Inlander 04/02/2020

APRIL 2-8, 2020 | A HEALTHY DOSE OF INSPIRATION

BUSINESS

HOSPITALS

FOOD

PAGE 10

PAGE 14

PAGE 28

How officials are scrambling to support local businesses

Equipment is already being rationed

Local restaurants get creative to continue serving customers

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INSIDE VOL. 27, NO. 25 | COVER ILLUSTRATION: THOM CARAWAY

COMMENT 5 10 NEWS COVER STORY 16

CULTURE 24 FOOD 28 EVENTS 30

31 I SAW YOU 32 GREEN ZONE ADVICE GODDESS 38

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EDITOR’S NOTE

R

eading this week’s paper, you’ll find a healthy dose of HOPE and INSPIRATION. Some of it was intentional — we just had to tell you about all the local people stepping up in this crisis. Some of it came to us by happenstance, by a quirk of the calendar. Planning for the poetry inside this issue, for example, began a long, long time ago — a lifetime ago, in January, when few of us fully understood how the coronavirus would transform every aspect of American life: where we work, how we greet each other, the songs we sing while washing our hands.

The uniting theme of the poetry section, with guest editor Thom Caraway, is “spring and renewal,” something we might not be fully attentive to right now, but it is happening nevertheless, with the icy grayness of winter giving way to life, to seedlings and buds coaxed from the mud by the slanting sun. So, while these poems were conceived of during an entirely different era, they recall to mind that the world will continue to turn, renewing itself in new but familiar ways. Or as Thom writes in his introduction (on page 16): “A world in which poetry is being written, shared, read out loud is a world in which the spring will always come.”

— JACOB H. FRIES, Editor

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INLANDER

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1227 WEST SUMMIT PARKWAY, SPOKANE, WA 99201 PHONE: 509-325-0634 | EMAIL: INFO@INLANDER.COM THE INLANDER is a locally owned, independent newspaper founded on Oct. 20, 1993. It’s printed on newsprint that is at least 50 percent recycled; please recycle THE INLANDER after you’re done with it. One copy free per person per week; extra copies are $1 each (call x226). For ADVERTISING information, email advertising@inlander.com. To have a SUBSCRIPTION mailed to you, call x213 ($50 per year). To find one of our more than 1,000 NEWSRACKS where you can pick up a paper free every Thursday, call x226 or email frankd@inlander.com. THE INLANDER is a member of the Association of Alternative Newsmedia. All contents of this newspaper are protected by United States copyright law. © 2020, Inland Publications, Inc.

We’re Here for You. We at the Inlander remain committed to keeping people informed and connected during the coronavirus outbreak, supporting our readers and local businesses in the ways we always have.

Stay connected wherever you are.

Visit Inlander.com/locations, for the Digital Edition, and pick up locations near you.

APRIL 2, 2020 INLANDER 3

COMMUNITY Unprecedented times call for unprecedented teamwork.

Join us in working together to keep our community strong: ewu.edu/strong 4 INLANDER APRIL 2, 2020

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

J. Jeremy McGregor (x224)

WHAT’S THE ONE UPSIDE YOU’VE DISCOVERED ABOUT BEING IN A CORONAVIRUS LOCKDOWN?

GENERAL MANAGER

ANTNEY LLOYD: Besides some overdue spring cleaning, I’ve spent quality time with my wife, 2-year-old daughter, and 3-week-old son. There will be very few chances in life for me to get to spend this much family time ever again!

EDITORIAL Jacob H. Fries (x261) EDITOR

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

KATE POGUE RAU: Real quality time with my teenager: cooking together, kitchen singing/dancing, taking the dogs on long neighborhood walks, rewatching our favorite movies.

Nathan Weinbender (x250) FILM & MUSIC EDITOR

Derek Harrison (x248) ART DIRECTOR

Quinn Welsch (x279) COPY EDITOR

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

Young Kwak PHOTOGRAPHER

Caleb Walsh ILLUSTRATOR

Amy Alkon, Sheri Boggs, Kris Dinnison CONTRIBUTORS

Macie White INTERN

ADVERTISING SALES Kristi Gotzian (x215) ADVERTISING DIRECTOR

Carolyn Padgham-Walker (x214), Emily Walden (x260) SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Mary Bookey (x216), Jeanne Inman (x235), Rich McMahon (x241), Autumn Adrian Potts (x251) Claire Price (x217), Wanda Tashoff (x222) ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES

Kristina Smith (x223) MARKETING DIRECTOR Houston Tilley (x247) EVENTS & PROMOTIONS ASSISTANT

PRODUCTION & SUPPORT Wayne Hunt (x232) DESIGN & PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Ali Blackwood (x228) CREATIVE LEAD

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EDITOR’S NOTE

Normally, we ask our question of the week of people we randomly encounter on the street. But with the Inland Northwest in lockdown, we instead asked our followers on social media to share their thoughts.

CARLY MARIE: My wedding is postponed, but I get more time with my fiance and our pets! We just moved into a house, and now we have the time to get it up and running!

EMILY KRATZER: Being the stay-athome mom I always wanted to be.

Getting to watch my kids develop all day every day has been fantastic.

JOSH YOUNG: My housemates and I totally renovated my bedroom over seven days! Feels awesome to have a nice and airy sanctuary to stay in during these times!

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CLARE G. BROWN: I’m actually talking to my friends and family more because we’re constantly checking in on each other and are sharing things that help us get through the times that are difficult. Really grateful!

JASMINE BARNES: As a bartender dating someone who works a day job, we have spent full days together for the first time ever and we haven’t tried to kill each other yet. So that’s a win.

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PATRICK HAIRE: Still working (a lot), but the jury duty I was scheduled for, I’ve now been excused from.

BEVERLY WILKS: I’m spending less money and getting more sleep. Glad to still be working and appreciating my job more than ever.

LOUISE SULLIVAN: Recognizing what’s important to me and making choices accordingly. Also slowing down.

KARLA KJARGAARD: I wonder if families will become closer? And… find out why teachers are exhausted and exasperated. n

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Unfinished Business How much time have I lost to worst-case scenarios?

BY SHERI BOGGS

I

wasn’t a particularly brave person before COVID-19. Saddled with a high-functioning (but persistent) anxiety disorder, I’ve always been pretty skilled at imagining worst-case scenarios.

When I was a kid I strategized how I’d survive if my parents forgot me in the Idaho woods. As an adult I rehearse what I’d do if my entire neighborhood caught fire, or I lost my job for some horrifying personal reason, like incompetence or smelling bad. You would think that I’d be ready for something like this, having mentally prepared for so many other calamities my entire life, but I’m not.

This becomes painfully apparent when I decide to help out by sewing some non-surgical face masks. I head out to the craft shed I share with my husband, inspired by visions of the dozen or so masks I plan to whip out in a day. I take a few sunlit pictures of my tidy calico strips and rectangles for Instagram. My cutting wheel is sharp; my plastic ruler barely trembles. But two hours into it I’m completely undone. The two patterns I planned to mash up due to a reported elastic shortage don’t work together. I can’t find my stupid phone under all the fabric. My machine snarls up at least three times and I have to disembowel the bobbin carriage with a seam ripper and a tiny brush. After five hours I have one clumsily pleated rectangle and a pinned-on

tie that doesn’t fit over the seams like I’d planned.

It’s ugly. It’s going to save no one.

I always harbored the notion that I might be one of those people who falls apart over the tiniest thing but who would be amazing during a crisis. Standing in the doorway of the shed I feel that notion dissolving like an Alka-Seltzer in tepid water. I turn to Instagram for a quick inoculation of approval but somehow end up on Nextdoor, where people are posting links to three or four new mask patterns or arguing that fabric masks can’t keep out COVID-19 particles anyway so why bother. I’m overwhelmed by conflicting information, by disorganization, by self-loathing that I can’t even do this one simple thing that might help. My chest is tight. I have to remind myself to breathe, that this is voluntary, that I’ve got time.

But what if I don’t?

The fear snakes out from me, the shameful fear that in addition to my worries about health care professionals, and my friends who own or work in small businesses, and my 74-year-old mother, I’m panicking about my brain, about

An email for food lovers

what I’ve left undone, about possibly leaving behind a life of false starts, of insignificance.

My experience of anxiety is one of being perpetually embarrassed. It’s flying off the handle, saying weird things, not being able to think of things to say at all. It’s overcommitting to things, wanting to be useful, then resenting those things and losing half the day to anxiety naps because that’s the only way to turn my skittering brain off. It’s taking three times as long as other people to do the same task because my mind is elsewhere. It’s making sketchy, morally questionable decisions in order to calm the constant feeling of unworthiness. It’s trying to fill the void with activity and hobbies and projects, with purpose.

And now, what?

I always harbored the notion that I might be one of those people who falls apart over the tiniest thing but who would be amazing during a crisis.

I was working at the Inlander during 9/11 and in between memories of watching it all on the TV in our staff kitchen and bewildered stand-up editorial meetings where we scrapped the issue we’d just put together in order to put together a new one, I remember interviewing Terry Tempest Williams a week later and what she said about being in Washington, D.C., when the Pentagon was hit. She said they were told to run, this group of people at a literary event at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, and that she and seven other people jumped into the same cab, and that the stunned cab driver turned to them saying, “And just where would you like to go?”

How much time have I lost to worst-case scenarios, to unlikely phantasms? Looking out at my back yard, the green tulips spearing up through the dead leaves we never raked up last year, I’m so grateful that this is happening in the spring and not the early days of winter. I’m grateful I can still work from home. On Monday I will return to “work” in earnest, ordering and curating lists of digital media for bored kids at home and their harried parents. I’m grateful for the hot dumpster stank of my dog’s breath, my husband’s puns and endless patience, the box of “House Wine” that’s taken COMPLETE on a whole new meaning.

COVERAGE “You’ve got to pull The Inlander’s staff of reporters and yourself together,” I whisper. I photographers has been working breathe for what feels like the tirelessly to cover the coronavirus first time in weeks. Maybe I pandemic and all of its implications can just let it all go, the frantic for the Inland Northwest. Go to activity, the dream of achievInlander.com/coronavirus for ing. Maybe I can just be a complete coverage. person, ordinary, flawed. The Additionally, we’ve also tapped possibility floors me, the relief. into a boundless resource that is our Tonight my friend Leah will region’s community of writers, and spin some vinyl and livestream in recent days they’ve shared with it and I will listen while makInlander readers an awe-inspiring ing a blackberry pie for my series of essays and stories. Find husband’s birthday. I will those at Inlander.com/soundoff. half-dance my flour-covered self to the Talking Heads and think of the people I love: my family, my hilarious, irreverent friends, so many dear faces I hope I get to see again. In the morning I will return to the sewing machine and I will knock out one mask, and then another. It’s a cliche I used to roll my eyes at, that this moment is all we have, but it’s true. This ordinary, terrifying, imperfect moment is what we have. It can be enough. n Sheri Boggs is a librarian with the Spokane County Library District. Her work has been published in the Inlander, Lilac City Fairy Tales and other regional publications.

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COMMENT | CORONAVIRUS

Lists

GOT A STORY?

There’s one list I’ve started making that I suspect may be the most important list I’ve ever made

We love a good story, and our readers do, too.

In the coming weeks, we’ll continue to cover the coronavirus and all of its implications for the Inland Northwest. As part of that, we’re interested in sharing ways that the community can step up to help — and ways that local people are already doing so. Email ideas or suggestions to tips@inlander.com. Thanks!

BY KRIS DINNISON

I

am a list-maker. Grocery lists. To-do lists. Lists of things I want to accomplish this month, this year, this decade. I’ve got lists of places I want to see, stories I want to write, books I want to read. I love my lists. And if I’m honest, I would forget half the things I want to remember if I didn’t make them. They are a way of organizing my errant, squirrely brain and using it for good instead of letting it run rampant in the world, storing nuts and creating chaos.

But in the last few weeks I’ve had to develop new lists. Lists I’d never imagined making. Lists I wouldn’t have thought were possible a month ago.

There’s the list of things I had to do last week: close two businesses, lay off 22 employees, write final paychecks for them, learn to navigate the unemployment system so I can help them get benefits, turn off all the lights, spend countless hours wondering if we did the right thing, if we should have done it sooner.

And the list of things I worry about in the middle of the night: Will we be able to hire everyone back when we re-open?

