Inlander 04/14/2022

COVID COSTS THE LOCAL ART SCENE’S ROAD TO RECOVERY PAGE 8

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moved to Spokane just a few months after recreational cannabis stores opened, and a couple years after the state voted to legalize recreational weed, and my first visit to one of those Spokane stores was pretty underwhelming. There wasn’t much product on the shelves, and the prices didn’t seem good enough to get a regular pot smoker to leave the black market for the legal one.

Things sure have changed, something that is clear in reading the stories in our annual CANNABIS ISSUE (page 19) this week. Daniel Walters looks at all that’s changed (and what hasn’t) in the 10 years since that 2012 vote, while other stories shine a light on the vast array of products now available, the booming market for cannabis pet products and more.

Elsewhere in the paper, Madison Pearson chats with Napoleon Dynamite himself, Jon Heder, before he comes to town for a screening of the cult classic (page 14), Seth Sommerfeld looks at the best music of the year so far (page 47), and Josh Bell writes that the latest Fantastic Beasts movie is lacking that Harry Potter magic (page 44).

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HAVE YOUR VIEWS ON MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION CHANGED IN THE LAST 10 YEARS? KATHARINE ROGERS

I personally don’t use it, but I have friends who do, and as far as drugs go, it’s certainly less dangerous than some of the options that are out there.

Do you think the age for legal marijuana consumption should be changed?

Well, I mean, they raised the age for smoking to match alcohol, so that makes perfect sense to me.

SARA WEEKS

Probably not within the last decade, definitely since, like, I was in high school or something.

I just feel like the way people use it anymore is more like a glass of wine after dinner, and I don’t see any harm in that.

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SARAH KNOWLES

Yeah, probably. I definitely have become more open to the idea of marijuana being legalized, and everything like that. I’ve also turned 21 over the last 10 years so, that helps a little bit.

Do you think the age for legal marijuana consumption should be changed?

No, I think it should stay the same. I think that the age it’s at right now is perfect.

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A little bit. At first I was not for it at all, and now I see there are some benefits for people with medical conditions, and I have no problem with that. The only problem I have is that people are abusing it like alcohol, driving and having accidents while under the influence, which I think is wrong.

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No, not at all. I think it’s just like alcohol or anything else.

Do you think the age for legal marijuana consumption should be changed?

I think the legal age for beer should change, too. So, I mean, if we can get beer and marijuana down to 18, that’d be great.

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Thomas Jefferson (left) and John Adams battled over judges.

A Past That Never Was Nasty fights over judges is nothing new in American politics

BY LAWRENCE B.A. HATTER

T

he theatrical career of Lindsey Graham reached new heights during the recent confirmation hearings for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Joe Biden’s pick to replace retiring justice Stephen Breyer on the U.S. Supreme Court. After a heated exchange with Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin over the legal rights of Guantanamo Bay detainees, the senior U.S. senator from South Carolina walked out of the proceedings, taking his can of soda with him.

The politicization of judicial appointments has become an increasingly important partisan battlefield. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to hear President Barack Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland for a Supreme Court vacancy in 2016, before entering into a Faustian bargain with the newly elected President Trump to deliver a conservative Supreme Court majority. Democrats fought tooth and nail to oppose the nominations of Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court in 2018 and 2020.

While Republicans and Democrats both energize their respective party bases by politicizing judicial appointments, a recent Quinnipiac poll indicated that a narrow majority of Americans disapproved of the GOP’s handling of Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation hearings,

stage exits and all.

It is tempting to view the political battles over the Supreme Court as yet another example of our uniquely partisan moment. We would like to comfort ourselves that we can escape the dystopian present by returning to simpler times, when qualified judicial nominations received a fair hearing before a Senate devoid of posturing prima donnas. But, of course, we are imagining a past that never was.

Not only have courts always been politicized in the United States, but partisan wranglings

over the so-called “midnight judges” appointed by President John Adams in 1801 actually transformed the power of the fledgling U.S. Supreme Court by creating the constitutional principle of judicial review.

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he politicization of judges really began at the tail end of one of the bitterest political campaigns in U.S. history: the election of 1800. After defeating Thomas Jefferson in the first partisan presidential election in 1796, John Adams faced off against his old foe again in 1800. Both sides painted the outcome of the election in apocalyptic terms. Jefferson’s opponents claimed he was a godless radical, who would bathe the country in blood.

Adams’ enemies claimed that he harbored monarchical ambitions and was in cahoots with the British.

John Adams ultimately lost the election of 1800. But while he still occupied the White House and his Federalist Party still commanded majorities in Congress, the lame-duck president was determined to protect the country from Jefferson by entrenching his supporters in the federal judiciary. Congress passed the Judiciary Act in 1801, which created a new system of circuit courts below the Supreme Court. Adams then rushed to fill these new vacancies with his own appointments. Jefferson’s supporters dubbed them the “midnight judges,” conjuring up a fictional image of John Adams pulling an all-nighter to sign the judicial paperwork before he petulantly stormed out of Washington, D.C., on the morning of Jefferson’s inauguration.

We will not find a way out of the partisan struggle over judicial appointments by looking to the past.

The fallible Founders baked court controversies into the Constitution.

On taking control of the White House and Congress, Jefferson and his supporters moved to repeal the Judiciary Act, and he refused to issue commissions to 11 of Adams’ appointments.

One of whom, William Marbury, sued Secretary of State James Madison for his judge’s commission. The case of Marbury v.

Madison came before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1803, presided over by Jefferson’s longtime political rival and distant cousin, Chief Justice John Marshall. The court ruled in favor of Marbury by exploiting the contradiction between the Constitution and an earlier Judiciary Act of 1789 to claim the power to strike down unconstitutional laws.

Marbury v. Madison established the principle of judicial review, which remains the Supreme Court’s most important power more than 200 years later. It is the main reason why the political stakes of Supreme Court nominations are so high, and, consequently, why the media circus surrounding the often-farcical Senate proceedings has grown so grotesque.

We will not find a way out of the partisan struggle over judicial appointments by looking to the past. The fallible Founders baked court controversies into the Constitution. Instead of trying to return to an imaginary past, where apolitical senators diligently attended to their constitutional responsibilities without regard for party, Americans might need to look elsewhere for inspiration. In the United Kingdom, for example, justices of its Supreme Court are nominated by an independent selection committee. Although building a political consensus to reform judicial nominations may seem fanciful, it is still more realistic than expecting attention seekers like Lindsey Graham to resist grandstanding in the media limelight. n Lawrence B. A. Hatter is an award-winning author and associate professor of early American history at Washington State University. These views are his own and do not reflect those of WSU.

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Devonte Pearson worked to expand his network and skill set when the pandemic forced his performing as T.S. The Solution off stage.

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

COVID-19

FOR ART’S SAKE D

evonte Pearson was psyched.

It was the start of 2020, and Pearson, a hiphop artist and sound engineer who goes by T.S the Solution, was gearing up with his business partner James Pakootas for a string of engagements.

“It was going to be our greatest year,” he says.

Pearson was especially looking forward to an upcoming gig at Evergreen State College celebrating fashion designers from underrepresented cultures. His performance would provide the catwalk soundtrack.

Then came the lockdowns. The Evergreen event — along with every other gig for the foreseeable future — was canceled to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, and Pearson found himself trying to reconceptualize his creative medium under a radically different set of circumstances. What is live music with no live audience?

“Virtual is just not the same at all. There isn’t that person in the crowd that you can engage with and get an immediate response. There’s just a room with a sound guy and a lighting guy, so you get a couple of handclaps after a song,” he laughs.

But T.S the Solution still welcomed opportunities to appear at virtual shows hosted by Eastern Washington University and Lucky You Lounge. Rather than let

8 INLANDER APRIL 14, 2022

Across disciplines, local artists and cultural organizations are emerging from the pandemic a little wiser and with renewed zeal

BY E.J. IANNELLI downtime go to waste, Pearson and Pakootas rechanneled their energies into a film project called Root.

Pearson also quickly realized that he wasn’t alone in enduring these setbacks. Across artistic disciplines, across entire walks of life, everyone was going through the same thing. He started networking even harder within the local music and film scenes, offering and soliciting informal help from fellow artists and venue owners like Lucky You Lounge’s Karli and Caleb Ingersoll.

“It was a blessing in disguise. There’s a lot of us that say that, even if we say it with a bittersweet taste in our mouths,” Pearson says. “Because of the pandemic, we were able to get rid of a lot of distractions, buckle down, and it opened the door for collaboration.”

He also began looking outside his usual circles for other resources. He took part in artist residencies in Oregon and Orcas Island and stretched his stipends. He secured a Grant for Artists’ Progress Award from the statewide nonprofit Artist Trust. And he reached out to Spokane Arts for COVID relief funding.

“Spokane Arts, Artist Trust and these other programs were like, ‘Hey, we’re here to help!’ And we never knew they were there. It helped build a bridge between the artists and the artist programs and funding,” he says. He

also took advantage of the educational opportunities they offered on “the business side of the arts” so he could better sustain his work in the long term.

F

or organizations like the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture (MAC), the business side of the industry has been an inescapable reality for more than a century. Identifying viable revenue streams and securing funding is an integral part of its operations. Yet those operations are predicated on the assumption that there won’t be any huge upsets to the status quo. Many touring exhibitions are scheduled three years in advance.

“We had three separate periods where we were closed, then we reopened, then we had to close again,” says Wes Jessup, the MAC’s executive director. “We had to delay several exhibitions. We had some really great shows that we weren’t able to have up for the amount of time that we had hoped. And that really impacted us.”

The popular Pompeii exhibition was the first to close prematurely. The much-anticipated American Impressionism show had to be rescheduled from 2020 to this coming autumn. Jessup and his staff estimated those disruptions and reshuffles cost the MAC more than $1 million ...continued on page 10

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NEWS | COVID-19 “FOR ART’S SAKE,” CONTINUED... in lost revenue. The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Shuttered Venue Operators Grants helped to offset about half of those losses, and the loyal MAC donor base rallied, increasing their combined giving “somewhere on the order of 15 to 20 percent.”

The tumult naturally caused ripples in the broader economy. Based on the available tracking data, Jessup estimates that major MAC exhibitions draw about 30 percent of their visitors from beyond Spokane and Kootenai counties. The drop in visitors meant reduced traffic for restaurants and hotels, mainstays of the hospitality industry.

Fresh off directing an “incredibly challenging” production of Antigone at Gonzaga under strict pandemic protocols during winter 2020-21, Keefe used that stipend to incorporate SET and pay the Twelfth Night actors out of her own pocket. SET has since worked with Birds in the Coast, a new studio space just north of downtown Spokane, for its Spokane Sings Sondheim concert. The organization also recently received $8,000 in Spokane Arts Grant Award (SAGA) funding to return to the MAC amphitheater this summer with a contemporary production of another Shakespeare play, Much Ado About Nothing.

Keefe predicts that the ongoing dialogue and the level of mutual, cross-discipline support that emerged during the pandemic will re-energize the theater community at large. She’s of the opinion that will take the form of individual performances and devised pieces “outside of our established houses.”

“I’m excited to see where it’s going to go,” she says, “and I’m hopeful and optimistic that it’s going to look like a lot of new work from new directors and young artists that we haven’t yet seen before.”

“Everybody is ready to spring out of the gate. There’s a lot of exciting energy... there’s a lot of thrust toward collaboration.”

At the same time, that situation served to highlight the interconnectedness of the arts and the regional economy, leading to stronger partnerships between the MAC and local tourism agencies like Visit Spokane.

For the new DreamWorks Animation: The Exhibition – Journey from Sketch to Screen (see page 16), they’re making a concerted effort to advertise in the Seattle and Portland markets for the first time. Jessup says the DreamWorks show itself is testament to a bolder mindset forged during the pandemic. The MAC outmaneuvered other venues to be the first museum to host it stateside.

“Another positive that came out of [the pandemic] is that we really began looking more closely at our own collections,” Jessup says. “That wasn’t an uncommon move for a lot of museums. A lot of visual arts organizations began thinking more about their own collections and the assets that they have on hand in their vaults.”

The current Awakenings: Traditional Canoes and Calling the Salmon Home exhibition is just one product of that inward focus. The show was developed in conjunction with the United Tribes of the Upper Columbia and features a live onsite canoe carving. In addition, the museum is producing an exhibition of colorful mid-20th-century Mexican masks from its own collection. It will tour nationally in the coming years, which Jessup says is a first for the MAC.

I

n late summer 2021, at a time of furious cooperation, the MAC also partnered with the new Spokane Ensemble Theatre (SET) to host a live production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night in its 300-seat outdoor amphitheater. Not unlike the Spokane Shakespeare Society, which got its start around the same time, SET co-founder and artistic director Josephine Keefe saw the pandemic as an urgent driver of fresh ideas and more opportunity in the local theater scene.

“Spokane Ensemble Theatre had been in the making for a number of years. The efforts initially started with the Spokane Theatre Arts Council, or STAC, and the desire to engage the existing theater houses with the changes that we thought they should be considering as they look to the future of their own theater companies,” Keefe says.

“Then, lo and behold, a pandemic shuts everything down. It quiets the noise. It leads to many idle artists out of work. It forced a conversation around what people would like to see more of in our theater community. It also started to bring more of a collective body of artists together much faster than [SET co-founder] Rio Alberto and myself had done in the past couple of years.”

10 INLANDER APRIL 14, 2022

K

both financial and advisory — throughout the prolonged upheaval. “They were the ones who really stepped up in those dire moments for everybody and tried to help as best they could,” she says.

On top of its annual SAGA grants, Spokane Arts helped to distribute $445,000 in arts-related CARES funding allocated by the Spokane City Council. The organization also secured $50,000 for artist relief as part of a private fundraising campaign.

Melissa Huggins, executive director at Spokane Arts, says that the impact of those dollars was boosted by the perpetual resourcefulness of the arts community.

“The cultural scene in Spokane is so used to doing a lot with very little,” Huggins says. Even her own organization has just three employees.

“A lot of cultural organizations were able to use the pandemic stoppages, as painful as they were, to re-evaluate their programs and services or do facility improvements. Stage Left and Spokane Civic Theatre did a lot of work on their buildings. Terrain is in the process of moving from one gallery to another. So there were some positive updates and changes that couldn’t have been done during the normal go, go, go.”

ate Peterson, the director of Get Lit! Programs at Eastern Washington University, shares some of Keefe’s hope and optimism for her own endeavors as well as the wider local literary scene. But any positivity in her outlook has been hard won. During the early days of the pandemic, already “running on fumes” due to the previous year’s budget cuts, she found herself in tense meetings defending her decision to cancel the landmark literary Get Lit! director Kate Peterson took the festival online in 2021, despite concerns. YOUNG KWAK PHOTO festival 40 days before it opened.

