Inlander 09/04/2025

Spokane’s water use is double the national average; parts of the river just ran dry

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MESH NIGHTMARE

Pelvic mesh meant to improve quality of life instead has created pain and severe complications for thousands of women

BY SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL

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hen you’re healthy, it’s easy to take life for granted. Making memories with loved ones, enjoying hobbies, travel and even holding down a job are all things we never expect to suddenly lose, as did Donna Miser, the subject of this week’s cover story. After EXCRUCIATING PAIN CAUSED BY A MEDICAL PROCEDURE forced her to stop working and focus entirely on seeking relief, Miser came to the Inlander hoping to share her story as a warning to others.

The cause of Miser’s nearly yearlong suffering, a mesh device inserted into the body to prevent urinary incontinence, something many women in their 40s and 50s may experience, became the focus of a statewide consumer protection lawsuit in 2016. While Miser hopes to undergo additional surgery so that she can return to her job and life as she once knew it, there’s no guarantee doctors can resolve her debilitating pain.

Her story sheds light on both the difficult decisions people must make regarding their health care, and how manufacturers of devices like the one she received may push people to try them without fully understanding all the risks.

— CHEY SCOTT, Editor

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WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE

MEMORY ASSOCIATED WITH THE SPOKANE RIVER?

GRETTA WIERSMA

I’ve only lived in Spokane about a year, so I would say my favorite memory is recently I went to, is it called, Riverside State Park? I went out there and went for a run and was exploring, and it was beautiful and I was super excited to find it. So that’s one of my only memories, but it’s my favorite.

TAMARA CHADWICK

I would say my favorite memory of the river is ongoing. When we have company come from out of town, our favorite place to take them is on the river and then around all the bridges, over the bridges, and everyone is always in awe of the gorgeous river.

MACKENZIE MCPHEE

Recently my husband and I just moved back here. I’m from Spokane, and he’s from Illinois, and he had never floated the river. We started at Indian Painted Rocks, and he got a paddleboard and I was in a kayak. We floated down the river, and it was like one of the most magical times. There’s like a part with a tree over the river that just seems like it’s from a different world. So it’s a cool place.

IRV BROUGHTON

Oh my gosh… Well, just seeing the power of the falls. I’ve taken photographs, and it’s just very exciting and enlivening to see the free flow of the waters. I have some very nice photos that I cherish and share with others.

ANNEKA MADSEN

I guess just walking down with my mom specifically on Sunday mornings. We’d go to Atticus and we would just stroll around Riverfront.

What do you like about Riverfront?

Honestly, I just love the river. It’s the best part.

8/28/25, ROCKWOOD BAKERY INTEVIEWS BY ELLIS BENSON

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– Tanisha Townsend, Cameron’s mom

Generous donations provided lifesaving equipment for baby Cameron, born 14 weeks early and weighing only 1 pound and 6 ounces. The Giraffe Omnibed helped him grow stronger until his mom could hold him for the first time.

“ It was the best feeling in the world to hold and touch my baby. Those who donated to make that technology available are absolute heroes.”

Help patients like baby Cameron: https://foundation.providence.org/wa/eastern

Recalibrating the Legal Limits

Lowering the legal blood alcohol limit for driving is the right decision to make Washington’s roads safer

BY ANDY BILLIG

Usually in the Legislature, we know how we are going to vote. Usually it’s an issue we have debated in previous years and have a position on record that is backed by research and values. Or, the bill is so obviously beneficial that everyone is voting yes (this is the most common scenario).

But every so often… maybe once or twice a session, a significant bill comes along that I had no idea how I would vote. An issue that had me truly on the fence, or a bill for which I did not have enough information.

In my last legislative session in 2024, the

biggest bil for which I had no idea how I would vote was SB 5067, which would lower the legal limit for DUI from the current .08 to .05. For bills like this I would often listen to the advocates on one side of the issue and think, “That makes a lot of sense, I am definitely voting yes.” Then, I would listen to advocates on the other side of the issue and think, “Now, that makes a lot of sense, I am definitely voting no.”

On SB 5067 there were strong but not wellsubstantiated claims from both sides of the issue. Some said that at the .05 BAC level, a small woman would be over the limit with just one glass of wine. Others said that .05 was the responsible choice, which is why most of the rest of the world had this as their legal limit. I was also told by the restaurant industry that lowering the legal limit to .05 would be a severe blow to the many small businesses that serve alcohol.

In 2024, nearly 12,000 people were charged with driving under the influence in Washington state. CHALABALA PHOTO/ADOBE STOCK

Idid not know what to believe because .05 and .08 are numbers that have little connection to reality for me. So, I used some majority leader prerogative and asked the Washington State Patrol to loan us a breathalyzer and teach me and my staff how to use it. I then invited a few senators and staff to join me in my office in the legislative building for some drinks and breathalyzing. (For the record, everyone who participated had to confirm their transportation home in a form that did not require them to drive.)

The results were overwhelming. It took a lot of drinking to reach .08 or even .05 for that matter. And even the smallest staff person with no food eaten recently did not hit .05 after one drink. For me, I did not hit .05 even after two drinks of 80 proof alcohol. By .08 it was very clear that I was well past the point where I should operate a motor vehicle.

I came away from that experiment with a dramatic movement from the fence to being firmly in support of the bill to lower the legal limit to .05. I let the prime sponsor of the bill, Sen. John Lovick, D-Mill Creek, who was a Washington state trooper for 31 years, and Sen. Marko Liias, D-Edmonds and chairman of the Senate

WHEN IS IT A DUI?

According to the Washington State Patrol, a driver may be charged with driving under the influence if the results of a breath or blood test show the amount of alcohol in the driver’s blood to be: .08 or higher for adults (21 and over).

.04 or higher for commercial vehicle drivers.

.02 or higher for minors (under 21).

Or if he or she is found to be driving a vehicle under the influence or affected by alcohol, any drug, or a combination of alcohol and drugs, regardless of the concentration of alcohol in their breath or blood.

Transportation Committee, know that they could count me as a yes on the bill. I assured them the bill would be scheduled for a Senate vote if we secured the requisite 25 votes to pass the bill.

The numbers are shocking and demand our attention: In 2024, 11,646 people were charged with driving under the influence, according to the Washington State Patrol. Of 810 traffic fatalities in 2023, Washington Traffic Safety Commission data shows that half of them involved a drug- or alcohol-impaired driver. That’s 400 lives ended because of an impaired driver.

The change to .05 is not about lowering consumption or increasing penalties; its about drinking responsibly. When people see the limit has been lowered, they self regulate. They drink and drive less. That’s exactly what happened the last time our state lowered the blood alcohol limit in 1999.

In the end, we fell short of those 25 votes, and the bill did not pass that year (2024) or in the 2025 session. But it’s the right policy because it will save lives, and I will continue to advocate for it to pass during the 2026 legislative session.

There were many issues that came before the Legislature where we would ask if there was a public policy answer to save a life or a dozen lives. This is a public policy choice with potentially hundreds of lives hanging in the balance.

I understand the opponents to the bill who are afraid that this policy will hurt their business. Well, I am part-owner and CEO of a business (the Spokane Indians Baseball Club and Spokane Chiefs Hockey Club) that sells beer and wine at their events. I don’t think this bill passing will have a significant impact on our business. But, if it does… it will be because someone who is on the margin of being unsafe to drive is educated about the risk and decides to forgo that last beer or glass of wine. I can live with that as a business owner, and everyone on the road can live as well. n

Andy Billig represented the 3rd District, covering much of Spokane, in the Washington Legislature starting in 2011 as a state representative. He became a state senator in 2013 and Senate majority leader in 2018; he did not run for reelection in 2024. Billig is the CEO of Brett Sports. You can reach him at andy@andybillig.com.

River Flows and Woes

A portion of the Spokane River ran dry last week. Can we do more to conserve water?

BY COLTON RASANEN

Two weeks ago, the Spokane Riverkeeper’s office received multiple reports that part of the Spokane River had run completely dry. By the time Water Protector Katelyn Scott made it out to the portion of the river between Sullivan and Barker roads on Aug. 23, she was met with a landscape of barren white rocks, small, warm pockets of water where the river typically flows freely, and the rotten smell of dead and dying aquatic life.

“I’ve lived here all my life, and I’ve never known sections of the river to go dry like that,” says Kitty Klitzke, a Spokane City Council member with 15 years of experience in environmental advocacy. “This is a big, complex issue, exacerbated by climate change and unnecessary water use.”

It’s not uncommon for the river’s flow to be low in the summer, but Scott says this year the river is the lowest she’s ever seen. Scott and officials describe what’s happening in the river as a “perfect storm” of sorts.

For the last four years Spokane has been in a drought, and according to the National Integrated Drought Information System, this year saw the driest June in the city’s history.

Scott notes the Post Falls Dam plays an important role in the Spokane River. Normally, the dam needs to let a minimum flow of 650 cubic feet per second through, but when water levels at Lake Coeur d’Alene are in danger of dropping too low before Labor Day, that minimum drops to 500 cubic feet per second.

These historically dry conditions also mean the region’s sole source of drinking water, the Spokane ValleyRathdrum Prairie Aquifer, has not been able to recharge to the levels it has in the past, Scott says. Water in the stretch of river between the Post Falls Dam and where there wasn’t any flow last week is connected to the aquifer. When the aquifer levels are low, more of the river drains into it.

“We’ve had dry years, we’ve had lower snow winters, we’ve had Post Falls Dam closed before. So what’s

happening here is a couple things,” Scott says. “One is they closed the dam about a week earlier than we’ve seen in past years. Normally, we make it through to midAugust, but this year, it was about a week earlier (Aug. 5) than we’ve seen previously.”

With all these interwoven factors it can be complicated to find solutions to the river’s depleted flow, but Scott says the way people can make the biggest difference is by examining their own water use.

“What we can do as a community right now is to take action at home,” she says. “Water conservation is really important for us to maintain water resources that we have, not just in the river, but in the aquifer itself.”

RULES WITHOUT ENFORCEMENT

In 2022, the Spokane City Council passed an ordinance creating a small set of summer (June 1-Oct. 1) water conservation regulations asking residents to avoid outdoor watering between 10 am and 6 pm and limit landscape irrigation to four days per week. When the Spokane River experiences drought conditions and flows below 900 cubic feet per second, these rules are expanded to ask residents not to use water to clean sidewalks or driveways and only irrigate their lawns twice a week.

Every year since it passed, the drought-impacted rules have gone into effect.

City Council member Michael Cathcart was one of the few council members to vote against the ordinance.

“I think the idea of water bans are sort of antithetical to what makes sense, and to how people generally operate on a daily basis. If your goal is to actually reduce water usage, then I think it’s the wrong strategy,” Cathcart says. “The reductions we’re seeing in water usage are stemming from more one-on-one coordination with the really high users and figuring out ways to mitigate it. There really is not a lot of data showing that the water ban itself is actually

contributing significantly towards that.”

When the ordinance was first introduced, it included penalties for residents who break the watering rules. Even though he didn’t support the ordinance, Cathcart introduced a proposal that would’ve instead added incentives for those who cut their water usage. For example, if a family were to cut its water use by 20% from the previous year, they would see a 25% reduction on their water bill.

By the time council members passed the ordinance, it didn’t include any penalties or incentives, effectively becoming voluntary regulations.

In contrast, most cities in California add fines for those who break water conservation rules. In Sacramento, which has a similar population to the number of people using our local aquifer, these fines are relatively small. While the first penalty is always a written notice, residents will see $25, $100 and $500 fines for subsequent violations.

Before the watering ordinance, the Spokane River was granted its very own water right from the state Department of Ecology under the 2015 instream flow rule, which basically says the river has the right to flow at certain levels during the year. In spring, the river is supposed to flow at a minimum of 6,500 cubic feet per second, but in the summer months that drops to 850 cubic feet per second.

While the Spokane River (which measured at 725 cubic feet per second on Aug. 29) has dropped below that flow rate almost every summer since the rule was enacted, a century-old Washington law only allocates water rights on a first come, first served basis. Since the instream flow rule was only made 10 years ago, it’s the most junior water right in Spokane, meaning there isn’t anything that Ecology can do to enforce it.

Although there isn’t much to do about the 1917 water law, Scott says a possible solution would be a long, grueling process called adjudication, where the Department of

In late August, the Spokane River ran dry on this stretch between the Old Mission Trailhead & Natural Area and North Barker Road in Spokane Valley. YOUNG

“RIVER FLOWS & WOES,”

Ecology can reallocate water rights to ensure a region’s water resources are being used properly. The Yakima River Basin is the only general stream adjudication that’s been completed for an entire watershed in Washington, and it took four decades to do.

According to Ecology’s Jimmy Norris, the department determined that the Spokane River watershed would benefit from this process, but ultimately the Washington Legislature provided funding and direction for other watersheds — including the Nooksack River and the Upper Columbia — to take higher priority in 2019. Both rivers’ adjudications were filed in 2023. Adjudication remains an avenue that Ecology could take in the future, but it’s not likely anytime soon, Norris says.

WISE ON WATER

On average, Spokanites use about 199 gallons of water per person per day, says Marlene Feist, director of Spokane Public Works.

That’s about the equivalent of flushing the toilet 124 times or a 90-minute shower, according to a 2016 national study from the Water Research Foundation. It’s also double the national average for water use (100 gallons per capita per day), and even surpasses the average use in scorching states like Arizona, Nevada and California.

“We know that in our region we overuse water in the summertime, and we have to do better as a community,” Feist says. “I can tell you that in many cases, our customers are using three and four times the amount of water they need to maintain a healthy landscape.”

Work has been done at the city’s parks and golf courses to mitigate the city’s overwatering, and it is now attempting to use only 130% of the water needed, Feist says via email.

Through identifying and repairing water leaks, installing more efficient irrigation systems, and sub-metering to closely monitor water use and performance, the city was able to save 12.5 million gallons of water in 2024 at its commercial and city-owned properties.

Just updating the koi pond at Manito Park a few years ago saves about 16 million gallons of water per year — that’s enough water to fill more than 24 Olympic-sized swimming pools. And when Cannon Hill Park’s leaking pond gets a new lining in the coming years, Feist estimates the city will see a similar amount of water saved.

Additionally, the city has introduced a handful of programs under the city’s water conservation effort Water Wise that are meant to encourage residential water users to conserve. There are rebates for those who install automated sprinklers in their yards or low-flow shower heads in their bathroom, and the city’s water department offers audits for folks to learn what is going right or wrong with their system.

“This is really about culture shift for our community, and culture shift takes time,” Feist explains. “We know that where we have touched [water] users, whether they be a business or an individual homeowner or a school, we see change. We’re able to make changes one at a time.”

Additionally, seven years ago the city introduced the SpokaneScape program, which offers Spokane residents a $500 utility bill credit if they choose to replace their green lawn with drought-resistant and native plants. Since its inception, about 430,000 square feet of turf grass has been replaced — that’s the equivalent of 10 acres, or eight baseball fields — with “ecologically beneficial landscapes,” Feist notes. Nearly 400 of these projects have been completed through 2024, saving approximately 11.5 million gallons of water.

Scott agrees the Water Wise and SpokaneScape programs have done a great job at incentivizing conservation, but she says that utility rebates and public education efforts are not effective enough.

“The programs that exist are a really great start, but voluntary measures can really only go so far, and there’s only so many people that are willing to follow a voluntary measure like that,” Scott says. “We’ve reached the point where those that want to comply are complying, and those that don’t comply are waiting for something stronger, whether that’s a change in our water rates, whether that’s a change to the watering ordinance. I don’t know what’s going to incentivize people to actually change, but we’re still using more water than the national average by a significant amount.”

For its part, the city of Spokane plans to continue its efforts to conserve water. Feist says one of the city’s upcoming goals is a systemwide upgrade of its water meters, which measure the amount of water each property has consumed. By automating these systems, the city’s water department and its customers will be able to see real-time data that isn’t currently available.