When will we reopen? What will the landscape, the city, the world look like? Will other businesses and organizations I love survive this? Will everyone be okay in the meantime?

they do, leaders who tell lies, leaders who show no compassion, leaders who show contempt for those who do show compassion.

And the list of things that make me dare to hope that we will come out of this better than when we went in: leaders who believe in science, leaders with empathy, leaders who lead, people sharing what they have, people sharing factual information, people checking on neighbors, people delivering things to people who are too sick to go out, people taking walks, people doing art and baking things.

But there’s one list I’ve started making that I suspect may be the most important list I’ve ever made. This is the list of the things I’m learning and remembering and rediscovering in this strange time of chaos and quiet.

Being outside makes me happy.

Human beings need to make stuff.

We live day-to-day all the time, even though we fool ourselves into thinking we can plan for the future.

Don’t take more than you need.

We are all connected economically, physically, socially, emotionally in ways we can’t begin to comprehend, so we’d better act accordingly.

We can do better. We can be better.

This is the list of things I don’t want to forget when the world tries to return to whatever its new version of normal is. This is the list I want to remember when that world tries to suck me back into getting and spending and tribalism and forgetting. This is the list I want to tape to my mirror and recite like a mantra and shout into the void. It’s not complete. It’s not profound. But it’s the list I need most right now, and later, and for the rest of my life. n

This is the list of the things I’m learning and remembering and rediscovering in this strange time of chaos and quiet.

Or the list of things I worry about all day long: Will my parents be okay? Will my daughter be okay? Will my friends with cancer, MS, auto-immune diseases, heart conditions, lung conditions, diabetes, and other health issues be okay? Will people already teetering on the edge of not okay be okay?

I have a list of things that make me want to scream and stomp and weep and throw my glass of bourbon through the TV screen: leaders who think money is more important than people, leaders who don’t listen to people who know more than

8 INLANDER APRIL 2, 2020

Kris Dinnison is the author of a YA novel You and Me and Him as well as fiction published in the London Journal of Fiction, One Teen Story, and Young Adult Review Network (YARN), among others. She’s a small-business owner in Spokane where she reads, writes, and makes lists.

A WALK

BY ROBERT WRIGLEY

(March 26, 2020, the day the U.S. takes the lead in coronavirus cases) Can they tell we are different, the deer?

Can they smell it on us, our fear, trepidation in the way we walk, hear it in our ordinary human talk?

Sometimes in winter’s cold bleak, we watch them from a window.

The old, the strong, the young, the weak.

Now, they look at us. What do they know?

Robert Wrigley’s most recent book is Box (Penguin, 2017). He lives in the woods of northern Idaho, with his wife, the writer Kim Barnes.

We Are In This Together

Our friends and neighbors are still going to work in grocery stores and restaurants, putting themselves on the line to help feed people and make necessary supplies available. When you have the opportunity, thank them for helping us get through this and support them in any way you are able.

o g to

Please visit our website to learn more information about the Kendall Yards To-Go curbside service program and about how you can support local businesses during this time by purchasing gift cards.

K E N D A L LYA R D S . C O M

+

Now on Inlander.com: National and international stories from the New York Times to go with the fresh, local news we deliver every day

APRIL 2, 2020 INLANDER 9

Bryn West, vice president of the property management company that owns River Park Square: “We’re trying to keep as many people employed as we can during this time.”

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

BUSINESS

CURING SPOKANE Can local businesses hold their breath long enough to be saved from drowning?

BY DANIEL WALTERS

T

he last time the River Park Square shopping mall in downtown Spokane was shuttered — 40 years ago — it was due to a 24-megaton volcano blast that rained ash over the entire state.

But if anything, the coronavirus outbreak is a natural disaster on a larger scale than the eruption of Mt. St. Helens. Since last Wednesday, would-be visitors to the mall have been greeted with a “No Public Access: Building Temporarily Closed” sign taped to the locked doors.

“We’re trying to keep as many people employed as we can during this time,” says Bryn West, vice president of the property management company that owns River Park Square. “We employ as many people as a small city.

It’s really hard to see all those jobs go away.”

Twenty-five years ago, the city of Spokane risked tens of millions of dollars to build a parking garage at the mall to save downtown retail. Since then, the city has fought numerous battles on behalf of these businesses — taking on street kids, traffic flow, panhandlers, sidewalk musicians and homeless campers. Last year, a businessman spent $100,000 during the mayoral race to produce a film called Curing Spokane that focused not on a contagious disease, but on downtown vagrancy and drug use.

Suddenly, all those debates have been made irrelevant: This time, Spokane actually is dying. As long as Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s stay-at-home order is in place to combat the virus, downtown remains a ghost town, and layoffs are skyrocketing.

Meanwhile, local leaders have been scrambling: How do we stop entire sectors of the region’s economy from

10 INLANDER APRIL 2, 2020

collapsing? And how do we resurrect the city when the virus’s danger has passed?

“Downtown, before all this happened, was on such an upward swing,” West says. “We expect that once this is over, we are definitely coming back.”

The question is how many other businesses will be able to say the same.

DAMAGE REPORT

On Thursday, the Spokane mayor’s Economic Recovery and Stimulus Task Force held its first meeting — though not in person, of course.

Led by the city’s former chief financial officer, Gavin Cooley, the group brings together business leaders, economic development groups, newspaper publishers and public officials from Spokane, Spokane County, Spokane Valley and the Spokane International Airport to try to identify the best policies to save local businesses.

The first step? Assessing the damage.

Patrick Jones, an economist at Eastern Washington University, delivered a presentation that gave the group a taste of just how brutal the shutdown has been so far.

“The unemployment rate in Spokane in the last big downturn, in the Great Recession, peaked at 10.1 percent,” Jones tells the Inlander. “Next month, we’d be looking at a 33 percent unemployment rate.”

Spokane’s biggest industry — health care — is stable.

But in sectors like food service and hospitality, 14,500 jobs already have been lost, at least temporarily.

It’s placed businessmen like local Subway franchise

owner Terry Weir in a nightmare situation. His Subway in River Park Square has already been shuttered, but he has to figure out what to do about the other eight restaurants he owns in the region.

“I’m trying to do the right thing morally and ethically. On one side, I’d say, maybe I’d be better off if I just shut them all down temporarily,” Weir says. “But my employees are saying, ‘We need the hours, I can’t afford to pay my rent, keep them open.’”

He’s been offering customers two-for-one footlong takeout deals, but some stores are still seeing a 60 percent to 70 percent decline in sales. Weir says he’s trying to make enough money to pay their food vendor and employee salaries, while rent and utilities have been coming out of his pocket. He’s been asking his landlords for slack, something he says he should have done months ago.

“I should have reached out to the landlords on day one of the coronavirus, when I saw what was happening in China,” Weir says.

RESCUE MISSION

A month ago, of course, Greater Spokane Inc. had no idea its mission would be upended like this. One moment you’re trying to boost Spokane as the ultimate place to do business, and the next you’re just trying to help the existing businesses to survive.

“The majority of people’s time and energy is currently focused on response and crisis and survival,” GSI CEO Alisha Benson says. “We retooled our entire web-

site to have our regional landing page for COVID-19 resources for the business community.”

Their “Small Business Toolkit,” for example, includes templates for those “our business is closing due to coronavirus” letters that are plastered in the windows of businesses downtown.

It also includes an updated document with resources to help, ranging from the United States Bartenders Guild Emergency Assistance Program to the Spokane Hospitality Workers Emergency Relief Fund.

But more help is on the way: This weekend, Cara Coon, GSI’s vice president of communications and public affairs, poured over the 820 pages of the $2 trillion rescue package that President Donald Trump just signed into law, trying to understand how it could impact local businesses.

It gives every adult making less than $75,000 a year a $1,200 check, with an additional $500 to families for every child. Unemployment benefits have been expanded and offered to those in gig-economy jobs like Uber drivers and Airbnb hosts.

Billions were dedicated to stabilizing struggling hospitals and to bail out corporations.

But for small businesses, the best part is the “Payroll Protection Program” from the Small Business Administration. Businesses can apply for loans to pay for employee salaries, mortgages or rent for the next eight weeks. The best part? If they don’t lay off employees or slash salaries too heavily, the businesses could qualify to have the entirety of that loan forgiven.

“That loan-forgiveness program is incredible,” says Jeremy Field, regional administrator for the SBA. “It’s going to help a lot of people in that eight-week period.”

The details are still being worked out, Field says, but some loans could be issued as early as Friday.

“That is what will allow us to pay our employees and our landlords and the utility company,” Weir says. “If this thing only lasts two months, that stimulus package should be enough to carry us through.”

In the next few months, other spigots of aid are anticipated to open up: Benson of GSI notes that the Washington State Department of Commerce plans to start offering additional small business grants. At the city of Spokane, Councilwoman Candace Mumm says the mayor and the council are trying to identify where the holes are in the safety net that the state and federal government are rapidly weaving.

Mumm suggests the city might take the same sort of small business loans they used to help local businesses survive the Monroe Street construction process and apply it citywide.

If hearing about the flurry of new programs, grants, loans and tax incentives raining down from all levels of government makes your eyes glaze over, the City Council wants to address that, too.

Council President Breean Beggs proposes the creation of several navigator positions, in order to help lead small businesses through the bureaucratic labyrinths.

In the meantime, Coon says, some businesses are rapidly trying to figure out what they can do to save lives and reduce the virus’ spread. Around 10 local manufacturers, Coon says, have already said they’re willing to alter their product line to churn out goods needed to combat the coronavirus.

After all, the sooner the virus begins retreating, the sooner the businesses that remain can return to business as usual.

Still, it’s hard to stimulate the economy when most of it is shut down. While Washington state has managed to slightly slow the infection rate of coronavirus cases, it could be a while before the governor begins easing shelter-at-home restrictions.

On Sunday, even President Trump abandoned his rosy vision of reopening packed churches on Easter, acknowledging that the federal social-distancing recommendations will last at least until the end of April.

So for now, the doors of River Park Square and other local businesses will remain closed. It’s eerie, West says. She’s been in a locked and empty mall before, but only while working at River Park Square late at night.

“That’s kind of what it feels like: A never-ending night,” says West. “I keep waiting for the day to hit when the lights flip on.” n danielw@inlander.com

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NEWS | HOMELESSNESS

Tough Choices

As Spokane opens a new shelter, the homeless population wonders: Will shelter protect them from coronavirus?

BY WILSON CRISCIONE

W

hen the coronavirus hit Spokane, Anjanette and Daniel Wright were given a tent, a sleeping bag and a choice. They could set up near a shelter, where there’s access to services but crowds of other people. Or they could go somewhere else, away from people.

The couple, married almost 16 years, has been homeless since December. When shelter operator Jewels Helping Hands had to reduce its capacity by half to maintain social distancing, it left the Wrights — and dozens of others — to sleep outdoors, with many choosing to camp right outside the shelter’s doors.

The Wrights were conflicted. Anjanette is immunocompromised, but wanted to stay. Her husband wasn’t so sure.

“She likes it here, but I don’t care for it,” says Daniel Wright. “I’d rather be cold underneath a bridge, where I know for a fact that nobody’s going to touch me or anything like that.”

It’s a critical vulnerability amid the coronavirus pandemic: Those without homes can’t isolate themselves from others. And easy access to services — shelter, food and showers — can come with the trade-off of congregating in one place where a virus can easily spread.

City and health officials in the Inland Northwest are doing their best to navigate this challenge. The city of Spokane turned the downtown public library into a temporary shelter, open to those forced out of other shelters due to social-distancing measures. In Coeur d’Alene, groups working with the homeless population are likewise attempting to open more shelter space.

In opening the library Monday, Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward says it’s better to have people without a home in shelter. That way, the city can provide isolation rooms and then have them tested or sent to the hospital if needed.

“Those are things that they couldn’t do on their own,” Woodward tells the Inlander. “So it really is better that they have a place to go.”

TO STAY OR GO?

Outside the Jewels Helping Hands warming center last week, a line of blue and green tents extends down the block. It’s cloudy, windy and cold. A group of people crowd around outdoor heaters. A staff member wearing a bandana over his face patrols the area for needles and foil.

“We’re around a bunch of people,” Anjanette Wright says. “But we try to stay a safe distance away.”

They’re not always successful. Even as she speaks, a guy walks up and offers them a smoke, and coughs a few times in their direction. The Wrights retreat — “Keep walking! Go!” Anjanette snaps.

