giggle. It’s her baby. The robot’s name is Brian. No relation.”

P

ham seems like the perfect person to introduce an ancient tradition with futuristic technology, since she’s a cross between two worlds, too. She came to the U.S. in 2001 from Vietnam as part of an exchange program. She thought her English would be good enough to work, but after arriving, she quickly realized it wasn’t. People spoke too fast. She was too nervous to answer the phone. So she took a job at a manufacturing company and then became a janitor at Mongolian BBQ, also on Sprague Avenue.

It was there that Pham started dreaming of owning her own restaurant. She worked, saved, learned about business and finally opened her own restaurant, Vien Dong Far East Asia, with the help

of her former employers. She only operated Vien Dong on East Sprague for about a year, selling it in 2005 when the Mongolian BBQ went up for sale. In loyalty and love, Pham bought the barbecue from the owners who supported her through so much.

Pham opened another Mongolian BBQ in Airway Heights in 2010. Both Mongolian spots were doing well, but the desire to cook Vietnamese food never left. In 2019, Pham started making plans to open a Vietnamese restaurant in Airway Heights.

Plans fell apart in 2020, the ultimate restaurant wreckage year. She shared her struggles with a regular at the Mongolian spot.

“I would go there probably once a week,” Naccarato says. “It was just a routine I had. But Thuy was also a reason to go there. Everybody loves Thuy. And Thuy loves everybody. She’s really amazing.”

Naccarato has been in the Air Force, in real estate, in finance and consulting. The savvy, sleek businessman had a different job lined up when he heard about Pham’s dream. He offered to help Pham build her Vietnamese restaurant in Spokane Valley instead of starting his new job.

“I think a lot of people would follow her to the ends of the earth just because of how sweet she is,” he says. “Literally this thing was built on heart, sweat and tears.”

The two joke that they’re still janitors at the restaurant, fixing broken plumbing and cleaning up after the rest of the staff has gone home. But they pass the time and stress by making fun of each other and making up more pho puns. More than anything, Pham is relieved to be making her favorite Vietnamese dishes again.

“Every time I check in with the customer and ask, ‘Oh, how is it?’ [and they say,] ‘So good!’ it makes me [feel] so, so good,” Pham says. “It’s not just about money. [I want] people to enjoy the food.

It makes me happy.” n Hot Pot & Pho • 11110 E Sprague Ave., Spokane Valley • Open Wed-Sun 11 am-8 pm (Fri-Sat until 9 pm) • 509-862-4944

VIEW OUR MENU GIFT CARDS AVAILABLE 524 W Main Ave, Downtown Spokane thepurgatory.com Sun-Thu 12pm-11pm  Fri-Sat 12pm - 12:30am

home of t

he

PE AN UT BU TT ER N rg er PI CK LE BACObu

UC E, PI CK LE S, PE AN UT BU TT ER SA ILL ED ON IO NS , GR , YO HO US E SA UC E, MA CO N AN D OF CO UR SE BA

HAYDE N & SPOKA NE VALLE Y LOCAT IONS

ORD ER.K ILLE RBU RGE R.CO M FEBRUARY 15, 2024 INLANDER 39

ALSO OPENING BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE

Writer/director Reinaldo Marcus Green (King Richard) brings the turbulent life story of reggae icon Bob Marley (played by Barbie’s Kingsley Ben-Adir) to the big screen, though a February release suggests this one isn’t another famous-musicianawards-bait biopic. Rated PG-13

This Spider lacks any bite.

REVIEW

Where is the Rain to Wash This Spider Out? Madame Web strands Dakota Johnson in an inert superhero origin story that plays like a death knell for the genre

BY CHASE HUTCHINSON

F

or a film about a character with the power to see Ben is the first of many bizarre and painfully hamfisted into the future, the greatest joke of Madame Web is references to other better superhero stories. And all of how regressive it feels. Even more egregious, rather them land with dull thud after dull thud. than being in on the bit, it’s like a bad cover of already The more self-contained main narrative of Madame forgettable 2000s-era superhero movies. It might draw a Web begins with Cassandra’s mother who died giving crowd looking for a familiar tune, but that still doesn’t birth to her after going out into the Peruvian Amazon in make the music any good. The sole surprise is how it 1973 to research spiders believed to have healing propersomehow almost makes one feel like we were too mean ties. The awkward line explaining this — which was in the to Morbius. (Almost.) trailer and endlessly skewered because of the Written by five writers (including stilted way it sounds — is merely the beginMADAME WEB ning of the movie’s unending and woefully Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless of Rating here the aforementioned Morbius), Madame poorly written dialogue. Much of this clunky Directed by S.J. Clarkson Web operates in a similar vein in all the verbiage is given to the otherwise solid actor Starring Dakota Johnson, Sydney wrong ways. It’s not part of the Marvel Tahar Rahim, who plays the film’s sad excuse Sweeney, Isabela Merced, Celeste Cinematic Universe, instead merely for a villain, Ezekiel Sims. He delivers said lines O’Connor being a cog in Sony’s live action Spiderwhile he tries to search out three teenagers that Man Without Spider-Man-Verse, a halfhe believes will kill him in the future. It then hearted, corporate character rights-based attempt to exfalls to Cassandra to save them following an accident at pand the world of the web-slinging Spider-Man — without work where she drowns and comes back to life — only to him being around — by focusing on characters adjacent suddenly be able to see through time. to him. This time it’s Cassandra Webb, gamely played by While not the most imaginative of premises, this Dakota Johnson, who is living in New York City in 2003. sounds like it could be almost schlocky superhero fun She works as a paramedic with the superhero genre’s on paper. Instead, it’s a slog, as the film goes through the most memorable modern uncle, Ben Parker (because of same motions over and over again with no spark to any course she does), while largely keeping to herself and her of it. When Cassandra begins to discover her power, the cat. Briefly played by a wasted Adam Scott before he vanway this is dragged out is more tiresome than thrilling. ishes almost entirely from the movie, this movie’s Uncle Though quite straightforward, the film explains her

40 INLANDER FEBRUARY 15, 2024

powers to us multiple times, demonstrating a severe lack of trust in its audience. When Cassandra then properly meets the three youths, Julia (Spokane’s own Sydney Sweeney), Anya (Isabela Merced), and Mattie (Celeste O’Connor), they feel like cardboard cutout characters with no chemistry. This becomes increasingly perplexing as they get ditched multiple times, making it feel like even the film doesn’t know what to do with them. The action they do get up to all feels empty — either brief or scattered CGI nonsense. Even a clumsy post-9/11 surveillance angle feels wildly undercooked for all that it is supposedly gesturing toward.

If there is one small saving grace, it is Johnson. She has been great in films like the surprisingly stellar Suspiria remake and the regrettably buried Am I OK?, though this film doesn’t even let her have fun with its powers. One early scene at a baby shower sees her getting a laugh on delivery alone, but that is soon forgotten in the mess to come. Even if you overlook some of the technical distractions — like entire lines of dialogue that have clearly been rerecorded and are not actually being spoken by the characters — paying attention does the experience no favors either. While much has been made of the looming death of the superhero subgenre, Madame Web is the film that truly feels like it may put the genre in its grave for a bit.

But like the film’s protagonist, it will likely be resurrected again. One just hopes it has more life than this. n

SCREEN | REVIEW

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Drone pilots or a droning movie?

I Mean… the Title Isn’t Lying

they share are sketchy. Reaper, working comfortably from what is essentially an office building, gets more time for human interaction, although a subplot about him awaiting the birth of his latest child goes nowhere, other than to belabor tiresome jokes about his wife’s veganism. A late-film sequence cross-cutting between Reaper’s grocery shopping and Kinney’s mortal peril comes off as crass rather than sophisticated. Crowe brings a sense of weary honor to the role of an Air Force lifer who bucked authority too often to get promoted, and a movie exploring his position in a desk job with potentially deadly consequences could bring a different perspective to the typical war story.

