t’s been a long week. And although covering all that’s transpired since last Wednesday, June 11, has been a whirlwind for journalists in Spokane, the key observation I’ve taken from it is the power of our community. Even in the face of fear, oppression and injustice, by coming together and using our collective voices to demand change and accountability, we find that we’re not alone.
While I’m talking about both recent protests and celebrations, I think the power of people supporting each other is also a uniting thread in this week’s cover story on the FELTS FIELD SKY QUEENS, a story that spotlights female friendship and two women overcoming odds stacked against them.
Also this week, find a comprehensive recap from Samantha Wohlfeil and Colton Rasanen, featuring photos by Young Kwak and Erick Doxey, on both Spokane Pride and the No Kings protest held in downtown Spokane last Saturday. As a weekly, it’s sometimes challenging to cover breaking news, so we hope readers caught our live, on-scene coverage via Bluesky and photo slideshows of both protests, plus Pride, at Inlander.com.
— CHEY SCOTT, Editor
Pepperoni, Sausage, Mushrooms,
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WHAT
UNUSUAL SPORT DO YOU WISH YOU WERE GOOD AT?
CARSON MCKENZIE Pickleball.
Why would you choose pickleball?
Because I hear people talk about it all the time, and I still don’t know what it is.
SETH MUNYON
Probably like ultimate frisbee.
Why would you choose ultimate frisbee? I dunno, it just seems kinda like soccer but very hippie-like.
TAYLOR ISAACSON Ice skating.
Why would you choose ice skating? It’s pretty, I don’t know. I watch videos of it sometimes, and it’s so cool.
RANDY FALK Bocce ball.
Why would you choose bocce ball? ’Cause it’s easy for old people to play.
SUE OXNER Pickleball.
Why would you choose pickleball? Because we go south for the winter, and everybody down there plays it.
6/12/2025, MANITO PARK
INTERVIEWS BY MARTA SZYMANKSA & ELLIS BENSON
Spousal
This Land Is Our Land
Congressional Republicans aim to sell off America’s public lands — wild places enjoyed by people across the ideological spectrum
BY TRACY STONE-MANNING
Public lands are one of our country’s great equalizers. It doesn’t matter how much money you have — a billionaire and a bus driver get the same access to our parks, deserts, rivers and forests. Each one of us owns these lands together. They are literally America’s common ground.
Like so many Americans, I’ve built a life around public lands — exploring them, defending them and working to ensure they remain open to all. From my early days in Montana to leading the Bureau of Land Management and now as president of The Wilderness Society, I’ve seen what these places mean to people. And I’ve never seen a threat to them as serious and shocking as the one we face right now.
For weeks, there have been indications that the Republican-controlled Congress was going to sell off chunks of this priceless shared heritage
This is Alex. He lives in Spokane and just got back from a trip to Seattle.
He wasn’t vaccinated for measles.
Just 2 doses protect about 97% of people from getting measles.
Even without a rash, Alex is already very contagious. The measles virus can hang in the air for up to 2 hours. In
room of 10 unvaccinated kids, 9 will get measles.
to pay for tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy. Not too long ago, that would have been an unthinkable idea. Surely, Congress or the administration wouldn’t sacrifice prime wildlife habitat, access to favorite places, lands along a quiet stream or a wildlife refuge, right? Surely, they wouldn’t auction this extraordinary legacy of clean air, clean water and open spaces as a one-time favor to donors and corporations?
But last month, the Senate proved just how serious they were about it. Democrats offered an amendment that would block selling off our public lands in the budget bill. The vote failed along party lines, with just two Republicans voting to oppose a sell-off. Those two Montana senators who supported the amendment completely understood how their constituents feel about public lands.
But it’s not only Montanans who care. Public lands are figurative common ground, uniting people across the country. Poll after poll shows that people of all stripes support public lands and want them conserved to protect wildlife habitat and outdoor recreation areas for future generations.
While it is a nice proof-point to have, we don’t need polling data to tell us what people’s photo libraries, social media feeds, old family albums and bucket lists show us. Americans care deeply about public lands, intuitively understanding they are a national treasure.
Americans care deeply about public lands, intuitively understanding they are a national treasure.
These lands hold the long arc of the story of humankind, etched in petroglyphs on desert walls and handed down in the creation stories of Indigenous peoples that have stewarded them since time immemorial. Public lands are our shorthand for freedom and exhilaration. In car ads, they promise an escape from the ordinary. In books about finding ourselves, they are a proving ground for the soul. In our anthems, they bind us as one nation: “This land is your land; this land is my land.”
My nephew caught his first trout on a fly rod while standing on public land along a clear, cold mountain stream. Over 25 years later, he still remembers everything about that moment. I expect he’ll bring his kids there one day. His is a common story. Last summer, I happened upon a young couple on a large rock outcrop overlooking a wilderness in Oregon. They had driven all the way from the Midwest to take in the view. I offered to snap a photo for them and then found myself documenting a remarkable moment as he dropped to one knee, pulled out a ring, and wove the magnificent scenery into the intimacy of his proposal. People make lifetime memories on our public lands.
From that rim on Steens Mountain to that bank along Rock Creek, to Yellowstone and Yosemite, to the desert Southwest and the wilds of Alaska, to national forests in every state — these lands are our heritage, our common ground, and a key part of our American identity and story.
Public lands must never be for sale — at any price. It’s not too late. Congress still has mountains of details to sort through to finalize the president’s budget and tax cut agenda. It’s up to them to stop the selloff of our national heritage, and it’s up to all of us to remind them that they must. When public lands are sold off for profit, we lose the places that define our country and unite us as Americans. n
Tracy Stone-Manning is a contributor to Writers on the Range (writersontherange.org), an independent nonprofit dedicated to spurring lively conversation about the West. She is president of The Wilderness Society and a former director of the BLM. She lives in Montana and Washington, D.C.
its a its a
apply today at apply today at
IMMIGRATION
DEFIANT DISSENT
Spokane protests the detention of two legal immigrants and President Trump in week of action
STORY
BY
SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL AND COLTON RASANEN | PHOTOS
Last week, Spokane saw two days of major protests against President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and unconstitutional overreach, including his deployment of National Guard troops and U.S. Marines to respond to protests in Los Angeles.
On Wednesday, June 11, several hours before a planned protest of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, a few dozen protesters in Spokane rallied around a facility the federal agency is using at 411 W. Cataldo Ave. in an attempt to block agents from moving two asylum
seekers to a detention facility in Tacoma.
In addition to sitting on the ground to block a transport bus, one protester spray-painted the windshield so the vehicle couldn’t be used, while others released air from its tires and tried to block a gate to a parking lot on the other side of the facility.
Videos posted to social media by Range and other media outlets show the interaction with ICE agents and Spokane law enforcement officers becoming physical, as agents shoved protesters to keep them away from a vehicle
in the gated parking lot. Two protesters have been charged with felonies alleging they unlawfully imprisoned those inside the facility.
Spokane police officers declared the protest an unlawful assembly, ordering people to leave, and deploying smoke and pepper balls on those who wouldn’t.
The anti-ICE protest that had already been planned for 7 pm in Riverfront Park quickly grew to a few hundred people, and marched to meet the other protesters near the
BY YOUNG KWAK
Top: Protesters flee from crowd control devices on Wednesday, June 11, in Spokane. Above: Spokane police officers deployed smoke, pepper balls, and other devices on ICE protesters on June 11.
Cataldo facility. After again ordering people to leave, Spokane Police Department and Spokane County Sheriff’s Office personnel geared up in gas masks and deployed smoke and pepper balls on the larger crowd around 8:15 pm. As some protesters picked up the smoke canisters and threw them back (which the agencies consider felony assault on law enforcement), officers from both agencies deployed bean bag rounds fired from shotguns and foam projectiles fired from tube-like guns.
Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown declared that a curfew downtown — from Division Street to Howard Street, and between Boone Avenue and Spokane Falls Boulevard — would take effect at 9:30 that night, by which point the gathering had dwindled to 30 or 40 people.
At least 30 people were arrested that evening for failure to disperse.
The ACLU of Washington chastised Spokane’s response to the protest, calling on the city to show restraint during similar events planned over the weekend.
Thursday, a U.S. District Court judge in California issued a temporary restraining order against Trump, finding that California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other plaintiffs in a lawsuit were likely to prevail in their argument that Trump’s orders to federalize and send the state’s National Guard to Los Angeles the prior weekend
violated the Tenth Amendment and exceeded the scope of his authority.
On Saturday, Spokane saw a far larger gathering as part of the national No Kings rallies. Thousands lined Spokane Falls Boulevard starting around 3:30 pm, showing their disdain for ICE and Trump, who simultaneously hosted a military parade in Washington, D.C. to coincide with Flag Day and his birthday.
By 5 pm, the crowd took to marching in the streets of downtown, winding through the nearby blocks for hours, cursing the president’s name and shouting various chants, including “Whose streets? Our streets!” When officers blocked the march from going onto major arterials including Division Street, the crowd mostly obeyed, turning back toward the park and continuing to march through downtown streets.
Around 8:45 pm, the few dozen remaining marchers met another line of officers near City Hall on Spokane Falls Boulevard. Officers ordered the group to disperse and stop blocking the road, as “direct challenges and increasingly aggressive behavior towards the officers changed the tenor and tone of what had been a productive dialogue,” according to a Spokane Police Department press release. Around 9 pm, officers deployed more smoke, pepper balls, and foam projectiles, and arrested 11 people. No curfew was declared, and
the few remaining protesters marched on sidewalks late into the night. (Find more coverage and photos from the events at Inlander.com.)
ASYLUM DETAINEES
Just before 1 pm on Wednesday, former Spokane City Council member Ben Stuckart put out an “action alert” on his personal Facebook page asking for community support as a man in his care was being detained by ICE.
“I am asking that if you care at all about these illegal detainers you meet me at 411 West Cataldo by 2 pm. I am going to sit in front of the bus. Feel free to join me…” Stuckart wrote.
“It felt like the right time to do something, so to me, that was using my privilege,” Stuckart tells the Inlander. “I’m a white male in society with a lot of privilege, and my point of view was I can use that privilege to, one, put myself between the ICE van and leaving, and two, to make a call to action and see if anybody wanted to join me.”
About four weeks ago, Stuckart became the legal guardian of Cesar Alexander Alvarez Perez, a Venezuelan immigrant seeking asylum in the U.S. under the Venezuelan Humanitarian Parole Program. Trump, however, has ended that program, after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned an injunction from a Massachusetts
judge that was preventing the program’s termination.
Alvarez Perez also turned 21 on June 11, meaning he aged out of the special immigrant juvenile program that Stuckart had sponsored him through. Also detained on Wednesday was Joswar “Randy” Slater Rodriguez Torres, another Venezuelan asylum seeker who was sponsored by former Spokane County Commissioner Shelly O’Quinn.
Stuckart says both men did everything they legally could to stay in the country, obtaining work visas and finding employment at Walmart in Airway Heights.
In an attempt to prevent both men from being sent to the ICE detention facility in Tacoma, Stuckart and dozens of protesters sat in front of a transportation bus and prevented ICE officials from leaving the building through other exits.
Camerina Zorrozua, the legal director of nonprofit law firm The Way to Justice, was one of the first people to arrive at the ICE facility at Stuckart’s request.
“In the beginning, I really thought that if we could just all show how much this community cared about maintaining due process rights and the spirit of justice, that we would rally for two young people so that they weren’t taken away without having the opportunity to have an attorney to see their case through,” Zorrozua said
Flying distress flags and waving signs, No Kings protesters gathered near the Red Wagon in Riverfront Park on Saturday, June 14, lining Spokane Falls Boulevard before marching through downtown Spokane streets for hours.
The Prosecution Rests
Spokane County’s top prosecutor, Larry Haskell, retires. Plus, Spokane argues over camping rules, and Idaho restricts candy and soda for those on food assistance
BY INLANDER STAFF
On June 10, Spokane County Prosecuting Attorney Larry Haskell told the Board of County Commissioners he plans to retire on July 18. “Being elected to this office has been one of the greatest honors of my life,” Haskell told the commissioners. He began his career as a deputy prosecuting attorney in Spokane County in 1998. Haskell first took office as the county’s top prosecutor in January 2015, after winning election in November 2014. In a letter, Haskell said, “It has been my honor to serve the residents of this County, both as a Deputy Prosecutor and, for the last 10+ years, the elected County Prosecuting Attorney.” Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Preston McCollam will serve as acting head of the prosecutor’s office after Haskell leaves. The Spokane County Republican Party will have 60 days after July 18 to appoint someone to serve for the remainder of the term, which ends Dec. 31, 2026. If the county GOP doesn’t make a selection, Gov. Bob Ferguson will pick a replacement.
(VICTOR CORRAL MARTINEZ)
‘PROP NONE’
On June 13, Spokane City Council members Jonathan Bingle and Michael Cathcart held a press conference at Coeur d’Alene Park in Browne’s Addition to discuss their opposition to a proposed update to the city’s camping rules that claimed to reinstate the provisions of 2023’s Proposition 1. “What [the ordinance] should be called is ‘Prop None’ because it is none of what you voted for,” Bingle said. The Spokane City Council voted 3-4 on the camping ordinance on Monday, rejecting the measure. Prop 1 was approved by nearly 75% of city voters in 2023, expanding the city’s prohibitions on camping to include areas within 1,000 feet of schools, parks and child care centers. It was overturned by the Washington Supreme Court in April in Jewels Helping Hands v. Hansen, when the court ruled it was an “administrative matter” not a “legislative matter” due to its modification of preexisting city camping policy. Rather than imposing the 1,000-foot camping prohibitions of Prop 1, the rejected ordinance would’ve required Spokane police to post a seven-day notice to unlawful campers before issuing camping citations. The ordinance would have expedited outreach efforts to relocate encampments “near” schools, parks and emergency shelters. The City Council could vote on a different version of the camping rules later this month.
(DORA SCOTT)
NO SUGAR FOR SNAP
Come January 2026, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, participants in Idaho won’t be able to use the food assistance to purchase candy, soft drinks or energy drinks. Currently, SNAP participants cannot use the benefit to buy alcohol, tobacco, personal care products or hot/prepared food. The Idaho Department of Health submitted a waiver in May to remove sugary items from the list of SNAP-eligible purchases; the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins signed the waiver on June 10, along with similar requests from Arkansas and Utah. Rollins previously signed waivers from Nebraska, Iowa and Indiana that will also take effect in 2026. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of Health and Human Services, attended the signing. “Idaho is committed to improving the health of its citizens, and this waiver approval is a critical milestone,” Idaho Gov. Brad Little stated in a press release. “With the backing of the Idaho Legislature and a very fast approval by the Trump administration, we’re taking a meaningful step forward in strengthening our efforts to improve the health of Idahoans.” The press release states that the change “aligns SNAP purchases with basic nutrition standards and aims to reduce the prevalence of preventable health conditions.” (DS) n
TOMORROW: SUMMER SOLSTICE SUNSET CONCERT
Spokane Symphony Small Ensemble
Celebrate the summer solstice with a free concert featuring a string trio and harp played by Spokane Symphony musicians in a beautiful outdoor setting during sunset.
FRIDAY, JUNE 20 | 8:20PM Mirabeau Meadows at Mirabeau Point Park FREE and open to the public
DON’T MISS OUR SUMMER POP-UP CONCERTS AROUND TOWN! FOLLOW US ON SOCIALS TO STAY INFORMED
In collaboration with Spokane Valley
NEXT WEEK: BRICK WEST
SPOKANE SYMPHONY AT BRICK WEST BREWING CO. JUNE 26 | 7PM
Grab a beer and some BBQ and enjoy this small ensemble concert crafted by Spokane Symphony musicians for the whole family.
Ticket Prices: $23 Adult | $6 Child
“DEFIANT DISSENT,” CONTINUED...
through tears on Thursday, June 12. “I just saw what was happening around the country and some of those actions were successful. I hoped [ICE] would release these young people, because Ben Stuckart was our [City Council] president, right? He’s a pillar in our community.”
However, Zorrozua says after a call with Spokane Police Chief Kevin Hall, she knew that their attempts to free Alvarez Perez and Rodriguez Torres would be unsuccessful.
“I thought that he was someone that wouldn’t want to come in with a large show of force when people were exercising their First Amendment rights, protesting lawfully,” she says. “I was alarmed by his response. I was shocked. And then shortly thereafter, the sheriff showed up. And anytime there’s a joint response, things escalate.”
Spokane police told the protesters they needed to stay on the sidewalk or they’d be arrested, and later ordered them to leave.
“To me, it seems the concern of everybody in power that I talked to was not how to get ICE to release the illegally detained individuals, but their point of view was how to de-escalate the situation, which I believe is the wrong way to be looking at this,” Stuckart says. “I worked for city government. I see how hard our police officers work, but the way that those
situations work is they escalate the tensions. The only people using violence were the police officers. We still have not figured out as a community how our law enforcement officers de-escalate situations.”
Around 7 pm, Stuckart and about 30 other protesters were arrested. Around the same time, a group of another 400 protesters from a previously planned protest against ICE marched through Riverfront Park to meet those already at the ICE facility.
Law enforcement deployed smoke, pepper balls, and bean bag and foam rounds to push protesters away from the ICE facility.
By the time Mayor Brown held a press conference at 10 pm, fewer than 40 people were still protesting on Washington Street.
It is unclear when ICE agents were able to transport Alvarez Perez and Rodriguez Torres to the Tacoma detention center, but as of Thursday, June 12, both men were being held there. As of Tuesday morning, both remained in custody at the Tacoma facility.
(O’Quinn has organized a GoFundMe to fund the legal defense for Alvarez Perez and Rodriguez Torres.)
CHARGES SO FAR
While most of those arrested on Wednesday were charged with misdemeanors for “failure to disperse,” two protesters, Erin
Lang and Justice Forral, were also charged with seven Class C felonies each for unlawful imprisonment. According to the affidavit of facts for both cases, those inside the Spokane ICE facility, 14 employees total, were unable to leave the building.
