Inlander 06/18/2020

WARRIOR COPS A CLOSER LOOK AT CONTROVERSIAL TRAINING PAGE 8 REBOUNDING RETAIL HOW LOCAL BUSINESSES ARE EVOLVING PAGE 19

BUGS. IT’S WHAT’S FOR DINNER

WELCOME TO SPOKANE’S NEW CRICKET FARM PAGE 28

JUNE 18-24, 2020 | A SNAPSHOT OF THE WEEK

PICTURE PERFECT The underappreciated beauty of the Inland Northwest PAGE 12

Palouse Falls State Park as captured by Jerry W. Kayser

“Professional.”

—Ed Breining, Franchise Owner, La-Z-Boy

“Washington Trust was an awesome help and partner when we reached out to them. The big bank we used to bank with wasn’t able to help us when we needed it most. When we called Washington Trust, they treated us fairly and professionally and made it happen.” #AwesomeTogether Hear more from Ed and others at watrust.com/AwesomeTogether.

2 INLANDER JUNE 18, 2020

INSIDE VOL. 27, NO. 36 | COVER PHOTO: JERRY W. KAYSER

COMMENT NEWS COVER STORY THE ROAD BACK

5 8 12 19

CULTURE FOOD FILM MUSIC

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I SAW YOU GREEN ZONE ADVICE GODDESS BULLETIN BOARD

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EDITOR’S NOTE

P

erhaps it comes from our survival instincts as human beings — that when we’re surrounded by uncertainty and chaos, we look for things to help us cope, small things, humble things that are around us and at hand, a bit of underappreciated beauty that we’re seeing for the first time with new eyes. Or perhaps we like pretty pictures of the place we call home. Either way, this week’s PICTURE PERFECT photo essay finds color and insight in fields of canola, graffiti-marked underpasses, forlorn trails, bird’s-eye views and water rushing over rocks. See page 12.

Also this week: staff reporter Wilson Criscione explores the “bold” racial equity resolution adopted by Spokane Public Schools last week (page 10), and in Film, while movie theaters are still closed, culture writer Nathan Weinbender reviews the much-anticipated new films from Spike Lee and Judd Apatow, available for streaming (page 30).

— JACOB H. FRIES, Editor

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COMING UP IN THE INLANDER

MEDIA IN THE CROSSFIRE PAGE 6

HOW RETAIL IS REBOUNDING PAGE 19

The outDOors explore the inland northwest on stands

THINGS TO DO THIS WEEK PAGE 26

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HOW MUSIC CAN EMPOWER PAGE 32

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

LORRI STONEHOCKER: Trader Joe’s in the Valley!

JAXON RILEY: A great independent shoe store!

JOCELYN WALTERS: A drive-in theater! Ditto Trader Joe’s in the Valley and Cheesecake Factory, maybe a Popeye’s not all the way over in Post Falls.

Caleb Walsh ILLUSTRATOR

Amy Alkon, Will Maupin, Carrie Scozzaro CONTRIBUTORS

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OPERATIONS Dee Ann Cook (x211) BUSINESS MANAGER Kristin Wagner (x210) ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE

RONN COMPESTINE: Not sure it could survive but a great independent video store that sells and rents horror and boutique label blu-rays/DVDs/VHS. I have a friend in Tampa and they have a store there that is thriving RHONDA LARSON: Ladies plus-size retail clothing. No offense, but I’m sick and tired of Walmart, Target, ShopKo, ugly.

SELINA BYRUM: Baby supply store for cribs, strollers, mattresses, carriers, diaper bags, etc., all the goods in one spot. Lots of larger cities have them and we don’t. We have stores that sell baby supplies, but no one-stop shop.

These boutique baby stores are pretty popular and helpful.

PATRICIA O’CALLAGHAN: Women’s business and casual that’s not cheap or trendy. Classic, solid pieces that are timeless, made for the 40+ but not dowty. European in style to include shoes, purses. Clean lines, straight forward, quality.

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JEN DRIGGS: I work in catering for all the Davenport Hotels. The one question I get asked the most from out-of-town guests, “Where is there a grocery store?” So a grocery store in walking distance very close to all those downtown hotels would be good.

RACHEL RICKARD KEY: Aldi and IKEA… and family-friendly/kid-friendly breweries and distillery places. n

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Inlander staff photographer Young Kwak has been covering local protests for the past three weeks.

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ight after night, as America has erupted your friends into heroes and your enemies into — with peaceful protests and destructive villains. Politicians, police chiefs and protestriots — journalists have been there in the ers would do well to take note: Journalism that middle of it all, documenting events, trying to works for your side and your side alone isn’t put them into context and acting as independent journalism at all. It’s advocacy, and while advowitnesses. cacy can be vital to our civil discourse, when it’s It’s not a formula for making friends. Reportdressed up as news, it’s fake. ers have been bruised, blinded, Journalism’s real job is to seek tear-gassed and arrested by the best obtainable truth — not LETTERS police, even after they identified your version of truth, but the best Send comments to themselves as working members version that we can uncover and editor@inlander.com. of the press. They’ve also been support with facts — and then stomped and pummeled by share what we know and how we some extreme protesters whose ideologies (left know it. or right) would have them wrongly believe that The coronavirus pandemic has made this reporters are enemies of the people. point especially clear: For the public’s own wellPart of the problem can be traced to a fundabeing, reporters have sought to provide the best mental misunderstanding of what journalism is. obtainable information, citing experts, research Journalism doesn’t exist to make you comand relevant case studies from other places. To fortable, to reaffirm your every belief, to turn do anything less, say, to advocate for a certain

unproven treatment, could literally cost people their lives.

It’s easy to see how people could get confused. They spot an article they love, they share it on social media, their friends like it, it somehow affirms a value they identify with and they begin to find some common cause with the news outlet that did the reporting. Which is fine, perhaps — until journalists at that same news outlet present a story and facts that don’t cohere with those fans’ worldview.

Then suddenly they’re threatening to “cancel” the offending news outlet and its journalists. Which isn’t really helping anyone.

Yes, we should all hold reporters to account for their mistakes, but we should also make sure we’re not mistaking journalism for something else.

Lately, news photographers have had to defend the images they’ve captured during public demonstrations from some protesters who argue that demonstrators’ faces should be blurred and identifying features obscured. They say they’re worried about being targeted or doxed by right-wing extremists.

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“What would you say about a neo-Nazi who doesn’t want to be identified, or a skinhead or an abusive police officer?”

It has put those photographers in the uncomfortable position of saying no to people whose calls for justice may indeed be righteous. For while journalism ethics say that reporters should weigh potential harm of their coverage, they also should not distort facts or context. With journalism under constant attack by those who dismiss it as “fake news,” manipulating photos would undoubtedly do grave harm to people’s confidence in the independent press.

“The whole point of a demonstration is to be seen and heard because you’re not being seen and heard in other more conventional ways. So if we weren’t there documenting who is saying what, then we would be criticized,” says Al Tompkins, a senior faculty member at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies. Tompkins helped to write the codes of ethics for the National Press Photographers Association and the Radio and Television Digital News Association.

“One of the other issues that we would have is this: Are you saying that you only don’t want to be seen while you’re demonstrating? But while you’re doing a charitable act, while you’re doing good things, while you’re protecting the Walgreens from getting broken into, then it’s good to show?” he continues. “And what would you say about a neo-Nazi who doesn’t want to be identified, or a skinhead or an abusive police officer?”

There’s also the fact that for many demonstrators, it is a point of pride to show their faces at these protests and they have readily given their full names to photojournalists so that they could be identified. To erase them from images taken at these historic demonstrations would certainly do them harm as well. Besides, it’s worth noting that thousands of other images are taken at protests — by demonstrators themselves, police body cameras, surveillance cameras and more.

None of this is to distort or exaggerate the facts. Protesters, on the whole, have welcomed news coverage. And in the end, the vast majority of attacks on journalists at recent demonstrations have come not from protesters, but the police. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, a project of the Committee to Protect Journalists and the Freedom of the Press Foundation, has found that law enforcement was responsible for some 80 percent of violent assaults on journalists in recent days. In some cases, the press might have been inadvertently injured in the chaos of the protests they were covering.

More troubling, though, is the fact that many of the reporters were specifically targeted by police. Thankfully, we know this because independent journalists were there to witness it, photograph it, put it on video and share it for the world to see. n Jacob H. Fries is the editor of the Inlander.

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JUNE 18, 2020 INLANDER 7

Dave Grossman, left, whose training he dubs “Killology,” and Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich, who’s a supporter of Grossman’s viewpoint.

LAW ENFORCEMENT

WARRIOR COPS Why thousands are calling on the Spokane County Sheriff to cancel “warrior-style” training for law enforcement officers

BY SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL

F

or nearly two decades, Dave Grossman has been training cops to recognize their role as society’s protectors, encouraging them to think of themselves as frontline warriors where America’s military cannot serve.

“The only thing that is holding our society together is the warrior. I use the word ‘warrior’ and I use it without apology, because if you are in a war, you are a warrior,” Grossman tells a class of police officers during a training in 2012. “Is there a war out there? Is there a war on crime? Is there a war on drugs? Are there people out there who’ve declared war on you?”

The former Army Ranger taught psychology and behavioral science at West Point and Arkansas State University in the 1990s and offers similar lessons on survival mentality during his trainings like the “Bulletproof Mind.”

But as protests continue around the country decrying police brutality, thousands are calling on Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich to cancel a scheduled October training with Grossman at the county’s training facility in Newman Lake.

The “Mindset Bootcamp” is set to combine multiple Grossman lessons on the psychology of killing and dealing with traumatic and dangerous situations, a form of study Grossman dubs “Killology.” A poster for the event exclaims, “‘Survival’ is minimalistic and we must train to WIN!” His training often centers on a “sheepdog” philosophy that officers are warriors there to protect the public like a sheepdog protects a flock of sheep from a wolf.

Grossman and Knezovich (who has taken Grossman’s trainings multiple times) insist the training isn’t meant to teach officers how to kill, but what to expect if they are involved in a potentially deadly situation. One of Grossman’s foundations is that people are naturally averse to killing each other. Without training, he argues, officers won’t be as effective at doing that when needed

8 INLANDER JUNE 18, 2020

to save others, and will be more likely to suffer mental health issues afterward.

But so-called “warrior-style” trainings have come under fire in recent years. Grossman received particular attention after it was found that someone who attended his classes, a Hispanic officer in Minnesota, went on in 2016 to kill Philando Castile, a black man who specifically informed the officer he was carrying a gun and was not reaching for it when he was shot dead in his car.

That’s troubling to a group of Spokane community members who have issued calls on social media and petition platforms to cancel the training this fall. They argue that even the suggestion that officers are at war with citizens, instead of there to protect and de-escalate situations whenever possible, could be dangerous.

“We want people to use force in those rare cases when it’s absolutely necessary, say, a mass shooting type situation, but that’s consistent with the protector mindset,” says Andrew Biviano, a local civil rights attorney.

“This war mindset is very troubling, and getting people to overcome their natural disinclination to kill is very troubling. If you’re in the war and fighting the Taliban, it’s a very different mindset than if you’re in Spokane.”

But Grossman tells the Inlander that his training for military and law enforcement differs, and says many of the quotes that have been criticized were taken out of context. Knezovich agrees, insisting in 30 years, he’s never been taught to be a warrior.

“Our job is to keep the people safe and keep the peace,” Knezovich says. “Context means everything. …

It’s hard to have that conversation rationally with people that just want snippet soundbites.”

To quash community concerns, Knezovich says he plans to host Grossman for a public event so people can learn more about his style of teaching before any deputies would attend the two-day training.

