How footballers from England, Jamaica, Brazil and Spain ended up playing pro soccer in Spokane — and how they’re transforming the game
By Eliza Billingham
o matter your passion for sports, whether you’re a diehard or a bandwagoner, it’s nice to have a team to root for. Maybe it’s your alma mater, a well-known NFL squad or the MLB team from your home city. Maybe every four years you get hyped to watch the U.S. Olympic team, or you’re the most enthusiastic parent cheering on your kids’ sports squad every weekend.
Better yet, maybe you’re a sports fan who’s found new camaraderie and excitement by cheering on Spokane’s two (still very new) pro soccer teams, the Spokane Velocity men and the Spokane Zephyr women. Both squads boast a roster of homegrown talent, but also a cadre of INTERNATIONAL SOCCER PLAYERS, some of whom you’ll meet in this week’s cover story. What many local soccer fans may not know is how coveted a spot on those squads can be, especially for talented athletes coming from countries with less-robust sports infrastructure than we’re fortunate to have for many athletes here in the States. Meet the players on page 22, and then catch them on the pitch this spring and summer.
— CHEY SCOTT, Editor
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WHO’S YOUR FAVORITE INTERNATIONAL ATHLETE?
ELYSE CRICHTON
Gabby Williams. She plays for the Seattle Storm. She also plays for the French national team, and they’re like the closest competing with the U.S. every year in the Olympics. So I think she’s a really good competitor.
MIMI WALLE
Nika Mühl. She’s from Croatia. She played for UConn, and they’re playing here [at the Spokane Arena] today. She’s on the Storm now, so hopefully we see her here cheering on UConn.
HOLLY WAGNER
Lauren Jackson. She’s from Australia. She used to play for the Seattle Storm a long time ago. She and Sue Bird were a great dynamic duo for the Storm, and I went to a lot of those games with my grandma for years. So that was a special memory as a kid growing up — playing basketball and watching those two superstars.
DEVIN BROWER
Nikola Jokic [a Serbian player on the Denver Nuggets]. He could hit it from anywhere on the court.
Do you think the U.S. is losing its prestige as the best country for basketball?
I wouldn’t say that they’re losing it. I just think other countries are getting better. The U.S. is still at the top right now, but other other countries are catching up.
STEPHANIE YEUNG
Marine Johannes. When the WNBA is here, she plays for the New York Liberty.
What do you like about her?
I just really like French culture and France in general. So it’s really cool to see her in the W. Her style of play is very European, flashy passes and flashy finishes.
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Housing First Still Holds True
In the debate over what comes first, affordable housing or getting people off the streets, there’s a clear answer
BY BEN STUCKART
Irecently read the article by Eliza Billingham about a group of citizens walking at 5 am every morning to pressure our city leaders to combine forces into a regional authority to address homelessness. (“Unexpected Collab,” March 6.) The group is trying to solve the wrong problem. Everyone in the article portrays a regional board controlling all of the funds as the end solution. That is nonsense, as we know that housing is the solution to homelessness. To focus
on the structure is a distraction from our real issue.
In 2022, I raised money and hired Corner Booth Media to produce a series titled “Housing and Help.” We asked Gavin Cooley to be the host and went to work. The five episodes touch on Camp Hope and then dive into the success seen in Houston. Gavin, myself and the production team spent significant time interviewing and touring Houston. What we learned was very clear. Houston needed a regional homeless authority to force the community to spend the consolidated funds on building more housing with services. If you watch the series at housingandhelp.org, you absolutely see that the “magic sauce” is getting someone in housing with help. (The Inlander
ABOVE: The Corner Booth crew filming its 2022 series “Housing and Help” in Houston. CORNER BOOTH PHOTO
RIGHT: In March 2022, Catholic Charities opened Gonzaga Family Haven, with 73 units connected to wrap-around social services for residents. CATHOLIC CHARITIES PHOTO
covered this in “Houston, We Have a Problem,” Sept. 22, 2022.)
Houston used its regional authority to get everyone to align with this policy. The regional authority didn’t magically solve the issues. Go watch. Poor Spokane, we get down the road to solving problems but then get lost. You see this clearly in Gavin’s comments in the article. He is advocating for law enforcement to intervene and determine if people go to jail or treatment.
You know what they didn’t do in Houston? Throw people in jail.
You know what they didn’t do in Houston? Forced treatment. They put people in housing and offered services in their housing. Houston decreased their homeless population by 60% by building thousands of units and funding services.
For the last 12 years, Houston has not broken up encampments unless they have housing available for the people there. That is a hard and fast rule. So how did they remove encampments and make their city safer? They built housing. They then worked with folks in encampments to get into the housing. The group walking at 5 am thinks if we create a magical regional authority somehow we can come to a different conclusion from the facts and data where the answer is only housing. Our lesson from Houston was housing with services, not to create a new structure.
The fact that the 5 am walking group advocates for arrest, jail or mandatory treatment shows they are actually ignoring the lessons from Houston. But aren’t we failing now and shouldn’t we try this solution, you ask? Houston used their regional authority to get every funder, local businesses and foundations to focus on building more housing. That should be our focus.
“Poor Spokane, we get down the road to solving problems but then get lost.”
The regional authority conversation in our community is not about that though. Cooley and others ignored the community input they received and came up with a framework that gives small cities with no skin in the game the same number of board seats as the city of Spokane, which would be contributing 70% of the money. Bad input leads to bad outputs. Let’s stop beating our head against the wall and focus on building more housing of all types.
Houston’s regional authority was needed when no one was playing nice with each other. In Spokane that ignores the fact that the city and county handle the millions of dollars separately but are coordinating together. More importantly, the city and the county are operating more efficiently and better than they have in the last 20 years. Both the city and the county have released their funds earlier in 2025 than ever before — an important comparison. The Woodward administration didn’t release housing funds at all for two years and left money from the feds on the table. But most importantly, the city and the county are being innovative and are shifting to new smaller models of shelters.
To say we need a regional authority when things are operating better than ever before is ignoring the real problem: We need more housing of all types, including more lowincome housing, which requires not more coordination but more resources. We need to drive rents down for those on the street. We need to stop pursuing performative solutions and look to what we can do to increase production. If people want to walk every day at 5 am, they should be demanding that every regional municipal and county government ensure that there are local dollars invested in low-income housing, ensure that lot sizes encourage production of middle housing and make land available so that more production occurs. Resources are needed, permitting can speed up, but don’t get lost in a structural argument when the real solution is more housing, both market rate and low income, at all levels. n
Ben Stuckart is the executive director of the Spokane Low Income Housing Consortium. He served two terms as Spokane City Council president.
PROACTIVE PLANNING
Federal cuts, Washington’s budget deficit and a forecasted economic downturn could all impact you, but financial planning and assistance programs can help
BY VICTOR CORRAL MARTINEZ
Washington is experiencing a tough budget deficit, inflation is easing but still high as people feel pinched at the grocery store, and financial institutions nationwide are forecasting a recession closer to
the end of this year, all of which could have real impacts on the average Washingtonian.
Goldman Sachs, a multinational investment bank and financial services company, forecasts a 35% chance of a U.S. recession this year, while J.P. Morgan Chase predicts a 40% chance.
Economists have identified many indicators that we’re likely to see an economic downturn, such as negative Gross Domestic Product reported by the Atlanta Federal Reserve, which estimates the nation’s domestic output decreased by 2.8% in the first quarter this year. Experts also predict “stagflation” — a combination of slowed or stagnant growth with high inflation, usually accompanied by increased unemployment.
President Donald Trump’s tariffs targeting the country’s largest trading partners, along with reciprocal tariffs and
declining consumer confidence have driven market anxiety.
Spokane credit unions and nonprofits say many resources are available, and with early planning, they can help prepare people for an economic downturn. Local organizations such as Spokane Neighborhood Action Partners, or SNAP, can help people with financial planning, navigating debt and setting up savings accounts so they can develop their own rainy day fund.
While the future federal financial outlook appears bleak, Washington state lawmakers are already addressing an expected deficit of $15 billion over the next four years. Senate and House Democrats have released budget proposals to increase taxes on wealthier residents and increase spending for some programs, which in some cases conflicts with Gov. Bob Ferguson’s proposal, which includes no new
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taxes and calls for program cuts.
Senate Democrats have outlined new taxes to shore up funding for critical programs that will help vulnerable Washingtonians with special education, complete Spokane’s North-South freeway project, continue funding for school meals and post-secondary education assistance, and reduce the state sales tax to help alleviate some financial burden.
The work of state lawmakers and city officials to craft contingency plans for an economic downturn can only do so much. Ultimately, experts say a proactive approach with personal budgeting — including creating a rainy day fund with local financial institutions such as Spokane Teachers Credit Union, or STCU, and seeking out local resources available at organizations like SNAP — can be the best way to prepare.
LOOKING GLASS
The average Spokanite can’t control the global economy or what is happening in tariff wars, but they can prepare for a “rainy day” situation to be able to better ride out an economic downturn.
Lindsey Myhre, executive vice president and chief financial officer for STCU, says the first step to preparing for an economic downturn is understanding one’s financial habits.
“They need to understand how their money works and where it goes,” Myhre says. “What are the critical expenses? What are those things that are pretty important? And then what are some of those luxuries they spend money on?”
Myhre says that once you understand your spending habits by looking at the past couple of months, you can begin to see a process for budgeting. She also recommends saving at least $10 a week, which can build up substantially over time.
STCU offers a savings account that can help you build a 5.1% annual percentage yield, which means your savings receive compounded interest. Unlike other risky investments like stocks, a savings account is federally insured and will protect your money up to $250,000.
financial institutions to create a safety net or rainy day fund. She also says that remaining vigilant is essential because scammers are more likely to commit fraud in economic downturns.
“When times are hard and you get stressed, sometimes you might become a target of a fraud or a scam, and you want to be careful about those links you’re clicking,” Myhre says. “We always want to remind people to be aware, stay calm and make plans.”
LOCAL RESOURCES
Spokane Neighborhood Action Partners, or SNAP, is a local nonprofit that was founded in the 1960s during the civil rights movement, says Garrett Havens, the organization’s chief administrative officer.
SNAP’s mission is to provide financial opportunities and help for individuals and families in the Spokane community, Havens says. Many of its programs can help during uncertain times, he adds.
“Our Energy Assistance Program focuses on helping households manage heating and utility costs,” Havens says. “That’s one immediate opportunity that is potentially available for folks who are experiencing a crunch right now.”
For someone who owns a home, SNAP’s weatherization program could also help reduce utility costs by providing a grant to make the home more efficient and better sealed against the harsh weather in our region.
Havens says it’s important to get a head start on these programs because there are specific appointment dates, and some applications take time to process. He says a call discussing your situation can help you see what programs you can qualify for.
SNAP’s financial counseling can also help people better understand their financial situation and how to manage their money, he says.
When considering potential auto or home loans or refinancing, Myhre says working with your loan providers is key, but people should understand that interest rates are higher today than five years ago. She suggests consolidating your credit card debt to a lower interest rate or lower monthly payment to give yourself a reset.
Myhre says you shouldn’t be afraid to talk with your creditors and consider potential options through dialogue. At STCU, Myhre says there are financial relief solutions available, but reaching out in advance is important to avoid a financial crisis.
Phone apps like Robinhood make it easy for everyday people to invest in the stock market, but it’s also easier to panic sell as investments plummet due to the unpredictability of economic policy under the current administration. Myhre says to remain calm when thinking about your investments.
“Economic cycles are part of the world,” Myrhe says. “Stock markets go up, and stock markets go down.”
If you decide to sell stocks or are looking for a safer investment, savings certificates can help and are 100% insured, Myhre says.
Ultimately, Myhre says there are many options to prepare for an economic downturn but individuals have to be proactive and work with their
“Through those programs, we’re able to offer budgeting, debt management and credit building assistance for those who are looking into that,” Havens says.
Similar to Myhre, Havens says that creating a budget that includes $20 contributions to a savings account every paycheck can help people prepare for an unexpected expense or economic crisis.
In 2024, Fair Health Prices Washington, a partnership of patient groups, nonprofit consumer advocacy organizations and labor unions, conducted a 1,000-person survey in Washington. The survey found that 67% of respondents would struggle or could not afford to pay an unexpected $500 medical bill.
Havens says that navigating the many resources available at SNAP can be overwhelming, but he wants people to call early to get started.
“If you know things are going to get tough, you don’t have to wait until it’s a crisis before you reach out to SNAP,” Havens says. “We can provide you with guidance and connect you with services that can help make those crises less severe and easier to navigate.”
GOVERNMENT PLANS
Washington lawmakers are currently debating how to fund the state’s next biennial budget. In addition to proposed tax increases and spending cuts, they will consider labor cost saving measures like Ferguson’s proposal to have all state employees take one
furlough (unpaid) day off each month.
State Sen. Marcus Riccelli, D-Spokane, who is also the Senate majority floor leader, helped champion legislation in 2023 requiring schools with 40% of students (or more) who qualify for free or reduced lunch to provide free lunch and breakfast to all students.
Riccelli and his colleagues are looking to maintain that and protect other vulnerable populations during this tough budget cycle.
“We’re in tough times right now, so we’re trying to harden our support for our working families, particularly some of our most vulnerable,” Riccelli says. “I think we do that by funding the essential services, not going backwards, and making investments where we can.”
Riccelli says popular programs like the Washington College Grant are great equalizers during economically tough times. The grant, which can range from $1,400 to $6,100, varies depending on the institution you attend. Providing pathways to higher education or apprenticeships in high-demand fields can positively impact financial prosperity for state residents.
Riccelli also has a debt reform bill moving through the Legislature that would remove medical debt from Washingtonians’ credit reports. The bill would help the 29% of Washingtonians whose medical debt harmed their credit score.
He says maintaining current child care investments, the working families tax credit and the widely popular college grant program all come with costs. Senate Democrats are looking at increasing gas taxes by 6 cents and implementing a $10 tax for every $1,000 of intangible assets like stocks and bonds for individuals with more than $50 million in such assets.
Although the gas tax would affect Spokanites, Riccelli says it will ensure that the North Spokane Corridor is completed on schedule. He also says that a proposal to reduce the state sales tax from 6.5% to 6% would help Washington households struggling with current high costs.
Riccelli also points to a controversial rent stabilization bill as a way to help protect people during a potential economic downturn. House Bill 1217 would set a 7% limit on annual residential rent increases.
“More and more people are faced with issues of not being able to afford rent, and if they are, they get rents jacked up,” Riccelli says. “Forty-one percent of Spokane residents are renters, and about 43% [of them] spend more than 35% of their income on rent.”
Even with potential new taxes, Senate Democrats would like to tap $1.6 billion from the Budget Stabilization Account, a state-level rainy day fund, which would have $92 million remaining (virtually depleted) if that happens.
The Budget Stabilization Account was created in 2007 through Senate Joint Resolution 8206, which Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown sponsored when she was a state senator. The bill was featured on ballots that year and approved by voters. The nation would experience what became known as the Great Recession starting in 2008.
Brown says that after the 2001 legislative cycle, which saw deep cuts, lawmakers saw the need for the stabilization account to prevent such deep cuts in future legislative cycles.
“The idea was just to have more stability over the course of the business cycle,” Brown says. “At the city level, we have a couple of different accounts that are tied to different contingency plans.”
Brown, an economist, says cities often don’t make decisions about economic downturns until state and federal budgets are set. She says her biggest and most immediate concerns are the potential federal and state cuts to housing and homelessness funding.
According to city spokesperson Erin Hut, the city’s current budget included modest approaches to protect the city in the long run from potential financial uncertainties.
Brown says it’s often difficult to predict economic changes, particularly for the city level, but they are cyclical in nature, with upswings and downswings.
“Economists have a bunch of different indicators that they look at to try to predict when there’s an actual downturn and when the actual upturn is going to happen,” Brown says. “But that’s not a perfect science.” n
victorc@inlander.com
PINK MARTINI
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Pink Martini is back! Drawing musical inspiration from around the world, Pink Martini, the self-described “little orchestra,” reunites with “big orchestra” Spokane Symphony to perform its cosmopolitan world music spanning jazz to cabaret to retro pop in over 25 languages.
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Eliza Billingham contributed to this article.
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Legal Logjam
King County judge finds voter-approved natural gas initiative unconstitutional; supporters plan to appeal to the Washington Supreme Court
BY SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL
In late March, a judge found Initiative 2066, which was promoted as a way to preserve natural gas choice for energy customers, violated multiple provisions of the Washington State Constitution.
Voters passed I-2066 with 51.7% of the vote in November, after building industry proponents successfully promoted the measure to “stop the gas ban.”
However, environmental organizations filed a lawsuit after the measure passed, arguing it was unconstitutionally broad in scope, and in an oral ruling on March 21, King County Superior Court Judge Sandra Widlan found that I-2066 violated two sections of the state constitution.
Kai Smith, the attorney for the plaintiff environmental organizations and a partner at Pacifica Law Group, which was tasked with writing the final order to the judge’s specifications, says Widlan’s ruling boiled down to three points.
First, the measure violated the “single subject” rule of Article 2, Section 19 of the constitution, which requires that laws passed by lawmakers or the people only deal with one subject.
Because the initiative not only requires local governments and utilities to provide natural gas (saying they can’t even discourage its use) but also specifically limits clean air agencies’ ability to regulate air pollution, changes the state’s building efficiency standards, and alters a state law regulating utilities, Widlan found it dealt with more than one subject.
“A voter may well want to have access to natural gas, but at the same time want the government to regulate air pollution from natural gas,” Widlan said. “These provi-
sions are unrelated and not germane to one another.”
Attaching an undesirable change along with a desirable change is known as logrolling, which is what the single subject rule is meant to prevent.
“The body of the initiative is so broad and free ranging that it makes it hard to say with any precision what the general topic is,” Widlan said of I-2066. “There needs to be rational unity between the provisions of an initiative so you don’t end up in a situation where voters are voting for something that they don’t want in order to get something they do want.”