“There was some talk in the very beginning that, if While a full post-pandemic recovery could take at we cancel, it would be very detrimental to the festival,” least five years for certain parts of the sector, Huggins is she says. “I was getting the vibe that [administrative staff] encouraged by the recent conversations around “equity were saying, ‘Well, if it goes away now, who’s to say it’s and access” she’s seeing in the arts community. She also going to come back?’ Once they figured out we were in says there’s a palpable desire to implement all the creative this for the long haul, then it was a shift back to Get Lit! ideas that emerged over the past two years: “Everybody being a great way to get Eastern out into the community.” is ready to spring out of the gate. There’s a lot of exciting Event restrictions and a diminished donor pool energy, and there’s a lot of thrust toward collaboration.” prompted Get Lit! to go virtual in 2021, sustained in part Pearson can confirm that. He’s rekindled much of the by a Literary Arts Emergency Fund grant of $15,000 and enthusiasm he had back in early 2020. Thanks in part to a SAGA grant of $5,000. fundraising efforts during the pandemic, he’s just opened As she climbs the steep hill to the festival’s return his Panoramic Dreams recording studio in a fully remodto its traditional in-person format next week, Peterson eled computer repair shop on Sprague Avenue. Root is reflects on the past two years as “a great learning experiaiming for a mid-2023 release. And even as he works to ence,” even if it was under duress. Virtual events clearly establish a dedicated hub for the local hip-hop scene, he’s have a place in the festival and will continue to be a part imagining the crossover potential. of it in the future. One of her primary goals for 2023, the “Coming out of this pandemic, we’ve educated ourfestival’s 25th anniversary year, is to find a large presentselves. We’re going to start to see people execute all those ing sponsor who will champion Get Lit!. ideas they have,” he says. “And I think we’re going to start Echoing Pearson and several other artists, Peterson seeing the rockers, the rappers, the hipsters and the folk cites Spokane Arts as a key local support resource — musicians collaborate a little bit more.” n

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Returning to 2016 River polluters could face near-zero PCB limits; plus, the fire department plans a hiring spree

T

he seesaw of water quality standards for Washington state has tilted back toward more protective pollutant limits from the Environmental Protection Agency.

Several years ago, Washington’s self-proposed limits were found inadequate to protect groups whose diets rely heavily on fish that bioaccumulate toxins. Because of that, the EPA put stricter standards in place for dozens of pollutants in 2016.

Under the Trump administration, the EPA said Washington could return to the less protective standards it had proposed.

By that point, however, even Washington agencies didn’t want to use the less protective standards. The state and environmental groups sued the EPA to maintain stricter limits on pollutants such as the PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) that plague the Spokane River and other water bodies throughout the state.

Now it appears the EPA will again support the more protective, science-based standards it put forward in 2016, with public hearings scheduled for May. The move could impact state permits that Washington is in the middle of issuing for five wastewater dischargers on the Spokane River.

The dischargers each asked for “variances” to exceed even the less restrictive limits as they work to reduce the pollution they put into the river.

Their permits include a limit of 170 parts per quadrillion for PCBs at “end of pipe,” but could be reopened to match the stricter standard once EPA finalizes its process, says Stephanie May, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Ecology.

The stricter standard of 7 parts per quadrillion for PCBs is a near-zero limit that advocates say is necessary to drive innovation in water

Political swings affect efforts to clean the Spokane River.

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

cleanup and protect the health of the river, fish and people.

Spokane Riverkeeper Jerry White says the regulatory teeter-totter is a sign of the “politicization” of what should be science-based standards.

“If you set a low bar, we’ve watched this over and over, it’s really easy for nothing to happen,” White says. “I feel like this tight new water quality standard will continue to tension the system so we can prevent this foot dragging.” (SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL)

HIRESTORM ’22

For years, the Spokane City Council has been aggravated about the fire department’s overtime spending. Last year, the fire department paid roughly $9 million in overtime, as COVID-19 and a brutal wildfire season magnified the already thorny issue.

Last year, 20 firefighters each logged over 1,000 hours of overtime — effectively working a half-time job on top of their full-time job.

An independent overtime study, paid for by the city budget two years ago, is scheduled to be completed this fall. But the Spokane Fire Department already knows one of the biggest problems: They don’t have enough firefighters on staff.

“Currently as we sit today, we have 38 vacant firefighter positions,” Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer said at Monday’s Public Safety and Community Health Committee Meeting. The vaccine mandate had exacerbated the staffing shortage, and if voters don’t vote to maintain the fire levy in the April 26 special election — worth $13 million over the next six years — that problem could get even worse. The levy funds approximately 80 positions.

But Schaeffer told the committee the department is aiming to recruit up to 40 new firefighters by early 2023. That could either mean running two 20-person academies or one supersized fire academy. Schaeffer says that they already have 129 candidates who have applied, but cautions that there’s no guarantee that will be enough to get to 40 recruits.

“We are not going to drop our standards or settle,” Schaeffer says.

Spokane Fire Union President Randy Marler says if they get enough qualified recruits, they can re-establish a relief pool, a way to reduce overtime across the department by assigning some employees to cover openings created by sick leave and vacations. Ideally, it pays for itself.

“As long as we can get the 40, we can put at least a few people on relief on each shift,” Marler says. (DANIEL WALTERS) n

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You get older, but Napoleon Dynamite stays the same age.

HECK YES! CULT CLASSIC

Jon Heder reflects on the “boom” of Napoleon Dynamite as he readies for Spokane visit

BY MADISON PEARSON

14 INLANDER APRIL 14, 2022

F

eaturing major plot points such as ligers, chapstick, selling Tupperware and an epic solo dance sequence to “Canned Heat” by Jamiroquai, no other film comes close to offering what Napoleon Dynamite gave film lovers almost 18 years ago.

The film is lovingly embraced as a bonafide cult classic nowadays. It’s widely loved by myriad audiences who understand the appeal of a simple, slapstick-esque film that leaves you asking “What was that even about?” once you’ve finished. (And maybe with a hankering for some tots.) More than a hit, the movie became an absolute phenomenon and was quoted everywhere from middle school hallways to the MTV Music Video awards.

“It’s about this crusty-looking kid who wears awkward clothes and moon boots,” says Jon Heder, who plays the film’s titular character. “‘Crusty’ embodies everything about Napoleon Dynamite. Not in a malicious way — he just wants to be cool, and he doesn’t give a crud about what people think about him.”

Before Napoleon Dynamite premiered at Sundance Film Festival in 2004, Heder and Jared Hess, eventual director of the film, worked on a short film together called Peluca, which unknowingly became the predecessor of Napoleon Dynamite.

Peluca, which means wig in Spanish, is like a younger sibling of Napoleon. Though much shorter, many aspects made it into the full-length movie: the action figure that gets thrown out of a school bus window in the opening scene, lunchroom antics, and Pedro, the fiercely loyal friend of the main character.

“It all started with one class I took in college: intermediate production,” Heder says. “We all had to make short films for an assignment. Jared approached me and asked me to be the bully character in Peluca, but then said, ‘Maybe you’d do better with the main character.’ That character, Seth, was who eventually turned into the character of Napoleon.”

After the premiere of the short film at Slamdance Film Festival in 2003, Hess began work on turning it into a feature-length film.

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T

he entirety of Napoleon was filmed in a tiny, rural Idaho town called Preston, just 12 miles north of the Utah border where Hess had spent summers in his childhood. The air was dry, and the sun blazed down on the actors and film crew all hours of the day. Dedicated fans make the pilgrimage to Preston to this day, visiting Napoleon’s house, the thrift store where he buys his incredible brown suit, and to the co-op where Napoleon made a dollar an hour rearranging “large talon”-ed chickens.

“I actually never saw the WEEKEND full thing until it premiered at C O U N T D OW N Sundance,” Heder says. “I just Get the scoop on this remember it being a whirlwind weekend’s events with and thinking to myself ‘How our newsletter. Sign up at many people are gonna see it, Inlander.com/newsletter. and what kind of people are gonna see it?’”

Once Napoleon Dynamite was officially released in June 2004, Heder was approached by celebrities like Tom Cruise, David Letterman and James Cameron who confessed their love for the movie.

“That June after Sundance is when I noticed a huge shift in my life,” Heder says. “I was no longer Jon Heder, I was Napoleon Dynamite.”

Whenever he’s approached in public, Heder says it’s almost always a fan of Napoleon asking for a photo or for him to recite an iconic quote. Heder has appeared in other comedy films like The Benchwarmers and Blades of Glory, where he stars as Jimmy MacElroy alongside Will Ferrell, who plays his nemesis-turned-ice skating partner, Chazz Michael Michaels, but Heder says that Napoleon still has life left in it thanks to the diehard fans.

“A few years ago we started talking about doing a mini show,” Heder says. “It was sort of unplanned and out of the blue, but now we’re touring around doing the Film and Conversation events, and it’s just a bucket of fun.”

The Napoleon Dynamite Film and Conversation is finally coming to Spokane after some rescheduling due to the pandemic.

On April 16, local fans of Napoleon Dynamite can make their way to the Fox Theater for a showing of the movie and a Q&A with Jon Heder and Efren Ramirez, who starred as Pedro Sanchez.

“It’s always so fun to get back together with the cast,” Heder says. “We have the best time, we mess around, and the fans are what really make it. People come dressed up in ‘Vote for Pedro’ shirts, and so many people bring tots with them. We have such a well-rounded and healthy fan base. You would think this movie would draw in weirdos, but everyone is always just the best.”

In the 18 years since its release, the world has changed immensely, but Napoleon Dynamite will always be there to celebrate the nerd within all of us.

“I hope that we can bring in a new generation of Napoleon lovers,” Heder says. “It changed my life and so many others, it’s such a special thing.” n Napoleon Dynamite: The Film and Conversation • Sat, April 16 at 7:30 pm • $35-$150 • Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox • 1001 W. Sprague Ave. • foxtheaterspokane.org • 509-624-1200

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The Dreamworks show fills most of the MAC.

Teamwork Makes the Dreamworks

ALYSSA HUGHES PHOTOS

Shrek, sharks and Kung Fu Panda: Spokane becomes the first U.S. destination for new Dreamworks Animation exhibit

BY MADISON PEARSON

D

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16 INLANDER APRIL 14, 2022

on’t even try to deny it, you’re a total sucker for an animated children’s movie.

There’s an indisputable charm to movies about talking zoo animals and kung fu-fighting pandas that capture the hearts of adults and children alike. That’s what makes the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture’s new exhibition so special.

Dreamworks Animation: The Exhibition — The Journey from Sketch to Screen is sure to drop jaws and put sparkles into the eyes of all who gaze at the exhibit’s expansive, and nostalgia-inducing, contents. The initial idea came from a partnership between the ACMI (Australia’s national museum of film, television, video games and art) and Dreamworks Animation Studios, and their collective desire to give audiences the opportunity to explore over 25 years of storytelling through animated movies.

The show dates to 2014, having appeared in Singapore, South Korea, Mexico, Brazil, Taiwan and many other places in the years since.

Now, because of scheduling conflicts due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the MAC in Spokane has the honor of being the first location in the United

States to host Dreamworks Animation: The Exhibition— The Journey from Sketch to Screen.

“This has been an amazing process, getting this extraordinary exhibition all the way to Spokane from Australia,” says Wes Jessup, executive director of the MAC. “I’ve been in the field for 27 years, and I’ve never shipped an exhibition by boat. It arrived a week late due to port issues, but we’re just so thrilled that it’s here.”

The exhibit takes up all but two rooms inside of the MAC’s main exhibition space. Every wall has been turned into a physical storyboard of various Dreamworks movies. Shrek is shown in his preliminary stages: covered in boils and looking much more wrinkly than usual. Research for The Croods is laid out on a desk, showing all who pass by how the setting was developed from photos of desert landscapes. Sculptures and tables rest low to the ground so young eyes can easily gaze upon the stories unfolding before them.

“There aren’t enough words to express how amazing this exhibit truly is,” Jessup says. “There are so many pieces and moving parts; our team did such an incredible job making the vision come to life right before our eyes.”

T

he exhibition is split into four main sections: character, story, world and the drawing room. It’s designed to take attendees through the process of creating a full-fledged story, starting with how the iconic characters from childhood, like Toothless the Dragon, Po the Kung Fu Panda and Puss in Boots, were created.

The characters start as a rough sketch on a piece of paper — jagged lines and vague ideas of what the character’s personality will entail are thrown down, awaiting further research. From that sketch comes a carefully carved marquette, a sculptor’s small preliminary model of character design. Scattered above the exhibits are audio domes that play interviews from illustrators, animators and production designers.

Once the characters are created, artists, directors, writers and producers take attendees through the step-by-step journey of creating a digital storyboard. Dialogue is written and legendary scenes, like Shrek and Donkey’s first encounter, are pitched and fleshed out before the animation begins. The “World” portion of the exhibition showcases how each Dreamworks film gets its distinct look and feel through the process of inspiration and detailed research.

When the journey through the Dreamworks Animation show has seemingly concluded and there are no more rooms to explore, take the time to visit the Drawing Room.

Try your hand at animating your own short sequence with characters and scenes you design on a digital animation kiosk using the same technology and software used by the Dreamworks animators.

“This exhibit is so special to me,” says Chris Harris, director of exhibitions and touring at ACMI. “We spent two weeks at the studio in an amazing and immersive experience. We learned so much about diversity and creativity.”

Harris states that the team spent over two years creating this exhibit and getting it ready to be shown in museums around the world.

“One year was spent working with Dreamworks, and the other year was spent working on the process of designing and building it,” Harris says. “It speaks to the enduring appeal of great storytelling and the sheer fun, exuberance and diverse creativity that Dreamworks movies bring to the world. It’s hard work— the movies don’t just appear out of thin air.”

Before its literal voyage to Spokane, the exhibit was in storage for the duration of the pandemic. The dust has been blown away, the sculpted figures re-posed and the contents updated for the exhibit’s stint in Spokane.

“This exhibit was born out of technical innovation, inspired artists and hard work,” Harris says. “With that we hope to inspire a new generation of young creatives that will eventually take over and create the kind of magic that made this exhibit possible.” n Dreamworks Animation: The Exhibition — Journey From Sketch To Screen • Through Sept. 11; open Tue-Sun from 10 am-5 pm • $15-$20 • Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture • 2316 W. First Ave • northwestmuseum. org • 509-456-3931

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CULTURE | DIGEST

WHY WE NEED MEDIOCRE JOURNALISM

THE BUZZ BIN

How to use THIS

PULL-OUT SECTION

Bad journalism erodes our faith in institutions — but so does great journalism

W

BY DANIEL WALTERS

e journalists love to blame the rise of distrust in experts on dishonest disinformation merchants, on the Alex Joneses and Donald Trumps and Vladimir Putins of the world.

But sometimes journalism itself contributes. Yes, obviously, part of that is bad journalism: Every big scoop that turns out to be wrong — from weapons of mass destruction in Iraq to claims that Hunter Biden’s laptop was just Russian disinformation — just feeds that sense that no one is trustworthy. If those charged with separating truth from lies can’t even tell the difference, then how can anyone believe anything?

Here’s the thing: Often, it’s also great journalism that’s the thing eroding our faith in government, business and other journalistic outlets. In many ways, that’s the primary side effect of holding those in power accountable.

The Washington Post breaking the Watergate scandal was one of the most celebrated journalistic coups of all time.

After all, it unseated a president. But it also meant that the percentage of Americans who believed their leaders constantly lied to them leapt from 32 percent in 1972 to 68 percent in 1975.

It wasn’t disinformation that sparked the frenzy of conspiratorial thinking in the 1970s, in other words: It was actual conspiracy, exposed by journalists. Look up Gallup polls, and you can watch trust in pharmaceutical companies collapse as reporting on the opioid epidemic ramps up. You can watch faith in organized religion plunge after the Boston Globe’s Spotlight investigation exposed the Catholic Church’s coverup in sexual abuse.

Exposing this kind of corruption is

18 INLANDER APRIL 14, 2022

the primary role of journalism, but we pay a cost as well: You add to the forces chipping away at our faith in every aspect of society. For some people, there’s nothing left but a kind of weary nihilism, and they turn to vigilantism, quack cures, and wild conspiracy theories.

The Miami Herald’s coverage of Jeffrey Epstein revealed how the powerful had been protecting a monstorous sexual predator, but as a side-effect, stoked existing conspiracy theories about networks of elite pedophiles.

So if both bad and good journalism destroys faith in institutions, what actually helps rebuild trust? Mediocre journalism.

I’m talking about the bread-and-butter filler of daily papers in the old days: the recaps of relatively placid city council meetings, the everyone-enjoyed-the-parade stories, the ribbon cutting of the new wing at the hospital. As daily newspapers get thinner — or disappear entirely — we’ve lost a lot of this kind of reporting.

