Inlander 09/11/2025

Fair Share Fair Share

Meet some of the people and animals behind the Spokane County Interstate Fair, a regional tradition that’s evolved with time while staying true to its agricultural roots

Fun of of Fun

Story by Madison Pearson

Photos by Young Kwak

NOTE

s a kid, family outings to the Spokane County Interstate Fair were a late-summer tradition. While we were on a tight budget and I didn’t get to spend hours burning tickets on carnival rides (our one treat was a ride down the big purple slide on top of a burlap sack), I have many fond memories of exploring all the animal and agriculture exhibits. Admiring the beautiful cut flowers was always a highlight, as was getting a free honey stick from the beekeepers’ booth. Meeting and sometimes getting to pet the cows, sheep and other farm animals is memorable to any child, but one of my very, very favorite moments of the fair was the old railroad history section and the miniature train that looped around. While that area is no longer part of the fair (it’s since become the Inland Northwest Rail Museum in Reardan), I can vividly recall the nostalgic sensation it evoked in me for an era long gone before I was even born.

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This week, we take readers on a similarly nostalgic and behind-the-scenes look at the fair as it approaches its 75th anniversary. Most things we all grew up loving about the event — animals, ag, entertainment and food — are still going strong, and there’s still time to catch this year’s run.

— CHEY SCOTT, Editor

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WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT THE FAIR?

GINA CLAEYS

Oh gosh, I’ve only been a couple times. I don’t know, I like riding the mechanical bull. That was fun. Just like all the random booths, like all that fried food and everything.

Are you good at riding the mechanical bull? Yeah, I tried it once. I stayed on pretty long.

CHRIS RUNDQUIST

I really like the animals, the farm animals. But I’m kind of excited about the giant rubber ducky and her baby, too.

The giant rubber ducky? I don’t think I’ve seen that before. Well, I’ve heard about it so I’m hoping to find it.

LIZ BEARD

My favorite part is just getting out to see all the family and kids out and about, enjoying all the rides and snacks. It’s cool to kind of just see how many people go every year and all the new things that are out and about.

Do you have a favorite fair food? Oh man, probably the funnel cake.

DANIEL RENZ

Just the atmosphere and people just having fun and leaving their issues behind and being with friends and family.

Do you have a favorite fair food?

Ooo, I love a deep-fried Oreo — I love a deepfried Oreo for sure.

DYLAN PEARSON

The games I really like. I’m not good at them, but they’re really fun. Just a great time to, I don’t know, lose a ton of money, win crappy prizes.

What’s your favorite game?

My favorite game at the fair is the one where you get the little, like either the water gun or like the little BB gun — I’m going to sound like a crazy … but no, those are fun.

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Confusion Is King

When soldiers with no law enforcement training play police, our history shows that confusion — and worse — are soon to come

BY LAWRENCE B.A. HATTER

The president of the United States of America seized control of the California National Guard on June 9, deploying 4,000 guards and an additional 700 Marines to support ICE raids in Los Angeles. Emboldened by this naked power grab, the president pulled the same trick in the District of Columbia on Aug. 11. Ignoring the opposition of the mayor’s office and dismissing statistics that point to falling levels of violent crime in our nation’s capital, Trump sent in the troops

to push a false narrative of American cities as “no-go” danger zones.

Despite the recent ruling by a U.S. District Court judge in San Francisco that Trump’s actions in California violated the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act that bars the military enforcement of domestic laws, the commander-in-chief shows no sign of stopping using U.S. soldiers as law enforcement agents. Baltimore, Chicago and New Orleans are all in his sights.

Using soldiers as police officers is a bad idea. It undermines public support for the military. It is unfair to the soldiers, who are not trained to act as law enforcement. And it can easily lead to violence against both civilians and military personnel.

President Trump would do well to heed the

The Boston Massacre was the start of the overthrow of royal rule in America, as described by Paul Revere: “… if a weeping World can ought appease, the plaintive Ghosts of Victims such as these…” PRINT OF REVERE’S 1770 ENGRAVING/PUBLIC DOMAIN

lessons of history from an earlier would-be tyrant, who came to rue his decision to send soldiers to police a city that dared to defy his government’s unpopular policies.