“I believe that every individual has the right to stand

and face their accusers,” Knezovich says. “He’s about teaching people how not to be violent. And for law enforcement officers, he teaches officers how to survive the bad day you have to use deadly force.”

KILLING, PROTECTING

A series of police killings of black, Native American and other minority Americans over the last decade have reignited anger over the disproportionate use of force against people of color, and the militarization of police departments.

Most recently, the protests erupted after George Floyd, a black man, was killed when white officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for nearly 9 minutes during an arrest. Minneapolis, the city where Floyd was killed, had banned “fear-based” training last spring, including Grossman’s.

Grossman insists he reminds officers of their duty to protect.

“As law enforcement officers, our mission is never to kill,” Grossman tells the Inlander. “We are always trying to save lives. We are using deadly force because we believe there is an immediate threat of life, limb or grievous bodily harm of self or others. We are using deadly force to save lives.”

Grossman says many of the ideas that people have taken issue with were out of context. For example, continue listening to the 2012 training when he says officers are at war, and Grossman goes on to say that officers should look to protective warrior role models of the past like knights, but role models shouldn’t look like Dirty Harry.

“If your model is the law enforcement officer who breaks the law, who goes over the top, you’re setting yourself up for some serious problems,” Grossman says in the training audio on YouTube. “The best way to get yourself a serious dose of post-traumatic stress disorder is to commit an atrocity or a criminal act. The goal is to

have role models who stay within the rules.”

But other problematic sentiments from his training have stirred concerns locally.

One controversial clip shows Grossman saying that for those who’ve trained properly, “killing is just not that big of a deal.”

He says his training is meant to help officers avoid psychological harm from traumatic situations they face.

“I talk about that just the flat out data tells us that killing’s not that big a deal. Now, moral injury, unlawful killing, is huge,” Grossman tells the Inlander. “What is eating people alive is survivor guilt, and we can wrap our mind around that, prepare for that, and put it in perspective.”

COMMUNITY CONCERNS

“I’m trying to find a correlation between them saying, ‘We don’t train them to kill,’ and then at the same time, ‘We have to train people in order to be able to kill,’” says Deekon Jones, who helped start a petition on OrganizeFor to cancel the training.

The petition has since gathered almost 2,500 signatures.

Training officers that killing isn’t a big deal to avoid PTSD seems backwards to Jones, who works in substance use treatment for juveniles. He’d advocate instead that mental health treatment be provided on an ongoing basis for officers, not just after deadly or serious incidents.

“I’ve been a part of the discussion of mental health in the black community and specifically black men who are afraid to seek mental health because of the stigma,” Jones says. “Neither of us are getting mental health. I see a bridge to be built there.”

Attorney Biviano was in the courtroom when Spokane Police officers saluted disgraced colleague Karl Thompson, who’d been sentenced to prison for the wrongful death of Otto Zehm, a white developmentally disabled man who died after officers struck him with a baton and hog-tied him.

“The at-war mentality is completely contrary to what many, I’d say most of us, want in our law enforcement,” says Biviano, whose Facebook post calling out Grossman’s training garnered attention before the petitions.

Biviano was previously a mental health case manager, and says he knows that when a person in crisis is lashing out, you can often de-escalate the situation without violence.

“I was asked to deal with the same types of people, who may be acting out, may be threatening, and we would address and stop it, but in a way that reduces harm,” Biviano says. “I had a teenage boy come at me with a bat, but I let him go after my car instead of confronting him, because he was acting out in a place of crisis, and the last thing he needed was to be physically restrained by me.”

Other community leaders have raised concerns about a scene in the 2016 documentary on police militarization Do Not Resist, when Grossman is seen telling a crowd that sometimes after an officer gets home safe after a deadly shooting, they have great sex.

“They all say, ‘The best sex I’ve had in months,’” Grossman says in the documentary. “Both partners are very invested in some intense sex. There’s not a whole lot of perks that come with this job. You find one, relax and enjoy it.”

Grossman claims the quote was cut up and out of the broader context of a discussion on the psychology of killing. He says he teaches people that after a traumatic incident, there’s a parasympathetic nervous system backlash that often sees people binge on food and sex.

“It scares people. Is it an affirmation of life in the face of death? Is there a hormonal surge? I believe it’s both,” Grossman says.

Still, Knezovich insists that he and Grossman share a belief that officers who overstep the bounds of their duties as peacekeepers should be fired, and it should be easier to prevent them from getting reinstated.

“The takeaway for me was, with carrying that gun comes great responsibility,” Knezovich says. “You need to make sure you’re holding yourself to the highest standards, and if you have to use force, you had better be doing it justifiably and correctly.

That was the bottom line message.” n samanthaw@inlander.com

JUNE 18, 2020 INLANDER 9

NEWS | EDUCATION

Being Bold Spokane Public Schools vows to eliminate student arrests and enact systemic change with new racial equity resolution

BY WILSON CRISCIONE

W

hen the Spokane Public Schools board of directors tasked district staff with drafting a racial equity resolution earlier this month, Nicole Jenkins-Rosenkrantz, who helped author it, wasn’t sure how far to go.

“I was like, ‘How bold do you want to be?’ Should I use ‘district’ language, or ‘Nicole’ language?” JenkinsRosenkrantz recalls asking district higher-ups. As a former diversion supervisor for Spokane County Juvenile Court, she’d seen what happens when students of color are arrested in school and sent through the judicial system. She knew local schools had far to go on racial equity.

“I was told, ‘Be bold,’” she says.

The final result — a racial equity resolution passed unanimously by the school board last week — represents what students, parents and community advocates describe as a major step forward in addressing racial inequalities within the school system. It establishes a series of policies aimed at reducing the disparate impact of arrests, suspension and expulsions on students of color.

Most notably, it states that the school district will develop a new safety plan before next school year that will eliminate the ability of any district employee to arrest students.

“We realize that structural racism is built into the bones of our schools, as well as every structure in society; we have to build anti-racism into the bones in order to increase student empowerment, belonging, value, and hope for the future,” the resolution says, adapting a quote from author Ijeoma Oluo.

Jerrall Haynes, the school board president to our shortcomings as a system and being willing to do things differently moving forward,” Haynes tells the Inlander. “I am very hopeful, because I think that we’re ready as a system to start being different.”

10 INLANDER JUNE 18, 2020

REBUILDING THE SYSTEM

The resolution does far more than just limit student arrests. It’s designed to also ensure that the district: u Creates an ombudsperson process to evaluate all As protesters pack the streets advocating against racism exclusionary discipline and police brutality in the wake of George Floyd’s death, u Proposes a new technology access model that the Spokane Public Schools commitment to not arresting ensures all students have equitable access students has easily drawn the most attention. But Oscar u Hires a consulting company led by people of color Harris, coordinator for family support and community to guide decisions that can increase workforce diversity engagement for Spokane Public Schools, stresses that the u Requires new employees to participate in “anti-racdistrict has been discussing the idea for a while. Harris ism and cultural responsiveness training” while ensuring also helped author the resolution. current training for staff continues “That language is part of the culmination of people u Applies an “equity lens” to the budget developadvocating and people asking the question: Is it possible ment process to have another model where Spokane Public Schools Put together, it’s a transformation for many local staff doesn’t have to be arresting people?” Harris says. schools.

One of those advocates is Nikki Lockwood, who just “I don’t think it’s going to be easy,” Haynes says. last year was elected to the district’s school board. As a “But that’s OK. None of us are here because the work is member of a student advocacy group called the Every easy. We’re all here because the work is worth it, and the Student Counts Alliance, she expressed to the Inlander students are worth it.” concerns about students of color being disproportionately Last week, over the course of an hour and a half, arrested back in 2017. At the time, the district dozens of people expressed their thoughts on the racial dropped the total number of arrests by nearly equity resolution. All of them — students, educators, par90 percent in one year. But of those still arents and activists — supported it. And that, Haynes says, rested, about half were students of color. is in addition to the more than 500 emails the school Those disparities have since been largely board received about it. Besides maybe five who opposed unchanged. In the 2018-19 school it, all of those emails supported the year, students of color made up a board’s commitment to racial equity.

LETTERS majority of the 88 arrests in Spokane Many wanted the board to go even Send comments to schools, according to district data. further. editor@inlander.com.

The original language of the resolution While some of this work has passed last week stated simply that district been going on for years within the employees will not arrest students. The final version is district, Haynes says the timing is right to make these more wordy: The district “will work with their Spokane kinds of changes.

Education Association (SEA) and Campus Resource But he also suggests it’s not a coincidence it’s hapOfficer (CRO) partners to come to an agreement that will pened with the current school board. Both Lockwood, eliminate employees’ ability to arrest students.” A plan who is Latinx, and director Jenny Slagle, who is Native for such an agreement will be developed by fall of 2020, American, made the issue a priority in their campaigns following community input. last year. Combined with Haynes, who is black, “you’d Jeremy Shay, Spokane Education Association presibe hard-pressed to find a time in Spokane’s history when dent, did not respond to an Inlander message seeking the school board is as diverse as it is right now,” Haynes comment. says.

Kory Bjornstad, a resource officer at Chase Middle Jenkins-Rosenkrantz says if the district can act on this School who otherwise supported the resolution, cauresolution, it can change not just the education system, tioned during the board meeting that a ban on arrestbut the entire city. ing students could have unintended consequences.

“It’s proactive instead of reactive, because the system Lockwood, however, later responded that there are also was wrong to begin with,” she says. “So, let’s rebuild it.” n unintended consequences that come with students being wilsonc@inlander.com

ELIMINATING ARRESTS

“There will always be excuses for why we can’t do this work. But it’s needed.

It’s long overdue.”

The resolution comes more than a year after public outcry over an incident in which a school resource officer at Ferris High School, Shawn Audie, pressed his shin against a black teenager’s neck during an arrest. It was a situation that Spokane NAACP president Kurtis Robinson said at the time was indicative of the implicit bias against students of color in Spokane.

While Spokane Public Schools has for years sought to reduce arrests and discipline rates that disproportionately impact students of color, they remain more likely to be arrested or kicked out of school than white students. And although non-white students make up one-third of the population in Spokane, less than 10 percent of teachers are non-white.

But Jerrall Haynes, the school board president, says this new resolution makes him optimistic that change is coming to Spokane Public Schools.

“What this resolution really gets at is owning up

incarcerated.

“There will always be excuses for why we can’t do this work,” Lockwood says. “But it’s needed. It’s long overdue.”

Resource officers in Spokane are unarmed, and they’re issued a limited commission authority through the Spokane Police Department. Haynes says it’s crucial to have a “proper plan” and training in place to prevent schools from calling armed Spokane Police to arrest students since resource officers would be prevented.

But Haynes, the board president, says it’s possible for resource officers to shift their focus away from arrests. He points out that Dan Johnson, the resource officer at Shaw Middle School, had zero arrests last year.

“That’s an amazing thing,” he says. “Like so many of our other CROs, they’ve really shifted their focus to be relationship-focused.”

Jenkins-Rosenkrantz, the district’s community partnerships manager who helped author the resolution, says the district is already working on a diversion program for students at risk of being excluded from school.

“We’re hoping that is going to change the dynamics of exclusions and arrests and the disproportionality in discipline,” she says.

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MEDICAL LAKE SANATORIUM

“The old Medical Lake Sanatorium. It was all self-sustained and people lived and farmed for themselves while there. Nearby, a World War II prison held POWs before it was turned into a research facility where they kept primates in the prison yard and tested for polio and other vaccines. I’ve learned a lot of weird-ass history over the last few months.” — PHOTOGRAPHER ALICIA HAUFF

12 INLANDER JUNE 18, 2020

SPOKANE (un)SEEN A reader-submitted photo essay documenting the hidden beauties of our region that don’t typically make the pages of the Inlander

F

or this week’s issue, we break away from our usual journalism. We made a call out to local photographers asking for photos that show off the underappreciated beauty of the Inland Northwest. More than 300 submissions later, we’ve narrowed it down to a dozen of our favorites. The idea was to capture parts of the region that don’t typically make it to the pages of the Inlander — so you won’t be seeing any photos of the Garbage Goat or Manito Park’s Duncan Garden in this section. But you will see spectacular images captured from some of our most talented local photographers. Enjoy!