These stories aren’t flashy. They’re the kind of ho-hum pieces that implicitly defend the status quo. Instead of speaking truth to power, they tell power, “Eh, you’re more-orless doing OK.” To be clear, I’m not adopting the view of conspiracy movievillains, about how a lie is necessary to prevent panic, about how the truth would tear our society asunder, about how the common folk need a myth to believe in. Without investigative journalism, the seedy side of the status quo gets covered up, rotting society from the inside. That’s why I do it. But if all that people read is the kind of journalism that exposes liars — the kind of stuff that goes viral most often — it can create its own sort of distortion: that everyone’s a liar, so we can’t really trust anyone.

Shocking reporting, then, has to be balanced by the boring stuff: A lot of arrests really are justified, a lot of pharmaceutical research really is about improving health, a lot of politicians really do want to improve constituents’ lives. Not everyone is a monster, not everything’s falling apart, and not everyone is lying all the time. To speak that truth, you can’t just rely on investigative reporters. You need day-to-day grinders, too. n

BANTER! What’s the best part of the Marvel movies? The intricately choreographed action scenes? The riveting sexual tension? The raw explorations of the frailty of the human condition? No, silly, it’s the funny banter of course. So the one thing — maybe the only thing — the GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY video game needed to do was to get that banter right. And it actually succeeds marvelously, with the non-celebrity voice actors matching — and even surpassing — the performances of their big screen counterparts. Sure, there are few too many repeated lines, but the timing of the delivery — which has weighed down far too many funny computer games — is essentially perfect. (DANIEL WALTERS) WORKPLACE WHODUNIT Zakiya Dalila Harris’s debut novel, THE OTHER BLACK GIRL, is an ambitious yarn that bites off a lot. It’s a satire of sorts, pointedly mocking the characters in a lily-white publishing house where the protagonist Nella, the only black employee, works in New York City as an editor’s assistant. It’s a thriller, too, thanks to mysterious threatening notes that start to land on Nella’s desk at the office. And it’s a stirring look at race as Nella works to address some blatantly offensive passages in the latest book of her boss’s best-selling author. Harris’ prose propels you forward, pushing you to keep reading thanks to a series of cliffhangers that beg for resolution before you can set the book aside. (DAN NAILEN) THIS WEEK’S PLAYLIST Noteworthy new music arriving in stores and online April 15: KURT VILE, (WATCH MY MOVES). Does every slow, mumbly guitarrock song from Kurt Vile sound exactly the same?

Yes. Do people seem to mind? Apparently not!

SWEDISH HOUSE MAFIA, PARADISE AGAIN. The influential house music supergroup that paved the way for the EDM boom reunites to put out its first new music in a decade.

TIM KASHER, MIDDLING AGE. The Cursive frontman cuts deep with his witty and heartbreaking observations about growing old, growing lonely and falling apart. (SETH SOMMERFELD)

Pull down then out

NOT a joint

NOT a hat

NOT a phone.

YES! A Cannabis Resource to keep and share with friends

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PULL-OUT & KEEP! CANNABIS ISSUE

APRIL 14, 2022 INLANDER 19

20 INLANDER APRIL 14, 2022

CONTENTS Cannabis Cookbooks CBD & Pets 26 Weed Weirdness 30 Stoner Shows 32 Too High 36

10 YEARS OF WEED Mike Boyer dressed the part to become Spokane's first legal pot buyer at Spokane Green Leaf in 2014.

24

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

After the 2012 legalization vote, has Washington’s experience with cannabis paid off?

I

t’s been nearly eight years since July 2014, when Todd Bennatt — an environmental engineer at Kaiser Aluminum — opened the doors at Spokane Green Leaf. It was the first recreational marijuana retail shop in Spokane County, and may have been the first legal recreational marijuana retail shop in the entire state.

And that means, outside of Colorado, Bennatt and his partner had opened one of the first legal recreational weed dispensaries in the whole country.

“Some of our friends in Spokane were really shocked that both of us went into this industry,” Bennatt says.

A decade ago, voters in Washington state and Colorado approved ballot initiatives approving the legalization of marijuana. It cut across political lines in unpredictable ways in 2012.

Even the Spokesman-Review editorial section — which typically endorses Republicans — supported the measure, proclaiming that legalizing weed would free up vast amounts of law enforcement resources for more serious tasks, and eventually “the nation might finally free itself from the costly, irrational yoke of prohibition.”

But gubernatorial candidate Jay Inslee explained that he was voting against it.

“I’m a parent, I’m just not comfortable right now,” Inslee said back in 2012.

Inslee spokeswoman Jaime Smith recalls the candidate wrestling with his conflicted feelings.

“It was like, nobody else had ever done this,” Smith says, “Nobody knew the impacts for youth.”

Flash forward six years later, after being elected, and Inslee’s bragging on Real Time with Bill Maher that Washington state could “honestly say we’ve got the best weed

BY DANIEL WALTERS in the United States of America.” His uncertainty is gone.

By now, 16 other states have followed Washington and Colorado’s example and legalized recreational marijuana. Medical marijuana is legal in 39 states. And the industry has transformed. When Bennatt started out, he only had two strains of weed. It took six months to stock edibles, and the only kind available were cookies.

Now, he says, he can offer strains for every kind of mood and personality, and they have 80 different kinds of edibles — savory edibles, sweet edibles, chocolate edibles, gummy edibles, drinkable edibles.

“Even after eight years, I’m amazed when I see something new come out,” he says. “It’s like, ‘Wow, how did they think of this?’”

If there was a huge downside to all this legalization, the public hasn’t been convinced: Public opinion has lurched dramatically in marijuana’s direction, leaping from about half the country supporting legalization to almost two-thirds.

The only thing Bennatt’s really surprised by is that legalization hasn’t happened everywhere yet.

“We’re all kind of waiting with bated breath,” Bennatt says. “I kind of expected United States-wide legalization to happen by now.”

But the verdict on legalization has been a lot messier than advocates imply.

Yes, cannabis did raise more than a half-billion dollars annually in tax revenue, more than double what liquor taxes raised. But local governments were given just crumbs.

“It was a real boon for the state budget, not so much for the county,” Spokane County Commissioner Al

French says. “The state decided they wanted to keep the money.”

Less than 3 percent of the windfall last year went to local governments, though Washington state Senate Majority Leader Andy Billig says the Legislature has since refined the funding formulas.

Cannabis growers, local retailers, law enforcement, the state Liquor and Cannabis Board, and local governments have all had to grapple with a thicket of shifting regulations and looming questions — some that still don’t have definitive answers.

What about banking? How do they regulate pesticides in the industry? How about the smells coming from big grow operations? What do cops do with drug-sniffing dogs that are primarily trained to smell marijuana? Has all this raised or lowered crime?

And — as always — what about the children?

THE KIDS ARE SQUARES?

It wasn’t like Inslee’s concerns about underage youth using marijuana went away after recreational marijuana was legalized for those over 21. Those concerns drove public awareness campaigns and restrictions on a wide variety of advertisements.

Every two years, a sample of middle and high school students in Washington state are given the “Healthy Youth Survey,” where they’re anonymously asked questions about, say, whether they drink alcohol, have sex or smoke marijuana. In 2012, 9 percent of eighth graders, 19 percent of high school sophomores and 27 percent of high school seniors said they’d smoked marijuana in the past month. ...continued on next page

APRIL 14, 2022 INLANDER 21

“10 YEARS OF WEED,” CONTINUED...

But legalization had the chance to radically change that: Starting in 2014, marijuana became a lot more like beer. Theoretically, kids didn’t need a dealer, just an older brother — or anyone over 21, really — willing to go to a dispensary and pick some up for them.

Instead, something astonishing happened: Nothing. It was almost eerie: In 2014, 2016 and 2018, the percentage of students — middle schoolers, sophomores and seniors — saying they’d recently used marijuana didn’t move at all outside the margin of error.

It didn’t surprise Billig. It’s what he predicted. When he’d talk to groups of high school students before the law passed, he says, he always asked them the same question.

“I’d say, ‘What’s easier to get? A bottle of vodka or marijuana?’ And it was always marijuana,” Billig says. “People aren’t selling vodka on the side, right? You couldn’t go to somebody’s garage and buy vodka.”

Replace the black market with a regulated one, he believed, and it actually wouldn’t be easier for students to get their hands on weed.

Other parts of the survey show that there’s been a slow, but noticeable, shift in youth culture, starting long before the pandemic. Fewer high school seniors are reporting ever having had sex. There hasn’t been as much drinking. It’s not an entirely happy story — depression and anxiety have increased.

But after COVID hit, the number of students reporting recent marijuana usage didn’t just hold steady — it plummeted in every grade level surveyed.

In 2021, only 16 percent of high school seniors, 7 percent for sophomores, and a scant 3 percent of eighth graders reported recent marijuana use.

Dan Barth, leader of the Spokane County COVID-19 Behavioral Task Force, says his contacts floated a few theories. Maybe the survey administered electronically this time was skewed. Maybe with schools closed and fewer parties being thrown, students had less access to restricted drugs. Emergency room physicians, he says, saw increases in the number of kids abusing substances like caffeine pills and bath salts, the kinds of things they could more easily obtain at gas stations.

Yet for adults, there was the opposite trend. Barth says he saw alcohol and marijuana usage go way up. People were trapped sitting at home, other coping strategies — like going to the gym — were locked down, while Inslee declared both liquor stores and cannabis dispensaries “essential businesses” immune from lockdown.

“The microroutines that we manage our stresses were removed from us,” says Barth. “There was an obscene amount thrown at the human condition over the last couple years. “ Marijuana sales soared. From 2019 to 2021, cannabis tax revenue spiked by over 42 percent.

“People were looking for ways to de-stress,” Bennatt says.

“Marijuana tends to have the effect: to relax you and make things easier to deal with.”

VIOLENCE AND DEATH

Some observers worried that the big increase in access to marijuana was increasing crime. Before he became a virulent antivaxxer, author Alex Berenson was arguing Washington state’s drug experiment laws had triggered a bloodbath in murders and aggravated assaults.

But more careful evaluations by more, well, sober-minded academics found nothing of the sort. Washington State University criminal justice researcher Dale Willits methodically compared three years before marijuana legalization was implemented in Washington and Colorado to three years after and found that, while there was an initial impact on property crimes in Colorado, there weren’t any apparent long-term effects on major crimes in either state.

“What we’re really saying, the trends for crime for Washington and Colorado were the same as they were from other states that didn’t legalize,” Willits says.

Still, Willits cautions that it could take years — even decades

22 INLANDER APRIL 14, 2022

— for the full impact of legalization to come into focus.

Incarceration has decreased, but it’s difficult for experts to separate the legalization from all the other factors that have contributed to falling jail populations in the state. Racial disparities due to marijuana-related arrests fell, but officials have now identified another kind of racial disparity: the lack of racial minorities represented in the cannabis retailer business.

And it looks like there has been an increase in fatal DUI accidents. On average, the number of fatal vehicle accidents with impaired drivers in Washington state is about 18 percent higher than it was three years before the new law took effect.

“I definitely don’t think we are going in the right direction,” says Sgt. Ryan Raymond with the Washington State Patrol.

But most of that increase didn’t come from DUI accidents involving only cannabis. Instead, the big increase came from those who were both drunk and high at the time. Of fatal accidents in Washington involving drivers impaired by marijuana, about threequarters of them were also on another substance, typically alcohol.

“Alcohol seems to be a much larger issue for traffic safety,” Willits says.

It remains unclear exactly how much the legal cannabis business has replaced the illegal market.

“You can get an eighth of flower for $15,” says Bennatt, the Spokane Green Leaf owner. “How does the black market compete with that?”

But without as many arrests and raids, the black market has become much more opaque. Brian Smith, spokesman for the state’s Liquor and Cannabis Board, says that experts expected about a quarter of the illegal market to remain no matter what the legal market does. And the black market in neighboring Oregon, according to a recent Politico exposé, is thriving.

You can get an eighth of flower for $15. How does the black market compete with that?”

Much more recently, there’s been one area where crime is connected to marijuana dispensaries — they’ve become victims of armed robberies. In Western Washington, there have been about 70 armed robberies of cannabis dispensaries in 2022 alone. Two employees have been shot.

“The retailers are very afraid,” Smith says. “They have really stepped up armed security.”

But that’s more a symptom of cannabis not being legal enough.

With marijuana still technically banned at the federal level, banks and credit card companies have been wary of providing services to cannabis retailers at all. The result? They have a lot of cash on hand, making them prime targets. The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a legislative fix to the banking problem six different times — and has even voted to decriminalize marijuana twice. But the Senate won’t budge.

It’s not as much of an issue in Spokane, where Bennatt says multiple credit unions are willing to work with dispensaries, and Bennatt stresses that he can take debit cards.

But that’s why it still feels absurd: The federal government wants to have it both ways.

“We’re doing something that’s federally illegal, but you damn sure better make your IRS quarterly payments on time,” Bennatt says.

But there’s no question that, bit by bit, the stigma against cannabis has changed, he says.

“Over the years, many people that we knew that were totally against it are now regular customers,” he says.

He allows himself a little bit of gloating.

“See, we told you,” Bennatt tells them. “Isn’t it nice to have a little gummy at the end of the long week?” n

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APRIL 14, 2022 INLANDER 23

Elevated Dining Cannabis cookbooks geared toward ganja gourmands and culinary newbies alike

BY CARRIE SCOZZARO

F

or all you culinary cannabis virgins out there, I feel you.

Although I was in my 20s when High Times let cannabis out of the bag with its culinary-focused “Psychedelic Kitchen” spotlight, I have never worked with weed in the kitchen. Nor have I (knowingly) consumed the ubiquitous pot brownie, even though I am of the age when the home-baked stoner sweet was popular.

For newbies unwilling to waste weed and disinclined to eat something that tasted like our lawns, basic cannabis-oriented cookbooks provide a great place to start. For serious stoners, there are plenty of elevated culinary books, too.

EDIBLES FOR BEGINNERS: A CANNABIS COOKBOOK

Pot brownie fans have a friend in Portland-based Laurie Wolf, whose recipes have been featured in such heady publications as Dope Magazine, High Times, and The Cannabist, including for award-winning pot brownies. Wolf is joined by daughter-in-law,

24 INLANDER APRIL 14, 2022

Mary — together they comprise laurieandmaryjane.com — in this ganja guide to making magical almond cookies, doped-up deviled eggs and more. The authors cover the basics, from identifying parts of the plant, extracting the fun stuff through a process called decarboxylation or “decarbing,” and converting the extractions into such marijuana cooking mainstays as tinctures, oils and flour.

BONG APPÉTIT: MASTERING THE ART OF COOKING WITH WEED

When you’re ready to move beyond the basics, check out this collaboration between the editors at Vice Media’s MUNCHIES food website and cannabis industry pioneers like Elise McDonough, a former High Times staffer and cookbook author. The book is based on a James Beard-nominated Viceland TV show of the same name with episodes like “Puff, Puff, Pastry” and “Eggs and Bakin.’” Some of that swagger is evident in the cookbook, with recipes aimed at those with access to high-falutin’ stuff like distillates, tinctures and terpenes. But there are plenty of simple recipes for newbies and those living in hemp holdout states (like Idaho) who might only have access to basic buds. Find the show at vicetv.com and the book at bookshop.org and other outlets.

THE CBD COOKBOOK FOR BEGINNERS: 100 SIMPLE AND DELICIOUS RECIPES USING CBD

If getting high isn’t part of your jam, try a little CBD-infused nut butter on your morning toast to take the aches away. Seattle-based Mary J. White’s straightforward approach explains how one can have pain-relieving CBD without THC, the chemical that lifts you above your pain into a state of temporary euphoria.