“You could, at that point, set up some sort of structure that charges a variable rate, that charges more when you use over so much, or that charges more when you water at noon rather than the evening hours,” she says, explaining that added penalties wouldn’t be a good way to convince people to save water. “Those kinds of things are possible, but really, I think what we’re trying to do is get people to effect these changes because it makes sense to them. Whatever their personal reason is, we want to give them the ability and the tools to make those changes.” n coltonr@inlander.com

Passing the Torch, er, Firehose

Spokane names new fire chief. Plus, man whose case sparked Spokane protest selfdeports, and WA bans harmful cosmetics

BY INLANDER STAFF

After nearly 40 years in the fire service, Spokane Fire Chief Julie O’Berg plans to retire in October. In an emailed announcement, O’Berg says she intended to retire in 2023 but agreed to serve as interim fire chief at the start of Mayor Lisa Brown’s administration and permanently moved into the role in April 2024, becoming the first woman to lead the department. Brown has named current Assistant Chief Tom Williams as Spokane’s next fire chief, effective Oct. 7. Williams has served as assistant fire chief since June 2020. Prior to his time in Spokane, he spent 30 years in various fire service roles across Oregon. “I am honored to lead the Spokane Fire Department following the retirement of Chief O’Berg. While I am saddened to see her step down, I am deeply grateful for the time we worked together. She is truly one of the finest Fire Chiefs I have ever had the privilege to serve alongside,” Williams said in the emailed announcement. “I am grateful to Mayor Brown for the opportunity to continue serving the Spokane community and to lead such a dedicated, skilled, and professional department.” (MADISON PEARSON)

FEELING HOPELESS

In June, protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement began after former Spokane City Council President Ben Stuckart tried to prevent a Venezuelan asylum-seeker whom he sponsored from being transported to the Tacoma immigrant detention facility. Now, after months in detention, Cesar Alexander Alvarez Perez has chosen to self-deport, according to Stuckart. “Being detained in a cell when you have done nothing wrong, are 21 and scared … leads to these decisions,” Stuckart wrote in a Facebook post on Aug. 28. “He is now being sent back to a horrible place he spent years escaping.” The nine people who were charged with impeding and assaulting federal law enforcement officers during the June protests, including Stuckart, Spokane Human Rights Commission member Justice Forral and Spokane Community Against Racism (SCAR) co-Executive Director Jac Archer, all pleaded not guilty on July 15 and are currently awaiting trial. (COLTON RASANEN)

CANCER-FREE COSMETICS

Did you know that shampoos, eyelash glue, nail polishes, and hair treatments might release formaldehyde? More importantly, did you know formaldehyde can cause cancer? Last week, Washington became the first state in the country to restrict more than two dozen chemicals used in cosmetics that can release formaldehyde, according to the state Department of Ecology. While the restrictions on “formaldehyde releasers” won’t take effect until Jan. 1, 2027, the department will host a webinar for retailers and distributors at 9 am on Oct. 1. “There are cosmetics products on the market that do the same job without releasing these cancer-causing chemicals,” said Shari Franjevic, who leads Ecology’s work to implement Washington’s 2023 Toxic-Free Cosmetics Act, in an emailed announcement. “Switching to safer chemicals will help to protect all Washington residents — particularly cosmetologists, stylists, and people who work with these products every day.” Find more at ecology.wa.gov/TFCA. (SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL)

Staying Separate

Spokane Arts extends its contract for two years as the city creates a separate Office of Arts and Culture

BY MADISON PEARSON

In November, Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown announced her intention to create an Office of Arts and Culture within the city government, 12 years after former Mayor David Condon eliminated the city Arts Department. Her vision was to fold Spokane Arts — the nonprofit that formed from the ashes of the previous Arts Department — back into the city government, with Executive Director Skyler Oberst joining on as the head of the new office.

Following the November announcement, Spokane Arts extended its contract with the city for the first six months of 2025 and entered an unofficial “discernment period,” during which Spokane Arts and the city of Spokane were to discuss logistics and how exactly the new partnership could work.

During a monthly Spokane Arts Commission meeting on Aug. 26, the commission voted to extend Spokane Arts’ contract with the city of Spokane for two years, though the nonprofit no longer plans to be absorbed into the new department.

The two-year contract extension is just that: an extension of the current contract. Spokane Arts has agreed to extend its work with the city at the same dollar amount

that it’s at today, and there will be no lapse in services provided by the nonprofit.

Since it became a separate nonprofit 12 years ago, Spokane Arts has been funded by an admissions tax the city passed in 2007 to collect 5% on admission charges to concerts, sporting events and entertainment. The organization is also funded by contributions from community partners like Visit Spokane, the Downtown Spokane Partnership and the Spokane Public Facilities District.

One-third of the revenue generated by the admissions tax is disbursed to the Spokane Arts Commission, a mayor-appointed board of citizens assigned to promote and enhance the quality, accessibility and presence of the arts in Spokane. Of that amount, half goes toward Spokane Arts’ SAGA grants, and the other half covers Spokane Arts employee salaries, the operating costs of maintaining the Chase Gallery in City Hall, the city’s public art collection, and running the Spokane Poet Laureate program.

The Arts Commission intends to allocate any excess money generated under its share of the city admissions tax — that is, any funds exceeding the current dollar amount Spokane Arts currently receives — to the future Office of Arts and Culture, according to City Administra-

tor Alex Scott.

After the two-year contract extension is up, the money that Spokane Arts has been receiving from the city will go out under a competitive bid process, where the city will allow organizations to apply to receive the cut of the city admission tax that has so far been going to Spokane Arts.

In July, a work group was formed consisting of three arts commissioners: Audrey Overstreet, Chris Maccini and Suzanne Ostersmith. The objective of the work group was to discuss what Spokane Arts and the commissioners had found during the “discernment period” and determine if Spokane Arts should move into the city government.

“We all have a shared interest in elevating the arts,” Ostersmith says. “So we discussed how best we can do that. How can we both support Spokane Arts and create this office? Where is the funding going to come from? Things like that.”

The work group will continue to meet as the mayor and the city develop the Office of Arts and Culture. Scott says the administration is hopeful the office will be up and running by the end of the year.

Early on, Oberst was told that he would be hired to lead the office if it were formed, but that his staff at Spokane Arts would have to apply for civil service positions within the department and, therefore, were not guaranteed a job if Spokane Arts re-entered the city government.

Though the decision has been made for Spokane Arts to remain separate from the city government, the nonprofit will be there to help shepherd the new office into existence.

“We’re excited to continue our partnership with the city of Spokane and continue to be committed to sup-

Spokane Arts will not be reabsorbed by the city. Spokane Arts staff, from left: Devonte Pearson, Skyler Oberst, Shelly Wynecoop, Jeremy Whittington and Shelby Allison at the Chase Gallery inside Spokane City Hall.

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

porting the arts ecosystem,” Oberst says.

Since November, Oberst, the Arts Commission and Brown have all been discussing what an Office of Arts and Culture might look like within the city.

“During that time, we had a lot of big conversations about how to best support the arts ecosystem,” says Oberst, who has been Spokane Arts’ executive director for two years. “What we found through our conversations with the city is that there is a serious need for supporting the arts at the local level as well as the regional level.”

Oberst says he was also hesitant about joining the city if it would restrict the nonprofit’s vision for Spokane Arts to support artists beyond city limits.

“I support what the mayor and the city are doing,” he says. “I’m supportive of her vision, and I think it’s critical for the city of Spokane. But what I also think is critical for the city of Spokane is to ensure that our region is competitive as a market for the creative economy for years to come. So, I’m glad we’ve decided that we are focusing on this multiprong approach, because ultimately it’s going to help everyone in the long run.”

He says he’s in discussion with four cities in the county that are interested in replicating what Spokane Arts has been doing in their own cities.

“What we are experiencing in the arts right now is unprecedented,” Oberst says. “I think we’ve had to have really big conversations about pivoting to help everybody at Spokane Arts. I don’t think art should stop at a city limit sign, and I think the mayor understands that. As a region, we are going to anticipate and withstand some of the storms that are on the horizon and work together. If we want to have a vibrant community where everyone is welcome, where we can have big conversations through the arts, then we need to send in the artists, and I’m excited to do that alongside Lisa Brown and her administration.” n madisonp@inlander.com

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VISUAL ARTS

GLIMMERS OF HOPE

Longtime educator and artist Ken Spiering battles health issues to bring new paintings to Barrister Winery exhibition

BY CARRIE SCOZZARO

Retirement is supposed to be about one’s “golden years.” Less work to make a living and more time to make life worth living. For some that’s traveling, family time, sleeping in. For artist and retired educator Ken Spiering, retirement meant returning to painting, not as a hobby but as a labor of love.

Spiering has been painting, drawing and working twodimensionally since graduating from Gonzaga University in 1972, yet he is better known for his public works, specifically monumental sculpture. Examples include the giant Radio Flyer wagon sculpture in Riverfront Park, formally known as “Childhood Express,” and “Current Event,” the shimmering 20-by-700-foot metal ode to the region’s rivers adorning the Spokane Convention Center.

But painting holds a special place for Spiering, whose exhibition at Barrister Winery opening on Sept. 5 is titled

“New from the Old.”

Sitting in the top-floor studio of the 1902 Valleyford barn he renovated more than 20 years ago as a live-work space, Spiering points to a verdant landscape painting of an idyllic waterway. It’s reminiscent of places he’d fished over the decades.

“I’ve always tried to do the structure first then craft color and save the ‘glint in the eye’ for last,” says Spiering, referring to the ethereal thing that draws you into the image in the first place, the thing that gives it life. “Those kind of considerations are a delight to get back to.”

Although Spiering might work from photos or places he’s spent time, his approach is deliberately abstracted. Early in his career and sometime in between teaching at Spokane Art School and Spokane Falls Community College, Spiering realized that his ability to render images

realistically made him a “disposable camera,” he says. “And that’s when I started dealing with rhythms in nature and shapes that suggest a larger world than what you’re looking at and why that suggests a dimension beyond what you’re looking at.”

In a way, Spiering’s public art persona eclipsed his private one, something he planned to rectify with his 2021 retirement from teaching art part time at Freeman High School. Since then, he finally finished another post-retirement project: an outdoor metal and enamel commission for Roosevelt Elementary School in Granger, Washington, that was five years in the making. Finally, with the commission complete and teaching in the rearview mirror, he’d be free to paint, he thought, but Spiering’s plan was tarnished by health ailments.

Ken Spiering with recent pantings in his studio. CARRIE SCOZZARO PHOTO

“I just never realized the last time I was in the boat fishing might be the last time I’m in the boat,” says Spiering, reflecting on a series of unexpected and significant health issues limiting his mobility.

“And then I go back to thinking to Harold [Balazs],” whom Spiering met in the late ’60s as a Gonzaga University art student. The pair became lifelong friends and occasional collaborators, including for “The Call and The Challenge,” Spiering’s commission for Sacred Heart Medical Center’s 100th year anniversary for which Balazs was the model.

Deb Sheldon’s art shows alongside Spiering.

Like Harold, says Spiering, he’s had to limit tasks and activities that aren’t physically possible anymore, and earlier than he thought he’d ever have to.

The experience has made him even more reflective, drawing on his strong Catholic faith.

“I mean, if you put it in God’s realm, I just think He’s a great jokester,” says Spiering, who, like Balazs, did quite a bit of liturgical art over the years. “You know, He keeps finding a brand new way to keep you humble.”

But crossing off painting? Not going to happen. So Spiering did what he always does — figure out a way to fill the gallery space with a fellow artist whom he admires deeply: Deb Sheldon, one of countless students whose personal and artistic lives were impacted during Spiering’s nearly 50-year teaching career.

“I just, I love her use of paint and her color,” says Spiering, who taught Sheldon at SFCC. “And I’ve always had the highest respect for her, so it’s hard not to look at her work and be learning because I’m coming from that point of view of respect.”

Sheldon’s admiration for Spiering is both personal and professional.

“I admired him a lot as an artist, and so I have somewhat followed him through history, I guess,” Sheldon says.

When Sheldon started 29th Avenue Artworks in 1987, a South Hill framing shop, art gallery and venue hosting outdoor art shows, she included Spiering and his work.

“And so, we went from teacher to working relationship and friend,” says Sheldon, who closed the shop a little over four years ago.

The pair have another connection: Sheldon’s daughter Emma Sheldon, who took classes from Spiering at Freeman High School.

“When he was requiring all the other students to do this or that, he allowed [Emma] to just make printmaking her focus,” says Sheldon, adding that her daughter now has her own business, Cecil Studios.

“She grew up in an artist’s home and to give her that almost like a thesis experience where she could just focus on this medium that she obviously loved, I thought was such a gift,” Sheldon says. “He’s kind of like family for us, too.”

Sheldon is nearly as delighted as Spiering to see her mentor and friend return to painting and is optimistic that he’ll be able to work through health issues to do so.

Spiering is optimistic, too.

“I’ve not ever looked at [the Barrister exhibit] as being a retrospective or a swan song or anything like that because it’s too much pressure,” Spiering says. “And I’m not dealing with that. I’m dealing with these images that have been with me for a while that have really been begging to be put on canvas.” n

New From the Old: Ken Spiering and Deb Sheldon • Sept. 5-27; open Sun-Thu from noon-6 pm, Fri-Sat from noon-7 pm • Barrister Winery • 1213 W. Railroad Ave. • barristerwinery.com • 509-465-3591

Fall Fun & Harvest Activities

Stay connected with new classes, seasonal events, and what’s happening at the Market!

WEDNESDAYS

Game night at the quarry 3-7pm

SEPTEMBER 11

Flowers & Focaccia

FAREWELL TO SUMMER EVENTS

Harvest Activities

Halloween Trunk or Treat + more!

For a full list of classes & events visit our website

SCALE HOUSE’S MARKET TABLE PROGRAM

In collaboration with all of our farmers and food entrepreneurs, we are committing to zero waste! Every week we will have a rotation of grab and go meals, snacks and preserved foods coming to the Mercantile!

Where Magic Happens

Northwest Pagan Fest returns to Spokane for its

BY DORA SCOTT

WAlongside Heatley, Northwest Pagan Fest

Only 3 Minutes from the I-90 Thor/Freya Exit

hen you hear the word “pagan,” what comes to mind? Some might envision something nefarious and primitive, fueled by popular horror movies like Midsommar. Others might think of WitchTok, a social media subculture where influencers showcase witchcraft and occult practices like crystals and tarot readings.

“I think a lot of people, when they hear ‘pagan’ they just think ‘witch,’” says Rachel Heatley, president of the Northwest Pagan Fest. “And the dictionary definition of paganism is any of the non-Abrahamic religions. So it’s basically everybody that’s not Christian, Jewish or Muslim.”

Vice President Selene Blackstar and Secretary Kohana Richardson worked together to start the festival in 2022. Heatley moved to Spokane about a decade ago from Arizona and had also been involved in the pagan community in her hometown.

Spokane Community College, 1810 N. Greene St. Sat, Sept. 6 from 10 am-5 pm, free admission northwestpaganfest.com 4422 East 8th Ave., Spokane Valley TheScaleHouseMarket.com For the full class schedule download the NotifyMe app

NORTHWEST PAGAN FEST

The annual Northwest Pagan Fest aims to not only combat this stigma, but bring visibility to the various pagan groups and serve as a space for community and friendships. Running for its fourth year, the free event happens at the Lair Student Center and the outdoor courtyard on Spokane Community College’s campus on Saturday, Sept. 6, from 10 am to 5 pm.

“I moved up here, and I didn’t know anybody so I started going to different meetups and stuff, and that’s where I met Kohana,” Heatley says. “From there, we started hanging out, and it was just like, ‘There’s so many pagan people up here, how is there no pagan pride?’”

The first festival took place at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Spokane and quickly outgrew the space in the following years.

“It was a huge success. We were hoping for like 200, 300, maybe 400 people, and we’re pretty sure at least 1,000 people came,” Heatley says.

In subsequent years, annual festival attendance grew to around 3,000, including people of

all beliefs from near and far coming to peruse over 120 vendors, watch live entertainment like belly dancing, grab a bite from local food trucks, attend free workshops, or go to a reader and healer room for a variety of services.

In light of its fourth year, the festival’s theme this year centers on the four elements. The event opens and closes with a ritual at the concrete circle in the center of the courtyard.

“The circle kind of called to us because it really represents a lot of pagan beliefs because you’ve got the Wheel of the Year, [and] the spirit is also represented by a circle,” Heatley says.

Keep your eye out for volunteers invoking the elements from 12:30 to 2:30 pm, giving out blessings like seashells for water, feathers for air, candles for fire and rocks for earth. Collect your blessed elements and a complimentary organza bag.

“We really try to make it an immersive experience, as well, so that you get a taste of what it’s like and what other people believe,” Heatley says.