That’s not what Land of Bad is, though, and the main focus remains in the Philippines, where Kinney’s team is ambushed as they attempt to rescue an American intelligence asset from a terrorist compound. Left to fend for himself, Kinney has to make it to an extracBY JOSH BELL tion point while taking out hordes of faceless enemies, with Reaper as his guide. Although Land of Bad isn’t based on a true story, it has the here’s a kernel of an interesting idea lurking in director/cotone of self-consciously patriotic real-life thrillers like American Sniper writer William Eubank’s military thriller Land of Bad, about or Lone Survivor, with the same level of simplistic hero worship. the modern disconnect from the consequences of warfare, but Every early interaction between Kinney and his teammates it’s so poorly realized and buried under jingoistic action that it might (including one played by Hemsworth’s brother Luke) emphasizes his as well not be there at all. If Eubank and co-writer David Frigerio youth and naïveté, but as soon as he finds himself under enemy fire, have anything critical to say about how the U.S. he turns into a nearly invincible warrior. He’s initially military conducts covert operations on foreign soil, LAND OF BAD presented like the Rambo of the downbeat, understated they’re too fixated on propping up their one-dimenFirst Blood, but then he conducts himself like the bombasRated R sional heroes for it to come across. tic Rambo of the later sequels. By the climax, Eubank Directed by William Eubank The story may be simplistic and derivative, but at Starring Liam Hemsworth, Russell has found a reason for Hemsworth to fight off bad guys least Eubank delivers some solid action along the way. while shirtless.

Crowe, Milo Ventimiglia Land of Bad is divided between two locations, and at Those fights can still be exciting, and even if he’s times it feels like two separate movies. Somewhere in working in the realm of action-movie clichés — includthe Philippines, inexperienced Air Force Sgt. JJ Kinney (Liam Heming a stereotypical Middle Eastern terrorist villain — Eubank knows sworth) is recruited by Delta Force Master Sgt. John “Sugar” Sweet how to make the most of those clichés. He evokes first-person shooter (Milo Ventimiglia) to serve as the team’s Joint Terminal Attack Convideo games with occasional POV shots looking over the barrel of a troller (JTAC) officer, in the absence of any other available personnel. gun, and he deploys a literal ticking clock for manufactured suspense That means that Kinney is responsible for communicating with drone in the finale. pilot Eddie “Reaper” Grimm (Russell Crowe), who’s thousands of That’s the stuff of anonymous direct-to-video movies, and Land of miles away on an Air Force base outside Las Vegas.

Bad often feels like it escaped into theaters from the Redbox where it Hemsworth and Crowe never appear on screen together, and belongs. It’s a mediocre B-movie grasping at unearned military honor while their characters are meant to form a bond, the personal details to seem more meaningful than it really is. n

Military thriller Land of Bad mixes basic action with rote patriotism

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PAGE 44 FEBRUARY 15, 2024 INLANDER 41

Silversun Pickups are kinda a scene unto itself. CLARE MARIE VOGEL PHOTO

ROCK

In Search of Silver Linings Silversun Pickups don’t exactly fit in anywhere, which sorta makes the band fit in everywhere

BY SETH SOMMERFELD

M

ost local music scenes that end up breaking nationally feature music deeply rooted in the DNA of their cities. Seasonal depression and geographic isolation fueled the angst of Seattle grunge.

Motown needed to emanate from a working-class city like Detroit — its efficient production formula almost mirroring the auto assembly lines — at a time when society was ready (even if still resistant) for the Black sounds of soul and R&B to go mainstream. It made sense for punk to bubble up in New York City in the ’70s, when the city was seedier and the glamor and polish of mainstream disco needed a counterpoint.

But finding that inherent civic connection to sound has become more difficult in the fragmented, internet age

42 INLANDER FEBRUARY 15, 2024

musical landscape, which might help to explain outliers like the Silver Lake rock scene in Los Angeles in the early 2000s.

A somewhat divey scene for the cool young folks who’d soon be branded hipsters, it’s not hard to look at the bands that arose from it as somewhat of a hodgepodge. Centered on venues like the Silverlake Lounge and Spaceland, the scene’s proverbial foundation was laid

by Rilo Kiley and the late Elliott Smith, but perhaps no band unintentionally captures the nebulous nature of that Silver Lake scene quite like Silversun Pickups.

“In the time that we were sort of birthed in the clubs around Los Angeles, the area that we found ourselves in was that the only thing you had to sort of be was just

a little left to center. Just be a little different,” says lead singer/guitarist Brian Aubert. “It wasn’t really a scene of style. In that scene, though, there were things that would rise and fall.

“We would always be the band opening for things,” he continues. “When we started, these guys would be wearing cowboy hats, and we’d open it. Then a year later, those bands would fall and the bands had baseball hats, and we’d open. And that would fall apart, and then they’d have keytars and ’80s hairdos, and we’d open. But our fellowship in a weird way was really about music appreciation, not about style. So we find ourselves playing with them — singer-songwriters that were just really quiet or hardcore bands and stuff. It was really awesome.”

F

ittingly, it’s also not easy to pin down Silversun Pickups’ sound. It’s a blend of alternative rock styles that allow the band to play with just about everyone while never being part of a bigger musical movement — not many (any?) other bands can be an opener for the spacey anthemic arena rock of Muse and also tour with hard punks like Against Me!. At times the group leans heavily on a wall of shoegaze noise, but it also has an incredibly catchy melodic knack. Partially based on Aubert’s voice and the ability for the band to seamlessly transition between the heavy and beautifully light sounds, sonic comps to a less pretentious version of Smashing Pumpkins often seem fair but still somewhat lacking. Whatever the exact formula is, it clicked pretty early on.

“Lazy Eye” — the first single from the band’s 2006 debut LP Carnavas — cracked the Top 5 on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay charts. It marked the first of 18 total singles to crack that chart, including “Panic Switch,” “We Thought Out Twinkles,” “The Pit,” plus “Scared Together” and “Empty Nest” from SSPU’s latest album, 2022’s Butch Vig-produced Physical Thrills. SSPU also hit at just the right time to sort of be sandwiched between the start of music’s digital age and today’s streaming wasteland.

“We got in where it was all so wild west-y and rumbling. The bands that we started to meet that were in the world before us were pretty dour,” Aubert says. “And we were just like, ‘What are you talking about? Whatever, this is wild. What are we doing here?’ We didn’t know any different. And it has wildly changed even since we got in. But I feel that things haven’t really changed for us ever, really. We’ve always been kind of a blue-collar band.

We’ve always been super independent and had a very small team around us. We kind of just do whatever we want.”

That freedom in part comes from Silversun Pickups releasing its last three albums independently on its own record label, New Machine Recordings. But being in your own world sometimes feels like… well, being alone in your own world. And while that can be fun, it can also be isolating.

“We don’t even know what’s happening. We love music, but we’re not really that current on like what’s... poppin’! [Laughs] It’s irrelevant to what we’re doing. It’s weird that people listen to this crazy thing that we do,” Aubert says. “But when we play festivals, that’s when we realize, ‘Oh! OK! That’s what’s happening? Well... we’ll just be over in the corner.’ So we do feel removed from things a lot — which can be lonely, but also lucky that we never lived and died by a scene. We never rose by anything… but we never were killed by it either.”

There’s virtue to being a band that somehow never feels totally out of place. While it might make the members of Silversun Pickups feel slightly adrift in the musical milieu — the inability to be pigeonholed is something most artists strive for but never fully reach. It allows for the band to operate on its own terms more than many of its contemporaries. And if Aubert can drive home one point to other bands trying to do something similar, it’s to avoid acting too cool to be open to a wide range of opportunities.

“Early on, we were like, ‘We got we gotta say, “Yes.”’ Because if we control our own destiny to the point of just being worried about so much stuff, we’re going to just ‘No’ ourselves into a f---ing hole,” Aubert says. “We gotta just say ‘Yes,’ and then go, ‘OK, that’s not for us.’ By doing that, it really opened us up to a lot of experiences that we never would have had.

“Once you get used to doing that, you get a little armor, I think. Because everyone is insecure, and there’s a certain way you can carry it, but immediately trying to break through our timidness was very helpful for our ability to be around as long. I think the only way for us to really know what we don’t want is by having said ‘Yes.’” n Silversun Pickups, Hello Mary • Sun, Feb. 18 at 8 pm • $35 • All ages • Knitting Factory • 919 W. Sprague Ave. • sp.knittingfactory.com

FEBRUARY 15, 2024 INLANDER 43

MUSIC | SOUND ADVICE

PUNK DROPKICK MURPHYS

W

e’re shipping up to Airway Heights!

(Whoa oh oh!) The biggest show to date at Spokane Tribe Casino’s new Spokane Live venue space (which opened last October) features the always-great Bostonian, Celtic-tinged punk rock of Dropkick Murphys. While the band thrived just outside the mainstream for years with their wildly frenetic mosh pit-starting edge, the group really blew up when its song “I’m Shipping Up to Boston” was featured on the soundtrack for 2006’s Oscar-winning The Departed. The band continues to bring out the rowdy bunch — especially those with working class and Irish roots — which is clear from this Spokane Live show already being sold out. While resale tickets are extremely pricey, maybe a lucky night at the casino show could offset that cost?