You’re still working with cannabis albeit cannabis ruderalis, better known as hemp. And if you want to try recipes for baked artichoke dip or infused maple syrup with the other types of cannabis, you’ll need to figure out dosage yourself…one tasty bite at a time.

Visit maryjwhite.com.

CANNABIS DRINKS: SECRETS TO CRAFTING CBD AND THC BEVERAGES AT HOME

Market research suggests that 2022 will be a year of record cannabis growth: $30 billion or more in sales. A big bite out of the pie isn’t a bite at all but a sip, with cannabis-forward beverages leading the way. The author of Cannabis Drinks, Jamie Evans, is founder of The Herb Somm whose brand is equal parts Giada De Laurentis and Martha Stewart. Evans provides recipes for jazzed up juices, both canna-cocktails and mocktails, and assorted other beverages.

Start your day with a marijuana milkshake or tame that throat tickle with an infused tea. This book is full of beautifully photographed drinks for every occasion. Visit theherbsomm.com. n

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A CURE FOR ANIMAL AILMENTS?

Can CBD ease pain, stress and more in cats and dogs? Sometimes, but the science is still very new

A

s the variety of cannabis-derived supplements made for pets has grown over the past decade, more owners may find themselves asking: Is CBD a safe or effective option for my cat or dog?

The answer, unfortunately, is not clear. Scientific research on how CBD affects pets — specifically dogs and cats — remains largely insufficient. At the same time, there’s anecdotal evidence that CDB helps reduce stress, anxiety and inflammation in animals, among other conditions.

CBD, or cannabidiol, is a nonpsychoactive chemical component of cannabis plants, specifically derived from hemp, which contains trace amounts of THC. (Marijuana, on the other hand, has a significant amount of THC, which is toxic and even lethal to cats and dogs.)

Aquila Brown, owner of the north Spokane pet supply shop the Yuppy Puppy, has many stories about how CBD has helped her own dogs, and those of countless clients. She’s also quick to point out that she was, until recently, extremely skeptical of CBD’s potential benefits for both people and pets.

Her view changed when one of her beloved furry family members was diagnosed with terminal cancer and then stopped eating. She’d exhausted nearly all other options to stimulate the dog’s appetite and improve its quality of life for as long as possible… except for CBD. “It really helped with his appetite, and because he could eat better, he got better nutrition,” Brown says. “He was initially given two months to live, but lived for two more years.”

BY CHEY SCOTT One of Brown’s current dogs, a rescued chihuahua mix that had nine separate owners during the first yearand-a-half of its life, also benefits from CBD to treat severe anxiety. Daily doses of CBD-infused treats help this otherwise high-stress, highly reactive dog (who’s also been through plenty of training) exist more “normally,” Brown says.

“I can tell you that despite five years of me loving him dearly — and my pets are my universe — he is still a high-strung, beast of a dog,” she says. “He gets it two times a day, every day, and it’s taken a lot of the edge off.

Before, he would sit in the corner of the couch with big eyes and shake, and every noise would make him bark.”

W

hile these CBD success stories may prompt fellow dog and cat owners to try it, they should first be aware of why uncertainty about the substance exists among veterinary pros.

Research on how CBD affects animals is still in its infancy. And because CBD products for animals aren’t federally regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (as are all other drugs approved for animal and/or human use), many veterinarians are hesitant to recommend it. This lack of regulatory oversight introduces concerns over quality, safety and consistency from manufacturers in the pet CBD market.

“Although the veterinary profession is working to understand how CBD works in dogs and cats and what conditions it can help through scientific studies, research is lacking,” says Dr. Raelynn Farnsworth, chief medical officer of Washington State University’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital in Pullman.

“Until more research is done in these areas and safe doses have been determined, most veterinarians are not comfortable using it,” Farnsworth continues. “While veterinarians can still prescribe them, most are unwilling to use a medication that is not FDA-approved. As a profession, we are watching carefully when and if FDA approval [for CBD] comes, and to what products,

so that we can prescribe them safely to our patients.”

For pet owners seeking a deeper dive into the veterinary profession’s current stance on CBD, the American Veterinary Medical Association offers a guide on its website (avma.org). BetterPet (betterpet.com), a pet owner resource created by veterinary professionals, also offers detailed insight on the topic, specifically regarding dogs.

A

fter talking to their veterinarian about CBD, local pet owners can also visit the Yuppy Puppy, where Brown and her staff field daily customer questions about the many options, from chewy dog treats to flavored broth, dropper-applied oils and rub-on balms.

“We really try to be an objective and educated and trusted outlet,” she says. “Over the last two to three years, CBD has become really mainstream, and more people have questions. We sell a ton of CBD products — I couldn’t even tell you how much.”

Since seeing how CBD aided her own dogs, Brown’s goal has been to become as educated as possible on the topic, both as a business owner and animal advocate.

She’s hosted informative sessions about CBD at her store, and she trains staff to consult with customers on how to select and administer products. The store also offers a flexible return policy if customers don’t see positive results.

“I like to have a personal conversation with people, and that’s why we do so many consults,” she says. “We want to be able to explain why we think it’s beneficial.

And in some situations, it’s not. Like, being a wild, crazy puppy is not a situation for CBD.” Two of Brown’s favorite, trusted CBD pet brands are Austin & Kat and Super Snouts.

When shopping for pet CBD, she says it’s important to make sure a company has products independently tested by a third party for purity and safety, and that the supplements are created especially for pets, from the growing of hemp to harvesting, extraction and manufacture. (CBD made for humans could contain other harmful ingredients or higher trace amounts of THC and should never be used on animals.)

“We have a black-and-white line about CBD,” Brown says.

“We know it’s not going to cure cancer, or keep [pets] from getting cancer. Can it help with seizures? Yes, but don’t go off your dog’s seizure medication.

You have to know the benefits and limitations.” n

Dosing dogs with CBD is increasingly common.

26 INLANDER APRIL 14, 2022

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APRIL 14, 2022 INLANDER 27

Spring showers bring Blue Roots flowers! The Blue Roots strain committee is excited to release some new flavors for the summer. We are even bringing back some of your favorite throwback strains for the season! Our entire team is constantly striving towards the same goal, to deliver you the best, and of course, the most potent products as possible. Thank you for your support! You’ve been here for us, and we are here to stay for YOU. Please have a safe 420 holiday, and stay true to your roots.

Having recently been voted “Best Cannabis Brand” by readers of the Inlander, Blue Roots would like to share with you what makes us so unique. Almost all of our concentrates come from Blue Roots flower. That means that our concentrate line comes from the same quality flower you see on the shelves. On the occasion we decide to outsource some flower to supplement the demand for our products, we have the cannabis tested for pesticides and potency before it’s run by the in-house labratory, right here at our facility in Airway Heights, WA. 28 INLANDER APRIL 14, 2022

If you have not had the pleasure of smoking a Blue Roots Cannatela Crush, now is the time to awaken your tastebuds. Summer Flavors: Watermelon, Pina Colada, Tropical Punch, Blue Raspberry, Peach Mango, Kiwi Strawberry, Green Apple, Strawberry Lemonade.

Leafly’s strain of the year for 2021 was Do-Si-Dos. It’s currently on the shelves from Blue Roots this 420, along with Pebble Cake and Grape Ape! Make sure to pick some up before the Sativa Summer begins! - Team Blue

Blue Roots brings you hash...

The first product we will bring to market is our Dry Sift Hash, you can roll your own infused joints, or sprinkle it onto your bowl for that extra kick! The introduction of hash to Blue Roots will give our labratory the foundation to a whole new line of products, the second will be the Blue Roots hash-infused Torpedo. Back by popular demand!

APRIL 14, 2022 INLANDER 29

Expect the Unexpected Cannabis is showing up in products (and places) you’d never expect

BY CLAIRE MUNDS

M

any shopping experiences inevitably lead patrons to a shining display of hemp, CBD or THC. Face washes and lotions infused with CBD, calming candles, pain-relieving tinctures and groovy snacks — these products are a logical extension of cannabis’ primary usage. But as capitalism drives our market forwards, some more surreal products have been placed upon shopping shelves. Let’s dive into some surprising pot products.

CDB SHEETS

Eddie Bauer’s CBD-infused comforter (which can be paired with their CBD-infused throw blanket) promises swaddling relaxation that ushers your deepest subconscious into powerful rest.

The product description suggests some top-notch encapsulat-

ing technology that defies the cleansing power of water — “because it’s micro-encapsulated in the fabric, the CBD remains even after washing.” The technical explanation is fuzzy, but it appears that CBD is added to the fiber waxing process during production.

Eddie Bauer isn’t the first bedding seller to sneak some CBD between the sheets, but it might be the most surprising retailer to hop on the hemp train. My retired neighbor buys sweaters from the Eddie Bauer mailer catalog and was absolutely scandalized that they presented her with drugs.

PURPLE KUSH CANDLE

The current market contains a suspicious number of weed products that smell like weed, but aren’t actually weed. While confusing, the

Purple Kush candle from Boy Smells and available at Nordstrom might fill the market of those who want to suggest the cool, ruleviolating activity of smokin’ pot without actually having to touch the drug.

Picture this — you light the candle. Your landlord knocks on your door, demanding that you cease smoking pot immediately!

You’ve violated the lease! Instead, you show them your weed candle. Checkmate — psychological torture inflicted!

Another use case — signaling to cool new friends that you are also totally cool. When potential new besties visit your pad, they think, “Wow! I smell weed. This person really is hip! I can trust them with my secrets!” Now you look cool without having to smoke pot (just make sure to hide the weed candle deep in the back of a closet).

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WARNING: This product has intoxicating affects and may be habit forming. Smoking is hazardous to your health. There may be health risks associated with consumption of this product. Should not be used by women that are pregnant or breast feeding. Marijuana products may be purchased or possessed only by persons 21 years of age or older. Marijuana can impair concentration, coordination and judgement. Do not operate a vehicle or machinery under the influence of this drug.

THE INDISPENSABLE SCRATCH & SNIFF GUIDE TO CANNABIS

Another “smells like weed but isn’t weed” product, which the authors emphasize is legal in all 50 states, entertains readers with zany factoids and guidance through the technicalities of smoking. What’s the difference between cannabis and hemp? How will indicas and sativas feel different?

Your nose will be your guide.

As a gift, the target demographic is a pickle to sort out. A gift for those just starting to ingest weed? For non-weed but also open-minded friends?

Coffee table book? Hostess gift for a fun housewarming?

WEED SALSA

There are dozens of DIY weed salsa recipes, but edible manufacturer Sweet Jane infuses 400mg (25mg/tablespoon) of THC into a jar of spicy pico. Skepticism abounds — trusting stoners to accurately dose THC through a chip dip seems wildly dangerous.

To satiate my curiosity, I tried the salsa thing. Heaping a cute lil’ dollop onto a chip, it was a way-more-fun way to get stoned than a gummy or vape hit. The salsa really says “the next couple hours is going to be zesty.”

Sweet Jane cans additional tasty THC spreads, including hazelnut spread (that’s what Nutella is), honey and blueberry jam. These seem like a much more predictable alternative to pretending that anyone has the self-control to only eat 1 chip laden with salsa.

PLANT - BASED CBD TOILET PAPER

CBD is soothing. Butts often need to be soothed. Toilet paper is an absorbent material that touches butts. It follows that someone would put CBD on toilet paper. The CBD toilet paper from Nordic Botanics is currently out of stock, but it smells more like an April Fool’s prank than an actual product available for purchase.

Cannabis toilet paper aside, butt woes still plague the majority of humans. There is considerable support for rear-end topical CBD to promote relaxation and reduce pain. CBD suppositories might be more up your back alley. n

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APRIL 14, 2022 INLANDER 31

JUST PUSH PLAY

Spark up one of these five bingeworthy and stoner-friendly shows, ranging from sci-fi to sitcoms to psychedelic weirdness

BY WILL MAUPIN

JOE PERA TALKS WITH YOU

Slow-paced, calm comedian Joe Pera plays Joe Pera, a self-described soft-handed choir teacher living in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Over three seasons, the most recent of which aired this past fall and is streaming on Adult Swim, Pera’s slice-of-life comedy has explored important topics such as breakfast food, shopping for groceries and finding a comfortable chair. Pera regularly breaks the fourth wall to, as the title would suggest, talk with you about them.

Pera and company highlight the weight and value of everyday experiences in a way few other shows manage, and the result is

Is It Cake? offers food, fun and optical illustions, a stoned streamer's delight. one of the most genuinely sweet things on television. If you ever find yourself a little too stoned, consider letting Joe Pera talk you to sleep, which he attempts in the series’ fifth episode.

BARRY

SNL alumnus Bill Hader ditches his signature inability to get through lines without breaking for a much more subtle humor in this dark comedy. Hader plays the titular Barry, a Marine veteranturned-hitman whose traumatic experiences have left him cold and numb. That is, until he unwittingly stumbles into a Los Angeles acting class taught by a self-important instructor played by Henry Winkler. It is through acting, and his classmates, that Barry begins to find connection, vulnerability and eventually intimacy. Though as he goes down this path of growth, he’s unable to fully remove himself from his violent past life due to ties with a rather quirky, though brutal, arm of the Chechen mafia. Season three debuts April 24 on HBO.

42 0 N e v e r E n d s at

IS IT CAKE?

Remember that recent trend in viral videos in which people would display something like a shoe or a clock, only to cut into it with a knife and reveal it was in fact an incredibly deceiving cake? Well, Netflix somehow made a whole 40-minute game show out of that concept. It’s not The Great British Baking Show when it comes to quality, but it’s great for those times you just need to mindlessly zone out for a bit.

ON CINEMA AT THE CINEMA

Comedians Tim Heidecker and Gregg Turkington, playing fictionalized versions of themselves, are two guys with a movie review show despite knowing nothing about movies. Over 10 years and 12 seasons, the theme of reviewing movies has remained central, though the expanded universe has spun off the rails to include leather-clad Italian rockers, family values, B-list legend Joe Estevez, alternative medicine and conspiracy theories that have come

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The slow building comedy plays out over 10-episode seasons of roughly 10 minutes per episode, always coming to a climax by the season finale, making it perfect to consume over two hours on the couch. Everything through season 11 is available to stream for free on the Hei Network (heinetwork. tv), with the more recent content, including last fall’s season 12, streaming behind a paywall.

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If stoned paranoia isn’t a problem for you, consider Station Eleven, which looks at an uncomfortably possible dystopia. Set two decades after a viral pandemic brings about the collapse of human civilization, the HBO Max miniseries tells the tale of a group of survivors, following multiple timelines and storylines, linked to one another by both their status as some of the few who made it through the pandemic and also by a hazy connection to a violent cult. The show ran from December through January, putting it firmly in the COVID era, though it is based upon a novel of the same name published six years before our real-life pandemic. n

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

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Too Damn High

Be careful what you wish for.

Reminiscence on the days before legalization, before weed became too strong for me

R

BY QUINN WELSCH

ecently, a friend asked me if I wanted to go for a toke outside of a bar. It’s an old ritual that I have usually happily agreed to. But lately, I have started getting better at politely declining.

Don’t get me wrong, I want to partake. I just know that it will only be a matter of minutes before my mind starts racing, my heart is pounding, and whatever upbeat mood I may have had becomes totally withdrawn and introverted. I can’t think straight, let alone carry on a conversation. Don’t lecture me on the difference between

indicas or sativas because this happens with both.

I am too damn high.

This happens to everyone who partakes from time to time, but it has happened to me with increasing frequency over the last several years.

As I have inevitably marched further into my 30s, products in the legal cannabis market have seemingly only gotten stronger. And I have almost completely stopped using as a result.