Secondly, Widlan found that the initiative violated the second part of the single subject rule, which requires the subject to be in the title. She similarly pointed to changes to air pollution regulation, building efficiency standards and utility planning, which were not in the title.
Finally, the judge found the initiative violated Article 2, Section 37 of the state constitution, which requires that initiatives clearly spell out which state laws will be amended. Widlan cited examples from the plaintiffs’ briefs, such as a law requiring the Department of Commerce to develop and implement a plan to reduce greenhouse gases, which would be impacted but weren’t in the body of the initiative.
“Voters were deprived of knowing clearly and fully what the impact of the measure was on other areas of state law,” attorney Smith says. “It’s a vindication of the view that this coalition had of 2066 since it was filed a year ago now.”
While the ruling was lauded by environmental groups as a win, the defendants, including the state Attorney General’s Office, which is tasked with defending voter initia-
tives, and the Building Industry Association of Washington, or BIAW, have said they will appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court.
“We know there will be an appeal ahead, and we look forward to bringing these same arguments before the Washington Supreme Court, and we expect to have a similar outcome,” Smith says.
Greg Lane, executive vice president for the BIAW, says the association was disappointed but not surprised by the ruling.
“Regardless of the outcome of the Superior Court, this case was going to go to the Supreme Court, either side was going to appeal,” Lane says. “We’ll have a much fairer venue.”
Lane argues that the initiative is legal, because the restrictions on, say, air pollution, were required to maintain access to natural gas.
“You can’t protect natural gas without restricting governments from reducing it,” Lane says. “To protect it, you have to prevent local governments from being able to restrict or ban it. … They are connected.”
Lane also disagreed that the title was confusing to voters, because it was written by the Attorney General’s Office after the plaintiffs in this case challenged the title in court early last year. Either way, he argues that voters clearly understood all of the initiatives, considering the results of the other ballot initiatives in November.
“They were very discerning. Some, they rejected outright, others they rejected on a slim margin, and ours they passed,” Lane says. “I think they very clearly understood what the impacts were, and they chose accordingly.”
For everyday people, the impacts of the ruling remain to be seen.
Few communities had changed their permitting process to adhere to the initiative since it took effect in December, Lane says, so it’s not clear how many building projects may have submitted applications under the reduced energy restrictions the initiative called for.
Widlan’s ruling means Washingtonians will be protected from higher utility bills and have more access to clean and efficient energy, says Megan Larkin, the clean buildings policy manager for Climate Solutions, a nonprofit that advocates for environmental policy changes.
Larkin and Leah Missik, acting Washington director for Climate Solutions, noted, for example, that state incentives to help people install electric heat pumps had been temporarily paused.
“Our understanding is that said programs should be able to continue, and we have already heard positive signs, for example, from the Utilities and Transportation Commission, on moving forward with certain programs that had been on hold,” Missik says.
Cameron Steinback, climate justice program manager for Front and Centered, a nonprofit that advocates for environmental justice in overburdened communities, says the organization was similarly pleased with this ruling.
“It was misleading and not truly in the interest of Washingtonians, not in the interest of frontline communities, and not consistent with our climate rules as a state,” Steinback says. “[It] was a little bit nefarious in its nature, trying to further commit us to a fossil fuel future, and that’s something that’s not going to really prioritize the health and safety and well-being of our communities.”
After the final ruling is entered in King County Superior Court this week, the state and BIAW will have 30 days to file a notice of appeal, then will get another 15 days to seek direct review by the Washington Supreme Court. The plaintiffs will get 14 days to respond, and if, as expected, the state Supreme Court accepts review, it could be months before the case is heard. n
samanthaw@inlander.com
Last year’s natural gas initiative could be headed to the Washington Supreme Court. STOCK.ADOBE.COM
Coug Cuts
WSU preemptively clamps down on spending. Plus, women’s scattered site shelter opens; and Idaho expands indecent exposure law
BY INLANDER STAFF
As federal and state education funding cuts loom, Washington State University has enacted preemptive measures to ensure that potential impact is as small as possible. Starting April 1, the university is pausing some salary increases and the hiring of nonessential faculty and staff. Additionally, WSU will prohibit any nonessential travel and training, reduce discretionary purchases, and renegotiate or end contracts. “As the path ahead requires fundamental adaptation, we know that some short-term measures … can help us weather near-term challenges,” a letter to faculty and staff from WSU leadership states. “What we had in the past is not necessarily our future. The landscape of higher education is evolving, and to thrive, we are going to have to shape our future together.” For up-to-date information on how the university is responding to the pressures of the current financial landscape, visit news.wsu. edu/navigating-the-challeges-ahead. (COLTON RASANEN)
GARFIELD GALS
When Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown took office last year, she put the city on a new course to build a network of “scattered site” homeless shelters dispersed outside the downtown core that could provide more individualized care. On Tuesday, Jewels Helping Hands, Empire Health Foundation and the city of Spokane opened a new women-only scattered site shelter in Knox Presbyterian Church’s gymnasium in the Emerson-Garfield neighborhood. The opening came a few weeks after Hope House announced it would stop providing about 100 emergency shelter beds for women and transition to providing 44 medical respite beds instead, starting this summer. The Knox women’s shelter can initially help 10 women, Jewels Helping Hands Executive Director Julie Garcia says, until the plumbing is upgraded. She hopes that the shelter will be able to support full capacity, which is 30 people, by the middle of April. This is Jewels Helping Hands’ fourth scattered site shelter, and the city’s eighth.
(ELIZA BILLINGHAM)
INDECENT EXPOSURE
Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed House Bill 270 into law, targeting public exposure of breasts and genitalia. The bill builds on current Idaho law that bans public indecent exposure, to include exposed developed female breasts, as well as surgically or hormonally altered female and male breasts. State Sen. Brian Lenney, R-Nampa, says the bill was inspired by the 2024 Canyon County Pride event, where he says people exposed themselves and residents complained about lewd activity. Displaying toys or other products resembling genitalia would also be a misdemeanor under the bill. Lenney says the bill doesn’t target people with truck nuts attached to vehicles, or bachelorette party attire, because the law gives discretion to law enforcement. However, state Sen. Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise, says she verified with law enforcement that someone can report toys or items like truck nuts to law enforcement. State Sen. James Ruchti, D-Pocatello, says the previous indecent exposure statute worked, and the updates will affect sex stores as well as bachelorette parties where revelers wear necklaces displaying lewd images. “We are turning over to the prudest person in our community, the standard for our community,” Ruchti says. “It’s not our job under our state and federal constitution to tell them what to do.” Through an emergency clause, the bill takes effect immediately. (VICTOR CORRAL MARTINEZ) n
Washington State University is tightening its belt in preparation for funding cuts. IANDEWARPHOTOGRAPHY / STOCK.ADOBE.COM
Current Aquifer Protection Area
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Water Warriors
Will Spokane city voters get the chance to rejoin the region’s Aquifer Protection Area?
BY ELIZA BILLINGHAM
The Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Prairie aquifer is the only supply of drinking water for most of Spokane and Kootenai counties. It flows for about 370 square miles under North Idaho and Eastern Washington, starting between Spirit Lake and Lake Pend Oreille and eventually emptying into the Spokane and Little Spokane Rivers just west of downtown Spokane.
Yes, it flows — an aquifer is less like a subterranean bowl holding water and more like an uneven sandbox with a kid spilling a bucket of water at one end.
But before it can surface in the Spokane River, a lot of that groundwater is pumped up by municipalities, who then use it for flushing toilets, watering lawns, showering, irrigating crops and filling glasses from the tap.
Spokane County averages about 235 gallons of water use per person per day, which is among the highest water use in the nation. Runoff puts water back into the aquifer, but it’s often contaminated with urban pollutants like fertilizers and microplastics.
In 1985, voters in parts of Spokane County created an Aquifer Protection Area, a portion of
the county where residents paid between $1.25 and $2.50 a month per household for 20 years to fund water quality monitoring and improvements (there were increased fees for commercial properties). The city of Spokane joined the protection area to focus on controlling nitrates in groundwater by creating a contained sewer system and removing more than 30,000 septic tanks and drain field systems, which allow treated wastewater to filter back into the ground.
The Aquifer Protection Area was renewed in 2004 for another 20 years, but that time the city of Spokane decided not to ask residents to participate in it again.
“[The sewer] work had been mostly achieved, and at the time, there weren’t more complex testing or regulations around other pollutants we are now addressing like PFAS,” Spokane Public Works spokeswoman Kirstin Davis says via email.
The Aquifer Protection Area currently covers some of the unincorporated parts of the county, plus Spokane Valley, Liberty Lake, Nine Mile Falls and Mead.
This fall, Spokane city residents may get
The city of Spokane could add 70 square miles to the Aquifer Protection Area. SPOKANE COUNTY MAP / LESLIE DOUGLAS OVERLAY
a chance to decide if they want to rejoin. On March 17, Public Works Director Marlene Feist introduced the idea to the Spokane City Council at the Public Infrastructure, Environment and Sustainability Committee meeting.
The Aquifer Protection Area is up for renewal this election season, and if Spokane City Council members want to, they could introduce a resolution to add the city to the protection area when it goes on the ballot this fall.
“Obviously, protection of our sole source aquifer is really important to the city of Spokane,” Feist said at the meeting. “We’re the largest water provider in the region, providing up to 150 million gallons a day of water to our 230,000 residents, plus visitors and businesses.”
Between 2000 and 2012, the city spent $220 million on water quality improvements through its Integrated Clean Water Plan. This included updating the Riverside Park Water Reclamation Facility, which treats 34 million gallons of wastewater every day and returns it to the river.
Rejoining the protection area would generate about $1.8 million yearly for the city, and Feist said Public Works would use the money for new projects to address pollutants, including “forever chemicals” like PFAS.
Both the city’s Climate Resilience and Sustainability Board and the mayor favor the city joining the protection area, Feist said. But city officials need to take plenty of actions before the choice would be put to voters in November. City Council members would need to introduce and pass a resolution, and then the city would need to sign an interlocal agreement with Spokane County, which will be responsible for finalizing the proposal before voter education guides are sent out in August.
If voters renew it, the fee would be the same as it’s been for the past 40 years, Feist says, and would cost each household unit $15 a year. The fee would be listed on property tax bills. For houses that have been split into multiple units, the $15 fee would be divided between residents as the landlord sees fit. Rates are different for large commercial or residential buildings.
Some residents pay an additional $15 per year if they use septic systems, rather than a municipal sewer system.
In addition to infrastructure, a portion of the revenue would go toward monitoring, which the county oversees. Since 1977, Spokane County has taken quarterly samples from 45 wells to check for nitrates, phosphorus, lead, arsenic, chloride and other pollutants.
“For 40 years, that’s provided us with a lot of data, so we would intend to continue to support that,” Feist said.
On the other side of the Washington-Idaho border, 66% of Kootenai County voters approved the creation of an Aquifer Protection District, which the Kootenai County Board of Commissioners then established in 2007. Kootenai is facing rapid growth — its current population is over 180,000 people, which is five times its population 50 years ago.
The protection district’s purpose is the “protection of the state’s economy, maintaining a water supply that does not require extensive treatment prior to human consumption or commercial use, avoiding the economic costs of remedial action, and protecting the well-being of communities that depend upon aquifers for essential human needs.”
People who own land above the aquifer pay a $5.74 parcel fee each year. The protection district then helps fund efforts by the Panhandle Health District and Idaho Department of Environmental Quality. The dollars mostly fund inspections of businesses that handle hazardous chemicals.
Though the Idaho Legislature stripped public health districts of rulemaking abilities in 2021, local ordinances in 2024 reestablished Panhandle Health District’s ability to enforce rules about the disposal of harsh chemicals above the aquifer. n elizab@inlander.com
Lasting Legacy
The award-winning Broadway musical Hamilton makes a two-week stop in Spokane
BY COLTON RASANEN
Ten years ago, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s biographical musical Hamilton made waves in the theater world. Instead of filling the two-plus-hour show with traditional-sounding show tunes, Miranda mainly took inspiration from rap and hip-hop music.
With this unique music styling, the show tells the history of founding father Alexander Hamilton in an engaging way for everyone, not just those interested in history. Through the story viewers learn about Hamilton’s life, family and legacy, from his meager beginnings as an orphaned immigrant to his vital involvement in the American Revolutionary War.
Today, the Tony award-winning musical, which performs as part of the Best of Broadway series at Spokane’s First Interstate Center for the Arts for nearly two weeks (April 8-20), is one of the best-selling Broadway musicals of all time. It is only surpassed by the likes of The Lion King, Wicked, and The Phantom of the Opera, each of which are more than a decade older than Hamilton
When Kendyl Sayuri Yokoyama was a child she wanted to be a ballerina. She began taking dance classes when she was 3 years old and quickly found herself in the world of competitive dance.
Over time she grew tired of the constant competitions and began looking for alternative outlets for her creative energy. Then when she was 14, she was cast as Princess Jasmine in a junior production of Aladdin
“After that I was like ‘Well, I have to do theater now,’” Yokoyama says with a laugh. “I had this guttural feeling that it was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.”
She later went on to play Belle in a production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and Connie Wong in A Chorus Line at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, where she was a student.
Then in 2018, the opportunity to audition for Hamilton arose. At the time, Yokoyama was actually at an audition for the revival of West Side Story, but she noticed a group of dancers waiting to audition for Hamilton in the same building. She then did what any aspiring performer might, she lied to the casting director to get into that
audition instead.
“I just remember thinking ‘OK, if I don’t kill this audition I will never be asked back to do Hamilton ever again,’” she recalls. “After a couple rounds of callbacks over the next month I finally got the call that I was going on tour.”
Yokoyama began as a substitute dancer for the show’s female ensemble cast, and then became an understudy for both Peggy Schuyler and Maria Reynolds (two characters who have always been played by the same actress.) After the pandemic she stayed with the show and began covering for the other Schuyler sister, Angelica, as well.
“I’ve been able to do so many different roles, you know, I’ve been in five different roles in the last six years, and each one has been like a promotion,” she says. “I have such a privilege in knowing the show so well. Now I have such an appreciation for what everybody has to do, and I think that’s really special.”
Once that tour ended, she was cast in another touring production, this time as the principal actress for Peggy/ Maria. However, after about a month in that role, the
The story of Alexander Hamilton as we know it would not exist without his wife, Eliza. JOAN MARCUS PHOTO
show’s director asked her to play Eliza Hamilton, the production’s leading female role. Yokoyama has now been performing as Eliza for more than a year.
“The goal was always to be Eliza eventually, but I just thought that would happen in 10 years,” the 25-year-old says. “You know, I didn’t think it would happen in just five years.”
Eliza Hamilton is a complicated character to portray, Yokoyama says. She’s central to the story, and yet she’s often defined by the men around her.
When first introduced in the production, Eliza is one of three marriage-eligible daughters of the wealthy Philip Schuyler; later she becomes Alexander Hamilton’s wife. Aside from a few lines in one song, the show doesn’t even pass the Bechdel Test. (To pass the Bechdel Test a show needs to have at least two women in its cast, and they need to have a conversation that doesn’t revolve around a man).
“We’re talking about a part of history where women didn’t have a lot of say or a lot of education, so she is very connected to the men they all are,” Yokoyama says.
“Without her, the stories would not have been told, and that’s the whole point, so I always like to think it’s Eliza Hamilton’s show.”
While the show mirrors history in the way it handles its female characters, Yokoyama says without Eliza, who documented her husband’s work for decades after his death, there would be no Hamilton
“Without her, the stories would not have been told, and that’s the whole point, so I always like to think it’s Eliza Hamilton’s show,” she says. “The show is not called Alexander Hamilton. It’s called Hamilton. It’s about the Hamilton family, and it’s about their legacy.” n
Kendyl Sayuri Yokoyama plays Eliza Hamilton in Hamilton’s national tour.
JOANNA DEGENERES PHOTO
The Space Between
Dustin M. Regul’s artwork explores the concepts of rifts and margins in new Saranac Art Projects exhibition
BY CARRIE SCOZZARO
In Michelangelo’s painting “The Creation of Adam,” reclining Adam, his left hand listlessly outstretched, awaits God’s animating touch. The famous fresco forms the centerpiece of the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling panels, depicting not the birth of humanity, but the moment just before it, according to scholars. And although the slight gap between God’s and Adam’s hands might not be visible from the chapel floor 68 feet below, its likeness has been immortalized over the centuries, including by artists employing its symbolic potential.
Dustin M. Regul is one of them.
In his mixed media painting “A Seeing Lesson,” Regul flips the familiar narrative. Literally. Regul’s painting includes a zoomed-in view of God’s and Adam’s hands, yet reversed so that Adam’s is to the right and only one finger, presumably God’s, is visible to the left.
Is Regul suggesting that humanity birthed God, not the other way around? Is he representing the view from space versus from the floor of the chapel? Or is there some other meaning?
All good questions, none of which he’s inclined to answer, says Regul, whose exhibition “rifts & margins” opens Friday, April 4, at Saranac Art Projects in downtown Spokane. The artist is currently based in Moses Lake, working as a tenure-track art instructor at Big Bend Community College.
“You can probably put all artwork under two categories: one that holds the viewer’s hand and one that ends
up giving them more questions than answers,” Regul says. “So, both of them are valid, but me personally, I was always drawn toward artwork that didn’t hold my hand, but posed more questions, got me thinking and never really gave me any specifics on maybe what its intentions were.”
In his statement accompanying the exhibition, which runs through April 26, Regul describes how his work “explore[s] the liminal spaces between established reality and undiscovered potential.” The known and the unknown; realism and abstraction — and especially the spaces in between two such seemingly opposite things.
“Usually, you tend to make artwork that you like to see,” Regul says. The word “liminal” — a threshold, occupying both sides of a boundary, a transition between things — can speak to science and metaphysics, both things he’s interested in, but as for what specific images mean, that’s open for interpretation.
“Just getting the viewer to take a moment to contemplate or consider what that could be honestly is the ultimate goal here,” he says.
Ling high school seniors in rural Hebron, Illinois, Regul was greatly drawn to the vibe his art teacher created in class.