This year’s festival vendors are also divided into fire, air, water and earth markets in the outdoor courtyard. Find a variety of goods including art, jewelry, tools for pagan practices, crystals and rocks, books, plants, and clothing. SpokAnimal is even setting up a booth with kittens and puppies for adoption.

For those who are curious about paganism, information booths are also at hand, many of which represent different local covens, groves and circles like the Aquarian Tabernacle Church and Northwoods Kindred, which will also sell handcrafted leatherwork, ritual tools and more.

Attend free workshops like learning tarot from Phoenix Blossom, or one about shufflemancy and the paranormal investigation with Skylar Louise White-Culton. Other sessions focus on the divine energies with Belladonna LaVeau, the Archpriestess and CEO of the Aquarian Tabernacle Church, and candle magic with Jason Mankey, a third-degree High Priest and witchcraft author who’s also the festival’s featured guest speaker.

Head to the readers and healers room inside the Lair, where you can donate a suggested $5 minimum and sign up for an abbreviated reading from one of the eight readers, ranging from tarot to bone to rune and oracle readings, or for services from the four healers like reiki and massage.

Whether you’re a longtime practitioner, pagan curious or just looking for a fun, free community gathering, organizers emphasize that the festival is welcoming and celebratory of all beliefs.

“We just want to raise awareness that we’re even here, and we’re here to help build a stronger community,” Heatley says.

“It’s all about the community, I think for me,” Richardson adds. “Like being able to bring people together…. At the end of the day, on that day, I see happy people getting to be themselves. That’s magic in itself.” n

24

The festival features performers, artisans and more.

BLK ODYSSY

AND HOPS

BY ELLIS BENSON

Unlike typical summer days at Brick West Brewing Co., its patio laden with tables full of cheery guests raising pints among friends and loved ones, one special day each season the brewery swaps out some of its outdoor seating for a boxing ring.

In collaboration with Spokane Boxing, the brewery is again hosting the Brick West Boxing event, featuring amateur fighters from around the Pacific Northwest. The fourth annual competition on Saturday, Sept. 6, features 50 boxers ranging from 8 to 40 years old and hailing from British Columbia, Idaho and elsewhere across the region.

Brick West on downtown Spokane’s West End is known for its large, open patio and lawn space, which hosts a multitude of events from spring to fall. Even before the brewery opened in January 2020, Spokane Boxing owner Rick Welliver already had the idea of eventually using the space to host a boxing event.

“Most boxing cards are kind of sterile,” Welliver says, also mentioning informal matches called smokers that are often held inside old gymnasiums. “They might have maybe 100 people,”

he continues. “But the events that I’ve been putting on for years at Brick West, in Wallace, Idaho, at the Spokane Polo Club, on top of Silver Mountain — and some of the stuff that I’m gonna do in the future — are spectacles. These kids want to come back to them, people remember them.”

One standout local boxer who trains at Welliver’s gym and is competing at this year’s event is Jameson Healy. The 14-year-old lightweight has had one bout in the last year, and Welliver says Healy stands out because he’s mentally tough.

Brick West’s marketing director, Bill Powers, says the boxing match is a lively community bonding experience, drawing up to 400 people throughout the day.

“It’s actually a really inspiring vibe that you see when you come down there, to see all these people coming together,” he says.

Besides building community and raising money for Spokane Boxing, which seeks to empower people through the sport, the bouts at Brick West also help inspire confidence

in young fighters.

“Boxing is a sport that, sort of, inherently gravitates to people that are on the bottom side of advantage, and this is a chance to level the playing field and to put a youth in a position to feel special,” Welliver says.

Throughout his 31 years coaching and mentoring young boxers, he’s seen over and over again the power that boxing has to transform young people’s lives. In a society where people can often feel excluded, Welliver says boxing can make people feel part of something bigger.

Welliver has been coaching boxing since 1994 and founded Spokane Boxing in 2002. For most of his life, Welliver has either competed (his first bout was at age 9) or trained others in the sport. A former professional boxer and a passionate advocate for the sport, Welliver is an iconic figure in the local boxing community. Based downtown just a few blocks from Brick West, at 115 S. Jefferson St., Spokane Boxing offers lessons, coaching and conditioning. The gym serves as a space both for those who box simply to stay fit and those who want to become competitive boxers.

“I’ve said this before and it is true, and it’s very important: Athletics builds character,” Welliver says. “Boxing is a rare sport that not only builds character, it reveals it, and so when you realize you can do this and you can succeed in this sport, you can do anything in the world.”

To ensure athletes from all socio-economic backgrounds can travel to compete in the annual event, Welliver has even funded motel rooms for participants. Proceeds from event tickets — priced at $10 to make them accessible to a wider audience — help fund Spokane Boxing’s efforts to continue empowering people through boxing by offering financial assistance to young boxers who may not be able to afford coaching.

“Boxing is really a special kind of magic for a lot of kids,” Welliver says. “It gives strength to the weak, confidence to the shy, and makes a kid feel he can be or do anything in the world.” n

Brick West is hosting Spokane Boxing’s summer bouts for the fourth year.

PHOTO COURTESY RICK WELLIVER

Legion of Zoom(ers)?

Pondering the Seattle Seahawks’ young defense and other keys for the team before the 2025-26 NFL season kicks off

BY SETH SOMMERFELD

The Seattle Seahawks have been a good football team the past couple seasons… just not good enough. The past two campaigns have seen Washington state’s NFL team amass a winning record only to be the last team eliminated from the NFC playoff picture.

Not content with trying to improve around the edges, Seahawks General Manager John Schneider took some big swings this offseason: trading away starting quarterback Geno Smith and star wide receiver DK Metcalf, replacing the pair by signing QB Sam Darnold and WR (and Eastern Washington University legend) Cooper Kupp, and firing offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb and bringing in former Saints OC Klint Kubiak.

Here are a few questions that will be key in determining if the Hawks — celebrating their 50th season — can get over the hump and return to the playoffs. The first test is against their bitter rivals, the San Francisco 49ers, on Sunday at Lumen Field.

WILL THE DEFENSE BECOME ELITE?

Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald got the job by being a defensive mastermind. The thing about defensive gurus’ systems is they’re complex and take awhile to learn, and players need to have them mastered before they can start playing instinctively within the constructs of the schemes. That was clear last season when the Seahawks’ D struggled early, but turned things on late. becoming a top 10 unit by season’s end. With another offseason perfecting Macdonald’s system, Seattle could have one of the most fearsome Ds in the league in 2025. (The Ringer even ranked them as the No. 1 defense in the NFL heading into this season.) That’s because not only is Macdonald’s system possibly the best in the business, but he also has immensely talented players. Leading the way are young studs like defensive tackle Byron Murphy and cornerbacks Devon Witherspoon and Riq Woolen. Will the defense reach Legion of Boom Super Bowl-contending levels this year? Maybe not. But considering the majority of the defensive starters are now from Gen Z, it’s fully time to embrace the Legion of Zoom(ers).

CAN THE OFFENSIVE LINE PREVENT SAM DARNOLD FROM SEEING GHOSTS?

For all the ire directed at former QB Geno Smith by Seahawks fans (the ignorant ones who simply don’t know ball), he put together three very good seasons behind one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL. Sam Darnold has put together one good season in his entire career… and that was only when playing behind a good offensive line in Minnesota with maybe the best head coach for QBs in the league… and even that ended disastrously when his O-line struggled late last season. Darnold has consistently been unplayably bad if his offensive line has any flaws, which made the Seahawks picking him up such a head-scratcher.

But GM Schneider finally (finally) invested in improving the offensive line this offseason, using a first round pick to select guard Grey Zabel, who looks like he might be an immediate impact player. If talented-but-injuryprone tackles Charles Cross and Abraham Lucas can stay on the field and the young guard-center combo of Olu Oluwatimi and Anthony Bradford can elevate their play, the Hawks might not have a bottom-of-the-league O-line for the first time in almost a decade. But if the offensive line is as bad as it’s typically been in the Emerald City, Darnold will likely be a disaster.

CAN KLINT KUBIAK ESTABLISH THE RUN?

Part of taking the pressure off Darnold will be on the shoulders of new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak establishing the run. He’s certainly got the pedigree as his Super Bowl-winning coach father, Gary Kubiak, pioneered the modern zone blocking running system. The younger Kubiak showed flashes of greatness at the start of last season with the Saints, but the offense completely tanked when the team ran into injuries. Now he’s got a second chance with much more talent to work with in Seattle, as running back Kenneth Walker III is top-tier when healthy (which is annoyingly rare) and Zach Charbonnet is the best backup running back in the league. With Macdonald’s defensive mindset, having a run-first offensive attack would be ideal for controlling low-scoring games. n

THE BUZZ BIN

CASH FOR ARTS

Arts organizations around Washington state got some good news last week when it was announced that ArtsFund and Allen Family Philanthropies awarded a total of $10 million in unrestricted arts funding through a program called the Community Accelerator Grant. A total of 930 arts and culture groups around the state received grants ranging from $2,500 to $25,000; among the recipients are 40 organizations in Spokane County. According to a press release about this year’s round of funding (the program’s third year), 74% of grantees operate with annual budgets of less than $500,000, which “demonstrates the need that smaller organizations have for this type of low-barrier, unrestricted grant program.” Regional groups that received grants include Terrain (pictured above), Spokane Symphony, Spokane Film Festival, Chewelah Arts Center, Harrington Opera House, Salish School of Spokane, Mobius, Art Salvage and many more. Find the full list and learn more at artsfund.org/accelerator. (CHEY SCOTT)

WHITE WHALE

One of the Inlander’s regular columnists, Tara Karr Roberts, is being recognized for her phenomenal debut novel published in January 2024, Wild and Distant Seas. On Aug. 19, the Idaho Library Association announced that Wild and Distant Seas earned the 2024 Idaho Book of the Year Award, an honor given to a book set in or written by a resident of Idaho, of which the novel checks both boxes. With its lyrical prose and fascinating characters, the MobyDick spinoff was described as “the finest example of literature in this year’s submissions” in a press release from the Idaho Library Association. If you’ve yet to pick it up, Wild and Distant Seas is a must-read for anyone interested in a classic story with a magical twist — Idaho librarians agree! (MADISON PEARSON)

THIS WEEK’S PLAYLIST

Noteworthy new music arriving in stores and online on Sept. 5.

DAVID BYRNE WITH GHOST TRAIN ORCHESTRA, WHO IS THE SKY?

The former Talking Heads singer isn’t getting less jubilant and sonically bouncy on his latest danceworthy album of art pop ditties.

FLESHWATER, 2000: IN SEARCH OF THE ENDLESS SKY

Feeling like a blast of grunge-influenced ’90s alt-metal, the upand-coming Massachusetts band looks to break on through to a higher tier of the rock landscape with its sophomore LP.

LA DISPUTE, NO ONE WAS DRIVING THE CAR

The acclaimed post-punk band for poets tries to musically make sense of our chaotic world via more hard-edged noise mixed with dense, spoken word-esque lyricism. (SETH SOMMERFELD)

Expectations are high for Head Coach Mike Macdonald and the ’Hawks.

LEADERSHIP

Gwyn Pevonka

Rebecca Cook

Sharma Shields

COLLABORATION

Michael Smith

Spokane Print & Publishing

Rebecca Craven

INCLUSION

Daniel Schaefer

Sarah Dahmen

Rich Cowan

ARTS ADVOCACY

Stephen Cummins

Sonny & Lisa Moeckel

Dawn Taylor-Reinhardt

IMAGINATION

Robby Sletner

James “Moss” Landsiedel

Patty Dewitt-Garegnani

YOUTH ARTS

LEADERSHIP

Simone Shaw

Sindhu Surapaneni

Shadle Park Leadership Students

DESPERATE FOR RELIEF

Airway Heights woman shares horrific experience with pelvic mesh, as Washington prepares to send final Consumer PRotection payments

BY SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL

Donna Miser loved her job at Amazon. Yes, it was physically demanding, but she prided herself on winning awards at the warehouse just down the road from the apartment where she and her husband live in Airway Heights.

Last she checked, her picture was still on the wall for breaking a record for her role, which involved moving items from crates onto robots — she moved 4,012 “units” in one shift on Christmas Eve 2023. Though she’s in her 50s, she says she felt like she was in her 20s or 30s.

But one day in October 2024, in the middle of an otherwise normal shift, Miser says she dropped to her knees in pain.

“It felt like someone with a steel-toed boot had just kicked me between my legs. It came out of nowhere, no warning,” Miser says. “And I’ve been in bed ever since.”

After a trip to the emergency department and a flurry of medical appointments trying to pinpoint what was wrong — she had a UTI, and doctors suspected she was struggling with anxiety and complications from menopause — Miser says she finally got a doctor to confirm that what she suspected might be causing the problem was indeed to blame: surgical mesh.

Back in 2009, Miser had surgical mesh installed to help with urinary incontinence, a common issue affecting many women in their 40s or 50s. In her case, following a hysterectomy in 2002, the mesh was installed to help support the urethra to prevent accidental urination.

For years, Miser says it worked exactly as it was supposed to, and she felt healthy.

Just a few years after getting the “transobturator sling” installed, she says she started receiving notices in the mail that transvaginal mesh like what she received was involved in lawsuits. But she felt fine and ignored them as potential spam, even though she felt bad that other women were experiencing problems. But then about six years ago, she started having pain during sex that was so bad she vomited instantly. Still, even with the loss of intimacy, she didn’t connect that pain with the procedure she’d had. Not until that work day in October.

Now 58 years old, Miser wishes she had gotten it checked out sooner, because the mesh has now caused her such debilitating pain that she can’t work, which is her primary goal.

“It’s doing a whole lot of damage to you before you actually know it. I’m a perfectly fit, healthy person. I’ll go fishing every Saturday. I

worked at Amazon, which was the most physical job I’ve ever had, not to mention the only job I’ve ever had that I loved. It’s literally killing me not to go to work,” Miser says. “It’s a living nightmare.”

Throughout the last year, Amazon, at least, has treated her like gold, she says, ensuring she could keep her insurance (until the end of August) and promising she’ll have a job if she’s able to recover.

She’s had multiple surgeries over the last year, including one to remove the main square of the piece of mesh she received, but the “arms” or “wings” of the mesh remain in her body. Still in pain, despite going to physical therapy, she is exhausted all the time. She’s dropped from 140 pounds to only 100, and feels like she’s in her 80s. Jumping the hurdles of the health care system, where at times she’s felt dismissed as providers tried to prescribe medication for depression or pain when all she wants is the mesh removed, has repeatedly made her mental health spiral. She’s made countless calls to the suicide hotline.

It’s hard to say exactly how many people have received polypropylene mesh for various pelvic restoration surgeries, but it’s likely at least hundreds of thousands in the United States, and millions worldwide.

The flexible porous plastic has been used for a variety of surgeries, from the sling procedure to reduce urinary incontinence when laughing, coughing or sneezing — which impacts an estimated 30% to 50% of women in their lifetime — to procedures to address pelvic organ prolapse, or the sinking of organs, which impacts roughly half of women who’ve given birth, to some degree once they get older. (Not everyone impacted by incontinence or prolapse requires surgery.)

Various states including Washington have sued mesh manufacturers for not accurately warning people about the potential complications of the devices — one company alone sold nearly 12,000 of them in Washington between 2005 and 2015, and did not conduct clinical trials before marketing its products as safe, according to a 2016 complaint. The complaints also charge that manufacturers failed to update warning labels after patients and doctors alerted the companies of issues. Still, not all of the devices have been removed from the market.

In 2019, the Food and Drug Administration halted the sale of surgical mesh for pelvic organ prolapse used in transvaginal (inserted through the vagina) procedures.

Donna Miser has experienced painful issues brought about by a mesh sling she had implanted more than 15 years ago.

ERICK DOXEY PHOTO

But some mesh implanted through the abdomen is still used to treat urinary incontinence or prolapse, as those procedures have shown more acceptable rates of complications.

For those who do experience complications, they can be life altering, including pain during intercourse that prevents intimacy, pieces of mesh protruding from the vaginal wall or attaching to the bladder, infections with bleeding and discharge, radiating pain, worse incontinence issues, and more.

The mesh is not designed to be removed, but integrated into the body, and in some cases, removing it does not help with the pain.

‘988 MOODS’

“It’s desperation, not depression.”