“Everyone in the building was concerned for their safety and felt that they were being held hostage,” Spokane police Detective Kelly Mongan writes in the af-
fidavit. “[ICE employee John La Forte] was in fear for his safety throughout the events and was thinking about what had previously happened in Iraq and at embassies that had been surrounded.”
Additionally, prosecutors allege that Forral lodged a Lime scooter underneath a gate “as if intending to jam the gate closed,” “barricaded that gate” with a bench or table they carried over, and let air out of
The caption goes here. FULL NAME PHOTO
Spokane Police Department and the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office responded to protests.
the front driver side tire of the ICE transport bus. Lang’s court documents allege that she “was messing around with the tire, and as a result, the tire became deflated” on the bus.
Both were released from custody on their own recognizance after a first appearance with Court Commissioner Tony Rugel on June 12, due to their lack of criminal histories, and were scheduled to be back in court for an arraignment on June 25. More than 50 people attended the first appearance.
On Saturday, Forral was arrested on their way to Pride, this time for felony third-degree assault that allegedly occurred Wednesday. On June 15, Forral was once again released from jail on their own recognizance, this time by Court Commissioner Jerry Scharosch.
Sarah Freedman, the attorney for both Forral and Lang, says she doesn’t understand why Forral was arrested during Pride and that she had yet to see a warrant as of June 16.
“During this incident, a uniformed Deputy at the location had his head grabbed by a … suspect who ripped/knocked his uniform hat off,” a June 16 Spokane County Sheriff’s Office press release states. “Due to the agitated and volatile situation, the Deputy could not safely arrest the suspect, who remained unidentified, for the felony assault.”
ASSISTING ICE?
Stuckart believes that the involvement of the Spokane Police Department and Spokane County Sheriff’s Office at Wednesday’s protest is a violation of the Keep Washington Working Act, which prohibits local law enforcement agencies from carrying
out federal immigration enforcement.
“They used the Spokane police force and the county sheriff’s force to form a blockade so that people could not use civil disobedience to stop [ICE] from taking people that are illegally detained to Tacoma,” Stuckart argues, though the detentions were likely legal under federal law. “Our own elected officials violated the Keep Washington Working Act yesterday, and that’s so disappointing to me.”
During the press conference on Wednesday night, a reporter asked Brown why Spokane police were sent to the activity at the ICE facility, when the Keep Washington Working Act prohibits local law enforcement from assisting in immigration enforcement. The mayor said the city’s officers were only there to keep the peace and enforce municipal laws, which prohibit people from being in the street.
“I made the decision that the safest course of action was for Spokane police, not ICE, to try to safely disperse the crowd, try to convince the protesters to leave, and if not, to follow through with arrests of any violation of Spokane municipal code,” Brown said.
But to Zorrozua, the actions of Spokane law enforcement during Wednesday’s protest violated the 2019 state law.
“It absolutely was [a violation] from where I was sitting,” Zorrozua says. “They work for the state of Washington and they’re not federal employees, so why were they enforcing a denial of due process in a federal proceeding?” n
STATE OF HOUSING
SUMMIT
Presented By:
Attack on the Press
Trump aims to defund public media, impacting rural residents most, including in Washington and Idaho
BY VICTOR CORRAL MARTINEZ
President Donald Trump has doubled down on his feud with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which helps fund National Public Radio and public television stations nationwide. On June 3, Trump gave a $9.4 billion rescission request to Congress, which requires only a simple majority of lawmakers in each chamber to cancel funds that were previously appropriated to various agencies.
The request would, in part, rescind $535 million in annual funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — the service’s entire operating budget for the year — that was approved as part of a spending bill passed in March by the Republican-controlled Congress. This request builds on Trump’s May executive order to end all funding for NPR and the Public Broadcasting Service. The funding cuts would take effect on Oct. 1 for the federal fiscal years 2026 and 2027, potentially clawing back up to $1.1 billion.
The rescission request reaffirms Trump’s criticism of public media organizations for alleged tax-funded media bias.
of their funding from donors and local sources. That said, NPR’s 246 member stations typically receive about 10% of their revenue from CPB. PBS and its member stations receive 15% of their revenue from CPB federal funds.
Rural stations are more reliant on federal funding. The proposed cuts would impact Northwest Public Broadcasting’s budget by 20% annually, or about $2 million over the next three years, according to Sueann Ramella, director of programming.
Northwest Public Broadcasting states that it reaches 3.6 million people in 44 counties throughout Washington and parts of Oregon, Idaho and British Columbia. Some of the counties covered include Whitman, Okanogan and Chelan in Washington, and Latah, Benewah and Nez Perce in Idaho.
“People might see 20% and think it’s such a small number, but when you’re talking about an operational budget of $4 million [annually], it’s a pretty big number,” Ramella says.
“These funds would be used to subsidize a public media system that is politically biased and an unnecessary expense to the taxpayer,” Trump stated in his request to cut CPB funding.
The average American taxpayer contributes $1.60 a year toward all NPR and PBS programming across the country, Ramella says.
NPR states that only 1% of its funding comes from the federal government. Most affiliate NPR and PBS stations receive a vast amount
“That’s a lot of people who are served for a buck-60, per taxpayer per year, and the amount of return an American citizen gets from PBS and NPR is amazing,” Ramella says.
Many stations aim to help cover rural areas
Northwest Public Broadcasting’s NPR and PBS stations that reach many rural communities rely more heavily on federal funding.
that are traditionally underserved news deserts or lack Spanish news coverage, which is vital for the large migrant agricultural worker population in those areas.
“We spent a lot of blood, sweat and tears trying to build back up regional and local reporters, and, by God, nothing better get rid of them,” Ramella says. “We want to continue providing information to all people in our coverage area in the best way possible, and for some it’s in Spanish.”
In an email, U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., says she is alarmed by the rescission order and the impacts on Washington’s public media stations like KUOW, KEXP and KNKX in the Seattle area, and public television stations like KSPS in Spokane, KBTC in Tacoma and KNTW in the Tri-Cities.
The House voted 214-212 on June 12 to approve the rescission measure, and it now heads to the Senate.
SPOKANE STATIONS
Spokane Public Radio is the other NPR affiliate for the Inland Northwest. John Decker, who is president and general manager of the station and has over 30 years in public media, says these threats are all too familiar.
“I remember when I first got into public media in the mid-’90s, when Newt Gingrich and the rest of the folks on the Republican side of the aisle had the CPB in their sights,” Decker says. “Here at Spokane Public Radio, we are operating under the assumption that the money does go away.”
SPR states it reaches 1.25 million people in 750 communities across 20,000 square miles of the Inland Northwest.
Decker says that SPR is in a better position to ride out the funding cuts, but any cuts will hurt. He says that being a small organization has allowed the station to maintain staff and programming levels.
“Ten percent of our revenue has come from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting historically,” Decker says. “So to lose that will not kill us, but it’s going to hurt.”
Meanwhile, KSPS, Spokane’s local PBS station, is facing other funding cuts from the federal government.
KSPS canceled its free summer camp program after losing Department of Education funding in early May, as it had been using the Ready to Learn grant to fund kids programming. The station announced the cancellation on its Facebook page.
“We’re heartbroken, but grateful for the memories we’ve made together,” the Facebook post states. “Ready To Learn has helped fund beloved PBS KIDS programs and community resources for over 30 years.”
The cuts to arts, humanities and journalism have alarmed many like Decker and Ramella, who want people to know how important it is to maintain these programs and to reach out to lawmakers to show support. They also encourage people to donate to their organizations during fund drive periods, which help ensure quality reporting and content can be produced.
“It saddens me to think that … in America today, that somehow certain people are no longer welcome because they have a certain perspective, or that journalism is no longer welcome because it could potentially unearth a story or unearth bad behavior,” Decker says. “It’s going to change our finances somewhat, and we have to be a little more mindful of that, but it doesn’t change what we do or why we do it.”
Currently, CPB has filed a lawsuit against Trump over his attempts to remove three board members and potentially withhold funding from NPR and PBS. NPR and three Colorado stations filed a separate lawsuit against Trump, alleging that his May executive order bars the use of congressionally appropriated funds for NPR and PBS.
“The Order’s objectives could not be clearer: the Order aims to punish NPR for the content of news and other programming the President dislikes and chill the free exercise of First Amendment rights by NPR and individual public radio stations across the country,” the lawsuit states. n
Foosball Frenzy
Spokane’s own Lotus Leong-Chesbrough is one of the best foosball players in the world
BY COLTON RASANEN
Lotus Leong-Chesbrough was only 12 years old the first time she played table soccer, otherwise known as foosball — or just foos, if you’ve been playing for nearly half a century like she has. Her older brother randomly brought a foosball table home one day, and the siblings played for hours together in their parents’ basement.
“It was just him and I, so we would play and play and play,” Leong-Chesbrough says.
“We talk about foosball all the time. Once you win a tournament with someone, you really bond with them”
Once she’d honed her skills at home, Leong-Chesbrough spent many more hours at Bumpers arcade in the basement of the NorthTown Mall. She played there enough to get the attention of owner
Steve Livingstone, who sponsored her participation at competitions in Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1979. She placed third in the Vancouver tournament at only 14 years old.
Now at 59, Leong-Chesbrough is on her way to Zaragoza, Spain, to represent the U.S. for the third time at the International Table Soccer Federation’s World Cup, happening June 23-29. It’s one of the world’s largest foosball competitions, dating back to 2005. Previously,
she competed at the second-ever World Cup in Hamburg, Germany, in 2006, and then in Nantes, France, in 2009.
Though she didn’t place on the podium at either World Cup, the list of national and international wins Leong-Chesbrough has racked up over the years is long. She placed in every Tornado (the leading manufacturer of foosball tables) World Championship between 1986 and 1994, with a win under her belt in 1992. She competed periodically at the same competition over the next decade and a half, and in 2006, she became the world champion again. In both competitions she won, she played doubles with Tiffany Moore, a fooser from Chicago.
“We talk about foosball all the time. Once you win a tournament with someone, you really bond with them,” Leong-Chesbrough says. “I’m trying to get her to come back and play one more time to see if we can do it all over again.”
At this high level of play, she says control of the 35-millimeter ball is key. So instead of spinning the posts as fast as she can to get a wild shot into the goal, she passes the ball between “players” on the same post until she can time a shot perfectly. If her opponents are skilled enough, they’ll block and deploy a similar tactic until someone scores a goal.
In these games, which can last up to an hour, competitors play to five points. Since games can take this long, she says large competitions, like the World Cup, often start in the morning and continue into the early hours of the next day.
Generally when Leong-Chesbrough competes, she’s in the doubles bracket where two people team up on the same side of the table.
They’ll break up into a defensive player who controls the threeman and two-man posts closest to their own goal, and an offensive player who controls the five-man and three-man posts closest to the opponent’s goal.
Leong-Chesbrough plays both positions. When she’s paired up in a women’s bracket, she takes the offensive position, but when she plays in a mixed bracket, she’ll hop on defense.
This year at the World Cup, she’ll have four chances to take home the top spot in the over-50 age range. She’ll play in two women’s doubles brackets with Kelly Wyant in one, and with Amy Powers in the other. She’ll also team up with Tracy McMillin, who won the World Cup in 2010 with Dave Gummeson, in the mixed doubles competition. And although Leong-Chesbrough isn’t a fan of single-player foosball, she’ll compete in that bracket, too.
When Leong-Chesbrough first started playing, foosball was all the rage. You could find tables in almost every arcade and bar, and there was a fairly large community playing here in the Inland Northwest, so there was always someone she could play.
However, as at-home video game consoles became more popular in the 1990s, she noticed the foos community began shrinking. In the same way that video killed the radio star, video games seem to have ended the foosball craze — at least for most people. Lotus just can’t shake the desire to play.
“You get addicted fast, I guess it’s like smoking,” Leong-Chesbrough says with a laugh.
“I don’t smoke, but people are constantly puffing and, well, we’re constantly playing. Here I am, 60 [years old] and I’m playing still.”
In 2018, she was inducted into the U.S. Table Soccer Association Hall of Fame in recognition of the accomplishments she’s achieved in her four-decade foosball career.
Beyond the awards and accolades she’s earned in the past 40 years, Leong-Chesbrough says one of the greatest things foosball has given her is her husband, Larry Chesbrough. The pair, who now co-own the Little Euro restaurant in Spokane Valley, met at a small foosball tournament at Bumpers in the early 1980s, and the rest was history.
“So, he drives up in this beat-up Corvette and parks it in this field, and I’m going, ‘What the heck, man, who does that?’ And it turns out that it was my husband,” Lotus recalls. “He asked me if I wanted to play mix because I didn’t have a mix partner and he didn’t either. So we played. We won the tournament. I dropped out of college, and I started touring with him.”
For years the couple toured the country competing in foosball tournaments cementing their names as foosball legends before and after they got married in 1986. While Larry doesn’t play competitively anymore, the couple still play a few times each week in a room in their house that is solely dedicated to foosball. n
Leong-Chesbroug has won dozens of foosball tourneys over the years.
Saturday
June 21
8am - 3pm
5602 W. Sunset Hwy 509-747-9376 storewithdiamond.com/spokane
State of Play
Murder dolls, civil unrest, inner dialogues and chance encounters are just some of the theatrical fodder for this year’s Playwrights’ Forum Festival
BY E.J. IANNELLI
Truth be told, Elise Forier Edie is a little unsettled by one cast member in Living Doll, the play she’s directing in the Bryan Harnetiaux Playwrights’ Forum Festival, which kicks off this evening in the Spokane Civic Theatre’s Firth J. Chew Studio.
The female cast member goes by Cookie and has been known to give people the creeps when they encounter her unawares. At one point during rehearsals, Edie brought Cookie home and let her sit in the chair behind the desk in her study.
“I just sort of sat her there to rest her,” she says. “Then I walked into my study a few hours later. And I was like, OK, this is not going to work. You can’t be sitting behind my desk.”
Edie briefly contemplated the idea of sequestering Cookie in some out-of-the-way nook at Whitworth University, where she — Edie, that is, not Cookie — chairs the theater department. But then she thought better of it.
“The students would be terrified, and they’d never go down there again.”
So now, until it’s time for Cookie to appear onstage, Edie keeps her locked in a closet and hopes that no unsuspecting soul will open the door.
typically staged in a black-box-style environment with minimal props.
Edie, however, saw Cookie as “a casting problem, not really a props problem” because of how integral she was to Golden’s script.
“I see my primary role as a director in the festival to bring his script to life with his intent and his concerns and his interests,” she says. To that end, she drew on her puppet-related work in children’s theater to bring Cookie to life.
The Turkish playwright Burcu Şeyben, who now resides in Twin Falls, Idaho, also has a festival play that might strike some audience members as unnerving. Unlike Living Doll, the events of her Intro to Greek Theater are based on real life.
The episode it portrays happened in the aftermath of Turkey’s fervid Gezi Park protests in 2013. Şeyben was in the middle of teaching a class at Istanbul University when suddenly a group of students she didn’t recognize entered the room and sat down.
Written by Seattle-based playwright David Golden, Living Doll is one of the dozen works to be featured at this year’s festival, and it’s indicative of the variety of this year’s slate. Part comedy, part social satire, part horror, Golden’s 10-minute play riffs on the idea of, as Edie asks rhetorically, “What if the murder dolls in movies like Annabelle and Chucky were real?”
Living Doll is a little unusual given that, over the 35 years that the competitive festival has run since its founding in 1983, its winning entries are
“They were not my students. They just sat there, and everybody sort of accepted them like they knew something that I wasn’t quite aware of. Then there were these steps outside, and it was complete mayhem, and I could hear it,” she says.
“And I continued teaching because they were gesturing at me with their hands, like, ‘Teach, teach, teach. Start talking and just act normal.’ So I was trying to act normal and teach.”
The commotion outside — was it the police? an angry mob? violent demonstrators? — never burst into her classroom, but the experience prompted Şeyben to channel the unanswered questions and intense emotions into her short play, which is directed by Sara Edlin-Marlowe.
Playwright Bryan Harnetiaux founded the festival bearing his name. YOUNG KWAK PHOTO
For the sake of the festival’s actors and its audience, the 12 one-act plays aren’t presented in a single marathon session. Instead they’re evenly divided into two rotations dubbed A and B, making for a total of three performances of each play over the festival’s four-day run.
Living Doll and Intro to Greek Theater are part of this year’s Rotation A alongside plays like Goodbye Cecile by Molly Allen and Steven Wylie, The Fabulists by Paul Lewis and the World War II-themed Blackout by Lee Lawing. Lawing and Lewis both hail from Bainbridge Island.
Rotation B includes multiple works by local playwrights. Three that were selected by the festival’s anonymous panel are Pam Kingsley’s A. Lee, Abby Burlingame’s comedy Brain by Committee and the Youth Division entry Terminal Turmoil by recent West Valley High School grad Ella McQuaig.
Festival founder Bryan Harnetiaux, now in his 43rd year as the Civic’s playwright in residence, also has a noncompetitive entry in Rotation B titled The Note. Jerry Sciarrio directs that tale of two characters’ chance encounter at a park and the mysterious note at their feet.
For each play, regardless of writer or rotation, audience members will have the opportunity to weigh in on what they’ve seen and, in some cases, offer feedback directly to the playwright. That workshopping component, says Harnetiaux, is a key part of the festival.
“You know, the average audience member doesn’t think they have anything to contribute in terms of how to better a play, but that’s simply not true. We try to give the audience permission to say anything that comes to mind, whether they were bored or enraptured or irritated or insulted,” he says.
And it’s possible that audience members might have more visceral reactions than usual. Amid the comedies and light dramas, this year’s festival lineup has, as Harnetiaux explains, a fair number of “politically based plays that touch on sensitive issues around personal choices.”