— DEREK HARRISON, the Inlander’s art director

CANOLA FIELD IN COLBERT, WASHINGTON “The canola field and equipment barn showcases not only the vibrancy of the region but the abundance of daily work that goes into sustaining and maintaining a farm.”

— PHOTOGRAPHER BLAIR KEISER

JUNE 18, 2020 INLANDER 13

SPOKANE (un)SEEN

THE UNDERBELLY OF I-90

“The corner of West Seventh Avenue and South Inland Empire Way in Spokane. Featuring century-old architecture, an often forgotten mural, and a little splash of graffiti, this spot that I saw when I first moved to Spokane opened my eyes to the beauty and diversity of this city.”

— PHOTOGRAPHER CARLY KALKAUSKI

MIRABEAU PARK WATERFALL

“It’s one of my favorite places to explore and take my three kids. You can walk down close to the waterfall and see all kinds of different critters in or around the water. I’ve come across ducks, bunnies, snakes, turtles, frogs, osprey, lizards, squirrels, marmots, and I couldn’t even begin to tell you the crazy amounts of different birds flying through the trees.”

— PHOTOGRAPHER JULIA KENNEDY

DRONE’S-EYE VIEW OF WAITTS LAKE

“The 455-acre Waitts Lake is located three miles west of Valley, Washington (visible in the background), and 10 miles southwest of Chewelah. Fishing is very popular here year-round (including ice fishing), as well as summer water activities.”

— PHOTOGRAPHER DANA REED

14 INLANDER JUNE 18, 2020

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The Greater Forks Community Stands Against Violence

The following individuals and businesses strongly oppose the intolerable treatment of the family visiting the Forks area on June 3, 2020. We pledge our support of a thorough investigation, and commit to addressing issues of racism and violence in our communities through education and communication.

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JUNE 18, 2020 INLANDER 15

SPOKANE (un)SEEN

OLD SERVICE STATION IN ROSALIA, WASHINGTON

“I first saw it when Rosalia used to host a mini Sturgis motorcycle event some years ago. It’s always appealed to me because I am a bit of a ‘motorhead.’ I would consider Rosalia an underappreciated area because there is little there now to attract people to visit.”

— PHOTOGRAPHER GREG HOOVER

FELDMAN RANCH IN TROY, IDAHO

“Spring calves await the annual tradition of branding and inoculations at Feldman Ranch in Troy. The amount of effort and cost that goes into sustaining approximately 100 head of cattle is simply staggering. A labor of love. Although Idaho contains a lot of agriculture, there are many new residents to the area who don’t give much thought to the process of food production and resources.”

— PHOTOGRAPHER MARY JO RAWLSKY

BEN BURR TRAIL

“I run along the trail and surrounding area multiple times a year. The colorful explosion of flowers, trees, moss on the rocks explode with yellows, greens, blues and purples, and are ever-changing throughout the year. It is truly a hidden gem with such beauty and options for the community.”

— PHOTOGRAPHER ROBERT K. DUNMEAD/ RKD PRODUCTIONS

16 INLANDER JUNE 18, 2020

FRONT STREET IN ST. JOHN, WASHINGTON

“The contrast of the auto body shop and the fire station against the gray metal of the granary really makes the image pop.”

— PHOTOGRAPHER ALAN GUEST

WAIKIKI SPRINGS WATERFALL

“A waterfall right off of the Waikiki Springs Trail. It isn’t a really well-known spot off of the actual trail. I think it’s a beautiful hidden gem right outside the city.”

— PHOTOGRAPHER DAVE NACKERS

JUNE 18, 2020 INLANDER 17

SPOKANE (un)SEEN

SHUTTERED PEPSI PLANT ON SPRAGUE AVE PALOUSE FALLS STATE PARK

“I’ve visited this remote park numerous times in the past several years, during the day and the middle of the night, always leaving with a greater appreciation of the majestic power of nature. It’s like having a downsized Grand Canyon in our own backyard. Under moonlight and stars, I was able to capture the splendor of the falls and river canyon most visitors will never see.” — PHOTOGRAPHER JERRY W. KAYSER

“I enjoy taking photos of my pug Chewie (@chewiethespokanepug on Instagram) around town. We love Spokane in all its gritty glory. The final days of Kmart coupled with the old Pepsi plant brought a sense of how industries and communities can go from bustling to nonexistent.”

— PHOTOGRAPHER BROOKE NICHOLSON

Thank You for Pouring Back Into Our Community $100,000 raised to support needy patients, struggling restaurants and frontline caregivers.

In the early days of the pandemic generous donors helped purchase meals from local restaurants for frontline health care workers at Providence hospitals in Spokane and Stevens counties.

Thank you to everyone who gave generously when Providence Health Care Foundation had to cancel The Pour, our biggest fundraiser of the year.

Now the focus is on needy patients—our neighbors—who have been pushed to the brink because of economic fallout from the pandemic.

Our Patient Emergency Fund helps with medications, medical equipment, travel expenses, utility bills, food and other necessities.

Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center | Providence Holy Family Hospital | Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital Providence Mount Carmel Hospital | St. Luke’s Rehabilitation Institute | Providence St. Joseph’s Hospital

18 INLANDER JUNE 18, 2020

Learn how you can help and view a list of corporate partners at thepour.info.

509.474.4917

THE ROAD BACK RETAIL

The Inlander is checking in on local businesses and how they’re evolving in a world with coronavirus. Follow along at Inlander.com/recovery.

Hobbies on Hold Local game, comic and hobby shops innovate and move online to reach customers

BY CHEY SCOTT

W

hen Washington state’s Stay Home, Stay Healthy mandate ordered all nonessential businesses to close, Comic Book Shop owner Craig Barnett knew he had to get creative. The bills were still coming.

After spending the first month of shutdown listing more than 3,000 issues from the store’s rare comic book inventory on eBay (find them under the seller name lexcorp1), Barnett had an epiphany: Make the Comic Book Shop “essential” by selling food. In addition to its three retail locations — inside NorthTown Mall, in Spokane Valley and on North Division — Barnett owns CandyWorks, a specialty candy and snack store at the mall.

He and his team trucked seven loads of candy, snacks, drinks, nuts and more from the mall to the more centrally located store, now operating under a conve-

Ace Geiger, 12, and his father, Thomas, browse at the Comic Book Shop on Saturday.

nience store retail license. Staffers continued listing comics on eBay, and launched a new website to sell games, plushies, collectible figures and more.

“I built the website in like a day, and it worked really well for taking preorders, and people could buy online and pay with a credit card, or drive up and run their card in the store and we delivered out in the parking lot,” Barnett says. “Transactions take longer, but it got the job done and let us stumble through.”

Customers can still order online for shipping or curbside pickup, although all three locations have reopened for limited in-person shopping.

Other game shops in the area, including Uncle’s Games and Merlyn’s, offer curbside pickup and orders online or by phone. The Gamer’s Haven in Spokane Valley, still prepping for a move downtown this summer, added local delivery.

Even with all of his creative workarounds, Barnett estimates the Comic Book Shop is still down about 18 percent in gross sales for the year so far.

“It’s pretty devastating,” he says. “I can see why some stores were run out of business and are hurting bad. But we’ve got a good relationship with our customers, and they have been incredibly supportive to us over the years.”

While the region’s game stores are back open, some

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

of their big draws — in-person tournaments and events — are still on pause. Social distancing while playing a four-person strategy board game, for obvious reasons, is pretty much impossible.

“Now we’ve been getting questions, ‘What does the road ahead look like, and when are events coming back?’” says Dylan Blackhorse-von Jess, co-owner of Dragon Parlor Games in Spokane Valley. “Events are huge, it’s a lot of our draw.”

For now, Blackhorse-von Jess says the store doesn’t plan to open its gaming space until Spokane County has moved through all four phases of the state’s Safe Start reopening plan.

“If we get other guidance, we’ll update our policy,” he says. “We’ll be very excited when we come to a place where strangers can congregate in a social setting,” It’s a similar conundrum for the Gamer’s Haven.

Co-owner Bob Kelley says he looked into installing plexiglass barriers at gaming tables, but found it to be cost-prohibitive.

“I have been messaging back and forth with a rep at the Governor’s Office to find out what we can and can’t do,” Kelley says. “I’ll figure it out when Phase 3 is going to happen, but I’d rather not rush it. I want to make sure we’re doing it the right way.” n

JUNE 18, 2020 INLANDER 19

THE ROAD BACK

A Renewed Shine

Trying on the New Reality Retail fashion responds warily as reopening comes slowly

The region’s jewelers missed out on a spring of sales, but they used creative means to keep their businesses going during the shutdown

BY CARRIE SCOZZARO

B

y mid- to late-February, Affordable Elegance would be full of mostly teenage gals searching for the perfect prom dress. By May, the focus would be wedding dresses, according to Erika Bates, who runs the Coeur d’Alene store with her sister Emily ApplegateFraser.

“We need our ‘prom season’ to survive,” says Bates, who took over the store from their mother in 2009 and is a little concerned about the future.

While their business was denied federal support, they continued working one-on-one with customers who’d already placed bridal dress orders. Many were postponing or downsizing their wedding plans, yet still wanted a dress, says Bates.

Affordable Elegance also made masks, posting a photo on Facebook with a link to their Etsy shop that turned into a groundswell of inquiries about purchasing them. Surprised, Bates and the team worked until the wee hours of the morning making masks, including some for donation.

Since reopening, they’ve seen a modest uptick in business, such as families doing private “proms.” And they’re optimistic that support for local businesses will get them through.

Fewer special occasion dresses plus canceled events has Echo Boutique founder Suzy Gage rethinking whether or not they’ll continue taking formalwear on consignment. Gage created the curated consignment shop in downtown Spokane in 2012.

Like Affordable Elegance, spring is a prime time for fashion for Echo Boutique.

“Our February was the best February we have ever had in eight years,” says Gage, who jokingly describes the couple months they’ve been closed as “the longest five years” ever.

Although they were able to secure a Paycheck Protection Program loan, the requirements seemed to change every few days, Gage says. She hustled to bring fulltime employees back and spent the time rebuilding the

BY DAN NAILEN

D Suzy Gage, owner of Echo Boutique.

store website, amping up social media and figuring out e-commerce.

Their pivot involved curbside pickup for online sales, but no incoming consignments.

Now they’re figuring out guidelines for retail, says Gage, who describes them as comprehensive but confusing. Their plan, in addition to all the CDC and local precautions — masking up, cleaning high-touch surfaces, having sanitizer available — is to set aside anything someone has tried on for 24 hours, then steam cleaning it before putting it back on the rack.

Ensuring customers feel safe in the store is only part of her concern, says Gage, who emptied her showroom on the advice of local officials during recent protests. She even took down their signs welcoming LGBTQ community for fear it might set someone off.

“We shouldn’t have to think about things like that,” Gage says.

The upside, however, has come from customers and long-time consignors, many of whom have called just to inquire how Gage and her staff are doing.

In the end, Gage says, it’s about relationships, which are key to helping local businesses survive.

Her request?

“Think of us before [you] hit the Amazon button.” n

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an Austin started Austin’s Fine Jewelry in 1982 “in a basement, with a $100 desk and no inventory.” So when his shop on North Washington was hit with a shutdown order along with the rest of the region’s jewelers, Austin knew he’d have to get creative. After all, the doors were shut, his staff was holed up at home and his loyal customers were wondering about their pending orders or needing a quick fix for an anniversary or graduation.