The immense stress of not being able to work, of staying in bed in pain, of making hundreds of calls to various doctor’s offices and lawyers and state officials to try to get the care she needed, has regularly sparked what Miser calls the “988 moods.”

Since being stuck at home, Miser says she has called the suicide hotline many times. They’ve sent people to her home to talk to her, but each time, she says, the gist is essentially, “We’re so sorry to hear what you’re going through, but there’s nothing we can do to help.”

She did, at one point, try to get scheduled to talk to a therapist, and shared that she’d been suicidal. But just moments after finally making an appointment, the “DESPERATE FOR RELIEF,” CONTINUED...

therapist reached out to say they’d be taking an extended leave of absence. Could she reschedule? No.

Miser’s husband, Derek, has been trying to support her and ensure she goes to the doctor as issues continue to arise. Sometimes the break she needs is spending a weekend in her son’s RV, out of cell reception and closer to the nature she loves to fish in.

It’s been hard for her to even be examined, because the pain is too great to be awake for a normal pelvic exam. In February, she was put under anesthesia so a local urogynecologist could try to figure out what might be wrong. The doctor wrote in her notes that even under partial anesthesia, Miser “had a very significant pain response,” backing away on the table even though she wasn’t verbally responsive.

After increasing the anesthesia, the doctor was able to remove a portion of the mesh that had poked through the vaginal wall, which appeared it could be infected. Miser’s surgical notes say the mesh had folded over on itself and was loose, and there was “purulent,” “foulsmelling” discharge where it was extruding.

Miser is open to sharing all the gory details because she wants to ensure that other women who’ve received surgical mesh are aware of the risks.

“The main reason I called you when I did,” Miser says, recalling when she first reached out to the Inlander in February, “is there’s a lot of people walking around with this in them, and they don’t know. You don’t feel it happening to you.”

HARD TO TREAT

Still, medical professionals who work with mesh patients say that just because the mesh has been recalled for specific procedures and has caused other patients severe complications, it doesn’t mean that everyone who has it needs to seek removal.

Dr. Michael Fialkow, a urogynecologist with University of Washington Medicine, who is board certified with a sub-specialty in female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery, says that he’s had patients in the past who learned about the lawsuits and asked for mesh removal, despite showing no signs of complications. Recalling a device that is inside someone’s body is hard to do, he says.

“People had in their minds this was something that had to happen,” Fialkow says. “There’s no reason to take it out if it’s not bothering you. … That was sometimes a hard conversation.”

In some cases, even if the mesh is causing painful complications, removal may not improve the issue, and could even make things worse, Fialkow says.

Practicing since 2004, Fialkow says he was skeptical the first time he saw video of the mesh being implanted in a patient. He never used it on his patients, but he says working for an academic institution also insulated him from the types of sales pitches that private doctors around the state and country received from representatives of the medical device companies that sold mesh for pelvic issues.

Donna Miser keeps meticulous notes about her current medical issues and resources, including information she was able to find about Washington’s Transvaginal Mesh Fund. ERICK DOXEY PHOTO

However, he has seen many patients with mesh complications. When determining whether removal might help, Fialkow says he often looks to see if the scarring around the mesh has created tension that may be the cause of pain. If so, cutting or removing part of the mesh is often appropriate to relieve some of the pain.

“Most of the time those meshes, once they’re put in the body, they tend to shrink to some degree. … When they shrink, they start to pull,” Fialkow says. “If you do an exam on somebody, you can push on the mesh and if they levitate off the table or really complain about significant pain from that, then that’s a pretty good bet that when you remove the material their pain is going to improve.”

But if pushing on the mesh doesn’t cause pain, while other pain still persists, surgery may not be the answer, he says.

“It’s not necessarily the wrong thing to do, but it’s harder to predict that it will be of benefit,” he says.

In some rare cases, surgeons are using Botox injections to help relieve the pain.

“It paralyzes the injected muscles,” Fialkow says. “Which can relieve pain when they relax.”

In fairness to researchers who initially studied the benefits of using mesh for these types of procedures, Fialkow says the short-term studies did seem to indicate the procedures showed some slight benefits. But without long-term studies to watch for complications over time, the risks were not clear.

Fialkow emphasizes that while the long-term complication rates that are now understood to be possibly as high as 20%, or impacting one in five patients, for the no-longer-used transvaginal mesh procedure to treat pelvic organ prolapse, serious long-term complications for the sling procedure used to treat incontinence remain low, around 2%.

“Obviously none of us ever want complications, but there’s no surgery I know of that has zero complications,” Fialkow says. “It is important for patients to understand: Not all mesh is bad. It’s the application of the mesh, not the mesh itself.”

Some methods that are still used involve inserting the mesh in a way that allows for more normal vaginal function than the older procedures, he says.

Looking forward, how can patients avoid the risk of complications if little may be known about a medical device that’s being offered to them?

“My advice would be to ask, ‘How long has this been in use, and does it have a good track record, or is there good data to support its use?’” Fialkow says. “‘How long have we been doing this surgery, and what are the long-term complications?’”

That doesn’t mean a physician will be able to answer those questions, but more information could allow patients to weigh the advantages or disadvantages of the options available to them, particularly when considering a surgery that isn’t required for survival.

“This is quality of life work, not end of life work,” Fialkow says. “It’s important that patients have a role in choosing the approach, the technique that suits them best.”

SETTLEMENTS

Washington is about to send out the second and final round of checks from its Transvaginal Mesh Fund to some of the 1,398 total eligible claimants who received 1,911 eligible implants from various

manufacturers.

Washington’s 2016 lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson alleged the company never conducted human trials prior to first selling its polypropylene mesh in 1998, and did not adequately warn patients or doctors of the risk of pelvic floor complications or infections, or of the difficulty or impossibility of removing the mesh once it’s implanted.

In April 2019, the same month the FDA pulled approval for transvaginal mesh used for prolapse, Johnson & Johnson paid $9.9 million to settle Washington’s consumer protection case over mesh manufactured by its subsidiary, Ethicon.

Miser received a mesh made by Ethicon, which stopped selling mesh used for transvaginal procedures in 2012.

“We were the guinea pigs,” Miser says.

Another manufacturer, C.R. Bard, then settled with the state for $2.38 million in September 2020. The first mesh fund distribution to eligible claimants was made in January 2021.

In March 2021, Boston Scientific settled with Washington, paying $8.8 million into the fund. After a fourth manufacturer filed for bankruptcy, another claim period was opened, and those who made claims to the state fund in 2024, including Miser, should be receiving payments this week.

Each eligible claimant received or will receive $10,502.52 per implant (some received more than one), says Heidi Anderson, the litigation section chief for the Consumer Protection Division of the Washington Attorney General’s Office.

”“Obviously none of us ever want complications, but there’s no surgery I know of that has zero complications.”

”“The treatment of the two different claim groups was exactly the same, thankfully,” Anderson says. “People could still sue the manufacturer over their implant. This is money they would not potentially have otherwise seen, unless they had individually taken the time to hire an attorney and go forward.”

With no way to identify patients who received the mesh implants, as hospitals won’t release medical records, the state Attorney General’s Office relied on advertising and public outreach campaigns through social media and newspapers to make people aware of the settlement fund, says Daniel Allen, one of the attorneys who worked on the cases for the state.

With an estimate of about 14,000 patients who received transvaginal mesh in Washington, and nearly 1,400 eligible claimants, the response rate of roughly 10% is actually fairly high compared to other consumer protection funds the state has secured, Allen says.

Thousands of individual consumers across the country also brought lawsuits against the manufacturers, which were lumped as companion cases (not a class action) across multiple jurisdictions, to make discovery easier, Allen says.

Miser’s experience of not noticing complications until many years later is similar to many stories the Attorney General’s Office came across

on page 27

“DESPERATE

while pursuing the consumer protection cases, Allen says.

“The complications that ensue often manifest years later, because of the devices and the way they work in the body,” Allen says. “Now, in many instances, they happened soon after, but in some instances, they happen many years later, and it is tragic. We have enormous sympathy for what they are experiencing.”

After this second distribution, no more claims to the state’s mesh fund can be made. Individuals who experience complications after this point would be left to find their own attorney to seek compensation from the manufacturer.

STILL WAITING FOR RELIEF

In July, Miser was paired with an advocate, who has helped her by witnessing various medical appointments.

In August, Miser went to Seattle for what she thought could be a surgery to remove the “arms” of the mesh still in her body on either side of her groin area. Instead, she received Botox injections, and the surgeon confirmed again that the mesh had not damaged her bladder.

She says the pain after that surgery was so extreme that she considered throwing herself out of the moving car while her husband drove them back over Snoqualmie Pass. A week later, at his prompting, she went to her primary care provider in Spokane, who realized she might be having an allergic reaction to the injections, and provided her with another medication that provided nearly instant relief.

Now that she’s climbed the insurance mountain, taking all required steps to get approval to see a specialist, Miser is hopeful. Despite the fact her insurance through Kaiser was set to end on Aug. 31, she planned to stay on by paying for expensive COBRA coverage.

She had a virtual consultation with a specialist scheduled for Sept. 4.

“I’ll give y’all one more shot at getting this out of me, but this is it. If she says it absolutely cannot come out, I’ll accept that,” Miser says. “But they keep going in and making me believe they’re taking care of the problem, and the problem hasn’t been touched.”

The pain in her right leg continues to feel like constant electric shocks, she explains. But she’s hopeful: Miser says she learned during her post-op surgery call last week that the complete mesh removal surgery is now approved.

“Psychologically, I’m so excited,” Miser says, adding that she’s hoping to be back on her feet by December, in time for her birthday. “That’d be great.”

She’s told her husband they’re going to need to join a gym.

“I know once they get it out of me that’s when my determination’s gonna kick in hard,” Miser says. “I can’t wait to get back to work.” n

samanthaw@inlander.com

Donna Miser is hopeful she might get the rest of her mesh surgically removed. ERICK DOXEY PHOTO

Tour de Fork

Discovering Spokane one bite at a time with Wander Spokane’s food tours

BY DORA SCOTT

On a late August afternoon, Riverfront Park is packed with food trucks and vendors for the annual Pig Out in the Park festival, filling the air with a bouquet of aromas and a variety of music from four stages. Just steps away, however, a small group of eight gathers at the red Radio Flyer wagon for a more intimate, milelong downtown food tour by Wander Spokane.

Founded in 2018 by Spokane native Alana Livingston, the three-hour walking tour ($70/person) includes four savory stops and ends with a dessert. Along the way, Livingston weaves in facts about art, architecture and history — the kind of details that even seasoned Spokanites may not know.

“That makes me super happy,” Livingston says. “I see people kind of just see their own city through new eyes.”

Livingston never imagined she would one day fall in love with Spokane, let alone guide others through it.

“I’d swore I’d never come back,” she says of leaving at 18. “I’ve been back about 14 years, and it’s awesome. I love it. I’m seeing Spokane with new eyes for sure.”

After more than a decade in the Bay Area’s food and

wine industry, Livingston returned after having her first child. As a stay-at-home mom, she found herself constantly exploring Spokane’s outdoors and history with her children. These adventures sparked the idea to start a guided hike business, but on her 40th birthday she and her husband took a downtown food tour by Relish! Spokane Food and Wine Tours.

“By the end of the tour, I was having such a good time talking to the guide, she said, ‘Do you want to work for us?’” Livingston says.

The very next weekend she was leading a downtown food tour on her own, but after two years the company stopped its food tours. Luckily, Livingston already had the idea of Wander Spokane in mind and expanded it to fill the demand for local cuisine.

“In the very beginning it was way more locals than tourists, and that was done very purposely on my side because every partner that I made in the restaurant for these tours felt it was really important that even though tourism is important … the bread and butter is the locals,” Livingston says.

Within the last couple of years, she notes that the ratio of tourists to locals has tipped. On the recent Aug. 29 food tour, all participants were visiting Spokane from out of state, some from Oregon and others from Arizona. Many were seasoned food tourists who make a point of booking culinary tours wherever they travel.

The tour begins at the Red Wagon, weaving around the Centennial Trail to avoid the festival crowd. Some stops along the way include artworks by Harold Balazs, like the aluminum “Centennial Sculpture” and the 30-foot-tall Rotary Riverfront Fountain.

While viewing the Great Northern Clocktower, a remnant of Spokane’s railroad history, one participant on the tour recalls how his great-grandfather worked for the railroad station.

We then meander past the Looff Carrousel, handcarved and painted by master craftsman Charles Looff at the start of the 20th century. At the Garbage Goat, created for Expo ’74 by Sister Paula Mary Turnbull,

Alana Livingston leads guests on a tour of local history and flavor. YOUNG KWAK PHOTOS EVENT

Livingston hands each of us scrap paper to feed the goat through its vacuum mouth.

“We don’t eat until the goat eats,” one tour-goer jokes.

The first food stop is Wanderlust Delicato at 421 W. Main Ave., owned by cheesemonger Amber Park, for charcuterie plates brimming with sourdough bread from Gander and Ryegrass just across the street, plus three artisan cheeses, fresh peach slices, olives, sweety drop peppers, candied cashews and salami shaped like a rose.

“The stuff you find at Wanderlust Delicato is not only unique, but she really seeks out the eclectic, the different, and has a personal connection with those vendors, with those dairy farmers,” Livingston says.

“Since we can’t travel the world all the time, I try to bring the world to Spokane so you can have a little treat whenever you like,” Park adds.

The group then heads back in the direction of Riverfront Park for the next stop at O’Doherty’s Irish Grille at 525 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. for a taste of its famed Hooligan and Hannigan sandwich.

“It’s hands-down the best Reuben you’re ever going to taste in your whole entire life,” Livingston claims of the sandwich.

Tender corned beef, sauerkraut, melted swiss cheese and Thousand Island dressing is tucked into toasted dark rye bread. Served in smaller portions at each stop to save our stomachs for more bites, plates are cleared down to the complimentary pickle.

Entering the restaurant, guests may first notice signed dollar bills covering the walls. Livingston shares that if patrons get up and sing on the bar, they’ll earn a spot to hang a dollar and a lifetime 15% discount on first drinks.

Next comes Indigenous Eats in River Park Square, serving frybread ground bison tacos. Despite its mall food court setting, the eatery’s modern take on traditional Native food stands out for its local roots.

The final savory stop is Heritage Bar & Kitchen at 122 S. Monroe for chipotle meatloaf atop a crispy hashbrown patty. Family and the city are central to this pub, which showcases family recipes for its menu and the Monroe Street Bridge in its logo.

The tour ends on a sweet note at Bruttles (828 W. Sprague Ave.), where participants get a taste of the shop’s specialty: soft, chocolate-covered peanut brittle that’s based on a 68-year-old recipe.

No two tours are quite the same, Livingston says, with many people returning to take the downtown food tour again. Wander Spokane also offers wine tours ($80/person), seasonal and private, customizable outings.

From Sept. 26 to 28, Wander Spokane is hosting its inaugural Taste & Trek, a three-day event featuring guided hikes with survival expert Charlie Bouck (read our story from the Aug. 28 issue at Inlander.com/culture), downtown tastings and wine tours. Find more information and tickets at wanderspokane.com.

“What makes Spokane amazing is not only that we’re a city — you can do all the city type things you would want to do, food, art, all that stuff — but we also have amazing outdoor spaces and access to outdoor activities,” Livingston says. n

YOUR FURNAC E. OUR EX PERTIS E. STURM DELIVERS.

Wander Spokane tour attendees sampled charcuterie at Wanderlust Delicato.

Return to Office Mandate

The Paper works overtime to recapture the vibe of a sitcom behemoth

BY JOSH BELL

“God, not again,” laments accountant Oscar Martinez (Oscar Nunez) as he glimpses a documentary crew entering his workplace in the first episode of Peacock’s The Paper. Oscar’s reaction accurately reflects the creakiness of this pseudo-sequel to powerhouse mockumentary sitcom The Office, which ran for nine seasons on NBC and still regularly shows up on lists of the most-streamed TV shows. It’s not surprising that NBC Universal would want to capitalize on that continued interest, although The Paper feels less like an extension of The Office and more like a show that would have popped up for a single season in the wake of The Office’s initial success. Oscar provides the main connection between the two series — he’s an employee of the company that absorbed

The Office’s Dunder-Mifflin and also owns the Toledo Truth Teller, a once-great Ohio newspaper that has been reduced to a handful of employees sharing space with other corporate divisions. “Which paper, news or toilet?” is the question that greets Ned Sampson (Domhnall Gleeson) when he arrives for his first day as the Truth Teller’s new editor-in-chief. The Softees toilet paper brand brings in the revenue, and the Truth Teller continues operating as a shell of its former self.