“[Director] Lloyd Richards used to say that if you wanted to know the community’s concerns, look to the playwrights,” Edie says.
Living Doll certainly reflects a concern of hers, albeit one of her own making: How can she permanently part ways with creepy Cookie?
“I’m going to whisper this so she doesn’t hear. I’m looking forward to bringing her down to the theater so she can have a home forever.” n
Bryan Harnetiaux Playwrights’ Forum Festival • June 19-22; Thu-Sat at 7:30 pm, Sat-Sun at 2 pm, Sun at 6 pm (two rotations; check website for schedule) • $15 • Firth J. Chew Studio at the Spokane Civic Theatre • 1020 N. Howard St. • spokanecivictheatre.com
Featured playwright Burcu Seyben, left, and director Elise Forier Edie COURTESY PHOTOS
Big Dreams
As it enters its 10th season, Spokane Valley Summer Theatre hopes to inspire the next generation of dreamers
BY E.J. IANNELLI
Spokane Valley Summer Theatre will enter its 10th anniversary season singing, and it won’t stop until the curtain falls on the closing production. Whether by accident or design, every show — including special events like its annual Rising Stars showcase — is largely sung through, which means spoken lines of dialogue are rare.
“Pirates of Penzance is all sung. A Grand Night for Singing is one song after another. And then Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is also pretty much all sung through. So it’s like the super-musical season,” says Andrea Olsen, associate artistic director for Spokane Valley Summer Theatre.
The emphasis on song seems right for SVST, which has always had one eye on cultivating top-tier vocal talent.
During the organization’s inaugural season in 2016, a Central Valley High School student named Christopher Tamayo appeared in an SVST production of Bring It On These days, Tamayo is on Broadway with Maybe Happy Ending, the South Korean musical that just scooped up six Tony Awards. And that very same production of Bring It On also happened to star Coeur d’Alene native Amber Fiedler, who went on to compete on American Idol in 2020.
Collin J. Pittmann, the director of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat as well as Rising Stars, says that the 10th season is as committed as ever to nurturing what might very well be the next generation of American Idol and Broadway stars.
Olsen says that Pirates has long been on director Yvonne A.K. Johnson’s wishlist for SVST, and this production will reflect the “spectacular” vision that she has for it.
Some of that spectacle will come from Olsen’s own choreography, which has the actors incorporating a good dose of swordplay into their routines. After all, they have to display enough derring-do to go toe-to-toe with an equally stunning set piece.
“David Baker, our amazing technical director, has built a full-size pirate ship that sails onto the stage, complete with crow’s nest and bowsprit and all of that,” she says.
SPOKANE VALLEY SUMMER THEATRE’S 10TH SEASON
“Fifty-six percent of our cast members this season are completely new to SVST, which we’re thrilled about. That, to me, screams growth but also excitement and energy, particularly about the shows that we’re producing this season,” he says.
TThe Pirates of Penzance, June 20-July 6
Rising Stars, June 28-29
A Grand Night for Singing, July 11-19
Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Aug. 1-17
Tickets and info at svsummertheatre.com
he milestone 2025 season inadvertently sketches a mini-history of musical theater. By kicking things off this weekend with Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance, the season opens with one of the 19th-century light comic operas that helped pave the way for the earliest crop of narrative-driven Broadway musicals like 1927’s Show Boat
A Grand Night for Singing, which runs July 11-19, moves things into Broadway’s Golden Age by taking the most beloved — as well as the underappreciated — songs of another theatrical power duo, Rodgers and Hammerstein, and presenting them in the form of a revue. Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat then rounds out the season Aug. 1-17 with a prime example of the modern megamusical era.
Even before Pirates wraps on July 6, Olsen will have shifted to the director’s chair for A Grand Night for Singing Despite a long theater career both onstage and off, this concatenation of songs from Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals marks her directorial debut.
“I joke about Grand Night being a jukebox musical before those were even a thing. Walter Bobbie put this together, and it represents the whole span of the Rodgers and Hammerstein repertoire,” she explains.
Bobbie drew not only from popular shows like Carousel, Oklahoma! and The Sound of Music but also from under-the-radar musicals like Allegro, Me and Juliet, and Flower Drum Song.
Although there isn’t a single narrative to connect the songs, Olsen is creating a sense of cohesion by setting the entire show in Central Park.
“We’ve got this colossal staircase that is like a bridge in Central Park. The band is going to be on stage as if they were in a gazebo in Central Park. Rather than feeling like you’re just sort of hitting shuffle on your favorite album, my challenge, and I love doing it, is making it make sense
to the audience why the songs are in this order.”
Grand Night also puts a fresh spin on some of the familiar tunes by approaching them from a different emotional perspective or handing them over to other characters. In South Pacific, for example, “Honey Bun” is sung by a woman pretending to be a sailor, whereas Grand Night features a male singer.
“There’s some fun twists on what you would expect,” Olsen says.
For the season finale, Olsen will step out onstage to sing as the Narrator under Pittmann’s direction. It’s something of a role reversal for the young director, who credits Olsen and a high-school production of Dreamcoat — one that, incidentally, also starred Christopher Tamayo — as a source of personal and professional inspiration.
“This time, instead of seeing the show, I’m directing it. So it’s come full circle in so many different ways. And I’m trying to take in that moment. Here I am, at 25, being entrusted with this massive production, and it’s so intergenerational. We have people at various points in their theatrical journey all coming together for this production,” Pittmann says.
As a nod to his earlier experience with Dreamcoat, a musical that’s loosely based on the biblical tale of Joseph and his brothers, Pittmann is looking to sidestep the “glitzy, glittery, tacky Egyptian tourist gift shop feel” that he sees as the default visual style for many stagings.
Instead, he’s encouraging choreographer Angela Rose Pierson to play to her strengths and devise genrespanning near-acrobatic routines that are “super energetic and even more athletic” than the ones typically done in this show. Pittmann and Baker have also conceptualized a set that incorporates stars and constellations designed to symbolize the cosmic power of dreams.
“I identify as a dreamer,” Pittman says. “And I think, in many ways, SVST as an organization has been all about dreams from day one. So it seems really fitting that we’re closing this 10th season with a show that’s all about dreams and how important dreams are.” n
Spokane Valley Summer Theatre kicks off its 2025 season this weekend with The Pirates of Penzance, aiming for another standing ovation. COURTESY PHOTO
Dynamic Dynamos
Friendship on and off stage adds a special touch to Broadway’s current tour of Mamma Mia!
BY BEE REISWIG
Filled with catchy, upbeat songs by the hitmaking Swedish pop group ABBA, Mamma Mia! is bound to have audience members itching to dance Debuting on London’s West End in 1999 and adapted for film in 2008, the romantic comedy musical revolves around two characters: Donna, a middle-aged single mom who runs a struggling hotel on a small Greek island, and Sophie, her daughter, who’s preparing to get married. Donna has chosen not to reveal the identity of Sophie’s father, yet after sneaking a peek in her mom’s diary, Sophie secretly invites three men who could possibly be her dad to the wedding. Plenty of singing, dancing and chaos ensues. Despite the plot centering on Sophie’s wedding, a large part of Mamma Mia!’s charm is that Donna gets her time in the spotlight, too. Right beside her — probably playfully pushing each other out of the way — are Donna’s best friends, Rosie and Tanya, the “dynamos” of the trio. In the show’s Broadway tour currently playing Spokane through June 22, that friendship extends offstage for two of its actresses.
Carly Sakolove (Rosie) and Jalynn Steele (Tanya) didn’t know each other well when Mamma Mia! started touring in October 2023. But, on the first day of rehearsal, a mutual friend realized the two had taken the same class for young performers at the Broadway Theatre Project back in 2001. Although they didn’t remember each other at first, when Sakolove checked her old address book she found Steele’s name and number within.
As the tour went on, the two continued growing closer.
“It makes the job easier when you like the person next to you and when you do have a friendship relationship with the person next to you,” Steele says. “You really read that and the audience does as well.”
In Mamma Mia!, Tanya is a wealthy three-time divorcee who turns younger men away during a scene while singing “Does Your Mother Know.” She’s a fun character to play, Steele says, and is also someone she connects to in some ways.
“I think I relate to her in her loyalty and friendship to Donna. I am a very loyal friend as far as that goes, and I also, you know, tell you the truth when you need to hear it,” she says, laughing.
Steele studied musical theatre at Sam Houston State University in Texas, but took a break in the middle of her fast-paced degree to tour with the show Fosse, a musical revue focusing on the legendary choreography of Bob Fosse. She’ll continue her role as Tanya when the Mamma Mia! revival returns to Broadway in August. Notably, Steele is to be the first full-time Black actress playing Tanya on the Broadway stage.
“It’s nice to be up there and [for fans to] see someone or have someone see someone that looks like them,” Steele says. “I feel very fortunate to be able to represent them.”
Equally as loyal, fun-loving and always ready to make someone laugh is the character Rosie.
“She uses her humor to diffuse any tension in the room,” says Sakolove, who also refers to her role as a
“certifiable clown.”
Sakolove is often cast as the comic relief. She was classically trained at the Boston Conservatory, however, and says she’d be up for the challenge of a serious role. Her other credits include The Marvelous Wonderettes, NEWSical the Musical and The Book of Merman (a spoof on The Book of Mormon centered on famed Broadway singer Ethel Merman). She, too, will make her Broadway debut in August alongside Steele.
In Mamma Mia!, she’s found herself growing closer to not only Steele, but co-star Christine Sherrill (Donna).
“I feel like if it wasn’t [real], if it didn’t reflect so much in real life as it does, then the performance you’re seeing wouldn’t be as magical,” Sakolove says.
One of Sakalove’s favorite tour memories involves a scene where Rosie and Tanya try to cheer up Donna after she’s seen her three old summer flings on the island. All of a sudden, the theater went pitch black — the power had gone out. A crew member quickly scrounged up a flashlight and guided the actresses offstage.
“But while we were all waiting, the audience just started a sing-along and they started singing like a bunch of the songs from the show,” she says. “I’ll never forget that.” n
Mamma Mia! • Through June 22; Wed-Sat at 7:30 pm, Sat at 2 pm, Sun at 1 pm and 6:30 pm • $52-$126 • First Interstate Center for the Arts • 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. • broadwayspokane.com
From left: Jalyn Steele (Tanya), Christine Sherrill (Donna) and Carly Sakolove (Rosie).
JOAN MARCUS PHOTO
The Felts Field Sky Queens are racing across the country to raise awareness for female aviators everywhere
STORY BY ELIZA BILLINGHAM | PHOTOS BY ERICK DOXEY
“F
uel is good.”
“Master switch coming on.”
“Brakes are held.”
“Avionics are on.”
“Can we request 22 Right for 39 Whiskey?” the pilot asks into the radio.
The four-seater plane — a Piper Cherokee 235 nicknamed “Balvenie” after a Scotch whisky — taxis slowly toward the right-hand runway at Felts Field airport in northeast Spokane.
“Cross 22 Left, 39 Whiskey,” she radios to the tower, which gives her the go-ahead to cross the other
runway as soon as it’s clear.
“We’re clear both ways,” her co-pilot says through the headphones.
“Primer is in and locked. Controls are free. Door is latched.”
The pilot takes a last look around, then glances back at the two passengers huddled in the back seat — a reporter and a photographer whose nerves are starting to spiral about as fast as the plane’s single propeller. Its tight revolutions are blurred by the bright windshield and create a halo effect around the pilot’s head.
“Our main priorities are safety, and have fun,” she says as she throttles up. “If we aren’t having one of those things, what are we doing?”
AVIATRIX, ASSEMBLE
Depending on when you’re reading this, it’s possible that Rachel Skirvin and Sarah Roark are in the air right now.
The two pilots, who took us journalists up in their tiny aircraft this spring, are competing from June 17 to 20 in the Air Race Classic, an all-female transcontinental air race with nearly 100-year-old roots.
The first Women’s Air Derby from Santa Monica, California, to Cleveland was in 1929 and featured 20 competitors, including Amelia Earhart. After a few transformations over the years, the 2,400-mile race is still the premier event for female pilots, now featuring over 40 teams and pilots whose ages range from 17 to 90-plus.
Both Skirvin, 39, and Roark, 41, left previous jobs to become pilots as second careers, which is pretty unusual and impressive in the aviation world. Now, the rookies are vying to win the legendary race as the Felts Field Sky Queens, with the call names Glitter Trix and Jet Pink, respectively.
Their team name nods to their home base as well as a unique privilege this year. The Air Race Classic is always different, but this summer, the race begins in Fairhope, Alabama, and ends at Spokane’s very own Felts Field. That means the Sky Queens get to cross the finish line at home. But the Inland Northwest is such a hot spot for aviation that three other local teams get to race back home, too: the Lilac Ladies, the Idaho Skies, and the All Sports Aviation Ladies.
determined supporter of teen mom and LGBTQ+ communities (both sparked by personal experience), and presumably among the top 1% of listeners to Pink Pony Club.
Skirvin spent the first 10 years of her professional life as a business manager for HealthCare Resource Group, helping hospital systems navigate complex data and financial systems. She became intimately familiar with the financial strains of rural hospitals and the lifesaving services they provide.
“Once you’re in the air, it’s like nothing in the world matters.”
A lucky lottery pick means the Sky Queens get to be the first plane to take off from Fairhope. It’s an advantage in some ways — like possibly being first in line at any of the nine fuel stops along the way.
But since teams are flying different planes with different amounts of power, it’s not pure speed that determines the winner of the race. Each plane receives a certain “handicap,” or a judge’s determination of a perfect race time for each team’s specific plane. The pilots then race against that goal time, not the time of the other competitors, and each team is judged against their own perfect race.
The Sky Queens’ Cherokee 235 has about a third more horsepower than the All Sports Aviation Ladies’ Cessna Skyhawk 172, for example, but not as much horsepower as, say, the Piper Cherokee 260 that another team is flying. The planes will take off just minutes apart, but all their target finish times will be different, so it’s possible a plane that lands second or third or sixth could still win the whole thing.
Still, the Sky Queens have set themselves the extra goal of being the first plane to cross the finish line no matter what. Though the cross country race is scheduled to last four days, the Sky Queens hope to make it back to Spokane in just two.
Mostly because that would just be really cool.
Regardless, all the pilots have to remain at Felts Field for two days after the race concludes while planes are inspected and results are calculated. That means nearly 100 pilots will be hanging around Felts Field Neighbor Day on June 21, a free public event celebrating aviation in the Inland Northwest and around the country.
There will be meet and greets with the racers, helicopter rides, historical exhibits and snacks from food trucks — it’ll have pretty much everything to convince a young aviator that, as Roark says, “this is the best job in the world.”
GLITTER TRIX
Skirvin is the pilot in command for the Sky Queens. She’s the mastermind behind the cute beaded bracelets that she and Roark made to hand out to fans, a
Then came 2020 and the chaos of the COVID pandemic, when Skirvin realized in a new way how short life can be. During lockdown restrictions, Skirvin, her wife, and her three teenagers were all stuck at home, and Skirvin felt a renewed responsibility to lead by example.
“I thought, ‘I don’t want to sit behind a desk my whole life,’” she says. “I wanted to show the kids that even mom can change careers.”
The opposite of sitting at a desk, Skirvin thought, was flying. She decided to see if piloting was really as exciting as she imagined it to be, so she took a discovery flight.
“As soon as we took off, I was hooked,” she says.
Skirvin started taking ground school at night but didn’t tell any of her colleagues. Any pilot will tell you how intense flight training is, but Skirvin somehow managed to secretly study while also working full time and raising a family. The planes made the schedule worth it.
“Once you’re in the air, it’s like nothing in the world matters,” she says.
There was just one nagging problem that was waiting for her every time she landed. What am I actually going to do with this? she kept asking herself.
It wasn’t until she learned about Life Flight Network — a fleet of medical evacuation aircraft that provides intensive medical care and transport from remote areas to hospitals throughout the Northwest — that the stars aligned. She could combine her passion for health care with her love for aviation in a way that could save people’s lives — and also inspire plenty of young pilots along the way.
Skirvin needs 2,500 hours flying as a pilot in command before she can apply to fly for Life Flight. To get her hours in, Skirvin became a certified flight instructor. Skirvin’s teaching mastery comes from hours of struggling as a student, and her current instructional role is already a powerful testament to perseverance and service.
“I struggled learning the concepts of aviation,” Skirvin readily admits — the acronyms, the technical terms, the endless regulations from the Federal Aviation Administration.
“I came up with lots of tricks,” she says, “and I hope now to help other students who struggle the same way I did.”
JET PINK
Roark, on the other hand, seems like she may have been avoiding becoming a pilot for most of her life.
“Everyone in my family is a pilot,” she says.
Roark is the type of person who thinks backcountry flying in bad weather is fun, and whose love for skiing has nearly qualified her for the Winter Olympics.
...continued on next page
Pilots Sarah Roark, left, and Rachel Skirvin are participating in the 48th Air Race Classic in a Piper Cherokee 235.
“WHO
But she became a librarian instead — or, technically, an archivist, and then a records analyst for a helicopter company. But in 2018, she got back into a Cessna 172 Skyhawk, and “it was like a time machine,” she says. By 2019, Roark was writing technical publications for Alaska Airlines, but her bosses strongly suggested she look into the company’s pilot development program.
She considered it, and finally decided that it was time. Roark stopped everything else and got all her certifications — instrument, commercial, multi-engine and seaplane — in nine months. (When Roark mentions this, Skirvin widens her eyes, shakes her head and exhales loudly. That’s absolutely insane, she clarifies.)
Now, Roark is flying a private French jet for a local millionaire, taking him wherever he needs to be — Palm Beach, Jackson Hole, San Francisco, you name it. She’s completed 1,400 hours of the 1,500 needed to fly commercial jets for Alaska Airlines. It’s possible she’ll complete her final hours by the end of the air race and be a jet pilot by the end of the month.