“I think what drew me to [my teacher] was he was ex-military, but then at the same time, like, he was just the gentlest human being,” Regul says.
Regul remembers discovering the writings of Carl Sagan, the eminent American astronomer and planetary scientist whose seminal works include Dragons of Eden and Cosmos
ike many artists, Regul’s interest in making things was influenced by family members, including those who did cabinetry and woodworking. One of 34 graduat-
“It started to pique my curiosity… the amount of things humans know, and the unfathomable amount of things that we don’t know,” Regul says.
Another pivotal moment in his artistic development involved a 2011 trip to the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum in St. Louis, Missouri. There Regul was struck by the synthesis of art and science in the work of contemporary Argentinian-born artist and architect Tomás Saraceno, whose work explored the idea of a “sustainable city in the sky consisting of a series of bubble-like cells fueled by solar energy.”
“That was the first time I was like, ‘Oh, wait, art can be like this?’” Regul says.
After earning his Bachelor of Arts at Illinois College, Regul pursued his Master of Arts at Eastern Illinois University, followed by a break from school that returned him
Artist Dustin M. Regul
TOP LEFT: Dustin M. Regul’s “Sifting.” ABOVE: “A Seeing Lesson.” IMAGES COURTESY DUSTIN M. REGUL
to woodworking in a big way. He’d heard about Jim Bolin, founder of the Big Things in a Small Town workshop, who’d built the world’s largest wind chime in his bid to make his hometown, Casey, Illinois, a tourist attraction.
“And so, like, there was no job posting,” says Regul, who nonetheless offered his services. “I was like, ‘Hey, um, I got an art degree, and I’m a pretty good carpenter. You want some help?’”
Three years later, Regul had helped fabricate a giant rocking chair, golf tee, mailbox and more, all of which still hold a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records.
In 2019, Regul moved across the country to earn his Master of Fine Arts from Washington State University, which he describes as being more interdisciplinary than similar programs.
In addition to woodworking and painting, Regul has worked with photography, stained glass and sculpture, and he approaches his work with spontaneity.
“Sometimes it’s the material itself that ‘asks’ to be worked with,” he says.
Another thing Regul liked about WSU’s art program was the level of freedom and encouragement to experiment. In addition to inviting art mentors Joe Hedges and Michael Holloman to serve on his thesis committee, for example, he included Brian Saam, an experimental atomic, molecular and optical physicist, which he says was atypical yet powerful because Saam could see things the artists could not.
As the three artists talked about art, Saam would just listen, Regul recalls.
“But it’s like that thing — you can’t see the forest through the trees,” Regul says, adding that “all of a sudden [Brian] would just say one thing that, after he said it, is just so blatantly obvious what we were missing.” n
Dustin M. Regul: rifts & margins • April 4-26; Fri-Sat from noon-8 pm • Saranac Art Projects • 25 W. Main Ave. • sapgallery.com • 509-321-9416
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THE BEST AND WORST TV OF 2025 (SO FAR)
The first quarter produced some promising new series, but they aren’t all gems
BY BILL FROST
It may feel like it’s been a decade since Jan. 1, but the year is still young. In the TV biz, new series that debut in late winter/early spring are usually considered to be leftovers that weren’t good enough for the fall TV season. Not in 2025: Several new shows have come out strong, and, with a couple of exceptions, it’s an excellent crop. Here’s what to seek out (and avoid).
THE HUNTING PARTY (NBC, PEACOCK)
A secret underground Wyoming superjail is hit with a mysterious explosion, setting the nation’s worst — or best, depending on your true-crime podcast feed — serial killers loose in the wild. Now, it’s up to FBI profiler Bex Henderson (Melissa Roxburgh) to track them down before they kill again, one per weekly episode. Procedurals like Criminal Minds and The Blacklist have tread here before, but Roxburgh carries the taut Hunting Party with grim grit and a dash of humor.
PARADISE (HULU)
It was billed in advance as a “political doomsday thriller,” which seemed like the last thing we need since we’re currently living in one. But Paradise upended all expectations with an early twist that made it the buzz of the season. The no-spoiler gist: Former U.S. President Cal Bradford (James Marsden) is the first-ever murder victim in the utopian future community of Paradise, leading Secret Service agent Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown) to find the killer. And that’s only a thin slice of the plot.
DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN (DISNEY+)
Fortunately, Daredevil: Born Again isn’t about the classic Marvel superhero/vigilante finding Jesus. Set years after the 2015-18 Netflix Daredevil series, Born Again finds blind attorney Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) retired from the crime-busting nightlife. But when his former adversary Wilson Fisk, aka Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio), runs for New York City mayor, it’s time to dust off the red suit and horns. Daredevil: Born Again is just as dark, violent and mesmerizing as its predecessor.
DELI BOYS (HULU)
The lush lives of spoiled Pakistani American brothers
Mir and Raj (Asif Ali and Saagar Shaikh) come crashing down when their convenience-store tycoon father suddenly dies. Going from bad to worse, it’s revealed that Pops was also secretly the head of a criminal organization that they’re ill-equipped to take over. Deli Boys shares some bumbling family crime-comedy vibes with Weeds and smartly plays up a hilariously arresting breakout star in Poorna Jagannathan as the brothers’ mob liaison, Lucky.
RUNNING POINT (NETFLIX)
She’s starred in many a rom-com and psychological thriller since the ’90s, but Running Point is Kate Hudson’s first bonafide headlining gig for TV — needless to say, she nails this, too. Running Point sits in the tricky genre of “sports comedy,” with Hudson as an ex-party girl who inherits her family’s pro basketball team, the Los Angeles Waves (a none-too-subtle stand-in for the Lakers). It works, thanks to Hudson, a stellar cast, and sharp scripting by Mindy Kaling and Ike Barinholtz.
GROSSE POINTE GARDEN SOCIETY (NBC, PEACOCK)
Grosse Pointe Garden Society, centered on four members of a suburban gardening club (Melissa Fumero, Aja Naomi King, Ben Rappaport, and AnnaSophia Robb) hiding a mysterious murder, lives up to its “next Desperate Housewives” hype. The story is told in flashback-andpresent tense and gives Fumero plenty of room to shine as sardonic socialite Birdie, a hyper-fashionable hot mess that her former Brooklyn Nine-Nine character would probably hate.
SUITS L.A. (NBC, PEACOCK)
The new TV shows of Q1 2025 aren’t all gems, and Suits L.A. is a legal drama reboot as lackluster as Matlock is inspired. When the original 2011-19 cable series Suits blew up in 2023 on Netflix for … reasons? … a revival was inevitable. But that heat has fizzled two years later, and it doesn’t help that you have to watch this Suits on a weekly broadcast basis instead of as an all-at-once Netflix binge. Suits L.A. is just a snappily dressed snooze that doesn’t recapture any of that old USA Network bliss.n
THE BUZZ BIN
12 YEARS OF 3 MINUTES
As we reported on at length in our Open Mics issue last July, Auntie’s Bookstore’s 3 Minute Mic has been giving creatives a place to express themselves through poetry for over a decade. Hosts Chris Cook (pictured) and Chris Coppen have ensured the open mic’s longevity by inspiring emerging and established poets alike to share their work each First Friday of the month for 12 years now. On Friday, April 4, the poetry open mic celebrates its 12th anniversary with a special guest appearance by local poet Asyia Gover plus the usual slate of public performers. Here’s to 12 more years of 3 Minute Mic! (MADISON PEARSON)
WOMAN IN CHARGE
Washington State University has entered a new era of leadership as university President Elizabeth Cantwell began her tenure as the school’s 12th leader. Following a nationwide search, the WSU Board of Regents announced Cantwell had been chosen in early February. The first woman to ever lead WSU, she began her tenure on April 1, replacing former President Kirk Schulz after his nine-year tenure. Before joining WSU, Cantwell spent almost two years as the president of Utah State University. “I’ve long admired Washington State University, and a couple of years ago my family’s connection to the university deepened when my daughter became a Coug, enrolling in one of WSU’s graduate programs,” Cantwell told WSU Insider. “This opportunity to serve WSU as president is truly a dream come true!” (COLTON RASANEN)
THIS WEEK’S PLAYLIST
Noteworthy new music arriving in stores and online April 4:
OK GO, AND THE ADJACENT POSSIBLE
Because they found so much success with their viral music videos, OK Go is the rare band whose music actually gets overlooked. The group looks to deliver more power-pop gems on its first LP in over a decade.
BON IVER, SABLE, FABLE
This LP continuation of the 2024 EP Sable finds Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon further exploring lush pop soundscapes rather than sparse indie folk ones.
THE MARS VOLTA, LUCRO SUCIO; LOS OJOS DEL VACÍO
The always-experimental prog rock band has taken a unique approach to the rollout of its ninth LP. Rather than put out any songs from the album, The Mars Volta has been playing it in full while opening for Deaftones. (SETH SOMMERFELD)
NBC’s The Hunting Party
Two to Tango
Sandoint pianists Melody Puller and Matt Goodrich take audiences on a sonic tour of Latin America
BY E.J. IANNELLI
As Sandpoint pianists Melody Puller and Matt Goodrich dug deeper and deeper into the repertoire for their new concert featuring Latin American music, titled Camino del Corazón, they found themselves spoiled for choice.
“What was stunning to us was just how many composers there were, just how many piano works there were. It was actually hard to narrow down,” Goodrich says. “We’d text each other late at night. ‘How about this?’ ‘Listen to this.’ ‘Do you love this?’ ‘Look what I found.”
“Yeah,” Puller says, laughing. “The problem is that we said yes to every one.”
Ultimately they made the hard choices, and the resulting program (performing at four venues around the Inland Northwest) ended up with a mix of the recognizable — names like Astor Piazzolla, Alberto Ginastera and Heitor Villa-Lobos — coupled with once-famous composers waiting to be rediscovered by contemporary audiences.
For instance, the Venezuelan-born composer Teresa Carreño, who’s represented by the piece “Mi Teresita,” was invited to the White House to play for Abraham Lincon when she was 9 years old.
“She was a composer, she was a conductor, she was an opera singer and a pianist. She was known as the Valkyrie of the Piano. Amy Beach and Edward MacDowell both dedicated compositions to her,” Puller says.
And while Carreño has a good 75 original works to her name, Puller says she chose to perform “Mi Teresita” because it’s a “sweet little waltz” that helps demonstrate the range and nuance of Latin American piano music. It also introduces a biographical element, as Carreño dedicated the piece to her daughter.
Pedro Humberto Allende is another name that might not immediately ring a bell outside his native Chile today, though he was celebrated during his lifetime by the likes of Claude Debussy and Florent Schmitt. Puller is performing several selections from his “Tonadas de carácter popular chileno” (“Chilean folk songs).”
“I absolutely fell in love with the Allende pieces because they’re simultaneously very Chilean — they have the folk song and folk dance elements to them — but they’re also very impressionistic in the French tradition. And so they’re just this wonderful hybrid,” Puller says.
Goodrich, meanwhile, will mostly be alternating with Puller during the concert to perform pieces by Brazilian composer Ernesto Nazareth, including his “Apanhei-te, cavaquinho” (“I’ve Caught You, Little Guitar”), and Argentina’s Alberto Williams.
“With the last name of Williams, he’s a composer that you wouldn’t even think would be Argentinian. But he was one of the first Argentinian composers to create kind of an Argentinian national sound in his music,” he says.
“The piece I’m playing, ‘The Abandoned Ranch,’ was the piece that put him on the map. He had a very long and storied career, and this is a very early piece, so it’s a very interesting snapshot of when he was really getting going.”
After hearing Goodrich perform it for the first time, Puller said the piece reminded her of the styles more often associated with Schumann, Brahms and Satie.
That actually highlights an important thread that both pianists are hoping audiences will pick up on, namely, the musical cross-pollination between Europe and Latin America. During the 19th century, even as many South American countries sought to shake off their colonizers, there was still an active transatlantic cultural exchange that influenced how their homegrown music developed.
CAMINO DEL CORAZÓN: A LATIN AMERICAN PIANO JOURNEY
Fri, April 4 at 7 pm: Music Conservatory of Sandpoint, $15-$30 Sat, April 5 at 2 pm: Steinway Piano Gallery, Spokane Valley, free Sat, April 5 at 7:30 pm: Kroc Center, Coeur d’Alene, $15-$20 Sun, April 6 at 3 pm: University of Idaho, Moscow, free Info: sandpointconservatory.org, 208-265-4444
“A lot of these composers we’re featuring wound up bringing back what they learned [in Europe] but then incorporating their own sense of culture and nationalism and building their own unique voice. They started melding South American native rhythms and folk songs and sounds into this more classical, established structure,” Goodrich says.
Even the piece by Piazzolla might hold a surprise or two. Although he was renowned as the father of nuevo tango, the Piazzolla work that opens the concert — a fourhander called Soledad (“Solitude”) — is, as Goodrich describes it, “a little less funky than ‘Libertango’ or ‘Four Seasons’ or a lot of what he’s known for.”
“But you’ll hear the tango element,” he continues, “and we have to recreate it at the piano with four hands — the whole tango orchestra, the violin, the bandoneon, the bass, the guitar.”
All told, this program travels to seven countries: Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Chile and Mexico. And the concert itself is on the move as well. Puller and Goodrich will start on April 4 at their homebase, the Music Conservatory of Sandpoint, and then bring Camino del Corazón to venues in Spokane Valley, Coeur d’Alene and Moscow over the following two days. n
Matt Goodrich and Melody Puller perform side-by-side. RORY CREIGH PHOTO
‘Football
‘Football has no language’
International players bring skills and life lessons to the pitch
STORY BY ELIZA BILLINGHAM
PHOTOS BY ERICK DOXEY
Fútbol. Futebol. Calcio. サッカー Fußball. Soccer. Whatever you call it, it’s the most popular sport in the world.
It’s not, however, the most popular sport in the United States. Though American soccer culture is growing, it’s still decades behind the rest of the globe.
In the States, TV channels are hogged by the NBA and NFL. Soccer moms and expensive youth leagues give the sport a white-collar reputation instead of mass appeal. The U.S. women’s national team is consistently a top-ranked team globally, but lots of people with tunnel vision only see that the men never break into the top 10.
Plus, soccer salaries are not what most Americans expect from professional sports. The minimum salary for the United Soccer League League One, where the Spokane Velocity men play, is $2,200 a month. The USL Super League, a top professional women’s league, has not said publicly what the minimum salary is, but claims it’s similar to the National Women’s Soccer League minimum, which was about $38,000 per year in 2024. Average salaries are somewhat higher and teams do provide housing and health care, but it’s nowhere near the lucrative $795,000 minimum for active roster rookie NFL players.
It begs the question: Why would anyone ever move to America to play soccer?
Because people do. Plenty, actually. They leave their families and bust language barriers and go through pretty intense culture shock — the type of culture shock that made current Velocity head coach Leigh Veidman, a Liverpool native, give up and go home six months after he moved to Iowa for college. (Obviously, he came back to the States, much to Spokane’s eventual delight.)
In fact, there’s so much interest from abroad that there’s a cap on international players in professional U.S. soccer leagues. In order to prioritize homegrown talent, only a handful of roster spots on each 30-ish person team are available to someone who’s not a permanent American resident.
Contracts for international players are usually shorter, sometimes just a year. Visas are expensive and teams have limited budgets. If a player doesn’t perform well enough, coaches will give the spot to someone else. This puts a unique pressure on international players to prove their skill on the pitch immediately, while going through pretty significant upheaval off the pitch.
...continued on next page
Andre Lewis scans the field at the Spokane Velocity’s home opener against One Knoxville SC on Sunday, March 16.
SPORTS
“FOOTBALL HAS NO LANGUAGE” CONTINUED...
So, why do it?
The answer is unique to each player, though some journeys have similar themes. There’s passion for the game, but there’s also the pursuit of education, dreams for their families, and visions for life after soccer.
And as each player chases their goals, they leave a personal touch on the game. In the case of seven Velocity players and three Zephyr players, the international talent not only brings unique styles of play to the pitch, but a swath of life lessons that are invaluable to the locker room culture, Veidman says.
Here’s a look at how four professional footballers ended up in the Inland Northwest from all over the world, plus a peek into how they’re helping transform soccer in America.
Oh, and since these are stories from around the globe, football and soccer will be used interchangeably to mean the same sport. No one, not even once, will be talking about quarterbacks, wide receivers, tight ends or Taylor Swift.
RESILIENCE
Thais Reiss doesn’t let setbacks stop her. Not even pretty major setbacks for a soccer player, like not having a team.
Reiss, 25, grew up in Brazil before most girls there had soccer teams. From the time she was 4 years old, the native of Curitiba would play with the boys — often barefoot in the park down the street.
Not that she minded. She was good. No one doubted that she belonged. Even throughout high school she continued to train with the boys’ team. When she was 15, she got called up to the national women’s team. It was the first time she ever played against girls.
“From 15 to 17 years old, I would train with boys at home, and then I would travel to Rio to the national team, and then I would play girls,” Reiss says. “Then I went to college.”
Unlike the rest of the world, American colleges are known for their sports teams. College sports are pretty much the only option for female athletes here if they want to go pro. The extra training usually gives American women an advantage over athletes from other countries, and has historically taken American women to the top of the world soccer stage. Plus, they earn a college degree while they’re at it.
“In Brazil, there’s no chance you can go to school and play soccer at the same time,” Reiss says.
Her mom wanted her to study, and she wanted to play soccer, so an American scholarship was pretty much the only option. Even though she didn’t like school, she spent her teenage years taking extra English courses after class every week. And when she got a full ride to the University of North Florida, she took it.
“I came here when I was 17,” she says. “I just came with open arms. I didn’t even think about it. I came, and it was awesome. The girls in my class were so close, and they helped me so much. I don’t think for a second I was scared. I mean, I was playing soccer. I was having so much fun.”
great soccer performances.
Reiss broke most of the women’s soccer records at UNF and signed a contract with the Orlando Pride after graduating. She was teammates with her idol, Marta, the Brazilian legend so adored that she only needs one name.