— SETH SOMMERFELD Dropkick Murphys, Pennywise, The Scratch • Sun, Feb. 18 at 7 pm • Sold out • Spokane Tribe Casino • 14300 W. Highway 2, Airway Heights • spokanetribecasino.com

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

Thursday, 2/15

ROCK CHE ARTHUR

C

he Arthur is a rock lifer. The Chicagoan has been a Midwest underground mainstay with the band Pink Avalanche and his own solo music and has worked as a touring engineer for acts like Silversun Pickups and Hüsker Dü’s Bob Mould. As a gay African American man, he also has a unique perspective in what’s a predominantly very white scene. He explores topics like that, his recovery from cancer treatments, musical ageism and more on his upcoming solo album For That Which Now Lies Fallow (out April 26). Before the new record drops, Arthur swings through Spokane for a solo acoustic show, one that’ll mix songs from his deep back catalog as well as tunes from the new record.

— SETH SOMMERFELD

BOLO’S BAR & GRILL, Inland Empire Blues Society Monthly Boogie BOLO’S BAR & GRILL, Theresa Edwards Band CHAN’S RED DRAGON ON THIRD, Thursday Night Jam CHECKERBOARD TAPROOM, Weathered Shepherds J MCCRACKEN’S PUB AND BBQ, Nate Ostrander J J NORTHERN QUEST CASINO, Gin Blossoms PACIFIC AVE PIZZA, Hive, Gorrilla Rabbit Chicken J QQ SUSHI & KITCHEN, Just Plain Darin RED ROOM LOUNGE, Hip-Hop Night ZOLA, The Rub

Friday, 2/16

49 DEGREES NORTH, Brassless Chaps AK ASIAN RESTAURANT, Pamela Jean J THE BIG DIPPER, Hayes Noble, Big Raffle, Shady Angels, Fossil Fire Fossil Blood BOLO’S BAR & GRILL, Loose Gazoonz THE BULL HEAD, Country Music Weekend CHAN’S RED DRAGON ON THIRD, Steve Livingston CHINOOK STEAK, SEAFOOD & PASTA, Keith Wallace COEUR D’ALENE CASINO, Royale J THE GRAIN SHED, Haywire INLAND KAVA BAR, Son of Brad IOLITE LOUNGE, Nate Ostrander IRON HORSE (CDA), Heather King Band J J BONES MUSICLAND, Ira Wolf, Sydney Dale

44 INLANDER FEBRUARY 15, 2024

Che Arthur, Puddy Knife, Transmit Failure • Sat, Feb. 17 at 7 pm • $10 • All ages • Neato Burrito • 827 W. First Ave. • instagram.com/neato.babybar J KNITTING FACTORY, Red NOT Chili Peppers MOOSE LOUNGE, Chasing Eos NIGHTHAWK LOUNGE (CDA CASINO), Royale NYNE BAR & BISTRO, Nuno PEND D’OREILLE WINERY, Bright Moments THE RIDLER PIANO BAR, Just Plain Darin THE ROCK BAR & LOUNGE, Wiebe Jammin’ ZOLA, Brittany’s House

Saturday, 2/17

J BABY BAR, Che Arthur, Putty Knife, Transmit Failure J J THE BIG DIPPER, White Trash Romeo, Fate Defined, Sick April, Day Shadow

BOLO’S BAR & GRILL, Loose Gazoonz THE BULL HEAD, Country Music Weekend J CAFE COCO, B CENTRAL LIBRARY, Doghouse Boyz and Voodoo Church CHAN’S RED DRAGON ON THIRD, Hoodoo Udu CHINOOK STEAK, SEAFOOD & PASTA, Keith Wallace IRON HORSE (CDA), Heather King Band J KNITTING FACTORY, Priscilla Block, Ryan Larkins MOOSE LOUNGE, Chasing Eos NIGHTHAWK LOUNGE (CDA CASINO), Royale NOAH’S CANTEEN, Son of Brad J NORTH HILL ON GARLAND, Just Plain Darin

PEND D’OREILLE WINERY, Weibe Jammin J SIRINYA’S THAI RESTAURANT, Nate Ostrander WESTWOOD BREWING CO., Pamela Benton: StringzOnFire!

ZOLA, Dope Jockey

RED ROOM LOUNGE, Open Mic Night

Sunday, 2/18

Wednesday, 2/21

J J KNITTING FACTORY, Silversun Pickups, Hello Mary J SOUTH HILL GRILL, Just Plain Darin J J SPOKANE TRIBE CASINO, Dropkick Murphys, Pennywise, The Scratch

Monday, 2/19

EICHARDT’S PUB, Monday Night Blues Jam with John Firshi J LYYV ENTERTAINMENT, Victress Voice Open Mic

Tuesday, 2/20

LITZ’S PUB & EATERY, Shuffle Dawgs PEND D’OREILLE WINERY, Jennifer Stoehner ZOLA, Jerry Lee and the Groove THE DRAFT ZONE, The Draft Zone Open Mic J JJ’S TAP & SMOKEHOUSE, Brassless Chaps PEND D’OREILLE WINERY, Peter Lucht RED ROOM LOUNGE, Red Room Lounge Jam J TIMBERS ROADHOUSE, Cary Beare Presents J ZEEKS PIZZA, Austin Carruthers ZOLA, Brittany’s House

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Our top 5 picks for weekend entertainment EVERY FRIDAY

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FEBRUARY 15, 2024 INLANDER 45

FILM SAVING SALMON

It’s no secret that one of Spokane’s historically largest populations barely lives here anymore. Salmon, at one point numbering in the millions, were pushed out in droves with no way to return after the construction of dams along rivers connecting to the Spokane. This story is unfortunately the same for many other parts of the Pacific Northwest, impacting all who live there, but particularly those of native peoples.

The documentary Covenant of the Salmon People outlines the ancient covenant that exists between the Nez Perce Tribe and Chinook salmon and the challenges to save wild salmon from extinction due to damming and climate change impacts.

Gonzaga’s Institute for Climate, Water, and the Environment is hosting a free screening of the film for viewers to learn more about the fight to save a vital Northwest species.

— LUCY KLEBECK Covenant of the Salmon People • Tue, Feb. 20 at 6 pm • Free • Gonzaga University Hemmingson Center • 702 E. Desmet Ave • gonzaga.edu/climate-institute

COMEDY SCIENTIFIC SATIRE

As serious and complex as science can be, Ben Miller has made an art out of highlighting the humor within the scientific world. Miller is an NYC-based comedian who studied materials science and engineering at Columbia University and spent time researching and teaching before combining his passions for science and comedy to create his Stand-Up Science series. Miller tells stories about things like his medical condition and childhood history with milk, from which he further delves into various scientific subjects with the incorporation of pictures, graphs and videos to create an educational and hilarious experience for the audience.

— SUMMER SANDSTROM Ben Miller’s Stand-Up Science • Tue, Feb. 20 at 8 pm • $15 • Magic Lantern Theatre • 25 W. Main Ave. • benmillercomedy.com

46 INLANDER FEBRUARY 15, 2024

COMEDY FUNNY FIRSTS

For the first event in a yearlong series created to showcase Inland Northwest-based laugh-making talent, a quadruple threat of comics take to the stage in celebration of Black History Month.

Organized by comedian Anthony Singleton, through his Family First Entertainment venture, the show at the Black-owned venue the Goody Bar & Grill in Spokane Valley features host Lyv Babinski (pictured), local comic Charles Hall Jr. and Detroit-based headliner Darryl Burns, a comedy veteran of 16 years, alongside Singleton, of course. The Goody Bar on East Sprague is a newer restaurant and performing space, and is set to host more local comedy showcases in the Family First Presents series through the end of the year.

— CHEY SCOTT Black History Comedy Showcase • Sat, Feb. 17 from 7-9:30 pm • $10-$15 • The Goody Bar & Grill • 8714 E. Sprague Ave. • lyyv.tv/ events

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VISUAL ARTS DOWNSIZED

A brisk stroll through downtown Spokane’s Riverfront Park will tell you all you need to know about Coeur d’Alene-based artist Sarah Thompson Moore.