“We changed our voicemail and Facebook and all that stuff to direct their questions straight to me,” the 75-year-old Austin says. “I came in and helped as needed. I didn’t tell the governor that, but he didn’t ask me [about shutting down], either.”

While his team was excited to get back to work when Spokane reached Phase 2, and they’ve been busy enough to have to skip some lunches to meet with customers after missing out on two-and-a-half months of sales, Austin says it was a little strange coming back. At a staff meeting, Austin reiterated his long-running attitudes of wanting to “be of service” and for everyone to “count their blessings” even in the pandemic environment. After all, he told the staff at their meeting, “nobody woke up with Stage Four anything today.”

“We spent a little time talking about how we create our own environment,” Austin says. “If someone goes to see their insurance guy, and the dentist, and us in a day, we want to be the bright

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Austin’s Fine Jewelry’s Rita Everstine hands a ring to customer Matt Kaiser and his son Josiah (right). spot in their day. And we want to be the bright spot for each other.”

At Spokane’s Jewelry Design Center, the coronavirus wasn’t having much of an effect on business early on, as people still wanted to design new pieces, and have their The Inlander is checking in jewelry cleaned on local businesses and how and repaired they’re evolving in a world for springtime with coronavirus. Follow along vacations and at Inlander.com/recovery. graduations.

Then they got about two days’ notice before the shutdown, and everything changed.

Cassey Hill is in charge of marketing for the Jewelry Design Center, and without their steady flow of clients — and personal interactions with their regulars — she immediately started brainstorming how to stay in touch with people through the shutdown.

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

“We wanted a way to make people happy,” Hill says. “Give them something to look forward to.”

They floated the idea of doing giveaways on Instagram, and it met with such enthusiasm they decided to really go for it. With that, a daily gemstone giveaway was born.

“I literally took a shoebox of jewelry home and took pictures of them” to post each day, she says. All told, Jewelry Design Center gave away roughly $5,000 in gems as a means to keep people engaged with the store during the 60 days it was shut down. “People could sit at home and wonder what they were going to do with them if they won.”

Hill says most of the contest winners showed up the first week the store reopened to pick up their prizes, and regular business has gone back to normal even if social distancing makes the store feel a little different: “Right now we have a line out the door.” n

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JUNE 18, 2020 INLANDER 21

THE ROAD BACK

Back in the Groove

Local record stores have found new ways to servce customers.

Spokane’s record stores are back up to speed, albeit with extra precautions in place

BY NATHAN WEINBENDER

O

ne of the true pleasures of perusing a record store is the randomness of discovery, the unpredictability of thumbing through overstuffed bins and stumbling upon an old favorite or an irresistible curio.

With retail shops either closing outright or limiting foot traffic in response to COVID-19, the option of browsing your neighborhood vinyl emporium hasn’t been possible.

Toward the end of March, Resurrection Records owner Mike House closed the doors of his storefront and

pivoted to online orders. Nearly three months later, the store itself is still closed to foot traffic, but his online sales through sites like Bandcamp and Discogs have exploded.

“Since those stimulus checks came out, I’ve been working 14 hours a day,” House says. “I’ve been selling records for 13 years, and I’ve never been busier.”

He estimates that he’s been sending out between 300-400 individual packages a week, and though a date for reopening the store itself is still up in the air, he’s contemplating a model where customers can set up appointments to browse on an individual basis.

Novel Approaches Specialty shops lean on social media and loyal customers to get by

BY JEREMEY RANDRUP

N

ovelty stores that sell antiques, souvenirs and small, niche specialty goods can have a tight-knit customer base, but how do they fare when their close following is severed from them by a total pandemic shutdown?

It requires some patience and innovation on the part of the business, as well as confidence their customers will

22 INLANDER JUNE 18, 2020

Boulevard Mercantile owners Dan Webb, Joellen Jeffers and David Jeffers.

DANIELLE ROBERTS PHOTO

come back. This was the case for Douglas Bean, owner of the Pink Cadillac in the NorthTown Mall, a store that sells a range of swords and knives, many of them real-life imitations from video games such as Zelda and Final Fantasy, among other collectibles.

“I’ve been in this the long term. I’m not gonna quit now at 65 years old. I’m a survivor,” Bean says.

Bean’s store has been in operation for 27 years, feeding off the enthusiasm that his customers have had for his unorthodox selection ever since it was established in 1993.

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

“I feel bad not letting anybody in, because people just want to look around,” he says. “All these people are wanting records right now, it’s crazy.”

The Garland neighborhood vinyl shop Groove Merchants, meanwhile, was closed for about two and a half months, offering curbside service during the downtime. Owner David Thoren reopened the storefront the afternoon that the city went into Phase 2, and customers began showing up almost instantly: He says last Saturday was the busiest single day Groove Merchants has had since the Christmas season. There’s also been a burst in gear repair, and he’s selling more used records than he’s taking in right now.

“People have been stuck inside and they’re jonesing for records,” Thoren says.

Because the shop itself is so small, Thoren has limited capacity to just three customers at a time, which hasn’t been a problem so far, though he’s contemplating buying coffee cards from the neighboring Rocket Bakery in case prospective customers have to wait.

“We love the community here and value the customers’ support that we’ve had. Me and my wife want to continue that relationship with this community,” he says.

During the shutdown, Bean maintained a Facebook presence for the store. The page is managed by his daughter and he regularly sends content to let his followers know what’s going on.

Another business that turned to social media during the shutdown was Boulevard Mercantile, a vintage furniture store run by co-owner Dan Webb. While it was closed, customers could message online and pay for products, opting for curbside pickup or delivery.

“Social media wasn’t the same as having our doors open, but it did bring us a bit of income,” Webb says.

That bit of income was crucial for the store, as the shutdown came to them after they had just paid the expenses of moving to their new location on 1012 N. Washington St. They moved on March 6 before having to close March 20. They had their grand opening, yet they had to be closed for weeks afterward.

“It was like having an opening all over again because people hadn’t been to our new space,” Webber

“I hate having to turn people away or making people wait,” he says, “but they want to support us and make sure we stay open. I’m overwhelmed with the support I have.”

The Coeur d’Alene institution the Long Ear, the Inland Northwest’s longest operating record store, shut its doors on March 21, and its four regular employees went on unemployment.

Save for a handful of online orders, the shop was effectively closed until finally reopening on the first of June.

“We were able to survive two months,” says Long Ear co-owner Terry Borchard.

“Three months would have been brutal.”

The store is now requiring its customers to wear masks while they’re in the store, and they’ve installed plexiglass sneeze guards at the register and plenty of hand sanitizer. Borchard says he’s mostly received a positive response to these extra precautions, and the Long Ear’s regular customer base has been showing up in droves the last couple weeks.

Sales have even exceeded his expectations.

“I expected to get that surge, but you never know.

You open your doors and you hope,” Borchard says.

“It almost looked like Christmas Eve the day we reopened.” n

says, referring to their reopening after the shutdown.

“But they were eager to visit the store when we opened.

Business has been going well.”

In North Idaho, the situation is similar. The Front Porch is an arts and crafts store in Hayden, and owner Roger Garlock is happy to see the community support a small business like his after the shutdown.

“We got a really good rebound,” Garlock says.

“People came out in force for our opening weekend.

We even had people driving here from Spokane, saying, ‘Oh, it’s nice you’re open’ and things like that.” n

JUNE 18, 2020 INLANDER 23

THE ROAD BACK

Brightening the Pandemic As coronavirus ravaged the prom and wedding seasons, florists found they had to adapt to survive

BY LIZZIE OSWALT

S

pring is a season full of celebrations. Prom, graduation and weddings all mark the start to summer, and flowers play a huge role in making these ceremonies and parties memorable.

With the pandemic causing in-person events for spring to be canceled, local florists had to adjust to running a business without depending on the income from graduations and weddings. Luckily, curbside pickup and delivery options have made many florists able to adapt along the way.

Rose and Blossom, run by Terri O’Connor for the last 28 years, recently moved to a new location in the Spokane Valley. She says in a typical wedding season Rose and Blossom would cater to 250 or more weddings.

The pandemic has pushed all the late-spring weddings until at least September or October, and this definitely put a dent in typical flower sales.

“I’m not putting too many eggs in my basket for this

The pandemic hit flower shops at a time when they would normally been slammed with business for prom and graduation celebrations. year,” O’Connor says, but she also acknowledges how their everyday floral designs will be an important component in pulling them through this season. One of the best ways for customers to support local florists, O’Connor says, is to spread the word about businesses you like, including by writing reviews online.

North Spokane floral and gift shop Ritters has also been offering curbside pickup and delivery. Kirsten Wyman, the head of Ritters’ social media accounts, has been working hard to promote every plant the company receives and show a deeper look into the plant company’s daily orders. They also worked to get more creative with their online sales. With sales dipping dramatically this spring for fresh-cut flowers, Ritters decided to close its fresh-cut flower shop for good; however, it kept open all other aspects of its business. “It wasn’t an easy decision

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24 INLANDER JUNE 18, 2020

by any means, but it’s a perishable item,” says Denice Thompson, the company’s manager. The pandemic has ultimately brought unpredictability to the forefront of many businesses and, Thompson says, “the unknown is the scariest part.”

Florists in Coeur d’Alene faced a change of pace this spring season, too. Katrina Hansen, manager of Hansen’s Florist and Gifts, says despite the cancellation of graduations and proms, the family-owned shop has seen an overwhelming amount of positivity and support from customers. As the company made porch drops part of its delivery service, Hansen points out how the world needed flowers to make people happy, especially at a time like this. Despite struggling to get flowers in on time and kept fresh, this flower shop has seen positives from the pandemic along with the challenges. n

NORTH SIDE 8721 N Fairview Rd || 467-0685 VALLEY 19215 E Broadway || 893-3521

Access help 24/7 Voice: (208) 664-9303 Text: (208) 449-7228 M-F 8:30am-5pm In person: 850 N 4TH ST, CDA

POP CULTURE TO COP CULTURE

Are shows like S.W.A.T. thoughtful entertainment or mere “copaganda”?

TV

FROM

How writers of cop TV shows like S.W.A.T. are wrestling with the genre’s influence on real police officers

BY DANIEL WALTERS

G

rowing up as a black kid in Kansas City, TV writer Aaron Rahsaan Thomas had a love-hate relationship with cop TV shows. As fun as they were, something bothered him.

“Watching square-jawed white guys inflict law in an urban setting — a lot of times the people they’d be busting or grabbing or apprehending — it wasn’t unusual for them to look like me or my uncle or my cousin,” Thomas tells the Inlander. “You’re being told that you don’t belong.”

In the weeks following the Minneapolis police killing

of George Floyd, an increasing number of TV critics have taken aim at TV procedurals where every week, the good guy cops triumph over the bad guy criminals, winning one for the status quo.

Even on shows with corrupt cops, New York Magazine TV critic Matt Zoller Seitz tells the Inlander, they were often portrayed as a few bad apples tarnishing a noble mission. But now, he says, people are questioning whether the mission was noble to begin with.

“Or was it always just corruption and cronyism as an excuse to crack skulls and get away with it?” Seitz says.

So today, as nationwide outcry against cops has spread to an outcry against cop TV shows, Thomas is in a unique position: He runs one of those shows.

He’s the co-creator and showrunner of S.W.A.T., the action-packed reboot of the 1975 police TV series and 2003 movie.