Am I ever gonna be able to play soccer again?
There weren’t any other international players on her team, and college classes in her second language were tough. With support from her teammates and the adrenaline of a teenager, Reiss made it through the first couple of semesters with some bad grades but some
But no matter how great Reiss’ college numbers were, a young alumna of a small college competing for one of five international spots on a NWSL team doesn’t get much time to prove herself.
There was, however, a silver lining. Even though they didn’t give her much playing time, the Orlando Pride got Reiss a green card.
“It literally changed my life,” Reiss says. “Even when I was in college, it was always a fear of mine of getting deported. With Orlando, it was like, if I don’t get re-signed, I’m gonna have to leave the country. So that was always really stressful for me. I love the U.S. I have been here for [almost] eight years now. That’s a big part of my life.”
Since a green card means Reiss is a permanent American resident, she also doesn’t have to vie for limited international roster spots anymore.
After she left the Pride, Reiss briefly played in Spain’s Liga F. But she signed with the Zephyr in the newly created USL Super League just a few months after moving to Spain, ready to continue proving herself in the U.S. — a global powerhouse for women’s soccer.
Then, just a month into the inaugural 2024-2025 Super League season, she tore her ACL.
“I think a lot of us who don’t really get a chance, we have to do even more to show that we’re good enough,” Reiss says. “I think I was really fatigued and just overtrained. It’s just so much stress on your body, physically and mentally.”
Reiss has spent most of this season rehabbing alone. As she gets older, she’s starting to realize the importance of family, she says, and how much she abandoned when she left her parents behind.
But her main focus now is the same as it was when she was 4 years old — proving that she belongs on the pitch.
“Just the thought of coming back and playing again with my teammates, that is what makes it worth it,” she says. “It’s hard, because this is what I’ve done my whole life, and all of the sudden, I’m not doing that. Am I a soccer player? Am I ever gonna be able to play soccer again? … Coming back is, like — I can’t wait.”
HUNGER
One afternoon in Portmore, an urban area in southeast Jamaica, a young Andre Lewis was waiting for his older brother to finish class. Lewis was in third grade and wasn’t allowed to walk home by himself.
The gym teacher was announcing to the fifth grade class that the school was going to have a football team. Training would take place after school. Lewis asked if he could play, too.
The coach was surprised. Lewis was small. The coach deliberated, studied Lewis, and finally told him he could join.
Like most Jamaican boys, Lewis played plenty of soccer with neighborhood kids in the streets. But a spot on the school team differentiated him from the pack.
“I realized how good I am when my brother was on the
Spokane Zephyr Forward Thais Reiss is waiting for her time to shine again.
bench, and I’m on the field,” Lewis says. “My mom would come to the games, and it would just look weird, my mom asking the coach to play my older brother. I think for the last game of the season, I didn’t show up so that my brother could play.”
From there, opportunities kept opening up. Lewis played in youth leagues, and then the Jamaican national under-17 team, proving himself a pivotal player and a fan favorite.
“That’s when I start to see a dream,” he says. “That’s when I start to say, ‘I want to play professional soccer overseas.’ I started to watch football on TV and realized, ‘I can make this become a reality.’”
Playing overseas was the obvious choice for Lewis. He saw it as the most viable way he could improve life for his family. On TV, he watched interviews of Brazilian players who had gone pro and earned enough money to move their families out of the “favela,” that is, urban slums in Rio de Janeiro and other metro areas.
SOCCER LEAGUES IN AMERICA
“I want to do that as well,” he says. “I want to be able to take my family outside of where I’m from in Jamaica, and also make something of myself. So I choose soccer to be my profession, and I try my best so I can get to that level.”
The opportunities continued. In 2014, the Vancouver Whitecaps picked Lewis in the MLS super draft. Lewis signed a one-year contract with the Whitecaps, with an option to renew for another year if everything went well.
Lewis scored four goals and made three assists in 10 games. During practices, he got praise from his teammates and coaches, but he still rarely made playing time on the field.
That summer, Lewis tore his ACL and his meniscus. It took 11 months to recover. Then, the team didn’t renew his contract. They asked him to try out again, but it stung the young player’s ego.
“I just [thought], ‘It’s never gonna happen here. I don’t think I’m getting a fair shot. I think I should move on,’”
MEN’S
Lewis says.
From there, he took opportunities in the MLS, USL Championship, and USL League One. He returned to Jamaica for one season in 2019 to help his hometown club, Portmore United FC, win the Jamaica National Premier League.
He had hoped a good run in the MLS would earn him a chance at playing in Europe. After his injury, opportunities stalled. But now he’s back in the U.S. and still chasing the dream of balling out on the world stage while bringing his family along with him. He still trusts that God and football could take him anywhere in the world.
“Football doesn’t have a language,” he says. “That’s the raw truth.”
Lewis’ hunger to prove himself is a coach’s dream in the new promotion and relegation system that the USL announced for 2027. The system will allow all USL teams to move up or down the levels of competition based on the previous season’s wins. It could be just the opportu-
WOMEN’S
Spokane Velocity Midfielder Andre Lewis plays soccer for himself, his son and his entire family.
nity Lewis needs.
This isn’t quite the life he dreamed of yet. But Lewis isn’t ungrateful.
“Soccer is not just the only joy of living in America,” Lewis says. “It’s one of the best countries in the world opportunity-wise. I have a son now, and it’s a better way to give him a better life, with more opportunities that I never had. So it’s not just football after everything.”
Lewis hopes this season will be the first his family will be able to visit him in the U.S.
ADAPTABILITY
“Sweet are the uses of adversity,” wrote the famed English sports fanatic William Shakespeare. The Stratford-upon-Avon native surely didn’t know how well his words would ring true for someone else in his hometown 400 years later.
Mollie Rouse grew up in that same town in the middle of England, daughter to a football coach and little sister to a football player. Like Reiss, Rouse grew up playing footy with the boys since there were no girls’ teams in her hometown during her adolescent years.
As part of her local boys’ youth team, Rouse learned to play smart, read the field and make decisions quickly. She also got to be part of her local club culture.
“Young boys have been brought up with their local team, and they live and breathe the local clubs,” she says.
It’s hard to describe how much English life revolves around football. In the U.S., men’s professional soccer has four leagues that struggle for fan attendance. But in England, men’s soccer has more than twice as many leagues, where the players are paid well and all the games are “raking in local fans,” Rouse says.
Once she was a teenager, Rouse started playing in women’s leagues and worked her way up to the top level. But despite the nation’s football craze, the salary and support for women in England just weren’t there yet.
“I was in the Aston Villa first team, but I wasn’t getting paid,” she says. “So I was stuck in limbo — I needed education, because who knows if I can keep playing, if it’s gonna cover my wage, if I’m gonna need another job?”
Again, the U.S. offered the unique combo of education and competition — and one more thing that blew Rouse’s mind.
“The facilities at colleges here are incredible,” Rouse says. “Going from Aston Villa first team at the time to [the University of] Louisville, the facility standard was 1,000 times better at Louisville.”
At the time, Rouse had no idea that the locker rooms, gyms and fields at Louisville weren’t exceptional — they were pretty standard for women’s Division I sports across the U.S.
Rouse left America briefly when she was called back to England to play on the under-20 World Cup team. She and her teammates brought back bronze in 2018. When she returned to the U.S., she realized there were more options, so she transferred
ON TAP
A Taste of Adventure
At SquatchFest, No-Li invites you to celebrate the PNW’s beloved legend by telling tall tales, building community and sampling some very squatchy brews
John Bryant will never forget his brush with Sasquatch. e No-Li founder was just 7 years old at the time. He and his two older siblings were spending the weekend camping by themselves — as they often did — several miles into the Olympic National Forest near Lake Cushman.
Around dusk, just as the camp re had settled into a crackling blaze, they started to hear ominous noises near the treeline.
“Growing up in the Paci c Northwest, and especially around the Olympics, Bigfoot was always a thing of lore. You start hearing stu rustling in the bushes, and it’s something big, so that’s where your mind goes,” Bryant says.
“Did we see the Squatch? No. Did we imagine it and talk about it as if we had? Hell, yeah.”
e three of them had a blast retelling and embellishing their experience. Although their squatchy encounter may have been mostly in their heads, the feeling of fun and companionship was very real.
SQUATCH SEZ!
Who’s ready for SquatchFest 2025! It’s at the No-Li Bier Hall on Saturday, April 12, from noon to 3 pm. The first 600 attendees who buy a mug and fill will also get a limited-edition SquatchFest trucker hat! The $15 entry fee includes a commemorative SquatchFest glass, and fills are just $8 each. There will be games, activities, costumed Squatches and two DJs.
at feeling would go on to inspire SquatchFest, the annual event that No-Li launched in 2023. With prizes, activities and live music, the festival is designed to bring the local community together — just like that memorable weekend of telling tall tales around the camp re.
“ e Squatch we’re celebrating isn’t something scary,” Bryant says. “We wanted the festival to have some humor and that outdoor air, with games like cornhole and people just relaxing and having a good time.”
SquatchFest is also the perfect time to enjoy No-Li’s innovative Squatch-themed series of beers, which put the same lighthearted spin on serious small-batch brews.
irteen years in the making, the series now includes Squatch Pirate, Juicy Squatch, Spartan Squatch and Imperial Squatch. All of them are suitably adventurous IPAs that showcase bold avors like citrus and pine.
And this year, fans can look forward to the debut of Squatch Smuggler. Drawing on the classic Miami Vice look from the 1980s, the speedboat-driving Squatch featured on the cans is smuggling the mangoes that contribute to the IPA’s distinctive avor pro le.
“As the craft beer scene matures, with the Squatch series and events like SquatchFest, we’re going back to how we started all those years ago,” Bryant says. “It’s all about personal interaction and not taking yourself too seriously.
“Because that’s what great craft beer does: It creates a community.”
Squatch Smuggler: A new brew debuts.
Midfielder Mollie Rouse, right, brings experienced attacking skills to the Zephyr. COURTESY SPOKANE ZEPHYR
SPORTS
to the University of Central Florida, where the more possessive, tactical style of play fit her strengths better.
Plus, her new coach was Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak, one of the ’99ers — the women on the 1999 U.S. national team who won the World Cup.
“Looking up to her was incredible,” Rouse says. “As a 19-year-old, she changed a lot of my perspective on things.”
There was one thing, though, that Rouse couldn’t get her mind around.
“As an international, I’ve always found it quite surprising that there [used to be] only one professional [women’s soccer] league in America,” she says. “This country is massive, and you have these college systems, which have great players. But after college, you just lose all these talented players because it’s just not enough spots in the league. … The Super League is definitely a step in the right direction.”
After college, you just lose all these talented players because it’s just not enough spots in the league.
running during the pandemic. When she was able to leave the country again, Rouse joined FFC Turbine Potsdam in Germany. But her team there was slow to adapt to the new style of team culture that’s emerging as women’s soccer grows.
“I played a lot in Germany and learned a lot,” Rouse says. “But the setup wasn’t the best. The way they looked after the players wasn’t very good.”
There are old school and new school ways of coaching. Old schoolers would tell you that to win, players need to run more. Train more. Buck up under some tough love.
Some players respond to that. But sometimes it’s hard to draw the line between tough love and verbal abuse. Plus, constant training also puts athletes — women specifically, thanks to completely different hormone and recovery cycles than men — at higher risk of injury.
think they can keep going the way they are, but you have to adapt with the times.”
Rouse will keep playing football as long as she can. But whenever her career as a player ends, she plans to coach at the collegiate level in order to keep the momentum going for competitive, healthy women’s soccer in the U.S. — and be the coach that the next generation of athletes look up to.
“If you grow with the times and you change as it evolves, you can stay at the top,” Rouse says.
BELONGING
The mononymous Ronaldinho, one of the best soccer players to ever play the game, signed with Barcelona FC and donned the blue and garnet stripes in 2003.
That same year, Nil Vinyals was also playing soccer in Barcelona — but as a 6-year-old, kicking the ball with his parents and friends, only daydreaming about the iconic stripes.
Vinyals saw Ronaldinho play live when he was about 10 years old. For most kids, watching the best in the world forces them to drop any naive hope they’ll make it. But with Vinyals’ talent and support, especially as the only child of a footballer and a figure skater, his potential seemed great.
“I think it was always ingrained in me that I was gonna get there,” Vinyals says. “But my career and development went different ways, and maybe at times I was doing things opposite to going pro.”
By the time Vinyals was 17, he had stopped taking soccer seriously. He preferred nights out with friends to mornings in the gym. His parents’ split a couple years prior added to the classic teenage angst of not knowing what to do with your life.
Vinyals knew he liked sports and business, but sports management wasn’t a common degree in Spain at that time. So he decided to move to the U.S. to get out of his comfort zone, pursue a relevant degree, play some soccer and get a fresh start.
He ended up in Jackson, Tennessee, at Union University, a private Baptist school that threw Vinyals into an intense subculture of American evangelicalism.
“I had no idea where I was going,” he says. “The only thing I knew is that they gave me the highest scholarship, and that my coach was Brazilian [but] he spoke Spanish, and he played futsal. I played futsal, too, growing up.”
Futsal is soccer’s faster, squeakier cousin that’s played on a basketball court (or something similar). The smaller court and harder surface hone techniques like ball control, passing accuracy and quick reflexes. Those techniques are what Ronaldinho and Barcelona FC are famous for, and what European soccer in general excels in. American soccer, on the other hand, is often less tactical and more physical, historically focusing on speed and strength instead of planning and execution.
At Union, Vinyals found a coach who could appreciate his European training. From there, he kept moving up. He quickly transferred from Union, which played in the NCAA’s Division II, to Winthrop University, a Division I school in South Carolina.
While Rouse was in college, women’s soccer had been gradually gaining momentum in England, too. Women started sharing facilities with men and playing on better fields. But right when Rouse graduated and moved back home, COVID shut down games and stalled most of that advancement.
Stuck in England without other options, Rouse joined a semi-professional league, the only women’s league
Newer coaching acknowledges how an athlete’s experience off the pitch contributes to their performance on the pitch. Health insurance, language help, emotional support, religious communities and adequate housing are all seen as valuable inputs for a player’s output, not to mention general well-being.
“As the women’s game grows and becomes more professional, those sorts of teams that [don’t] have a professional environment really fall behind,” Rouse says. “They
He started playing professionally in the Southeast right after he graduated from college in 2018. He made a name for himself as an elite passer whose controlled, creative play elevated everyone on the field. When he joined Velocity this season, he was second in the league for assists.
A decade after Vinyals came to the U.S., Ronaldinho did, too. Last year, the soccer legend joined the ownership team of the two Greenville USL teams. The Velocity played the Greenville Triumph on March 29. Vinyals created a chance to score within 15 minutes of coming on the pitch, and the Velocity defeated the Triumph 4-nil.
Spokane Zephyr Midfielder Mollie Rouse hopes to inspire the next generation of footballers.
“FOOTBALL HAS NO LANGUAGE” CONTINUED...
Assisting, it turns out, isn’t just Vinyals’ priority on the pitch.
As he climbs the leaderboards in the USL, he’s also dedicated to creating opportunities for people who have been excluded from competitive soccer altogether.
“I’ve always been in touch with the community of intellectual disabilities,” Vinyals says.
Vinyals’ aunt was the director of a Spanish foundation serving people with intellectual disabilities while he was growing up. When Vinyals played for the Richmond Kickers, the team hosted recreational soccer matches for youth with special needs every Sunday afternoon. Vinyals went to watch every week along with João Gomiero, a Brazilian midfielder who also played for the Kickers and had experience working with Special Olympics athletes.
“We always had in the back of our mind that there was so much more that could be done for this community,” Vinyals says. “At one of the last sessions, Ryan — one of the athletes we knew and a super big Kickers fan who happens to have Down syndrome, too — he asked us, ‘When can I play for the Kickers with you guys?’ That’s when we looked at each other and said, ‘Let’s see what we can do.’”
When Vinyals went back to Barcelona during the offseason, he started studying LaLiga Genuine, an extension of Spain’s top soccer league LaLiga that hosts tournaments for athletes with intellectual disabilities. Since the teams are associated, someone with different intellectual capabilities can still rep Barcelona, Espanyol, or Real Madrid. The goal is to normalize high levels of aspiration and competition for footballers of all abilities.
“I think that’s when everything changed, when I went back to Spain, and I saw the really high level that there is within this community,” Vinyals says. “If given the platform, they can perform at a really exciting level.”
Back in the States, Vinyals and Gomiero founded Project Inspire, a nonprofit dedicated to improving the well-being of disabled athletes through inclusivity and healthy competition. The
“It’s more than soccer, but soccer is an excuse to make an impact,” Vinyals says.
There are about 700,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities in the U.S., he says, but no year-round competitive leagues.
“Right now, people with intellectual disabilities live between 16 and 20 years less than the general population due to mental health and physical health,” Vinyals says. “It’s related to sports participation, so that’s [why] we want to make the league. But it goes beyond that to wellbeing and inclusivity, which is our aim.”
Although the athletes are not paid, the league covers the cost of coaches, nutritional plans, travel accommodations and all other expenses so the players get to compete at no cost to themselves.
The Inspire League is also partnering with the University of Pennsylvania’s behavioral and decision sciences program to research — and try to remove — the stigmas that athletes with intellectual disabilities face.
Because no matter who you are, Vinyals says, soccer is fundamentally about belonging.
“It provides a sense of belonging to a community,” he says. “You belong to a group of people, you identify with their values, with the way that they act, and you can get behind that. When we play or we support something that’s bigger than ourselves, that’s when we truly have an emotional and a human connection.”
elizab@inlander.com
UPCOMING HOME GAMES AT ONE SPOKANE STADIUM
Velocity Midfielder Nil Vinyals warms up before a chilly USL League One game at One Spokane Stadium on March 16.
Inspire League, heavily modeled after LaLiga Genuine, will kick off this year.
‘Everything’s Vegan?’