Boston emerged as a center of resistance to unpopular tariffs imposed on the American colonies by the British Parliament in 1768. George III and his ministers hoped to nip these protests in the bud before they spread to other colonies by sending soldiers to the port city to sort out the New England troublemakers. It didn’t work.

Not only did deploying the British Army to Boston fail to prevent the locals from protesting the tariffs, but their presence created new sources of friction between the Crown and British Americans.

Things came to head on the night of March 5, 1770, when a dispute over an unpaid bill by a British officer ignited the tinder box of resentment that had been building in the city over the past couple of years. A growing crowd of angry Bostonians gathered around a British sentry, guarding the Customs House. They began throwing anything they could find at the sentry, taunting him to fire upon them. Capt. Thomas Preston led a party of seven men to relieve the besieged guard at the Customs House. The reinforcements only emboldened the crowd, which had grown to over 300 people.

“Not only did deploying the British Army to Boston fail to prevent the locals from protesting the tariffs, but their presence created new sources of friction…”

Exactly what happened next is unclear. This is the kind of confusion that is inevitable when soldiers with no law enforcement training are asked to play police.

Somebody fired. Most likely a Pvt. Montgomery, who was knocked to the ground by an object thrown from the crowd, making him drop his musket. When the smoke cleared, three protesters lay dead. At least two more would die of their wounds.

The British government had sent Preston and his men on a fool’s errand. But it was they that would have to pay the price. Massachusetts authorities arrested the officer and seven men on murder charges. The accused would face the death sentence if found guilty.

In the end, none other than John Adams — future president of the United States — helped to acquit six of the eight soldiers. The two defendants who were found guilty had unquestionably fired into the crowd, but they were spared from execution.

The Boston Massacre was an entirely avoidable tragedy that ended up costing the lives of innocent civilians through the abuse of executive power. Preston and his men had no business serving as law enforcement agents in Boston in 1770.

Far from ending colonial protests against unpopular British policies, George III and his government’s decision to deploy soldiers on the streets of Boston only made things worse. The Boston Massacre became a cause célèbre for the Patriot movement. Many readers will recognize the popular image of the massacre created by the skillful propagandist Paul Revere over 250 years ago. This is what tyranny looked like in 1770. It’s what it still looks like in 2025.

We have been fortunate to avoid bloodshed so far in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. The soldiers in D.C. have largely found themselves assigned to menial tasks, such as spreading 380 cubic tons of mulch and collecting 500 bags of trash. But if the Trump administration continues to use U.S. servicemen and women to police the civilian population of this country, our luck will run out. And the American people will pay the price. n

Lawrence B.A. Hatter is an award-winning author and associate professor of early American history at Washington State University. These views are his own and do not reflect those of WSU.

“ATroubled Waters

Debates over Newman Lake water service and rate increases have riled the quiet community this year

re you familiar with Chernobyl?” asks Robert Snow.

In posing that question, the retired engineer and Moab Irrigation District No. 20 board member wants to draw parallels between two points in time. One involved complacency and a failure to contain radiation from a massive nuclear reactor meltdown. The other involves discord within the tiny water utility that serves the local community of Newman Lake.

His intent, at the risk of hyperbole, is to illustrate the pressing need for action.

Many members of the Newman Lake community share his sense of urgency, even if they happen to view the root issues and potential solutions differently.

The comparisons to Chernobyl come after more than a year of increasingly heated debate over proposed changes to water rates that could threaten the way of life for many Moab Irrigation District customers.

The contentiousness began to escalate toward the end of last year when, after a rate increase of 25% in 2024, further hikes of 131%, 76% or 45% were discussed at board meetings.

“It was like watching a car auction,” says Scott Carver, whose family owns around 100 acres in Newman Lake and operates a tree farm there. “They were just throwing out all of these numbers. But this is people’s livelihood. This is what they’re paying.”