Amid all this, Roark found a letter she wrote to herself as an elementary school student. Her preadolescent self predicted she would become a librarian or a pilot.
“I think, for my own sanity, I needed to do this,” Roark says.
GIRL POWER
Up until the end of 2024, Skirkin and Roark had never met. It was Andy Luebke, president of Spokane’s Washington Pilots Association chapter, who thought that Felts Field should have its own pilot team when he found out that the local airport would host the end of the 2025 Air Race Classic.
He immediately wondered if Skirkin and Roark, “two of the most passionate people about aviation that I’ve ever met,” would be up for it.
“I have no idea what that means, but sure!” Skirkin says she responded when Luebke first approached her
with the idea.
As 2024 ended, Roark was closing one of the hardest years of her life, after breaking up with a longtime partner and diving headfirst into a stressful career. A new professional partnership and fast deepening friendship with Skirvin, plus a borderline-insane goal, brought her out of the dark — even though “no one told me how hard this was gonna be,” she says.
The Air Race Classic is a grueling test of physical and mental stamina, precision strategy, and expert adaptability. It’s all about knowing when to push yourself versus knowing when sheer exhaustion will cost you timely navigation mistakes.
Luebke describes a propeller plane as a “fishbowl in the sky” — basically, an undulating glass prism of bright light, suffocating heat and not a lot of oxygen. One of the pilots’ main struggles is fighting dehydration without requiring too many bathroom breaks.
At about 5,500 feet in the air, the small plane is easily swayed by the swirling wind and air currents.
FLY THE SKY? GIRLS.,” CONTINUED...
This loaned Cherokee 235 will take the pilots on their cross-country journey from Alabama back home to Felts Field.
Skirvin describes wise piloting as a dance — finding the path of least resistance through the air instead of stubbornly fighting the elements.
“If I lead her in the right direction, she’s gonna follow,” she says. “It alleviates pressure that I might face with the controls.”
All things considered, our ride on a clear May afternoon was pretty smooth — the weather was perfect, and it was never too bumpy to get some chicken scratch notes onto paper. The Cherokee 235 is a fabulous plane. Local banker C.J. Amestoy surprised the Sky Queens by loaning his personal plane for the race, just because he thought it would be more comfortable than the smaller plane Skirvin and Roark assumed they’d use.
“Balvenie” has nice cushioned seats, plenty of horsepower, and a sleek green and white paint job. As far as small aircraft go, it’s definitely luxurious enough to earn its high caliber nickname. But there’s no autopilot and definitely no air conditioning — just
plenty of windows, which let in lots of sunshine.
The bright rays are enough to get you sweating in under half an hour. No wonder the pilots will be wearing triathlon-esque race suits during the actual race.
In addition to practicing in the new plane, the Sky Queens have participated in exhaustion studies at Washington State University and survival courses at the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center in Oklahoma. Skirvin and Roark wanted to experience disorientation in a controlled environment before potentially dealing with it in the sky.
“When you’re exhausted, your body is trying to lie to you,” Skirvin says.
For example, your mind will tell you that you’re not going straight when your instruments say you’re right on track. Trust your instruments, not yourself, Roark says, and get oxygen if you need it.
“When you lack oxygen, your brain is the first thing to go,” Roark says.
“We will not stand for our accomplishments in history to be erased.”
In addition to canisters of O2, the Sky Queens are packing other necessities — baggies of salt and packets of Squatch Juice, a local energy drink company that, much to Skirvin and Roark’s delight, decided to sponsor the team alongside other organizations like Aviate Medical and Women in Aviation.
But most importantly, the pilots will have each other. It’s each queen’s job to check if the other is OK. Starting off a long preflight checklist is the most important question:
“Number one, are we good?” Skirkin says. “We don’t ever have to fly.”
Then she turns to Roark.
“I got your back no matter what.”
The team is so prepared, they even have a plan for what to do when mistakes inevitably happen.
“You get 90 seconds to sit with a mistake,” Skirvin says. “Then, move on.”
We’re flying at about 130 mph during our flight around Lake Coeur d’Alene. During the race, the pilots will be about three times as high and flying about 30 mph faster.
But at this 5,500-foot elevation, it’s pretty easy to identify landmarks below. Roark points out the popular hiking spot Rocks of Sharon under our wing, its giant boulders suddenly like pebbles below us.
Even though Skirvin and Roark have seen this view countless times, they still ooh and ahh over the scenery below.
“Isn’t this beautiful?” Skirvin asks through the headsets. “We live in such a beautiful area.”
At one point, we can see Hauser, Newman and Liberty Lake all at the same time.
“This is a lot of what we’ll be doing — enjoying the view, checking our power, trying to remember to listen to the radio,” Skirvin continues. “Oh, and streaming music through the radio so we can both listen to the same thing.”
Roark taps an iPad that’s connected to the plane’s avionics system and pulls up Spotify.
“Wanna recommend any songs?” she says.
“Felts Sky Queens: Glitter Trix and Jet Pink Jams” is a public playlist with 200 of the boppiest, jammiest, girl-power-fueled bangers for 11 hours of sky-high hopes. Crafted by the Sky Queens and their fans, it’s got
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Rachel Skirvin and Sarah Roark found their matching jumpers at a thrift store and loved that they fit their vibes as a team. The two have been practicing and took stress tests in preparation for the long trip without air conditioning.
“WHO
FLY THE SKY? GIRLS.,” CONTINUED...
everything unapologetic and uplifting: Shania Twain, Ke$ha, Taylor Swift, Destiny’s Child, Rihanna, Cardi B, and, obviously, Chappell Roan. There’s plenty of “angry girl music,” too, Skirvin says, for when the going gets especially tough.
Anyone on the ground can listen to or suggest additions to the playlist while the pilots are in the sky. Crank up the volume and send good, speedy vibes to Skirvin and Roark when you hear lines like “Starships were meant to fly / Hands up and touch the sky,” “It was such a roller coaster / Some killer queen you are,” or “Who run the world? / Girls.”
EQUITY, ERASURE, EXCLUSION
“A world where the sky is open to all. Where aviation and aerospace dreams are possible without barriers.”
These words are how Lynda Coffman opened the 36th Annual Women in Aviation International Conference this March in Boulder, Colorado.
She spoke about the world of aviation as “a system that often reinforces exclusion.” She spoke about how much she had to change her speech, which she had initially outlined last December, since the new presidential administration began.
She spoke about the over 26,000 photos and articles that have been flagged for removal from Defense Department archives as the federal government seeks to remove any diversity, equity and inclusion efforts from its ranks — including photos of the Tuskegee Airmen who served in World War II as the first Black military pilots, or photos of the B-29 aircraft Enola Gay, the plane that
dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, presumably because its file included the word “gay.”
Plenty of accomplishments by women are also at risk of being scraped from the archives, too. This led to Coffman’s call to action for every pilot in the room.
“We will send the message that we will stand together,” she said. “We will not be undermined. We will not allow our talents and qualifications to be questioned, and we will not stand for our accomplishments in history to be erased.”
Skirvin and Roark want to prove to themselves that they can win the Air Race Classic. But they also want to prove to the world that women belong in aviation — and in STEM, and in just about any field that they set their minds to. Coffman calls it preserving the archives. Skirvin and Roark call it “raising awareness to baddie women.”
competitive, less prestigious or slower than a race that includes men. But it does mean that there’s still a unique space in a male-dominated field to celebrate women’s achievements in aviation and push toward even more in the future — especially if a culture or a political climate is pushing back.
“I don’t want to sit behind a desk my whole life.”
The Sky Queens have both faced disproportionate criticism for being female pilots. They’ve been yelled at by instructors who think tears in the cockpit are a sign of weakness or who doubt their physical fortitude.
“You have a burden of proof,” Skirvin says. “Your mistakes are scrutinized when you’re a woman.”
At some level, flying planes comes down to pushing pedals — a physical task anyone can do — and mental mastery — a goal anyone can strive for. A lineup of all-female pilots doesn’t mean the Air Classic is less
When Roark lands the Cherokee on Felts Field runway, the descent was perfectly smooth and easy, even for the two uneasy passengers in the back. It’s not until taxiing back to the hangar that Roark reveals that the shoelace of her white sneaker is stuck on one of the foot pedals.
“I gotta get used to these brakes,” she laughs, unfazed by what could have been.
The Sky Queens seamlessly weave their grit, mental toughness and peak athleticism right in with their matching pink flight suits and sparkling hair bows. They aren’t waiting to see if the world will accept them — they will make space for themselves. Because as much as life may have changed for pilots in the century since the first all-women’s air race, some decades-old words from the most famous female pilot still ring true:
“Some of us have great runways already built for us,” Earhart said. “If you have one, take off. But if you don’t have one, realize it is your responsibility to grab a shovel and build one for yourself and for those who will follow after you.” n
The Felts Field Sky Queens will see this familiar sight at the end of their race.
Homegrown
Spokane chef Suwanee Lennon competes on national TV; plus, culinary opportunities and calls for community support
BY DORA SCOTT
Local chef Suwanee Lennon brought her traditional Thai recipes to Spokane diners while cooking at Feast World Kitchen and through her food blog, Simply Suwanee (simplysuwanee.com). Now, her recipes and story is heading to a national audience as she competes on the fourth season of PBS series The Great American Recipe, premiering on July 11.
Lennon came to the U.S. at 13 years old after being adopted by an American woman who’d traveled to Isan, a leprosy village in northeast Thailand. Now the wife of a retired Air Force pilot and mother of two kids, she started her food blog after settling in Spokane in 2019. With Feast’s support, Lennon has been able to fundraise to help feed her village and returns annually to give back and cook with her Thai family members.
About a year ago, Lennon was contacted by a casting agent for The Great American Recipe. After subsequent emails, calls and interviews she decided to become a contestant.
“The main reason behind it was that I wanted to tell my story — not just my story — but the story of Thailand, of the people that I grew up with, the people who have leprosy, the people who don’t have a voice,” she says.
The season featuring eight contestants was filmed in Nashville, and features a blend of cuisine and culture from across the U.S. After completing a weekly cooking challenge, judges Tiffany Derry, Timothy Hollingsworth and Francis Lam determine the winning dish. The top three contestants eventually compete in the final episode.
Lennon noted how she’s cooked in kitchens large and
small, and is used to working with minimal equipment when back in Thailand. However, as she’s usually the one behind the camera, taking photos of her masterfully plated dishes for her blog, the production cameras were new.
“I had to be mindful of all of the cameras, and so I had to get that out of my head a little bit,” she says. “And it’s like when you love something, you start cooking, and you just get into it, and you forget all the things around you.”
Tune into the show on PBS, or stream on Amazon Prime or Apple TV to see how far Lennon makes it.
OPPORTUNITIES, AWARDS & MORE
For those looking to take their culinary passion to the next level, North Idaho College is accepting applications for its new Culinary Arts Sous Chef Apprenticeship The six-semester program offers classes alongside paid, on-the-job training (logging 4,000 hours).
“This earn-while-you-learn model is more than just a training program; it’s a pipeline for upward mobility, professional growth and community strength,” NIC culinary instructor Hillary Ginepra stated in a press release. “This apprenticeship is tailored for individuals aiming to advance their careers through education while maintaining full-time employment.”
After completing the program, students earn an associate of applied science degree and can take the national American Culinary Federation exam to earn a Certified Sous Chef credential. Learn more at nic.edu/culinaryarts-apprenticeship.
The 2025 International Beer and Cider Awards took
place at the beginning of June, held by the North American Brewers Association with judging taking place in Idaho Falls. Hayden-based brewery Bombastic Brewing took home five medals.
The brewery won gold in the imperial stout category for its Big Dumb Beer, and earned silver medals with its Waddle Breakfast Stout (coffee stout category), Attempted Murder vanilla cinnamon stout (herbed spiced beers), and Gifting marshmallow and coconut imperial stout (tropical fruit beers), and took bronze for its Velvet Hammer (barrel-aged strong stouts).
This summer, the Spokane County Library District is sponsoring a food service program for children ages 1 through 18, running from mid-June to the end of August. Free snacks are served at the following branches: Airway Heights, Cheney, Deer Park, North Spokane and Spokane Valley. Visit scld.org for program hours and other details.
SHOWING SUPPORT
On the evening of June 8, Hannah Alverson, co-owner of Remedy Kitchen & Tavern on Spokane’s South Hill, was seriously injured in a hit-and-run crash. The driver, who also hit a pedestrian after fleeing the scene of an earlier crash on Maxwell Avenue, sped through a stop sign at Monroe Street and Alice Avenue going over 60 mph, hitting the side of Alverson’s vehicle. Alverson sustained a fractured skull, four broken ribs and required emergency surgery on her pelvis. The community can help support her healing journey by donating to a Go Fund Me (gofund.me/f36c5f28) or by visiting the restaurant at 3809 S. Grand Blvd.
To show support for the local Latino community amid the Trump administration’s increased ICE raids, Ruins announced on social media last week that it would donate a week’s worth of sales (and possibly longer) of its popular banh mi sandwiches to Latinos En Spokane. Head to Ruins at 411 N. Nettleton St. in Kendall Yards to fill your belly while also supporting the Latino community — or make a direct donation to the nonprofit at latinosenspokane.org. n
Suwanee Lennon prepares her recipe for Thai papaya salad. ERICK DOXEY PHOTO
ALSO OPENING
28 YEARS LATER
The long-gestating third film in the zombie horror series reunites original writer Alex Garland and director Danny Boyle to pick up the action 28 years (duh) after the terrifying Rage virus was unleashed. The action this time centers on a father and son who survive in a community on a small island, but must venture into the infected mainland. Rated R
BRIDE HARD
Rebel Wilson stars in this action comedy about a secret agent who must save the day when her childhood best friend’s wedding gets hijacked by mercenaries. Rated R
Still Wish I Knew How to Quit You
Twenty years later, Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain remains a gently painful drama of queer love that endures for a reason
BY CHASE HUTCHINSON
It’s impossible to watch Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain without thinking about, at least in part, death.
There is the story itself about two men carrying on a deeply felt though painful relationship over several years, which culminates in a burst of violence that still haunts me two decades later. But it’s more than that. It’s impossible not to see the film as a series of snapshots about a life that is fading away. Some of this is due to the loss of Heath Ledger, who died in 2008 at age 28. He gives a restrained, yet riveting performance — the best in a career never lacking for great work.
It’s also because the film is about life being lived in small gasps before it inevitably ends.
Based on the short story of the same name by Annie Proulx, this all centers on the lives of Ennis Del Mar (Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) who meet in the summer of 1963 in Wyoming as they work overseeing a herd of sheep grazing on Brokeback Mountain. What begins haltingly with juvenile jokes and reflections in isolation in the shadow of the vast mountain, every texture of which is stunningly shot by the great cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto (Killers of the Flower Moon), becomes a more passionate bond that will endure even as the two men go down separate paths in life. Though as
we soon come to see, neither feels like they are truly living. They get married to their respective wives (played by Michelle Williams and Anne Hathaway, who make what could have been thankless roles into complex characters in key scenes), begin to raise families and work their jobs, yet perpetually long to return back to the other.
It is in this where the enduring power of Brokeback Mountain is found. What started with a summer that seems to extend out forever (though we know will have to end) settles into being about the increasing gaps between when the two men see each other. We get glimpses into their time apart, offering critical slivers of insights into how different they are from each other in disposition and status, though there is a united force in just how empty these sequences feel. They may be checking the boxes of the “ordinary” life that is expected of them, but never once is there a sense that they are fully living. As time begins to slip away in the film, the sense that whatever small snapshots of life they had while together are beginning to as well.
It’s this element — this narrative structure that hauntingly folds a full life into smaller and smaller pieces — that stands out most when revisiting Brokeback Mountain. Yes, there is care given to how it explores its queer relationship that was not as present as it should have been in American
cinema at that time (with both its Oscar nominations and subsequent egregious snubbing for Best Picture proving to be revealing), though there is a more agonizing undercurrent about the passing of time. No matter how many earned moments of joy Brokeback Mountain creates in seeing the two reconnect, they always end with a sinking sense this may be the last time and that they might not be able to endure the half-living each is doing when apart.
It’s this knowledge that ensures every departure the two share lives in the shadow of their separation. This is expressed in Gyllenhaal’s Jack delivering the film’s most iconic line — “I wish I knew how to quit you” — during their final conversation. That this line gets remembered where others don’t is a blessing (as there are some conversations elsewhere that feel less natural) and a testament to the way it brings all of the film’s pain to one final breaking point. It’s a raw expression of regret, love and loss all bound up in an acknowledgment that there is no turning back now. Each man is going to die, Jack sooner than he knows, after a life spent never fully embracing this relationship the way each hoped they would. In this realization, shattering yet unavoidable, Brokeback Mountain breaks you just as the otherwise stoic Ennis breaks down as well. For all the film’s moments of authentically aching passion, the greatest ache is the one that sits in the pit of your stomach as you realize that it’s all gone. Their story, the parts that made their time together not just existing but truly living, endures because of this feeling of it all fading away. n
Brokeback Mountain returns to theaters for its 20th anniversary starting June 20.
Phone Home
Pixar’s Elio is a sweet yet schematic animated sci-fi film in search of a soul
BY CHASE HUTCHINSON
When reviewing a finished film, there can be a danger of getting caught up in speculating on what may have gone on to change it during its production. After all, none of us watching were there, and absent robust reporting that takes us behind the scenes into what happened, all we can do is wonder. With that in mind, I wonder what Adrian Molina’s original version of Elio may have been. The director of the frequently captivating Coco was the name first attached to this new Pixar production, which feels deeply personal in a way that’s initially intriguing, but he largely stepped aside in 2024 for Madeline Sharafian and Domee Shi (Turning Red) to take over. The result is a film that, absent clever bits that dip into sci-fi horror and a cute alien creature, can’t shake free of the sense that something potentially rather special has been lost in the shuffle.