Allie’s Vegan Pizzeria & Cafe on Spokane’s South Hill celebrates 10 years of vegan comfort food
BY DORA SCOTT
For diners who newly happen upon Allie’s Vegan Pizzeria & Cafe on Spokane’s lower South Hill, it’s often a surprise to discover the restaurant’s comfort food menu of pizza, burgers and more contains zero animal products.
“That’s like our biggest question when people walk in, the first thing they say [is], ‘Everything’s vegan?’” says Thai Lund-Hood, who took over Allie’s with their partner Tanya Lund-Hood in October 2022.
Allie’s celebrated its 10th anniversary this month. When former owner Atania Gilmore opened the restaurant in the Nevada Lidgerwood neighborhood in 2015, it was Spokane’s first completely vegan restaurant. After that original location burned in a fire in 2016, the restaurant moved to its current spot on Grand Boulevard.
While Allie’s menu is still focused on pizza, its current owners, who’ve been vegan for over 11 years, try to liven things up with regular specials like a one-day Cinco de
Mayo menu, Mother’s Day brunch, and fair food-inspired specials of hand-dipped corn dogs and funnel cakes.
For new vegans, cheese is often the hardest animalbased product to part with, partially because vegan alternatives have long had a bad reputation. Instead of shying away from cheese-oriented dishes, Allie’s tackles the challenge with a menu that incorporates “cheese” into many of its dishes. Like most vegan cheeses, Allie’s are cashew based. However, the restaurant also adds in kappa carrageenan, a natural powdered extract from seaweed that helps create a thicker, creamier texture.
“Our cheese would be very similar to any other starch-based vegan cheese if it didn’t have that,” Thai says.
Allie’s also emulates dairy-based cheese’s taste with nutritional yeast powder, used both in its cheese sauce, and as a topping on its macaroni and cheese ($12) along with other seasonings and bread crumbs.
Cheese is quintessential to any good pizza, and Allie’s doesn’t mess around when it comes to “cheesey” pizzas that meat and plant lovers alike can enjoy.
The restaurant does mess around with their bestseller, the “Hot Mess” pizza ($20), which has been on the menu since the start, originally as the “Legendary Hot Mess.” It’s certainly difficult to keep your hands clean while eating the dish, but it’s worth it. The 12-inch pizza has a base of ranch sauce, topped with macaroni and cheese, fried “chicken,” onions, hot sauce, and vegan mozzarella.
Other customer favorites include the Thai peanut pizza ($19) with peanut sauce, mushrooms, black olives, artichokes, bell peppers and “mozzarella.” The pickle pizza ($16) with ranch, pickles, dill and “mozzarella” was a former 4/20 special that proved popular.
If you’re eating solo, order a personal size 8-inch pizza from among Allie’s signatures ($6) or build your own.
The Lund-Hoods take pride in Allie’s variety of housemade dipping sauces like ranch, pesto, “honey” mustard, fry sauce, barbeque sauce, and sweet and sour sauce. With the generous amount of thin and crispy fries provided with entrées like the cheeseburger ($16), whatever sauce you choose will also become a star of the meal. Allie’s uses vegan patties made from pea protein for their burgers, similar to brands like Beyond Burger.
“We have gotten a few good feedbacks where people are like, ‘Wow, I eat meat all the time, and this tastes just like a real burger,’” Tanya says.
To make fries the main course, order the “Dad Bod” fries ($12), smothered in vegan cheese, caramelized on-
Get messy with Allie’s “cheese” burger and “Dad Bod” fries. YOUNG KWAK PHOTOS
ions, “burger” crumbles, fry sauce and a parsley garnish.
Scan Allie’s QR code menu with your phone, and you’ll be privy to the secret menu. The “buttery” garlic rolls ($10) with vegan parmesan and parsley have become a well-known secret, winning second place for secret menu item in the Inlander’s 2025 Best Of the Inland Northwest Readers Poll.
Keep a close eye on Allie’s social media (@alliesvegan) for updates about weekly and daily specials. Its owners suggest ordering online in advance as specials sell out fast due to limited supply.
“Sometimes we end up selling out, but we try to reduce our wastes,” Tanya says.
“And just being conscious of our impact I think is one of our biggest things right now,” Thai adds. “Offer a lot, but also like being very choosy and very mindful of all the resources that we’re using.”
This April, they hope to revamp Allie’s menu to focus more on pizza, burgers and sandwiches. While some items like the falafel bowl ($15) will gradually be phased out, the couple hope a consolidated menu helps reduce food waste.
Tanya and Thai were both born and raised in Spokane and were longtime regulars of Allie’s before working there and eventually assuming ownership.
“We both came [to Allie’s] as the only place in Spokane that was fully vegan a long time ago, especially when they were on the north side,” Thai says.
Tanya recounts going to live music shows as a teenager and seeing info booths for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA.
“That’s pretty much how I was really educated on everything,” they say. “I became vegetarian, but I didn’t really understand how bad the dairy industry was. Until like around 2014 is when we started really looking into it more and then, yeah, we just went fully vegan in 2014 and never turned back.”
“I just loved the impact [Allie’s] had on the local vegan scene,” Thai says. “It was like one of the only places where you can go and you’re not like, ‘Oh they have a burger, like a cow burger, right next to my vegan burger.’”
Like most restaurants post-pandemic, Allie’s faces supply chain issues, exponential cost increases and slim profit margins. This winter was one of the slowest seasons Allie’s has experienced since opening, according to Tanya.
“Most of our profits do come from tourists that come here, so we do have to heavily rely on that in the summer, which is why winters are always so hard,” Tanya says.
The couple also notes how Fred Meyer, where they buy their vegan parmesan, is cutting back on its vegan inventory. Some of their distributors also suddenly stopped carrying some vegan products like tempeh, a fermented soybean product.
“Unfortunately, you would think veganism would be like accelerating, but it seems like it’s decelerating,” Tanya says.
To adapt, the couple had to decrease staff and make more products in-house, like their vegan “pepperoni,” to counter inconsistent supply issues.
At the end of the day, it’s regulars and the close-knit, local vegan community that’s kept Allie’s going 10 years strong.
“We really do appreciate them all, and we’re really happy to have them,” Tanya says. n
Allie’s Vegan Pizzeria & Cafe •
Forks Up
Dig into these Spokane food scene tidbits with closings, reopenings and more
BY DORA SCOTT
With watery eyes and downturned tails, Spokanites will bid adieu to Bark, A Rescue Pub on April 12.
“It’s been an incredible 5 years with 1,354 animals finding their furever homes, $90,000 donated back to the Spokane Humane Society, and countless moments of joy and excitement,” the restaurant’s owners, Josh and Katie Wade, shared on Bark’s Facebook page in March.
The pub opened in 2020 on the north edge of downtown Spokane at 905 N. Washington St. Partnering with the Spokane Humane Society, guests could grab a burger or a pint and interact with adoptable cats and dogs by appointment in a separate, attached area. A $5 cover for visiting the adoption center was collected for the Spokane Humane Society.
In response to Bark’s farewell post, over 100 people commented with messages of gratitude and pictures of the pets that they adopted from the restaurant’s adoption center.
“Your impact has been immeasurable — 1,354 animals found loving homes and your support helped raise vital funds for our mission,” the Spokane Humane Society replied to Bark’s post. “Bark will always be a part of our story, and your legacy will live on in every wag and purr.”
REOPENINGS AND UPDATES
Spokane said goodbye to Domini Sandwiches last December as owner Tom Domini retired and closed the longtime location in downtown Spokane. However, former employee Nakia Tilton and her husband, Zach, have since opened their new iteration of Domini Sandwiches a couple blocks away, at 107 S. Howard St., serving up the same bready, meat-and-cheese-stuffed sandwiches. Regulars of TT’s Old Iron Brewery in Spokane Valley and Liberty Lake have cause to celebrate. The brewery reopened on March 8 with a new menu after temporarily closing last December, after owners decided to make a switch
from its original barbecue menu. TT’s has pivoted to offer gastropub favorites such as burgers ($16-$18), shareables like giant pretzels ($13) and nachos ($16), as well as sandwiches ($16-$18) and salads ($12-$17).
If you love Indigenous Eats’ locations in River Park Square’s food court or near Gonzaga University, you’ll be excited to learn the eatery is hitting the road this summer! Indigenous Eats announced the addition of a food trailer that will serve its contemporary Native American comfort food at regional powwows, festivals and more.
EVENTS
Head on over to Post Falls Brewing Co. at 112 N. Spokane St. in Post Falls to celebrate the brewery’s ninth anniversary April 18-19. There will be craft beer on tap, food trucks and live music from Devon Wade on Friday, plus One Street Over and Royale on Saturday.
Who doesn’t love a good crust-free sandwich? If you know of a middle or high schooler who wants to put their sandwich expertise to the test, the Spokane Public Library is hosting “The Ultimate Uncrustable” cooking competition at its Indian Trail branch on Saturday, April 19, at 2 pm and again at the Liberty Park branch the following week, April 26. Students can work in teams to create their culinary masterpieces, which will be judged for a prize. For more information or registration, visit spokanelibrary.org.
Spokane’s own Steam Plant Restaurant & Brew Pub ranked 20th out of the top 100 “most unique restaurant concepts in the world” as determined by TouchBistro, a company that provides restaurant management system technology to over 17,000 eateries across the globe.
“The Steam Plant was created as a tribute to the industrial revolution, allowing diners to dine in a massive steam boiler,” noted a press release about the accolade. n
Allie’s owners Tanya Lund-Hood, left, and Thai Lund-Hood.
ALSO OPENING
BOB TREVINO LIKES IT
When a down-on-her-luck young woman seeking her estranged father sends a Facebook friend request to a profile with his name, she ends up sparking a meaningful friendship with a stranger also named Bob Trevino. Rated PG-13
HELL OF A SUMMER
Finn Wolfhard co-directs and stars in this slasher film where a killer begins picking off summer camp counselors the night before the kids are set to arrive. Rated R
THE LUCKIEST MAN IN AMERICA
Paul Walter Hauser stars in this dramatic retelling of the 1984 Press Your Luck scandal, where a man figured out how to exploit the core system of the popular TV game show. Rated R
SCREAMBOAT
Since Disney was able to extend its copyright on Mickey Mouse but not on Steamboat Willy, the boat-driving version of the character is now public domain and can be used for anything — including being a schlocky horror movie villain who murders Disney princess stand-ins on the Staten Island ferry in Screamboat. Not rated REVIEW
MINECRAP
A Minecraft Movie is unimaginative drivel with obnoxious performances by Jack Black and Jason Momoa
BY CHASE HUTCHINSON
For a film that constantly insists its world is one of boundless creative potential and pure imagination, it’s almost impressive how painfully uninspired A Minecraft Movie is. It may yearn for the mines, but you’ll merely wish for death to end its misery. Sure, it makes references galore to the video game and the many in-jokes that have been made over the years since it released (the “yearn for the mines” bit being one of the funniest, yet it still lands awkwardly right out of the gate here). However, the movie about Minecraft never captures the creative spirit the game represents. Yes, making a narrative out of a sandbox game means you can’t just roam about and make stuff, but the clunky one we get saddled with here leaves no room for any genuine fun. Despite all the times we’re told that characters can do basically anything in the blocky worlds of Minecraft, the movie not only never follows through on this, it also overexplains everything else to such a degree it grows exhausting. It’s an unimaginative “adaptation”and an unfunny cash grab that feels obligato-
A Minecraft Movie
Rated PG
Directed by Jared Hess
ry. It strives to be an adventure comedy though its hollow references supplant actual clever gags or a sense of play.
This is a shame as director Jared Hess, who made his feature debut with the 2004 independent comedy Napoleon Dynamite, is a distinct voice who gets completely smothered under a stiff screenplay that oddly seems to tangentially call back to his earliest work. The basics of this involve the sad man Steve (the game’s initial player character, played here by Hess’ Nacho Libre collaborator Jack Black) who discovers the realm known as the Overworld and leaves the mundanity of his life in Idaho (where Napoleon Dynamite was also set) behind to craft to his heart’s content. However, when a vaguely sketched evildoer and her army of pigs capture him, a new group of adventurers in the former gamer Garrett “The Garbage Man” Garrison (Jason Momoa), orphaned siblings Henry (Sebastian Hansen) and Natalie (Emma Myers), and the small town’s kindly real estate agent/mobile zoo operator Dawn (Danielle Brooks) get sucked into the world with him after discovering a magical MacGuffin he sent back to Earth.
Starring Jack Black, Jason Momoa
There’s something initially broadly quirky about these opening scenes and a throughline where White Lotus’ Jennifer Coolidge plays a vice principal looking for love that offer small slivers of absurdity. Unfortunately, everything else in the cubed world is a drag. Not only does it never once feel visually dynamic, with the overreliance on all-consuming visual effects making it mostly feel like we’re watching the actors roam around a lifeless world of green screens, but none of the cast can give it any spark. Black, though great in films like School of Rock where he’s
been able to strike a balance between sincerity and silliness, is entirely one-note here as he largely just delivers explanations of the world in a slightly goofy voice or sings songs that feel less written than slapped together in the moment. Momoa, who was a gas in the otherwise turgid recent Fast X, is entirely obnoxious here as he keeps repeatedly screaming and shouting in the hopes this will wear us down to make his comprehensively unfunny schtick work. The longer we are stuck with these characters, with Dawn and the two kids fading almost entirely into the background, the more it is A Minecraft Movie starts to fall completely apart. This is less a movie as much as it is a rote recitation of what it thinks an adventure romp like this should be like. There’s a tension-free chase sequence, a deception without any stakes, and a big final battle where a laser shoots into the sky, though never once does it build anything truly fun. It’s a perplexing, entirely perfunctory affair from start to finish that may prove amusing on a base level for younger audiences who enjoyed the game and will recognize some of its elements, but they too deserve better.
There have been similarly bad video game movies before, but few that keep telling us they could be doing so many exciting things only to not do them as consistently as A Minecraft Movie does. That it keeps going on and on about how critical imagination is only makes all the ways that it doesn’t offer anything imaginative of its own that much more baffling. Even as the bar was low, all A Minecraft Movie succeeds at is digging down lower and lower beneath it at every turn. Whatever treasures it repeatedly assures us are there, are never found. n
Take a cue from this picture of Momoa and stop yourself before seeing A Minecraft Movie
Dog Days Are Over
The Friend benefits from nuanced work by Naomi Watts as she confronts grief and a big dog
BY CHASE HUTCHINSON
More often than not, books are better than their movie adaptations. This isn’t because the form itself is better, as each is different in distinctly beautiful ways. No, it has more to do with the scope and depth of storytelling a book allows. A film can certainly be novelistic, taking us through decades of time in the lives of its characters, just as a novel can be more intentionally narrow in focus. Still, there will always be something that is lost in the process of adapting a book that already left a mark precisely because of the time we’ve gotten to spend with it. It then won’t come as a surprise that The Friend, the adaptation of the novel of the same name by Sigrid Nunez, is not as good as its source material. Where Nunez managed to confront the pain of loss without sanding off the rougher edges of its characters and paint a full portrait of a woman who is caught in the middle of it, the film version loses some of the richer textures in the process of adapting.
Rated R
facing the darkness of life in the same way, this is almost fitting as the film is built around Iris herself not wanting to look in the eye what it is that’s troubling her.
The
Friend
Much of the film lives in this attempt to cling to routine, with her going about her job teaching or being there for others in Walter’s life who are struggling with his loss, though rarely does Iris sit down to process what is happening. That is, until she must figure out what to do with her late friend’s dog. Apollo (played by first-timer Bing) is a hulking hound who is impossible to ignore, serving as a possibly blunt though still bittersweet metaphor for the unspoken pain that Iris is carrying with her. Logistically, she must figure out what to do with him as her apartment doesn’t take pets, but rarely do you think she won’t figure this out. No, it’s much more about the journey she takes in doing so and what it reveals about herself. It’s here where the film finds a deeper resonance.
Directed by Scott McGehee, David Siegel
And yet, much like the dog at its center, it’s a work that you find yourself growing closer to the longer it goes along. Focusing on the New York writer and teacher Iris, played with quiet poise by Naomi Watts, as she tries to process the unexpected loss of her friend Walter (Bill Murray) while also caring for the dog that he left her with, it sounds like it could be a trite, overly sentimental story. However, it’s also a film about suicide, the subsequent anger of grief, the way we try to bury such feelings, and, in a refreshingly honest way, how it is we begin to heal. Just as the filmmaking duo Scott McGehee and David Siegel did with their last film, the shattering Montana Story, it’s all about how those we are closest with are also the ones we can have the most fraught relationships with. Even as The Friend is not quite as assured as that and seems a little averse to fully
Starring Naomi Watts, Bill Murray, Bing
It isn’t as deep as the book, with many of the film’s supporting characters getting short shrift, but Watts is able to weather these narrative storms enough to make The Friend still grab hold of you. When the film then builds to a fleeting yet forceful conversation near the end that breaks the rhythms Iris was using to not have to confront her pain, it’s a complicated catharsis that offers more to chew on. Not only does it open up more of the emotions that were present in the book, but it brings to the surface all the ways Walter himself was far from perfect. Even when the overall work is not as incisively written as Nunez’s book was, the moments it taps into the more messy truths she uncovers are where it comes together. That it challenges your expectations one final time in the closing frames makes it a film that, despite its shortcomings, still manages to spin a sweet yarn. n
Summer C amps THE ISSUE
Grief is the other big dog in the room in The Friend.
TFORTIN’ AROUND
A rookie’s dispatches from
Boise’s Treefort Music
BY MADISON PEARSON
he best way to describe Boise’s Treefort Music Fest is by calling it a “choose your own adventure” festival.
For the past 13 years, Treefort Music Fest has been taking over downtown Boise for five days packed full of local music, big name bands, art events, comedy, industry talks and much more all taking place over 40+ stages and venues. Despite not being particularly near, the festival casts a shadow over the Spokane music scene with local acts often citing playing Treefort as a goal and many promoters holding it up as something Spokane should aspire to create. But despite being a live music fiend, I’d somehow never made the trek south for the festival until this past week.