Kylie Kingsbury, homeless outreach coordinator for the Spokane Regional Health District, has been working

12 INLANDER APRIL 2, 2020

Daniel Siffing cleans his tent provided by Jewels Helping Hands. with shelter providers to give guidance on social distancing. The guidance from the health district includes having beds or mats six feet apart, rearranging meal tables and ways to avoid long lines for food. And places like the Cannon warming center say they’re monitoring everyone for a fever and other symptoms upon check-in.

But education, too, is crucial.

“If people are sharing cigarettes or drinks with friends, the measures that the larger systems take won’t do as much good,” Kingsbury says.

It’s why some shelter operators are delivering this message: Go wherever you feel safe.

Julie Garcia, who runs Jewels Helping Hands, says the usual capacity of the warming center on Cannon Street was reduced by half, to 46, based on the health district’s guidelines. Until the library opened space this week, they handed out tents and sleeping bags to the rest.

Union Gospel Mission is no longer holding chapel services and has put limits on how many people can be in rooms. It shrunk its capacity at the men’s shelter from around 185 down to 150, with a goal of reaching 120, says Joel Brown, director of ministries. It’s not by kicking people out, but by not replacing those who leave.

Brown says they’re telling people that if they have a safe place to go, they should. If COVID-19 gets in one shelter, he fears, it could spread to every shelter.

While so far there are no confirmed COVID-19 cases among the homeless population in the region, Kingsbury, with the health district, maintains that it’s a vulnerable population where disease can spread easily.

For proof, just look to Hepatitis A. The health district has been trying to stop the spread of it since last year — and three people have died from it — but there were still new cases in Spokane as of last week, Kingsbury says.

Hepatitis A, which can be prevented through a vaccine, is transmitted when a person ingests something contaminated with feces of an infected person.

Kingsbury says more places to shower and wash hands can help combat both COVID-19 and Hepatitis A. But outdoor hand-washing stations can freeze in winter, and with businesses closed there are few public bathrooms. That’s one reason to concentrate the homeless

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

population in shelters — there, at least, they have easy access to bathrooms, which can reduce the spread of COVID-19.

There may be “some benefit” to separating from shelters and having more space between you and other people, Kingsbury says. But it may not outweigh the drawbacks.

“The further they go out, the further they go from medical help and assistance,” Kingsbury says.

Outside of Spokane, some cities have gone a different route. In Puyallup, a homeless shelter completely closed down because having people sleep in such close proximity would inevitably spread the virus.

In Coeur d’Alene, nonprofit St. Vincent De Paul is trying to rally the community to add more shelter space during the pandemic. St. Vincent De Paul provides a couple dozen emergency shelter beds, but that’s nowhere close to meeting the needs of what Executive Director Larry Riley says is a homeless population of a few hundred. As other daytime services shut down, he says, that population needs help.

“We cannot scale to the needs right now,” Riley says.

So far, the city of Coeur d’Alene has let the nonprofit take the lead on finding space. But TJ Byrne, the former outreach director for Heritage Health in Coeur d’Alene, says elected officials should step up and find somewhere to add shelter space.

“We need the help of the city and county to ensure that we have a safe place to do this,” Byrne says.

LESSONS LEARNED

Outside the downtown library in Spokane on Monday, Christina Bonilla waits for the doors to open, with blankets tucked under her arms and a rolling suitcase by her side. Mayor Woodward has just finished a press tour of the temporary shelter at the library, and in an hour, it’ll be open with 100 more places to sleep.

Bonilla is among the first in line. She was previously staying at Hope House and doesn’t want to be left outside.

“I don’t want to be on the street. It’s a little scary doing that,” Bonilla says.

In Spokane, the approach is simple: Provide ample

bed space, follow public health guidelines for social distancing, and use the shelters to triage services.

Woodward, who less than a year ago threw out the idea of banning homeless people from the library, now proudly says the library shelter will provide homeless services for the “entire region.”

Adequate shelter space, under the law, is necessary to enforce laws prohibiting camping in public spaces.

For now, it appears Spokane might relax on that, too. When asked this week about enforcing those laws, Woodward says it’s not a priority.

“We could, I mean, because we’ve provided enough spaces,” Woodward says. “But that’s not something we’re looking at right now.”

The library will take overflow from both Hope House and the Jewels Helping Hands warming center. Ready for Bonilla inside, black mats a few inches thick sprawl across the floor. Workers stock the shelves with toilet paper and disinfectants. What used to be conference rooms are now called isolation rooms, in case someone is sick.

Tija Danzig, senior manager with the city’s Community, Housing and Human Services Department, says they realized additional shelter space would be needed nearly a month ago. The city looked at King County and incorporated those lessons before health officials said it was necessary. The temporary shelter was paid for through a grant from the state Department of Commerce, where recent congressional candidate Lisa Brown is now director.

As she gets ready to walk through the library doors, Bonilla says coronavirus isn’t something she thinks about too much. In fact, she thinks the response right now is a little ridiculous.

She has other things to worry about, like staying sober and finding a place to live, she says.

Coronavirus doesn’t make that list. Not yet. n wilsonc@inlander.com

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‘Lock and Key’ Providence expands options after nurses at Spokane Providence hospitals worry about limited access to masks

BY SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL

L

ast week, nurses and staff at Providence Sacred Heart and Holy Family hospitals shared their concerns for their own safety and that of their patients, as the hospital system worked to restrict the use of personal protective equipment that’s in short supply globally.

Though their concerns were grim, none of the nurses from Spokane’s Providence hospitals who spoke with the Inlander were willing to share their names publicly, for fear of losing their jobs. In other systems, including one in Bellingham, Washington, health care workers who’ve expressed concerns with the way their employers are handling COVID-19 have been fired.

All the nurses who spoke with the Inlander shared that under conservation efforts, Providence has put its N95 high-filtration masks under “lock and key,” only to be used during the highest-risk respiratory treatments. Significantly more effective than surgical masks, the N95 masks have been shown to effectively filter the novel coronavirus.

Workers are being asked to use those N95 masks multiple times with the same high-risk patients (those with respiratory symptoms, for example), with normal surgical masks being worn during other times of the day, and staffers are being asked to use the same mask all day if possible.

Significantly, nurses were not allowed to bring their own masks if they had them at home, or use homemade face masks being donated by the community.

That last part has since changed.

After we first reported this news on Inlander. com last Thursday, March 26, Providence sent out a news release on Monday to announce it would allow nurses to bring in their own masks if they have them, or use cloth masks when dealing with patients who don’t require “isolation protocols.”

For those isolated patients, including those with COVID-19 symptoms, the policy remains the same, and nurses need to receive an N95 mask and other equipment from a centralized location at their hospital, according to Providence.

“We need to reiterate that the conservation measures we’ve taken are due to the global shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE),” Providence’s news release states. “Providence has followed federal health care authority guidelines to keep our caregivers safe while at the same

time, looking ahead to ensure we have enough supplies to handle a potential patient surge.”

Still, the concern remains for nurses who worry that both symptomatic and asymptomatic patients may expose them to the virus in their daily work, and the workers may then spread that to their patients and families.

“Even with all the equipment on, we still don’t feel it’s adequate,” one nurse says. “Guidance says the N95 is what you should wear.

To have my organization say, ‘No, the surgical mask is fine,’ we’re very doubtful we’re being protected.”

CONFUSING POLICY

Leading up to this week, the mask policy was changed several times, the nurses report, with unclear reasoning.

For example, when some industrial N95 masks were donated to Holy Family last week, they were handed out to patients with respiratory symptoms while they sat in a common area in the ER waiting room.

Nurses weren’t allowed to use them.

“The facility is not letting us use them because we have not been trained or fit-tested for them,” one nurse said. “It’s disconcerting that people are trying to get us supplies and we’re not able to use them.”

A worker holds donated masks Providence at Spokane’s donation site. spokeswoman Jennifer Semenza confirms the system is conserving masks and PPE and notes that it is also following guidance for protection issued by the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, she writes that the N95s were not held back due to fit-testing issues.

“Fit tests for N95 masks are continuous,” Semenza writes. “The issue was not about fit testing, it was about using our PPE supply in appropriate care situations.”

Nurses also report that while symptomatic patients wait to be seen, there is no physical separation between them and others waiting in the ER other than social distance, as one seating area has been designated for respiratory symptoms.

From there, if a patient is seen for severe respiratory symptoms and needs to be intubated or have a nebulizer treatment, nurses are allowed to get an N95 mask from a supervisor. But then they’re asked to wear that mask up to a handful of times with that same patient, nurses say.

Normal protocol would call for throwing away the mask after each visit to the room.

Re-using both surgical and N95 masks and not having enough access to the higher filtration N95 masks has many nurses worried they could contract COVID-19.

Moreover, even though Providence says it is reducing the use of masks to prepare for a surge in patients, the action is creating a fear among nurses that if masks are already in short supply, the region may not be able to handle a potential surge of patients.

“Not knowing what it is going to look like is

almost worse than being in the middle of it, I imagine,” one nurse says. “It’s the worst kind of anxiety because it never leaves you.”

CONSERVATION STRATEGY

If treating a patient suspected of having COVID-19, nurses are asked to wear gowns, gloves, eye protection and face shields or surgical masks, unless they’re doing a “high-risk” procedure like intubating a patient or using a nebulizer, when droplets are most likely to become airborne, one nurse explains. If doing that higher risk procedure, an N95 mask would be worn.

“Some materials and equipment such as masks, gowns and gloves are in short supply,” Semenza, the Providence spokeswoman, tells the Inlander by email. “This is a worldwide issue, not just a local one.”

Washington agencies are coordinating efforts to collect more personal protective equipment via purchases through manufacturers, donations and requests to the Strategic National Stockpile.

As of a March 26 press call, the state had that week obtained and started distributing 500 ventilators, 1,200 gowns, 500,000 N95 masks and 130,000 surgical masks.

Other items on the way included an order for 2.4 million N95 masks and 13,000 thermometers, and it was anticipated that there’d be another order for 2.2 million N95 masks, 300 ventilators and 2,500 disposable stethoscopes, said Linda Kent, with the Department of Enterprise Services, on the call.

Spokane County now has a collaborative drive-thru test site set up at the Spokane County Fair and Expo Center where people with symptoms can be tested. The hope is for the site to help minimize the use of protective equipment at local hospitals and reduce the risk of patients going there and spreading the virus.

(Because of inclement weather, officials were considering other temporary locations for testing.)

But if someone appears at an ER for testing, the ER may not, by law, send them away to get that testing done elsewhere, Semenza says.

“We have an obligation to treat them in that location,” she writes.

People who have a fever and a dry cough and/or difficulty breathing may now self-refer to the fairgrounds test site to get evaluated and see if they should be swabbed, without needing a doctor’s referral. They’re still asked to also meet another high-risk criteria, including age, underlying health condition, or being a health care worker.

While Providence hospitals await shipments from manufacturers and potentially the Strategic National Stockpile, some surgical masks are also being collected and sent to Medline Industries for reprocessing and reuse, Semenza writes.

“They can reprocess about half of what is collected,” Semenza writes. “After proper decontamination protocols are followed, the products are as safe and functional as brand new ones.”

And now, with the change in policy, the hospital system may start accepting donations that started rolling into a centralized location last week.

In response to an outpouring of community support, including crafters who’ve taken it upon themselves to start sewing face masks, Spokane’s Emergency Coordination Center has opened a donation site. The centralized donation site at the Spokane County Fair and Expo Center, 404 N. Havana St., will be open daily from 9 am to 3 pm, to accept donations of personal protective equipment. It will accept new, unopened personal protective equipment including masks, gloves, eye protection, gowns, hand sanitizer, paper towels, toilet paper and household disinfectants.

MultiCare also has designated volunteers working on making masks to supplement their supply.

“In an effort to conserve our current protective personal equipment (PPE) we are creating our own masks to supplement our purchased masks,” says George Hampton, regional marketing director for MultiCare Health System, in a release.