S.W.A.T. isn’t The Wire — it’s not about the rot eating away at our civic institutions. S.W.A.T.’s predominant tone is “All Cops Are Badass,” full of big guns, loud explosions, rippling abs and macho bro-hugs. ...continued on next page

JUNE 18, 2020 INLANDER 25

HAPPENING THIS WEEK

SUMMER PARKWAYS 2020 Due to COVID-19, Summer Parkways can’t invite the community to gather in large crowds. However, this year’s event still includes an invitation to walk, run, bike, roller skate or scoot the regular route through the Manito-Comstock neighborhood on Spokane’s South Hill — you just won’t find vendors selling goodies or closed streets, so be careful out there. June 18-21.

Details at facebook.com/summerparkways.

VIRTUAL JUNETEENTH CELEBRATION: AMPLIFY THE BLACK VOICE This livestream partners with the Inland Northwest Juneteenth Coalition and includes a panel discussion on the topic: “Chains!

To Change? Where Do We Go from Here as a Community,” along with performances from local dance, spoken word and music artists.

June 19 from 6-8 pm. Details at inwjc.org.

WANDER SPOKANE SCAVENGER HUNT Celebrate the first day of summer with a special scavenger hunt while social distancing. This adventure sends participants across the city, solving puzzles and completing photo challenges to gain points. It’s $10 per team to participate, with all proceeds going to Big Table, a local nonprofit supporting local hospitality workers affected by COVID-19. June 20-27. Details at bit.ly/2BaCPiK. n

26 INLANDER JUNE 18, 2020

CULTURE | TV

The Shield’s Vic Mackey broke the rules to fight crime — a problematic Hollywood device.

“FROM POP CULTURE TO COP CULTURE,” CONTINUED...

Still, when Thomas created the show, he recognized the source of the outrage being expressed today. He reimagined the lead character, S.W.A.T. team leader Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson, as a black man who grew up in south Los Angeles.

“The truth is, when I was younger, I got into it with the cops,” Hondo says in the series’ first episode. “I didn’t do nothing wrong but I still ended up with a broken arm and a face down on the pavement.”

On the other hand, by season three, Hondo threatens a criminal by telling him, “I got no problem breaking your other arm.”

For writers like Thomas, it’s a constant balancing act between art, entertainment and the potential consequences of the resulting creation.

“For the officers of tomorrow, what type of examples are we giving them?” Thomas asks.

“They put out the idea of this guy who cracks heads, especially in that scene where they went and they shook the bar down. That became iconic,” Burns said. “And that is the way the cops were afterward.”

S

.W.A.T. features plenty of plotlines dealing with heavy issues: cop corruption, police reform, immigration policy, LGBTQ rights, police suicide and — in particular — the relationship between police and the black community.

But there are also plenty of moments like second season’s climax: A white supremacist terrorist is speeding through a parking lot in a semi-truck packed with explosives when Hondo slams into the side in the team’s heavily armored MRAP troop carrier.

The semi-truck explodes. The MRAP is barely singed. It’s practically a commercial for the power and necessity of the controversial police vehicle. t would be easy to dismiss fictional TV series as just fantasy.

Balko’s book, Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of Thomas says the cops he spends time with can rattle off a milAmerica’s Police Forces, tracks the original sensationalized 1970s lion inaccuracies with how they’re portrayed on TV. S.W.A.T. series as a key moment in the spread of military-style “At the same time, some of those same officers heavy police equipment from urban cities like L.A. have the S.W.A.T. theme song as their ringtone,” into the suburbs, where he says they were sometimes Thomas says. Shows like his, he knows, are the used to bully protesters. reason why some became cops.

“There are certain stories,” Thomas acknowlIndeed, Spokane Police Chief Craig Meidl will edges, “that we haven’t gotten into when it comes to tell you that he looks back on his first two years the perception of militarized police, when it comes to as a police officer and cringes about his unprofesthe types of officers who are attracted to this line of sionalism. Before joining the force, he says, his only policing specifically.” experience with how police officers were supposed to Expect that to change in the next season, as they behave was movies. go deeper into cultural issues like these.

“You know, it’s like, ‘Hey, if you’re going to want Throughout the show’s run, Thomas says, Visit Inlander.com to to fight, OK, we’ll fight,’” Meidl says. “‘If you’re S.W.A.T.’s writers have been constantly aware about read about Spokane going to want to yell and scream and cuss, OK, we’ll the risks of glorifying “big guns and gun violence.”

County Sheriff Ozzie yell and scream and cuss.’ That’s Hollywood.”

He says they constantly look at ways to have their Knezovich’s reaction Even today, Meidl says, a lot of rookies have to heroes take down bad guys through nonlethal means. to the cancellation be trained to correct their misperceptions of how But there’s the rub: The job of a good police officer is of cop-centric reality modern policing should work. to de-escalate tensions — but the imperative of a TV show Live PD. There are no easy answers: Make cops pure writer is often to escalate them. That’s particularly heroes, and you risk creating “copaganda.” On the true when you’re writing a broad action series for a other hand, make them roguish anti-heroes — like Vic Mackey on big network like CBS. The Shield from S.W.A.T. co-creator Shawn Ryan — and you sell an “In essence, we’re serving buffet food,” Thomas says. “We arguably more dangerous message: You have to break the rules, need to appeal to as many eyeballs as possible.” and maybe an arm or two, to keep the people safe.

So to Thomas, highlighting the very real flaws with police As villainous as Mackey was, Seitz says, “there’s still the sense culture on a TV show isn’t about lecturing or moralizing. It’s that the police are the last line of defense against anarchy… where not about showing cops as pure heroes or pure villains. It’s often they make it clear that the only way to stop this child molester is more powerful, he argues, to let viewers come to their own conto let Mackey do his worst illegally to this dude.” clusions.

Back in 2008, Ed Burns, former Baltimore police officer and “It’s not about providing propaganda one way or another,” the co-creator of The Wire, told police critic Radley Balko that Thomas says. “It’s about posing questions that haven’t been films like 1972’s The French Connection shifted the way that narcotic asked.” n officers actually behaved. danielw@inlander.com

I

ONLINE

CULTURE | DIGEST

THE REDACTION OF CONTROL Control, a third-person action-adventure game, begins with the player stumbling into an oppressive and secretive government agency Federal Bureau of Control, only to find that you’d been named the department’s director.

The game is filled with eerie documents of governmental malfeasance, all featuring the classic black-bar redaction that reporters have come to know and love. The best part is the way that documents appear in the “Dead Letter” section of the FBC offices, the destination for internetcommenter-style crazy conspiracy theories from members of the public. The redactions suggest that, perhaps, some of those tinfoil hats stumbled upon something real, possibly by accident. The one complaint? You can’t do that thing where you hold the redactions up to the light to see what they actually say. (DANIEL WALTERS)

Redefining Beauty

T

BY CHEY SCOTT

he first time I let my co-workers see me without any makeup on, after nearly eight years, was during a Zoom meeting a couple of weeks into the pandemic. I’m not sure anyone even noticed, but it made me anxious nonetheless.

I’m usually pretty put-together — hair washed and styled daily, makeup on, and a carefully coordinated outfit. Since mid-March, though, my daily beauty and fashion routines are nearly nonexistent. I wear comfy lounge clothes to work from home every day and not a drop of makeup besides moisturizer.

I’m far from alone. I’ve lost track of all the pieces I’ve read examining how the pandemic has blown up women’s beauty routines, replacing them with a fresh,

THE BUZZ BIN

THIS WEEK’S PLAYLIST Some noteworthy new music hits online and in stores June 19. To wit: BOB DYLAN, Rough and Rowdy Ways. Some seriously good buzz greets the latest from America’s people’s poet, and I’m psyched.

NEIL YOUNG, Homegrown. Recorded in the mid-’70s, this set full of heartbreak finally sees the light of day.

PHOEBE BRIDGERS, Punisher. How good is Bridgers? In a week with new Dylan and Young albums, this just might be the one to be most excited about. (DAN NAILEN)

product-free perspective on how we see ourselves, and how we present ourselves to the world. From letting roots grow out when salons closed to abandoning our razors, so many of us are going “au natural,” both by choice and circumstance.

For me, the extended break from my vanity chair has been unexpectedly freeing.

For so long, I was genuinely self-conscious of my own face without makeup. At times through my teens and 20s, I deeply believed my super-fair, freckle-prone skin and naturally blonde hair to be utterly plain, boring and childish. I have nearly invisible eyelashes and brows.

In middle and high school, I was constantly teased for my paleness. I’ll never forget this mean joke boys would say: “If you were caught naked in a snowstorm no one would be able to find you!” Ha, ha. In college, I slept with makeup on not out of laziness, but insecurity.

Since I’ve grown used to seeing my own face in the mirror without any products over the past few months, I’ve begun to reevaluate my past reliance on them. For so long I’d convinced myself that I wore makeup for myself, because it made me feel confident and presentable. But if that were true, why did I still care so much if anyone noticed when I didn’t?

Among the many pandemic-prompted beauty reflections, a piece by the New York Times quoted a few experts saying that when this is all over, we’ll go back to old beauty habits, maybe even more strongly than before.

Even if that turns out true, I hope my inner confidence discovered during this break lasts, and that more women have also discovered a newfound confidence and respect for their beautiful bare skin, brows, lashes and lips. n

SECOND HELPING Chef’s Table is not a new Netflix documentary; it’s practically ancient at five years old. Yet it’s so necessary right now, satisfying our appetite for travel and food shows, both, but moreover our deepest desire for something in common other than a voracious virus. Watch it (again). Let it provide the necessary context to the countless graphs we’ve witnessed on the virus’s impact to fellow food lovers, our global siblings. (CARRIE SCOZZARO)

THIS IS GROWING UP KSI, or Olajide “JJ” Olatunji, started out making satirical parody songs on YouTube and recording FIFA gameplay for his fans.

The London rapper’s new album, Dissimulation, flexes KSI’s range as an artist. There are autotune bangers such as “What You Been On” and “Bad Lil Vibe,” but there’s also fast-paced flow and rhyme scheme on other songs like “Poppin” and “Undefeated.” There’s even an Afrobeat-like club jam in “Houdini.” Whatever style of hip-hop one prefers, it seems like there’s something for everyone here. (JEREMEY RANDRUP)

SPOKANE SHOUT-OUT (SORT OF…) Maybe you streamed Alice Wu’s The Half of It on Netflix, and maybe you were charmed by its text-friendly riff on Cyrano de Bergerac. Maybe you even googled its central location, the rural Washington town of Squahamish, to see if it actually exists. (It doesn’t.) And maybe you noticed a peculiar Spokane shout-out near the end of the film, in a subplot that involves our protagonist sending a series of press releases to regional news outlets. One of those is the “Spokane Krunch,” whose offices are apparently on President Street in the 99217 zip code… you know, a publication and location that both totally exist. (NATHAN WEINBENDER)

JUNE 18, 2020 INLANDER 27

Joanna Newcomb raises crickets from their “pinhead” baby stage until they become a delicious, protein-packed treat.

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

LOCAL GOODS

Bugging Out Spokane’s new Chomper Cricket Farm wants to take the “ick” factor out of eating insects

BY CARRIE SCOZZARO

A

herd of cows, a flock of sheep, a row of crops — all are recognizable farming terms, none of which apply to Joanna Newcomb’s farming operation.

That’s because Newcomb raises crickets. For food. Really crunchy and unusual food, at least to American consumers.

“They’re kind of like potato chips,” says Newcomb, “only nuttier.”

Potato chips … with tiny eyes.

“It’s mostly just the concept that people have to get over,” says Newcomb, who launched Chomper Cricket

28 INLANDER JUNE 18, 2020

Farm in 2019, initially selling at the Spokane Farmers Market ($8.50 per 1.23-ounce bag). Now her little bags of roasted, seasoned crickets are available through LINC Foods and at Main Market Co-op and the EmersonGarfield Farmers Market in three flavors: salt and pepper, taco, and honey cinnamon.