Elio
Rated PG
slight and overstuffed. The basics are that Elio signs up to stop the menacing Lord Grigon (Brad Garrett) from taking over a special community of space beings — with our protagonist lying that he is the leader of Earth to do so — and ends up meeting his foe’s adorable son Glordon (Remy Edgerly), whom he attempts to use as a bargaining chip. Plenty of shenanigans ensue, and the two young beings bond in a hurried montage, though rarely do you feel connected to any of what’s going on. Even as the character designs of all the various aliens are sufficiently distinct and playful, Elio is so focused on getting to the next plot point that you rarely get a moment to experience awe at the universe that we’ve launched into.
The elements that work the best in the film is when it gives itself room to play around with its premise and create some genuinely great sequences that refer back to classic sci-fi horror. It still is a family film, meaning things don’t get so gruesome, but the moments where it takes a turn for something closer to Invasion of the Body Snatchers or The Thing are where you feel like there’s a sense of personality peeking through. Even when the so-so animation doesn’t always pop, these moments start to grab you. It’s then a shame that the rest of the film feels like it’s all merely wearing the skin of better movies we’ve seen before, both from Pixar and other studios.
Directed by Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina Starring Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldaña, Remy Edgerly, Brad Garrett
None of this is the fault of the titular Elio (Yonas Kibreab), who is a winning protagonist to build a film around. A lonely 11-year-old who dreams of being abducted by aliens so he can find something to call community, his boundless imagination is infinitely greater than the film itself. You see, Elio has lost his parents (backstory which is conveyed awkwardly and with a lack of care) and now lives with his Aunt Olga (Zoe Saldaña), who works on a military base tracking space debris. Despite the specificity of the location and lived-in details, the film soon stumbles through broadly familiar emotional beats that feel shallowly assembled from promising parts. Though Elio gets his wish and ascends into a vast galaxy, the emotions never leave the ground.
Much of this comes from how the story is both increasingly
The name Elio itself feels like it could be a reference to the also lonely protagonist of E.T. the ExtraTerrestrial. This film plays as almost the inverse of that 1982 touchstone. Sadly, Elio lacks a more Spielbergian wonder one would hope for with a work like this. Each predictable emotional progression is formulaic and less deeply felt — as if it’s all just about checking off boxes in the final stretch. When it attempts to call back to characters we only briefly met, you wonder if there were scenes that were cut out somewhere. Even a standout sequence near the end about charting a course through the chaos of space, which gestures toward more grand ideas about community emerging from the world Elio may leave behind, is unearned. Where past Pixar films created transcendent, soaring emotion, all you feel here is the cold emptiness of space where there should be a soul. n
The universe in Elio is vast and colorful, yet ultimately shallow.
ATOMIC JIVE • JUNE 20 RED DRAGON (3RD AVENUE)
FESTIVAL FUN
BEYOND WONDERLAND
Two cards, 50-plus artists, three stages and one weekend to track your adventures
BY SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL
All right bass heads, house lovers and everything-in-between EDM fans — it’s finally time to head to the Gorge for Beyond Wonderland!
OWe hope you have fun rocking your fresh festival fits and catching sets from some of the electronic music world’s biggest acts like Illenium and Subtronics. Be sure to make time to listen to many of the other great artists on the lineup like INZO, Peekaboo, Level Up, and more! But this year we also wanted to give you another way to stay engaged all weekend.
We present: Beyond Wonderland Bingo! Based on plenty of previous experience at the two-day fest, here are some funny things that might happen during your weekend. So, take some copies of this page with you (or screenshot the cards we shared online) and play along with a friend as you keep your eyes peeled for these Wonderland wonders.
BEYOND WONDERLAND BINGO
See gum still in the wrapper on the ground Witness a Proposal1
Hear someone snobby complaining about VIP amenities
See a group of 5+ in matching themed outfits Become a rave mom/dad to a newbie
See a totem featuring a ridiculously recent meme2
Get asked if you need water, chapstick or a nasal inhaler
Have to split from the group you came with to see an artist
See someone’s tent or canopy go flying in the campground
Find a porta potty without toilet paper FREE SPACE FOR GOOD VIBES
Get handed a “hot” or “spicy” deli sticker Cry during Illenium’s set
CARDONE
Hear “Stephanie” remixes from everyone EXCEPT Cloonee
Hear someone shout “Let him cook!”
Make it to the rail at the front of one of the stages
Get traded a perler (melted bead art) masterpiece
Hear an artist say “Thank you, Seattle!” or “Thank you, Spokane!”3
Think you created a funny new catchphrase4
See/get a shoulder ride to see over the crowd
Get a picture with the Queen of Hearts Are given a random toy/ trinket you’ve never seen before
See raindrops cutting through the lasers5
Meet a new festie bestie
Hear an artist play a new release for the first time
BEYOND WONDERLAND BINGO
Reach into a ducking bag6
Learn a new drinking game from camp neighbors
See a security guard grooving to the music
Turn something in to lost and found
See a fresh pack of Pokemon/ Magic/other game cards opened
Get traded kandi that makes you laugh7 Catch a sunset set on mainstage
Lose your voice
See a toilet seat lid that’s far too glittery
Hear “What the helly?” said an ungodly amount8
Don’t have to wait to fill your water Find vendor food for under $20
FREE SPACE FOR GOOD VIBES
people “rowing the boat”10
Stay up to see the sunrise thanks to campground afterparties
See Subtronics not rocking a messy bun
Get sprouted9
Manage to avoid fan clackers all weekend See someone giving a light show11
other than Timmy Trumpet play a live instrument Go on a sidequest12 Hear a cow moo in the nearby field
Watch someone spin a flow star13
6. That’s not a typo on a curse word — some friends who went to EDC Las Vegas in May told me they were asked to reach into bags of trinkets, and usually the gift was a tiny duck.
7. As experienced ravers know, kandi are the pony bead bracelets/necklaces, often featuring funny phrases, which are widely traded at shows.
8. I don’t use TikTok… but as of this writing, I’m told this is trending. For all I know it’ll be old news by the time of the fest.
9. See those tiny plastic plant sprouts on clips everywhere? Receive one, you got sprouted.
10. Just like it sounds — typically one instigator pops a squat on the ground and grabs their imaginary oars, others soon follow, sitting in a single file line (like in a rowing shell) and everyone starts rowing that frickin’ boat to the beat.
11. The accessories abound in the EDM scene, including gloves with fingertips that individually light up in different colors/patterns, glow whips with LED-illuminated filaments, light-up hula hoops, and more. As if the many lasers, flame bursts, fireworks and video visuals displayed on screens behind the DJs weren’t enough, sometimes it’s fun to get your own “light show” from someone who practices this craft.
12. You know how it is: You go to the bathroom, but on your way back to your group’s spot on the hill, you’re distracted by actors in elaborate costumes walking on stilts down the vendor path, and you’re compelled to follow. Then, a booth catches your eye, and you have to check out the tapestries for sale. While browsing, you strike up a conversation with the person next to you, who asks if you’re STOKED for the next set on the Caterpillar’s Garden stage, and next thing you know, you’re watching San Pacho with a stranger at sunset. By the time you return to your friends, you’ve got some fun stories for the squad.
13. You’ll know it when you see one. n
Beyond Wonderland • Sat, June 21-Sun, June 22 • $260-$410 (pass); $160-$270 (single day) • 18+ • The Gorge Amphitheatre • 754 Silica Road NW, Quincy • pnw.beyondwonderland.com
LESLIE DOUGLAS PHOTO
IN SPADES
Spokane standouts Vika & the Velvets finally release their debut album, Like a Spade
BY SETH SOMMERFELD
There’s not a lot that Vika & the Velvets haven’t done over the past few years as the band has risen to the top tier of the Spokane music scene. The local rock group has played a ton of shows as an opener, moved up to headlining gigs, gone on tour, played big festivals both locally (Volume) and regionally (Treefort in Boise the past two years, plus Bumbershoot in
Seattle later this summer), been profiled as one of the Inlander’s Artists to Watch, released singles, put out music videos, and more.
But there’s one obvious thing missing from the checklist that many bands do well before garnering a modicum of the buzz Vika & the Velevets have generated: release an album. That all changes this week when Vika & the
Vika and the Velvets ready to release the band’s first LP. JAYMIE BELKNAP PHOTOS
Velvets finally drop their debut album, Like a Spade. It’s been a long time coming, so the band is celebrating in style with an album release show at Liberty Lake’s Zephyr Lodge on Sunday, June 22.
The band’s core sound blends a psychedelic indie rock core and vintage girl group pop vibes, but there are layers of other genre variations fleshing out the soundscape. It all revolves around singer/guitarist Vika — who’s been part of the local scene since her teenage years (previously releasing music as Olivia Vika) — whose voice possesses an alluringingly hypnotic neo-soul rasp. Along with her ever-tight backing band the Velvets — alto saxophonist Rogan Tinsley, bassist Andrew Atkison, guitarist Eric Kennedy and drummer AJ Ramirez — Vika traveled west at the end of 2024 and into early 2025 to record the new LP with producer Taylor Carroll at the famed Bear Creek Studio outside Seattle and at Jackpot! Recording Studio in Portland.
Like a Spade showcases the many varied sounds Vika & the Velvets have in their bag. Things kick off with the title track that mixes a vintage ’50s pop bounce with the band’s new exploration of country-leaning sounds for a summery track that would sound great sitting beside a pool on a sweltering, sun-baked day. It features the introduction of pedal steel guitar, which acts as a cohesive through line for the album. “La Pine” and “Hyacinth Hotel” touch on a new slow-burning country-western feel that would be right at home on the range. “Lucky Be My Love” luxuriates in soul before adding in some bossa nova flair. Peppier retro pop songs like “Carousel of Love” encourage plenty of hip-shaking. Vika & the Velvets even throw in a horn-drenched surf rock ripper reminiscent of modern practitioners Shannon and the Clams and La Luz via “Pipeline,” which adds a jolt of excitement to the middle of Like a Spade without feeling out of place.
After being born in Russia to Egyptian and Russian parents, Vika arrived in the United States as a small child via adoption by a Spokane family. While she certainly felt like an outsider in her younger years, she has been able to channel that energy into a positive.
“Obviously growing up, I had a tough time comparing myself and feeling very different, and being the only adopted one in my big family,” Vika says. “So that was a good source of inspiration for me, because I knew I had something that set me apart. I knew I had something that made me unique. And it took years — many, many years — for me to feel that confidence in who I am and what I have to offer.”
Her family also certainly helped her musical journey. After being a basic pop listener as a kid, her older jazz pianist/drummer brother, Caleb, introduced her to the world of indie rock when she was in eighth grade. Bands like Saint Motel and Hippo Campus became her new sonic inspirations. As the years went on, she also dipped her toes into the throwback sounds of female singers like Patsy Cline, Billie Holiday and Connie Francis. Throw in the classic rock and country that she listened to on the radio while living in Idaho during the summers, and one begins to understand the wealth of influences that have led to Vika & the Velevets’ tasty sonic gumbo.
There are plenty more reasons for Vika and Co. to be excited as Like a Spade’s release draws near. Not only will the album further showcase what the group has to offer, the release show holds special importance as one band member has been dealing with serious health concerns.
“I’m looking forward to having a full band,” Vika says. “Our drummer AJ is going through colon cancer right now. We haven’t gotten a chance to practice because of where he’s at, so we’re really only going to have probably two or three practices as a band. But I’m so, so, so excited that he will get to be a part of this show, because he was truly a part of the making of this album.”
For Vika, the new album is the culmination of years of hard work bolstered by good luck — a mindset which also doubles as the thread that ties Like a Spade together.
“This album relates a lot to luck. It’s basically just like a tribute to how luck isn’t found, it’s created,” Vika says. “It’s a blessing to have luck, and I’ve always felt lucky my whole life. It has to do with a lot of younger childhood values — how I did come from such a poor place, and now I have an amazing family, and I’ve had so many opportunities. I’m truly blessed, and I hope that this is just a reflection of the amazing memories I’ve had and the luck that has brought me here.” n
Vika & the Velvets: Like a Spade Album Release Show with Winehouse • Sun, June 22 at 7 pm • $20 • All ages • Zephyr Lodge • 1900 S. Zephyr Road, Liberty Lake • zephyrlibertylake.com/vika
Annual Manual
Vika continues leveling up her voice.
INDIE POP IDKHOW
CLASSIC ROCK LITTLE FEAT
If you, like me, were invested in the world of the emo bands of the early 2000s and late 2010s, you know how deep iDKHOW lore goes. The group started as an offshoot of The Brobecks, formed by former Panic! at the Disco bassist Dallon Weekes and longtime friend Ryan Seaman, former Falling in Reverse drummer. After Weekes left P!ATD in late 2017, iDKHOW began releasing their flavor of glam pop to the world. Weekes is now the sole member of iDKHOW, and his latest work/brainchild Gloom Division is full of wacky, jaunty, genre-defying tunes that bring classic emo escapism, funky bass lines and joy in equal amounts. When iDKHOW rolls through town for its show at the Knit this Tuesday, you might feel a bit like a kid in a candy store with all of the genre-switching, which should make for a sickeningly sweet (complimentary) time.
— MADISON PEARSON
iDKHOW, Phantom Planet • Tue, June 24 at 8 pm • $40-$74 • All ages • Knitting Factory • 919 W. Sprague Ave. • sp.knittingfactory.com
Thursday, 6/19
ARBOR CREST WINE CELLARS, Son of Brad
J THE BEANERY, Quarter Monkey
BOLO’S BAR & GRILL, Bolo’s Blues & Brews
J BRICK WEST BREWING CO., Lucas Brown & Friends
J COEUR D’ALENE PARK, Kevin Brown and Beloved Country GARLAND DRINKERY, Speak Easy: Open Mic Night
J INDABA FLAGSHIP CAFÉ, Open Mic Night
J LUNARIUM, Starlite Open Mic
J QQ SUSHI & KITCHEN, Just Plain Darin
RED DRAGON (THIRD AVENUE), Thursday Night Jam
RED ROOM LOUNGE, Finesse 2Tymes
J J SPOKANE TRIBE CASINO, Social Distortion, Plague Vendor
J STELLA’S ON THE HILL, Whack A Mole
J TRUE LEGENDS GRILL, Jimi Finn
ZOLA, X24, Jenna Bucsko
Friday, 6/20
J J THE BIG DIPPER, Chuck Vibes And The Dead Feels, Hell Motel, The Dilrods, Spøøky THE DISTRICT BAR, Fuego: Bad Bunny vs. Peso Pluma
J THE GRAIN SHED, Haywire GREEN CITY SALOON, DJ KJ NIGHT OWL, Four On The Floor Fridays
J PARK BENCH CAFE, Under the Trees Concerts: Just Plain Darin
J PEND D’OREILLE WINERY, Bridges Home RED DRAGON (THIRD AVENUE), Atomic Jive Band RED ROOM LOUNGE, Beats, Rhymes, and Laughs
J SPOKANE TRIBE CASINO, Aaron Lewis and the Stateliners
THE GOODY BAR AND GRILL, Midnight Open Mic
J TRUE LEGENDS GRILL, Jason Lucas TRVST, ElektroGrave
WHISPERS LOUNGE, Ryan Schneider
ZOLA, Dalton Davenport and Amanda Healan, Alcohol & Feelings
Saturday, 6/21
219 LOUNGE, Working Spliffs
J BECK’S HARVEST HOUSE, Just Plain Darin
J THE BIG DIPPER, The Van Dels, Pazzi Pazzi, The Wrong Hands THE CHAMELEON, Emo 2000: School’s Out Party CHECKERBOARD TAPROOM, Sidetrack THE DISTRICT BAR, James McMurtry, BettySoo
J GORGE AMPHITHEATER, Beyond Wonderland
J INDABA FLAGSHIP CAFÉ, Rosethrow & Spro
While Rolling Stone might throw around ridiculously overinflated reviews of new albums by aging legends like McCartney, Dylan and Springsteen, it can be tougher sledding for other classic rock acts to still earn rave reviews. So when the magazine titled their review of Little Feat’s new 2025 LP “They Don’t Make Records Like This New Little Feat Album Anymore. That’s a Compliment,” that’s reason to pay attention. Reviewer David Browne writes, “Strike Up the Band has the ambiance of the band’s classic records — a Mardi Gras that never ends — but it also feels doggedly alive.” The album showcases how even after over half a century, there’s still plenty of pep and party spirit left in Little Feat’s swamp rock sound. Expect plenty of reinvigorated boogying down when Little Feat joins The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band at Spokane Tribe Resort & Casino.