Spokane Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer said donations of protective equipment should be processed through the centralized donation site to ensure proper decontamination and dissemination. n

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APRIL 2, 2020 INLANDER 15

Hopeful Signs of Spring and Renewal Our Poetry Issue offers a chance to sit and rest and inhale during these uncertain times

BY THOM CARAWAY, GUEST EDITOR

I

n early January, I got an email from Inlander Managing Editor Dan Nailen. Would I be interested in editing another poetry issue, to come out sometime in the spring? I jumped at the chance, having really enjoyed the last go-round, in 2016. We met on Jan. 29, Dan had some ideas for potential themes, and we narrowed it down to Spring & Renewal. It seemed apropos, given the timing of the issue, due out April 2. A couple weeks later, the call went live, and poems started to roll in. The submission deadline was right around the time when the first cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in a Kirkland care facility.

So we are publishing these poems into a much different world than the one the issue was conceived in. If we put out the call today, I suspect we’d get significantly different poems. Poetry, after all, may respond to the current moment (whatever it is) faster than other creative writing disciplines, with its emphasis on concision, compression and tension. It’s fair to say our tensions are different today than they were on Jan. 29.

But as many of us perhaps noticed as we settled into our various forms of social distancing and isolation over the past couple weeks (my prayers are with you, parents of small children), spring appears to be happening regardless of the news. In many ways, this has been among my chief comforts. The crocuses have come up. The tulips, possibly interrupted by our freak snowstorm, are still on their way. Daffodils and hyacinth can’t be far behind.

There are buds on the roses. These are hopeful signs, as is the warming weather, even as the news continues to be perilous.

I think these poems, too, are hopeful, even if written

16 INLANDER APRIL 2, 2020

not in direct response to our current reality. That is one of poetry’s great powers: to speak into whatever moment it is found in. As Aileen Keown Vaux says in “A Fine Mist,” “Some atmospheres are ripe with foreboding.” In putting the poems together for print, I’ve enjoyed how they begin to work together. Seemingly in response to Vaux, Damien Uriah writes, “Every tendril in wind creaks / for what will come: the flower, the verdant bud.” “Then the breeze and petals / candent in earthshine / opened wide,” Adele Lewis writes. In “Tributary,” Andy Lang anticipates May midge and caddis hatches, Thom Caraway served as Spokane’s first poet laureate from 2013-2015. YOUNG KWAK PHOTO “the new drone of young summer grasshoppers,” and Nance Van Winckel imagines, in the passion of young lovers, once again opened up space for a batch of online poems “this cargo more precious than we’ve ever / been, or will which I simply could not let go of. Even that doesn’t be, as we land upon our land.” All told, I feel like these truly capture the breadth of quality that was submitted. A poems open up space to find, as Chris Maccini does in world in which poetry is being written, shared, read out “A Spring Afternoon,” “a quiet place to sit and rest. To loud is a world in which the spring will always come. My inhale…” respect and admiration go out to everyone who sent me There are many other beautiful pieces than the ones poems, and I thank you sincerely for the opportunity to I mentioned here. And as in any such venture, plenty read them. You kept me a little more calm in a spiraling more worthy poems I did not select. The Inlander has world. n

Persephone Returns from the Land of the Dead JAZLYN JACOBS

I smell blooms opening in my wake before I can see them I squint peeking from between splayed fingers sun rendering them red transparent for a moment blood visible beneath skin the flesh just flesh again not

On the Back of Polyphemus’s Wings SARAH HAMAN

Antheraea polyphemus watches on my front door under the porchlights. Perching, each singular eye unblinking, it is the size of two large hands joined together at the wrist splayed outward but even bigger still.

Each eye sees I am afraid.

Hear the humming of synthesized sound from my throat and Polyphemus stroking his feathered feelers together.

And it grows louder this humming like thundering says Polyphemus is upon this door.

And he will stay on the door for six days. Watching me for his entire adulthood. Fasting, living on the door with no mouth.

On the seventh day he withers, nobody, eyes picked apart by birds.

girl not goddess (my name was once maiden) just meat kneeling down to pick a flower fist wrapped tight around the stem a violent pull then it is no longer of the earth petal by petal I rip it apart shove a ruby handful into my aching mouth how I ate of the land of the dead now I eat of the land of the living to make the sunshine last just a moment longer maybe not the spring itself not physical warmth but the way it makes me feel embraced held I choke them down to be loved by a god is to be divine it is still not enough never enough never enough emptiness tells me to be loved half a year feels like the same thing as being loved with half a heart even if it is not I know I know I am loved I am still forcing down flowers chewing and dreaming that this is finally how to make myself feel whole

Sometimes the horses spook ELLEN WELCKER

over centuries “Reveal yourself to science” they said and I was awl-headed and dripping my sand Agonizing over something I’ve said yes to is evidence of the existence of insidious fingers in me, insidious as purchases from big box stores or the dawn of no one will ever offer me a sabbatical What you hear now is the big sound of my own weeping over the concept of ‘deserve’ Let’s point to facts I like moths I cower in the face of spontaneity Radical candor thrills me but I need time to digest—listen: quiet singing from the horse.

Still, like a tree with supernatural ambitions I am in my skin of time Look now: How necessary it hurts from every wound, green

For now, Polyphemus watches me and in him, his father is well-pleased.

APRIL 2, 2020 INLANDER 17

Chris Cook believes in the power of poetry as a shared, communal experience. But right now, he’s in lockdown like everyone else.

Poetry’s Voices

Spokane’s current poet laureate on the joys of poetry experienced out loud and in person

BY CHRIS COOK “But it’s a false picture that represents me as always digging potatoes or saying my own poems in the woods.

This time we’re gonna have it right — we’re gonna have occasions like this where I’m with my crowd.”

— Robert Frost

I

n that cantankerous, New England-tinged baritone of his, Robert Frost reminded us that reading poetry to the people mattered to him. There’s something special about hearing poetry from the source — like a farm-to-table meal, everything grown on-site. It’s also a pleasure when the poet’s life experience is fully audible in the quality of their voice, and so I try to hear them in my head even as I read their poetry from the page: the wisdom and the weariness of the ages in the delivery of Maya Angelou; the possessed, outlandish 1920’s rapping of Vachel Lindsay; the easy brogue of Seamus Heaney; the quiet, hypnotic cadence of Nance Van Winckel; the disarmingly unpretentious tone of Laura Read conveying her fully armed poems.

I grew up with my grandfather, Don Grant, reading me his poetry, as well as the poetry of some of his friends, including U.S. Poets Laureate Josephine Jacobsen and William Stafford. And although there are plenty of recordings of both Jacobsen and Stafford, whenever I read their poetry, I still hear Grandpa’s gravelly voice (apologies, Josephine).

It wasn’t just his voice that heightened my experience, either. Facial expressions and body language, even the subtlest of gestures, gave me insights into the mean-

18 INLANDER APRIL 2, 2020

ing of the words. I can still see his raised eyebrows, or his suddenly pursed lips at a surprise turn in a poem. There are many local poets who I enjoy hearing and seeing: the light transfer of weight from one foot to the other as Tod Marshall walks us through one of his wild, vivid literary journeys; the serene eyes and understated voice of Lauren Gilmore that belie the intensity of her words; war veteran Seth Marlin, fists at his sides, snarling out seething poems through clenched teeth; James Decay, head turned to the side, unable to fully face the tragedy on his page; Mark Anderson, with magnificent Medusan ringlets, feet in a closed stance, rubbing his hands together, preparing to deliver another gentle poem that suddenly goes big; Thom Caraway’s barely concealed smile while reading every poet’s dream-come-true, In the Parallel Universe, which ends, “and the crowds go wild.” And they do.

Take the opportunity to hear and see the extraordinary poets of our region when we’re again able to gather.

Visit with them — you’ll find that they’re extraordinary people, too. There are many ways to do so: We’ve got literary festivals, university visiting writers series, book release events, poetry picnics, lit crawls, multiple poetry open mics, a monthly poetry slam (which the Inlander’s Nathan Weinbender famously called “a psychotic literary hootenanny.”), writing groups, self-publishing groups, workshops and more. Most of these events are free to attend, and all of them are very welcoming. At Broken Mic, Spokane’s long-running weekly poetry open mic, we say “this is a safe and sacred space for the written and spoken word” and first-time readers are wildly cheered.

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

If you’d like to try poetry alongside food and drink specials, check out one of Spokane Arts’ Lit Crawls, essentially a pub crawl with several readers at each venue, all of which are within walking/crawling distance of each other. Pie and Whiskey, a Get Lit! side event that’s the brainchild of In normal times, the Inland Northwest Sam Ligon and offers myriad opportunities for Kate Lebo, is people to experience live poetry. always packed, Of course, the normal times are on and with good pause right now. Rather than list reason. There’s venues and readings you can’t go to, free gelato from we encourage you to keep an eye on Ferrante’s at the Events section of inlander.com Moran Prairie when the ban on public gatherings is Library’s Poetry lifted, the Facebook page for Poetry Picnic. Neato Spokane for some online inspiration, Burrito always and poetryfoundation.org for links to has food and all things poetic. (DAN NAILEN) drink specials on Wednesdays for Broken Mic, and it’s also just a corridor away from Baby Bar, where Patty Tully squeezes fresh fruit for the cocktails.

Mixed media events are also crowd favorites. Tod Marshall’s book release for Bugle had a great rock concert vibe, staged at the late, great Bartlett. Terrain, as well as its other yearly events, routinely feature poetry amid live music and art. Brooke Matson launched her poetry collection, In Accelerated Silence, at Spokane Civic Theatre, featuring visual and musical elements. Poetry Rising happens at the South Hill Library every other month, and it features poetry, prose, music and art. I recently had the honor of having my poetry accompanied by my Spokane Symphony colleagues at the Knitting Factory, a show which also featured a silk aerialist, projection screens and a smoke machine. In short, you can have your poetry pretty much any way you want it.

Hearing the recorded voices of poets can also be a

FINDING POETRY ON LOCKDOWN

The Ceilidh CHRIS COOK

I’m on an airplane reading Jonathan Johnson’s The Desk on the Sea, a gorgeous memoir honoring his mother, written during his year in Scotland with his wife and daughter.

It’s his ancestral home; it’s also where my roots lie (heather, brambles, gorse) — The Auld Sod. Jonathan writes that renewal is visible even in the winter: December has begun.

Somehow, the roses in front of our cottage are still blooming.

I learn of traditions where the schoolchildren, now including Jonathan’s daughter Anya, participate in poetry-recitation day, in choral singing, and in dancing at a gathering called the ceilidh.

The parents and grandparents in attendance, once schoolchildren themselves, watch as another generation steps forward.

The flight is returning us home from our son’s wedding, the gathering of generations.

It’s February, but in San Diego, the flowers don’t care, blossoming in defiant glory.

At the ceremony, I handled the poetry-recitation (though Rob and Alyssa’s self-written vows were beautifully poetic).

During the reception, all ages danced to Earth, Wind and Fire’s “September” our full-throated voices singing, “Do you remember… “ Later, when newer music replaced the old, it felt right to step aside, leaving the young to dance.

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joy, and you needn’t leave the house to do so. Something that’s gotten a lot of attention recently, and deservedly so, is photographer Dean Davis’s “Pictures of Poets.” Not only do you get to see Dean’s vivid, candid portraits of many local, regional, and national poets, you also get to hear recordings of them reading their works aloud. Or check out Spokane Public Radio (KPBX 91.1 FM) every weekday morning at 9 for “The Poetry Moment,” which Verne Windham and Chris Maccini have curated with great care and talent. It is also supplied in podcast form, so you can hear and re-hear it at your convenience.

My wife and I recently became grandparents. I’m looking forward to sitting down with little Gannon in my lap, reading him my poems, as well as the poems written by my friends. Who knows, maybe years from now, long after I’m gone, he’ll open up a book of poetry and still be able to hear Grandpa’s voice. n Chris Cook is Spokane’s current poet laureate. He is the author of two poetry collections, The View from the Broken Mic and Damn Good Cookie. Chris hosts 3 Minute Mic and co-hosts Broken Mic, two of Spokane’s poetry open mics. He plays trumpet for the Spokane Symphony and the Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes, and teaches music at Gonzaga University.

Chris is the former Washington state yo-yo champion and was once a nationally ranked professional foosball player.

APRIL 2, 2020 INLANDER 19

Cimelia ADELE LEWIS

The tulip tree (ah, that again) Is into its ballyhoo

A Fine Mist AILEEN KEOWN VAUX

On Planet Earth a panda strips tendril greens from pliant stalks, eating the hours of the day by mining the energy of each leaf; though he might as well live off of a spoonful of air.

Overhead the clouds collapse into a fine mist.

If only my only meal didn’t reside on Earth.