After seeing this year’s lineup full of stellar artists,
I made the trek and began a five-day adventure of my own creation. The moment I stepped out of my car after the six-and-a-half hour car ride to Boise from Spokane, I knew it was the last time I would feel well-rested all week.
After snagging my press pass, I made my way to Treefort Music Hall to catch the venue’s first set of the festival, which just so happened to be TIMEWORM, a wildly energetic indie rock band out of Spokane. Featuring songs off their upcoming album and a cover of “Staying Alive” by the Bee Gees that randomly changed time signatures, their set definitely started Treefort off on the right foot.
I soon realized Treefort, while mostly about the music, is also about what you do between sets.
While I’m assuming most people wandered from
Fest
venue to venue or had a detailed plan of where they were going each hour of the night, I hadn’t really prepared a schedule for myself going into the festival. There were a few bands I was dead set on seeing, but other than that I hardly had a plan. Thankfully, downtown Boise is walkable and easy to navigate, so meandering often led to new discoveries or running into friends.
I often found myself at Humpin’ Hannah’s, a bar in Boise that has bras hanging from the ceiling and one singular foosball table on the top floor. Between sets, some friends who also make the trek to Boise and I spent a good amount of time at the bar yelling over the noise and exchanging bills for quarters, determined to become the best foosballers in the city.
The first two days of the fest (Wednesday and Thurs-
day) were spent getting my bearings and trying to understand how it all worked. But, there’s not really a right or wrong way to go about it, which is the beauty of Treefort.
Ahost of Spokane bands showed out for this year’s Treefort, many of them performing at the festival for the first time. The aforementioned Timeworm, folk rockers THE BED HEADS, blues-infused VIKA & THE VELVETS, the always punktastic ITCHY KITTY, the folk flavored MATT MITCHELL MUSIC CO., the vibey PRIESTESS, and local hip-hop staples JANG THE GOON and CHUCK VIBES.
I know some may argue that music fests are about seeing acts you can’t see anywhere else, but as a loyal devotee of the Spokane scene, I couldn’t stay away for long. It’s amazing to see Spokane bands in their element in another city, interacting with audiences they rarely get to entertain.
So, yeah, I saw a lot of sets from acts that I see all the time at home, but I also stumbled across bands I’d never heard of that completely wowed me.
At the recommendation of a friend, I stopped by HUMBIRD’s magical set at the Bandshell stage and was absolutely blown away by the songwriting, tight harmonies and musicality of the Minneapolis alt-folk band. I teared up at least five times in the span of 20 minutes just from how overwhelmingly beautiful it was.
The Treefort lineup is overloaded with Boise artists, and a few friends and I came across the Gem State gem SOVE THE SECOND in the District Coffee House while making our way to the Shriner’s Ballroom for another set. We entered during a jazzy duo-performance and stayed for the full band’s set packed with experimental sounds, killer dance moves and all around fun vibes.
We got to Shriner’s Ballroom with intentions of catching the buzzy experimental New York rock act YHWH NAILGUN, but the group’s set ended early so instead we stuck around for NAKED GIANTS, an energetic three-piece garage rock band from Seattle who dominated the venue with their grungy sonic prowess.
Nearly every night was capped with pizza from Pie Hole in downtown Boise. It’s the cheapest, most delicious slice of pizza I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating. Plus, there’s plenty to look at in the form of stickers and oddities while waiting in the usually long line that forms after 10 pm.
The music is the best part of Treefort, don’t get me wrong, but the other best part is how much more there is to do than just listen to music: comedy, podcasts, yoga, drag, panels, food, film and more. On Friday afternoon, I popped into a music talk called “Navigating the Modern Music Landscape” where a panel of music writers, agents and musicians discussed
how they came into their roles and answered questions.
It was a great moment of respite from the all-consuming noise outside, but I got right back to it with a day full of main stage shenanigans. The main hub of the festival takes place in Julia B. Davis Park, a large green space in the middle of downtown Boise. Beyond the gates are three stages — main stage, The Hideout and The Bandshell — as well as food trucks, plenty of merch and space to sit down and enjoy the music.
Although the band is legendary in Idaho, I’d never caught a BUILT TO SPILL set, so I stood in the back of the crowd and checked Doug Martsch and co. off my indie rock must-see list.
I had tickets to see Paramore nearly two years ago in Seattle with THE LINDA LINDAS opening up, but the show was postponed and I couldn’t make the new date. Seeing The Linda Lindas at Treefort made up for my heartache completely. The young LA punk band’s set was as high energy as they come, and screaming songs about cats is therapeutic to me, so it was everything I could’ve wanted.
And, of course, I stuck around for Friday’s headlining set from pop singer-songwriter REMI WOLF, who absolutely brought the house down with incredible visuals and some really stellar vocals. Her set reminded me of the beauty of screaming along to your favorite lyrics among a crowd of strangers doing the same thing.
After last year’s Volume Music Festival, I was pumped to see Seattle hip-hop artist OBLÉ REED on the Treefort lineup. He’s got a bubbly personality that makes for incredible audience interaction. Plus, you can’t help but jump around to every song from LINDENAVE!, his phenomenal 2023 debut album.
After a packed Friday, I geared up for a late Saturday night that began with a rainy Vika & The Velvets set. Though I’m sure the band didn’t enjoy the cold temps and misty air, the rain gave the set a great vibe from the audience’s perspective.
The next few hours were spent riding the Treeline — a bus that takes festivalgoers on a loop around the downtown core, making it easy to hit venue after venue — and listening to the cache of rotating bands that popped in to perform before then seeing an additional Bed Heads set at Camp Modern and heading to Humpin’ Hannah’s for some final rounds of foosball with friends.
Capping off my Treefort experience was a 1 am Jang the Goon set at The Shredder. And though I was well and truly beat from the week’s festivities, there was no better way to end the festival than seeing a Spokane artist absolutely wow a crowd of rowdy festivalgoers in another state.
The successes of Spokane’s Volume Music Festival and Boomjam last year make me hopeful that one day we will have our own version of Treefort. But, for now, I’ll make the six-hour drive south for a slice of sonic paradise once a year. n
There’s something for everyone – from the experienced to the cannabis curious. Promote your business’s unique products and deals in this special edition. to advertise in this issue: advertising@inlander.com • 509-325-0634 ext. 233
The
LOCAL INDIE ROCK PANCHO
NEO-SOUL MICHAEL MAYO
While there may be a statue of its most famous musical alumnus on campus (Hello, Mr. Crosby), Gonzaga University hasn’t exactly been a pipeline to the local music scene over the years. The quintet of current Zags known as Pancho looks to buck that trend with the release of its new album, In Circles. It’s easy to sink into the group’s easygoing and blues-leaning indie rock that calls to mind acts like Wilco and Pinegrove. Even underage undergrads can catch Pancho in action when the band heads to the Jaguar Room at The Chameleon to give In Circles a proper album release concert.
— SETH SOMMERFELD
Pancho: In Circles Album Release Show with The Press, When She Dreams • Sat, April 5 at 9 pm • $10-$15 • All ages • Jaguar Room at The Chameleon • 1801 W. Sunset Blvd. • chameleonspokane.com
Thursday, 4/3
J THE BIG DIPPER, Psychic Death, OBEDIENT, Zap Pack
BOLO’S BAR & GRILL, ManeyAxe
J BOTTLE BAY BREWING CO., Justin Priest
THE CHAMELEON, Kyle Smith, The Flip CHECKERBOARD TAPROOM, Weathered Shepherds
GARLAND DRINKERY, Speak Easy: Open Mic Night
J NEATO BURRITO, The Phantom A.D., Polykronos, Isaac & His Orchestra
J NORTHERN QUEST CASINO, Sara Evans
J QQ SUSHI & KITCHEN, Just Plain Darin
RED ROOM LOUNGE, Thurrsdays EDM Night ZOLA, X24 25, Austin Miller
Friday, 4/4
ARBOR CREST WINE CELLARS, Isaac Walton
J THE BIG DIPPER, Ox, Malinois, Pinebox, Penis Envy, Slump
BOLO’S BAR & GRILL, 32 Flavors
CHINOOK STEAK, SEAFOOD & PASTA, Steve Livingston
GARDEN PARTY, Storme
IRON HORSE (CDA), Funshine
JAGUAR ROOM AT THE CHAMELEON, Spice House Dance Party MOOSE LOUNGE, Pastiche NIGHT OWL, Four On The Floor Fridays
J PUEBLA MEXICAN RESTAURANT, Latin Dance Party
THE RIDLER PIANO BAR, Just Plain Darin
RIVERSIDE PLACE, SoDown & Jaenga ZOLA, Starcourt, Kevin Dorin
Saturday, 4/5
ARBOR CREST WINE CELLARS, Kori Ailene
J THE BIG DIPPER, KURB, Pay No Mind, Wicked Issue, Absent Cardinal, Crusty Mustard
BOLO’S BAR & GRILL, 32 Flavors
J BOTTLE BAY BREWING CO., Indy Heyer
THE CHAMELEON, Vika and The Velvets, The Jaws of Brooklyn, Wasabi Samba.
CHINOOK STEAK, SEAFOOD & PASTA, Steve Livingston
THE DISTRICT BAR, Deep Down Low
J HUCKLEBERRY’S MARKET, The Front Porch Rockers
IRON HORSE (CDA), Funshine
J J JAGUAR ROOM - CHAMELEON, Pancho: In Circles Album Release Show with The Press, When She Dreams
J MIKEY’S GYROS, Minot, Ideomotor, Earthworks
MOOSE LOUNGE, Pastiche
NIGHT OWL, Priestess
UNCORKED WITH FRIENDS, Nate Ostraner
ZOLA, Blake Braley, Matt Mitchell
Sunday, 4/6
J THE BIG DIPPER, ACTORS, Soft Vein
J HAMILTON STUDIO, Hot Club of Spokane: The Rockabilly Space Force
HOGFISH, Open Mic
Some folks just have voices that make you melt. The consistently smooth and calm tones that emanate from the vocal cords of jazz singer Michael Mayo definitively put him in that class, but he can also mix in lo-key elements of scatting and beatboxing without missing a beat to even further wow any audience. The son of singer Valerie Pinkston, who’s performed with Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder and Beyoncé, and acclaimed saxophonist Scott Mayo, who played with Earth, Wind & Fire, Mayo has music in his bones and possesses a casual cool that is on display throughout his sterling 2024 album FLY. Imagine Jazz brings Mayo to Spokane to show off his skills during two sets at Hamilton Studio.
— SETH SOMMERFELD
Michael Mayo • Sat, April 5 at 6 & 8 pm • $15-$45 • All ages • Hamilton Studio • 1427 W. Dean Ave. • hamilton.live
J SOUTH HILL GRILL, Just Plain Darin
Monday, 4/7
J THE BIG DIPPER, Rottenness, Propagate, The Rot Lich
RED ROOM LOUNGE, Red Room Open Mic ZOLA, Tristan Hart Pierce
Tuesday, 4/8
J THE BIG DIPPER, Full Color Dream, Hermano Kuya, Killmer, When She Dreams SWING LOUNGE, Swing Lounge Live Music Tuesdays ZOLA, The Zola All Star Jam
Wednesday, 4/9
J THE BIG DIPPER, The Browning, Swarm, The Defect
THE DRAFT ZONE, The Draft Zone Open Mic
J PANIDA THEATER, Hotel California
RED ROOM LOUNGE, Red Room Jam
J TIMBERS ROADHOUSE, Cary Beare Presents
TRVST, The TRVST Open Decks ZOLA, Akifumi Kato
Just Announced...
THE CHAMELEON, Glitterfox, May 16.
J THE BIG DIPPER, Calling All Captains, May 24.
J KNITTING FACTORY, Kayzo, June 6.
J J KNITTING FACTORY, Mumford & Sons, Japanese Breakfast, July 18. THE DISTRICT BAR, Town Mountain, July 20.
J KNITTING FACTORY, Iration, July 23.
J WAR MEMORIAL FIELD, Neon Tress (Festival at Sandpoint), July 24.
J SPOKANE TRIBE CASINO, Craig Morgan, July 26.
J WAR MEMORIAL FIELD, Thrid Eye Blind (Festival at Sandpoint), July 27.
J BING CROSBY THEATER, Hot Tuna, Sept. 11.
J NORTHERN QUEST CASINO, Chevelle, Oct. 2.
J J KNITTING FACTORY, Garbage, Oct. 18.
Coming Up...
J THE BIG DIPPER, DUG, Museum of Light, Ghostdivorce, April 10, 7:30 pm.
J NORTHERN QUEST CASINO, Queensrÿche, April 10, 7:30 pm.
ARBOR CREST WINE CELLARS, Randi Marie Shaw, April 11, 6 pm.
J J JAGUAR ROOM - CHAMELEON, The Writer’s Room: Sydney Dale, Bill Babin, Scott Ryan Ingersoll, JOBIE, Chrysalis, April 11, 7:30 pm.
J NORTHERN QUEST CASINO, L. Young: Trouble ManA Tribute To Marvin Gaye, April 11, 7:30 pm.
J THE BIG DIPPER, The Unlikely Candidates, World’s First Cinema, April 11, 8 pm.
THE CHAMELEON, Kuinka, The Bed Heads, Garrett Zanol, April 11, 8 pm.
It’s time to do the truffle shuffle, because The Goonies is back on the big screen to celebrate its 40th anniversary. Richard Donner’s 1985 childhood adventure comedy (based on a Stephen Spielberg story) follows a ragtag group of kids who embark on a cavernous treasure hunt to try to find riches in order to save their homes in Astoria, Oregon, from being foreclosed. With a stacked cast of kiddos (Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, Corey Feldman, Ke Huy Quan, etc.) and a youthful zeal, The Goonies is an absolutely beloved touchstone among a certain swath of millennials, who might take these screening at the Garland as a chance to ride the nostalgia wave themselves or introduce their kids to the film’s swashbuckling spirit for the first time. — SETH SOMMERFELD
The Goonies: 40th Anniversary • Sat, April 5 at 5 pm; also April 6-9 at 2 pm • $5 • Rated PG • The Garland Theater • 924 W. Garland Ave. • garlandtheater.org
BENEFIT ICY ROYALTY
What do you get when you mix campy drag artists and talented ice skaters with a bunch of Broadway music numbers? You get this weekend’s Drag on Ice event hosted by SAN (formerly Spokane AIDS Network) and Eastern Washington University. Local and national professional ice skaters will take to the stage and the ice rink for a night of dazzling drag numbers. Each performance is inspired by classic musicals, such as Chicago, Cabaret, Moulin Rouge! Hairspray and Wicked. “It’s concepts like this that really made the audience connect to it, too,” SAN Executive Director Grant Ogren says. “It isn’t just a drag show, it’s a much bigger production.” General entry tickets are $20, but Eastern students can buy them for $5.
— COLTON RASANEN
Drag on Ice: Drag me to the Box Office • Sat, April 5 at 6 pm • $5-$35 • Eastern Washington University Recreation Center • 1007 Elm St., Cheney • sannw.org
COMEDY EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED
Gathering improvisers from near and far, the Northwest Improv Fest is coming to Spokane at the Blue Door Theatre and the Bing Crosby Theater. The magic behind improv is that each live, unscripted performance only happens once, and the festival is jam-packed with 70+ improv performers who bring their own take to the comedic art form. Musical Mondays, the internet’s favorite improv comedy band trio, is headlining. With their silly never-tobe-sung-again songs inspired by the audience, Musical Mondays draws audiences into their storytelling with nuggets of comedic gold. Another notable group includes GUTS, the oldest improv troupe in the Inland Northwest from Gonzaga University. Aside from enjoying the festival as an audience member, there are also 10 workshops if you’re itching to get your improv on.
— DORA SCOTT
Northwest Improv Fest • April 3-5, times vary • $21-$67 • The Bing Crosby Theater, 901 W. Sprague Ave. • Blue Door Theatre, 319 S. Cedar St. • nwimprovfest.com
GET LISTED!
Submit events online at Inlander.com/getlisted or email relevant details to getlisted@inlander.com. We need the details one week prior to our publication date.
VISUAL ARTS INK OUTSIDE THE BOX
It’s widely known that April showers bring May flowers — but in Spokane, April air brings the Spokane Print Fair! This print fair, full of demonstrations and goods from local vendors, kicks off the 7th annual Spokane Print Fest, a monthlong celebration of all things books, paper, ink and art. As the print fair takes over multiple rooms at The Hive, expect to see artists making prints right before your eyes, the current Artists in Residence giving tours of their amazing workspaces and showing off their skills, and the creations they’ve worked so hard to showcase during Spokane Print Fest. If you’re looking for more inked-up fun, check out the full schedule of events for this year’s Spokane Print Fest and support local artists all month long. Long live print!
— MADISON PEARSON
Spokane Print Fest’s Print Fair • Sat, April 5 from 2-6 pm • Free admission • The Hive • 2904 E. Sprague Ave. • spokaneprintfest.org
WORDS HMM, DEBATABLE
Thought March Madness was crazy? Another tournament is about to descend on Spokane, and the stakes are arguably higher. From April 4-7, Gonzaga University hosts the National Debate Tournament, the oldest intercollegiate debate championship in the U.S. that was first held at West Point in 1947. Pairs of debaters from Ivy League schools, private colleges and nationally ranked universities will gather in Spokane for two-hour exchanges about energy policy in one of the last spaces reserved for intense, respectful civic disagreements. Eight preliminary debates will narrow down teams into a “Sweet Sixteen,” who then enter elimination rounds on Monday. “These are nothing like the political debates one might be familiar with from television,” the press release says, “but rather light-speed exchanges of ideas that a casual observer might have trouble even tracking.”
— ELIZA BILLINGHAM
National Debate Tournament • April 4-7; times vary • Free • The Centennial Hotel and Gonzaga University • gonzaga.edu
I SAW YOU
SB I know it was you. I may be a fool, but I am not stupid.