The idealistic Ned is determined to change that, and even though the Truth Teller has just one aging, possibly senile reporter left on its staff, he convinces his bosses to let him recruit other employees to volunteer some of their work hours, to return the Truth Teller to its roots in local news. The Paper acknowledges the sad state of modern journalism without having much to say about it, and the concept of the volunteer staff seems mostly like a workaround for creators Greg Daniels and Michael Koman to put together a full cast of city reporters without coming off as unrealistic in 2025.

THE PAPER

It’s also not particularly funny. Daniels and Koman work in the same cringe-humor vein as The Office, with rapidly diminishing returns. The closest they come to a character as memorably ridiculous as Steve Carell’s Michael Scott or Rainn Wilson’s Dwight Schrute is Esmerelda Grand (Sabrina Impacciatore), a flamboyantly narcissistic Italian former reality TV contestant who’s been the managing editor of the Truth Teller’s website and is deeply offended when her flair for clickbait gets sidelined in favor of Ned’s earnest newsgathering. Esmerelda is so spectacularly annoying that every scene with her is a chore to get through, and she has no additional layers to discover as the season progresses.

Created by Greg Daniels and Michael Koman

Starring Domhnall Gleeson, Chelsea Frei, Sabrina Impacciatore

Streaming on Peacock

Thus Oscar is now both an accountant and a theater critic (as well as a Sudoku designer), while still providing the snarky outsider commentary that he offered on The Office. While The Paper avoids creating one-to-one copies of characters from The Office, the creators waste no time in setting up two potential interoffice romances to follow over the course of the 10-episode season, a blatant ploy to generate some Jim-and-Pam-like heat.

But it’s hard to get similarly invested in the dynamic between Ned and Mare Pritti (Chelsea Frei), who is the only other staffer with genuine journalistic ambition and is relieved to have something to do beyond copying and pasting wire-service stories to the Truth Teller website. It’s more rewarding to watch Ned and Mare attempt to save journalism than it is to mark time until they inevitably kiss. Their editorial endeavors are inconsistent, but without those storylines this mildly pleasant show is just a wan retread of a beloved classic.

Daniels, who developed the American version of The Office from Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s British series, recently delivered a much more effective return to one of his vintage hits via Hulu’s King of the Hill revival. But nearly everything that King of the Hill gets right, The Paper gets wrong. The connections to the previous show are tenuous and forced, the new characters are pale variations on past favorites, and the contemporary social commentary is perfunctory and superficial.

Abbott Elementary has proved that the mockumentary format is still relevant, but there’s a level of empathy and passion in that show that’s entirely missing from The Paper. While Quinta Brunson’s acclaimed series is grounded in a specific location and institution, The Paper comes off like it could be set anywhere. Most of the characters are reminders of the later seasons of The Office, when cast attrition necessitated the introduction of amiable but unremarkable new employees who simply took up space.

The funniest recurring bit on The Paper is Oscar’s fury at once again being followed by a documentary crew, as he attempts to avoid participating only for snarky onscreen title cards to note his failures. By the time the season ends, he’s tearfully thanking the filmmakers, fully onboard with this seemingly never-ending project. Weary viewers may not be so eager to join him. n

Journalism might not be the richest comedic fodder...

(t)Winning

The darkly comedic Twinless expertly blends emotional stakes and cringe humor

BY SETH SOMMERFELD

Twinless begins with an off-screen car crash immediately followed by a funeral. And that’s the calm before the proverbial storm.

At the living center of said funeral is Roman, who puts on a stoic face as people awkwardly pour out their heart to him because he reminds them so much of his deceased brother, Rocky. While uncomfortable, it’s completely understandable. After all, Rocky was Roman’s twin.

As an endearingly dim and good-natured bro-y type, Roman (Dylan O’Brien) would already be a potential poster child for the current male loneliness epidemic before losing his beloved brother who’d been there for him since the womb. When the weight of the loss becomes too much to crawl out of on his own, Roman — a Moscow, Idaho, native who has uprooted to Rocky’s home of Portland — ventures to a support group specifically for twins whose twin has died.

Rated R

O’Brien and Sweeney are a dynamic duo in Twinless

cocksure swagger.

Sweeney walks an even more precarious tightrope with Dennis, who can be a fun, supportive, wisecracking friend, but also a total obsessive sociopath. He’s the type who, when he asks for advice and doesn’t get the answer he wants, keeps asking around until he finds a pushover who will tell him what he wants to hear. Sweeney does just enough to keep the audience invested in Dennis’ plight without totally turning on him despite the character’s bonkers and wildly self-serving choices.

ALSO OPENING

THE CONJURING: LAST RITES

You can’t just keep the Warrens (Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson) away from paranormal investigation (The Conjuring universe now sits at nine films for those keeping track). This chapter draws from the events of the Smurl haunting, when a demon allegedly inhabited a family’s home. Rated R

HAMILTON

through their collective twinless grief. Under Sweeney’s guidance as the film’s writer, director and co-star, we see this all unfold in a tightly told 20-minute cold open centered on Roman’s perspective.

TWINLESS

Directed by James Sweeney

Starring James Sweeney, Dylan O’Brien

Once there he meets Dennis (James Sweeney), who’s in many ways Roman’s opposite: He’s a verbose and snarky gay man who would certainly fancy himself an intellectual. But that’s also fairly similar to Rocky’s personality, and the two pretty instantly hit it off and quickly become best friends, working their way

Anaaaaand that’s all the plot that should be told, as Twinless twists and turns around the duo in ways that need to be seen firsthand — lest you fair readers be robbed of the full impact of one of 2025’s best cinematic treasures. The tonal shifts and pacing Sweeney achieves in this dark comedy are truly remarkable and worthy of the awards it’s already received this year, including Best Director at the Seattle International Film Festival and the Audience Award for Best U.S. Dramatic Feature at Sundance. There’s so much both actors and the script draw out of these profoundly sad men. O’Brien is best known for his stints on MTV’s Teen Wolf series and the Maze Runner franchise, but he’s a total revelation here. In lesser hands, Roman could be a one-note meathead refusing to acknowledge the pain of the grief raging inside of him, but O’Brien’s small choices add layers of sensitive complexity to flesh him out into a rich, dimensional (while still very reserved) character. If that wasn’t enough, when the story rewinds, O’Brien also plays Rocky with a polar opposite

With only his second feature following writing and directing 2019 indie comedy Straight Up, Sweeney proves just as adept at his technical crafts. There’s a vibrant Pacific Northwest buddy film aspect to Twinless’ cinematography despite its morbid overtones. The way the story reveals itself is completely jarring in the best ways, leading to the type of truly cringey humor that would even make fans of genre staples like The Office and I Think You Should Leave squirm. In a way it surpasses the cringe humor in those shows because while over-the-top, it’s much more grounded in reality rather than absurdism. It’s also an elite example of privileged information storytelling in cinema, as the audience knowing more than certain characters is the well from which much of the humor is drawn.

But despite all the laughter the film elicits, it never loses sight of the drama that’s constantly playing out in Roman’s and Dennis’ emotions. Cringe humor without heart can barely carry a sitcom episode, let alone a feature, but Twinless always stays grounded in the deep loneliness in both their hearts. Even when things get weird between the two, it’s clear their bond has helped each of them with their differently stunted brains.

While calling something an emotional rollercoaster has long been trite, it’s because people oversimplify it — implying things only go up and down. But that’s not the reality of rollercoasters. Twinless is a real emotional rollercoaster: You’ll be giggling as it whips you around corners at gleeful speeds; it never stays too high or too low for too long; it flips you upside down as soon as you feel like you’ve settled in; sometimes you’ll see the horrific upcoming drop and shield your eyes in fear; and, fittingly, two adults can sit side-by-side and experience the actually very smooth but still head-rattling experience together. Hop on board and strap in. n

The filmed version of the original cast Broadway musical received a streaming release in 2020 due to COVID, but now Lin-Manuel Miranda’s historical hip-hop musical finally gets to grace the big screen. Rated PG-13

LURKER

Things take a dark turn when a retail clerk unexpectedly becomes part of a rising pop star’s inner circle only for things to get complicated in this psychological thriller. Rated R

SPLITSVILLE

When Carey’s wife asks him for a divorce, he (literally) runs to his couple friends Julie and Paul for support, only to find they credit their open relationship for keeping their union strong. But when Carey sleeps with Julie, comedic chaos ensues. Rated R

THE THREESOME

The unconventional romantic dramedy finds a man, his longtime crush and a woman they just met unexpectedly having a threesome. Even more unexpectedly? Both women end up pregnant. Rated R

NEW TO STREAM

ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING (SEASON 5)

Death continues to follow the unlikely trio played by Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez — this time with possible mob ties — in the hit comedic mystery program. Hulu (Sept. 9)

NEW RELEASES

This Year’s Sounds of Summer

Rounding up some of the best albums released in the middle months of 2025

BY SETH SOMMERFELD

AFTERGLOW - SLEEP THEORY

While it might not be the most prominent slumber-titled alternative metal band who put out a new album this May, gimme Sleep Theory over Sleep Token any day of the week. The Memphis band feels like a new evolution of nu metal where instead of mashing heavy metal with rap, the group’s sound combines sleek melodic R&B sung by Cullen Moore and metalcore throat-ripping screams by Daniel Pruitt. Displaying touches of everything from Linkin Park to Fall Out Boy, the songs on Afterglow manage to be equal parts catchy and heavy while exploring an untrodden sonic path that feels fresh throughout the album’s 12-song runtime.

ANIMARU - MEI SEMONES

It’s hard for an artist’s debut album to feel like it has a totally unique voice that is so clearly their own, but that’s the case with Mei Semones’ Animaru. After all, it’s not every day we get a singer-songwriter with a delicate twee indie folk voice who’s also a jazz guitar whiz with a penchant for bossa nova grooves and a background that allows her to effortlessly switch between gorgeous English and Japanese lyricism. Animaru possesses a mochi-esque sweet, soft cool

with violin and voila adding a chamber pop richness to the proceedings. The fact that this is only Semones’ starting point should get any music fans worth their salt excited.

DESERT QUEEN - PEARL CHARLES

Call me a curmudgeon, but I find most neo-retro music to be cloyingly trite and (inherently) derivative. The exception to this rule continues to be the Los Angeleno hidden gem, Pearl Charles. Her new album Desert Queen once again blends dreamy Fleetwood Mac-esque Laurel Canyon classic rock, dashes of disco, and soft soul in a way that feels fresh while scratching those nostalgic itches. All the sundrenched slow jams go down honey smooth and groovy dance numbers like “Middle of the Night” and the steel drum-infused “Nothin’ On Me” will reflexively get your hips and shoulders swaying.

DIFFERENT TALKING - FRANKIE COSMOS

In trying times, there’s comfort to be found in twee tunes. Different Talking reiterates that Frankie Cosmos’ Greta Kline remains the modern master of that brand of delicate indie rock. The self-produced collection of 17 short tracks finds the wonderfully softspoken Kline sorting through growing

into something resembling an adult after being in the spotlight since her teenage years, and fuller band arrangements prop her up while she sifts through these various musings. In a time when sincerity can feel countercultural at times, every Frankie Cosmos tune still manages to feel like a personal Polaroid snapshot that Kline is graciously sharing to foster a sense of communal empathy.

EVANGELIC GIRL LS A GUN - YEULE

Singaporean glitch pop artist Yeule always seems to be in search of new sonic territory to explore, and there’s a certain calm confidence to the groove they settle into on Evangelical Girl Is a Gun. Bringing pop, alt-rock and trip-hop elements to the foreground of their ambient synth pop sound, the new collection might evoke Garbage in one moment and Grimes in the next. The dense production somehow manages to feel worlds more intimate than most music so strongly cyber-coded while still maintaining Yeule’s intriguing sense of enigmatic artistry.

LOTUS - LITTLE SIMZ

If we were a more serious culture, we’d be having frequent conversations about where Little Simz ranks on the

pantheon level of the best rappers in the game. But since so many people find it easy to immediately dismiss a British female MC, the conversation instead drifts toward mega-millionaires writing diss tracks. “Cool.” After an acrimonious and litigious split with her longtime producer, her sixth album serves as the latest showcase of Little Simz immense skillz, as she lyrically grapples with her world getting shaken up while proving that she’s just fine on her own. With new producer Miles Clinton James presenting less grandiose beats that draw on Afrobeat, rock and jazz, Lotus unfolds in part like a breakup album and in part like leafing through her diary entries, but in a way that overall feels more like an evolutionary step forward rather than unduly dwelling on the past.

MOISTURIZER - WET LEG

Wet Leg’s Rhian Teasdale done went and falled in love. The followup to the English band’s amazing self-titled debut LP still overflows with snarling feminist indie rock swagger, but the frontwoman isn’t afraid to get a bit gushy about becoming completely enamored with a queer love despite her inherent jaded skepticism about romance. With doses of jagged post-punk instrumentalism and a knack for catchy melodicism, tracks like “Catch These Fists” (fittingly) pack a punch while decrying eye-rollingly awful dudes, and are in turn counterbalanced more this time by affectionate slow burns like “Davina McCall” and “11:21.” The band’s natural humor thankfully remains, though it might be a bit less biting this time around. Love has a charming way of making us into softies.

ALSO DON’T MISS…

Better Dreaming - Tune-Yards

Free - Kid Cudi

Metalhorse - Billy Nomates

Precipice - Indigo De Souza

The Quiet Year - Suzzallo

Snipe Hunter - Tyler Childers

Songs in the Key of Yikes - Superchunk

The Sound a Body Makes When It’s Still - Hot Mulligan

Stay Radiant - Karli Fairbanks

Who Will Look After the Dogs? - PUP

PIROUETTE - MODEL/ACTRIZ

Model/Actriz’s enveloping cacophony of harsh sound is still very much front and center on the queer noise art punk band’s second album, but singer Cole Haden cushions the feelings of unease with his willingness to be nakedly vulnerable via his tender lyricism in the midst of the sonic storm raging all around him. The hurt is his voice stings when detailing bailing on wanting a Cinderella birthday party as a kid (“Cinderalla”) or spoken word reflecting on his first gay crush back when he was still closeted (“Headlights”). There’s also a willingness to be softly melodic on tracks like “Acid Rain” and “Baton” that offer reprieves from the clattering soundscape while not undercutting the band’s inherent noisy chaotic bliss.

UNDER TANGLED SILENCE - DJRUM

RIP Henry David Thoreau, you would’ve loved this new Djrum album. The transcendental naturalist author of Walden once wrote, “Unpremeditated music is the true gauge which measures the current of our thoughts — the very undertow of our life’s stream,” and that vibe fits the latest from the British DJ/producer. Forefronted by improvised piano backed by intricately complex drum programming, the gleefully glitchy instrumental electronic album mixes vibe-out EDM with an experimental jazz undercurrent that’s ideal for letting your mind get lost while gazing at the universe’s unexplainable beauty while chilling by your favorite pond.

VIRGIN - LORDE

Look, it’s nice for Lorde just to sound like Lorde again. After getting lost in summer beachy vibes (and Jack Antonoff production style) on Solar Power, Virgin returns to something closer to the twitchy electropop brilliance she first displayed as a teen on Pure Heroine. If Melodrama soaked up the messy confusion of chaotic young late nights at the club, Virgin feels like waking up the next afternoon with a bit of a hangover — it’s more measured and insecure as it sorts out the blurry decisions while maintaining the traces of her sophomore album’s thumping electro bass pop. If you’re trying to pick up the pieces, you might as well dance while doing so. n

Jundt Art Museum

Personal to Political: Celebrating the African American Artists of Paulson Fontaine Press

Organized by Bedford Gallery at the Lesher Center for the Arts, Walnut Creek, CA.