Taco is the most popular flavor, says Newcomb.

They’re similar to spicy crickets commonly eaten in Mexico, called chapulines.

Eating bugs in general is actually common in many parts of the world.

While beetles, crickets, locusts, grasshoppers and ants top the list, several thousand species of bugs are edible.

Estimates vary that between 25-80 percent of the world’s population engages in entomophagy, or eating insects, much of them foraged versus farmed.

Insect farming, however, is definitely of interest, including raising crickets. They’re high in protein, low in saturated fat and rich in B12, and other essential trace nutrients. They also have a small footprint — thousands of Newcomb’s critters chirp away (like, all day long, she says) inside gray plastic totes on a shelf in her spare room.

FOOD | TO-GO BOX “For perspective, it takes about a gallon of water to produce 1 pound of crickets,” writes Newcomb on her business’ Facebook page. “But to produce 1 pound of soy it takes 216 gallons of water, for 1 pound of eggs it takes 375 gallons of water, and for 1 pound of beef, it takes a whopping 2,000 gallons of water.”

Although eating insects is more common in Africa, Asia and Latin America, the industry may be gaining traction in the United States. According to Global Market Insights, the U.S. insect foods market was around $112 million last year and is expected to grow into a $1.5 billion dollar industry by 2026.

N

ewcomb’s interest in cricket farming didn’t follow a typical route. You might even say her career plans jumped around

a little.

While attending Whitworth University for journalism and philosophy, she started writing about food for the Inlander. She met a lot of business owners in the food industry, which appealed to her entrepreneurial spirit, but she didn’t have a firm idea on what she’d make or do. So she worked for the U.S. Postal Service as a mail carrier, then traveled internationally for a year. After stints in South Africa and Madagascar, she ended up in Alaska on a fish-processing vessel. Food seemed to be a constant.

Upon returning to Spokane, she got a job at local energy bar maker Bumble Bar, where she still works, and moved to Vinegar Flats in southwest Spokane, a historically farm-focused community. She’d eaten some crickets a friend brought from Oaxaca and was intrigued by the viability of insects as a protein source, so decided to give farming them a go.

To get started, Newcomb looked at Cowboy Cricket Farms in Bozeman, Montana, did a lot of research, and purchased adult acheta domesticus, aka field crickets, from the pet store intending to harvest the offspring.

“They lay eggs like crazy,” says Newcomb, who had difficulty keeping the little hoppers from escaping at first.

Baby crickets are called pinheads — they’re that small — and are kept separate from adults, who will eat just about anything, including their own offspring. After two months on a diet of nutritional yeast, plant protein, oats, fresh organic produce and the occasional Bumble Bar leftovers, Newcomb’s crickets are ready to repeat the cycle.

Occasionally she purchases new crickets to refresh the genetic web.

At harvest time, she freezes them for 24 hours to permanently immobilize them. Next comes a thorough washing before they’re popped into the oven at Kitchen Spokane, where she does her processing. Finally, she adds seasoning and roasts a bit more to seal flavors and ensure the crickets are super crunchy.

Roasted crickets have a long shelf life, at least seven months, says Newcomb. Although she used to eat more of her roasted crickets, now she views them differently, as a source of income.

However, if there are issues (like we’ve had recently) with the national food chain, Newcomb says, she knows where she can find plenty of protein. n For more information, find Chomper Cricket Farm on Facebook.

REGION WELCOMES NEW LATIN EATERIES

Many of the region’s Mexican restaurants celebrated Cinco de Mayo with takeout orders and distanced fanfare, including a few newly opened spots that are now open again for limited dine-in service. After a big buildup and a small delay, Vaqueros Mexican Restaurant & Taqueria opened in January in the former Hooters location in Spokane Valley (vaquerosmexicansv.com). Totally worth the wait for the décor alone: A handsome Old West theme honoring the original Western cowboy or vaquero, with leather seating and lots of mixed woods. The menu, though, is the real draw, with several pages of mouth-watering meals.

Open daily, Vaqueros serves breakfast, lunch and dinner from 11 am to late night, including specials like chicken en molé ($15), six variations each of salads and huevos, pozole ($17), and all-day breakfast burritos ($10). Vaqueros is the newest venture from veteran restaurateur Jose Rodriquez and family, who operate several Rancho Viejo locations in the region.

Meanwhile, Mexico Lindo in Liberty Lake is the latest from Fiesta Mexicana’s Miguel Amador, and opened late in 2019.

Head here for tacos of all shapes, sizes and fillings, including lengua (tongue) and alambre (bacon, beef, cheese and pasilla pepper). Deep-fried ice cream sounds good right now and they have it ($5.50), along with a kids’ menu, and the perfect marriage of savory and spice in the form of shrimp with chipotle cream sauce ($14). Find out more on the restaurant’s Facebook page, MexicoLindo LibertyLake. (CARRIE SCOZZARO) n

HAPPENING THIS WEEK NEON NIGHTS DINE & DRIVE Bring the family, set up lawn chairs on the sidewalk and watch some classics cars cruise down Garland. This event supports local businesses in the Garland District. Browse shops, dine at favorite restaurants and enjoy a drink at a local watering hole. Many shops are open with later hours, and Ferguson’s and the Milk Bottle are offering meal specials ($20). June 19 from 6-9 pm. facebook.com/garlanddistrict.

GREEN BLUFF SUMMER KICK-OFF Come up for a fun day at the orchard to enjoy live music, food, a scavenger hunt, kiddie train rides, craft and vendor fair, fresh produce and more. Free; $2 for scavenger hunt. June 20-21 from 9:30 am-4 pm. High Country Orchard, 8518 E. Green Bluff Rd., Colbert. highcountryorchard. com (238-9545)

Have an event?

GET LISTED! SUBMIT YOUR EVENT DETAILS for listings in the print & online editions of the Inlander.

Inlander.com/GetListed Deadline is one week prior to publication

JUNE 18, 2020 INLANDER 29

STREAMING

BLOODS & BURNOUTS

Spike Lee and Judd Apatow just dropped their much-anticipated new films to streaming platforms

BY NATHAN WEINBENDER

DA 5 BLOODS (STREAMING ON NETFLIX)

“When you’ve been in a war,” says a character near the end of Spike Lee’s unusual, eccentric epic Da 5 Bloods, “you understand it really never ends.” Perhaps that isn’t an innovative idea, but Lee and his cast of seasoned character actors strike some raw emotional nerves in a story that’s often as gory as a Rambo film.

It begins as four 70-something men — Paul (Delroy Lindo), Otis (Clarke Peters), Eddie (Norm Lewis) and Melvin (Isiah Whitlock Jr.) — who served in the same squad in the Vietnam War return to Southeast Asia for the first time since the early ’70s. They tell their guide (Johnny Trí Nguyen) that they’re heading into the jungle to retrieve the remains of their fellow soldier Stormin’ Norman (played in flashback by Chadwick Boseman), but their true plan is to uncover a repository of U.S. gold they discovered and subsequently had to leave behind all those years ago.

This soon develops into a brutal and bloody descent into the jungles of Vietnam ala Apocalypse Now, but it’s also a riff on John Huston’s The Treasure of the Sierra

Madre (1948), a movie so often imitated that audiences who’ve never actually seen it still know it through osmosis. Despite its sprawling, 150-minute run time, Da 5 Bloods is as economically paced as Huston’s landmark film: It slows down in the right places to flesh out its characters, it’s punctuated by explosive action at the right times, and its transitions into flashback are deftly handled.

It’s refreshing to see a cast of old-timers tearing into muscular material like this, but it’s Delroy Lindo who walks away with the film. Paul is a bizarre contradiction, a black Trump supporter who grits his teeth in the face of his own health and mortality, and his MAGA hat carries with it a cruel irony, becoming a totem of violence that passes from one character to another. There’s a moment late in the film when Paul separates from the group and, like Sierra Madre’s Fred C. Dobbs and Apocalypse Now’s Col. Kurtz, goes slowly mad alone in the jungle.

Lindo delivers a monologue, never breaking his intense gaze with the camera, and it’s one of those electric moments, both engrossing and fourth wall-shattering, that

only Lee could pull off.

Da 5 Bloods is interspersed with mini symposiums on black culture, a staple of Lee’s filmography, with discussions about Olympic track star Edwin Moses and James Anderson Jr., the first black Marine to receive a Medal of Honor. Lee bookends the film with speeches by Muhammad Ali and Martin Luther King, two outspoken critics of the Vietnam War, and in between he lets several songs from Marvin Gaye’s 1971 masterpiece What’s Going On express the anxiety and heartbreak of the era. Those historical figures recognize that, as black men, the Bloods laid down their lives for a country that considers them expendable, both as soldiers and as civilians.

This is not a subtle film, though criticizing Spike Lee for a lack of subtlety is akin to complaining about Michael Bay using too many explosions. What it is instead is a genre deconstruction full of fire and feeling and life, and as it whipsaws between broad comedy and extreme violence, it howls about the anger and brutality of America’s past, and laments that nothing has really changed.

Spike Lee goes to Vietnam in Da 5 Bloods.

30 INLANDER JUNE 18, 2020

THE KING OF STATEN ISLAND (FOR RENT)

All the way through Judd Apatow’s The King of Staten Island, people keep asking 20-something deadbeat Scott, played by Saturday Night Live’s Pete Davidson, when he’s going to get his life together.

Similarly, I spent the whole movie, all 136 minutes of it, wanting to ask Apatow when he plans on finally making another kind of film: It’s one of his loose, melancholy comedies about a loveable loser whose lack of ambition and self-control strains his relationships to the point that he’s forced to finally become a grown-up.

Yes, this is yet another amiable, serious-in-places comedy Apatow has co-authored with his star, and it isn’t even the first time we’ve seen Davidson play a drug-dealing burnout this year: Just a few months ago, he had a similar part in the charming indie film Big Time Adolescence. Perhaps Davidson is forever cursed to play this role, basically a fictionalized version of his own selfdeprecating stoner persona, and he’s gone so far as to use events from his own life in this script.

INVALUABLE Our journalism makes a difference, and so can you.

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Davidson plays Scott, who hasn’t been the same since his firefighter dad died on the job when Scott was only 7. (In real life, Davidson’s father died while responding to the Sept. 11 attacks.)

He still lives with his mother, he smokes too much weed and he spends most of his free time giving his equally stoned friends regrettable tattoos. Scott’s little sister is heading to college and yet he seems stuck in neutral, until his mom Margie (Marisa Tomei) starts dating another firefighter, a divorced dad named Ray (Bill Burr), which finally inspires him to get his ass in gear.

As is the case with every Apatow film, the ensemble cast is terrific. Burr and Tomei have nice chemistry; Bel Powley stands out as Scott’s perpetually exasperated girlfriend; Steve Buscemi is warm and wise as the fire captain who lets Scott crash in the station; Pamela Adlon is Ray’s ex-wife, who invites Scott into her kitchen for wine and weed. And Davidson acquits himself well, winning us over even as he’s making the worst possible decisions.

But he’s perhaps too winning. Davidson has often mined potentially dark material — his struggles with addiction, Crohn’s disease, depression and borderline personality disorder — for comedy, but Apatow sands down his sharp edges. Scott passingly mentions being on antidepressants and having mental health problems, but the movie walks away from those issues.

You could apply all the standard criticisms of Apatow’s earlier films (even the good ones) to The King of Staten Island: It’s at least a half-hour too long, it only sometimes finds the right tone, it follows a predictable dramatic arc. There’s a charming, low-key, 100-minute character piece stuck inside this flabby, unfocused one, and it never quite breaks out. n

on what they do best: in-depth, community-focused journalism that highlights issues and topics important to the Inland Northwest.