Her large-scale piece of public art, “The Seeking Place,” was installed in the park in 2022 with its large metal panels inspired by our region’s basalt outcroppings. A new solo exhibition at Whitworth’s Bryan Oliver Gallery showcases Moore’s work that leans on the smaller side of things. Through the pieces in the show, the artist draws upon her experience creating public installations that contemplate nature, history and the characteristics of a place.

She even uses leftover materials from past projects. Reduce, reuse, recycle, re-envision and make your way to Whitworth to see this worthwhile show.

— MADISON PEARSON Sarah Thompson Moore: Outside-In • Through March 22; Mon-Fri from 10 am-4:30 pm, Sat from 10 am-2 pm. • Free • Bryan Oliver Gallery • 300 W. Hawthorne Ave. • whitworth.edu/art

Breathin’ easy

‘cause we have our vaccines!

COMMUNITY IN WITH A ROAR

Kicking off with the first new moon of 2024 on Feb. 10, Lunar New Year celebrations around the globe continue in the following 15 days, including for many of the Inland Northwest’s Asian communities. Among them is a public event hosted by the Spokane Chinese Association, which includes a free cultural fair (1-3 pm) followed by a ticketed performance (4 pm, $13-$23) with traditional folk dances — including the spectacular Dragon Dance — martial arts, music and more. The following weekend, United We Stand brings back its big Lunar New Year festival, which also includes an Asian, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Business Expo. Cultural performances, kids activities, food sampling and other interactive features are also part of the festival, which includes the distribution of 5,000 red envelopes, a Lunar New Year tradition, containing gift cards to local businesses. A fireworks show at 7 pm closes out the celebration.

— CHEY SCOTT

RSV, Flu & COVID-19

Spokane Chinese Association Lunar New Year • Sun, Feb. 18 at 1 pm • Free; $13-$23 for performance • Fox Theater • 1001 W. Sprague Ave. • foxtheaterspokane.org Lunar New Year + ANHPI Business Expo • Sat, Feb. 24 at 1 pm • Free • All ages • Spokane Convention Center • 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. • spokaneunitedwestand.org

srhd.org/breathineasy

RSV, Flu & COVID-19 FEBRUARY 15, 2024 INLANDER 47

on Feb. 7). Your interesting/fashionable coat first caught my eye and then your beauty! Caught your eye/exchanged glances a few times when I turned and looked up at you over my left shoulder.

I have brown hair and had a blue, longsleeve shirt on. Would really like to watch a future GU game together!

MOTORISTS WHO STOP A heartfelt thank you to the motorists who stop when someone is waiting to cross the street.

You’re few and far between, so thank you for your patience and actually following the law!

“

CHEERS

I SAW YOU GONZAGA PITA PIT To the beautiful redheaded worker at the Pita Pit, your quick wit and smile seem to keep making my day — would love to get to know you from the other side of the counter. Maybe someday I can be the one to buy your morning coffee?

I LOVE YOU, CARRIE This is a little note to tell the whole world that I love you, Carrie.

I’m so happy to be yours now and always.

MY MY I SPY... My my I spy... a pompous ex-president... still screaming at the top of his lungs that his tower of power toys must not be taken away by any consensus of adults in the room.

A GHOST OF A GIRL In a past I saw you, it was for all the places I had during my 10 years of roses. We almost made it to 12.

And yes, while over that time I saw you everywhere; from mountaintops to desert floors and everywhere in between... This last year, our last year, I saw you turn into the ghost of the girl of my dreams. I’m sorry princess, I hope you find your way home.

A DEEP BREATH When was the last time you paused for a second and gave yourself the credit you deserve for how far you’ve come, how much you’ve grown, the person you’ve become, the transformation you’ve experienced, and the tough lessons you’ve learnt? Honestly, you should be so proud of you.

SECTION 101 BEAUTY Saw you at Wednesday’s GU men’s game (vs. Portland

KUDOS TO MAYOR BROWN’S TRANSITION TEAM Kudos to Mayor Brown’s enormous transition team for developing a very ambitious list of priority recommendations for the first 100 days. However, it seems the Spokane River, the crown jewel of the city, has been overlooked. The river is relied upon for safe and healthy recreation, and for some, for sustenance via fishing — yes, many still eat the fish from the river. Items 1 (Enhancing Public Safety and Building Trust) and 5 (Improving Health and Housing Options) focus predominantly on housing and measures to enable the homeless safe camping. The city owns the lands within Riverfront Park. It is about time the administration does something about contamination of the river, and allow humans to safely consume the fish from the river once again.

WHO SUCKS? Please, please Spokane, keep sucking! Don’t fix the streets, plow the snow, or keep places open all night. Raise kind families, enjoy each other’s company, enjoy nature, nurture and appreciate life, contribute to the community, create your own good times. If you’re unhappy, please don’t stick around; there’s already too many people driving too fast on their way to nowhere. Your entertainment and libation plans are your own responsibilities.

ACROSS THE STATE TEAMMATE You all work together seamlessly and go above and beyond to create partnership and teamwork with your Western counterparts. Thank you for bringing joy and helpfulness to a fresh face. Stay fabulous, Dream Team, and say hello to Betty White for me. –Chickie JOLTIN’ JOE Joe at his dumbest is still smarter than any Republican at their smartest. Joe at his worst is still more moral than the most moral Republican.

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION Regardless of who wins the presidential election, two things are guaranteed to happen.....a celebration and a riot.

the only one that matters in the universe.

You self-cenetred taint weasel. This goes to all the people out there that see crosswalks as target practice, or the idiots who block up pedestrian lanes so they can turn on a red as if you have more rights to the street

...Save narcan for children, doctors, nurses, teachers, etc. who accidentally overdose.

JEERS

PEDESTRIAN HIT I was walking toward downtown from Browne’s Addition when you ran the stop sign between Cedar and Riverside, while digging through your purse. I could see the terror on your face before you hit me, it was surreal for both of us. I lucked out that this wasn’t fatal, but why didn’t you stop to check on me? I watched as your midsize SUV fled the scene going west on Riverside. What was going through your head? There are cameras nearly everywhere, and you still drove off.

I hope this haunts you because you left me brokenhearted. I even gave you the benefit and waited as if you’d return. I have reported this to the police.

FIFTH AND LINCOLN Fifth and Lincoln is a hospital zone. The speed limit is 25 mph, not 30. The speed limit is the same on Fifth and Monroe. That intersection has two Ronald McDonald Houses on one side, and two hospitals on the other (Shriners and Deaconess). Cars are going well above 35 on both streets. There have been multiple wrecks, and it is just a matter of time before there is a pedestrian fatality. Please slow down.

SERIOUSLY PEOPLE To the truck driver on Feb. 9 under the bridge light in Browne’s Addition that felt they were entitled to damn near running not one but two civilians down because they couldn’t be bothered to wait their turn. I hope you get the same close call you gave us someday.

May someone key your precious truck, and may you always have a flat when you are in a hurry. You could have killed two people today. But so long as you get where you need to go, right? Who the hell cares about anyone else. You are the main character,

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

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

than anyone else. I don’t have headphones on when I cross. I look both ways. I am also very disabled, I cannot “hurry across” the street like everyone else, and this has caused a lot of you self-entitled pricks to think you have the right to nearly run me over. Wherever you are going, is it worth the manslaughter charge that will follow you for the rest of your life? The answer in case you need to be told is no. And if you think it’s yes, congrats on passing that psychopath test! We all know now you have no empathy for others and are willing to act on your fantasies.

RE: WHAT’S A CHURCH FOR ANYWAY? I’m glad that you responded with an argument about how a church is a positive contributor to a community instead of defensively putting things over people’s welfare and resorting to fallacies. One of the reasons I wrote is because of how frustrating it is that so many in our community demand that only charity can fill a humanitarian role. Thank you for clarifying that often churches provide great community services. Many people think that churches are equipped to handle these systemic problems, but systemic problems require systemic solutions beyond the resources of community organizations. I see other nations who follow a philosophy that any private charity is a failure of government and their people have healthier, happier, lives with less suffering. I would ask that people who recognize the limits of our community groups to demand effective government level investments to improve the lives of everyone in our society. What’s a government for, anyway?

A PLEA FOR OUR BEAUTIFUL CITY This is the first and only time I will post in the Jeers section. Whether you are new to Spokane or you have lived here all your life like I

Saturday 2/17 vs. Tri-City Americans First 2,000 fans through the gates and all full-season ticket holders receive a hockey helmet bank courtesy of Numerica Credit Union!