I imagine invisible spirits, cooling in the stubborn snow of March, walking beneath gas lamps like a simulacrum, livid they cannot find a way home.

Some atmospheres are ripe with foreboding.

Watch a fine spray condense by slight change in temperature and if the heart-weather turns frigid in the body our aborted feathers will lift us toward the sky.

Only yesterday its armfuls of promises Held close against the cold Curved and bent, piercing the blue Lying alongside blue Rubbing blue Soft in sunlight Then the breeze and petals Candent in earthshine Opened wide.

Less spectacle this time Its cupping April echoes Blown against the rainlight Gray cobweb of old skin Muting silver blooms afire to somber madder.

Love still so willing Sheds it yearning plumule In porcelain evenings petals rain With lucid ache.

A Spring Afternoon CHRIS MACCINI

Having just awoken from the winter of my youth I stand perched upon the crest of a spring afternoon.

Like the twisted madrone straining From the wet earth toward the warming sun My arms pulse with a seedling’s vigor.

Morning’s rain drips from the rhododendron.

A few buds have split their scaly pods Revealing tender fuchsia.

Beneath the giant cedar, the ground is dry.

A clover blossom clings to its auburn bark.

Here is a quiet place to sit and rest. To inhale The most pleasant hours of the day.

The most temperate quarter of the year.

The sweetest season of my life.

20 INLANDER APRIL 2, 2020

Grandfather Rocks DONELL BARLOW

Last traces of ice have melted into the river the sun is beaming, replenishing the life force Left over particles of winter are now immersed within current A well orchestrated compilation of sound music to my ears, that spring has arrived I observe all signs of life while being nestled into Mother Earth I am made of lava and traveled here long ago The Indigenous peoples called me “grandfather” and held space for me to be seen and heard My companions are the new plants sprouting around me, growing with intention sharing stories into the night Me telling them about the old times So much change in my lifetime, the landscape forever evolving Becoming less sacred, not as Creator had intended Few notice the celebration, the change of seasons Deaf to the songs and prayers made by wild things Blind to energy and vibration of nature’s healing frequency Only this is certain, the cycle of life will continue What that entails is up to humankind

NEW YORK—SEATTLE NANCE VAN WINCKEL

Heading into unbreakable cloud piñatas in the good-crazy clock-world, we go back in time, allowing the kissing teens in the seats ahead to seal a deathless past and enter the next one as ALIVE & IN-LOVE, which should but doesn’t sink behind in the contrails of an empire failing by its ongoing optimism spoken with a hand over a heart. It all lingers a little on those locked mouths up ahead where May waits, fading into the past’s future, this cargo more precious than we’ve ever been, or will be, as we land upon our land.

Let’s all remain close, when physically we’re apart.

APRIL 2, 2020 INLANDER 21

Daylight KATY SHEDLOCK

For fifty years Ravenna Creek was diverted into the underground Seattle sewer line until a group of concerned citizens mobilized to restore it to let it once again warm up in the sun as it traveled from Green Lake to the sound.

The technical term for this is daylighting.

I am reading the sign that the parks department put up, to teach me this, it has been a long day, I am tired of wondering if I will ever shine with consistency of my own or if I’ll only ever glimmer when someone else points a light down into my darkness and there on a stupid parks department sign is what salvation sounds like to me.

I am not in the mood.

This makes a great sermon for someone else, I can hear it already in my best preacher voice: “There are streams running through you and maybe they have been diverted into slimy underground pipes but they are still there, still coursing through the veins of my soul

and you can, even now daylight them!”

I walk into the cool shadows my hands are hot and heavy from carrying this goddamn theophany but my mind keeps preaching to someone more in need of grace than me — isn’t there always someone more in need of grace than me?

“The daylighting process will take time.

There will be resistance.

Beware the mall developers selling an easy re-surface project they’ll pave you over and leave you dry there are no quick fixes only digging — down, up, and out until the ground is kissed again wet, sloppy, and alive, I know it’s hard sometimes to feel the currents within us but listen! at the manhole covers at the sealed up places where you might climb down into yourself can’t you hear the splashing down there?”

The Ravenna Creek is still underground south of 55 th street.

Like me, it is only partially daylighted, But I am watching the water disappear into the darkness of the grate, and seeing only the possibility of glimmering in the sun all the way to the sea.

Tributary ANDY LANG

At the edge of town — A small stream I visit often — It flows to the river that cuts Through the city we live in, Adding its own identity to the strong, Green ribbon that threads a course Not fifteen minutes from my house.

I do not fish this creek; I visit to hear what it has to say With each change of seasons, Every freeze and thaw, every heavy rain.

It speaks with the silty accent Of the rich Palouse, stories of spring runoff, Fresh from tilled fields ready for new wheat; It sings of late May hatches of midge and caddis, The new drone of young summer grasshoppers.

This creek knows when the redband And the cutthroat come; it knows Because the voices within its own, The boulders and the stones, The cobble and the sand, Can be heard again, no longer overpowered By frenetic rush of melt and swollen banks.

This creek, in the last half mile it is truly itself, Before becoming a verse in a larger song, Moves inexorably closer To its own end — its own release.

Quicker through the final riffles, One last bend and drop, And I hear the closing notes That ring with new yellow sunlight, Longer, warmer days, And the lasting promise Of living, moving water.

Where the Soul Might Live DAMIEN URIAH

22 INLANDER APRIL 2, 2020

The dead seed pods of smooth sumac in winter click their wings against thin grey branches.

A scissortail hides high in a sycamore— only now I see three nests like a single frame waiting to be filled. Every tendril in wind creaks for what will come: the flower, the verdant bud.

I could not waste this life, given like flame every spring. Sunlight deepens and lightens the blue, though the moon wanes in my body.

Fungi vibrate in the ground. A bird pecks at snow evaporating in wind from the south.

My beloved January is sleeping. My beloved January, where is your soft nothing?

I am afraid. I haven’t the will for wakefulness.

A strong immune system is the best way to protect yourself against illness

Fortuna Major LEANN BJERKEN

There is a science to the way the sand falls from lightly grasping fingers.

It’s the journey rising up from underneath, the loam imprinting patterns on the brain.

Every morning the sun’s song kisses the green and somewhere an egg is hatching.

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Power dances with desire in the dirt that we are made of shifting in our veins, circling outward.

We’re stones cast down the mountain, seeds borne up and away rings around a planet its golden center smoldering.

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Procession, Spring TAYLOR KENSEL Behold

the sun’s tent the deposition of popcorn hives of pink sugar fingered men knuckles black and puckered from absence smoking like Turks

with patchwork grandeur

So, I unroll my brindled life

I am faint

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Find these and other poems at Inlander.com/poetry2020.

I’m off to marry the Carnival King who will screw to perfect snugness all the bolts I’ll ever know

18 W Main Ave • (509) 624-1251 FindersKeepersBoutiques.com APRIL 2, 2020 INLANDER 23

BUSINESS

JUST WAITE

The owner of Merlyn’s and Auntie’s Bookstore is trying to stay positive as both stores temporarily close amidst the coronavirus lockdown

BY CHEY SCOTT

J

ohn Waite has been an active voice in Spokane’s small business community for decades and has never seen anything hit the economy as hard as the coronavirus.

The owner of Merlyn’s Comics since 1999, and Auntie’s Bookstore since 2016, Waite has seen his two stores go from employing about 30 people total to zero in the span of a day. Sales since Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s stay-at-home order issued last week, which counts book and game shops like Waite’s as “non-essential,” have also been mostly nonexistent. While Waite is deeply concerned about the lasting impacts the pandemic will have on the local business landscape, he remains optimistic that his stores, and other local ventures, will survive.

INLANDER: How has the coronavirus impacted your businesses so far?

WAITE: I’ve been running businesses since 1985 and this is by far the most traumatic thing ever; more than 9/11, more than [the recession] in 2008-09. I’m not sure that we’ve laid anyone off before in 40 years of doing this, so that was traumatic. We’ve never shut our doors for more than a day or two. Ice Storm [in 1996] might have been the only time. We are not essential, which is fine. I accept that we’re not as important as weed stores and bicycle shops, but we do provide a vital service.

24 INLANDER APRIL 2, 2020

How many employees did you have at both stores, and how many have been laid off?

Five people at Merlyn’s and 24 at Auntie’s. It’s just me right now. In the morning I go to Auntie’s to make sure it’s not burning down, then I come here to Merlyn’s and make sure everything’s not burning down.

Are you getting any lease assistance?

We have some help from the Liberty Building [where Auntie’s is] and then we own the building here at Merlyn’s. We’re in a different position than a lot of businesses. We don’t have to worry about rent and I don’t pay myself at either store, so I don’t have to worry about that. Functionally, we will survive if things get better.

Now what is interesting is that some of my distributors and publishers might not survive. That is a whole different sort of problem for us. Even if a store like mine survives and has the wherewithal to stay open, we may or may not have product to sell.

What are you doing in the interim to reach customers?

We’re not doing curbside pickup at Auntie’s anymore, but we have a fulfillment center for mail order that is located outside of Washington. Merlyn’s is potentially

John Waite had to lay off nearly 30 employees.

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

doing curbside, but I’m not sure if that is a good idea or something we will do. The amount of time and energy you put into that are terribly low returns.

How much are sales down compared to this time last year, and how can people support local stores like yours?

It’s not really a matter of being behind. There are no sales. What we’re doing for mail order is a nice token effort; we want to make customers happy and give them something to read, but the volume is just, it’s going to be minimal. If people want to buy something, we hope they buy something online from us instead of Amazon.

At Merlyn’s we’ll put out cool things when the quarantine ends, and we’ll be ready to do stuff again. We’d like people to buy a gift certificate and ride it out with that.

Frankly, we hope that when this stops people can come back. It’s hard to spend money at a restaurant or Merlyn’s or Auntie’s if you’re just trying to pay the bills.

What are you doing to stay busy and calm during this unprecedented event?

The stress of this is almost worse than the actual event for us. The stress is the real part. We don’t have the ability to socialize right now. Normally, you’d go out with a buddy or go see a friend and get a beer and commiserate about it, and we can’t do that right now.

Last week I went to lunch with some old high school buddies. We met in a park and sat on different ends of a park bench and were able to hang out and say hi. It was fascinating. It was kind of nice.

I hope that people can ride this out and remember us, the local stores, when everything gets back to normal, whenever that is. To help now, buy a book online and have it mailed to your house. Merlyn’s and Auntie’s will be here when it’s done and we’ll be in a world that can help us. I think that it will be like that again. I’m not a pessimist. n

CULTURE | UPDATES

10 new tracks to make your self-isolation less boring

T

A Lasting Legacy

Melissa Huggins

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

S

A BREAK IN THE CLOUDS

A damaging fire is typically the worst part of a business’s year, and it says something about the

ours are on hold. Clubs are closed. Album releases being pushed back.

But you can’t stop the music. Here’s a playlist of some of my favorite new songs to brighten these times of self-isolation.

“LEVITATING,” DUA LIPA The “New Rules” singer’s sophomore album Future Nostalgia is a disco-pop sugar rush, and this track will have you itching for dance clubs to finally reopen.

“REASON TO BE REASONABLE,” PETER, BJORN & JOHN The Swedish pop wunderkinds are back, and their unmistakable sound — retro drum tones, strummy guitar, funky bass — is like sinking into a warm bath.

Spokane Arts helps, and Emerge’s new home pokane Arts Executive Director Melissa Huggins knew that when COVID-19 put the state on lockdown and the economy convulsed and left many out of work as a result, that artists would be some of the most directly affected. Not only would they lose gallery shows or concerts due to the lack of public gatherings, they also work many hospitality jobs that simply no longer exist.

Spokane Arts quickly set up the Spokane Artists and Creatives Emergency Fund to help the local creative community plug financial holes while they wait for state and federal aid. The $500 grants come with no strings attached, to be used for anything the artist sees fit, and Spokane Arts seeded the fund with $25,000 of its own money, drawing on its Jeanette Harras Trust set up when the Spokane arts advocate died a few years ago. Huggins says Spokane Arts has considered different projects to pay tribute to her, and helping artists in crisis fits the bill.

“This is the right way to honor her legacy,” Huggins says. “She was really passionate about helping people in need.”

At the end of last week, Spokane Arts had received more than 70 requests totaling almost $40,000, so the need is certainly there. The nonprofit is doing a crowdfunding campaign for the emergency fund via spokanearts.org to gather money to help as many artists and arts organizations as possible for as long as possible.