September 13 - December 20, 2025 JundtArtMuseum.org

Myrtle Woldson Center Presents

Lyyra

Presenting Partner: Gonzaga Music

September 24, 2025

GONZAGA DANCE

Sea Change Within Us with Karin Stevens Dance September 19, 2025

GONZAGA THEATRE

Climate Change Theatre Action

In partnership with the Gonzaga Institute for Climate, Water, and the Environment

October 3 - 5, 2025

Shown Above: David Huffman, Basketball Pyramid, 2007, color aquatint, spit bite sugar lift, soft ground and hard ground etching, 37.5 x 45 in., courtesy of Paulson Fontaine Press, Berkeley, CA

RISING UP

Resurrection Records owner Mike House discusses the store’s new location and the importance of physical media

BY ELLIS BENSON

During a time in which listeners are spoon-fed new music by algorithmic overlords, physical media presents itself as an increasingly valuable alternative.

First getting into physical media over 20 years ago, Resurrection Records owner Mike House is a bona fide vinyl, cassette and CD aficionado.

In early August, House moved Resurrection Records from its home of nearly a decade on Northwest Boulevard to a new storefront on Hamilton Street in the Logan neighborhood. The new space offers an additional 800 square feet of space (for a total of 2,000) for House to sell and store even more music. Near Gonzaga University and Spokane Community College, the location is a more ideal setting for Resurrection to reach its target clientele, as the current demographic for record buyers swings younger.

House originally launched Resurrection Records in Santa Ana, California, back in 2012. After a yearlong stint in Austin, Texas, he moved to Spokane in 2016 and reopened the shop here about a week after arriving.

Moving a whole record store is no easy feat; the process took almost two months. With over 400 boxes, each weighing about 100 pounds, the summer heat made the whole ordeal much less than ideal.

“The first day we did it, it was like 90-something degrees,” House says. “It was really hot, and records can’t get hot. And it was heavy.”

Despite the arduous moving process, Resurrection Records’ first few weeks at its new location have gone well. The shop hosted a grand reopening party on Aug. 16 with performances from local artists such as Hayes Noble, Peru Resh and Lazarus to celebrate. House plans on continuing to host these kinds of

events at the new storefront. Up next is an early-listening party for Twenty One Pilots’ new album, Breach, on Sept. 6.

Through the past two-plus decades he’s been buying and selling records, cassettes and CDs, House has noticed a considerable uptick in the popularity of physical media.

“There’s always more and more people getting into records,” he says. “Especially since COVID, I feel like it’s really changed the physical media buying habits of people.”

When House first began getting into records in the mid-2000s, the norm was to download music to an iPod or other digital music player. However, House’s obscure punk and hardcore musical preferences were often too niche to be found on iTunes, and too old to have been available as CDs.

“I had to start collecting records to listen to the music I wanted to listen to — it was sort of just out of necessity,” he says.

For House, discovering and listening to new music this way elevates the experience, as algorithm-driven apps tend to lack variety.

House also sells vinyl on Discogs, a website/app for buying and selling albums. Resurrection Records (his handle is resurrectionrecords) currently has a whopping 20,579 records for sale on the platform.

To many, owning a record store may seem like a dream job, yet House’s favorite part about the gig is perhaps a bit surprising.

“Organizing,” he says. “Definitely organizing. Definitely into that: putting records away and organizing them into genres, subgenres, and categorizing things… I have a lot of labeling and lots of subgenres for different categories of music and stuff like that.”

Oddly enough, House says the combination of hip-hop and death metal are especially popular right now, with lots of younger people simultaneously buying records of both genres. On the flip side, classical, folk, and country LPs have seen better days.

SHOP LOCAL

Resurrection Records

2174 N. Hamilton St. Open 11 am-6 pm daily getresurrected.com

“It doesn’t give you anything new, it doesn’t understand how to find music properly,” he says. “It just gives you key things. I’ll play something, and it will play the exact same song three, four, times in an hour. There’s no variety in that.”

Not only has House noticed a considerable rise in the popularity of records and cassettes, he’s also seen a flip in pricing trends. In the early 2000s, CDs were often $20 to $30, but now they’re considerably cheaper. Certain records, on the other hand — even those that used to be dirt cheap and plentiful — are now highly coveted and rare.

Resurrection carries all sorts of genres and listening mediums. From death metal to traditional folk to K-pop, House makes sure there’s something for everyone.

“It’s cool to pick something out, buy it, and have someone want to buy it from me. It gives me some reassurance that I’m picking out the right things when someone buys it,” he says. “It’s like a gamble trying to figure out who’s gonna buy what.”

As for the future of Resurrection Records, House simply hopes that more people will continue to buy albums.

“I feel like I’m in a good spot here,” he says. “I’m just grateful for everyone that likes to buy physical media — I hope it always gets more popular.” n

Mike House moved Resurrection Records to North Hamilton. ELLIS BENSON PHOTOS

POTPOURRI SPOKANE FAIR CONCERTS

ROCK 38 SPECIAL

Thursday, 9/4

ARBOR CREST WINE CELLARS, Daniel Hall

GREEN CITY SALOON, DJ KJ

J JAGUAR ROOM (CHAMELEON), Joey Harkum, Jeshua Marshall

J THE KENWORTHY, Wild Rumours:

A Fleetwood Mac Experience

PJ’S PUB, The Dirty Champions

J QQ SUSHI & KITCHEN, Just Plain Darin

RED DRAGON (THIRD AVENUE), Thursday Night Jam

RED ROOM LOUNGE, T hurrsdays EDM Night

J SOUTH HILL GRILL, Just Plain Darin

J SPOKANE TRIBE CASINO, Billy Bob Thornton & The Boxmasters, Fran Moran & The Nervous Wrecks ZOLA, The Shawn Stratte Band, Frances Browne

Friday, 9/5

J THE BIG DIPPER, Stuntdope, Elaine’s Gun, Lazarus, Sithara THE CHAMELEON, Crimewave: A Darkwave Party

GARDEN PARTY, Storme

J THE GRAIN SHED, Haywire

GREEN CITY SALOON, DJ KJ

J HAPPY MEADOWS VENUE, Cosmic Wonderland

JOHN’S ALLEY, Colby Acuff

J KNITTING FACTORY, Terror Reid, Domsta

While Labor Day may have passed, you can still take in some sweet summery sounds as the Spokane County Interstate Fair concerts close out the sonic season. Things kick off on Tuesday, Sept. 9, with a powerhouse duo of country chart-toppers in the form of Tracy Lawrence and Rodney Atkins. The following night (Sept. 10), nostalgia will be all the rage as the “I Love the ’90s” tour swings into town with Vanilla Ice, C+C Music Factory and Seattle’s own Sir Mix-ALot. Boys Like Girls and Plain White T’s wind down the music festivities on Sept. 11 with a 1-2 pop punk punch. All concert tickets include gate admission to the fair, allowing locals to also get their fried food and carnival ride fixes before taking in the tunes.

— SETH SOMMERFELD

Spokane County Interstate Fair Concerts • Tue, Sept. 9-Thu, Sept. 11 at 7 pm • $45-$80 • All ages • Spokane County Fair & Expo Center • 404 N. Havana St. • thespokanefair.com

OLD MILL BAR AND GRILL, Son of Brad

J PEND D’OREILLE WINERY, Carson Rhodes Band

J PUEBLA MEXICAN RESTAURANT, Latin Dance Party

J J SPOKANE TRIBE CASINO, 38 Special

THE GOODY BAR AND GRILL, Midnight Open Mic

ZOLA, Tomboy, Dave Long

Saturday, 9/6

J THE BIG DIPPER, Opaquis, Mezzanine, Tone Sober, The Monday Band

J BLACK LODGE BREWING, Call For Help

GREEN CITY SALOON, DJ KJ

J INDABA FLAGSHIP CAFÉ, Rosethrow & Spro

J KNITTING FACTORY, Casey Donahew, Bottomland

LIVE AT ANDRE’S, Kawehi

J PEND D’OREILLE WINERY, Rhys Gerwin

THE GOODY BAR AND GRILL, Midnight Open Mic

ZOLA, Jerry Lee Raines

Sunday, 9/7

ARBOR CREST WINE CELLARS, Diego Romero Band

GREEN CITY SALOON, DJ KJ

J HAMILTON STUDIO, Zonky Jazz Band

Monday, 9/8

RED ROOM LOUNGE, Red Room Open Mic

Tuesday, 9/9

GREEN CITY SALOON, DJ KJ

Now over 50 years into the band’s existence, there’s still something special about 38 Special. Originally from Jacksonville, Florida, the group broke out in the early ’80s with a Southern brand of melodic hard rock (with the not-so-secret weapon of a two-drummer rhythmic attack). Songs like “Caught Up in You” and “Hold On Loosely” became massive hits for the band and have held up as staples of the classic rock canon. All these years later, guitarist/lead singer Don Barnes is still leading the way every time 38 Special takes the stage. Despite what a certain song’s lyrics might suggest, longtime fans who’ve held on tightly to 38 Special still are reaping the rock rewards.

— SETH SOMMERFELD

38 Special • Fri, Sept. 5 at 8 pm • $66-$209 • All ages • Spokane Tribe Resort & Casino • 14300 W. SR-2 Hwy., Airway Heights • spokanetribecasino.com

J OSPREY RESTAURANT & BAR, Osprey Patio Concert Series: Doghouse Boyz

J PEND D’OREILLE WINERY, Jonathan Nicholson

RED ROOM LOUNGE, Turn Up Tuesdays with Scozzari

J J SPOKANE COUNTY FAIR, Tracy Lawrence, Rodney Atkins

SWING LOUNGE, Swing Lounge Live Music Tuesdays

ZOLA, The Zola All Star Jam

Wednesday, 9/10

J PANIDA THEATER, TAKE3, Oct. 5. J

J MIKEY’S GYROS, Bone Haus, GOCK, Starlab Arcada NIGHT OWL, Four On The Floor Fridays

J HAPPY MEADOWS VENUE, Cosmic Wonderland

J HUCKLEBERRY’S MARKET, Kori Ailene

J THE BIG DIPPER, Skin Slicing Horse, Catholics, Iabsorbyourstatic, Flyborne

GREEN CITY SALOON, DJ KJ

J BLACK LODGE BREWING, Unplugged Series: Millergold, Andrew Crateau

GREEN CITY SALOON, DJ KJ

J MATCHWOOD BREWING CO., John Firshi

J OSPREY RESTAURANT & BAR, Osprey Patio Concert Series: Doghouse Boyz

J PEND D’OREILLE WINERY, Dwayne Parsons

RED ROOM LOUNGE, Red Room Jam

J J SPOKANE COUNTY FAIR, I Love the ‘90s: Vanilla Ice, Sir Mix-a-Lot, C+C Music Factory

J TIMBERS ROADHOUSE, Cary Beare Presents TRVST, The TRVST Open Decks ZOLA, Akifumi Kato

Just Announced...

J HAMILTON STUDIO, Stephanie Anne Johnson, Sep. 26.

J SPOKANE TRIBE CASINO, Ying Yang Twins, Oct. 10.

J SPOKANE TRIBE CASINO, Quiet Riot, Oct. 11.

J SPOKANE TRIBE CASINO, Lorrie Morgan, Oct. 17.

THE DISTRICT BAR, Riddy Arman, Nov. 7.

THE DISTRICT BAR, Cardinal Bloom, Nov. 8.

THE CHAMELEON, The Bunny The Bear, Nov. 8.

J SPOKANE ARENA, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Nov. 21.

J THE BIG DIPPER, Enterprise Earth, Dec. 15.

J SPOKANE ARENA, TobyMac, Feb. 26.

J KNITTING FACTORY, Josiah Queen, Apr. 24.

Coming Up...

ARBOR CREST WINE CELLARS, Robert Vaughn, Sep. 11, 4:30 pm.

THE CHAMELEON, Tomboy, Sugar Bear, Fern Spores, Sep. 11, 7 pm.

J J SPOKANE COUNTY FAIR, Boys Like Girls, Plain White T’s, Sep. 11, 7 pm.

J THE BIG DIPPER, Psychic Death, Operative, Grave Depression, Poise, Sep. 11, 7:30 pm.

J HAMILTON STUDIO, Les Greene & The Swayzees, Sep. 12, 7 pm.

J REPUBLIC BREWING CO., Bill Price, Sep. 12, 7 pm.

KNITTING FACTORY, Bop to the Top, Sep. 12, 8 pm.

J MIKEY’S GYROS, Shadow Work, Cameron McGill, Sep. 12, 8 pm.

J SPOKANE TRIBE CASINO, Cinderella’s Tom Keiferband, LA Guns, Sep. 12, 8 pm. BERSERK, Iron Firmament, Ravenlord, Cult of Suffering, Sep. 12, 9 pm. THE CHAMELEON, Dance Romance: A Lady Gaga Dance Party, Sep. 12, 9 pm. BULLHEAD SALOON, The Lime Wires, Sep. 13, 7 pm. LIVE AT ANDRE’S, Shawn Mullins, Sep. 13, 7 pm. RED DRAGON (THIRD AVENUE), Rolling Tones, Sep. 13, 7 pm.

J THE BIG DIPPER, HAUNT, Toxic Vengeance, Sep. 13, 7:30 pm.

BING CROSBY THEATER, America’s Diamond: The Neil Diamond Legacy Tribute, Sep. 13, 7:30-9:30 pm.

J NORTHERN QUEST CASINO, Warren Zeiders, Chayce Beckham, Sep. 13, 7:30 pm.

J JAGUAR ROOM (CHAMELEON), Sex With Seneca, Carson Daniel, When She Dreams, Sep. 13, 8 pm.

THE DISTRICT BAR, This Is How We Do It ‘80s-’90s R&B and Hip-Hop Party, Sep. 13, 9 pm.

ARBOR CREST WINE CELLARS, Lake City Blues, Sep. 14, 4:30 pm.

MUSIC | VENUES

219 LOUNGE • 219 N. First Ave., Sandpoint • 208-263-5673

ARBOR CREST WINE CELLARS • 4705 N. Fruit Hill Rd., Spokane Valley • 509-927-9463

BARRISTER WINERY • 1213 W. Railroad Ave. • 509-465-3591

BEE’S KNEES WHISKY BAR • 1324 W. Lancaster Rd.., Hayden • 208-758-0558

BERSERK • 125 S. Stevens St. • 509-315-5101

THE BIG DIPPER • 171 S. Washington St. • 509-863-8098

BIGFOOT PUB • 9115 N. Division St. • 509-467-9638

BING CROSBY THEATER • 901 W. Sprague Ave. • 509-227-7638

BOLO’S BAR & GRILL • 116 S. Best Rd., Spokane Valley • 509-891-8995

BUCER’S COFFEEHOUSE PUB • 201 S. Main St., Moscow • 208-596-0887

THE BULL HEAD • 10211 S. Electric St., Four Lakes • 509-838-9717

CHAN’S RED DRAGON • 1406 W. Third Ave. • 509-838-6688

THE CHAMELEON • 1801 W. Sunset Blvd.

COEUR D’ALENE CASINO • 37914 S. Nukwalqw St., Worley • 800-523-2464

COEUR D’ALENE CELLARS • 3890 N. Schreiber Way, Coeur d’Alene • 208-664-2336

CRUISERS BAR & GRILL • 6105 W Seltice Way, Post Falls • 208-446-7154

THE DISTRICT BAR • 916 W. 1st Ave. • 509-244-3279

EICHARDT’S PUB • 212 Cedar St., Sandpoint • 208-263-4005

FIRST INTERSTATE CENTER FOR THE ARTS • 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. • 509-279-7000

FOX THEATER • 1001 W. Sprague Ave. • 509-624-1200

GARDEN PARTY • 107 S. Madison St. • 509-389-5009

THE GRAIN SHED • 1026 E. Newark Ave. • 509-241-3853

HAMILTON STUDIO • 1427 W. Dean Ave.. • 509-327-9501

IRON HORSE (CDA) • 407 E. Sherman, Coeur d’Alene • 208-667-7314

IRON HORSE (VALLEY) • 11105 E. Sprague Ave., Spokane Valley • 509-926-8411

JOHN’S ALLEY • 114 E. Sixth St., Moscow • 208-883-7662

KENWORTHY PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE • 508 S. Main St., Moscow • 208-882-4127

KNITTING FACTORY • 911 W. Sprague Ave. • 509-244-3279

MARYHILL WINERY • 1303 W. Summit Pkwy. • 509-443-3832

MIKEY’S GYROS • 527 S. Main St., Moscow • 208-882-0780

MILLIE’S • 28441 Hwy 57, Priest Lake • 208-443-0510

MOOSE LOUNGE • 401 E. Sherman Ave., Coeur d’Alene • 208-664-7901

MOOSE LOUNGE NORTH • 10325 N. Government Wy, Hayden • 208-518-1145

NASHVILLE NORTH • 6361 W. Seltice Way, Post Falls • 208-457-9128

NEATO BURRITO • 827 W. First Ave. • 509-847-1234

NITE OWL • 223 N. Division St., 509-309-2183

NORTHERN QUEST RESORT & CASINO • 100 N. Hayford Rd., Airway Heights • 877-871-6772

NYNE BAR & BISTRO • 232 W. Sprague Ave. • 509-474-1621

PACIFIC PIZZA • 2001 W. Pacific Ave • 509-440-5467

PANIDA THEATER • 300 N First Ave., Sandpoint • 208-263-9191

PEND D’OREILLE WINERY • 301 Cedar St., Sandpoint • 208-265-8545

POST FALLS BREWING CO. • 112 N. Spokane St., Post Falls • 208-773-7301

RED ROOM LOUNGE • 521 W. Sprague Ave. • 509-838-7613

THE RIDLER PIANO BAR • 718 W. Riverside Ave. • 509-822-7938

SEASONS OF COEUR D’ALENE • 1004 S. Perry St. • 208-664-8008

SPOKANE ARENA • 720 W. Mallon Ave. • 509-279-7000

SPOKANE TRIBE RESORT & CASINO • 14300 US-2, Airway Heights • 877-786-9467

TRVST • 120 N. Wall St.