Game Time:

6 PM

Tickets: spokanechiefs.com • Call: 509-535-PUCK

48 INLANDER FEBRUARY 15, 2024

”

along, and treat the city you live in and the residents here respectfully, or maybe you should go elsewhere. It’s no joke, you’ve been seeing it a lot now, because it’s true.

We really need to be better to each other in the city, right now. I heard in the past that it was a well-kept secret. Obviously it’s not that anymore. So please, be a kind human like we all should be.

EVERYONE KNOWS Everyone knows one hit of fentanyl can possibly kill you unless you live under a rock — it’s been in all the papers on all the news broadcasts on billboards posters fliers. Everyone knows one hit of fentanyl can possibly end your life, YET people will still use the drug. So I say save narcan for children, doctors, nurses, teachers, etc. who accidentally overdose.

ROSALIA’S TRAIL HATERS While the state and many locals are busy working to build the state-spanning Palouse to Cascades Trail, a few obvious landowners in Rosalia don’t think it’s a good idea. Putting private property signs in front of the new parking lot for the trail won’t stop progress. And in a few years you’ll probably be glad for all the friendly trail users who discover your quaint Palouse town. n

THIS WEEK'S ANSWERS B O R N S H A N G A A R P C A M E A F L E E O R E O R I O S B U N K E R H I L L I N E S L O A E R O H A S T I N G S A L S A C E L C D H I D C A T T H A T S H A L F S N A C K R A E O F A N A T T A T H E B A T T L E S I S Q O U U P T U X R O E G O H A R D W A T E R L O O U N A E N O E W E R M A N I G E T T Y S B U R G I T H E E B N A I E S T A T H O S N O S E D Y O D A

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.

HOCKEY HELMET BANK GIVEAWAY

Sponsored By:

have, this city needs some serious respect.

We need more respect to each other on our city streets. I am asking you to stop cutting everybody off, be an adult, and wait your turn. If you choose to live here, please, have respect for those who have been here all

EVENTS | CALENDAR

BENEFIT

THE BASH A fundraiser for Emerge, an arts nonprofit in Coeur d’Alene, featuring art, auctions, raffles, art demonstrations, a coursed dinner and more. Feb. 16, 5-9:30 pm. $95. Honey Eatery and Social Club, 317 Sherman Ave. emergecda.com VIVA VINO GALA An evening of wine tasting featuring dinner catered by Mole, live Mariachi from las Aguilas de EWU, performances by Quiero Flamenco and Folklorico as well as a silent and live auction benefitting the Nuestras Raices youth program, Ltinos Unidos en Acción Alianza. Feb. 17, 6 pm-midnight. $85.

Riverside Place, 1108 W. Riverside Ave. hbpaofspokane.org (509-557-0566) SOUP & PIE Taste various soups from favorite local restaurants along with homemade pie. The event also includes a raffle.

All proceeds benefit the Humane Society of the Palouse. Feb. 19, 11 am-2 pm. $15.

1912 Center, 412 E. Third St., Moscow. humanesocietyofthepalouse.org TASTE OF LIFE Local purveyors serve samples of wine, beer and cider, paired with an array of hors d’oeuvres prepared by the Davenport’s culinary team. The gala also features live music by the Zonky Jazz Band, a live and silent auction and other fundraising activities. Proceeds benefit Hospice of Spokane. Feb. 23, 5:30-8:30 pm. $100. Historic Davenport Hotel, 10 S. Post St. hospiceofspokane. org (509-456-0438)

COMEDY

DAMON WAYANS JR. Wayans is a comedian and actor bet known for his performances in New Girl and other sitcoms.

Feb. 15, 7:30 pm, Feb. 16, 7:30 & 10:15 pm and Feb. 17, 7:30 & 9:45 pm. $35. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com (509-318-9998) DAVID SPADE Spade is an actor, comedian and television host most well-known for his tenure on Saturday Night Live.

Feb. 16, 7-9 pm. $42-$75. First Interstate Center for the Arts, 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. firstinterstatecenter.org GAME, SET, MATCHMAKER Blue Door improvisers turn matchmaking into a game, creating unexpected connections along with twists and turns. Feb. 16, 7:30 pm. $9. Blue Door Theatre, 319 S. Cedar St. bluedoortheatre.org (509-747-7045) BLACK HISTORY COMEDY SHOWCASE This comedy showcase celebrates Black History Month by highlighting regional Black comics includng Anthony Singleton, Charles Hall Jr. and Darryl Burns.

Feb. 17, 7-9:30 pm. $10-$15. The Goody Bar and Grill, 8714 E. Sprague Ave. lyyv.tv COMEDY AVALANCHE: TYLER BOEH Tyler Boeh is a nationally recognized vocal percussionist who brings an energetic blend of comedic storytelling and beatboxing to his performances. Feb. 17, 8 pm. $25. Panida Theater, 300 N. First Ave. panida.org (208-263-9191) SAFARI The Blue Door Theatre’s version of Whose Line for which players improv short skits from audience suggestions.

Saturdays at 7:30 pm. $9. Blue Door Theatre, 319 S. Cedar. bluedoortheatre.com TERRY FATOR Fator won America’s Got Talent in 2007 by performing ventriloquy and has since been performing in Las Vegas. Feb. 17, 7:30 pm. $69. Northern Quest Resort & Casino, 100 N. Hayford Rd. northernquest.com (509-242-7000) BEN MILLER’S STAND-UP SCIENCE New York-based comedian Ben Miller uses

stories on topics from his musculoskeletal condition to his childhood history with milk as jumping-off points for scientific and comedic exploration. Feb. 20, 8 pm. $15. Magic Lantern Theatre, 25 W. Main Ave. benmillercomedy.com JR DE GUZMAN: WORKING IT OUT Guzman is a musically-inclined comedian with a Netflix special called The Comedy Lineup. Feb. 22, 7:30 pm, Feb. 23, 7:30 & 10:15 pm and Feb. 24, 7 & 9:45 pm. $25-$35. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com

COMMUNITY

BUILD IT Create cool things with straws and connectors, architecture blocks, Rigamajig building kits and other materials for your engineered creations. For families. Feb. 15, 4-5 pm Free. North Spokane Library, 44 E. Hawthorne Rd. scld.org LEARNING CIRCLE: HISTORY & CULTURE OF UKRAINE During this learning circle, study the culture and history of our Ukrainian neighbors using free online materials. In collaboration with Thrive International. Registration required. Thursdays from 7-8 pm through March 7. Free.

Online: scld.org THURSDAY NIGHT LIVE This monthly event includes live music, gallery cruising, gallery talks, lectures, artist workshops and demonstrations, periodic exhibition openings and special Campbell House programing. Third Thursday of each month from 5-8 pm. $8-$12. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org WESTERNERS SPOKANE CORRAL HISTORY CLUB Local amateur and professional history sleuths are invited to learn about different aspects of Northwest history. Dinner is served each night and there are occasional guest speakers.

Every third Thursday from 5-8 pm. $20.

Corbin Senior Center, 827 W. Cleveland Ave. westernersspokane.org CHEESEBURGERS IN PARADISE PARTY A summer-themed party to celebrate the warmer weather that is on the way. Wear summer clothing. Feb. 16, 6 pm. Free.

Millwood Masonic Center, 3219 N. Argonne Rd. millwoodmasoniccenter.com 6TH ANNUAL DAY OF UNITY Guest speaker Kaylee Peterson discusses the duty of representation, activism to create real change and getting serious about diversity. Feb. 17, 2-4 pm. Free. Coeur d’Alene Public Library, 702 E. Front Ave. tocdiversityresource.org (208-991-2142) MAKE YOUR OWN BEADED FEDORA HAT This hands-on workshop instructs participants how to make a beaded fedora hat. Suitable for beginner to advanced beaders. Ages 15+. Feb. 17, 1-6 pm. $100.

Coeur d’Alene Casino, 37914 S. Nukwalqw. cdacasino.com (208-769-2464) RESOURCES & EMPOWERMENT: BLACK HISTORY MONTH EVENT A Black-owned business and non-profit resource fair followed by a panel of Black men who are currently in leadership positions in Spokane including Jerrall Haynes, David Moss and Rev. James Watkins. Feb. 17, 2-5 pm. Free. Central Library, 906 W. Main Ave. spokanelibrary.org SCIENCE IN SPANISH: ROCKETS Design and test miniature rockets and expand your Spanish vocabulary by practicing scientific terms that aren’t used in everyday conversation. This program is intended for children who understand spoken Spanish and are willing to try speaking some. Registration required.