“We’re in this for the long haul and we’d like to keep this fund open as long as people are in need,” Huggins says.

Spokane Arts is also contemplating a change to its normal SAGA grants schedule. Seven April grantees will be announced this week and granted $42,000. Normally the next round wouldn’t be awarded until July, but the old June 1 application deadline will likely be much sooner since the need is huge right now, and Spokane Arts has more than $100,000 available for the remainder of the year, Huggins says.

“We haven’t hit the worst of this,” Huggins says. “The next several months are going to be incredibly rough for both individuals and businesses.” (DAN NAILEN)

BY NATHAN WEINBENDER

strangeness of the times that such a cataclysmic event at art gallery and teaching space Emerge in Coeur d’Alene back in January is now just one part of an awful 2020 for its administrators and community.

But now there’s at least a pause in the gloom and doom, as Emerge has found a new home in the Lake City. The space at 119 N. Second Street, formerly Frame of Mind, is closer to bustling Sherman Avenue, says Emerge Executive Director Jeni Hegsted, just two blocks from Coeur d’Alene Resort “with nothing but windows wrapped around the corner. There’s a lot of really great visibility for us.”

“CRAWLING IN MY SKIN,” SOCCER MOMMY Sophia Allison is a naturally somber songwriter, and though this track is about her struggles with sleep paralysis, the melody and overall sentiment aren’t downcast at all.

“PAPER CUP,” REAL ESTATE For a band that’s usually pensive and autumnal, the New Jersey indie-rockers deliver a bright ray of AM pop sunshine.

THE BUZZ BIN “WITCHES,” WAXAHATCHEE Katie Crutchfield’s new LP is her most glass-half-full collection of songs in a while, and this cut already sounds like an alt-country classic.

“PROCESSED BY THE BOYS,” PROTOMARTYR Protomartyr’s sonics are heavy enough to make you feel a weight on your chest, and though this mini epic might sound dire, it’s almost therapeutic.

“ON THE FLOOR,” PERFUME GENIUS Mike Hadreas’ latest single is lush and playful, with loping guitar, glistening pop harmonies and a Hammond organ whispering in the background.

The new Emerge space.

There’s a huge 1,900-square-foot basement that will accommodate pottery classes and a dark room while the gallery will take advantage of those windows. Of course, Hegsted notes, “we’re not moving very quickly.”

There were headaches to get to this exciting moment, from a landlord at the burned space that wouldn’t let Emerge out of its lease until two months after the fire, to insurance companies that won’t repay them for thousands of dollars Emerge put into its old space because it wasn’t completely destroyed. Even with the new lease signed, the coronavirus lockdown means delays in the weeks’ worth of work needed to get ready to open, as well as in their classes scheduled for alternative sites after the fire. They’re also not sure if they’ll be able to do their annual Pop-Up Show fundraiser June 12, but Hegsted remains hopeful.

“That’s our biggest event of the year,” Hegsted says. “We’re kind of at a wait-and-see point.”

You can help by donating to the “Rebuilt Emerge” campaign at gofundme.com.

(DAN NAILEN) n

“PEOPLE, I’VE BEEN SAD,” CHRISTINE AND THE QUEENS The timing of the new track by the burgeoning French electro-pop stars is eerie, a bittersweet ballad about isolation and distancing that’s tres relatable right now.

“WAKE UP CALL,” CIRCA WAVES This British rock band hasn’t blown up in the States, but their new double album Happy Sad is loaded with hooks.

“WHO EVER SAID,” PEARL JAM Eddie Vedder and company are back, and this opening track on their album Gigaton is a blast of grungy fresh air. n THIS WEEK’S PLAYLIST Some noteworthy new music hits online and in stores April 3. To wit: PURITY RING, Womb. The Canadian electropoppers were slated to play Spokane June 1, but recently postponed the tour for this album.

THUNDERCAT, It Is What It Is. Truly a title for our times from the multi-talented ’Cat. TESTAMENT, Titans of Creation. Bay Area thrash legends are still rolling hard and fast on their 13th album. (DAN NAILEN)

APRIL 2, 2020 INLANDER 25

CULTURE | FICTION

The Douchemans A pandemic-inspired short story

BY SAMUEL LIGON

T

here was an old couple who lived in a ramshackle house above Hangman Valley at the end of our street, maybe sixty, seventy years old. We called him Dick and her Donna, collectively the Douchemans — Dick and Donna Doucheman, and their little dog Pepe.

Nobody liked them much, the kind of people who gave out dumdums at Halloween and contaminated the neighborhood with their cooking smells — cabbage and stroganoff and lots of hard boiled eggs. Bubba, their daughter, was in college somewhere, or a lady’s prison, until she came home for the virus, probably bringing it back to Spokane with her. Broken appliances lined the porch, and crumbling angels and lawn jockeys stood guard in the dirt out front. Whatever the Douchemans were doing inside during those quarantined days and nights, word was they were sitting on about a thousand rolls of toilet paper. Tammy’s friend Kipper had seen them at Costco before the virus, hauling out pallets of the stuff. Like they could see into the future — or make it happen.

Dino’s mom had made hippie buckets for their family and told my mom about it, as if I was ever going to use one of those things. Each bucket in Dino’s bathroom had a lid with a name on it — Mom, Dad, Dino, Diana, Grandma. On top of the toilet tank was a pile of clean rags. Dirty rags were dumped in the buckets to soak in bleach, which Mrs. DeAngelis would run through the washing machine downstairs, contaminating literally everything they owned — which was why Dino kept coming over to use our bathroom.

“No, Dino,” Mom kept telling him. “You can’t come

26 INLANDER APRIL 2, 2020

in. We’re distancing.”

I didn’t get it at first. But then I went over to his house and made the mistake of opening one of those buckets, and I was like, Oh My Jesus Gawd!

Dad had moved what was left of our toilet paper to his and Mom’s room, so he could ration it out — ten sheets for me a day, fourteen for Tammy. We were down to maybe two rolls. Dad wouldn’t say. And then at dinner Mom was like, “Dana DeAngelis made buckets for her family,” all excited about it, but I already knew how horrible it was, and halfway through Mom’s explanation, Tammy was like, “What buckets?”

“Sanitary buckets,” Mom said.

“What?” Tammy said, finally catching on. “I’m not doing that!”

“Why don’t we just use the washing machine,” I said, “if we’re going to use buckets.”

“Watch your mouth,” Dad said.

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Mom said.

“We should get a bidet,” Dad said.

“Oh, my God!” Tammy said.

And Mom said, “Just where are we going to get a bidet, Jack — when every bidet in the world has been bought and sold four times over?”

“I hate this family so much,” Tammy said, jumping from the table.

“Sit,” Dad said.

Tammy stormed away.

Dad half stood.

Mom finished her wine.

Dad grabbed Tammy’s plate and scraped the bean slop from it onto his own.

“I’m going for a walk,” I said, and Mom said, “After your homework.”

“It’s not real,” I said.

“Of course it’s real,” she said.

“It’s a hoax,” I said.

“Alexander,” Mom said. “None of this is a hoax. You know that. People are dying.”

I kept walking.

“Six feet,” Mom called. “No touching.”

I grabbed my mask and bolted.

They’d managed to keep us inside for a week, but finally let us out as long as we agreed to their rules.

Dino’s family didn’t do anything, except keep Grandma locked in the attic. I ran over there and Dino came out and we walked toward the ridge trail at the end of our street. Dino had his grandma’s lighter and we were going to light stuff on fire and watch the trains rumble through the valley and spy on people trapped in their houses.

There was a roll of thunder somewhere, but nothing to worry about.

“How many times have you used that bucket anyway,” I asked as we walked toward the trail, and Dino was like, “Not once, okay? I’m holding it.”

The trains were still running, but they weren’t hauling toilet paper.

“How long can a person hold it,” I wondered.

“I don’t know,” Dino said. “Two weeks?”

There were lots of people outside, walking after dinner, chatting across the street.

Tammy wasn’t allowed outside anymore since she got caught kissing her boyfriend, Timbo.

“It doesn’t kill people my age!” she kept screaming.

Dad called Timbo’s parents and everyone agreed that Tammy and Timbo were selfish, horrible people.

I told Dino what Tammy had told me about the Douchemans, how they were sitting on a motherlode of toilet paper, maybe two thousand rolls.

“That’s bullcrap,” Dino said, and I said, “Kipper Kline saw them at Costco.”

“No,” Dino said. “To keep it for themselves. Everyone has a right to toilet paper.”

“Not really,” I said. “It’s more of a privilege.”

“Bullcrap,” Dino said.

But he stopped and sort of squatted there on the sidewalk.

“What’s the matter?”

He was hunched over his knees, eyes closed, like he was praying.

“My stomach,” he said.

He waved me off, his face crinkled in concentration.

It was only a matter of time before I’d be in the same position.

Then his crisis passed.

“You can take off your mask,” he said, standing.

“Your mom can’t see you.”

But the neighbors could.

The ones who weren’t outside would be watching from inside.

Thunder rumbled far away.

We reached the trail but there were too many people out to light anything on fire.

It started to hail, little balls of ice bouncing off the ground like popcorn, coming down harder and harder, until the ice seemed to explode from the dirt and grass.

We ran toward the Douchemans’ house, between the trail and street.

Rain mixed with the hail, the sky turning green, like a tornado was coming to kill us all. We wouldn’t have to worry about toilet paper then or coughing or the goddamn unemployment site crashing all day long.

It was too early to be dark, but it was dark.

The Douchemans had a wobbly deck upstairs over a patio below, which we snuck across, toward sliding glass doors. I didn’t know what we were going to do. We could smell eggs and onions and vomit and cabbage boiling upstairs.

Big drapes were drawn across the patio doors, but there was a space in the middle we’d be able to see through.

Bubba babysat Tammy and me a couple times when we were little — Constance was her real name, Connie — and she had wicked B.O., like the stroganoff the Douchemans ate for dinner.

“It’s not her fault,” Mom said when we complained. “How would you like to have an odor problem?”

“It literally makes me gag,” Tammy said, and Mom said, “I don’t know who you are when you talk like that,” and Tammy said, “I’m exactly myself!”

“Not the girl I know,” Mom said, and Tammy said, “Then you don’t know me at all.”

Now, I could smell Bubba as we approached the back door.

Dino went into his crouch on the Douchemans’ patio, hunched over himself, sort of groaning, a fart escaping, a high pitched whistler.

And another — an airhorn.

I realized it was him I was smelling.

The rain was letting up, but Dino kept crouching.

I approached the doors and looked through the opening in the drapes.

And there they were — the Douchemans, Dick and Donna on the couch, Bubba on the floor at their feet, all of them watching I Dream of Jeannie, while Mrs. Doucheman brushed Bubba’s hair. Or no, all of them naked, nudists, Mr. Doucheman reading the newspaper on a lawn chair while Mrs. Doucheman and Bubba played ping pong. Or maybe dissecting a cat in front of a roaring fire, all of them wearing hooded robes.

I remembered how Bubba let us do whatever we wanted when she babysat, eat whatever we wanted, play video games all night long.

Dino farted deeply.

“I gotta get that paper,” he whispered.

“Do you think your grandma’s gonna die,” I said, and Dino said, “If God wants her to.”

“My mom said my aunt Betty’s sick. No one can see her.”

Dino kept crouching, his eyes closed tight.

I looked through the parted drapes. The lights were on in the family room, but no one was there. No one had ever been there. They were eating dinner upstairs.

I slid the door open.

“What are you doing?” Dino hissed.

I walked into the Douchemans’ family room.

Pepe started to bark somewhere.

“Anybody home?” I called.

A door swung open, then somebody clomping down the stairs.

“It’s Alexander from down the street,” I called.

I couldn’t tell who was coming toward me.

“Get out of there,” Dino said.

But he was standing now, looking in, ready to bolt.

Bubba appeared, then Mr. Doucheman.

“What is it?” Mrs. Doucheman called from upstairs.

“It’s Alex,” Bubba called. “The neighbor kid.

What do you want, hon?”

I turned and Dino was gone.

“Toilet paper,” I said, and Mr. Doucheman said, “How much?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “A hundred rolls?”

“Sixty,” Mr. Doucheman said. “Five bags, twelve roll. Two hundred bucks.”