ZOLA • 22 W. Main Ave. • 509-624-2416

SPORTS KICKING THINGS OFF

After narrowly missing the playoffs in their inaugural season, the Spokane Zephyr have their sights on more success on the pitch in their sophomore campaign. After starting the season with two road games, Spokane’s professional women’s soccer team should be warmed up for their home opener on Sept. 6 against Fort Lauderdale United, the team that beat them out for the fourth and final playoff spot by one point last season. The Zephyr will look a bit different this time around with a handful of departures — most notably the franchise’s leading scorer Emina Ekić — being countered by additions like Kent native Olivia Van der Jagt (on loan from the Seattle Reign). It may still be summer, but it’s time to bust out those team scarves, Zephyr supporters.

— SETH SOMMERFELD

Spokane Zephyr vs. Fort Lauderdale United (Home Opener)

• Sat, Sept. 6 at 6 pm • $19-$95 • ONE Spokane Stadium • 501 W. Gardner Ave. • uslspokane.com

COMMUNITY BACK IN MY HAY…

Ever wonder how farmers in the 1920s, ’30s, ’40s and ’50s harvested wheat? Wonder no longer! At the Vintage Harvest event, you can see firsthand how old-time farmers got the grueling endof-summer harvest done. This live harvest demonstration event begins at 9:30 in the morning, when the moisture is still good. Local wheat farmers demonstrating the process will use actual machines and tractors that would’ve been used in the aforementioned eras. Vintage tractors and combines won’t be the only vintage machines on display as the weekend-long event also features a vintage car show. Listen to the sweet strumming of the Hawk Creek Band, and enjoy a nice dinner while you’re at it.

— ELLIS BENSON

Vintage Harvest • Sat, Sept. 6 from 9:30 am-5 pm and Sun, Sept. 7 from 9:30 am-3 pm • Free • The Big Red Barn • 40801 SR 2 East, Davenport • lincolncountymuseums.org

THEATER DENIED NO LONGER!

For 20 years, Inland Northwest Opera brought stunning opera performances to the region until it suspended operations nearly two years ago. Now, the organization is rebuilding thanks to a group of dedicated volunteers. The nonprofit’s first show back is Love Denied, a performance of music from Donizetti’s Lucia Di Lammermoor and Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, showcasing the tragic cost of holding love hostage. Tenor Robert McPherson, known for his intensity and comedic timing in Seattle’s opera sphere, is joined onstage at the MAC by local coloratura and North Idaho College vocal professor Chloe Sundet. Together, the two will shepherd in a new era of Inland Northwest Opera for those among us who love a little drama.

— MADISON PEARSON

Love Denied • Wed, Sept. 10 at 5:30 pm • By donation • Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture • 2316 W. First Ave. • inlandnwopera.org

Spokane Zephyr forward Thais Reiss ERICK DOXEY PHOTO

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.

COMEDY HOLMES ALONE

When I resided in Seattle, I went to stand-up shows a ton and saw some of the biggest names in the business. I say that as context for the following statement: I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a better stand-up set than the one Pete Holmes delivered years ago at the Neptune. It was wall-to-wall hilarity with both the crowd and performer 100% locked in. Holmes’ humor taps both into goofy and existential topics (as does his You Made It Weird podcast) and his gregarious youth pastor energy is welcoming while allowing for plenty of self-deprecation. While he’s previously been a TV standout as the star of HBO’s Crashing and host of his own TBS talk show (The Pete Holmes Show), he excels most on stage where his shows can get positively McDonald’s (...I’m lovin’ it). — SETH SOMMERFELD

Pete Holmes • Thu, Sept. 4 at 7 pm; Fri, Sept. 5-Sat, Sept. 6 at 7 pm and 9:45 pm • $39-$50 • Early shows 18+; late shows 21+ • Spokane Comedy Club • 315 W. Sprague Ave. • spokanecomedyclub.com

POLITICS IN THE HOT SEAT

Are you a die-hard fan of Sean Evans’ Hot Ones, the YouTube interview show where celebrities attempt to answer questions as they stack increasingly spicier Scovilles on their tongue via chicken wings? Or perhaps you’ve always wished city politics and local elections were more entertaining than they are. Either way, you’re sure to get a kick out of Range Media’s upcoming candidate forum for the upcoming Spokane City Council elections. Spokane’s Spiciest Candidate Forum aims to ask those hard-hitting “spicy” questions of City Council candidates as they eat increasingly hot foods cooked by local chef Tony Brown. Five of the six candidates running for three open council positions (incumbent City Council member Jonathan Bingle had a prior commitment and won’t be there in person) plan to attend.

— COLTON RASANEN

Spokane’s Spiciest Candidate Forum • Sun, Sept. 7 from noon-8 pm • Free$30 • The Guardian • 1403 N. Washington St. • rangemedia.co

I SAW YOU

LET’S WATCH ANOTHER MOVIE I met you and your son with my son at the Garland theater. Your son came up and sat with us. We went for a walk afterwards. Then I realized I lost my wallet. I got it back and headed back to the time bomb to try checking back up with you. Unfortunately you had already left. I would like to get to know you or check another movie with you.

MISSED CONNECTION Hello to the man in the FJ Cruiser at the open house, I really enjoyed chatting with you. I hope you find what you are looking for

CHEERS

CHEETAH PRINT HIPSTER I am at a complete loss, I try not to think about you but I cant help it. I used to look forward to seeing you, but now the only place I see you is in my “People you may know,” and when I see your picture I can feel my stomach drop to the floor. I tried to keep everything professional but when I got to know you more I realized that I think I like you quite a bit. I mean I don’t know you, or about the things along the way that made you who you are. But I want to know those things. We can’t see eachother anymore, but I want you to know I miss you everyday, I think I will always think about you. I wish I could have learned those interesting things about you, I wish I still got to laugh with you and be near that incredible smile. More than anything I hope you are doing well and that you are happy. Sincerely, The Lamest Hipster

TRASH TACKLERS I just want to give a shoutout to D&W! I see them picking up trash all over Kendall Yards, and they’re the friendliest couple!

HAPPY 69TH! 9/11 what a day! For my hubby who lasted longer than most of his buddies, congratulations!! Thanks for everything you do for me and our wonderful family. Hope the rest of your years bring you happiness and relaxation. And you get to be a GREAT grandpa soon!

SMOKE FREE SUMMER! I ’m sure I just jinxed our fall but I am so grateful we made it almost all the way through the summer without any smoke or air quality issues. It’s easy to look at the hazy air and be sad but my goodness it was wonderful to have a full summer of beautiful clean air and clear skies.

HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR!! I cannot believe you're in your final year of high school. You're rocking it. I wanted you to know that your amazing. You are smart! You are beautiful inside and out! You can do it! I hope you can believe in yourself as much as i do. I will be right here if you need anything. I love you more than there are waves in the ocean. Love you love mommy

JEERS

STA MANAGEMENT: You don’t seem to: Ride the bus to observe. Listen to driver feedback. Care about the unreasonably limited “crammed” times between stops. Are your “planners” using Google Analytics programs/scheduling tools to do the work you should be doing?.. learning & listening? Stop with your bragging on FB about ranking 3.5 stars nationally in surveys?!? Screw nationally? You. Are. Local. Get your butts on a route weekly and learn. Example: If a bike or wheel chair is picked up on a route, the times are moot. Figure it out! Stop. Tip-toeing. Around. Listen to your drivers, and start treating them like the professionals they are. I don’t care about your shiny t.v. ad’verts. Safe passage matters.

DEAR PARENTS As a child care provider I thought it necessary to provide guidance to parents who send their kids to Summer day camp. Please stop sending your kids to camp and school with candy, cookies and sugary drinks. Just last week I had a kid whose guardians sent them to camp with four different types of cookies in four

different bags. I’ve had kids that roll up to camp with family sized bags of Takis and Hot Cheetos. I’ve had kids who suck down Prime drinks provided by parents and guardians, and then get all indignant when you tell them their child is incapable of behaving properly. Square yourselves away and stop being lazy, ignorant and detached from your kids. The kids who

trip to bend the knee and kiss Bibi’s ring. Maybe you were looking for some beachfront property. Maybe you can kiss the third ring when Putin shows up for the World Cup. Where is my $5,000 Doge Refund Check?

I HAVEN’T SEEN THEM! I have yet to see anyone crossing the street at the Spokane Valley City Hall! Yet, they downsized

have the biggest behavioral issues are the ones who are sent to school and camp with garbage food. There are no food deserts in Spokane, so there are no excuses. Fix yourselves because we as teachers and child care providers do talk about you and your inability to make educated decisions or take care of your children properly.

FOUL MOUTH FOOLS AT ATILANO’S To the foul mouthed fools at Atilano’s on Sprague during “Taco Tuesday,” if you’re going to use the word f--- over and over again while sitting around people who don’t care for that word useage, perhaps you shouldn’t wear your work shirts. Three of you were talking coarsely while wearing your lawn maintenance company shirts. Perhaps you should think more about how this affects your employer? I know for one that I won’t be calling for your services. I hope your boss reads these because based on the simplicity of your language skills, I doubt if you’re able to read. Nevertheless, you were offensive and several of us did note the company you work for, idiots!

SPOKESMAN REVIEW Jeers to the Spokesman for the story on the Safe and Welcome in Spokane ordinance that highlighted hateful comments. So called “illegals” are not people that need to be “repelled” and to suggest such is appalling, dehumanizing and abhorrent. There are not two sides to being a human being.

KEEP BENDING YOUR knee and kissing the ring. I prefer the Latin spelling of ring. Forget the Veterans and Elderly. Forget the unfed kids heading back to school on September 2nd. You will be back in D.C after missing for 170 days since your last town hall meeting. I realize you had to travel 15,000 miles round

Sprague Avenue for better access to the park!!! During the rush hour, the traffic is HORRIBLE!! Why did they do such a stupid thing like downsizing the roadway???

SERVES YOU RIGHT Hey MAGA voters, So you can’t be moved to put some parameters around who can own guns or how deadly they are? No number of dead school children, people gunned down in public spaces, murdered wives and mothers, or the fact that firearms are the leading cause of death for our rising generation can convince you to just stop for a second and think about this. Why do you owe more allegiance to gun makers than you do your neighbors? Those old boys certainly don’t have any care for you — otherwise they would voluntarily make their products safer for the American public, helping to preserve gun rights and the lives of people you love. This slavish devotion to the gun profiteers’ party line will ultimately shoot you in the feet — the person you elected is trying his best to become a dictator, and you know what they think about citizens having guns...

LOTS OF LAUGHS So I suspect Putin is laughing his ass off about our president bragging he can end a war in 24 hours. Michael B., how does it feel to be a part of the clown posse?

KOMPLACENT KAREN To the older woman who watched a man steal all the cash out of my tip jar at the WA Trust coffee shop (and we have you on camera) while I was in the bathroom and had the audacity to come up to me afterwards to say “oh, I didn’t think it was my place to intervene”: SHAME ON YOU. YOU, YOUR DAUGHTER, AND YOUR

GRANDDAUGHTER. Your complacency is a reflection of what’s inside your heart.

RE: THE BEDTIME SYMPHONY... Yes the nightly symphony of violence by noise continues, it’s more 2-wheeled lately. How does the SPD pull over vehicles evading & weaving past and around others at dangerous speeds? The ideals

and principles of laws are lately being radically re-interpreted. Most everyone within earshot of this would approve instant impounding of the dark and ignorant offender’s vehicle, loss of license, and auction (must provide legal mufflers) to a fund for fallen and injured officers when traffic and impound fines are unpaid. Citizens are currently praying for snow. Lots of it, please, and soon!

FREAKBOI13 J ust wanted to say, if you pick this up to see if I had something to say, here’s a reminder that you’re very, very awful. I might be the villain in your story, but you’ll always be the closeted boy in mine. (I mean no disrespect, but cheating is cheating)

BEAUTY SCHOOL HOMELESS TRAINING

Instead of a hair salon suing the Catholics charities, why doesn’t the city, hair salon and charity reopen the closed beauty school in the Valley. Training the homeless and employing them in the city might cease with “downtown” problems. n

NOTE: I Saw You/Cheers & Jeers is for adults 18 or older. The

EVENTS | CALENDAR

BENEFIT

BOOK SALE BLOWOUT AND YARD SALE Shop from a bounty of books, DVDs, CDs and more. The event also features craft supplies, kites and more. Proceeds benefit the Pend Oreille County Library District. Sep. 6, 10 am-2 pm. Pend Oreille County Library District Office, 109 S. Union Ave. pocld.org

BRICKWEST BOXING A fundraiser for Spokane Boxing featuring amateur bouts, sponsor tables and activities held in the Brick West Plaza. Sep. 6, 2-9 pm. $10. Brick West Brewing Co., 1318 W. First. brickwestbrewingco.com

JESS ROSKELLEY FOUNDATION ANNUAL FUNDRAISER A fundraiser for the Jess Roskelley foundation featuring a screening of Trango, a ski-mountaineering film followed by a Q&A with ski mountaineer Christina Lustenberger. The evening also features a silent auction with all proceeds benefitting the foundation. Sep. 11, 5:30 pm. $20. Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts Center, 211 E. Desmet Ave. jessroskelleyfoundation.com (509-313-4776)

COMEDY

FUNNY FUNNY FUNNY JOKE JOKE

JOKE Funny Funny Funny Joke Joke

Joke is a unique comedy experience that takes full advantage of the Garland Theater’s projector system hosted by Josiah Carlson. This month’s special guest is Derek Sheen, a cult favorite comedian. Sep. 4, 7:30-9 pm. $15. Garland Theater, 924 W. Garland Ave. garlandtheater.org (509-327-1050)

PETE HOLMES Holmes’ is known for delving into existential topics and is best known for appearing on HBO’s Crashing. Sep. 4-6, 7 pm, Sep. 5-6, 9:45 pm. $35-$45. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com (509-318-9998)

GENRE ROULETTE An improv show based on an audience member’s occupation that gets turning into an epic tale by spinning the genre week to determine what happens. Sept. 5-26, Fri at 7:30 pm. $9. Blue Door Theatre, 319 S. Cedar St. bluedoortheatre.org

JANE LYNCH & KATE FLANNERY An evening of mischief and music from Emmy Award-winner Jane Lynch and Kate Flannery. Sep. 9, 12-9:30 pm. $75-$85. Bing Crosby Theater, 901 W. Sprague Ave. bingcrosbytheater.com

COMMUNITY

COMMUNITY BLOCK PARTY A celebration of local culture, creativity and connection with specials from neighboring businesses, kid friendly activities, visual art, live painters, vendors, food trucks, scavenger hunts, fashion shows and more. Sep. 5, 4-11 pm. Free. Symons Block Hotel, 7 S. Howard St. symonsblockhotel.com (5095529693)

PALOUSE PRIDE 2025 A pride celebration featuring drag bingo, pride in the park, a drag show, brunch, local vendors and more. Sept. 5-7, times vary. Free. Moscow, ID. inlandoasis.org