Call me crazy, but I sometimes miss the days before weed was legal.

I don’t miss the paranoia of getting busted by

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disapproving authority figures. I definitely don’t miss the days of waiting around Walmart parking lots late at night for shady dudes to sell you a loose baggy of (what was hopefully just) weed. I really don’t miss the sneering social stigma that still persists almost 10 years since its legalization.

I miss the weed. Smoking was a subversive experience, but it was also a social one that you made friends while doing. Sometimes the herb had a cool name, like “Diesel” or “AK-47” or “Purple Haze.” Sometimes it was blue, or covered in tiny crystals.

But it was still just weed. Nobody had any idea what the hell a terpene or cannabinoid was.

I

’m not knocking the legal industry.

Legalization made accessing weed as easy as going to the liquor store, and it made the experience just as safe. The cannabis industry has thrived off of its diversity of products. Its budtenders and scientists have done a great job of creating and selling products with different types of highs and different flavors, wrapped in stylish branding and endorsed by celebrities.

Consumers can buy flower, or vacuum-sealed packaging filled with cookies, gummies and chocolates that you might find at a convenience store. Want a THC-infused lemon cocktail? How about a peanut butter cup? Tincture? Transdermal patch? Suppository? Flavorless powder? It’s amazing to think any of this stuff was illegal to begin with.

The problem? None of these things are any fun.

Not for me anyway. Finding a product that serves a social function and provides a normal relaxing high is not easy, especially when most of the shelves are stocked with products engineered to blast you into another plane of consciousness.

Weak weed doesn’t exactly market itself very well either. Newbies or people looking to try cannabis for the first time want “the good stuff.” People with high tolerances and medical prescriptions probably feel the same way. There isn’t a good answer for people who just want a mellow high. Dad Grass, a California company that specializes in low-dose high-quality cannabis, has capitalized on this idea, although they haven’t made it into Washington’s weed market. Budtenders can help, but it's tough to find weed my speed. For now, I’m content going without.

The older I get, the more people I meet who agree. It could just be an unfortunate coincidence that the legal weed market is producing stronger product as I get older, as my life gets more stressful and as general anxieties increase. It could also just be that marijuana isn’t really for me anymore. It seems like more people, especially those in their 20s and 30s, are coming to the same conclusion.

Legal cannabis has come a long way in the United States since Washington and Colorado voters first approved it almost a decade ago. Sixteen other states have fully legalized recreational cannabis, and most states have some form of legalization on the books. I will always be proud of Washington (and Colorado) voters for taking a sensible approach to cannabis. There’s still a lot of work left to do, especially in Washington, but it’s work in the right direction.

You don’t have to be high to appreciate that. n

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

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OPENING

Familiar Famiglia Mossuto’s Italian showcases many talents of the Poole restaurant family

BY CARRIE SCOZZARO

Mossuto’s Italian has a menu full of Poole family recipes and chef Riley Campbell’s specials.

ERICK DOXEY PHOTO

M

ossuto’s Italian is a new north Spokane restaurant generations in the making, and honoring local restaurateur Lisa Poole’s Italian heritage.

“It’s been in the back of our minds for a long time,” says Lisa Poole, whose great-grandfather Giuseppe Mossuto arrived in the U.S. in 1907 from the town of San Marco in Lamis, located in the “heel” of Italy’s geographic “boot” shape.

Lisa, her husband, Scott, and the couple’s three now-grown sons have kept Mossuto family traditions alive, even if it’s been the Poole name on the family’s first two Spokane restaurants.

In 2013, they opened Poole’s Public House, a British-style pub. In 2016, the couple added a South Hill Poole’s (5620 S. Regal St.). In 2018, they moved the North Side pub into a new building (12310 N. Ruby Rd.) in the Fairwood neighborhood.

Mossuto’s, which opened in November 2021, was inspired by the Italian food that Lisa’s family grew up eating and now serves at the restaurant, like tender meatballs ($15) made with beef, pork and veal.

Lacking a wood-fired oven, Mossuto’s innovated for its pizzas ($16-$21), for which the dough is fried so it’s very crisp, then topped with goodies and baked, like the Italian ($21) with prosciutto, blue cheese and a red wine balsamic fig sauce.

Additional menu items include scratch-made pasta like bolognese with pork and beef over pappardelle ($23; add $2 for gluten-free pasta); salads like caprese with burrata cheese ($16); and appetizers like veal-stuffed portobello mushrooms ($16).

“I go back to our concept with Poole’s, [which] was we serve food the way we like it cooked,” Scott Poole says. “We wanted to serve things that [Lisa’s] family’s been making.”

Scott remembers weekend meals with Lisa’s family, like steak and clam linguine. Mossuto’s honors both on its menu with the chef’s cut steak (market priced), cooked-to-order and served with roasted fingerling potatoes and seasonal vegetables, as well as steamed clams ($20) in white wine and garlic pan sauce.

“It seems like all the women taught the men how to cook so that they could drink wine and we would cook,” quips Scott, the George Burns straight man to Lisa’s effervescent, Gracie Allen-like personality.

Lisa’s favorite food from childhood is her mother’s lasagna “swirls,” or individually rolled lasagna noodles, which her mom baked 24 at a time in a giant cast iron pan. Mossuto’s serves them two to a plate ($21), stuffed with ricotta and spinach and bathed in a hearty meat sauce.

“The pan was so heavy she could never lift it out of the oven,” Lisa says, laughing at a memory of her sons, Trevor, Tony and Tyler, competing to see who could eat the most swirls. ...continued on next page

APRIL 14, 2022 INLANDER 39

FOOD | OPENING “FAMILIAR FAMIGLIA,” CONTINUED...

on, we can take advantage of— the expertise we have in the kitchen.”

T

T

Tony Poole, his wife Lauren and daughter Harper at Mossuto’s.

His research shows it to be 2,500 to 3,000, he says, which is not bad for a country the size of Idaho. France — a mecca for wine — has only around 200 varietals.

Tony is also cultivating a collaborative environment in Mossuto’s kitchen, which in March welcomed new chef Riley Campbell, and will soon open for lunch service.

Campbell has added fresh sheet specials, like an airline chicken ($29) with a Chianti wine reduction, roasted potatoes and grilled asparagus. Locally made Tre Palline Napolitano Gelato is currently featured for dessert in a dish of pistachio gelato ($11), Luxardo cherry syrup and limoncello whip.

“That’s one thing about this industry, you can constantly learn from other people,” Tony says. “That’s something, especially over the last three weeks with Riley

THE

he Poole siblings have been integral to the family’s restaurants — and their parents’ retirement plan, Scott says. “Because, you know, we’ll be 65 here in a few years, so we’re thinking: transition.”

This year, the family finalized that transition, Lisa says. Although Scott and Lisa are still involved — reviewing the books, for example — each son runs a restaurant: Trevor and his wife have the North Side Poole’s; Tyler is at the South Hill spot; and Tony and his wife, Lauren, run Mossuto’s.

“We get requests to open a Poole’s in the Valley,” says Scott, but the answer is no.

“We don’t have any more kids,” he deadpans.

By the time the Poole’s opened their first spot in 2013, Tony had worked in several other Spokane restaurants, including Italian Kitchen (owned by one of Scott’s cousins), Famous Ed’s on the South Hill (now closed), and Zola bar downtown.

Although Tony attended Carroll College for history and earned a teaching degree, upon returning to Spokane he found he liked the restaurant industry.

“It kind of brought me out of my shell,” says Tony, whose superpower from studying history is remembering details without having to write anything down — picture the character Diane on the ’80s comedy Cheers.

“I was kind of an introvert most of my life and being forced to talk to people moved me along,” he adds.

Tony’s influence at Mossuto’s is evident in several ways. He curated the craft cocktail menu and the 160plus bottle wine list, for example.

“Italian wine is probably the most difficult area of wine to start out on,” Tony says. “It’s debated about how many different varietals of grapes they have.”

ISSUE

ON STANDS MAY 5 To advertise in this special guide: advertising@inlander.com | 509.325.0634 ext. 215

40 INLANDER APRIL 14, 2022

ransforming the Fairwood Shopping Center strip mall space where Mossuto’s is located into an elegant dinner spot required creativity, too.

Both of the Poole’s Public House eateries were originally in strip malls, says Scott, who likes the contrast they offer with a humble exterior and exciting interior. Customer reviews from Poole’s Public House described a sense of discovering a “hole in the wall” type of place, he says, which they tried to emulate at Mossuto’s.

To achieve that visual contrast at Mossuto’s, the Pooles hung dark curtains and columns of twinkle lights in the windows, ERICK DOXEY PHOTO painted the ceiling black, the walls maroon and taupe, and added Old World touches like a brick façade to the bar area. They hung photos of family, created cozy dining niches with short walls and covered dark wood tables with black linen. The result is understated and elegant.

Determining the name of the restaurant was the final component.

While going through boxes several years ago, Lisa found a wooden plaque that employees had given her and Scott during a staff holiday party. It read: Mossuto’s Italian.

“That was it,” Lisa says. “I knew it was meant to be.” n Mossuto’s Italian • 415 W. Hastings Rd. • Open Tue-Fri 11 am-2 pm and 4-9 pm; Sat 4-9 pm • mossutositalian.com • 509-413-1601

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YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

Casper Fry’s future, cruisin’ for brews in CdA, and more food news

BY CARRIE SCOZZARO

O

wners of CASPER FRY (928 S. Perry St.), a favorite spot for cocktails and Southern-style comfort foods in the Perry District, announced via Facebook they’re closing the restaurant as of April 16. Outgoing owners Ben Poffenroth, his mother, Deb Green, and his sister Megan VanStone still own Durkin’s Liquor Bar and Madeleine’s Café & Patisserie (both at 415 W. Main Ave.) in downtown Spokane. They say the decision to close Casper Fry after 10 years was to slow down and spend more time with family.

Next, Eat Good Group’s Adam Hegsted and Jason Green plan to launch Restaurant Francaise in the space with a unique twist on classic French foods. Stay tuned for details.

SWEET ADDITIONS

Recently debuting on the South Hill is TWISTED SUGAR (2009 E. 29th Ave.), part of a Utahbased chain that offers specialty sodas and a rotating assortment of decadent cookies. Find out more at instagram.com/twistedsugar.wa.southhill.

Downtown, meanwhile, newcomer TRE PALLINE GELATO NAPOLITANO inside the Steam Plant Building (159 S. Lincoln St.) features several dozen rotating and standard flavors of scratch made gelato. Find updates at facebook. com/trepallinegelatonapolitano.

Locals have loved everything chef Ricky Webster’s done, from competing in televised cookie bake-offs to his popular bakery and cheese shop, Rind and Wheat (1516 W. Riverside Ave.).

Next we await further developments on his latest venture, MORSEL BY RIND AND WHEAT (421 S. Cowley St.) in the former Fery’s Catering & Takeout location. Webster’s website (rindandwheat.com) currently notes Morsel will offer baked goods and breakfast and lunch items.

CRUISIN’

Brett Davis has launched North Idaho’s firstever mobile brewery tour, COEUR D’ALENE BREWS CRUISE (210 Sherman Ave., Coeur d’Alene), based on a national outfit operating in

Walla Walla, Las Vegas and Boise. Four tours are available: the CDA Classic ($65), with three brewery visits; Craft Beer and Burger tour ($75); and two hybrid tours featuring beer alternatives.

The Grain and Grapes tour ($65) includes two breweries and one winery, while the Triathlon ($75) is a riff on the Coeur d’Alene Ironman sporting event and features a vest to a brewery, distillery and winery.

Davis got interested in creating the cruise after trying a Brews Cruise in North Carolina and spending several years working at Mad Bomber Brewing Co., as well as Coeur d’Alene Taphouse Unchained, where he still works. Tour locations vary among participating partners, which currently include: Taphouse Unchained, Jeremiah Johnson Brewing, Mad Bomber Brewing, Paragon Brewing, Trails End Brewing, Castaway Cellars, Cranberry Road Winery and Up North Distillery. Find out more at brewscruise.com/ coeur-dalene.

BAGEL BINGE

The Coeur d’Alene Resort’s culinary team has jumped on the bagel popularity wagon to open LAKESIDE LOX inside its multiuse dining and shopping space known as the Shops (115 S. Second St.). In addition to Starbucks coffee, Lakeside Lox serves assorted teas, juice and hot chocolate.

Lakeside Lox also serves scratch-made bagels with a side of flavored cream cheese ($3.50) or loaded with goodies, and bestowed with clever names. Try the Wakey Wakey Eggs & Bakey bagel ($10) with applewood smoked bacon, fried egg, hash browns and cheddar cheese. Grab a California Dreamin’ ($12) with bacon, turkey, tomato and avocado and get yourself outside to the nearby lake for a perfect al fresco meal. Visit cdaresort.com/dining for more info. n To-Go Box is the Inlander’s dining news column, offering tasty tidbits and updates on the region’s food and drink scene. Send tips and updates to food@inlander.com.

APRIL 14, 2022 INLANDER 43

Avada Kedrava, Fantastic Beasts franchise.

REVIEW

FANTASTIC FAILURE The Harry Potter world expands haphazardly in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore

W

hen the opening title of Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore appears on screen, the first part is initially barely visible, in tiny letters compared to the much larger second half. It’s a clear, immediate indication of the direction that this Harry Potter prequel series has taken, straying further from the whimsical adventure tone of its inspiration and emphasizing blockbuster bombast and franchise expansion. There are very few fantastic beasts in this third installment, which is full of fan-baiting references and appearances tying it even closer to Harry Potter continuity.

There aren’t a lot of secrets, either, which makes the title doubly misleading, although it does promise and deliver plenty of Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law), the powerful wizard who will one day become the headmaster of Hogwarts, where Harry and his friends enroll to study magic. In the 1930s era of this movie, though, Dumbledore is a younger man, troubled by the rise of his rival and onetime lover Gellert Grindelwald (Mads Mikkelsen). After years of hints and promises from franchise creator J.K. Rowling, The Secrets of Dumbledore finally makes the romantic relationship between Dumbledore and Grindelwald central and unambiguous, although the intimate moments between the two are all clouded by talk of magical battles.

And where is the ostensible main character of this series as Dumbledore and Grindelwald face off over the future of the wizarding world? He’s there, too, although increasingly superfluous in his own movies. Magizoologist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) and his briefcase full of (mostly unseen) magical creatures are part of Dumbledore’s team assembled to defeat Grindelwald, who’s agitating for an all-out war between wizards and humans. Also part of the team is bumbling human baker Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler), who’s been with the series since its first installment, although previous central character Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston) is MIA for almost the entire movie,

44 INLANDER APRIL 14, 2022

BY JOSH BELL given only a flimsy explanation of what she’s busy doing while the other characters are saving the world.

The Secrets of Dumbledore is less hopelessly convoluted than 2018’s second installment, The Crimes of Grindelwald, but it’s still full of largely meaningless reveals and fakeouts, all constrained by the FANTASTIC BEASTS: knowledge of where events will end THE SECRETS OF DUMBLEDORE up by the time period of the Harry Rated PG-13 Potter movies. Replacing the ousted Directed by David Yates Starring Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law, Dan Fogler Johnny Depp (one of several problematic figures associated with this franchise), Mikkelsen brings more serious menace to Grindelwald, and he and Law have some tender interactions. But there’s no emotional core to these movies on par with the three main characters in the Harry Potter series, which always formed a compelling coming-of-age story even when the grand spectacle rang hollow.