MISSING KIDS SCHOOLS SCRAMBLE TO REACH STUDENTS PAGE 12

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OPENING AMID A PANDEMIC THESE NEW FOOD BUSINESSES SOLDIER ON PAGE 23

APRIL 23-29, 2020 | THINK GLOBAL. LIVE INLAND.

HAPPENING THIS WEEK SALVATION ARMY MOVIES The Salvation Army is set to host free outdoor movies this summer on its own downtown campus.

Starting this Friday, families are invited to bring blankets, lawn chairs and enjoy a limited selection of refreshments. The films will start at sundown, with social distancing guidelines in effect, and screenings will continue every Friday through the month of August (excluding July 3, when no screening will take place). Salvation Army, 222 E. Indiana Ave., 325-6810

Inlander.com/Insider JUNE 18, 2020 INLANDER 31

HAPPENING THIS WEEK SMALL BUSINESS LIVE Through the TikTok app, various artists from around the country will be performing to benefit small businesses owned by minorities and women. One of them is Spokane-based crooner Allen Stone, who will be broadcasting live from Terrain’s store, From Here, at River Park Square.

Also participating from their respective hometowns are Alabama Shakes’ Brittany Howard, 2 Chainz and Brandi Carlisle. June 20 at 1 pm. Details at smallbiz.live LIVE MUSIC AT BRIDGE PRESS The downtown Spokane venue was one of the first to reopen for live music, and they’ve loaded up their calendar with shows on their patio. On Thursday, June 18, blues singer Sara Brown performs at 6 pm (a bonus: all alcohol is half-price on Thursday nights). On Friday, June 19, the musicians from Ridler Piano Bar will showcase their talents, and Saturday brings Americana duo the Powers.

Keep an eye on bridgepresscellars.com for future events.

Bridge Press Cellars, 39 W. Pacific Ave., 838-7815

The Dixie Chicks’s “Goodbye Earl” is a rare song from the perspecitve of a domestic abuse victim.

POP THERAPY

Sound Healing Music therapist Sandi Curtis on how pop music can empower survivors of abuse

BY NATHAN WEINBENDER

P

op music can be a lot of things — giddy, angry, lovelorn, cathartic, nonsensical. It can also be therapeutic, and not just in its lyrical themes.

In her interactive e-book Music for Women (Survivors of Violence), music therapist Sandi Curtis details how she has used mainstream music — pop, sure, but also country, rock and R&B — in working with women who have experienced domestic violence.

Those themes are even more trenchant right now: According to the World Health Organization, domestic violence cases have spiked around the world during COVID-19 lockdowns, a trend provoked not only by people being in isolation with abusive partners but by the general economic and political anxiety surrounding the coronavirus.

“The isolation exacerbates it for [victims of abuse] because they can’t get out and get help as readily,” Curtis tells the Inlander. “If you don’t have a feminist understanding of male violence, you may think it’s just one bad apple, one guy who went wrong. But it’s actually not that at all. … It’s something in our sociopolitical environment that makes it possible for these men — not all men, of course — but for these particular men to be abusive.”

Curtis says an international crisis like the ongoing pandemic “pulls back the curtain” on a lot of issues, including domestic violence. But even for people who aren’t in abusive situations, the act of seeking solace in music can be a huge relief.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re a male or female in a violent situation, or if you’re by yourself. You’re going to feel that pressure,” Curtis says. “Music is a great way for

32 INLANDER JUNE 18, 2020

everybody to deal a little better with it. There’s a lot of talk in the news about what to eat and how to exercise [in isolation], but let’s not overlook what music can do.”

C

urtis began studying classical music at McGill University, but she quickly turned her attention from performing to using music as a form of

therapy.

“I really wanted to do something that had a more powerful impact in people’s lives,” Curtis says from her home in Montreal. “I hadn’t heard of music therapy, but when I started exploring, I thought, ‘Well, this is it.’”

She says she was particularly focused on female patients who experienced violence from male partners, and she started exploring the therapeutic possibilities of mainstream pop music while working in a battered women’s shelter in Georgia.

“One of the big things abusers do is isolate [women] and convince them the abuse is their fault,” Curtis says.

“When they began to hear singer-songwriters like Tracy Chapman or Trisha Yearwood singing about their own experiences, then they were able to break out and think, ‘Gosh, if that happened to them, and they certainly don’t deserve it, maybe I don’t, either.’”

Trauma and recovery are personal things — that’s no surprise — but so, too, is musical taste. Because of that, Curtis says she lets her clients guide the music selection, picking artists and genres they’re already comfortable with. They study the song, they listen to it and analyze it, and those studies usually evolve into sessions where clients write their own songs about their personal experiences.

“The music is not just all about violence against women,” Curtis says. “There’s also music that tells love stories, and what are relationships between men and women? … Do we stand by our man or do we expect something a little bit better? We also look at songs that talk about empowerment and self-esteem, and even things like body issues.”

That can often spill over into the music industry itself, which has a history of sidelining, silencing and objectifying female performers.

“It’s not only anti-feminist; a lot of the industry and a lot of pop music is anti-women,” Curtis says. “So we see reflections of the objectification of women, using them as eye candy, and some that’s really negative and even violent, and we almost accept it.”

Curtis points to the Dixie Chicks’ “Goodbye Earl,” a 1999 single about two female friends who conspire to kill one of their abusive husbands, as the rare song to tackle the issue of partner abuse head-on. (“There was such a furor in the news about it, because we don’t expect women to be violent — we expect them to take it.”) But there are also artists like Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Kesha and Ariana Grande, all of whom have built female empowerment and self-acceptance into their work and images.

“As much power as music has to reflect and perpetuate violence against women,” Curtis says, “it also has the power to challenge that.”

I

n times of anxiety, we all turn to the art that soothes us. And for many of us, that means disappearing into the songs that we already know forward and backward. But Curtis suggests not just hearing but listening — actively engaging with the song, with all of its key changes and intonations, with the artist’s vocal stylings and the intricacies of the production. Perhaps you’ll hear an old favorite in a new light.

“Shut all the other distractions away and listen to it.

Spend some time and give it a dedicated listening, rather than that background noise that we often use,” she says.

“Music is almost like those old Rorshach tests, where we see a blob and we project onto it. There’s a lot of research that shows that music has an incredibly powerful impact on us physically, emotionally, psychologically.

“If you can think of a song that was a big hit when you were 13 or 14, when you listen to the song, it brings you right back profoundly to that time.” n

and inconsiderate drivers, the folks that like to litter and those that like to rattle the windows with their bass speakers. The summer finally arrives and what a well deserved time of year after our long dark winters. But then the long dog days of summer are punctuated by the folks who require some public attention and admiration via their loud and most likely, illegal exhaust systems. Backfiring is awesome!. Ain’t it cool when you really hammer the throttle as you drive by The Milk Bottle? The customers eating outside (many are tourist) are certainly impressed. Others may also have a need for speed, driving up Wall St. sometimes in excess of 60 mph sometimes passing other vehicles (it’s not uncommon). People walk on the sidewalks. They walk their kids to school, they walk their dogs, it’s not a racetrack. Idea...Why don’t you try racing up and down the street where you live? If you need some attention, want to drive way too fast and make a ton of noise I’m sure you neighbors and kids would love that! Look what Daddy Does!!! Still littering? Really?

Most of the civilized world realized, oh... probably 50 years ago that it just wasn’t cool to through your garbage out onto the street. Idea...Wait until you get home and then throw it out all over your street & yard! Nice look Right? Now it’s become our responsibility to pick up after you slobs that choose to use our homes as your trash receptacle. I’m sure you don’t want to drive around with empty beer cans or bottles (the police frown on that) so, out the window they go, easy, over, done. Lastly is the friggin’ bass that comes out of some vehicles. Love love love that at 2:30 am (while I was asleep), when you’re on your way home from the bar and busy throwing trash and empties out of your car window. People, it’s our town, so can’t we

CHEERS ARMED CITIZENS... Cheers! Thanks for legitimately trying to protect our beautiful area from riots and violence.

We are so sorry you were all labeled white-supremacist, as this is a very racist assumption! We know for a fact that there were multiracial armed citizens! JEERS to the local whiners who were ‘uncomfortable’ with your presence and LIED to reporters about having you on video intimidating people...

Just like most news nowadays they only show what they want us to see and repeat lies over and over. Then people repeat back the same lies like parrots! Repeating the lies doesn’t magically make them truth! WAKE UP fellow humans. Wake UP! Think for yourselves!

PUT THIS ONE IN THE BACK Hey Brittany, put this ONE in your car for your passengers to read. Do it.

JEERS PEACEFUL SUMMER DAYS & NIGHTS? Along with many other families we live on Wall St. My main observations and complaints are three things; the noisy

all a little respect for each other? I’m sure most of you reading aren’t guilty of any of these things and unfortunately those who are probably won’t read this or maybe can’t read, that would explain a lot. Please remember,

“

people live on these main streets, it’s home to them. Put yourself in their shoes. Slow down, live longer. Throw your trash in a garbage can, you’ll feel better about yourself. Keep your bass down in town, you might want to be able to hear when you get old. Thanks y’all!

MY ROOMMATE & HIS FRIEND Thanks both of you for having zero respect or integrity to not bother to inform me that your friend was working with the National Guard on the Covid Safety and not even informing me so that I can decide if I want to be around you.

Plus zero social distancing on your part knowing the job you work. It’s MY HOUSE and even as a guest, you should disclose that. Y’all, I’m not a sheeple. I don’t wear masks everywhere and I prefer social distancing as normal. BUT seriously WTF? Who doesn’t inform their roommate or what employee who is there to test folks for Covid not let you know? I stayed away from my folks for 2 months until Mother’s Day because both are cancer survivors. All that social distancing was totally wasted anyhow. Y’all think these Covid employees they’ve hired all know what they are doing; really they are hiring 20 year old temps who enjoy video games and airsoft. They

HEALTH PAGE 10

FOOD

Sharing Sourdough PAGE 46

in. I will not live with both Gestapo and complete clueless idiots. It was a breach of trust and a lack of integrity on their part and that I will not abide.

Oh and get this.. Both are liberals with a hatred for Trump. How ironic that they would also be so moronic.

”

THE LEAST GENERATION We have gone from the Greatest Generation of WWII to the Least Generation that cannot spell sacrifice let alone make sacrifices for the greater good. If you really want to instigate change stop yelling and instead get educated about the challenges we face and the cold hard facts of life. Then vote intelligently and hold those you help elect responsible to fight for the changes you want. Vote!

ON EDGE To the idiot on N Monroe St last week that cut me off and nearly gave my grandmother a heart attack as I was driving her to an appointment: Next time you decide to stop in the middle of the road while trying to cut across the street, and you cut someone off in their lane as they’re stopping at a stoplight (and then you cross over to the WRONG side of the road just to drive in front of them and slam on your brakes), maybe wait until the time is right to cross over, or get in the damn

completely unacceptable, which I’m hoping you could understand when I laid into my horn until you turned away. Not only was I thankfully calm the whole time, which allowed me to prevent my grandma from getting hurt from a car crash caused by YOU, but I was also pissed, and that’s incredibly dangerous. Never underestimate a woman’s love and protection of her grandmother.

PET DUMPER To the A-hole that dumped a (very frightened) dog, south of Spokane. Hoping Karma rewards you in a big way. Also, heartfelt thanks to all the caring people who rendered assistance.