SPOKANE COUNTY INTERSTATE

FAIR A traditional fair with carnival rides, an agriculture and animals section as well as concerts throughout the week. Sept. 5-14, times vary. See website for schedule. Spokane County Fair & Expo Center, 404 N. Havana St. thespokanefair.com (509-477-1766)

DISEASES OUR ANCESTORS FACED AND HOW THOSE ILLNESSES

CHANGED OUR WORLD Dr. Gardner, a physician and educator, explores several of the major diseases that struck fear in past generations. Drawing from death records, historical documents, and modern research, this talk will illuminate how our ancestors’ experiences with disease influenced the world we live in today. Sep. 6, 12:30 pm. Free. The Hive, 2904 E. Sprague Ave. spokanelibrary.org (509-703-3577)

NORTHWEST PAGAN FEST This fourth annual even features local artisans selling natural goods and workshops and lectures related to Paganism. Sep. 6, 10 am-5 pm. Free. Spokane Community College, 1810 N. Greene St. northwestpaganfest.com (533-7000)

VINTAGE HARVEST Experience harvest as it was done in the 1920’s, 30’s, 40’s and 50’s. This is a family friendly event featuring food, vendors, music, a kids play area and rides on a combine. Proceeds support the Lincoln County Historical Society. Sep. 6, 9:30 am-5 pm and Sep. 7, 9:30 am-7 pm. Free. The Big Red Barn, 40801 US-2. facebook.com/vintageharvestlincolncounty (509-721-1898)

SPOKANE’S SPICIEST CANDIDATE

FORUM Candidates running for Spokane City Council races will join RANGE reporter Erin Sellers onstage to answer increasingly spicy questions while eating increasingly spicy food cooked by Chef Tony Brown. Sep. 7, 12-8 pm. $0$30. The Guardian, 1403 N. Washington St. rangemedia.co

HOW TO MAKE YOUR VOTE COUNT

An insightful discussion on why every vote matters, who makes the decisions that shape your community and where to find resources needed to make informed voting choices. Sep. 10, 5:306:30 pm. Free. South Hill Library, 3324 S. Perry St. spokanelibrary.org

FILM

WEAPONS When all but one child from the same class mysteriously vanish on the same night at exactly the same time, a community is left questioning who or what is behind their disappearance. Sep. 5, 7 pm, Sep. 6, 4 & 7 pm and Sep. 7, 7 pm. $8. The Kenworthy, 508 S. Main St. kenworthy.org

CRAFTERNOON: ZOOLANDER Watch Zoolander and craft at the same time. The lights will be gently dimmed so you can enjoy the film and do your craft. Sep. 7, 1-3 pm. $8. The Kenworthy, 508 S. Main St. kenworthy.org

FRAMES OF REFERENCE: LOVING VINCENT In a story depicted in oil painted animation, a young man comes to the last hometown of painter Vincent van Gogh to deliver the troubled artist’s final letter and ends up investigating his final days there. Sep. 7, 4-6 pm. $8. The Kenworthy, 508 S. Main St. kenworthy.org

FOOD & DRINK

ROMANIAN SIP & LEARN Join Teodora Bernadeta Baba Novella as she leads attendees through a lineup of Romanian wines. Sep. 10, 5-8 pm. $25. Cellar & Scholar, 15412 E. Sprague Ave. cellarandscholar.com (509-218-6226)

JESS ROSKELLEY FOUNDATION FUNDRAISER

Mountainfilm on tour & The North Face present, TRANGO, An awe-inspiring ski mountaineering adventure following th first ski descent of Great Trango Tower

Special Guest: Christina Lustenberger

Post-film Q&A with a featured star of the film - North Face athlete & world renowned ski mountaineer

Pre-Film presentation by John Roskelly

First Ascent of Great Trango, 1977 MARK THE DATE!

SEPT.11

2025 |

MYRTLE WOLDSON

PERFOMING ARTS CENTER

SILENT AUCTION

EVENTS | CALENDAR

WINE TASTING Sample curated boutique wines—local and imported— paired with delicious small bites from the Kitchen Engine’s resident chefs. Sep. 12, 3:45, 4:45, 5:45 & 6:45 pm and Sep. 14, 2, 3 & 4 pm. $10. The Kitchen Engine, 621 W. Mallon Ave. thekitchenengine.com (509-328-3335)

A WOK ON THE WILD SIDE Learn how to cook Malaysian nyonya eggplant tempura, an roasted eggplant cooked with sweet onions and chili. Sep. 13, 12:15-1 pm. Free. spokanelibrary.org

MUSIC & CONCERTS

STANDARD DEVIATION: SCREEN

TIME Standard Deviation plays themes from iconic TV and video games in fun, groovy, high-energy style. Sep. 5, 7:309:30 pm. $10. Hill House Event Center, 3023 E. Diamond Ave. spokanehillhouse.com (509-856-8397)

AN EVENING OF SIGHTS AND SOUNDS

sphere. Presented by the Filipino American Association of the Inland Empire. 10:30-11:30 am. Free. Shadle Library, 2111 W. Wellesley Ave. spokanelibrary. org (509-444-5300)

FROM SPARK TO STRUCTURE A sixweek foundational playwriting workshop designed to guide participants through the essential elements of dramatic writing. Ages 16+. No experience required. Sept. 9-Oct. 14, Mon from 7-9 pm. $150. Blue Door Theatre, 319 S. Cedar St. bluedoortheatre.org

LOVE DENIED A performance of music from Donizetti’s Lucia Di Lammermoor and Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, showcasing the tragic cost of holding love hostage featuring local performers Chloe Sundet and Robert McPherson. Sep. 10, 5:30 pm. By donation. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. inlandnwopera.org

VISUAL ARTS

natural world. Sept. 5-27, Thu-Sat from 4-7 pm. Free. Terrain Gallery, 628 N. Monroe St. terrainspokane.com

KATE POWELL: MATERIAL GIRL This exhibition is an ode to Kate Powell’s passion for art history, the human drive toward affirmative self-representation, the inexhaustible psychedelic intrigue of the rectangle and the irrational and irresistible pull of stuff in a stuff-choked world. Sep. 5, 5-8 pm. Free. D2 Gallery and Studio, 310 W. First Ave. d2gallerystudio.com (509-309-6754)

KEN SPIERING AND DEB SHELDON Ken Spiering, a prominent Northwest Artist, is showing watercolors new and old. Deb Sheldon is an acrylic painter of landscapes and abstract work. Sep. 5, 5 am-8 pm. Free. Barrister Winery, 1213 W. Railroad Ave. barristerwinery.com

Gonzaga Universtiy 211 E. Desmet Ave, Spokane Scan for Tickets also available at the door 6:30pm DOORS OPEN 5:30pm

INCREDIBLE FILM • INSPIRING STORIES

ONE UNFORGETTABLE NIGHT

See darkroom prints of Kostelec photographs of Harrington and hear music in the American Roots tradition, at the renovated opera house. Sep. 6, 7-9 pm. By donation. Harrington Opera House, 19 S. Third St. harringtonoperahouse. org (509-253-4748)

HANDPAN DISCOVERY WORKSHOP

Join Kim West and Mark Manning, internationally trained handpan instructors, for a fun workshop on how to play a handpan. Sep. 6, 10:30 am-12:30 pm. Free. South Hill Library, 3324 S. Perry St. spokanelibrary.org (509-444-5300)

TWILIGHT IN CONCERT A screening of vampire romance movie Twilight accompanied by a live band performing the film’s beloved score in a candlelit atmosphere. Sep. 12, 7:30 pm. $37-$117. First Interstate Center for the Arts, 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. firstinterstatecenter.org (509-279-7000)

SPORTS & OUTDOORS

2025 SPOKANE WATERCOLOR SOCIETY JURIED MEMBERS SHOW Members of the Spokane Watercolor Society showcase works and are juried by Jenny Hyde of Eastern Washington University. Sept. 4-26, Mon-Fri from 10 am-5 pm. Free. Spokane Art School, 503 E. Second Ave.. spokanewatercolor.org

YASUKO MAYHEW Yasuko Mayhew expresses her love for all types of beautiful little creatures in her ceramic work. Daily from 11 am-7 pm. through Sep. 28, 11 am-7 pm. Free. Pottery Place Plus, 203 N. Washington St. potteryplaceplus.com (509-327-6920)

RIVER RIDGE ASSOCIATION OF FINE

ARTS: GOING WILD River Ridge Association of Fine Arts artists are challenged to pass up the peaceful and quiet landscapes or still lifes and add action and unusual ideas to their art. Daily from 10 am-7 pm through Sep. 27, 10 am-7 pm. Free. Liberty Building, 203 N. Washington. rrafaofspokane.com

BREATHSTROKES

SELF PORTRAIT EXHIBITION A showcase of self portraits taken by various artists in different mediums. The event also features live music and refreshments. Sep. 5, 5:30-7:30 pm. Free. Dream Studio, 811 W. Second Ave. dreamstudionw.com (208-964-2787)

SUMMER MOON Local artist Ken Scott and visiting artist Red Burnell showcase ceramic art and painter Heidi Barnett displays nature-inspired paintings. First Friday: Sept. 5 from 5-9 pm. Regular hours: Sept. 5-27, Wed-Sat from 11 am-5 pm. Free. New Moon Art Gallery, 1326 E. Sprague Ave. manicmoonandmore.com (509-413-9101)

LONG-STITCH BOOK BINDING A hands-on book arts workshop led by Mel Antuna-Hewitt in which participants learn about the art of long-stitch bookbinding. Register to attend. Sep. 6, 2-5 pm. Free. Deer Park Library, 208 Forest St. scld.org (509-893-8300)

WORDS

THE WELL-READ MOOSE EVENING BOOK CLUB Discuss Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder by Kerryn Mayne at the September meeting. Sep. 4, 5-6 pm. Free. The Well-Read Moose, 2048 N. Main. wellreadmoose.com

SPOKANE ZEPHYR VS. FORT LAUDERDALE UNITED FC The Spokane Zephyr’s first home match of the season against Fort Lauderdale. Sep. 6, 6 pm. $18-$95. ONE Spokane Stadium, 501 W. Gardner Ave. uslspokane.com

Breathstrokes teaches artists and non-artists how to create intuitive art using alternative methods like yoga and breath work. After a guided stretch and meditation, practice making marks to breath with thick hunks of black charcoal or pastel. Sep. 5, 9 am-noon. $42. Spokane Art School, 503 E. Second Ave., Ste. B. spokaneartschool.net (509-325-1500)

3 MINUTE MIC Auntie’s Bookstore’s long-running first Friday poetry open mic featuring local poet Jonathan Potter. Readers may share up to three minutes worth of poetry. Sep. 5, 7-8:30 pm. Free. Auntie’s Bookstore, 402 W. Main Ave. auntiesbooks.com

WORLD FIGHTING CHAMPIONS 178 A stacked card of kickboxing, MMA and Muay Thai bouts with top local and national fighters. Sep. 6, 7 pm. $66-$237. Spokane Tribe Resort & Casino, 14300 W. SR Highway 2. spokanetribecasino. com (877-789-9467)

SPOKANE VELOCITY VS. WESTCHESTER SC Regular season game. Sep. 7, 4 pm. $17-$95. ONE Spokane Stadium, 501 W. Gardner Ave. uslspokane.com

MT. SPOKANE TRAIL RUN Enjoy a rugged and scenic adventure through the forested slopes of Mt. Spokane State Park. All finishers receive a shirt, medal and food. Sep. 8, 8 am-1:30 pm. $50$110. Selkirk Lodge, N. Mt. Spokane Park Dr. nsplit.com (208-806-1311)

DOT TO DASH An invitational exhibit of surface rich, low to mid range fired ceramics by five artists from across the United States: Israel Davis, Dehmie Dehmlow, Nancy Gardner, Dennis Meiners and Taylor Sijan. Sept. 5-27, Wed-Fri from 11 am-5 pm. Free. Trackside Studio, 115 S. Adams St. tracksidestudio.net

FIRST FRIDAY Art galleries and businesses across downtown Spokane and beyond host monthly receptions to showcase new displays of art. First Fridays of each month from 5-8 pm. Free. Spokane. firstfridayspokane.org

HEATHERANN WOODS: GROUNDED

AUNTIE’S BOOK CLUB: MORNING Discuss The Many Lives of Mama Love by Lara Love Hardin at the September meeting. Sep. 9, 11 am-noon. Free. Auntie’s Bookstore, 402 W. Main Ave. auntiesbooks.com (509-838-0206)

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

AUNTIE’S BOOK CLUB: QUEER & WEIRD RERUN Discuss American Hippo by Sarah Gailey at the September meeting. Sep. 10, 5-6 pm. Free. Auntie’s Bookstore, 402 W. Main Ave. auntiesbooks.com (509-838-0206)

THEATER & DANCE

LINE DANCE A weekly exercise class designed for all ages and fitness levels, offering a fun and welcoming atmo-

A solo exhibition exploring perspective and perception in atmospheric oil paintings by capturing ephemeral light from familiar views in the Spokane region. Sept. 5-29, daily from 11 am-6 pm. Entropy, 101 N. Stevens St. explodingstars.com (509-414-3226)

JOSH HOBSON: VANISHING POINTS

Vanishing Points brings together three distinct bodies of work into intimate dialog, all investigating the intricate relationship between humanity and the

ROOTED AT THE EDGE: WRITING ABOUT PLACE Rooted at the Edge: Ranching Where the Old West and New West Collide author Donna Erickson shares and discusses her work and guides attendees in a writing workshop about place. Sep. 10, 5:30-7 pm. Free. Liberty Park Library, 402 S. Pittsburgh St. spokanelibrary.org n

Prohibition 2.0 Stands

Some Washington cities still refuse to allow the sale of recreational cannabis more than a decade after legalization

BY COLTON RASANEN

Chewelah may be the closest city to Eastern Washington’s largest ski resort 49 Degrees North, but snowboarding stoners aren’t able to buy bud in town. Since 2014, the city has banned the sale of recreational cannabis within its boundaries.

While recreational cannabis has been legal in Washington for more than a decade — 1.7 million state voters supported the drug’s legalization in 2012, and the first retail sales began in 2014 — there are still cities in the state, like Chewelah, that don’t allow these sales.

In 2011, Deer Park passed an ordinance that allows the city to deny “business registrations for any activity that is detrimental to public peace, health, or welfare,” or illegal under federal law, which cannabis still is.

Medical Lake and Chewelah introduced their bans in 2014, and the tiny town of Cusick passed its own ban in 2016.

This summer, Chewelah officials spent a significant amount of time trying to decide if the city would upend its decade-old retail prohibition. In June, the city distributed a public outreach survey asking residents if they think it would be smart to allow cannabis companies to take up shop in the small mountain town.

More than 700 people (from a city of

roughly 2,700 total) responded to the survey, and although 55% of respondents supported retail cannabis stores in town, while also preferring to keep cannabis processors and producers out, the Chewelah City Council’s code committee recommended that the ban stay in place.

Many respondents were worried about potential crime and increased drug use that could be caused by the introduction of a “gateway drug” into their city. Others, who wanted to end the ban on retail sales, argued that Chewelah already allows drugs to be sold.

“I feel if we can have multiple bars in town when alcohol is one of the worst drugs there is and kills a lot of people on a yearly basis what’s the problem with a herb shop,” one respondent wrote.

At the City Council’s Aug. 6 meeting, Council member Jim Caruso introduced a motion that would have started the process to end the city’s ban on cannabis retailers.

“We have had special meetings, social media talks about this all the time, so I thought it was time that at least the topic deserved a vote so that people know how we feel about it and how we base our decisions,” Caruso says.

Ultimately, Caruso voted against his own motion, joining the 4-2 vote that effectively keeps the city’s existing ban in place. n

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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.

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.

Cannabis is a no-go in Chewelah.

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.

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in Honduras 48. Old-timey stadium cheers 50. Quick swim 52. “Seasons of Love” musical 53. Slightly darker, earthier-tasting Swedish breakfast fare 56. The Beatles’ “___ Her Standing There”

Fizz-ify

Pirate costume feature 62. Gets something for something 63. “Alice’s Restaurant” chronicler Guthrie 64. Sashimi tuna 65. “Quaking” trees

66. CondÈ or Thomas follower 67. Did we figure out what the long theme answers have in common?

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