Feb. 17, 2:30-4 pm. Free. North Spokane Library, 44 E. Hawthorne Rd. scld.org SPOKANE PUBLIC RADIO RECORD SALE A two-day-long record sale featuring used vinyl records, CDs, DVDs, tapes, movies and gear. Feb. 17, 9 am-5 pm and Feb. 18, 11 am-5 pm. Free admission. CenterPlace Regional Event Center, 2426 N. Discovery Pl. spokanepublicradio.org LUNAR NEW YEAR CELEBRATION Celebrate the Lunar New Year with traditional Chinese folk dances, a Chinese choir, taichi, martial arts, Dragon dance, music and more. Cultural fair from 1-3 pm, show at 4 pm. Feb. 18, 1-4 pm. $13-$23. The Fox Theater, 1001 W. Sprague Ave. foxtheaterspokane.org (509-624-1200) DROP IN & ZINE Drop in and learn how to make your very own eight-page minizine using a single piece of paper and Spark’s art supplies. Every Tuesday from 5-7 pm. Free. Spark Central, 1214 W. Summit Pkwy. spark-central.org UPCYCLE FASHION LAB Learn the art of upcycling using thrifting materials with sewists from Spokane Zero Waste’s Mend-It-Cafe. Feb. 20, 3:30-5 pm. Free.

Liberty Park Library, 402 S. Pittsburgh St. spokanelibrary.org INTERNET & EMAIL: A GOODWILL TECH WORKSHOP Learn how to use search engines, email, social media and other internet tools while also exploring topics such as online security, privacy and responsible online behavior. Feb. 21, 2:304 pm. Free. Indian Trail Library, 4909 W. Barnes Rd. spokanelibrary.org PREVENT FRAUD & IDENTITY THEFT Learn how to spot warning signs of possible fraud, be informed about trending scams, and get resources to keep your finances safe. Feb. 21, 11:30 am-12:30 pm & 1:30-2:30 pm. Free. SFCC, 3410 W. Whistalks Way. sfcc.spokane.edu SPOKANE HOME & YARD SHOW A show featuring 100s of displays and demos in home and yard-related products, services and improvements. Feb. 22-25; Thu-Fri from noon-8 pm, Sat from 10 am-6 pm, Sun from 10 am-4 pm. $10-$12.

Spokane County Fair & Expo Center, 404 N. Havana St. custershows.com HEARTBREAKER’S BASH A Valentine’sthemed sober event featuring mocktails, music by DJ Donuts, flash tattoos, dancing and a photo booth by Electric Photoland. Feb. 23, 8-11 pm. $25. First Avenue Coffee, 1017 W. First Ave. instagram.com/ diversion_events (509-863-9442)

FILM

EXPO ‘74: FILMS FROM THE VAULT A selection of recently digitized film footage from the 1974 World’s Fair in Spokane. Tue-Sun from 10 am-5 pm through Sep. 8. $7-$12. The MAC, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org SPOKANE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL An offering of world-class films, features, documentaries and shorts made around the world in the past year that haven’t yet been commercially released for wide distribution. Through Feb. 16.

See website for schedule. $99-$149. Bing Crosby Theater, 901 W. Sprague. spokanefilmfestival.org BLACK HISTORY MONTH: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF MALCOLM X An encore screening of X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X and an in-person discussion with Met Opera performer and music scholar Dr. Makeda Hampton. Feb. 15, 6 pm. $15$20. The Kenworthy, 508 S. Main St. kenworthy.org (208-882-4127)

habitat-spokane.org (509) 534-2552

MARCH

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FEBRUARY 15, 2024 INLANDER 49

EVENTS | CALENDAR INTERNATIONAL FLY FISHING FILM FESTIVAL Films produced by professional filmmakers from across the globe showcase the lifestyle and culture of fly fishing. Proceeds benefit Spokane Riverkeeper. Feb. 16, 7 pm. Bing Crosby Theater, 901 W. Sprague Ave. bingcrosbytheater.com (509-227-7404) OSCAR SHORTS ShortsTV and Magnolia Pictures present screenings of the Oscarnominated short films. See site for full schedule. Feb. 16-18. $8. The Kenworthy, 508 S. Main St. kenworthy.org PAST LIVES The Oscar-nominated film about Nora and Hae Sung, two deeply connected childhood friends wrest apart after Nora’s family emigrates from South Korea to Canada. Feb. 16, 7 pm. $5. Panida Theater, 300 N. First Ave. panida.org SCIENCE ON SCREEN: HIDDEN FIGURES The story of a team of female AfricanAmerican mathematicians who served a vital role in NASA during the early years of the U.S. space program. Anthony Smith, WSU planetarium presenter and an astronomy educator, guides guests through a video night sky tour. Feb. 19, 6 pm. Free. The Kenworthy, 508 S. Main. kenworthy.org COVENANT OF THE SALMON PEOPLE A 60-minute documentary portrait of the Nez Perce Tribe as they continue to carry out their ancient promise to protect Chinook salmon, a cornerstone species and first food their people have subsisted on for tens of thousands of years. Feb. 20, 6 pm. Free. Gonzaga University Hemmingson Center, 702 E. Desmet Ave. gonzaga. edu/climate-institute (509-313-6942) PALOUSE CULT FILM REVIVAL: KILLER NERD A nerd loses his cool after he’s bullied relentlessly and a co-worker ends up with the girl he likes. Feb. 21, 7-9 pm. $8-$50. The Kenworthy, 508 S. Main St. palousecultfilms.org (208-310-1200) OKJA A young South Korean girl struggles to save her friend, a genetically modified giant pig, from a multinational meat producer. Feb. 22, 7-9 pm. Free. The Kenworthy, 508 S. Main St. uidaho.edu/ class/hias (208-885-7110) SPOKANE FILM PROJECT ANNUAL MEETING Mingle with local filmmakers, meet board members, connect with leaders from Spokane Arts and more. Feb. 22, 5-7 pm. Free. Shadle Library, 2111 W. Wellesley Ave. spokanefilmproject.com

FOOD & DRINK

COCKTAILS WITH LOVE Renée Cebula from Raising the Bar teaches how to make three classic cocktails while giving a detailed history of each. Feb. 16, 6-8:30 pm. $85. Commellini Estate, 14715 N. Dartford Dr. commelliniestate.com NORTH IDAHO WINE SOCIETY: J BOOKWALTER WINERY Taste wines from J Bookwalter Winery with paired appetizers, a wine raffle and door prize entry. Feb. 16, 6:30-9 pm. $30-$35. Lake City Center, 1916 N. Lakewood Dr. northidahowinesociety.org ASIAN GROCERY STORE TOUR Community educator Juan Juan Moses hosts an educational field trip to Canaan Buffet.

Feb. 17, 12-1 pm. Free. Canaan Buffet & Grocery, 9606 N. Newport Hwy. spokanelibrary.org VALENTINE SWEET HEART DINNER A traditional German dinner consisting of ham, potatoes and red cabbage prepared

by Elke Griffith and her sisters Heike and

50 INLANDER FEBRUARY 15, 2024

Janet. Call for reservations. Feb. 17, 5:3011 pm. $20. German American Hall, 25 W. Third Ave. facebook.com/GASSpokane WORLD COOKING: PUERTO RICAN FOOD Chef Wilma Cartagena of Feast World Kitchen demonstrates the preparation of a traditional Puerto Rican dish in an online presentation while you follow along in your home kitchen. Feb. 20, 6:30-7:30 pm. Free. scld.org

MUSIC

SONGWRITER’S ROUNDTABLE An introspective night behind the songs of Stevie Lynne, Ron Greene, Lucas Brookbank Brown and Dani Bacon. Feb. 15, 7-9 pm. $26. Bing Crosby Theater, 901 W. Sprague Ave. bingcrosbytheater.com LET JUSTICE FLOW LIKE A RIVER Celebrate the contribution of the AfricanAmerican Experience in gospel hymns and spirituals. The concert highlights the talents of Dr. Jadrian Tarver, a baritone an an assistant professor at Gonzaga University. Feb. 18, 3-4:30 pm. Free. Manito United Methodist Church, 3220 S. Grand Blvd. manitoumc.org (509-951-4429) MONTHLY DRUM CIRCLE Learn or share songs you like on the drums. No experience needed. Registration required. Third Sunday of each month from 4-7 pm. $10.