— SETH SOMMERFELD
Little Feat, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band • Sat, June 21 at 8 pm • $87-$346 •
J JAGUAR ROOM AT CHAMELEON, Lemon Boy, Fun Parents, Billy Ward
J KNITTING FACTORY, Metal Mayhem III
NOAH’S CANTEEN, Son of Brad
J ONE SHOT CHARLIE’S, Whack A Mole
J PEND D’OREILLE WINERY, Nobody Famous
RED ROOM LOUNGE, Noche Latina with DJ Americo
J ROCKET MARKET, Dave Long
J SPOKANE TRIBE CASINO, Little Feat, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
THE GOODY BAR AND GRILL, Midnight Open Mic
TRVST, KosMos the Afronaut WHISPERS LOUNGE, JoJo Dodge
ZOLA, Jason Evans’ Cosmic Fantasy, Hot Club of Spokane
Sunday, 6/22
ARBOR CREST WINE CELLARS, Nu Jack City
BECK’S HARVEST HOUSE, Justyn Priest
J = THE INLANDER RECOMMENDS THIS SHOW
J = ALL AGES SHOW
BERSERK, Pesticide, Elain’s Gun, Astro Cobra
J THE BIG DIPPER, Unlikely, The Critics, Index, Sex With Seneca THE COEUR D’ALENE RESORT, Jerry Lee Raines
J GORGE AMPHITHEATER, Beyond Wonderland
J HAMILTON STUDIO, Tango Volcado
J KNITTING FACTORY, Stephen Wilson Jr. LIVE AT ANDRE’S, The Talbott Brothers
J ONE SHOT CHARLIE’S, Steve Starkey
RED ROOM LOUNGE, King Iso, Taebo Truth, Snake Lucci
J J ZEPHYR LODGE, Vika & the Velvets: Like a Spade Album Release Show with Winehouse
Monday, 6/23
RED ROOM LOUNGE, Red Room Open Mic
J STELLA’S ON THE HILL, Steve Starkey
ZOLA, Cowboyd and Wheelwright
Tuesday, 6/24
J J BONES MUSICLAND, Whitney Mongé, Betsy Rogue
J J KNITTING FACTORY, IDKHOW, Phantom Planet
J OSPREY RESTAURANT & BAR, Meghan Sullivan
RED ROOM LOUNGE, Turn Up Tuesdays with Scozzari SWING LOUNGE, Swing Lounge Live Music Tuesdays ZOLA, Zola All Star Jam, David Jeter
Wednesday,
6/25
J THE BIG DIPPER, Elijah Kidd Jaxon Leyde, Tony Krallis, JET
J COMMELLINI ESTATE, Dave Long
THE DRAFT ZONE, The Draft Zone Open Mic
J KNITTING FACTORY, Tash Sultana, Lime Cordiale
J OSPREY RESTAURANT & BAR, Meghan Sullivan
J PANIDA THEATER, Steve Poltz, Laurie Shook
RED ROOM LOUNGE, Red Room Jam
J TIMBERS ROADHOUSE, Cary Beare Presents TRVST, The TRVST Open Decks
ZOLA, Akifumi Kato, Jeremy Dion
Just Announced...
J THE BIG DIPPER, Tears of Joy, July 5.
J THE BIG DIPPER, Missouri Executive Order 44, July 7.
Nothing screams summer in Spokane like art market season. Kicking off this year’s festivities is Bazaar, Terrain’s annual outdoor, all-local art market. Along with fine art, expect quirky home decor, candles, plenty of cool mugs for your collection, skin care, clothing and many more handmade goods. Not only is Bazaar the perfect place to find a unique gift for yourself or someone special, but it’s also a great place to directly connect with the local creatives that serve as the gears of Spokane’s creative machine. This year, the market also includes free portraits by HeadsUp Portrait Club, family-friendly activities courtesy of Bluesky Summer Camps, a photobooth by Glos Studio and more. Plus, 30% of this year’s vendors are brandnew to the event, so head out and find your new favorite local creative business!
— MADISON PEARSON
Bazaar • Sat, June 21 from 11 am-8 pm • Free • Downtown Spokane • Main Ave and Post Street • terrainspokane.com
COMMUNITY FAIRY SPECIAL
Strap on your wings, grab some pixie dust and fly over to the only free fantasy festival in the Northwest! At the annual Fairy Festa, meet a variety of magical beings, from a Fairy Queen who might have some tea to spare to a 7-foot dragon! Kiddos can adopt a dragon of their own, go on a scavenger hunt, or make a fairy wand. Adult quests are also available, whether inspired by Dungeons & Dragons or another roleplaying adventure. You can discover treasures at the Enchanted Marketplace while listening to the sweet sounds of minstrel music or stop and watch a performance on stage. And, if you need a break, relax in the Zen Garden. Make sure to dress in your fantasy best!
— BEE REISWIG
Fairy Festa • Sat, June 21 and Sun, June 22 from 10 am-4 pm • Free • All ages • Spokane Gallery • 409 S. Dishman Mica Road • spokane-gallery.myshopify.com • 509-747-0812
SPORTS & OUTDOORS HIGH HOPS
The annual Spokatopia festival features an impressive lineup of extreme sports: beer drinking, poker playing and, most notably, mountain biking. This year marks the event’s 10th anniversary of providing outdoor fun for all ages and skill levels. After making a stop at the beer garden, attendees can watch riders execute gravity-defying tricks in a jump exhibition and contest, and if that’s too much, you can always retire to a (hypothetically) chill game of cornhole or giant jenga. Hungry? Food trucks will be on site to satisfy any midair cravings. For those who want to take window shopping to the next level, Spokatopia also offers a mountain bike demo, available to anyone interested in testing out top-quality bikes.
— ELLIS BENSON
Spokatopia • Sat, June 21 from 9 am-5 pm • Free admission • Camp Sekani • 6722 E. Upriver Drive • spokatopia.com
GET LISTED!
Submit events online at Inlander.com/getlisted or email relevant details to getlisted@inlander.com. We need the details one week prior to our publication date.
COMMUNITY FESTIVE FOR FREEDOMS
Get together to celebrate Juneteenth, the holiday marking the anniversary of when Gen. Gordon Granger rode to Galveston, Texas, in 1865 and announced the freedom of over 250,000 African Americans enslaved there more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863. Coordinated by the Inland Northwest Juneteenth Coalition, the annual event at Grant Park honors the holiday, highlights the struggles of marginalized communities, and celebrates with child-friendly activities as well as a community vendor fair providing resources and information. Fuel up at the different food vendors, and boogie to some live music. On the same day at 5 pm there’s also a freedom walk coordinated by Idaho for ALL starting at 501 E. Wallace Ave. in Coeur d’Alene and heading toward at Independence Point.
— DORA SCOTT
Juneteenth Park Celebration • Thu, June 19 from noon-4 pm • Free • Grant Park • 1015 S. Arthur St. • inwjc.org
COMMUNITY KIDS-GO-ROUND
Bring the kiddos to the Riverfront Kids Festival this weekend for some free summer fun! During the festival, children age 12 and under receive complimentary tickets to two of Spokane’s most iconic attractions: the Looff Carrousel and the Numerica Skyride. Free skate rentals are also offered to kids at the Numerica Skate Ribbon, while adults and those over 13 are still welcome to buy tickets and rentals. Even though the festival has “kids” in its name, all ages are invited to engage their creative side at arts and crafts booths, and grab a bite at one of the local food trucks standing by. It’s a perfect way to kick off the summer vacation and make family memories in the heart of downtown Spokane.
— MARTA SZYMANSKA
Riverfront Kids Festival • Sun, June 22 from 10 am-8 pm • Free • Riverfront Park • 507 N. Howard St. • riverfrontspokane.org
I SAW YOU
DON’T LOSE YOURSELF I knew a guy in college//he used to be a writer//He was dealing with anxiety even then//We stayed up late watching Adult Swim//Nothing lasts forever//I heard you are going through a dark time//your name will not be mentioned// This goes to anyone who catches//a glint of themselves in this reflection//Don’t lose yourself//You are not lost
DANGER DAZE I’m kicking myself for not talking to you in person, but I was hoping you’d do a second song. Your energy was fantastic, keep it up! Shine your light, on and off the stage. I hope you come out again next month! -GMB
RE: B&N KILTEDHELLDIVER The email you included does not work. Check for typos. Hope you got a reply. bardsbrood@gmail.com
CHEERS
YOU ARE AMAZING Sorry Grandma couldn’t stay up to meet your first flight, but so glad you came to stay! No trying on pants or stealing toilet paper, but I love that with no schedule or plan, we still make MEMORIOS!! Come back any time - you are always welcome and are stuck being part of this family!
TO THE INLANDER Thanks so much for having the “I Saw You” section of the Inlander. It is pretty much the only public forum in the greater Spokane region to
express thoughts on a casual but broad basis that I am aware of. As such, I hope the Inlander continues well into the future.
SPOKANE’S MAGNIFICENT IMMIGRANT COMMUNITY Cheers to Spokane’s immigrant community. You represent many cultures adding valuable diversity to the Inland Northwest. Many U.S. born members of our community appreciate you and what you add to our city. You are hardworking, kind and peaceful people. Wishing you success as you navigate these troubling times. Many of us love you and are grateful for your presence in this imperfect city and country.
RESPECTFUL ACT AT GREENWOOD To the young man who spent a good two hours on Father’s Day, June 15th, meticulously cleaning Sonora Smart Dodd’s memorial site at Greenwood Memorial Park, thank you. I drove by and saw you scrubbing away grime and overgrown moss, all while skillfully dodging the sprinkler that seemed determined to douse your efforts every two minutes. After you left, I went and checked it out, and it looked absolutely amazing! Your dedication to honoring her was truly remarkable, and it was clear you were performing an act of thoughtful respect. Your effort on Father’s Day did not go unnoticed. You brightened a corner of Spokane and honored a significant figure in a beautiful way. Well done!
JEERS
RUINING THE NIGHT ONE BACKFIRE AT A TIME I saw you …not just one of you, but all of you, roaring down the street like you’re allergic to peace and quiet. You’ve chopped up your exhaust to sound like a jackhammer filled with fireworks and for what? So your car can make gunshot noises while you do 60 in a 25? You’re not rebels. You’re not cool. You’re just loud, annoying, and one pothole away from a GoFundMe for your suspension. And to the City of Spokane …where are you? The rest of us are trying to live like normal human beings. But every night it’s the same circus: screeching tires, popping exhausts, engines howling like a dying lawn mower. You’ve got noise ordinances, you’ve got cops, maybe use them? Some of us have jobs. Some of us have kids. All of us have ears. Start ticketing. Start towing. Start pretending you give a damn. Because this isn’t a city at night …it’s a joke with no punchline, and we’re the ones losing sleep over it.
FOR ALL We did not grow up as Americans pledging freedom and justice for all, EACH MORNING, to not mean it for ALL. Watching parents ripped from their kids on the streets, at graduations, and courthouses accross America has collectively horrified the majority who haven’t been gaslighted into the current narrarive that says these people are criminals, deserve this, and that somehow justice is happening. We are a country made by immigrants, we are All immigrants! Exhale and remember, the majority of us care deeply about truth, kindness, and justice for all. Those who want you to feel hopeless and disempowered, (no
disabled is like. May you be treated as harshly when you reach that level. It’s not just you that is the problem, it’s everyone that sees (or refuses to see) a disabled person and doesn’t care about being careful. I used to be an abled person. Now I am realizing just how awful society treats the disabled. Empathy goes a long way folks, it’s a matter of time before you learn the harsh lesson I did
SPOKANE IS UNHEALTHY As I was trying to watch Jeopardy the other night, the local news cut in with a “breaking news” update. I thought it must have been terribly important but then quickly did a channel check of the
pledges for others’ rights?) are the real losers for humanity. We don’t need to change the words to the pledge, freedom will forever be a pure idea, it occurs spontaneously and without instruction, just like its name.
STILL GIVING ZERO HOOTS... I have to commend the submission beginning “I DON’T GIVE A HOOT...” from the June pride issue. During a recent visit to Spokane, I was crushingly disappointed to find the scourge of excessive car exhaust/engine noise had developed there, very much the way it has in Las Vegas. Besides the public safety matter of reckless driving, a regular occurrence here, this is absolutely a quality of life issue. And I agree completely with the previous writer, it is SHAMEFUL how law enforcement and city managers have ignored this obvious problem. To both of our cities, do better.
BOOK OF MORMON MORON So, I get it. It’s a big crowd of people and you want to get home or to your hotel. But you know what you do not have the right to do? Push a disabled man damn near to the ground because you can’t just wait or say excuse me. I’m paralyzed on one side of my body. I walk with a cane, and yes, I am a young person so people assume that I can’t be disabled. But you almost ran me over, you are an able-bodied man. Instead of using your abilities to find a safe route around or having a single ounce of patience, you pushed your way through and gave me an arrogant smirk when you almost mowed me down. Everyone finds out eventually in their lives what being
other local affiliates and saw that neither one had “breaking news.” Instead, they were showing game 3 of the NBA finals (much better viewing) and an episode of a game show (also much more interesting). However, during the commercials, I switched back to the “breaking news” of local protests. One of the biggest take aways I had by watching that was what an unhealthy city Spokane seems to be. Everyone is so incredibly over weight in Spokane. It’s actually quite amazing because Bloomsday is in Spokane as well as Hoop fest. Yet, the images on tv often just show some of the most unhealthy people ever. Spokane: Near nature. Near unhealthy people.
LICENSE TABS If people can’t pay for license tabs, it’s okay. In Spokane, a “law” is just an acronym for “let’s all weed.” It just means that if you can’t afford tabs because of other expenses like weed, that’s fine. Just pay for what you want, and let the rest take care of itself. The police are busy pushing drug addicts off the streets downtown and arresting slobs. So, enjoy man. Just enjoy. Spokane is a GREAT city. Don’t even license your car unless you want. They don’t do anything about it. Lots of temp plates on cars for years. No biggie. Just weed.
MAYBE 5% So was completely uniformed that it was “Street Communist Day” Saturday in Riverfront Park. My Republican dog and I (she’s a Very Responsible Lakeland Terrier) went for our afternoon walk. The SC were out in force. I’d bet real money that most of them couldn’t articulate what they
think our Great President is doing that they object to--OTHER than what they are fed by publications like this one? Let alone support this country through annual tax payments (Thus the 5% that looks like they do pay taxes) by working. FEW looked as though they could get a job at a coffee stand. Once again, my point? Why are those that actually pay for this country have to pay for those that don’t? Clearly these are Inlander type readers so maybe YOU (Inlander) can tell us!