Newt remains a dull, slightly annoying character, thanks to RedFATHER STU mayne’s twitchy, whispery presence, and the previously sweet love A feel-good religious biopic about a boxing washout turned priest with muscular story between Jacob and his witch fiancee Queenie (Alison Sudol) is degeneration starring two noted actors sidelined so that Queenie can become a generic Grindelwald lackey, with histories of racist attacks (Mark without any of the moral conflict she experienced in the previous Wahlberg and Mel Gibson)! (SS) Rated R movie. Screenwriter Steve Kloves, who wrote all but one of the Harry Potter movies, joins Rowling as co-writer, perhaps streamlining K.G.F.: CHAPTER 2 some of the author’s more unwieldy ideas, but The Secrets of DumbA sequel to the hit Kannada-language Indian action film, the story picks up afledore is still full of half-formed concepts, including a sloppy allegory ter ace assassin Rocky has taken out the that positions Grindelwald as a sort of Nazi stand-in. heir to the Kolar Gold Fields. Now viewed Director David Yates, now on his seventh franchise movie, as a heroic savior to the oppressed workdelivers some of the requisite large-scale set pieces, but most of The ers, he must continue to aid the people Secrets of Dumbledore is a lot of flashy bluster signifying nothing. It’s while battling new foes. (SS) Not rated poorly paced and overly busy, crammed full of characters whose motives are jumbled and whose goals are only incrementally advanced, with any actual resolution postponed until the disappointingly inevitable next chapter. n

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Spy Game

A scene with Thandie Newton and Chris Pine that you’ll see over and over again.

Steinhauer (working from his own novel) also splice in bits of conversation between Henry and Bill Compton (Jonathan Pryce), another agent potentially under suspicion. The crosscutting is efficient and effective, moving the story forward in multiple timelines while deepening the relationship between Henry and Celia. Pine and Newton have strong chemistry, both as wary spies with competing agendas and as romantic partners whose intense feelings have lingered for years. Metz throws in a few surprisingly steamy sex scenes, adding some heat to a genre that

BY JOSH BELL has largely become chaste in the last couple of ust a week after the release of his action movie decades.

The Contractor, Chris Pine returns with another Elsewhere, the movie relies on more spy thriller, albeit one with a more subdued, formulaic genre elements, including the stock cerebral tone. That’s not to say that there isn’t Islamic terrorist villains, who might as well just some decent suspense in All the Old Knives, but be placeholders. The hijacker’s demands are there are no car chases or gunfights. Much of essentially meaningless, serving only to provide the story unfolds between two people sitting at tension among the spies and force them to make a table in a high-end restaurant, sharing some impossible choices. There’s a connection to an insophisticated dishes and assessing each other’s formant that Henry worked with during his time accounts of events from eight years earlier. stationed in Moscow, but Henry’s moral anguish Pine plays Henry Pelham, a CIA agent staisn’t nearly as compelling as it’s set up to be. Metz tioned in Vienna who’s tasked by his boss, Vick aims for the ethical complexity of Tinker Tailor Wallinger (Laurence Fishburne), to reopen the Soldier Spy, but at best this is Le Carré Lite. case of a disastrous airplane hijacking in 2012.

For all the dangerous stakes of the anti-terThat incident led to the deaths of everyone on rorist operation, the narrative in All the Old Knives board, and Vick tells Henry often feels limited, ALL THE OLD KNIVES that the CIA has recently capconstantly returning Rated R tured the alleged mastermind, to Henry and Celia Directed by Janus Metz who claims that he had access sitting in a near-empty Starring Chris Pine, Thandiwe Newton, Jonathan Pryce restaurant. There’s a to inside intel from the agency.

Streaming on Amazon Prime Video starting April 8 The terrorist leader is now reason for that, which dead, so Henry has to piece arrives with the inevitogether the truth by talking to his fellow agents, table but largely satisfying third-act twist, but it looking for holes in their stories. still makes the CIA’s reach seem constrained and Mainly that means meeting up with Celia insular. Metz shows just enough of the larger acHarrison (Thandie Newton), who also happens tion to make it frustrating not to see more. These to be Henry’s former lover. The two were fiercely characters seem like they’ve been sealed off for devoted to each other, but Celia left suddenly eight years, biding their time to return to the right after the hijacking debacle, quitting the same discussions.

CIA and moving to California, where she’s now In a way, though, that’s the point, that married with two children. Henry contacts Celia neither Henry nor Celia has moved on from under the guise of being in town for a conferthose events, and that they could never escape ence, but he quickly reveals his true motives, returning to the most horrible day of their lives, and the movie cuts back and forth between their both professionally and personally. There’s a vast conversation and their actions on the day of the world of espionage surrounding them, but All the attack.

Old Knives keeps Henry and Celia’s story appealDirector Janus Metz and screenwriter Olen ingly intimate. n

Chris Pine and Thandiwe Newton make espionage sexy in All the Old Knives

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46 INLANDER APRIL 14, 2022

J

NEW ALBUMS

MUSIC SPRINGS ETERNAL

ANTS FROM UP HERE

A look at some of the best music released so far this year

BY SETH SOMMERFELD

BLACK COUNTRY, NEW ROAD

Everything about Black Country, New Road’s sophomore LP Ants From Up Here screams that this might be a Gen Z indie band with serious staying power. There are touches of Arcade Fireesque grandness to the arrangements, thanks to the chamber pop flairs being a seven-piece band with a saxophonist and violinist provides, but the group also takes time to breathe in the smaller, intimate moments. Topping it off, lead singer/songwriter/guitarist Isaac Wood delivers contemplative lyrics with a dramatic poetic sincerity. But then Wood left the band days before the album’s release, citing mental health issues. While the band continues on as a six-piece, the record now feels like it might be a glorious totem of what might’ve been rather than an immersive jumping off point for more glory to come. Still, it’s totally worth your time to soak in Ants… ambitious youthful grandeur.

CRASH

CHARLI XCX

The best pop album so far this year absolutely delights in its electronic sleaze. There’s not a moment across the album’s 12 tracks where Charli XCX doesn’t radiate bad girl pop sensuality.

Screw good guys and mushy love, Charli is here for wild passion.

Highlighted by the total banger synth-thump single “Good Ones,” Crash is a streamlined artifact of digitized heartsick vocals and big modern pop hooks.

DIASPORA PROBLEMS

SOUL GLO

Soul Glo doesn’t allow for passive listening. Diaspora Problems grabs you by the shirt collar and slaps you in the face. The majority-Black Philadelphia hardcore punk band screetches out screeds of political and social unrest without pulling any punches as the guitar and rhythm section blazes forward at blistering pace.

Jordan Pierce’s vocals violently smear the line between hardcore screams and hyperspeed raps to further the sense of epic anarchic scrappiness and revel in discomforting truths.

DRIVE MY CAR (ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK)

EIKO ISHIBASHI

There’s a grace to Japanese multi-instrumentalist Eiko Ishibashi’s soothing score for Drive My Car that perfectly mirrors the Oscar-winning film itself. Each track of delicate and minimalist ambient jazz carries the movie’s sense of calm-but-weighted reflection. Like the movie’s sweeping flow of traffic (which is captured sonically on “Cassette” and other selections), Ishibashi’s musical approach manages to be both steadfastly disciplined and improvisational, capturing our inability to know what’s around life’s next bend.

LAUREL HELL

MITSKI

After releasing multiple indie-rock masterpieces (Be the Cowboy, Bury Me at Makeout Creek), Mitski decided to drown her sound in ’80s synth-pop stylings for Laurel Hell. The musical tone delightfully clashes with her pensive lyrics that wrestle with staying engaged and connected to life and creativity, worthiness, and lopsided love. No one else can sing as confidently about not being confident at all, and Laurel Hell offers a lush palette to further that exploration. ...continued on next page

Mitski storms the gates of Laurel Hell. EBRU YILDIZ PHOTO

APRIL 14, 2022 INLANDER 47

O N S A L E N O W !

F O X P R E S E N T S

AMOS LEE 2022

SUMMER TOUR Special Guest

DANIELLE PONDER w e d n e s day

Aug 10 7:30pm

MUSIC | NEW ALBUMS “MUSIC SPRINGS ETERNAL,” CONTINUED...

HOW IS IT THAT I SHOULD LOOK AT THE STARS THE WEATHER STATION

No act is making mature, sophisticated and somber indie folk on the same level as the Weather Station right now. After releasing one of 2020’s best album’s (Ignorance), the Canadian group led

by Tamara Lindeman (and her ever-haunting and emotionally piercing vocals) quickly turned around and made one of 2021’s best LPs. Each track has a prevailing softness and composure with lush arrangements driven by slow-keyed piano and colored by woodwind accents, resulting in a gorgeous and melancholy secluded forest of sound.

OXY MUSIC

ALEX CAMERON

Aussie troubadour Alex Cameron has long felt like a character pulled from a David Lynch reality, luxuriating in seedy underbellies with his alternative synth-pop rock. A contributor to recent Killers albums, Cameron is kinda like Brandon Flowers’ dirtbag cousin; still suave and charismatic, but you can see all the gross stains on his suits and teeth. Oxy Music offers up sardonic observations about the people that society shoves to the fringes — the ones that are getting eaten alive by the American opioid epidemic. If you’re seeking a singer/songwriter who can craft catchy choruses based around cancel culture, internet anti-vaxxers, and k-holes and a-holes, look no further.

RAMONA PARK BROKE MY HEART

VINCE STAPLES

This may be a hot take, but Vince Staples is the most consistently excellent MC in the rap game currently. Ramona Park Broke My Heart catches Staples at his most introspective yet, crafting detailed songs about his youth in the Ramona Park neighborhood of Long Beach, California. The melancholy West Coast production sound and unobtrusive beats mostly lay out to let Staples operate in full hip-hop storyteller mode — delving into gangbanging street life, youthful overconfidence, and familial love — with this smooth, unfazed flow reaching new emotional depths.

TOPICAL DANCER

CHARLOTTE ADIGÉRY & BOLIS PUPUL

YOU’RE INVITED!

S P O K A N E S Y M P H O N Y 7 7 TH S E A S O N

LAUNCH PARTY!

Dancefloor electro-pop that’s extremely humorous while also being cutting explorations on post-colonial racism, sexuality, cultural appropriation and digital vanity? Topical Dancer is one of those albums that you don’t realize you need in your life until you hear it. Belgian-Caribbean singer Charlotte Adigéry and her musical co-conspirator Bolis Pupul craft a multilingual debut that pulsates with beats that would get any hips shaking, but it’s Adigéry slyly delivering fierce satirical commentary with a tongue-in-cheek faux-sugar coating that elevates these songs to an elite level all their own.

THE UNRAVELING OF PUPTHEBAND

PUP

The Torontonian frenetic melodic punk band is always wrestling with the dark sides of existence with hooky and anthemic fury.

The formula works without ever being wildly depressing because there’s often a comedic turn to the lyrical takes about how everything sucks. PUP toes the line between chaotic melodrama and snotty musical nihilism. From the interstitials that treat the band issues like corporate meetings to the salvo against being a band in late capitalism that is “PUPTHEBAND Inc. Is Filing For Bankruptcy,” THE UNRAVELING.… charges head first into the abyss with aplomb. n

T H U R S D A Y, A P R I L 2 1 , 5 P M A T T H E F O X It’s free to attend but please RSVP at RSVP@spokanesymphony.org

Box Office 509-624-1200

SpokaneSymphony.org • FoxTheaterSpokane.org

48 INLANDER APRIL 14, 2022

ALSO DON’T MISS...

Bronco - Orville Peck Chloë and the Next 20th Century Father John Misty DFTK - Yung Kayo

Feel the Void - Hot Water Music Growing Up - The Linda Lindas Life on Earth Hurray for the Riff Raff

Sick! - Earl Sweatshirt Sore Thumb - Oso Oso Squeeze - Sasami Wet Leg - Wet Leg

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SOUL PROPRIETOR, JERRY LEE RAINES Fri, April 15 at 8 pm Lucky You Lounge $16 10 YEARS, BLACK MAP, VRSTY Sat, April 16 at 7:30 pm Knitting Factory $22 AGE OF NEPHILIM, XOTH, MERLOCK, THRONEBURNER, TORN OPEN Sat, April 16 at 6:30 pm The Big Dipper $10 ERIC CHURCH Sat, April 16 at 8 pm Spokane Arena $39-$378 THE BALLROOM THIEVES, SWAY WILD Sun, April 17 at 8 pm Lucky You Lounge $15 CHARLEY CROCKETT, VINCENT NEIL EMERSON Wed, April 20 at 8 pm Knitting Factory $25-$27 BUDDY GUY Sun, April 24 at 7:30 pm Northern Quest Resort and Casino $59-$89 THE FLAMING LIPS, PARTICLE KID Sat, April 30 at 8 pm Knitting Factory $45-$47 For complete music listings, visit inlander.com/events

APRIL 14, 2022 INLANDER 49

COMEDY TOTAL PRO

Greg Fitzsimmons is one of those comedians you might know by his face faster than by hearing his name. He was a ubiquitous presence on VH1 series like Best Week Ever and I Love the… (enter your favorite decade here), and has done stand-up on pretty much every late-night talk show you can imagine.

In other words, when funny people are looking for a funny person to make their show funnier, Fitzsimmons gets a call.

Behind the scenes, he’s a multiple Emmy winner for writing for The Ellen DeGeneres Show, plus he’s written for Politically Incorrect, The Chelsea Handler Show, The Wanda Sykes Show and others. See what I mean about him being a comedian’s comedian? Whether he’s talking about celebrities or dad life, you know you’re in good hands at one of his shows.

— DAN NAILEN Greg Fitzsimmons • Thu, April 14 at 7:30 pm; Fri-Sat, April 1516 at 7:30 and 10 pm • $15-$28 • Spokane Comedy Club • 315 W. Sprague Ave. • spokanecomedyclub.com • 509-318-9998

50 INLANDER APRIL 14, 2022

BENEFIT SPARKING CREATIVITY

Celebrate the many creative contributions and achievements of West Central Spokane’s nonprofit learning hub, Spark Central, at its sixth annual fundraiser gala, happening this year both in-person and virtually. Spark co-founder and bestselling author Jess Walter is a keynote presenter during the salon, which is co-hosted by Kiantha Duncan (left) and Pat Simmons (right). Entertainment happens both live and via livestream, with a highlight performance from participants in Spark’s popular Girls Rock Lab camp. Other familiar names in the music scene on the program lineup include Allen Stone, Myles Kennedy, Madeline McNeill and Atari Ferrari. Tickets are required to attend in person, but you can also tune in at home for free by registering.

— CHEY SCOTT Spark Salon: Amplify Us • Fri, April 15 at 7 pm • $125/in person; free/online • Knitting Factory • 919 W. Sprague Ave. • sparkcentral.org • 509-279-0299

MUSIC TAKE ME TO CHURCH

Eric Church is a man that college hoops-crazed Spokanites can understand. The country megastar recently drew heat for canceling a show in Texas so he could go cheer on the North Carolina Tarheels in the Final Four. That’s a move Zags fans get. (Church plans to do a free makeup show for Texas fans.) Beyond basketball proclivities, Church has solidified his spot near the top of the modern country landscape with albums like 2011’s Chief, which won ACM and CMA Album of the Year, and dozens of hit singles like “Springsteen” and “Record Year.” The 2020 CMA Entertainer of the Year’s comes to Spokane Arena for some country rocking in the round.

— SETH SOMMERFELD Eric Church • Sat, April 16 at 8 pm • $39-$169 • All ages • Spokane Arena • 720 W. Mallon Ave. • spokanearena.com • 509279-7000

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MUSIC CONDUCTOR CHAT

The Spokane Symphony is a powerhouse of splendid, classical music, and if you’ve lived in town long enough to catch a performance, you should consider yourself uber lucky. Ahead of its seventh Masterworks series performance, “1001 Nights,” locals can cherish wonderful music and peek behind the curtain to better understand how it all comes together. Before each Masterworks concert, Spokane Symphony Music Director James Lowe hosts his “The LoweDown” talk, offering an in-depth look at the historical context and modern relevance of works he’s conducting. With insight from an orchestra musician and a Q&A session to follow, guests leave as music-history buffs ready to see the symphony’s — and Lowe’s — hard work in action.