“Dmitry,” Mrs. Doucheman called. “Neighbor price!”

Mr. Doucheman looked up the stairs and back at me. “One ninety,” he said.

Bubba said, “This is all going to be funny some day, huh?”

“Show him the paper,” Mr. Doucheman said.

“Lock that door.”

He went upstairs.

“Follow me,” Bubba said. “And take off that ridiculous mask.”

I touched the mask. I didn’t want to take it off.

“It’s useless,” Bubba said.

I took it off, but I didn’t want to breathe in there.

“My mom,” I said, “thinks it’s important that we come together in times like these — to support each other,” and Bubba said, “Is that what she thinks?”

It looked like any family room, except for the wooden saints and the heavy red drapes and what looked like a beheading sword over the fireplace and who knew what else where they kept the toilet paper. If there was any toilet paper.

“I don’t really know what she thinks,” I said, and Bubba said, “I’ll bet you don’t.”

I would never forgive Dino for leaving me like that, when I’d been trying to save him.

“Come on,” Bubba said. “It’s only going to get more expensive.”

She smiled and I noticed she was missing a tooth, one of her upper fangs.

I took a step back, shaking my head, then turned and ran as hard as I could, feeling the Douchemans on my trail all the way home.

“Where’s your mask?” my mother said when I blasted into the house.

“Jack,” she said, “He’s been outside without a mask!”

“Alexander,” Dad said, lifting himself from the table.

I touched my face where the mask had been, looked at my hands.

“Alexander!” my dad said, my mother said.

I could hardly breathe.

The bean smell was everywhere, filling our entire house. n

Samuel Ligon is the author of three novels — Among the Dead and Dreaming, Safe in Heaven Dead and Miller Cane: A True & Exact History (which was serialized in the Inlander) — and two collections of stories, Wonderland and Drift and Swerve.

In 2012, Ligon and his wife, Kate Lebo, started Pie & Whiskey — raucous literary events featuring pie, whiskey and readings about those eponymous things — and together they edited a 2017 collection of works called Pie & Whiskey: Writers Under the Influence of Butter & Booze.

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APRIL 2, 2020 INLANDER 27

Chaps’ Celeste Shaw YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

A NEWS

STILL

IN SERVICE

Weeks into the pandemic-induced shutdown, local restaurants continue to creatively serve the community

BY CHEY SCOTT 28 INLANDER APRIL 2, 2020

fter Celeste Shaw made the difficult decision to temporarily close her two Spokane restaurants, Chaps and Paper & Cup, rather than offer carryout until the ban on dine-in service is lifted, she knew she had to do something to help the region’s hard-hit hospitality industry.

An old side project selling T-shirts and chef’s aprons with the phrase “Food is Love” on Chaps’ website (chapsgirl.com) was the answer.

Shaw chose to donate the proceeds to local nonprofit Big Table, which is working to provide emergency financial aid to many of the thousands of local restaurant and bar workers who lost their jobs overnight due to the coronavirus pandemic. Then leadership at Washington Trust Bank stepped in and donated $2,500 to cover the purchase and screenprinting of the apparel.

The baseball-style T-shirts flew off virtual shelves in a matter of days, Shaw says, and the total raised was still being tallied as of press deadline.

“Someone was asking about [the meaning of] ‘food is love,’ and it’s not about the food itself, it’s about serving,” Shaw explains. “To me, to feed someone, it’s not just feeding their belly but feeding their spirit, and to know there can be hope and that you’re not standing alone.”

While the donated batch of Food is Love shirts ($30) and aprons ($35) are nearly sold out, Shaw says she’ll have more in the coming days, and plans to continue using proceeds to support her temporarily laid-off staff and others in the community.

“We all want to stay positive,” Shaw reflects. “Everyone is becoming united in this struggle to support each other.”

SPIRITS TO-GO RAISE SPIRITS

Last Tuesday the Washington State Liquor Control Board issued a temporary rules change allowing restaurants with licenses to serve spirits on-premises to also sell factory-sealed bottles of liquor to-go or for delivery — when purchased with a meal or food — while the statewide dine-in service ban remains in place. Previously, restaurants serving beer, wine and hard cider were allowed to sell sealed bottles or growlers to-go, but not spirits. The allowance lets all restaurants with a spirits/ beer/wine license to sell these products to-go.

THE ELK PUBLIC HOUSE quickly got creative with the new rule, putting together whiskey mule kits for $40 that came with a liter of whiskey, two four-packs of Cock & Bull ginger beer and two limes. The Browne’s Addition restaurant is also selling kits for Italian sidecars and other classic cocktails; see the latest offerings on its Facebook page.

Similarly, COCHINITO TAQUERIA is selling its house-made margarita mix ($12) with rim salt and instructions to make your own at home. There’s enough to make up to eight drinks with each kit; customers can also get a liter of tequila for $20.

While unable to serve spirits to-go due to the nature of its license, bar staff at BON BON are providing a unique service in exchange for tips. Message Bon Bon’s Facebook page with a list of spirits and mixers you have at home, and one of its bartenders will reply with at least five recipes for drinks you can concoct yourself. Staffers are accepting and splitting tips via Venmo. The bar is also taking its weekly trivia night online via Facebook Live.

Hop online Mondays at 7 pm and play for fun; all teams get entered into a drawing for a gift card to use when the bar reopens.

EAT OUT AT HOME

The Inlander continues to update a spreadsheet on local restaurants offering take-out and delivery service until their dining rooms can reopen to the public. While some restaurants previously offering this option have since decided to close temporarily, we’re still adding to the database each day. When you’re tired of cooking at home, looking to support local businesses hit hard by pandemic or craving [fill in the blank], head to Inlander.com/takeoutguide.

ON HIATUS

While dozens of area restaurants made the to-go-only switch, others have bowed out and are leaving the lights off for what many expect could be an extended period of downtime for the industry. A trio of Spokane-area restaurants — DOWNRIVER GRILL, THE FLYING GOAT and REPUBLIC PI — made that decision last week.

Downriver Grill co-owner Juli Norris says the decision to cease offering carry-out was largely made in response to Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s stay-at-home order issued March 23. She says the restaurant group is taking things day by day, however, and could reopen for take-out ordering.

“We felt like it would be a good opportunity to close for a little while and reassess the situation,” Norris says. “It’s safer and healthier to support our community and our staff. It was more of a conscious decision than money.”

The three restaurants were staying fairly busy even without dine-in customers, she adds. At Downriver Grill, for example, some of its regular customers placed daily take-out orders. Both pizza restaurants remained busy

until temporarily closing late last week.

Norris says customers can still purchase gift cards online, and should watch social media for announcements on future plans.

CREATIVE CUSTOMER SERVICE

Amidst the chaos of this strange new era, restaurants that can’t reach customers as they normally would are getting creative with their marketing tactics. Take, for example, THE SWINGING DOORS’ offer to add up to two rolls of highly coveted toilet paper for $1.50 each to any take-out order. While some accused the restaurant of price gouging, the business responded on Facebook that it was simply trying to keep employees working and thus able to feed their families. The restaurant is also offering a BOGO promo for select menu items when placed through Uber Eats.

Miranda Hamilton, a local broker with Insurance Northwest in Coeur d’Alene, recently took to social media to share a restaurant bingo board featuring 25 North Idaho food businesses.

ENTRÉE To play, diners need to Get the scoop on local connect five businesses food news with our weekly in a row by sharing Entrée newsletter. Sign up a photo of themself at Inlander.com/newsletter. curbside at each restaurant with the hashtag #SupportCarryOutCDA. Each bingo enters participants into a raffle for local gift cards, and the first to reach a full board blackout gets a $50 restaurant gift card. The board includes spots like COSMIC COWBOY, CAPONE’S, THE MANGO TREE, VINE & OLIVE, MOON TIME and many more. Find it at Facebook.com/MirandaHamiltonYourLocalAdvisor. n

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steamplantspokane.com | 159 S Lincoln St, Spokane, WA APRIL 2, 2020 INLANDER 29

Keeping Kids Busy Stave off boredom and cabin fever while learning something new with these kid-friendly resources and activities

BY CHEY SCOTT

C

abin fever is setting in. Families working at home while the kids are out of school are becoming desperate for a reprieve, including more to keep young minds occupied until life returns to normal. As stay-home orders remain in place, here are some helpful resources from local organizations so everyone stays busy and, hopefully, the time passes quickly, too.

The Spokane Public Library has assembled resources in one handy location on its website, including ways to stream Sesame Street.

BECOME A JUNIOR RANGER

While all Washington state parks remain closed until at least April 8, kids ages 4 and up can still engage with the outdoors through the state park’s Junior Ranger Program. Ten printable sheets include activities like scavenger hunts (complete the challenge during a neighborhood walk or in your backyard instead of the nearest state park), lessons on the state’s diverse geology and explorations of regional weather patterns. Find it at parks.state. wa.us/919/Be-a-Junior-Ranger

LEARN AT HOME WITH KSPS

Local public broadcasting station KSPS is offering a slew of home-learning resources and activities, all for free.

These teacher-approved and standards-based activities are available for kids in preschool through high school, and each week follows a theme. Last week it was English

language arts and science. As of Monday, March 30, home learning activities for grades 6-12 began broadcasting live each day from 9 am-2 pm on the KSPS World channel. More info at ksps.org/community/coronavirus/ learningresources

VISIT THE LIBRARY FROM YOUR LIVING ROOM

Although area libraries remain closed for several more weeks, a plethora of digital services are accessible 24/7.

Spokane Public Library has rounded up its many digital resources in one handy place on its website. Stream Sesame Street and other shows, or enjoy a virtual storytime via Kanopy Kids. Older kids can explore the world with digital issues of National Geographic and Smithsonian Magazine. There’s tons more, from online educational games to foreign language courses. Head to spokanelibrary.org for the complete list. n

FIGHTING THROUGH COVID-19 We know how difficult it can be for our kids to be confined to the indoors without the ability to see their friends. We all understand how important it is to practice social distancing and work together to fight the spread of coronavirus.

People all over the world are displaying stuffed animal bears in their windows so you and your kids can go on a walk in your neighborhood, get some fresh air and participate in a fun scavenger hunt. We would love to see what friendly little bears you find! Take a photo and tag @greenstone_homes on instagram along with the hashtag #weregoingonabearhunt We also encourage you to put a friendly stuffed animal bear in your window for others to find!

30 INLANDER APRIL 2, 2020

usually had them both ready so I could get a hug from you and have your smell on me all day. Then out the door you went to sell cars. We had many many good times together and I’d like to see if there is more out there for us.

We use to go down to the park and sit on the picnic tables...if you see or read this Dave meet me at our park let’s try again. Saturday @11.

CHEERS SEMPER FI I would like to give a shout out to all our military personnel. Thank you for serving and making us safe.

You rock!!! God bless America!

I SAW YOU EARLY BIRDS I saw you at the North Market Street Yokes, Thursday morning at 6:30 am. You, the tall handsome man with the baseball cap and gray sweatshirt. We both had a package of paper towels and chatted about the virus and the morning on our way to the parking lot. You have such a cute smile and sweet personality, you made my day :) Hope I made yours too!

PITMASTER I saw you at Lowe’s looking at all those smokers. DC Shirt, relaxed fit jeans, ruddy hair peeking out from under your baseball cap.

You’re the one who’s smoking hot!

Then I saw you delivering BBQ to a sick friend in need. Risking your life for a friend. I see you!

QUARANTINE CUTIE I saw you from the across the room... In our house, because we are in self quarantine. But you always make it fun, easier and more Comfortable. I really am so lucky I did see you from across the room almost 3 years ago. Your smile still lights any room up.

HI-CO DAVE It’s been about 12 years but I think about you daily. I couldn’t wait for you to stop in every morning for your red bull and newspaper... I

WAKE UP! If you are using this pandemic to exercise your racism you have never directed it at me. I am directing this to you. May you realize immediately and completely all of the pain that you cause. May you seek forgiveness and then make amends.

If you fail to do this may your every racist thought and action be frustrated and all of the pain that you attempt to inflict be returned to you. May every one of your loved ones and friends learn exactly who you are. Choose wisely.

JENNIE BENNIE Birthday shout out to a one of a kind for last Saturday. Jennie Bennie, she’s smart, funny, kind, talented, loving and generous. She’s a beautiful person. Sorry I can be such an obnoxious Jackwagon sometimes.