CHEERS
KINDNESS STILL EXISTS! Thank you to the kind and caring person who returned my spouse’s missing wallet to our doorstep! He dropped his wallet during the snowstorm in February, and it went missing under piles of snow! He looked all over the place and could not find it. Two weeks later, we opened our door to find the wallet there, completely soaked but all cash and cards still in it. We wish we could thank you in person, but I hope you see this!
SUCH A NICE SURPRISE! Thank you so much to the beautiful family who paid for our delicious dinner at South Hill Grill a couple of months ago, just because we offered to switch tables with you to accommodate your larger group. This gesture meant more than you know during a difficult and overwhelming time in life, so thank you!
CHEERFUL FIREFIGHTER Sunday, 3/30, you were driving a fire engine north on Division and my family was in front of you. We were excited to be driving next to you and then in front of you so our 2.5-year-old son in the back seat would get to see a fire truck. We suggested he wave and you waved back! I was watching from the side mirror and you waving back instantly warmed my heart and filled me with gratitude. Thank you for your impact on our community in the large and small ways!
JEERS
PERFECT PARENTING ADVICE - FREE PSA!
There is a pink haired woman at Audubon Park who dishes out FREE parenting advice/ criticism! It is not often that you can cross paths with a perfect parent. Please make sure to take your kids to Audubon Park in the afternoons, so she can condescend to you about your parenting. It’s an exceptional miracle; because when you have four kids, and she has one, she’s still much better at parenting and how to deal with crises when one child is bleeding from their face and another is not following you and it’s urgent we leave for the safety of the other child. I APOLOGIZE that I TAPPED my daughter’s behind to get her attention because she kept getting distracted and we HAD TO GO get my son medical attention. Her ability to judge parenting is genuinely miraculous. And don’t worry, while she was yelling at me and creating a scene, her small child was running across the park, by himself, not being watched. Congrats, Pink Hair. You ruined our day and traumatized my kid with your insane accusations. I’m a good mom who would NEVER hurt her kids. I hope one day, when you are in a stressful situation, a stranger chooses kindness, over what you did to me. You make me sick.
PEOPLE SAY… Some people say Trump wants to be king, but that’s not possible in a Republic. But it is possible in Monarchy. There are different types of monarchies such as Constitutional, Parliamentary or Absolute. Constitutional Monarchies like United Kingdom, Canada and Australia are prime examples. Parliamentary Monarchies are found in countries in Western Europe like Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands. Absolute monarchies are like Vatican City, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and the surrounding area. Which type of Monarchy is the United States turning into?
SPOKANE ROAD RULES If you’re new to Spokane, here are a few “rules” that may help you adapt. 1. If you see a sign on the road that says “water over road” that doesn’t mean anything currently. If you don’t see rain falling, it means that there was water on the road at one time. 2. If you see a sign that tells you that a lane is closed ahead, you have a 50% chance of that occurring. If you don’t merge lanes, the lane will probably still be open. 3. Bad roads are all over. When they get patched, they create an uneven surface and the fresh
patches get crud all over your car. You will need to replace items on your vehicle more often because the bumps and holes rip them apart. Ask any repair shop. 4. If you see someone who is motionless on a trail by the river, that means they’re living on it. Sometimes you can see their home/ tent. They’re not going to move. You’re on their property. So, walk or run into traffic.
SOUND OFF 1. Visit Inlander.com/isawyou by 3 pm Monday.
their mother. Shame on you for making this even worse by your mismanagement of this process making an already difficult situation that much worse.
RE: MY BROTHER’S KEEPER Personally I hold pity for you, that for you love is transactional.
5. Buying a WA license and renewing tabs is just a suggestion. Many people here don’t care. If you feel like purchasing one, great. But, you won’t be penalized if you don’t. Start counting the cars on the road with expired tabs, and you’ll see that’s true. Welcome to Expo 1974!
COST OF SPEED BUMPS VS FUNERALS Thanks to WA state for the $7,000 allowance for funerals caused by another person’s neglect. (Yes it is out there for all to use.) The funeral homes might let you know, but if thi$ help$ you u$e it... Pretty sure several speed bumps on some of these fatal side roads to slow down traffic would be more cost effective. Saving us thou$and$ of dollars, because a sign that states how fast you are going...without taking photos of speeders, sure ISN’T going to slow anyone down. Patrols aren’t available 24/7. Neighbors have complained but to no avail. Poor choices will always be made by the invincible, unless there is some immediate accountability for their actions!
ISN’T THERE A PROCESS?! Jeers to a local hospice and assisted living facility for completely mismanaging the notification of the death of a loved one. First, you claim you called the proper contact, who you didn’t, then you called to let the wrong contact know the loved one had died, only to then turn around and call an hour later to say, “Just kidding, they are still alive, sorry about that.” The process of losing a loved one is difficult enough, but this gross mismanagement and clear lack of following a process caused unnecessary burden, stress, and confusion to someone losing
RE: ILLEGAL PLATES To the person who said they haven’t paid for tabs because their car was stolen and “plates ain’t cheap.” Actually in WA state they are, compared to other places. Much cheaper. But based on your rationale, try telling that to the police when you get pulled over. Good luck with that! Using your words “thx.”
TRUMP’S MANDATE A mandate is an authoritative command that gives someone the authority to carry out their policies. Trump was given three mandates. One from the Supreme Court, one from the Electoral College and one from the popular vote. Trump can do anything he wants because the American public says so.
NO PUBLIC SAFETY So funding for the COP Shops runs out soon. The City was supposed to have plans by March 1, but didn’t. The COP Shops have been around for 30 years, but the City can’t/won’t come up with funding for the COP Shops, and Public Safety. But they have the nerve to ask taxpayers for $200 Million for schools and $240 Million for Parks. Yet the SPD is horribly understaffed, to the point where it’s unsafe. Downtown is an embarrassment, and not safe to go down to. I have three drug houses within a block of me. All three houses have cars, people on foot/bikes coming and going all hours of the day and night. One house has over 100 cars a day. I had a drive-by shooting last Fall, and found 9mm casings in the street in front of my house. The SPD is well aware, but they are too understaffed. The streets are crumbling again, so the City will need money for that,
too. Maybe start by ticketing the thousands of junk cars and cars being driven with expired tabs for revenue. Public Safety should be top priority.
THE GAME IS RIGGED Why DEI? Imagine you are playing a game of monopoly, and there is a white, black, yellow, brown, and red team. Now imagine the yellow team
NOTE: I Saw You/Cheers
invented gunpowder and fireworks, and the white team used gunpowder and guns to cheat. The white team holds a gun on the other teams and takes 2 or 3 turns for every turn the other teams get to take. They also steal the red team’s property and enslave the other teams to build their houses and hotels. Now imagine after all the properties are bought or stolen and all the houses and hotels are built, the white team says they are no longer going to cheat: “that was our ancestors,” or at least 2 or 3 times around the board ago. The white team claims that now everyone gets the same number of turns and the same chance to get ahead and win, except inexplicably the nonwhite teams spend more time in jail and do not get to “pass go” to collect more money because they are in jail. Do you think everyone has the same chance to get ahead and win now, regardless of which team they were assigned at birth? Do you think we might be missing the opportunity to tap potential in the nonwhite teams, while we have the clowns with white faces running the game? n
BENEFIT
DRAG ON ICE Local drag artists perform ice routines to Broadway music numbers as a fundraiser for the Spokane AIDS Network. April 5, 6 pm. $5-$35. Eastern Washington University Recreation Center, 1007 Elm St., Cheney. sannw.org
PET SAVERS 4TH ANNUAL DAWGHAUS + KATZ CHALLENGE This annual fundraiser for Pet Savers includes a total of 30 raffle items, 25 of which are custom dog/cat houses built by community members. Raffle tickets are $1 each and can be purchased on the second floor of River Park Square. Through April 6, 10 am-8 pm. $1. River Park Square, 808 W. Main Ave. petsaversspokane.org
CREATE ARTS CENTER FUNDRAIS-
ER A silent auction including a digital printer, bread maker, fiber arts, a quilt, a telescope and more to raise money for an HVAC system in Create Arts Center. April 6, 1-2:30 pm. Free. Create Arts Center, 900 Fourth St. createarts.org (509-447-9277)
ROCK THE RUNWAY The Arc of Spokane’s clients put on a runway show featuring silent auctions, dinner and more. April 12, 4:30-8 pm. $120. Spokane Convention Center, 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. arc-spokane.org (509-279-7000)
COMEDY
FUNNY FUNNY FUNNY JOKE JOKE
JOKE A comedy experience that takes full advantage of the Garland Theater’s projector system, combining stand-up comedy, live sketches, and other mixed-media comedic bits. This month features Spokane local comedians Jaren Lyons Wolf, Blade Frank, Brittany Holden, Steve Dobbs and Josiah Carlson. April 3, 7:30 pm. $15. Garland Theater, 924 W. Garland Ave. garlandtheater.org
LACE LARRABEE Larrabee was a season 17 semifinalist on America’s Got Talent. April 3, 7 pm. $27-$37. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com
NORTHWEST IMPROV FEST 2025
A three-day festival of improv shows, workshops and community building with headliner Musical Monday. April 3-5, daily. See website for full schedule. $37-$75. Bing Crosby Theater, 901 W. Sprague Ave. nwimprovfest.com (509-227-7404)
SUSAN RICE A Portland-based comedian who has opened for Jerry Seinfeld and Arsenio Hall. April 4-5, 7 & 9:45 pm and April 6, 7 pm. $25$35. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com
RALPH BARBOSA, RENE VACA
Barbosa has been featured on Jimmy Fallon, Comedy Central and more. He has his own stand up special with another on the way. April 5, 8 pm. $65-$140. Spokane Tribe Resort & Casino, 14300 W. SR Highway 2. spokanetribecasino.com
JB SMOOVE Best known for his role as Leon Black on Curb Your Enthusiasm, Smoove captivates audiences with his wit and personality. April 11, 8 pm. $32-$42. Spokane Tribe Resort & Casino, 14300 W. SR Highway 2. spokanetribecasino.com Spokane, WA
EVENTS | CALENDAR
COMMUNITY
THE EVOLUTION OF THE JAPANESE SWORD This exhibition showcases Japanese swords as more than a mere weapon of war. The iconic samurai sword of Japan and its accompanying fittings were elevated to works of high art that were, and still are, treasured and collected for their beauty and craftsmanship. Tue-Sun from 10 am-5 pm through May 4. $9-$15. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org (509-456-3931)
FASHION WEEK SPOKANE This event eaturs local slow fashion shops and boutiques, live music from Madrona Hallow, aerial performances and local artists. April 3, 5:30-9 pm. $30. Washington Cracker Co. Building, 304 W. Pacific. instagram.com/fashionweekspokane
GIVING JOY DAY Celebrate Eastern Washington University’s 143rd birthday with 1,882 minutes of celebrations including cheerleaders, an appearance from Swoop, cupcakes and a performance from the EWU music department singers. April 3, 12-2 pm. Free. Eastern Washington University, 526 Fifth St. ewu. edu/give/giving-joy-day
SAMURAI, SUNRISE, SUNSET Step into the world of a samurai and experience armor, weaponry and personal items from the powerful military class that ruled Japan for nearly 700 years. Each item tells a story through its master craftsmanship and individual details. Tue-Sun from 10 am-5 pm through June 1. $9-$15. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org
VALUE & RESPONSIBILITY IN AI TECHNOLOGIES This conference brings together scholars from diverse disciplines and industry experts to explore ethical challenges and develop solutions for responsible, values-driven AI. April 3, 1-5 pm and April 4, 8 am-5 pm. Free. Gonzaga University Hemmingson Center, 702 E. Desmet Ave. gonzaga.edu
STANDING UP FOR COMPASSION Abbey monastics Venerable Semkye and Venerable Jigme lead talks, meditations and discussions focused on how to rely on ethics and compassion to keep our hearts open and wisely engaged in the world. April 4-6, daily. $100. Sravasti Abbey, 692 Country Lane. sravastiabbey.org
ARTS AND CRAFTS FAIR An arts and crafts fair featuring a silent auction, quilts, home goods, children’s items, devotionals, artisan gifts and more. April 5, 4-5:45 pm and April 6, 7:30 am-1:30 pm. Free. Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes, 1115 W. Riverside. spokanecathedral.com
EASTERN WA GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY: SPRING SEMINAR & 90TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION Seminars include “Creating An Ancestor Sketch” by Thomas MacEntee and “Digging Pennsylvania Roots From Your Desktop” presented by James M Beidler. April 5, 9 am-3 pm. $50. Southside Community Center, 3151 E. 27th Ave. ewgsi.org
THE PRICE IS RIGHT LIVE Play classic games just like on television’s longestrunning game show for prizes that may include appliances, vacations and possibly a new car. April 5, 4:30 & 7:30 pm. $29-$49. Northern Quest Resort & Casino, 100 N. Hayford. northernquest.com
TRANS SPOKANE CLOTHING SWAP A community-based event for trans and gender diverse people to bring and exchange clothes. April 5, 11 am-4 pm. Free. Central Library, 906 W. Main Ave. spokanelibrary.org (509-444-5300)
LIBRARY NINJA WARRIOR COMPETI -
TION Participate in a variety of library activities and compete for the title of Dewey Decimator. Grades K-5. April 8, 3:30-5 pm. Free. North Spokane Library, 44 E. Hawthorne Rd. scld.org (893-8350)
JIGSAW PUZZLE & BOARD GAME SWAP
Trade in the jigsaw puzzles you’ve completed and board games you’re done playing for a new challenge. Please only bring puzzles and games that have all of their pieces. April 9, 4-7 pm. Free. Cheney Library, 610 First St. scld.org
MINECRAFT BLOCK PARTY An event for kids and teens focused on crating, building and exploring the world of Minecraft through games, crafts and activities away from the screen. April 9, 1-3 pm. Free. Shadle Library, 2111 W. Wellesley Ave. spokanelibrary.org (509-444-5300)
BITCH ‘N’ STITCH Grab your crochet, knitting, embroidery, weaving, cross stitch, felting, looming, macrame, friendship bracelets and craft casually with others. Every second and last Thursday at 6:30 pm. Free. Lunarium, 1925 N. Monroe. facebook.com/Lunarium.Spokane
FREE IMMIGRATION CLINIC A free clinic or anyone in need of an immigration legal consult. Second Thursday of each month from 5-7pm. Free. Latinos en Spokane, 1502 N. Monroe St. latinosenspokane.org
60’S GLOW PARTY MURDER MYSTERY
Nutmeg Vant, a legendary movie star who survived a harrowing shipwreck and spent years stranded on a deserted tropical island with six strangers, is finally making her triumphant return. Figure out this mystery under blacklights. April 12, 6-10 pm. $49. Crime Scene Entertainment, 2775 N. Howard St. crimesceneentertainment.com (208-369-3695)
FROM STRESS TO CALM: A FEAR FREE SUMMIT FOR PET OWNERS A panel discussion with Dr. Marty Becker, two leaders from Spokane’s Premier Fear Free Certified Practice, FF Certified Trainers as well as a behavior resident/associate professor at OSU talking about the impact of stress on pets and share expert tips on keeping pets calm and happy. April 12, 2:30-5 pm. Free. The Hive, 2904 E. Sprague Ave. latahcreekah.com
FILM
THE GOONIES 40TH ANNIVERSARY
A group of young misfits called The Goonies discover an ancient map and set out on an adventure to find a legendary pirate’s long-lost treasure. April 4 at 5:30 pm. $5. Garland Theater, 924 W. Garland Ave. garlandtheater.org (509-327-1050)
TALLADEGA NIGHTS: THE BALLAD OF RICKY BOBBY Number one NASCAR driver Ricky Bobby stays on top thanks to a pact with his best friend and teammate, Cal Naughton, Jr. When a French Formula One driver threatens to win, Ricky Bobby is put to the test. April 6, 7-9 pm. $8. The Kenworthy, 508 S. Main. kenworthy.org
RITUAL MOUNTAIN BIKE FILM TOUR A mix of soon-to-be-released bike films and recent classics never before seen on the big screen. April 8, 7-9:30 pm. $29. Bing Crosby Theater, 901 W. Sprague Ave. bingcrosbytheater.com
CAPCUT MAGIC: TURN VIDEO CLIPS INTO STORIES Learn video editing basics and improve your content creation using the free program CapCut. Ages 1317. April 9, 3:30-5:30 pm. Free. Spokane Valley Library, 22 N. Herald Rd. scld.org
MOSCOW FILM SOCIETY: PHANTOM THREAD Set in 1950s London, Reynolds
Woodcock is a renowned dressmaker whose fastidious life is disrupted by a young, strong-willed woman, Alma, who becomes his muse and lover. April 9, 7-9 pm. $8. The Kenworthy, 508 S. Main St. kenworthy.org (208-882-4127)
FOOD & DRINK
CARMENÈRE WEEKEND A weekend devoted to the Carmenère wine varietal featuring tasting flights paired with light bites. April 4-6, daily from 1-7 pm. $25. Helix Wines, 824 W. Sprague. reiningerwinery.com (509-242-3190)
WINEFEST Enjoy sips throughout various locations as they become pop-up tasting rooms each showcasing various regional wines. April 5, 2-6 pm. Downtown Coeur d’Alene, Sherman. cdadowntown.com
EASTER COOKIE DECORATING Decorate a dozen Easter themed sugar cookies with Jamie. April 7, 5:45-8 pm and April 18, 4-6 pm. $85. The Kitchen Engine, 621 W. Mallon Ave. thekitchenengine.com
SWEET & SAVORY CREPES Chef Kristi teaches how to make both sweet and savory crepes. April 8, 5:45-8 pm. $85. The Kitchen Engine, 621 W. Mallon Ave. thekitchenengine.com (509-328-3335)
MEXICAN STAPLES In this hands-on class you will learn how to make and eat pintos refritos, seasoned black beans, Mexican rice and cheese enchiladas. April 9, 5:45-8 pm. $85. The Kitchen Engine, 621 W. Mallon Ave. thekitchenengine.com
MUSIC & CONCERTS
SIDE BY SIDE: SPOKANE SYMPHONY & EWU MUSIC DEPARTMENT The Spokane Symphony will perform several compelling works from its current season, and then in side-by-side performances, the EWU Orchestra will join the Spokane Symphony on stage featuring World Premiere performances of selected student compositions, in addition to works like ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’. April 3, 7:30 pm. $5-$10. Eastern Washington University, 526 Fifth St. ewu.edu/music
SONATAS FOR CELLO AND PIANO Gonzaga University’s Professor Kevin Hekmatpanah performs a cello recital alongside Yoon-Wha Roh on piano. April 4, 7-8:30 pm. Free. Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts Center, 211 E. Desmet Ave. gonzaga.edu (509-313-2787)
CAMINO DEL CORAZÓN: A LATIN
AMERICAN PIANO JOURNEY Premier pianists Melody Puller and Matthew Goodrich transport you through the region’s passionate rhythms and lush melodies— from the tango-infused landscapes of Argentina to the carnival spirit of Brazil. April 5, 7:30 pm. $45. Kroc Center, 1765 W. Golf Course Rd. cdaconservatory.org
VIRTUOSO MUSIC FOR CELLO & PIANO Dr. Kevin Hekmatpanah, on cello, with pianist Yoon-Wha Roh to perform music by Boccherini, Schubert, Chopin and Rachmaninoff. April 6, 3-4:30 pm. By donation. Harrington Opera House, 19 S. Third St. harringtonoperahouse.org
SPORTS & OUTDOORS
LILAC CITY KENDO CLUB Classes for beginner and long-time kendo practicers.