I DIDN’T UNDERSTAND: When President Trump said he was going to throw out the illegal “Criminals,” I didn’t know it included the hairdresser my wife goes to or the nice grocery store lady. Or my mechanic. The boy Hector that helped us get to State last year. Didn’t understand about the ranch hands or ... the people I worshipped with at church. This is tearing my community and the towns that support my community apart! Grandpa will be rolling in his grave, but I have to vote for the other party next election. Besides, Grandma would be rolling in her grave if I didn’t do the right thing. I just didn’t understand
ENFORCEMENT
PLEASE Discussion or shaming will not change lawlessness. It’s not “Spokane has the WORST drivers,” it’s “Spokane has no traffic enforcement” and it’s obvious. The revenue for fixing potholes just raced down our single block at 45 mph, a tricked-out speedster followed by a $100,000 truck with oversized dual tires and no mudflaps. They could afford the fines. No matter it’s Sunday, Father’s Day, after hours or early morning, making people nervous and angry with street racing heard for miles. It’s only getting worse with no enforcement. SPD needn’t target older folks and vehicles with out of date tabs driving responsibly, there’s plenty of other targets. The new American Dream; be entitled, be wealthy and powerful enough to be above the laws, and be a law snubbing criminal who gets away with it. Perhaps the SPD respects and admires with nostalgia these traditional childish behaviors. The real losers here are the compliant citizens who pay increasing fees, taxes and prices for diminishing services. n
EVENTS | CALENDAR BENEFIT
BIG GAY DANCE PARTY This annual pride-themed dance party features dancing, drag performances, prizes, swag, giveaways and more. Proceeds support the Spokane AIDS Network. June 20, 8-11 pm. $5. nYne Bar & Bistro, 232 W. Sprague Ave. sannw.org (509-474-1621)
CHAOTIC FOR A CAUSE A fundraiser for Feed Spokane. Ticket purchase includes dinner at Chaos Arcade’s buffet, twohour unlimited gameplat and a raffle ticket. June 20, 6-8 pm. $30-$40. Chaos Arcade, 1020 W. Francis Ave. Suite H. feedspokane.org (509-770-2202)
WASTED GENIUS Wasted Genius performs a benefit concert for the Ferris HS Jazz Trip to New Orleans, LA for the National Jazz Education Network (JEN) Conference in January 2026. June 20, 6-9 pm. $25. Overbluff Cellars, 304 W. Pacific. ferrismusicparents.org
BRICK WEST BOXING This annual youth fight card and fundraiser, hosted by Spokane Boxing, will feature between 12 and 20 amateur boxing bouts. All proceeds support Spokane Boxing’s mission to provide local youth with mentorship, structure, and valuable life skills through the sport of boxing. June 21, 2-8 pm. Free. Brick West Brewing Co., 1318 W. First Ave. brickwestbrewingco.com (509-217-0731)
NAMIWALKS SPOKANE A walk around Riverfront Park to bring awareness to mental health. The event benefits NAMISpokane’s mental health programs, support groups and education initiatives. June 21, 10 am-1 pm. Free. Riverfront Park, 507 N. Howard St. namispokane.org
POST FALLS LIONS BREWFEST A day of sampling beers from local and regional breweries such as Matchwood Brewing Company, Outpost Brewing, Trails End Brewery, Paragon Brewing and many more. Benefits the Post Falls Lions Club’s service projects in the Post Falls area. June 28, 2-5 pm. $30. American Legion Post 143, 1138 E. Poleline Ave. facebook. com/PostFallsLionsClub (208-262-1122)
RYAN SANDVIG MEMORIAL GOLF
TOURNAMENT A 36 team, four-man scramble golf tournament raising money for aspiring pilots in the name of Ryan Sandvig who was killed in an aviation accident in 2024. Side games such as KP, longest drive and mulligans will raise additional money. June 28, 1-5:30 pm. $150-$600. MeadowWood Golf Course, 24501 E. Valleyway Ave. ryansandviggolftournament.my.canva.site
COMEDY
HOOPPROV This improv show celebrates the camaraderie, competition and sheer joy of the biggest 3-on-3 basketball tournament on the planet. Every Friday in June at 7:30 pm. $9. Blue Door Theatre, 319 S. Cedar St. bluedoortheatre.org
A FULLY-IMPROVISED MUSICAL Everything from the story, characters, songs and choreography are improvised in this musical. June 21, 7-8 pm. $16. Levity Theatre, 521 E. Lakeside. levitytheatre.com
EXPEDITION A family-friendly improv show featuring the Blue Door Theatre players playing a variety of improv games with audience suggestions. Every Saturday at 7:30 pm. $9. Blue Door Theatre, 319 S. Cedar St. bluedoortheatre.org
OPEN MIC MONDAY Hosted by local comedian Anthony Singleton, this open mic welcomes artists and entertainers of all genres. Open to all ages. Every second and fourth Monday of the month from 7-9 pm. Free. Lyyv Entertainment, 8712 E. Sprague Ave. lyyv.tv (509-557-3999)
NEW TALENT TUESDAYS Watch comedians of all skill levels work out jokes together. Tuesdays at 7 pm (doors at 6 pm). Free. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com
OPEN MIC STAND-UP Wednesdays at 7:30 pm. See website for sign-up details. Free. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com
RYAN MCCOMB Spokane native Ryan McComb comes home for a special set of stand up comedy. June 26, 7 pm. $20-$25. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com
PATRICK WARBURTON Patrick Warburton has come to stand up comedy as one of TV’s most beloved actors having played Puddy on Seinfeld. June 27, 7 pm and June 28, 7 & 9:45 pm. $30-$35. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com (509-318-9998)
IAN FIDANCE Ian Fidance is an offbeat yet upbeat New York City comic, actor, and writer originally from Wilmington, Delaware. June 29, 7 pm. $22-$32. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com (509-318-9998)
COMMUNITY
2025 WALLACE GYRO DAYS A community even featuring a carnival, kids activities, the Lead Creek derby and more. June 19-21. Free. Wallace. wallaceid.fun
scenes of Spokane’s iconic Garland Theater, with exclusive access to non-public areas like the projection room, boiler room, and behind the screen plus dinner from Red Dragon. June 19, 5:30-9 pm. $40. Garland Theater, 924 W. Garland Ave. spokanepreservation.org
FIRE: REBIRTH AND RESILIENCE An exhibition exploring the catastrophic 1889 fire that destroyed more of Spokane’s downtown core. The exhibit features information on historic and contemporary fires, illustrating how destruction is a catalyst for rebirth and resilience. Tue-Sun from 11 am-5 pm through Sept. 28. $9$15. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org
JUNETEENTH WALK A Juneteenth walk honoring the end of enslavement in the US and all who have been harmed by systemic racism. Walk begins at 501 E. Wallace Ave., in Coeur d’Alene and concludes with a celebratory gathering. June 19, 5-7 pm. Free. St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 501 E. Wallace Avenue. (253-279-3316)
PRIDE HISTORY & REMEMBRANCE
EXHIBIT An exhibit featuring gowns, archival photographs and rarely seen artifacts from the LGBTQIA2S+ community, showcasing the rich and diverse culture of Spokane over the decades. Daily from 10 am-5 pm through June 30, 10 am-5 pm. Free. Central Library, 906 W. Main Ave. spokanelibrary.org (509-444-5336)
SPOKANE JUNETEENTH CELEBRATION
An event honoring the history and significance of Juneteenth featuring childfriendly activities, vendors, food, and more. June 19, 12-4 pm. Free. Grant Park, 1015 S. Arthur St. INWJC.org
FOREST CEMETERY WALKING TOUR
These guided tours through Forest Cemetery offer an immersive journey through time, highlighting the stories of notable figures and local legends. Every Friday at 8:30 pm. Museum of North Idaho, 115 Northwest Blvd. museumni.org
INLAND NORTHWEST JUNETEENTH
COALITION PILLAR AWARDS A black carpet event that aims to acknowledge and celebrate those who uplift the local African-American community. June 20, 6 pm. Free. The Fox Theater, 1001 W. Sprague Ave. inwjc.org (509-624-1200)
SUMMER KICKOFF NIGHT MARKET & RESOURCE FAIR A vendor market featuring food trucks, a game area, live music, community resources and more. June 20, 4-8 pm. Free. Innovation High School, 811 E. Sprague. innovationspokane.org
VINTAGE MARKET DAYS An upscale, open air market featuring vintage and vintage-inspired collections from vari-
ous vendors. June 20-22, Fri & Sun from 11 am-4 pm, Sat from 10 am-5 pm. $10$15. Kootenai County Fairgrounds, 4056 N. Government. vintagemarketdays.com
SIEMERS FARM ANNUAL STRAWBERRY
FESTIVAL This annual festival features U-pick strawberries, local craft and food vendors, rides, attractions and more. SatSun from 10 am-4 pm through June 29. $6-$8. Siemers Farm, 11125 E. Day-Mt. Spokane Rd. siemersfarm.com
BAZAAR The region’s largest all-local art market with over 140 vendors as well as food, local music and more. Located on Main Ave. in front of River Park Square. June 21, 11 am-8 pm. Free. River Park Square, 808 W. Main Ave. terrainspokane.com (509-624-3945)
COMMUNITY MUTUAL AID A free event focused on doling out mutual aid to the community through sharing clothing items, food and more. No ID required. Donations and volunteers welcome. Located at the corner of State and Pacific streets. Third Saturday of each month from 7-8:30 pm. Free. Downtown Spokane. instagram.com/lilacmutualaid
DOG DAYS OF SUMMER FEST Bring your dog (on a leash) and enjoy dog vendors, bouncy houses, food and more. June 21, 11 am-2 pm. Free!. Stoddard Park, 2355 W. Prairie Ave. cityofhaydenid.us
FAIRY FESTA A fandom event celebrating magic, music, dance, art and more. Two days of interactive activities and vendors for all ages. June 21-22, daily from 10 am-4 pm. Free. Spokane Gallery and Framing, 409 S. Dishman Mica Road. spokane-gallery.myshopify.com
FAMILY PRIDE CELEBRATION Celebrate pride at the library with activities including crafts, science experiments, games and more to promote togetherness and inclusivity in the community. June 21, 1-3 pm. Free. Central Library, 906 W. Main Ave. spokanelibrary.org (509-444-5300)
HONORING TRADITION: THE ARTS & CRAFTS LEGACY This special guided tour will focus on how the Arts and Crafts Movement influenced the architecture and decor of The Campbell House and so many others from that period. It will highlight fun stories and how original objects have returned to the house they once belonged. June 21, 11 am. $12-$15. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org
PARISIENNE PARLOR FASHION EXHIBITION A debut salon fashion show where you can wear your finest cocktail attire for an evening of performance and revelry. A ticket includes: reserved seating, a glass of bubbles, raffle, memora-
bilia and a photo booth. June 21, 5-7 pm. $40. Sauvage Zsa, 122 S. Monroe St. Suite D. sauvagezsa.com (509-808-0113)
SLIPPERY GULCH An annual celebration in the town of Tekoa featuring a parade, fishing derby, golf specials, activities, games, live music and more. See website for full schedule. June 21, 7:30 am-10 pm. Free. Tekoa, Wash. slipperygulch.com
TASTE OF ASIA & PHILIPPINE FRIENDSHIP FESTIVAL Experience the richness of Filipino traditions with music, dance, food and fun for the whole family. Hosted by the Filipino American Northwest Association (FANA). June 21, 10 am-4 pm. Free. Riverfront Park, 507 N. Howard St. aanhpispokane.org (509-590-6613)
CRIBBAGE TOURNAMENT Seasoned and beginner cribbage players are invited to play in this daylong tournament with a single elimination and round robin format. June 22, 1-6 pm. Free. Natural 20 Brewing Company, 13216 E. Sprague Ave. natural20brewing.com (509-919-3595)
RIVERFRONT KIDS FEST A family-focused event designed to celebrate and support children and families throughout Spokane featuring free attraction tickets and skate rentals for all kids ages 12 and under, carrousel rides and food trucks. June 22, 10 am-8 pm. Free. Riverfront Park, 507 N. Howard St. riverfrontspokane.com (509-625-6600)
SUNDAYS AT THE CROSBY HOUSE A series of educational workshops featuring local authors, historians and various experts who share information about Bing Crosby and his hometown. June 22, 3:30 pm. Free. Crosby House Museum, 508 E. Sharp Ave. gonzaga.edu
DROP IN & ZINE Drop in and learn how to make your very own eight-page minizine using a single piece of paper and Spark’s art supplies. Every Tuesday from 5-7 pm Free. Spark Central, 1214 W. Summit Pkwy. spark-central.org
BRAIN HEALTH CARNIVAL Learn about brain health, how to reduce risks of dementia, play games and more. June 25, 1-4 pm. Free. Aging & Long Term Care of Eastern Washington, 1313 N Atlantic St., Ste. 3000. altcew.org (509-777-1629)
STORIES FROM THE VAULT: BUSINESS IN BOOMTOWN! Explore early Spokane history as you traverse Campbell House and view specially selected artifacts and photos from the MAC’s collection. Stop by stations throughout the house to learn about early Spokane businesses and owners. June 25, 6-7 pm. $4.50-$6. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org
EVENTS | CALENDAR
SHIBARI AND FLOW: PRIDE NIGHT Local performers put on a pride-themed shibari show featuring aerialists, drag shows and more. June 26, 7 pm. $35. The Chameleon, 1801 W. Sunset Blvd. chameleonspokane.com
BROWNES ADDITION WALKING TOUR:
THEN & NOW Take a stroll and look at the changes our corner of Browne’s Addition has undergone for more than a century. Use actual locations and historic photos to highlight key aspects that are important to the neighborhood and the Campbell House family. June 28, 11-11:50 am. $12-$15. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org (509-456-3931)
COEUR D’ALENE AVIATION AIR SHOW & EXPO An airshow featuring aerobatic displays, exhibits and static displays. Also features family-friendly activities. June 28, 10 am-4 pm. Free. Coeur d’Alene Aviation, 11101 N. Airport Dr. flycoe.com
INLAND NORTHWEST BOOK ARTS SOCIETY MEET-UP INWBAS meets monthly to practice and learn different aspects of book arts. Each meeting of the Inland Northwest Book Art Society features a different technique. June 28, 10-11:30 am. Free. The Hive, 2904 E. Sprague Ave. spokanelibrary.org (509-444-5300)
PRIDE IN PERRY 2025 A pride celebration taking place in Spokane’s Perry District featuring local vendors, entertainment, art, food specials and more. June 28. Free. South Perry Business District. odysseyyouth.org/prideinperry
SANDPOINT RENAISSANCE FAIRE A family-friendly event that brings history to life through immersive experiences, performances, and entertainment inspired by the Medieval and Renaissance eras. Includes live performances, artisan vendors, games, demonstrations and a variety of food and drink. June 28-29, 10 am-6 pm. $14-$18. Bonner County Fairgrounds, 4203 N. Boyer Rd. sandpointrenfaire.com (208-263-8414)
FILM
FRIDAY NIGHT MOVIE: FIRE Two women are isolated in their marriages with neglectful husbands while sharing a house in New Delhi. Radha and Sita comfort each other and form a relationship where they find companionship and love. June 20, 6:30 pm. $8. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org (509-456-3931)
SUMMER MOONLIGHT MOVIES: THE WILD ROBO: A free screening of The Wild Robot in Airway Heights’ Sunset Park. Bring lawn chairs, blankets and snacks. Movie begins at dusk. June 20. Free. Sunset Park, 924 S. Lawson St. ariwayheightsparksandrec.org
JAWS When a massive killer shark unleashes chaos on a beach community off Long Island, it’s up to a local sheriff, a marine biologist, and an old seafarer to hunt the beast down. Shown on 35mm film. June 21, 7:30 pm. $10. Garland Theater, 924 W. Garland. garlandtheater.org
SUMMER OF STUDIO GHIBLI: GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES A young boy and his little sister struggle to survive in Japan during World War II. June 21, 5 pm and June 22, 3 pm. $5. Garland Theater, 924 W. Garland Ave. garlandtheater.org
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN Set against the sweeping vistas of Wyoming and Texas, the film tells the story of two young men who meet in the summer of 1963, and unexpectedly forge a lifelong connection. June 22, 7 pm and June 25, 4 & 7
pm. $8. The Kenworthy, 508 S. Main St. kenworthy.org
CINEMA CLASSICS: OCEAN’S 11 Danny Ocean gathers a group of his World War II compatriots to pull off the ultimate Las Vegas heist. Together the eleven friends plan to rob five Las Vegas casinos in one night. June 22, 4-6 pm. $8. The Kenworthy, 508 S. Main St. kenworthy.org
SANDLOT INTERACTIVE MOVIE NIGHT
The Spokane Regional Domestic Violence Coalition hosts and interactive screening of The Sandlot featuring fun surprise and interactive movie kits available for purchase. June 24, 6-8 pm. $15. Garland Theater, 924 W. Garland Ave. garlandtheater.org (509-327-1050)
SPACEBALLS A star-pilot for hire and his trusty sidekick must come to the rescue of a princess and save Planet Druidia from the clutches of the evil Spaceballs. June 24, 7 pm. $5-$8. The Kenworthy, 508 S. Main St. kenworthy.org
MOONLIT MOVIES: HOSIERS A screening of Hosiers under the stars. Film begins at sunset. June 25. Free. Commellini Estate, 14715 N. Dartford Dr. commellini. com (509-466-0667)
THE WILD ROBOT A screening of The Wild Robot as part of the Garland’s free kids movies series. June 26, 11 am and June 27, 11 am. Free. Garland Theater, 924 W. Garland Ave. garlandtheater.org
HAYDEN MOVIE-IN-THE-PARK KICK-
OFF A free showing of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 with Richie’s Dawg House selling concessions and free popcorn while supplies last. June 27, 8:30-10:30 pm. Free. McIntire Family Park, 8930 N. Government Way. cityofhaydenid.us
FOOD & DRINK
SUNSET DINNER CRUISES A buffet featuring baked salmon, roasted beef, summer salads and more. Cruise length is two hours. Daily at 7:30 pm through Sept. 1. $57-$84. The Coeur d’Alene Resort, 115 S. Second. cdacruises.com (208-765-4000)
WINE TASTING WITH STEVE WELLS Wine tasting with Steve Wells winemaker/owner of Time & Direction a small production winery located in Walla Walla, WA. They specialize in Rhone varieties such as Syrah, Grenache, and Viognier. June 19, 5-7 pm. $20. Stylus Wine and Vinyl Bar, 2605 N. Fourth St., Suite 105. styluswineandvinylbar.com (208-819-7348)
RIDE & DINE SERIES A scenic gondola ride, live music and a barbecue meal. June 20-Aug. 29, Fri from 3-7:30 pm. $9$46. Silver Mountain Resort, 610 Bunker Ave. silvermt.com (208-783-1111)
THAI COOKING: FRESH AND FRIED
ROLLS Learn how to makeThai rolls and fry them to perfection. Then, master the art of cooking chicken satay. June 20, 5-7:30 pm. $85. The Kitchen Engine, 621 W. Mallon. thekitchenengine.com
AFTERNOON TEA A celebration of culinary artistry and the finest teas, curated to provide a sensory journey for guests and inspired by Spokane’s nickname, the Lilac City. Every Saturday and Sunday from 1-3 pm. $54-$64. Historic Davenport Hotel, 10 S. Post St. davenporthotelcollection.com (800-899-1482)
THE OFFICIAL PRIDE BAR CRAWL
This pride-themed bar crawl features themed-drinks, dancing, toasts and photo opportunities. June 21, 4-11:59 pm. $10. Fast Eddie’s, 1 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. CrawlWith.US (612-460-0094)
BRUNCH WITH A VIEW Brunch on Nectar’s patio. Your first bellini or mimosa is included with the purchase price. June 22, 11 am-1 pm. $25. Nectar Wine and Beer, 1331 W. Summit Pkwy. nectarcateringandevents.com (509-951-2096)
SUMMER WINE SIP & SHOP A sommelier-led taste and shop event. Class fee credited back when you purchase six bottles. June 22, 1-3 pm. $60. Cellar & Scholar, 15412 E. Sprague Ave. cellarandscholar.com (509-218-6226)
MUSIC & CONCERTS
SUMMER SOLSTICE SUNSET CONCERT Watch the sunset in a beautiful outdoor setting while a small ensemble performs from the BeethoVan, the Spokane Symphony’s mobile concert stage. June 20, 8:20 pm. Free. Mirabeau Park Meadows, 13500 Mirabeau Parkway. foxtheaterspokane.org (509-688-0300)
SATURDAY WITH THE SYMPHONY The Coeur d’Alene Symphony performs, puts on aninteractive activity and a book is read by the children’s librarian. Every third Saturday at 11 am. Free. Coeur d’Alene Public Library, 702 E. Front Ave. cdalibrary.org (208-769-2315)
LEAVENWORTH INTERNATIONAL ACCORDION CELEBRATION: A celebration of all things accordion featuring competitions, workshops, concerts, free lessons, an accordion parade, vendors and jam sessions. June 26, 12-9 pm, June 27, 9 am-9 pm and June 28, 9 am-9 pm. Free. Leavenworth, Wash. accordioncelebration.org (206-622-4786)
SPOKANE SYMPHONY AT BRICK WEST Enjoy beer and food and enjoy this small ensemble concert crafted by Spokane Symphony musicians like Mateusz Wolski and more. June 26, 7 pm. Free. Brick West Brewing Co., 1318 W. First Ave. foxtheaterspokane.org (509-279-2982)
SPORTS & OUTDOORS
RIVERFRONT MOVES: MAT PILATES
A dynamic pilates class with core work, hip work, mobility and feel good movement with River City Pilates June 19, 6-7 pm and July 19, 10-11 am. Free. Spokane Pavilion, 574 N. Howard St. riverfrontspokane.org (509-625-6000)
SPOKANE INDIANS VS. EVERETT
AQUASOX Regular season home games. Promotional schedule includes: King Carl Night (June 19), Educator Appreciation & Fireworks Night (June 20), Star Wars & Fireworks Night (June 21) and Native Culture Day Game (June 22). June 19, 6:35 pm, June 20-21, 7:05 pm and June 22, 1:05 pm. $11-$30. Avista Stadium, 602 N. Havana. spokaneindians.com
DYNAMIC DECADES 2025 ICEADELICS
ICE SHOW A bi-annual ice show promoting the art and sport of figure skating to the greater Spokane community. This event showcases the Lilac City Figure Skating Club members of all ability levels as well as the Learn to Skate students. June 20, 7-9 pm and June 21, 2-4 & 7-9 pm. $15-$20. Eagles Ice-A-Rena, 6321 N. Addison St. lilacskate.com
RIVERFRONT MOVES: SUMMER SOLSTICE YOGA A vinyasa flow practice with gentle challenges and moments of relaxation by instructors from The Union. June 20, 7-8 pm. Free. Spokane Pavilion, 574 N. Howard St. riverfrontspokane.org
HISTORIC WALKING TOURS Join local historian Chet Caskey for a free walking tour of Riverfront Park. Learn the rich history of the Spokane Falls, Expo ‘74, the U.S. Pavilion, the Clock Tower, the Looff Carrousel and more. Tours will begin at the Visitor Center located next to the Rotary Fountain. June 21, 10 am & noon. Free. Riverfront Park, 507 N. Howard St. riverfrontspokane.org (509-625-6600)
INTERNATIONAL DAY OF YOGA A large gathering of yoga enthusiasts to celebrate International Day of Yoga. Meets at Duncan Garden. June 21, 10:30 am-noon. Free. Manito Park, 1800 S. Grand Blvd.