NO JUSTICE FOR YOU! Protesters are idiots. Rioters and looters are bigger idiots. n

THIS WEEK'S ANSWERS I M T O

S O H O

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L I L A

B I T E

A R I E

L A M O N M M A A I I C E T A T O S A N O S K I I N N A I I N A I P K N O L I I N D S T D S H S D S E E E S N A L L E C L

T A D A S I S T O C E R A

H E R I V E T E A S S D O E T R U C C Y S T I S T B N E S I O P E N T E N Y E T O E T A T O T

R E S O R T A R E A L E S T

A V I A

T A N K

O R A L

R E E L

B Y T E

J E E R

NOTE: I Saw You/Cheers & Jeers is for adults 18 or older. The Inlander reserves the right to edit or reject any posting at any time at its sole discretion and assumes no responsibility for the content.

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PAGE 24

Journeys in Journaling

lane before oncoming traffic is coming your direction. Your screaming profanities, waving your hands and hair everywhere, and honking your horn at me, and then putting not only me, but other drivers in danger as well, was

Never underestimate a woman’s love and protection of her grandmother.

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

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

JUNE - JULY 2020

have ZERO brains and definitely don’t see why contact tracing, forced quarantine or even red flag laws are an issue. Now amidst the state shutdown and my loss of job, I have to try and break lease and find even a tent to live

FAMILY

Backyard Camping PAGE 48

Family

Home

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On Stands Now

5/28/20 4:36 PM CVR_HH_060120.indd 1

JUNE 18, 2020 INLANDER 33

EDIBLES

Mint Condition Stay fresh with cannabis-infused mints

BY WILL MAUPIN

O

n June 8, it became a requirement in the state of Washington: Employees at work need to wear masks. Prior to this, my mask-wearing was done in short bursts. Twenty minutes, tops, while picking up groceries. But after spending multiple hours wearing one last week, I noticed something new. The mask seemed to give me dry mouth, just like cannabis, except the mask wasn’t getting me high.

Well, thankfully there’s a way to solve that problem and also get high in the process — after work, of course.

Take a trip into the wonderful world of edibles and pick up a pack of infused mints. Personally, I wasn’t too familiar with this category of edible until deciding to specifically seek some out in recent days. Dispensaries around town provide plenty of options, but these two brands really stood out above the rest to me.

SWIFTS

This isn’t the first time Swifts has been featured in this section over the years. The company’s truffles have appeared multiple times and earlier this year it was their infused honey that caught my eye. So, no doubt an adventurous producer like this is also putting out some wild offerings in the mint market.

With flavors like chili mango, passion fruit and strawberry, Swifts is your go-to if you’re tired of the traditional.

Even their most traditional flavor, peppermint, is kicked up a notch with the addition of green tea. The tried and true herbs and spices other companies use are great, of course, but Swifts swerves away from the refreshing and into the mouthwatering.

MR. MOXEY’S

There’s just something that feels classic about these. The packaging is reminiscent of a tin of Altoids and almost looks out of place on a dispensary shelf. But don’t worry, they’re right where they belong. With traditional flavors and a broad range of potency options, everyone from big-time stoners to CBD wellness warriors can find what they’re looking for.

If your aim is to kick back after work, their THConly options might be best. If de-stressing is more your vibe, then take a look at their CBD offerings, which run the gamut from CBD-only through ratios of 1-1, 1-5, and all the way to the extreme 1 part THC to 25 parts CBD. That 1-25 ratio might sound excessive, but it’s actually perfect for microdosing. That said, they’re about twice as spendy as the rest of the line. n

34 INLANDER JUNE 18, 2020

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For originality and visual appeal, you can’t beat the interior decorator approach to ILY: Your boyfriend walks AMY ALKON into your apartment, and you have a little shrine with a small gold statuette of him surrounded by candles and oranges.

But let’s back up from the “how to tell him” question to why you feel the need.

Sure, you care about him, and it’s romantic to be all heart-baring. However, it’s possible the suspense from not knowing how he feels is causing uncomfortable psychological tension, the mind’s version of a really bad need to pee.

Unfortunately, what’s best for a full bladder might not set up the best dynamic for a relationship. Consider research by evolutionary social psychologist Joshua Ackerman and his colleagues. Though people believe “it takes men an average of 3 weeks longer than women to confess love,” men tend to be the ones to “express love and commitment first.” This makes sense when you consider that sex could leave a woman a single mom with a kid to feed. Women evolved to be “commitment skeptics,” erring on the side of doubting a man’s willingness to stick around and provide. A man in love is a man unlikely to be clandestinely swiping right on the hot hussies of Tinder.

Because men and women coevolved, men expect commitment skepticism from women. And because of this, I suspect it creates a stronger foundation for a relationship if a man perceives his female partner to be higher in mate value (say, an 8 to his 6.5). Heresy, I know. But note that it’s generally seen as romantic if a husband says about his wife, “Just glad she didn’t realize she could do much better!” and if a woman said that, we’d probably pity her.

If a longing to escape emotional limbo is behind your desire to get blurty, recognize that you aren’t without information about how the guy feels. Look to his behavior. Does he show you he loves you and longs to be around you even when you’ll be spending hours and hours fully clothed? Does he show concern for your well-being, helping you with some thorny work issue or giving you emotional support when you’re down?

If you, through your own actions, show that you care, you signal that he can safely express love for you, in which case, you can say it back. As a woman, judicious honesty about your feelings is probably the best policy. Sure, let a man know you’re into him, but hold back on exactly how much: “If we weren’t together, I’d chain you to a wall in my basement and lower your food in a bucket.”

EMBER ALERT

I want to end a relationship, but I don’t know how. I don’t want to hurt my boyfriend’s feelings, but we’re just not a good fit. I really hate conflict and would rather just ghost, but I know that’s not right. What’s the easiest way to break up with someone? Is there a way to make it less traumatic?

—Avoidant The easiest way to break up with someone is to be crushed by a flaming meteorite. There’s no uncomfortable conversation; your smoking ashes say it all: “It’s not you.

It’s me, and specifically, the way I’ve been turned into a pile of fireplace trash.”

You, on the other hand, are turning this guy into a human beetle trapped in relationship amber because you’re letting your emotions do your thinking. Psychologist Daniel Kahneman explains that our brain has two information-processing systems, a fast-responding emotional system and a slower rational system. Our fast emotional system jumps in automatically. (You just get angry when someone keys your car; you don’t have to decide to be angry.) Reasoning, however, is “mental work,” Kahneman explains. It requires choosing to make the effort, like considering whether your initial emotional reaction (in this case, “avoid conflict at all cost!”) is actually a wise response.

You might, for example, calculate how much time you spend daily fretting over procrastinating and add up the weekly “cost.” Chances are you’re actually having a ton of “conflict”; it’s just not with the person it would be helpful to. Telling this guy, “I just don’t think we’re a good fit,” on the other hand, releases him to find somebody who actually wants him. It also eliminates relationship issues that tend to crop up when you stay with somebody who isn’t doing it for you anymore. (If your partner’s inspired to get a battery-operated device to liven things up in bed, it shouldn’t be a defibrillator.) n ©2020, Amy Alkon, all rights reserved. • Got a problem? Write Amy Alkon, 171 Pier Ave, #280, Santa Monica, CA 90405 or email AdviceAmy@aol.com (www.advicegoddess.com)

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COEUR D ’ ALENE

Getaway Bay

Lake Coeur d’Alene has plenty of beautiful bays for you to explore this summer

T

here’s a reason why Coeur d’Alene is called the Lake City. At 30 miles long with more than 100 miles of shoreline, Lake Coeur d’Alene offers endless adventures both on and in the water. Once described by National Geographic as one of the five most beautiful lakes — ever — the lake is where people go to get together with friends and family in such popular spots as City Beach and around Tubbs Hill. But it’s also where people go to get away from it all.

Hop in the car, and you can explore the lake from any direction. Better yet, use one of the many public boat launches on the lake, put in, and explore from the water. By boat, you’ll have access to pristine bays only accessible by boat. Floating down the main channel not only grants you access to numerous bays, but it affords incredible views of wildlife, mountains, and million dollar properties.

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Fire up the grill and celebrate dad with a legendary Father’s Day meal from the Coeur d’Alene Resort complete with Certified Angus Beef ribeye steaks and jumbo shrimp skewers, Caesar salad, fresh vegetables, dinner rolls and an assortment of baked goods.

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Walk through town or plant yourself on the beach for family-friendly swimming.

At the southernmost end of the lake is HEYBURN STATE PARK, which encompasses several smaller lakes including Chatcolet Lake. Its remoteness is a boon, however, as you’ll find pristine, lakeside views hiking or riding, including the nearby TRAIL OF THE COEUR D’ALENES. This is also prime fishing for bass and pike.

Heading north along the west side of the lake, put in at MOWRY STATE PARK and putter into CAVE BAY or plan ahead and reserve a spot at WINDY BAY BOATER PARK for unforgettable boat-in camping.

ROCKFORD BAY is a lively destination for boaters, where Shooters Bar & Grill is the place to go for a casual waterside meal.

And if you liked Windy Bay’s Boater Park, check out the one at MICA BAY , where you get the best of all worlds: a quiet scenic bay and quick access to Coeur d’Alene, the original Lake City.

For information on boat rentals, visit cda4.fun.

Father’s Day Weekend at Silverwood JUNE 20-21

Celebrate Father’s Day at Silverwood!

When a family brings Dad to the park and purchases their tickets online or at the front gate, Dad gets in FREE! (Only

one free Dad ticket per ticket purchase with a maximum of two per family, not valid with any other discounts, coupons, promotions or special offers.)

cda4.fun for more events, things to do & places to stay.

38 INLANDER JUNE 18, 2020

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

 Scenic Gondola Ride  Mountaintop BBQ  Live Music Located less than 1 hour from Spokane!

Every Friday, June 26 through August 28, enjoy a scenic gondola ride, mountaintop BBQ, and live music. Visit silvermt.com for details.

$362/MO

2013 RANGER 2520S

#6313

$2 5 0,0 0

$4 9,9 9 5

$275/MO

0

2014 COEUR CUSTOM 270 SPORT

2017 REGAL 2000 ES

$3 9,3 1

6

#P435

JUNE 19, 2020 INLANDER 39

Play where the big winners play.

Happy Father’s Day!

Father’s Day

EPC

SUNDAY, JUNE 21 ST 8 AM – 10 PM Dads, just stop by the Coeur Rewards booth during promotion hours to receive Father’s Day $10 Extra Play Cash.

Win up to $500 Extra Play Cash!

TUESDAYS IN JUNE 8 AM – 10 PM

Win $1,000 Cash!

Earn 100 points with your Coeur Rewards card and you’ll get to swipe your card at any kiosk to win up to $500 Extra Play Cash.

SATURDAYS IN JUNE | 7 PM - 9 PM Want to win $1,000 cash? No prob-llama. Every Saturday in June, 16 lucky winners will walk away with $1,000 cash!

Limit one game play each Tuesday.

See the Coeur Rewards booth, CDA Casino app or cdacasino.com for promotional rules.

ENTERTAINMENT SERIES

TLC THURSDAY, AUGUST 13 7 PM | $55 & UP

TH

WFC Mixed Martial Arts THURSDAY, AUGUST 20 7 PM | $40 & UP

Bill Engvall THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3 7 PM | $40 & UP

TH

Super Diamond

RD

THE NEIL DIAMOND TRIBUTE BAND

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10TH 7 PM | $10 & UP

Purchase tickets at cdacasino.com, the Casino Box Office, or any TicketsWest outlet. Tickets are also available on the CDA Casino App. Must be age 18 or older to attend concerts. Call 1 800-523-2464 for more details.

W E LC O M E H O M E .

HOTEL

|

CASINO

|

DINING

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SPA

|

CHAMPIONSHIP

GOLF

3 7 9 1 4 S O U T H N U K WA LQ W • W O R L E Y, I D A H O 8 3 8 76 • 1 8 0 0 - 5 2 3 - 2 4 6 4 • C D A C A S I N O . C O M