Those steep rate increases weren’t implemented, but neither the district’s staff nor its board nor the wider community has identified a satisfactory long-term alternative. Stopgap measures, such as the impending elimination of bulk water sales that have afforded non-irrigation customers irrigation-type service, have put longtime residents like Julie Jernigan into an existential dilemma.

With a view to self-sufficiency rather than profit, Jernigan and her family raise livestock and grow produce on hilltop land they’ve dubbed Paradise Mountain Farm. Under the current proposals, her household is bracing for its combined water bill to jump from the $1,839 it paid in 2024 to $4,877 in 2026.

“They told us that they were doing away with bulk

BY E.J. IANNELLI

water because people are just wasting water,” she says.

The rationale stung, particularly when Jernigan has made conscious efforts to implement timed sprinklers, rainwater collection and other conservation measures over the years.

Furthermore, Jernigan notes the financial impact will be even steeper, because they feed their animals hay from nearby farms, whose owners would be subject to similar cost increases.

“They just say that they’re losing money on it,” she says of the district’s bulk water. “It’s like they don’t care about farmers at all.”

Even conventional irrigation customers like Carver could find themselves facing sustainability crises if rates rise significantly. As one of the larger landowners in Newman Lake, he’s also taken considerable steps to cut his water usage and estimates he now uses one-eighth of the water that he is allotted and pays for yearly.

Moab Irrigation District staff, who both advise and answer to the five-person board, maintain that years of neglect, antiquated workflows and an unwillingness to raise rates in line with real-world costs and best practices has put the viability of the district itself at risk.

Their basic position is that tough decisions — including fundamental rate restructuring and potentially uncomfortable increases — have to be made.

THE BAGGAGE OF THE PAST

“When I performed my financial analysis in 2023, from 2018 to 2023, there were year-over-year cost overruns,” says Jeanette Radmer, the administrative secretary at Moab Irrigation District. “They kept exceeding their budget, and they didn’t collect all of their revenue. Moab was losing 8% every year.”

Even the rate hike of 25% at the start of 2024 “did not cover the deficit,” by her calculations, and should have been closer to 28% just “to get [Moab] back to a net zero.”

Two prior rate studies conducted in 2004 and 2015 should have helped Moab avoid drastic course corrections and keep pace with rising costs of chlorine and electricity, one of the primary expenses in water supply. But Radmer

is of the (widely shared) opinion that almost none of those studies’ recommendations were ever parlayed into action.

As a result, Moab’s Well 3 has lain dormant for eight years. Customers along Strong Lane have almost no water pressure at certain times of the day, and the required infrastructure improvements could run around $260,000.

At the same time, several Newman Lake residents and landowners, including former district staff and current district board members, have argued that this rural public utility, which employs three full-time staff and services around 720 total connections, has little need for the scale of planning that Radmer is asking for.

Bill Jackman, a sod farmer who used to work for the city of Spokane, is skeptical of the idea that a full six months’ worth of emergency reserves — to the tune of $450,000 — is absolutely necessary for the district to maintain.

“When you work in the private sector, cash reserves from an accounting standpoint show fiscal stability,” Jackman says. “In the public sector, especially a public utility, you constantly have money coming in. And so the requirement for financial reserves by most accounting practices in [public] organizations is a fraction of that of the private sector.”

Sharon Collins worked in Radmer’s secretary position at Moab Irrigation District for over two decades before retiring in 2023. She paints a picture of a quiet, low-key operation that simply plugged along without much fuss.

“As a municipality, we get money year-round. Granted, we get a big chunk in April, and we get a big chunk in October,” she says. “And that big chunk is enough to carry you to the next big chunk. So you budget for that.”

Collins says she considers concerns over the district’s delinquency rate — that is, the percentage of customers who delay making tax payments that ultimately land in the district’s coffers — to be overblown.

Radmer and some board members, including former chair Jerry Neff, have cited the delinquency rate as a reason for needing to shore up the reserves. Yet Collins says it typically hovers around 2%.

“There is no big, huge delinquency. It’s the same people who are delinquent every year. Spokane County puts

Moab Irrigation District customers, like Paradise Mountain Farm (pictured), are concerned water could become far more expensive.