Every Monday and Thursday from 6:308:30 pm. West Valley City School, 8920 E. Valleyway Ave. lilaccitykendo.org
OPEN PLAY PICKLEBALL Play pickleball at the HUB. Every week Mon-Thu from 10 am-noon or 1-3 pm. $5.50-$7. HUB Sports Center, 19619 E. Cataldo Ave. hubsportscenter.org (509-927-0602)
SPOKANE KENDO CLUB The Spokane Kendo club meets Saturdays from 11:45 am-12:45 pm and Mondays and Wednesdays from 6-7 pm. Free. PARKFIT Athletic Club, 8121 N. Division St. SpokaneKendo. com (509-714-3081)
EDIBLE NATIVE PLANTS & HOW TO GROW THEM Learn how to identify edible plants of the Pacific Northwest and get tips for growing them successfully. Presented by Erin Nelson, professional gardener and garden consultant. April 8, 6:30-7:30 pm. Free. Spokane Valley Library, 22 N. Herald Rd. scld.org
SASQUATCH SPEED TRIALS: FESTIVAL WEEKEND A two weekend championship designed to showcase multiple different motorsports disciplines. Competitors participate in their choice of autocross, time trial, rallycross and drift events in order to qualify for a timed shootout Sunday afternoon. April 12, 8 am-8 pm and April 13, 8 am-5 pm. $10. Spokane County Raceway, 750 N. Hayford Rd. sasquatchspeedtrials.com
UNLEASH THE COUGS 5K A 5k focused on promoting health, wellness and Cougar pride while supporting the Kappa Psi Beta Pi chapter at WSU. April 12, 7 am-noon. $12. WSU Health Sciences Spokane, 412 E. Spokane Falls Blvd. wsu.edu
THEATER & DANCE
THE NIFTY FIFTIES The Mountain Harmony Show Choir and Northwoods Performing Arts’ annual youth show, a musical comedy tribute to the 1950’s. April 3-7, daily at 6:30 pm and Sat, April 12 at 3 pm. $12-$35. Circle Moon Theater, 3642 N. State Route 211. northwoodsperformingarts.com (208-448-1294)
ROMEO & JULIET Verona’s Montague and Capulet families have been feuding for ages and whenever they meet, violence breaks out. But when Romeo glimpses Juliet across a crowded dance floor, something different happens. Can star-crossed love survive in a world of rivalry and rage? Thu-Sat at 7:30 pm, Sun at 2 pm through April 13. $15-$40. Spokane Civic Theatre, 1020 N. Howard St. spokanecivictheatre.com
ARGENTINE MILONGA Dance the Argentine tango surrounded by dancers of all levels. A light snack potluck is included. First Saturday of each month from 7-10 pm. $5. Sinto Activity Center, 1124 W. Sinto Ave. sintocenter.org
STEP INTO THE CREATIVE PROCESS: PLAYWRIGHT AND ACTOR WORKSHOP
A hands-on workshop where playwrights develop 10-minute scripts and actors bring them to the stage Collaborate, create and perform in a supportive space. April 7, 6-9 pm. $70. Blue Door Theatre, 319 S. Cedar St. bluedoortheatre.org
HAMILTON A musical following the rise of founding father Alexander Hamilton as he fights for honor, love and a legacy that would shape the course of a nation. April 8-20; Tue-Sat at 7:30 pm, Sat and Sun also at 1 pm.$45-$125. First Interstate Center for the Arts, 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. broadwayspokane.com
THURSDAY NIGHT DANCES A seniorfriendly dance extravaganza with live music by TNT. Refreshments and adult beverages available. Every second Thursday from 7-9:30 pm. $5. Southside Community Center, 3151 E. 27th Ave. southsidescc.org (509-535-0803)
STUDENT CHOREOGRAPHY SHOWCASE A variety of work presented by the Student Choreography Class of Spring 2025, Boundless Dance Classes and more. April 11-12, 7 pm. $8-$15. Gonzaga University Magnuson Theatre, 502 E. Boone Ave. gonzaga.edu/dance
VISUAL ARTS
ANDREA JOYCE HEIMER: NO NAME THAT I KNOW OF Through collage-like layers of detail, Washington-based artist Andrea Joyce Heimer reconstructs tangled memories of her upbringing in rural Montana. The artist combines autobiography, fantasy, and dark humor to explore themes of loneliness and belonging. Tue-Sun from 10 am-5 pm through May 25. $9-15. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org (509-456-3931)
ART U.S.A.: ONE HUNDRED AMERICAN WORKS ON PAPER A collection of 100 pieces of art from the Jundt’s permanent collection depicting an expanse of American life from the years 1925-1950. MonSat from 10 am-4 pm through May 10. Free. Jundt Art Museum, 200 E. Desmet Ave. gonzaga.edu/jundt (509-313-6843)
ERIN ELYSE BURNS: ITERATIONS Erin Elyse Burns is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice navigates territory within the disciplines of photography, video, performance art and artifact. Mon-Fri from 9 am-6 pm through April 10. Free. Eastern Washington University, 526 Fifth St. ewu.edu (509-259-2241)
KAY WEST: BUTTONS & BAUBLES Kay West showcases acrylic paintings, collage, baubles and fiber all involving buttons. Daily from 11 am-7 pm through April 27. Free. Pottery Place Plus, 203 N. Washington St. potteryplaceplus.com
MASTER OF FINE ARTS THESIS EXHIBITION A collection of work from current WSU Master of Fine Arts candidates Cameron Kester, Anna Le, Abigail Nnaji and Sara St. Clair. Tue-Sat from 10 am-4 pm through June 28. Free. Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art WSU, 1535 NE Wilson Rd. museum.wsu.edu
MEET YOUR MAKER Meet the artists behind all of the items in From Here. Daily from 11 am-6 pm. See website for artist schedule. Free. From Here, 808 W. Main Ave. fromherespokane.com
ERIC SANCHEZ: CHAIRS, LEAVES AND TREES A new collection of paintings, drawings and collages from local artist Eric Sanchez. April 4-26, daily from 11 am-6 pm. Free. Entropy, 101 N. Stevens. instagram.com/entropygalleryspokane
DRAWING WITH FIRE AND METAL: GARDEN ART SCULPTURE In this class students learn shop safety, proper use and care of tools and processes/techniques through shaping metal with a torch. Ages 16+. April 4-5, 12-4 pm. $190. Gizmo-CDA, 283 N. Hubbard Ave. Suite 102. gizmo-cda.org (208-929-4029)
DUSTIN REGUL: RIFTS & MARGINS In this exhibition, artist Dustin Regul explores the liminal spaces between established reality and undiscovered potential. April 4-26, Fri-Sat from noon-8 pm. Free. Saranac Art Projects, 25 W. Main Ave. sapgallery.com
FIRST FRIDAY Art galleries and businesses across downtown Spokane and beyond host monthly receptions to showcase new displays of art. First Fridays of each month from 5-8 pm. Free. Spokane. firstfridayspokane.org
FIRST FRIDAY: MARIA LA FLEUR
AND GENIE MAPLES Maria La Fleur is an emerging, self-taught artist living in the Inland Northwest who works mostly with acrylics. Genie Maples’ work encompasses massive elaborate oil paintings, intricate stitching, intimate drawings and experimental assemblage pieces. April 4, 3-7 pm. Free. Avenue West Gallery, 907 W. Boone Ave. avenuewestgallery.com
T.K. PRUITT T.K. Pruitt grew up in Spokane and was raised by a Japanese American mother from the Northwest and a father who grew up on a farm in the South. Her work often reflects the blend of these two distinct cultures. April 4, 4-7 pm. Free. Helix Wines, 824 W. Sprague. reiningerwinery.com
LITTLE SPOKANE RIVER ARTIST
STUDIO TOUR SPRING PREVIEW A showcase of 32 artists working in an array of disciplines coming together in anticipation of the Little Spokane River Artist Studio Tour in September. April 4-25, Wed-Fri from 11 am-5 pm. Free. Kolva-Sullivan Gallery, 115 S. Adams St. facebook.com/pages/Kolva-SullivanGallery/1171052092981843
MENTOR Ceramics instructors and their students from regional colleges and universities show their artwork together. April 4-25, Wed-Fri from 11 am-4 pm. Free. Trackside Studio, 115 S. Adams St. tracksidestudio.net
STRUT YOUR STUFF A 20th anniversary art show featuring work from 15 local artists focused on themes of natural heritage, the industrial legacy of sawmills and community spirit. April 4-May 23; Tue-Sun, times vary. Free. The Jacklin Arts & Cultural Center, 405 N. William St. thejacklincenter.org
LISA MADDOX & MIKE DECASARE: TIMELESS This show features Lisa Maddox, a mask-maker extraordinaire and well known photographer Mike DeCesare. April 4-26; Wed-Sat from 11 am-5 pm. Free. New Moon Art Gallery, 1326 E. Sprague Ave. manicmoonandmore.com (509-413-9101)
COMIC DRAWING MEETUP Draw comics with fellow artists while drinking tea and eating treats from Lunarium. Every month on the first Saturday from 3-5 pm. Free. Lunarium, 1925 N. Monroe St. lunariumspokane.com
CRAFTING & ART SUPPLY SWAP
Bring your gently used arts and crafts supplies to the library and exchange them for something that other community members have brought. Supplies must be gently used and still viable for crafting. April 5, 10 am-1 pm. Free. North Spokane Library, 44 E. Hawthorne Rd. scld.org (893-8350)
SPOKANE PRINT FEST PRINT FAIR
Enjoy printmaking demonstrations, purchase prints for sale, browse print displays from a variety of local print artists and meet the Artists-In-Residence at The Hive. April 5, 2-5 pm. Free. The Hive, 2904 E. Sprague Ave. spokanelibrary.org (509-444-5300)
PIECED TOGETHER: 2025 SENIOR ART & DESIGN EXHIBIT An eclectic and engaging selection of works from Whitworth University’s art and graphic design majors. April 8-May 17, Mon-Fri from 10 am-4:30 pm. Free. Bryan Oli-
ver Gallery, Whitworth, 300 W. Hawthorne Ave. whitworth.edu
HEARTISTRY: ARTISTIC WELLBEING A relaxed and inspiring environmnt for self-discovery. Participate in basic artistic concepts and activities or respond to a mindfulness prompt. Every Tuesday from 3-5 pm. Free. Spark Central, 1214 W. Summit Pkwy. sparkcentral.org (509-279-0299)
COLLAGE WORKSHOP Through a curriculum consisting of two assignments, students learn how to compose and execute their own original works of art using materials provided by the instructor. Second Wednesday of each month from 6-8 pm. $25. Lunarium, 1925 N. Monroe. lunariumspokane.com
OPEN STUDIO Stop by The Hive to see what current Artists-In-Residence are up to, and tour the building. Every Wednesday from 4-7 pm. Free. The Hive, 2904 E. Sprague Ave. spokanelibrary.org (509-444-5300)
KJ POTTERY MUG SALE Local handmade ceramics company KJ Pottery teamed up with Bellwether Brewing and Derailer Coffee to offer a large selection of handmade mugs paired with local beer, coffee, and the chance to add some new handmade wares to your home. April 12, 1-3 pm. $20-$35. The United Building, 5016 N. Market St. kjpottery.com
STARVING ARTIST SALE Sixty-five students, alumni, and local artists showcase and sell their work at this juried art market. Located in the Pitman Center. April 12, 10 am-5 pm. Free. University of Idaho, 709 S Deakin St. uidaho.edu (208-874-9164)
WORDS
COLLEGE DEBATE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP The nation’s best college debate teams participate in am fourday competition for the title of national champion. April 3-7, times vary. Takes place at Gonzaga University as well as the Centennial Hotel. Free. Gonzaga University, 502 E. Boone Ave. gonzaga.edu (509-328-4220)
DROP IN & WRITE Aspiring writers are invited to be a part of a supportive writers’ community. Bring works in progress to share, get inspired with creative prompts and spend some focused time writing. Hosted by local writers Jenny Davis and Hannah Engel. Thursdays from 5:30-7 pm. Thurs., 5:30-7 pm. Free. Spark Central, 1214 W. Summit Pkwy. spark-central.org (509279-0299)
KAY SMITH-BLUM: TANGLES Kat Smith-Blum discusses her newest novel set at the Hanford Nuclear Site. April 3, 1:30-3 pm. Free. South Hill Library, 3324 S. Perry St. spokanelibrary.org
3 MINUTE MIC’S 12TH ANNIVERSARY
The monthly open mic celebrates 12 years with special guest Asyia Gover. Readers may share up to three minutes of poetry. April 4, 7-8:30 pm. Free. Auntie’s Bookstore, 402 W. Main Ave. auntiesbookstore.com
MASTER OF FINE ARTS THESIS ARTISTS’ TALKS AND RECEPTION Artist
talks from this year’s MFA candidates are Cameron Kester, Anna Le, Abigail Nnaji, and Sara St. Clair. Each speaks briefly to introduce the body of work they are presenting in the exhibition. April 4, 3-6 pm. Free. Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art WSU, 1535 NE Wilson Rd. museum.wsu.edu n
April 19 - June 7, 2025
Intro to Theatre Ages 8-13
Shakespeare in Action: Intermediate Acting Ages 11-18
Voice Class Ages 8-18
Intro to Musical Theatre Ages: 10-18
Intro to Stage Craft Ages 13+
Preschool Performers Ages 3-6
spokanechildrenstheatre.org/
OPINION
Just Lounging
Olympia once again raises a cannabis question it is not ready to answer
BY WILL MAUPIN
Where is someone to go if they want to consume cannabis?
The question may sound silly, cannabis is legal after all, but Washington law kind of gets in the way.
The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board, or LCB, led its most recent publication with a story on cannabis lounges, which are places where the consumption of cannabis is legal. Essentially, they’re bars for cannabis.
But they’re not legal in Washington.
So why was the state’s regulatory body on cannabis talking about them? Good question.
Washington is not in the process of or even looking to legalize cannabis lounges.
This is despite the fact, as pointed out by author Tyler Watson on LCB’s official website, that more than a dozen other states have done so.
“Since modern legalization of cannabis at the state level, there are currently 13 adult-use cannabis states that have authorized certain types of cannabis consumption sites,” Watson writes.
Not to belabor the point, but to drive it home, Washington is not one of those 13 states.
We were the first state to legalize cannabis, but we have now fallen behind over a dozen states.
It’s crazy to say this, because it’s been barely
more than a decade since legalization, but cannabis used to be an economic driver. It used to be.
Washington was once an island in an ocean of prohibition. But now? Half of the country has legalized cannabis. Canada to our north has done so as well. Nobody is coming here to get stoned. Cannabis tourism is dead.
Visitspokane.com, the city’s virtual gateway, used to have a page on cannabis tourism. It explained all of the ins and outs of cannabis consumption. You could rightly assume that page existed because there was demand for it.
That page no longer exists.
I’m not sure if anyone actually came to Spokane to get stoned, but once upon a time doing so seemed to make sense. It doesn’t anymore.
Half of the country allows cannabis use, and a baker’s dozen of those states allow what are essentially weed bars.
In Washington, by the letter of the law, you basically need to be in your own home. And you better not be by a window — consuming cannabis in the public view is illegal, just so you know.
The state has recognized this. I mean, they wrote about it. The question is, will they do anything? As of now, there are more words on the LCB’s website than there is action. 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.
GREEN ZONE
BE AWARE: Marijuana is legal for adults 21 and older under Washington State law (e.g., RCW 69.50, RCW 69.51A, HB0001 Initiative 502 and Senate Bill 5052). State law does not preempt federal law; possessing, using, distributing and selling marijuana remains illegal under federal law. In Washington state, consuming marijuana in public, driving while under the influence of marijuana and transporting marijuana across state lines are all illegal. Marijuana has intoxicating effects; there may be health risks associated with its consumption, and it may be habit-forming. It can also impair concentration, coordination and judgment. Do not operate a vehicle or machinery under the influence of this drug. Keep out of reach of children. For more information, consult the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board at www.liq.wa.gov. Marijuana use increases the risk of lower grades and dropping out of school.
53. End in ___
Just me, really?
Fish parts
Muscat’s country
Up and about
Added charge
German article
Sound, for one
Vehicle with a route
Iowa State locale 3. Morehouse or Howard, for
Energizes
Portrayer of Jed Clampett
We’re setting the stage for another star-studded season of outdoor concerts at BECU Live voted Spokane’s Best Live Music Venue for three years straight! Experience the face-melting metal, legendary rock, and party-starting country acts heading to Northern Quest soon. The Pepsi Outdoor Concerts return in May!