— MADISON PEARSON The LoweDown • Thu, April 21 from 12-1 pm • Free • Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture • 2316 W. First Ave. • spokanesymphony.org • 509624-1200

WORDS GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

Vladimir Nabokov’s controversial 1955 novel Lolita deals with child rape and other taboos, yet Americans can read it without consequence. For Americans, freedom to read — or watch, or listen to — whatever we want is inviolate. Not so during revolutionary times in Iran, where writer-professor Azar Nafisi secretly shared Lolita and other literary classics with former students before leaving the country in 1997. These and other experiences led to her 2003 bestseller, Reading Lolita in Tehran, a study on the transformative power of the arts and humanities, which Nafisi asserts are vital to the preservation of democracy.

Hear her perspective during the Hagan Foundation Center for the Humanities’ ongoing Diversity Series at Spokane Community College. Subsequent speakers in the series are Alice Wong on May 18 and Jad Abumrad on June 8.

— CARRIE SCOZZARO Diversity Series: Azar Nafisi • Wed, April 20 at 5:30 pm • Free • Online; details at scc.spokane.edu/live

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Our education courses, support groups and advocacy forums are led by trained people who have been in your shoes. So they know what you’re going through.

Get free help today. Learn more at NAMIspokane.org.

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APRIL 14, 2022 INLANDER 51

beautiful, wicked smart and sarcastic in the perfect way — and the most charming person I’ve ever known. You are an amazing teacher. Dad, you are brave, compassionate, hilarious, and you try so hard to do the right thing. I know us kids have our ups and downs, but you’ve always seen us through and been supportive, even in some low lows.

Now that I’m an adult with kids of my own, I hope you know that I understand how difficult it was and admire you for everything you did for your children. I wish you both happiness going forward — you deserve it. I love you!

JEERS I SAW YOU

LARGE HADRON COLIDER SLIDER “I wish we could go back before the large hadron collider created the black hole that sucked us into the alternate dimension where everything was backwards. In this world freedom means captivity, despondency, apathy and lackadaze. But really they’ve created the propaganda to force the average useful idiot to believe the greater good is greater than the individual. And when the greater good becomes commonplace well that’s the commonwealth. Comrade.”

PNQ Hey blue eyes; were you just scared to tell the whole truth? Makes for an awkward conversation with your girlfriend... of five years? Not so single as you made it out to be. Guess you will be soon, but... no need to “be in touch.”

How ‘bout you take that story to another playing field. We’re both smarter than that. You... not so much. Why would you believe she didn’t see you there?

Exposed.

YOU SAW ME VOLVO JOHN I lost your phone number!

My 122 needs your help. Beverlyann75@ gmail

CHEERS THE INLANDER’S POETRY Reading this issue of poetry was emotional.

I’m usually not a poet enthusiast, but this article piqued my interest. I was touched, especially, by Janelle Cordero’s entry, “Better For It.”. Prose & humanity.

Lovely.

MOM AND DAD I know it didn’t work out together, but you raised six kids and you did your best. Mom, you’re

.

CROOKED CONTRACTOR I saw you taking advantage of a girl who thought the world of you and trusted you. You lied to her and led her on for a year. Your deceitful ways cost her a lot more than a broken heart. She finally found out you are a married womanizer and clued your wife in. Maybe you will man up and make it up to both of them.

RE: NOT SELLING OUT I understand where you were headed w/ your “cheers” but feel it falls short really. If only individual homeowners not selling to commercial real estate companies actually made a dent in the housing crisis. Why not jeers the government for allowing a basic necessity of life

SOUND OFF

to become a high-dollar scheme.

Look around Spokane; local property management companies are scooping up all of the real estate and have since 2015. They are not updating the properties and making them nicer or contributing to the community.

Instead, they are gouging people at

“

707 W MAIN AVE (2nd FLOOR) DOWNTOWN SPOK ANE MON - FRI : 11:00AM - 7:00PM

52 INLANDER APRIL 14, 2022

van is tailgating our car. So close to our bumper that the only thing visible in our rearview mirror are your windshield wipers. As if almost causing at least one nasty accident and/or possible huge pile up at 63 mph, you make the extremely adult decision to speed up and as you pass us, you proceed to shatter a glass

Spokane is just another fallout of a national housing crisis.

double the cost. Why not jeers our local government for being thick in the head and not addressing this issue head on before it blew up. It was so obviously going to explode. I am annoyed that you are putting the onus on the local homeowner, possibly struggling to somehow compensate for how the government let corporate America hijack the housing market. Do your research; this extends far beyond Spokane. Spokane is just another fallout of a national housing crisis. When I sell my Downriver home with a river view that I purchased 5 years ago for $180k (lucky me), you better believe I’m going to the highest bidder. I deserve the money free of guilt or shame for doing the best I can in a messed-up economy.

RE: THE KAEPERNICK FANBOY Kaepernick, really? He needs his job back? He is, and was never that good; he inherited a good team. Make no mistake, it was never about playing football again for him. He just wanted a platform. Think about this; he had a chance to showcase for a few different teams. Time and place were agreed upon. However, at the 11th hour, he decides he wants to control the narrative. I ask, if you are applying for a job, do you, as the applicant, decide

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.”

SPOKANE

when and where the interview takes place? I think not. If he was serious about playing again, he would have done anything and everything he could have, to prove he is worth it.

Instead, he wanted to do it his way, and waited until week 11 of the season, and then pull that nonsense of I only

practice with my people and my place.

Lastly, do you really think he would be successful in Seattle? Russell Wilson can do more than Kaepernick with one hand behind tied his back and blindfolded.

The Seahawks are a mess. They have quite possibly the worst offensive line in the league, zero creativity calling plays, and a pathetic defense. And now Metcalf is gone, for picks. Wow. The NFC west is a gauntlet, 2nd toughest only to the AFC west. The Seahawks will be cellar dwellers for a while. And good for Russell Wilson, hoping nothing but success in Denver. His career was going to be cut short playing behind that pathetic Seahawks line.

OUCH On April 6, 2022, we met in the Ben Burr Trail. I’ve see you before.

You have an aggressive dog you can’t manage. I moved my dog far over to the right to get away from you & your dog. I turned my ankle & fell. Cheers: you and your girlfriend stopped. Jeers: learn how to manage your dog! PS. My ankle is broken.

ROAD RAGE MUCH...? March 26, 2022... about 3 pm...I-90 hill eastbound...As we changed lanes and then slowed a little to be closer to the speed limit, out of nowhere your white Chevy cargo

”

bottle against our rear passenger door.

After that you immediately push the gas peddle to the floor and race away at God knows what speed, endangering even more people with your reckless and childish behavior. Then as if of all this isn’t enough, when we do manage to catch up with you (to get pictures of you and your license plates as evidence, by the way), your passenger jumps out yelling and threatening my husband, then both of you have the nerve to call us cowards? Please save us all a lot of headaches and get your anger under control before some innocent person gets hurt....or worse as a result of your inability to behave like a reasonable and responsible human. n

THIS WEEK'S ANSWERS W H E T

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

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O L A G O A L S O F A S

A N I M E

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

A R A L

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P U D E P A N E U N D S A S P S H I G H A D A M L E G O L A S S

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.

EVENTS | CALENDAR

BENEFIT

SPARK SALON: AMPLIFY US This year’s hybrid event is a music-themed night of entertainment and fundraising featuring Spark Central co-founder and bestselling author Jess Walter, who’s joined by a variety of local and national talent, both performing live and via video. Admission is free for online attendants. April 15, 6-9 pm. $125/in-person. Knitting Factory, 919 W. Sprague Ave. spark-central.org UKRAINIAN FUNDRAISER CONCERT Ukrainian cellist Evgeny Grechko and pianist Nursulu Dyikanbaeva perform in benefit of Ukrainian and Slavic peoples impacted by the war. April 16, 7 pm. $15.

Music Conservatory of Coeur d’Alene, 627 N. Government Way. cdaconservatory. org (208-901-8190) 2022 MAC GALA Join the MAC for inspired cuisine, wine, music and dancing.

April 23, 6 pm. $150-$2500. Historic Davenport Hotel, 10 S. Post St. northwestmuseum.org (509-456-3931) DUCKS UNLIMITED POST FALLS CHAPTER CONSERVATION DINNER An evening for conservation with games, raffles, auction items and prizes to win. April 23, 5 pm. $45-$115. Kootenai County Fairgrounds, 4056 N. Government Way. kcfairgrounds.com (208-765-4969)

COMEDY

GREG FITZSIMMONS Mixing wit with sarcasm, Greg Fitzsimmons brings his stand-up show to Spokane. April 14, 7:30 pm, April 15-16 at 7:30 & 10 pm. $15-$28.

Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague.

spokanecomedyclub.com AD IT UP Go behind the scenes at an ad agency and laugh at the executives, creatives, staff and clients as they improvise tag lines and commercials based on audience suggestions. Fridays in April at 7:30 pm. $8. Blue Door Theatre, 815 W. Garland Ave. bluedoortheatre.com NEW TALENT TUESDAYS Watch comedians of all skill levels work out new jokes together. Tuesdays at 7 pm (doors at 6 pm). Free. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com BEN BAILEY Best known for hosting the TV show Cash Cab, Bailey is on the road with his new comedy tour. April 22-23 and 23 at 7:30 and 10:30 pm. $22-$33.

Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com THE FINDING CHEMO COMEDY TOUR The Finding Chemo Podcast, produced in Spokane, explores the lighter side of dealing with cancer. Hosted by standup comedian and cancer warrior Nick Theisen, the podcast features doctors, caregivers and those in the fight. All proceeds benefit the Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital. April 22, 8 pm. $22.70. Bing Crosby Theater, 901 W. Sprague Ave. bingcrosbytheater.com (509-227-7638) HELLO MY PRIENDS WITH PINKY PATEL Pinky Patel is a PTA mom turned creator, comedian and TikTok personality with a fan base of over 5 million. April 23, 4:30 pm. $30-$50. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com

COMMUNITY

A DUET OF COLORFUL GARDEN TO-

TEMS Local artist Deb Beissel teaches how to paint colorful garden totems to add to spring flower pots or hang near your front door. April 14, 2-4 pm. $28.50.

New Leaf Nursery, 12655 N. Government Way. newleafnurseryhayden.com (208762-4825) GOLDEN HARVEST: FLOUR SACKS FROM THE PERMANENT COLLECTION The MAC’s collection of cloth flour sacks offers a unique window into the early development of Eastern Washington’s wheat industry. Tue-Sun from 10 am-5 pm, Third Thu from 10 am-9 pm through May 15. $15-$20. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org (509-456-3931) ONLINE STORYTIMES: LIVE Children have fun learning as library staff read stories, sing songs and share fingerplays.

Ages 2-5 and their families. Registration required. Thursdays from 6:30-7 pm and Fridays from 9:30-10 am, through May 26. Free. scld.org PRIDE SCHOOLS ENROLLMENT NIGHT Enrollment is open for the the 2022-23 year at PRIDE Schools. Meet teachers, take a tour and talk to current students.

April 14-June 7; dates/times vary, see website for full schedule. Free. PRIDE Schools - PRIDE Prep & Innovation High School, 811 E. Sprague Ave. prideschools. org (509-309-7691) SOCIAL FABRIC SERIES: DIRTY LAUNDRY This self-guided, mini-exhibition inside the Campbell House wrings details from diaries, correspondence and interviews to interpret personal and private topics not frequently shared in polite society. Through June 30, open Tue-Sun from noon-4 pm (entry included with ad-

mission). $15-$20. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org STORYTIME SHORTS Storytime is a great way to help young children learn language and literacy skills that help them get ready for kindergarten. For ages 2-5 and their families. Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10 am on the SCLD Facebook page through May 31. Free. scld. org/facebook LGBTQ+ SENIORS OF THE INW All LGBTQ+ seniors are invited to join weekly Zoom meetings, Fridays at 4 pm. “Senior” is roughly ages 50+. If interested email NancyTAvery@comcast.net to be added to the email list. Free. facebook. com/SpokaneLGBTSeniors BOOKMARKS FOR UKRAINE Come and show support for Ukraine by decorating bookmarks for children and their families. After the event, the bookmarks are being sent to a library in Ukraine. April 16, 4-5:30 pm. Free. Coeur d’Alene Public Library, 702 E. Front Ave. cdalibrary.org EASTER EGG HUNT Includes games, activities and more. April 16, 10 am-1 pm.

Free. Southside Community Center, 3151 E. 27th Ave. southsidescc.org EASTER EGG HUNT & BRUNCH Riverfront’s signature 10,000-egg Easter egg hunt and brunch with the Easter Bunny. April 16, 9:30 am-noon. $24.50.

Riverfront Park, 507 N. Howard. bit. ly/36B20e9 (509-625-6600) EASTER EGG HUNT FOR KIDS Easter egg hunt for kids following Easter Sunday service. April 17, 10:30 am. Free. The Vine Church, 9140 N. Reed Rd. thevineidaho.org (208-449-2080)

INTRO TO BUDDHISM Classes include intro to general Buddhism and intro to Shin Buddhism, the sect practiced at Spokane Buddhist Temple. Each class is followed by time for questions. April 17 and 24 from 11:30 am-12:30 pm. Free. Spokane Buddhist Temple, 927 S. Perry St. SpokaneBuddhistTemple.org BROWNE’S ADDITION/DOWNTOWN WALK A leisurely walk to explore Spokane’s unique history. April 18, 9 amnoon. $40-$45. Southside Community Center, 3151 E. 27th Ave. southsidescc.org MEDITATION FOR HEALTH, HAPPINESS, PEACE & PROSPERITY This class is intended for anyone interested in the benefits of meditation. April 4-May 31, Tue from 6-7:30 pm. $45. Spokane Community College, 1810 N. Greene St. ccs. spokane.edu (509-279-6144) CREATE A BEADED WIND CHIME Create a customized bead and driftwood mobile and learn the art of beading decor for your wall or patio. April 20, 6-7:30 pm. $45. New Leaf Nursery, 12655 N. Government Way. newleafnurseryhayden.com LEGO CLUB Each week, participants are challenged to build something unique using only LEGOs. At the end of the session, each participant shows off their creation, which may earn it a spot in the display cases. Ages 6-11. April 6-27, Wed from 4-5 pm. Free. Coeur d’Alene Public Library, 702 E. Front Ave. cdalibrary.org PICTURE BOOK CHAT Discover new picture books for children with librarians Mary Ellen and Sheri, who chat about recently released titles in SCLD’s collection.

April 20 and May 18, 1-2 pm. Free. scld. org/facebook

ADULT $449 • YOUTH $329 • FAMILY $1364 2 ADULT/3 YOUTH

HURRY! SALE ENDS MAY 5 LOCATED OFF I-90 IN KELLOGG, ID. 1 HOUR EAST OF SPOKANE silvermt.com • 855-810-5061 APRIL 14, 2022 INLANDER 53

EVENTS | CALENDAR RIVERFRONT MARKET The market features local artisans, food vendors, musicians and service providers. April 6-27, Wed from 3-7 pm. Free. Riverfront Park, 507 N. Howard. my.spokanecity.org/riverfrontspokane (509-625-6600) A GATHERING OF SPECIES An opportunity to come together through art and community to celebrate the natural world. See website for details. April 22, 3-4 pm. Pavilion at Riverfront, 574 N. Howard St. facebook.com/GatheringOfSpecies (509-625-6000) HOPE FOR CREATION CONFERENCE Hosted by St. John’s Cathedral, in partnership with Whitworth Office of Church Engagement and the Gonzaga Climate Center, this event is designed to share a vision of hope for creation; spotlight local caretakers of land, water and air; and renew Spokane’s leadership on environmental care. April 22-23 from 8 am-5 pm.