SPOKANE BIKE PARTY A flat, easy bike ride starting and ending in Kendall Yards. June 21, 7 pm. Free. Olmsted Brothers Green, N. Nettleton St. and Summit Pkwy. instagram.com/spokane_rides
SPOKATOPIA A festival celebrating the outdoors featuring mountain biking, local brews and a variety of outdoor activities. June 21, 9 am-5 pm. $10-$100. Camp Sekani, 67070 E. Upriver Dr. spokatopia. com (509-625-6200)
HAYDEN BIKE RODEO An annual bike rodeo for ages 5-12 years including an obstacle course, helmet testing and bike tune-ups. June 25, 10:30 am-noon. Free. Hayden Library, 8385 N. Government Way. cityofhaydenid.us (208-209-1080)
WEDNESDAYS IN THE WOODS An educational presentation on different topics relating to the outdoors. See website for topic list. Every Wed from 6:30-8 pm through June 25. Free. Riverside State Park Bowl & Pitcher, 4427 N. Aubrey L. White Parkway. parks.wa.gov
2ND ANNUAL PANHANDLE PICKLEBALL TOURNAMENT A three-day, round robin pickleball tournament in support of specialized needs recreation. June 27-29, 8 am-5 pm. $45-$75. Cherry Hill Park, 1718 N. 15th St. pickleballisgreat.com
HOOPFEST The largest three-on-three basketball tournament in the world played annually in downtown Spokane. June 28-29 from 7:30 am-6 pm. $100$205; free to spectate. Downtown Spokane. spokanehoopfest.net
WILDFLOWER WALK Take a guided hike with area experts to look for various wildflowers in nature. Meet at Yoke’s Fresh Market on Market. June 28, 9 am-4 pm. $67. Yoke’s Fresh Market, 14202 N. Market St. my.spokanecity.org
THEATER & DANCE
BRYAN HARNETIAUX PLAYWRIGHTS’ FORUM FESTIVAL A showcase of new one-acts by playwrights from across the region. The festival is performed in two separate sets on alternating days. See website for list of shows, dates and times. June 19-22; times vary. $10-$15. Spokane Civic Theatre, 1020 N. Howard St. spokanecivictheatre.com (509-325-2507)
MAMMA MIA! On the eve of her wedding, this musical tells the tale of a daughter’s quest to discover the father she’s never known by bringing three men from her mother’s past back to the island they last visited decades ago. Tue-Sat at 7:30 pm, Sat also at 2 pm, Sun at 1 pm and 6:30 pm through June 22. First Interstate Center for the Arts, 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. broadwayspokane.com (509-279-7000)
THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE Young Frederic, an orphan, has mistakenly been apprenticed to an ineffectual but merry band of pirates. June 20-July 6, Wed-
Sun at 7:30 pm. $25-$48. University High School, 12320 E. 32nd Ave. svsummertheatre.com (509-368-7897)
TOPDOG/UNDERDOG This play tells the story of Lincoln and Booth, two brothers whose names were given to them as a joke, foretelling a lifetime of sibling rivalry and resentment. Fri-Sat at 7:30 pm, Sun at 2 pm through June 29. $25$30. Stage Left Theater, 108 W. Third Ave. stagelefttheater.org
LINE DANCE A weekly exercise class designed for all ages and fitness levels, offering a fun and welcoming atmosphere. Presented by the Filipino American Association of the Inland Empire. 10:30-11:30 am. Free. Shadle Library, 2111 W. Wellesley Ave. spokanelibrary.org
SPOKANE FOLKLORE SOCIETY CONTRA DANCE A community dance starting with a beginner workshop 15 minutes before each dance. No partner needed. Every Wednesday at 7:15 pm. $7-$10. Woman’s Club of Spokane, 1428 W. Ninth. spokanefolklore.org (509-838-5667)
HELLO, DOLLY! This musical follows the romantic and comic exploits of Dolly Levi, turn-of-the-century matchmaker and “woman who arranges things.” June 27-July 6; times vary. $50-$192. Schuler Performing Arts Center, 880 W. Garden Ave. cstidaho.com
VISUAL ARTS
J. CASEY DOYLE: MANY Sculptural and functional work by J. Casey Doyle, a professor of art and design at the University of Idaho. Wed-Fri from 11 am-5 pm through June 27. Free. Trackside Studio, 115 S. Adams St. tracksidestudio.net
BERNADETTE BEEMAN & CHARLES
AYARS Bernadette Beeman showcases watercolor, pencil and arylic artworks while Charles Ayars displays photographs of natural landscapes. Daily from 11 am-7 pm through June 29, 11 am-7 pm. Free. Pottery Place Plus, 203 N. Washington St. potteryplaceplus.com
ARTVANA PAINT AND SIP CLASS A professional instructor will guide you step-by-step as you create your own masterpiece. June 19, 6 am-8:30 pm. $45. Black Label Brewing Co., 19 W. Main Ave. artvana.life (320-805-0206)
BEN FRANK MOSS: PRESENCE AND ABSENCE A collection of paintings and drawings by Ben Frank Moss, a Whitworth University graduate and instructor at Gonzaga University. Mon-Sat from 10 am-4 pm through Aug. 30. Free. Jundt Art Museum, 200 E. Desmet Ave. gonzaga.edu/jundt (509-313-6843)
2025 SPOKANE WATERCOLOR SOCIETY SIGNATURE MEMBERS SHOW A collection of paintings from the Signature Members of the Spokane Watercolor Society. These senior members have a strong grasp of the medium and the ability to express themselves. Daily from 11 am-7 pm through June 28, 11 am-7 pm. Free. Liberty Building, 203 N. Washington. spokanelibertybuilding.com
HILLYARD ART WALK Wander the historic Market Street Corridor to explore pop-up art galleries in neighborhood shops, live music, historic spaces, and hands-on art activities. Every third Thursday from 4-7 pm. Free. Hillyard, Spokane. hillyardspokane.org/artwalk
INTRO TO OIL PAINT This is a beginner friendly course designed to introduce techniques and creative possibilities of oil paint. Over the course of the class, students will explore essential color the-
ory, learn how to mix and apply paint and develop a strong understanding of light shadow and form with instructor Carly Ellis. June 19-July 24, Thu from 5:30-7:30 pm. $213. Spokane Art School, 503 E. Second Ave., Ste. B. spokaneartschool.net (509-325-1500)
JAMES DHILLON: PAST IS PRESENT
James Dhillon presents immersive and expressive work in this new exhibit. Times vary, through June 30. Free. D2 Gallery and Studio, 310 W. First Ave. D2gallerystudio.com (509-309-6754)
MASTER OF FINE ARTS THESIS EXHIBITION A collection of work from current WSU Master of Fine Arts candidates Cameron Kester, Anna Le, Abigail Nnaji and Sara St. Clair. Tue-Fri from 11 am-2 pm, Sat from 10 am-4 pm through June 28. Free. Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art WSU, 1535 NE Wilson Road. museum.wsu.edu
THOM CARAWAY & KAT SMITH: IN PRINT, OUT OF PRINT Working at the intersection of visual art and the written word, Thom Caraway and Kat Smith explore de- and re-constructing printed material into genre-blurring collages, prints, sculptures and other works. Thu-Sat from 4-7 pm through June 28. Free. Terrain Gallery, 628 N. Monroe. terrainspokane.com
YOUR COLLECTION: FACULTY REMIX
EXHIBITION This unique showcase brings together works by WSU studio art faculty and highlights their creative dialogue with the museum’s permanent collection. Through thoughtful curation, faculty artworks are placed alongside pieces from the permanent collection, sparking conversations across time, space and artistic expression. Tue-Fri from 11 am-2 pm, Sat from 10 am-4 pm through June 28. $0. Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art WSU, 1535 NE Wilson Rd. museum.wsu.edu
MOSAIC FLOWER POT Learn the art of mosaic by transforming an ordinary flower pot into a vibrant, one-of-akind piece! In this hands-on class you’ll explore techniques, work with colorful tiles, and master the basics of cutting, arranging and grouting with instructor Gwyn Pevonka. June 20, 1-4 pm. $62. Spokane Art School, 503 E. Second Ave., Ste. B. spokaneartschool.net
TEA & KIKI Join Drag Thing T.S. Loveless AKA Lich Wyrmwood for an evening of tea, treats and crafts. There are no limits on experience level for this group whether you are a drag aficionado, new to the scene, or just interested in getting your start. Every third Friday from 6-8 pm. Free. Lunarium, 1925 N. Monroe St. lunariumspokane.com
FLOWER POUNDING ON PAPER
Learn the craft of flower pounding with fresh flowers on paper to make cards, pictures, bookmarks and more with instructor Maria Andrus. June 24, 10-11:30 am. $46. Spokane Art School, 503 E. Second Ave., Ste. B. spokaneartschool.net (509-325-1500)
OPEN STUDIO Stop by The Hive to see what current Artists in Residence are up to, and tour the building. Every Wednesday from 4-7 pm. Free. The Hive, 2904 E. Sprague Ave. spokanelibrary.org (509-444-5300)
ECO-PRINTED ACCORDION JOURNAL In this class students make one accordion style journal using the eco print process instructed by Nan Drye. June 28, 1-4 pm. $70. Spokane Art School, 503 E. Second Ave., Ste. B. spokaneartschool.net (509-325-1500)
PRESTON SINGLETARY: RAVEN AND THE BOX OF DAYLIGHT An immersive exhibition that tells the Tlingit story of Raven and his transformation of the world. Featuring works from internationally acclaimed artist Preston Singletary, the exhibition takes visitors on a multi-sensory odyssey through the transformation of darkness into light, brought to life through narration, original music, coastal Pacific Northwest soundscapes and projected images. June 28-Jan. 4, Tue-Sun from 10 am-5 pm. $9-$12. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org (509-456-3931)
WORDS
FORAY PRESENTS: THE WORD A night for storytellers and poets to take center stage, celebrating the written and spoken word, followed by a Midsummer Reverie in celebration of the Summer Solstice. Co-hosted by local literary artists and Foray for The Arts organizers Sarah Rooney and Greg Bem. June 20, 5:30-7:30 pm. Free. Jupiter’s Eye Book Cafe, 411 W. First Ave. foray4thearts.org
STORYTIME AT THE CARROUSEL An early literacy program that includes stories, songs and preschool activities to spark young imaginations. Attendees receive carrousel rides for $1. Ages 2-5. Third Fri. of every month at 11 am. Free. Looff Carrousel, 507 N. Howard St. riverfrontspokane.org
SCLD ONLINE AUTHORS SERIES: KATHERINE APPLEGATE Award-winning author Katherine Applegate talks about her novel in verse, Odder. June 24, 1-2 pm. Free. scld.org
SUMMER STORYTIME An outdoor storytime featuring books, songs, parachute play and more. Geared toward kids ages 2-5, but all ages welcome. Tuesdays from 10-11 am through Aug. 12. Free. Liberty Park Library, 402 S. Pittsburgh St. spokanelibrary.org
TRAILS AND TALES This collaboration with Kaniksu Land Trust involves leading a hike while reading books along the way. Tuesdays at 9:30 am through July 29. Free. Pine Street Woods, 11915 W. Pine. ebonnerlibrary.org
AUNTIE’S BOOK CLUB: AFTERNOON (VIRUTAL) Discuss Peacock and the Sparrow by I.S. Berry at the June meeting over Zoom. June 24, 2-3 pm. Free. auntiesbooks.com (509-838-0206)
LYNN CAHOON: AN AMATEUR SLEUTH’S GUIDE TO MURDER Author Lynn Cahoon discusses her new novel, An Amateur Sleuth’s Guide to Murder, about a sleuth who solves crimes and writes about how. June 25, 6-7:30 pm. Free. The Well-Read Moose, 2048 N. Main. wellreadmoose.com
BROKEN MIC A weekly open mic reading series. Wednesdays at 6:30 pm; sign-ups at 6 pm. Free. Neato Burrito, 827 W. First Ave. bit.ly/2ZAbugD
GARDENBRARY A weekly storytime in the garden followed by a gardenfocused activity. Wednesdays at 10 am through July 30. Free. Sandpoint Library, 1407 Cedar. ebonnerlibrary.org
NEW OWNER & RETIREMENT CELEBRATION PARTY A party for new owner of BookPeople, as well as the retirement of the former owner of the bookstore with activities, giveaways and more. June 26, 4-8 pm. Free. BookPeople of Moscow, 521 S. Main. bookpeopleofmoscow.com n
The CBD Conundrum
Hemp and cannabis are the same plant, but the rules around each are different
BY WILL MAUPIN
Just the other day, a cashier at the neighborhood grocery store asked to see my ID. I wasn’t buying alcohol or tobacco, I was buying a CBD-infused seltzer water.
Think La Croix but instead of passionfruit or pamplemousse, it’s weed.
But just like La Croix, this seltzer is sold anywhere that wants to sell it. Unlike most cannabis products, it isn’t restricted to state-licenced dispensaries.
So, why are CBD-infused products available on grocery store shelves when other cannabis products are more regulated?
It comes down to semantics.
As far as the federal government is concerned, as far as the law says, cannabis isn’t just one plant. It’s two.
Hemp is the legal version of the plant biologically known as cannabis sativa. Cannabis, on the other hand, is federally illegal even though it also is cannabis sativa.
This distinction came about in 2018, when the federal government decided to define cannabis as any version of the cannabis sativa plant that contains more than 0.3% THC by dry weight.
If it has less, it’s classified as hemp.
Hemp is legal in the eyes of the federal gov-
ernment. Cannabis isn’t. Even though they’re the same thing.
Cannabis is cannabis no matter how much THC it contains. It’s the same plant. But the federal government carved out a special exemption for hemp, despite the reality that it’s the same biological species.
And that’s why you can buy CBD products at the grocery store, but you can’t buy ones containing THC. Because the federal government treats the same plant as different plants.
This might seem like a simple loophole, but it creates some serious regulatory issues. Because cannabis, as defined by both the federal and state government, is regulated very differently than hemp. The hemp-based products sold at grocery stores and gas stations aren’t subject to the same rules as cannabis sold at licensed dispensaries. Hemp-based products can be sold without undergoing testing for pesticides, toxins or even general quality control.
That’s not the case with cannabis products sold at dispensaries. Perhaps surprisingly, it’s the more illegal of the two products that consumers can have more faith in. When you buy cannabis from a licensed dispensary, you know what you’re getting. When you buy a hemp-based product, you have to trust the company that made it. n
Federal law uniquely allows hemp-derived products.
SHOPPING
GREEN ZONE
BE AWARE: Marijuana is legal for adults 21 and older under Washington State law (e.g., RCW 69.50, RCW 69.51A, HB0001 Initiative 502 and Senate Bill 5052). State law does not preempt federal law; possessing, using, distributing and selling marijuana remains illegal under federal law. In Washington state, consuming marijuana in public, driving while under the influence of marijuana and transporting marijuana across state lines are all illegal. Marijuana has intoxicating effects; there may be health risks associated with its consumption, and it may be habit-forming. It can also impair concentration, coordination and judgment. Do not operate a vehicle or machinery under the influence of this drug. Keep out of reach of children. For more information, consult the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board at www.liq.wa.gov.
NOTE TO READERS
Be aware of the differences in the law between Idaho and Washington. It is illegal to possess, sell or transport cannabis in the State of Idaho. Possessing up to an ounce is a misdemeanor and can get you a year in jail and up to a $1,000 fine; more than three ounces is a felony that can carry a five-year sentence and fine of up to $10,000. Transporting marijuana across state lines, like from Washington into Idaho, is a felony under federal law.
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DAILY SPECIALS
EARLY BIRD MONDAY 811AM
20% Off (excludes all pre-rolls)
OPEN EVERY DAY!
TOP SHELF TUESDAY 20% Off WAX WEDNESDAY
20% Off concentrates $20 or more
PREROLL THURSDAY
$1 off packs of 4 or less, 20% off 5 or more
FEATURED VENDOR FRIDAY
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SNACK SUNDAY 20% Off Edibles & Drinkables
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Sun-Thur 8am-10pm • Fri-Sat 8am-11pm | 2424 N. Monroe St • (509) 919-3470
WARNING: This product has intoxicating effects and may be habit forming. Cannabis can impair concentration, coordination, and judgment. Do not operate a vehicle or machinery under the influence of this drug. There may be health risks associated with consumption of this product. For use only by adults 21 and older. Keep out of the reach of children.
Tur n you r to-do s into ta-das.
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Help with college expenses
Start checking o your list with the help of a home equity line of credit from STCU.
To apply, go to stcu.org/heloc, call (509) 326-1954, or visit your nearest branch.