Harmony Woods Retreat Center, 11507 S. Keeney Rd. harmonywoods.org STOMP The eight-member troupe uses everything but conventional percussion instruments — matchboxes, wooden poles, brooms, garbage cans, Zippo lighters, hubcaps — to fill the stage with rhythms. Feb. 23-24; Fri-Sat at 7:30 pm, Sat also at 2 pm. $40-$70. First Interstate Center for the Arts, 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. broadwayspokane.com

SPORTS & OUTDOORS

MT. SPOKANE NIGHT SKIING Ski after the sun sets under the lights at Mt. Spokane. Wed-Fri from 3-9 pm through March 16. $40-$80. Mt. Spokane Ski & Snowboard Park, 29500 N. Mt. Spokane Park Dr. mtspokane.com (509-238-2220) GROWING & CARING FOR ORCHIDS Explore how to successfully grow orchids in your home with proven techniques from watering to repotting. Presented by Erin Nelson of the Spokane Orchid Society.

Feb. 15, 6:30-7:30 pm. Free. Spokane Valley Library, 22 N. Herald Rd. scld.org KING OF THE CAGE A mixed martial arts amateur card. Feb. 15, 7-10 pm. $60-$75.

Coeur d’Alene Casino, 37914 S. Nukwalqw. cdacasino.com (208-769-2464) FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS Night skiing with the addition of live music on the mountain. Every Fri from 3-9 pm through March 29. $39. Mt. Spokane Ski & Snowboard Park, 29500 N. Mt. Spokane Park Dr. mtspokane.com (509-238-2220) BEGINNING BEEKEEPING CLASS Learn the ins and outs of bees and beekeeping. Fee includes beekeeping manual, WASBA certification, 2024 West Plains Beekeepers Association membership and 2024 Washington State Beekeepers Association. Feb. 17, 10:30 am-2:30 pm. $50. Cheney Library, 610 First St. wpbeekeepers.org (801-923-3797) GENTLE FLOW YOGA Reduce stress and build resilience with a breath practice, gentle stretching and short holds. Options and pose moderations will be offered throughout. Mobility aids are wel-

come (blocks, chair, cane, etc.). Feb. 17, 2:30-3:30 pm. Free. Hillyard Library, 4110 N. Cook St. spokanelibrary.org MOUNT SPOKANE NORDIC CUP Test your skiing skills on these challenging courses full of jumps, moguls and more.

Feb. 17-18, 8 am-3 pm. Free to attend; $25-$50 to compete. Selkirk Lodge, N. Mt. Spokane Park Dr. spokanenordic.org SNOWSHOES & BREWS MOUNT SPOKANE TOUR WITH TRANSPORTATION A tour through the woods of Mount Spokane State Park. Afterwards, the group heads to Big Barn Brewery on Green Bluff to learn about their locally crafted beer. Feb. 17, 9 am-2:30 pm. $53. Meets at Yoke’s Fresh Market, 14202 N. Market St. spokanerec.org (509-363-5414) COLD WEATHER VEGGIES Learn about different kinds of cold-weather veggies and how and when to grow them. Feb. 18, 2-3 pm. $10. Ritters Garden & Gift, 10120 N. Division St. 4ritter.com

THEATER & DANCE

AMADEUS While chasing fame and fortune, Antonio Salieri becomes obsessed with the rowdy young prodigy Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who is determined to make a splash. Directed by Melody Deatherage. Thu-Sat at 7:30 pm, Sun at 2 pm through Feb. 25. $15-$38. Spokane Civic Theatre, 1020 N. Howard St. spokanecivictheatre.com (509-325-2507) ANASTASIA Pursued by a ruthless Soviet officer determined to silence her, Anya enlists the aid of a dashing con man and a lovable ex-aristocrat. Together, they embark on an epic adventure to help her find home, love and family. Thu-Sat at 7:30 pm, Sat-Sun at 1:30 pm through Feb. 18. $30. Regional Theatre of the Palouse, 122 N. Grand Ave. rtoptheatre.org FUN HOME Moving between past and present, Alison relives her unique childhood playing at the Bechdel Funeral Home, her growing understanding of her own sexuality and questions about her father’s hidden desires. Thu-Sat at 7 pm, Sun at 2 pm through Feb. 18. $30$35. Stage Left Theater, 108 W. Third Ave. stagelefttheater.org MONTY PYTHON’S SPAMALOT Spamalot retells the legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, and features a bevy of beautiful show girls, not to mention cows, killer rabbits, and French people. Thu-Sat at 7:30 pm, SatSun at 2 pm. through Feb. 18. $22-$28.

Kroc Center, 1765 W. Golf Course Rd. aspirecda.com (208-696-4228) PACIFIC NORTHWEST BALLET The Pacific Northwest Ballet performs repertory dances including movements from Swan Lake and pieces choreographed by Twyla Tharp. Feb. 16, 7:30 pm and Feb. 17, 7:30 pm. $45-$80. Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts Center, 211 E. Desmet Ave. gonzaga.edu/dance WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME A special benefit performance of What the Constitution Means to Me ahead of the University of Idaho’s participation in the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. Feb. 18, 2-3:30 pm. By donation. Hartung Theater, 625 Stadium Dr. uidaho.edu/theatre JOSEPH & THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT A reimagining of the Biblical story of Joseph, his father Jacob, eleven brothers and the coat of many colors. Feb 23-24 and March 1-3; Fri-Sat

at 7 pm, Sat-Sun at 3 pm. $18-$20. Bing Crosby Theater, 901 W. Sprague Ave. cytspokane.org

VISUAL ARTS

SARAH THOMPSON MOORE: OUTSIDEIN Moore is a sculpture artist who primarily focuses on large, site-specific installations. This exhibition features a sampling of her smaller works. Mon-Fri from 10 am-4:30 pm, Sat from 10 am-2 pm through March 22. Free. Bryan Oliver Gallery, Whitworth, 300 W. Hawthorne Ave. whitworth.edu (509-777-3258) BIG & BOLD BALAZS Four works by late local artist Harold Balazs are on display.

Wed-Sun from 1-10 pm through Feb. 29.

Free. Chalice Brewing, 413 E. Sherman, Coeur d’Alene. theartspiritgallery.com LORETTA ETCHISON & MELISSA ISAACSON Loretta Etchison creates wool felted purses and decorates them with needle felting. Melissa Isaacson is a painter aiming to capture the essence of place in her work. Daily from 11 am-7 pm through Feb. 29. Free. Pottery Place Plus, 203 N. Washington St. potteryplaceplus.com FIGURE FUSION A group show featuring the works of Hara Alison, Sundhu Surapaneni, Katelyn Reed and Kayleigh Lang.

Mon-Fri from 8 am-5 pm through Feb. 23.

Free. Chase Gallery, 808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. spokanearts.org (509-321-9416) MATT LOME: REALITY & FANTASY Lome showcases illustrative paintings that are both realistic and whimsical. Mon-Fri from 10 am-5 pm through Feb. 23. Free.

Spokane Art School, 503 E. Second Ave., Ste. B. spokaneartschool.net REINALDO GIL ZAMBRANO: PULLING ROOTS Through relief printmaking techniques, Zambrano explores domestic rituals and social themes common to people across borders. Tue-Sun from 10 am-5 pm through April 20. $7-$12. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org ELLEN PICKEN: BEHIND THE FENCE A collection of abstract oil paintings that invite viewers to investigate ways of knowing and being, celestial and earthly, physical and intangible. Feb. 15-April 12, Mon-Fri from 9 am-6 pm. Free. EWU Gallery of Art, 140 Art Building. ewu.edu/art SHELLY GILMORE: I’LL FLY AWAY Moscow artist Shelly Gilmore creates art out of reclaimed and discarded automotive, farm and industrial pieces. Thu-Sun from 10 am-4 pm through March 31. Free. Dahmen Barn, 419 N. Park Way., Uniontown. artisanbarn.org (509-229-3414) ILLUMINATIONS: BOOKBINDING WITH MEL HEWITT Drop in and peruse rare treasures from the Central Library’s archives. This month’s theme is bookbinding techniques and highlights the work of local bookbinder Mel Hewitt of LibroBuch. Feb. 15, 11 am-noon. Free. Central Library, 906 W. Main Ave. spokanelibrary. org (509-444-5336) MAKING PAINTS FROM SCRATCH Artist-In-Residence Hannah Charlton shows how pigments were traditionally harvested from raw materials, and how these pigments were blended to make paints, glazes and inks. Feb. 15, 6-7:15 pm. Free. The Hive, 2904 E. Sprague Ave. spokanelibrary.org (509-444-5300) OUR ELDER’S STORIES: SCULPTURE Honor the elders in your life with this art series focused on listening and retelling their stories through art-making. This

session is focused on air-dry clay sculpting. Ages 9-18 and 5-8 with an adult. Feb. 16, 4-5 pm. Free. Shadle Library, 2111 W. Wellesley Ave. spokanelibrary.org 1924: SOVEREIGNTY, LEADERSHIP AND THE INDIAN CITIZENSHIP ACT This exhibition commemorates the 100-year anniversary of the Indian Citizenship Act and centers on photographs of early local tribal leadership as they and their people navigated the sometimes-conflicting nature of being both U.S. citizens and citizens of their own sovereign nations.