Free. St. John’s Cathedral, 127 E. 12th Ave. gonzaga.edu/center-for-climate-society-environment/events (719-464-5555) LIFEWAYS WORKSHOP: MAKE YOUR OWN UPCYCLED PLATEAU BASKETRY BASICS Bring new life to recycled plastic grocery bags in this hands-on weaving workshop. April 22, 12-6 pm. $60. Coeur d’Alene Casino, 37914 S. Nukwalqw. cdacasino.com (1-800-523-2464) SPOKANE EARTH DAY CLIMATE MARCH Join others this Earth Day to demand urgent action in combating and preparing for the climate crisis. Come together as a community to demonstrate a vision for a cleaner, greener, safer world. April 22, 1:45-4 pm. Free. Pavilion at Riverfront, 574 N. Howard St. actionnetwork.org

LOOKING FOR THE ADVICE GODDESS?

Sorry to say, but Amy Alkon has retired her column. (Yeah, we miss her too!)

ACTIVE LIVING EXPO An event for locals ages 55+ and their loved ones, presented by MultiCare Health System and the Spokesman-Review. COVID-19 vaccination and masks required. April 23, 10 am-4 pm. $7. Davenport Grand Hotel, 333 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. spokesman.com/ activelivingexpo (509-459-5095) ALL THE THINGS: FURNITURE & HOME DECOR MARKET An upscale furniture and home décor market featuring items by local artists and new, handmade and refinished furniture and home décor.

April 23, 9 am-6 pm and April 24, 9 am-4 pm. $5. Kootenai County Fairgrounds, 4056 N. Government Way. thebohemianspokane.com (208-765-4969)

FILM

DREAMWORKS ANIMATION: THE EXHIBITION From the makers of Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, How to Train Your Dragon and Trolls comes an extraordinary exhibition celebrating over 25 years of DreamWorks Animation. The show includes more than 400 items including rare and never-seen-before concept drawings, original artifacts, interactives, film clips, and more. Tue-Sun from 10 am-5 pm (third Thursdays until 8 pm) through Sept. 11. $15-$20. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org (509-456-3931) FOX PRESENTS: NAPOLEON DYNAMITE - THE FILM & A CONVERSATION WITH THE STARS Enjoy a screening of the be-

54 INLANDER APRIL 14, 2022

loved indie classic Napoleon Dynamite followed by a lively, freewheeling, moderated discussion with cast members Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite), Efren Ramirez (Pedro) and Jon Gries (Uncle Rico). The film was released in 2004, and while much has changed since, its characters remain relevant and appealing to the inner teenager in all of us. April 16, 7:30 pm. $35-$150. Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox, 1001 W. Sprague Ave. foxtheaterspokane.com (509-624-1200) UI FILM BENEFIT FOR UKRAINE University of Idaho Modern Languages and Cultures hosts a benefit for war relief efforts in Ukraine. Man With a Camera (6 pm) and Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (7:30 pm). April 16. By donation.

The Kenworthy, 508 S. Main St., Moscow. kenworthy.org (208-882-4127) TOTALLY TUBULAR TUESDAYS The Garland’s cult favorite film series is back every Tuesday evening. See complete schedule and pre-buy tickets online.

Tuesdays at 7:10 pm through May 31. $2.50. Garland Theater, 924 W. Garland Ave. garlandtheater.com (509-327-1050) FISH & WILDLIFE FILM FESTIVAL The fifth annual festival highlights 19 short films from professional film makers, K-12 students and university students from six countries. Film screenings are April 21 at 6:30 pm at the Janssen Engineering Building (Room 104) with an awards ceremony April 22 at 6:30 pm at the Kenworthy. April 21-22. $5. The Kenworthy, 508 S. Main St. uidaho.edu/cnr FIRST TIME HOME An award-winning, locally made film by young people who are indigenous Triqui and second-generation immigrants. When four cousins learned their grandfather in Mexico is gravely ill, they travel from their immigrant community in Washington to their family’s ancestral village in Oaxaca for the first time. April 22, 7-8:30 pm. By donation. Magic Lantern Theatre, 25 W. Main. magiclanternonmain.com

FOOD & DRINK

WINE TASTING Taste six wines from Sagemoor Wines. Cheese and crackers included. April 15, 3-6:30 pm. $10. Vino!

A Wine Shop, 222 S. Washington St. vinowine.com (509-838-1229) LUMBERBEARD BEER PAIRING LUNCH Enjoy beards and beers at Lumberbeard’s monthly pairing lunch with local brewers, featuring 4-5 beers paired to unique courses. April 16, 11:15 am-2:45 pm. $85.

Gander & Ryegrass, 404 W. Main Ave. ganderandryegrass.com (509-315-4613) WINE TASTING Taste selections from Latta Wines. Cheese and crackers included. April 16, 2-4:30 pm. $10. Vino! A Wine Shop, 222 S. Washington St. vinowine. com (509-838-1229) BOOKWALTER WINEMAKER DINNER Gander & Ryegrass hosts John Bookwalter for an all-inclusive, six-course dinner featuring Bookwalter Wines. April 20, 4:45 pm. $125. Gander & Ryegrass, 404 W. Main Ave. ganderandryegrass.com MURDER MYSTERY DINNER Enjoy some time inside a murder mystery story as you dine at the speakeasy and solve a murder. April 22, 5-9 pm and April 23, 11 am-3 pm. $18-$24; $200/table. Southside Community Center, 3151 E. 27th Ave. southsidescc.org (509-535-0803) FRENCH PASTRY BAKING CLASS Make financiers, cream puffs and a galette with Douglas Labar from the Mason Jar. April

23, 3-5 pm. $55. Wren Pierson Community Center, 615 Fourth St. cityofcheney. org (509-489-9250)

MUSIC

CHAMBER MUSIC CONCERT An afternoon of Felix Mendelssohn, performed by the first and second String Quartets and the String Octet. April 15, 3:10 pm. Free.

Bryan Hall Theatre (WSU), 605 Veterans Way. events.wsu.edu/event/chambermusic-concert (509-332-9600) GUITAR STUDIO CONCERT A performance by all WSU guitar ensembles, with special guest Triple Extra Wide. April 15, 5:10 pm. Free. Kimbrough Music Building (WSU), WSU Pullman. (509-332-9600) PAVLO IN CONCERT: THE SANTORINI TOUR An evening of Mediterranean guitar music featuring Pavlo’s signature blend of Spanish, Greek, Rumba and Flamenco music. April 15, 7 pm. $22-$27.

Bing Crosby Theater, 901 W. Sprague Ave. bingcrosbytheater.com (509-227-7404) STUDENT BRASS CHAMBER MUSIC CONCERT Featuring four of WSU’s outstanding Brass Chamber Music Ensembles. April 15, 4:10 pm. Free. Bryan Hall Theatre (WSU), 605 Veterans Way. events.wsu.edu/event/chamber-musicconcert-2/ (509-332-9600) SATURDAY WITH THE SYMPHONY This program is geared towards children but parents are encouraged to join in the festivities. A music themed story time follows the symphony’s programming.

April 16, 11 am. Free. Coeur d’Alene Public Library, 702 E. Front Ave. cdalibrary.org/ library-events/symphony-mar2022 END OF AN ERA JAZZ CONCERT End of an Era features guest percussionist, composer and Professor Emeritus David Jarvis, performing with WSU Big Band II, directed by saxophonist, composer and Jazz Studies Professor Horace Alexander Young; and the award-winning WSU Jazz Big Band. April 19, 7:30-9 pm. Free. Bryan Hall Theatre (WSU), 605 Veterans Way. events.wsu.edu (509-332-9600) AMERICA SINGS OF FAITH & LIBERTY Chorale Coeur d’Alene presents a concert of patriotic and spiritual anthems. The Chorale is accompanied by David Brewster on piano. April 22 at 7 pm, April 23 at 2 pm. $15-$30. Trinity Lutheran Church, 812 N. Fifth St. ChoraleCdA.com FACULTY ARTIST SERIES: SOPHIA TEGART, FLUTE Assistant Professor of Flute Dr. Sophia Tegart presents a recital inspired by Ancient Greek myths, Korean legends and 19th-century fairy tales.

April 22, 7:30-9 pm. Free. Kimbrough Music Building (WSU), WSU Pullman. events.wsu.edu (509-332-9600) PIANO MASTERCLASS WITH INON BARNATAN Watch a piano master class

by Spokane Symphony guest artist Inon Barnatan. He’ll share tips about performing and give insight into piano technique with several local piano students who auditioned for this opportunity to learn from him. No reservations required. April 22, 3-5 pm. Free. Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox, 1001 W. Sprague Ave. spokanesymphony.org/master-classes/ SPOKANE SYMPHONY MASTERWORKS 7: 1001 NIGHTS Inon Barnatan returns to Spokane with Tchaikovsky’s First piano concerto. April 23, 8 pm and April 24, 3 pm. $27-$48. Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox, 1001 W. Sprague Ave. spokanesymphony.org (509-624-1200)

SPORTS &

OUTDOORS

NATURE’S RECYCLERS Explore the exciting world of decomposers and see these amazing insects in action with the West Valley Outdoor Learning Center.

Registration required. April 19, 4-5 pm.

Free. scld.org SPOKANE INDIANS VS. HILLSBORO HOPS Promo events during the six-game series include Bark in the Park Night (April 19), Ribby The Mascot’s Birthday Night and Redband Rally Night (April 20), First Responders Appreciation Night (April 21), Storybook Princess and Fireworks Night (April 22), Family Feast Night (April 23) and Pajama Party Day (April 24). April 19-24, game time varies. $8-$22. Avista Stadium, 602 N. Havana St. milb.com/spokane (535-2922) WAIKIKI SPRINGS NATURE HIKE Celebrate Earth Day with a nature hike around the Waikiki Springs Nature Preserve with the Inland Northwest Land Conservancy. April 20, 2-5 pm. Free. bit. ly/waikiki-springs-signup (N/A) STATE LAND FREE DAYS The Washington State Parks & Recreation Commission invites visitors to enjoy a state park for free on select days each year. You don’t need a Discover Pass for day visits to a Washington state park or lands managed by the Dept. of Natural Resources or Dept. of Fish and Wildlife on these dates: April 22, June 11-12, June 19, Sept. 24, Oct. 10, Nov. 11, Nov. 25. Free. parks.wa.gov

THEATER

BLIPPI: THE MUSICAL The educational children’s character goes from screen to stage for an extravaganza of fun, dancing, and singing. April 14, 6 pm. $27-$67.

First Interstate Center for the Arts, 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. blippithemusical.com A BRIGHT NEW BOISE The Upstart Players stage a one-night-only performance of Samuel D. Hunter’s A Bright New Boise, directed by Jaron Fuglie. April 14, 7:30-10:30 pm. $15. Washington Cracker Co., 304 W. Pacific. (208-827-6847) FUNNY GIRL Fanny Brice was one of the most celebrated entertainers of her time.

With unique humor, talent and chutzpah, young Fanny, who “isn’t pretty,” defies the odds and becomes one of the greatest stars of her generation. Thu-Sat at 7:30 pm, Sun at 2 pm. (April 17 Easter show at 7:30 pm) through April 24. $10$35. Spokane Civic Theatre, 1020 N. Howard St. spokanecivictheatre.com A YEAR WITH FROG & TOAD A whimsical story of two great friends – cheerful, popular Frog and rather grumpy Toad – through four fun-filled seasons. April 15May 1; Fri at 7 pm, Sat-Sun at 2 pm. $12$16. Spokane Children’s Theatre, 2727 N. Madelia. spokanechildrenstheatre.org

VISUAL ARTS

ESENCIAL/ESSENTIAL Printmaker Christie Tirado’s art conceptually and aesthetically focuses on illustrating different perspectives of labor conducted

by Mexican migrant farmworkers, whose arduous work supports the thriving agricultural industry of Central Washington.

Mon-Fri from 8:30 am-3:30 pm through May 4. Free. SFCC Fine Arts Gallery, 3410 W. Whistalks Way, Bldg. 6. spokanefalls. edu/gallery MYRIAD The Whitworth University Art & Design Department and the university’s

Bryan Oliver Gallery present the 2022 senior art exhibition. April 12-May 20, Mon-Fri 10 am-4:30 pm, Sat 10 am-2 pm.

(Gallery closed April 15-18). Free. Whitworth University, 300 W. Hawthorne Rd. whitworth.edu (509-777-1000) NIC STUDENT ART EXHIBITION Featuring a variety of original fine art created

by NIC students in an exhibition adjudicated by Aaron Johnson. Mon-Thu from 10 am-2:30 pm through May 13. Free.

Boswell Corner Gallery at NIC, 1000 W. Garden Ave. nic.edu (208-769-3202) PERFECTLY PALOUSE Lynnea Vantrease and Nancy Richter showcase the Palouse region through paintings and photographs. The Libey Gallery is adjacent to Colfax Library. Gallery hours are Mon-Fri 10 am-6 pm and Sat 1-5 pm; show runs through April 30. Free. Colfax Library, 102 S. Main St. whitcolib.org (509-397-4366) REMNANTS Featuring site-specific installation, photography and participatory sculpture work by Annie Cunningham and Jamin Kuhn. Mon-Fri from 9 am-5 pm through April 21. Free. EWU Gallery of Art, 140 Art Building. ewu.edu/cahss/ fine-performing-arts/art/gallery TERRA The Art Spirit’s fourth show of 2022 features Kathy Gale, Lonny Hutson, Shelle Lindholm, Ryan Molenkamp and more, plus the Moscow Woodworkers.

Thu-Sun from 11 am-6 pm through April 30. Free. Art Spirit Gallery, 415 Sherman Ave. theartspiritgallery.com SPOKANE PRINT FEST Printmaking classes, demos, exhibits and more are hosted by Spokane Print and Publishing Center. See website for schedule; events also take place at galleries and the Hive.

Through April 28. spokaneprintfest.com

WORDS

HOW AUDIO TECHNOLOGY CHANGED THE WORLD Veteran broadcaster Ross Reynolds explores the impact that audio transmission has had on society and storytelling, beginning with the first century of radio up to the modern age. April 14, noon. Free. fb.me/e/1GqgkqMqC WRITING THE PANDEMIC: JOURNALISM IN THE AGE OF COVID-19 Carl Zimmer, award-winning science writer and columnist for the New York Times, speaks at the University of Idaho’s annual media ethics symposium. April 14, 7-8:30 pm.

Free. University of Idaho Bruce Pitman Center, 709 Deakin Ave. uidaho.edu SUDS & SCIENCE SEMINAR SERIES: GENOME EDITING The ability to edit the DNA of humans and other organisms has transformed how we think about issues from disease to extinction. Join a lively discussion on science and ethics. April 16, 7-8 pm. Free. The Golden Handle Project, 111 S. Cedar St. goldenhandle.org/sudsand-science (509-868-0264) KISHA LEWELLYN SCHLEGEL: FEAR ICONS Schlegel discusses her book with introductions from students in EWU’s MFA program. April 18, 7-8 pm. Free. auntiesbooks.com (509-838-0206) GET LIT! FESTIVAL Eastern Washington University’s 24th literary festival features in-person and virtual events, including workshops, author readings, panel discussions, a book fair and more. This year’s headliners include Brandon Hobson, Lesley Nneka Arimah and Chen Chen, along with dozens of writers from our region and beyond. Complete schedule online. April 21-24. $15+. getlitfestival.org n

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