Cheers to the all night talks, dinners, dates, cheesecakes and river walks.

Seems like a lifetime ago but you’ll always be the love of my life I hope you know.

THANKS TO ALL OF OUR FIRST RESPONDERS! “Shout out and a big thank you to all the people on the front lines; doctors, nurses, police, people who serve, delivery drivers, all the people staying home... And a special shout out to my son. Sawyer who works at Frankie doodles, my daugh-

ter Chelsey who works at Safeway on Hamilton, and my daughter Shaela who works at Walmart in the valley you all are my true heros stay well and happy love mom “ EARTH ANGELS I would like to give a shout out to law enforcement and first

“

responders. The other day my 8 year old son is out being a kid and riding his scooter and some dude asks him if he wants lollipop? I called crime check and after I hung up with the very efficient female officer I swear it seemed like maybe 15 minutes and an officer arrived to question my son about what had happened. Then another officer arrived. First responders are up against so much and without them it would be far more worse of a nightmare.

PEACE AMONG CHAOS In light of all the bad things happening in the world today I would like to spread some positive vibes. Thank you to all the people maintaining the order in such chaos. Such as, Law Enforcement, Medics, Firefighters, School Personnel, Government Officials, State Officials and the list goes on and so does the beat. We are praying. God bless us all.

Peace be with you.

JEERS RE: SPOKANE HOARDERS Cheers to the Spokane Hoarders jeers about Spokane people not being special.

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.”

We’re Here for You.

River Park Square (509) 456-TOYS

reporting “facts, not fear”. BS! TO BUSINESSES TAKING ADVANTAGE Recently, one of our clients received word that they could skip 3 auto payments due to what is going on right now YET interest would still be charged. REALLY?!?! YOU HAVE GOT

I would like to give a shout out to all our military personnel. Thank you for serving and making us safe. You rock!!!

God bless America!

SOUND OFF

Not this year

You couldn’t have stated it better.

Regarding this current outbreak, I wonder why people aren’t more worried about how fat people are getting.

Diabetes will kill many people this year primarily due to their fatness, but nobody is interested in talking about that. According to a recent study, obe-

We at the Inlander remain committed to keeping people informed and connected during the coronavirus outbreak, supporting our readers and local businesses in the ways we always have.

Stay connected wherever you are.

Visit Inlander.com/locations, for the Digital Edition, and pick up locations near you.

sity kills more people than car crashes, terrorism, and alzheimers. I wonder why people aren’t as concerned about this as they are a virus? On a related note, cheers to the state leaving open the pot shops because I know that the only people going there are those for medical reasons. Smoking and respiratory illness go hand in hand, but congratulations on keeping them open primarily for medical reasons because everyone knows that those are the primary people supporting the weed shops at this time. Also, cheers to all the news on March 24 about it being World Tuberculosis Day. Considering TB killed 15 million people over the last 10 years and 13 million in the US have latent infection, it makes sense that the news media focused so much on this this year rather than the several thousand deaths due to this new virus in the US this year. Cheers to the news media for focusing solely on the new virus. Nothing else is important anymore. This also includes the 100,000 people who will die from hospital acquired infections this year just as they have every year for decades. That news isn’t nearly as important. So, great job to those who profess to be

”

TO BE KIDDING ME!!!! THIS IS NOT helping someone. It is screwing them!

We do business with this company.

NEVER AGAIN!!!!! Our loyalty is no more!!!!!

SIDEWALK DOOTY Whoever continuously allows their dog to defecate on the south sidewalk on E. Windsong in between Myrtle and Havana without bothering to pick it up is a subhuman idiot who doesn’t care about common decency and respect. Twice now I’ve stepped in your dog’s sidewalk crap and I’m sick of it. I thought this was a good neighborhood until you came along. n

THIS WEEK'S ANSWERS L A B A M B A

T H E R O A D

S H A L A L A

I S H M A E L

S E E I N T O

I N A K N O T

A S H A T A I P T E N D O C E O O T H R N I H A I L G E H A L F E T O A T M A N T E N G I H E D N E A E A Z T N S P R E

R P E I W N E L I A I N S T E P

S T A S T A T E B S E A T E N A D S S A N E N T E N E C A A Y

T A G E N D S

Y O U R E O K

X S A N D O S

B R A I D E D

I A S S U M E

Z E T A P S I

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.

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APRIL 2, 2020 INLANDER 31

COVID-19

Baked In Weed remains “essential” during Washington’s stay-at-home order. Here’s what that means for local retailers

BY WILSON CRISCIONE

T

he coronavirus may have been able to smoke out your favorite restaurants, businesses and millions of jobs. But weed? Not so fast.

As states including Washington issue some version of a stay-at-home order, those with legalized cannabis have classified it as an “essential service,” allowing producers, processors and retailers to stay open. Yes, what was illegal everywhere a decade ago has now become one of the few thriving industries as everything else seems to crumble.

However, it’s not an essential service simply because it makes Netflix more interesting for everyone stuck at home. It’s because people use marijuana for medical issues. ...continued on page 36

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COVID-19 “BAKED IN,” CONTINUED...

“It’s a legitimate treatment and needs to be available for those treatments,” says Julie Graham, a spokeswoman for the Washington Liquor and Cannabis Board. “Because in Washington the medical marijuana and recreational adult market are sold in the same businesses, it just makes sense to keep the entire operation open.”

Still, cannabis businesses in Washington need to follow Gov. Jay Inslee’s guidance on social distancing to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Locally, cannabis retailers say they’re doing their best to do just that.

every surface multiple times a day.

Leading up to Inslee’s order, he says business was good but inconsistent, characterized by huge swings.

“Since the order has gone into effect, business has stabilized a little bit,” he says.

He was glad to see retailers were able to stay open. If legal cannabis shut down, it could just go back to the black market.

“A lot of people depend on our products for day-to-day life. If access stopped, I’m sure there would be a surge on the black market and that’s something nobody wants,” Meehan says.

In Washington, the LCB says drivethru windows are still not allowed. Nor are outdoor sales from a tent or kiosk. But the LCB says it’s going to temporarily allow retailers to have curbside sales, in an effort to promote social distancing.

Businesses, however, may be a bit reluctant to make that move. Morgan, with Lucky Leaf, says they haven’t decided if that’s something they want to do. She says it could lead to robberies.

“Putting a budtender out there or bringing product outside like that makes me nervous,” she says.

The LCB is also temporarily relaxing enforcement of a law prohibiting minors from being on the premises of weed producers and processors. On the agency’s website, they say “this temporary allowance is to accommodate families that have been impacted by school closures.” The children would have to be a child or grandchild of the licensee, cannot be actually working for the business, and cannot possess any of the products. Kids still cannot be on the premises of retail locations.

Graham, with the LCB, says that the agency is not going to enforce social distancing as much as educate about it. Hopefully, cannabis businesses being essential will be a positive.

“It helps the businesses stay open, it provides easy access for medical [patients] to continue getting their marijuana, and then also there’s an opportunity for the adult recreational market to have access,” she says. n

ON STANDS APRIL 16 The Inlander’s annual issue on the local cannabis scene for everyone from the experienced to the cannabis curious.

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“A lot of people depend on our products for dayto-day life. If access stopped, I’m sure there would be a surge on the black market.”

At Lucky Leaf in downtown Spokane, ropes and tape have been put up to make sure customers and budtenders all stay six feet apart, says owner Shilo Morgan. Customers used to be able to hold the product in their hand, but now they can’t touch it until they purchase it. They’ve also put hand sanitizer at each station, and all the budtenders are wearing gloves.

Morgan says she was initially surprised cannabis retailers were deemed essential.

“Then I looked at it, and there’s a lot of patients who still need to get their medication,” she says.

She adds that cannabis can provide some benefits during this time.

“I think it can help with the anxiety of it, to help calm people down,” Morgan says.

Business has stayed steady, she says. She notes, however, that online sales have picked up as customers attempt to spend less time in the store. And more people are buying edibles, she says. That may be because health experts don’t recommend smoking or vaping, especially during a pandemic that can severely harm lungs.

Dustin Meehan, manager at Smokane, says they’ve implemented “a couple lines of attack” when it comes to ensuring social distancing.

They’ve put visual marks to show what six feet looks like. The store is shaped like a circle, so they’ve marked “X” in spots where people should stand. He adds that they’re disinfecting

36 INLANDER APRIL 2, 2020

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APRIL 2, 2020 INLANDER 37

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My 22-year-old son’s new girlfriend is extremely pretty. She has a great figure and dresses to show it off, so I understand the attraction. However, she’s also spoiled, lazy, and kind of a scam artist. (She bragged about cheating a small business.)

I pointed out her shortcomings to my son, but he refused to listen and even defended her. Can I get him to end it without being the overbearing mother?

—Upset Mom

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AMY ALKON Though you see only flaws, your son sees a lot in this woman: BOOOOOOOBS! It’s natural you’d want to scold him away from a train wreck with cleavage, same as you’d save him from a speeding car about to turn him into a human hood ornament.

However, telling him all the reasons this woman’s awful — which amounts to pressuring him to dump her — is exactly the wrong thing to do. Consider Romeo and Juliet (and let’s momentarily forget they were fictional characters). As teen love goes, I suspect they would’ve gotten bored and cheated on each other in under a month if their parents hadn’t been all, “We forbid you to see that Montague knave/that Capulet tramp!”

When our freedom of choice — our freedom to do as we want — is threatened (even just by people trying to persuade us to change our ways), it triggers a motivational state that social psychologist Jack Brehm called “reactance.” Reactance is a form of rebellion — a “reaction” against control, energizing a person to resist, to keep engaging in the behavior they’re being pressed to stop. Reactance can even strengthen the person’s resolve — increase their desire for whatever (or whomever) somebody’s urging them to part company with. Basically, by telling your son all the reasons he should dump this woman, you turn him into the pro bono defense attorney for her humanitarianism — like how she, um...um...runs a rescue for designer handbags!

Character doesn’t always seem important in a partner until a person gets knocked around by somebody with some big vacancies in that department. In other words, if you want your son to dump this ethically elastic chickie, the ideal thing to say is nothing. Let him marinate in her bad character. Hard as it will be to keep mum, you might try to view him as midway through the natural recovery process in the wake of contracting a nasty parasite — one that’s 5-foot-7 and blonde with window-sized Gucci sunglasses you suspect she lifted from some distracted wealthy lady’s restaurant table.

LEGALLY BLAND

My boyfriend is best friends with another girl. He told me they tried dating years ago, but nothing came of it, and they really are just friends. She’s been very welcoming to me, but I’m still uneasy that he’s so close with a woman he once dated.

I can’t help but wonder whether the bit about straight men not being able to be friends with women is true. —Nervous Picture the city dump. Sexually, to your boyfriend, this woman might as well be an old tire, a single dingy couch cushion (whereabouts of rest of dingy couch unknown), or a phone book from Buttcrack, Montana, circa 1982.

In fact, there’s a chance he was never very attracted to her. Generally speaking, men are a lot less likely than women to turn down a possibility for having sex. Also, before he got naked with her, the prospect of having sex with her was what neuroscience researchers call a “novel reward” — a term for feelgood stuff we have yet to experience. Excitement over the new might even be mistaken for the excitement of really being attracted to somebody, because novelty causes a surge in dopamine, the neurochemical that energizes us to pursue new and rewarding things.

The problem is “reward prediction errors,” neuroscientist Wolfram Schultz’s term for the difference between how great we think a new thing will be and how kinda-sorta okay it ends up being. When reality falls short of our expectations — when somebody turns out to be sexy like used gruel — dopamine goes into sag mode. This is effectively a neurochemical energy embargo -- a crash diet on the motivation juice needed to drive any further pursuit of whatever we found bummerific.

You might find it reassuring to ask your boyfriend why it didn’t work between them and pry a little bit into how attracted he was to her. This could tell you that you have something to worry about, but at least you’d know. Sure, straight men and women can have trouble remaining just friends if they have any sort of hots for each other. However, a straight man who is sexually bored with a woman is one you can probably trust just fine to be in her presence. Even if she’s naked, with head-totoe body glitter, performing the (Lap) Dance of the Seven Veils. n ©2020, Amy Alkon, all rights reserved. • Got a problem? Write Amy Alkon, 171 Pier Ave, #280, Santa Monica, CA 90405 or email AdviceAmy@aol.com (www.advicegoddess.com)

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