Tue-Sun from 10 am-5 pm through Feb. 2, 2025. $7-$12. The MAC, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org HEARTISTRY: ARTISTIC WELLBEING A relaxed and inspiring environment for self-discovery. Participate in basic artistic concepts and activities or respond to a mindfulness prompt. Every Tuesday from 3-5 pm. Free. Spark Central, 1214 W. Summit Pkwy. spark-central.org

WORDS

BROKEN MIC Spokane Poetry Slam’s longest-running, weekly open mic reading series. Wednesdays at 6:30 pm; signups at 6 pm. Free. Neato Burrito, 827 W. First Ave. bit.ly/2ZAbugD MONTANA V. HELD: MONTANA YOUTH USE THE COURTS TO FIGHT FOR A LIVABLE CLIMATE Hear from lawyers who won the first youth climate case to go to trial in U.S. history. Feb. 14, 5 pm. Free.

Gonzaga University Hemmingson Center, 702 E. Desmet Ave. gonzaga.edu/ climate-institute (509-313-6942) TARA KARR ROBERTS WITH MIMI HANNAN A discussion with Hannan and Moscow’s Tara Karr Roberts, author of the new novel Wild and Distant Seas. Feb. 18, 2 pm. Free. Wishing Tree Books, 1410 E. 11th Ave. wishingtreebookstore.com POETRY RISING Celebrate Black History Month with Frankie Ghee, Latrice Williams, Kiantha Duncan, author Stephaine Courtney and poet Stephen Pitters. Feb. 21, 6-7:30 pm. Free. South Hill Library, 3324 S. Perry St. spokanelibrary.org HERE IN A HOMEMADE FOREST: INDIGENOUS ARTS TALK A talk with Michael Holloman and Jacy SoHappy on Indigenous weaving and beading practices as they relate to artworks and cultural materials featured in the exhibition. Feb. 22, 12-1 pm. Free. Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art WSU, 1535 NE Wilson Rd. museum. wsu.edu (509-335-1910) HOW TO WRITE A TEEN/YA NOVEL Young adult novelists Kris Dinnison, Trace Kerr and Stephanie Oakes discuss their published books and what inspires them to write about and for youth. Feb. 22, 5:30-6:30 pm. Free. South Hill Library, 3324 S. Perry. spokanelibrary.org NORTHWEST PASSAGES: ERIN PRINGLE Local author Erin Pringle discusses her short story collection, Unexpected Weather Events, in which characters navigate grief. Feb. 22, 7 pm. $7. The Spokesman-Review, 999 W. Riverside Ave. spokesman.com/northwest-passages PEOPLE OF THE MOVEMENT: ORAL STORYTELLING Learn about the Civil Rights Movement through song and oral interpretation. Experience the message of freedom that impacted Americans as a whole, highlighting the stories of the many who fought and died to change the political process of America. Presented

by Sara Lee Williams. Feb. 22, 6:30-7:30 pm. Free. Spokane Valley Library, 22 N. Herald Rd. scld.org (509-893-8400) n

Washington is one of five states where cannabis is legal but you can’t grow your own.

LEGISLATION

No-Go Homegrow Lawmakers in Olympia keep homegrown cannabis illegal in Washington

BY WILL MAUPIN

L

ast week in Green Zone, we covered how the state Legislature was considering a bill that would allow Washingonians to grow their own cannabis.

A week later, that effort is as good as dead.

House Bill 2194 died in committee. Lawmakers won’t even take it to the floor for a full vote. As far as our legislators are concerned, the issue of allowing Washingtonians to grow their own cannabis doesn’t deserve so much as a vote in Olympia.

So growing your own cannabis remains a Class C felony, despite the fact that Washington otherwise acts as a

Reach Nearly

bulwark in U.S. cannabis policy.

Washington, the originator of legal cannabis, is now well behind the curve. Along with Coloradans, Washington voters approved legalization on Election Day 2012. We were once groundbreakers. Washington is no longer on the cutting edge, we’re behind the times.

We’re stuck in the mud.

As one of the first two states to allow legalization, Washington was rightfully conservative in its approach to cannabis. Colorado beat Washington to the punch, allowing legal sales six months before Washington. We took our

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time. And it’s worked.

Washington has built one of the best cannabis marketplaces in the legal world. The illicit market is effectively gone and the state makes millions of dollars in tax revenue from the legal cannabis market. Washingtonians can and do buy cannabis at state-regulated dispensaries.

There is no good reason that a responsible citizen should not be able to grow their own cannabis. But in Washington, you can’t. Washington is one of just five states where cannabis is legal in which you can’t grow your own.

(Twenty-four states have legalized recreational cannabis.)

Our state does not need to be this protective of its cannabis market anymore. Among states that allow cannabis, home grow is legal almost everywhere but Washington.

It’s a shame that is a fact, and it’s a stain on every legislator who allowed HB 2194 to fail.

In 2012, this kind of protectionism made sense. Back then, Washington was flying in the face of federal policy.

It is now 2024. Washington is no longer on the cutting edge. Washington is behind the times in this regard. We had a chance to move forward with HB 2194, but our lawmakers gave up. It is on them for allowing us to fall so far behind. n

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NOTE TO READERS

GREEN ZONE

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.

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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DOWN 1. Reggae pioneer Marley 2. Tulsa sch.

3. Stimpy’s pal in cartoons 4. Finnish tech giant 5. Sound heard before a car crash 6. “As if!”

7. Group that often holds religious services in barns 8. Harlem Renaissance novelist

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62. Nail treatment, for short 63. Estelle of “The Golden Girls” 68. Spanish 101 word 69. “With this ring, ____ ... “ 70. ____ B’rith 71. Pres. Jefferson 72. Looked (around) 73. Film character who says “Size matters not”

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who’s had a successful start (or a description of the circled letters in 17-, 26-, 52- and 63-Across) 36. Vending machine item 40. Praiseful lead-in to “boy” or “girl” 41. Issa of “Barbie” 42. In the blink ____ eye 43. “Thong Song” singer 45. See 32-Across 48. Texter’s “is it 2 late 2 come over?”

50. Prom rental 51. ____ v. Wade 52. Folk singer Guthrie 57. Give it everything you’ve got 59. Decorative pitcher 60. “De ____ Vez” (Selena Gomez song) 61. Ambient music legend Brian

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ACROSS 1. Brought into the world 5. “____-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” (2021 Simu Liu film) 10. Org. for many baby boomers 14. Nabisco cookie 15. “Along ____ spider ...”

16. Run for it 17. Whale’s mouthful 19. Lago feeders 20. Suffix with elephant or serpent 21. ____-mo replay 22. Dynamic start?

23. ____-Lorraine (area in northeast France) 26. Fedoras and sombreros, e.g.

28. Garfield, e.g.

29. HDTV type 31. Stayed out of sight 32. With 45-Across, phrase of encouragement to someone

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Larsen 9. Rubber overshoe 10. “Nope, sorry” 11. Otherworldly 12. Corp. shake-up 13. Mexican money 18. Ltr. accompaniers

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27. “____ the season ...”

30. One may be thrown in a pub 33. Places where moles are often found

34. “Well, ____-didah!”

35. Yardstick’s three 37. SAG-____ (Hollywood union) 38. Heat, in Honduras 39. Struck in kickboxing, perhaps 44. Sharing word 46. Agog 47. Cellular transmitters 49. Connect to an electrical outlet 52. “No need to introduce us” 53. Swimming (in) 54. 50 minutes past

the hour 55. “You’re ____ talk!”

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67. 1998 biopic starring Angelina Jolie

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