ERICK DOXEY PHOTOS

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“TROUBLED

[irrigation district fees] on their taxes. So if people don’t pay their taxes, we don’t obviously get our money,” Collins says. “But the county forecloses after three years, so we eventually get our money no matter what — with interest and penalties.”

Although the district’s accounting methods might be subject to interpretation, its financials are black and white. According to data from the Spokane County Treasurer’s Office, the district’s total available funds amounted to just under $1.1 million as of Sept. 3. Board financial documents nevertheless list a $250,000 deficit in red because the board’s suggested six-month cash reserve is unmet.

MUDDYING THE WATERS

Moab might serve a rural area, but its water system doesn’t exist in isolation. Jackman points to the adjacent Consolidated Irrigation District 19, which lies to the southwest. Irrigation rates there are currently listed as $26 per acre annually. In Moab, they are $133.91 per acre.

The disparity is stark. As he acknowledges, however, these numbers don’t always allow for a direct comparison because they sit within a byzantine framework of calculations that can account for seasonality, overages, in- or out-of-district surcharges, meter sizes, and administrative charges. The residential and commercial makeup can also vary widely from district to district.

“Water is a funky little industry. You have some districts that receive grants and others that do not. Others have more ratepayers,” Radmer says.

Water also falls under different classifications depending on how it’s used and who’s using it, she explains.

Further clouding the core issues in Moab is the untidiness of human affairs.

Board member Snow says that Ervin followed protocol by recusing herself from those hiring discussions. Radmer defended hiring Ervin’s daughter, citing the district’s needs and a historical precedent of tangled personal and professional connections at Moab.

“I needed somebody who would maintain confidentiality working with financial papers that I didn’t have to guarantee hours, who was responsible, and who lived nearby in case I needed to send her home,” Radmer says. “And we needed to get somebody in there pronto because of all the public information requests.”

As is often the case in budget debates, staff job titles and wages have also come under scrutiny. During the marathon Aug. 21 meeting, professional merits — including Radmer’s emphasis on a more prominent financial management component in her own role — were the subject of protracted debate.

Jackman attended that meeting and was disappointed by what he describes as “basically a labor management” negotiation that offered “virtually no discussion whatsoever about addressing the other issues regarding service delivery in the community.”

“Water is a funky little industry.”

DiningOut

Even if all these ancillary issues were ignored or ironed out, a universally approved course of action is still far off. Back in January, the board discussed whether to base new rates on flat fees or standard rate percentage increases. Neither proposal was a clear winner. Instead, the board landed on an interim solution to charge each parcel a $308.76 assessment fee for the year.

Holt Ayles, a current irrigation district board member who served as its chair until February, also happens to be the operations foreman for Spokane County Water District No. 3. His employment was flagged as a conflict of interest when a merger was floated as a possible solution.

Just a few weeks prior to that, Ayles’ fellow board members Teresa Phelps and Mike Peplinski had resigned, citing the demands on their time. Their replacements, Dave Pfeiffer and Rosalee Allan, weren’t appointed by the Spokane County commissioners until May.

Any semblance of stability was short-lived. Following a 5.5-hour meeting on Aug. 21, Deanna Ervin, the newest board chair, tendered her own resignation and will step down this December.

The various comings and goings leave four of the district’s five board positions up for election at the end of the year.

Had Ervin not resigned, a subset of the community was considering pursuing her recall. Most of their concerns stemmed from the cozy relationship that appeared to exist between administrative secretary Radmer and Ervin, which customers say insulated decision-making from public feedback and led to additional conflicts of interest.

The women had overlapping careers at Numerica Credit Union for several years, and Ervin’s daughter was hired at the district as a part-time administrative assistant in June. Her employment period is supposed to conclude this month. Ervin’s son was also a candidate for a field technician position at the district, though Ervin says she believes he has withdrawn his application.

With anxious eyes now looking to 2026, that discussion will continue at the district’s budget presentation on Sept. 11 at the Newman Lake Grange. The meeting, which will not include the chance for public comment, will be followed by another on Sept. 18.

While the budget takes priority in these final months of 2025, Radmer, Carver, Snow, Pfeiffer and many others, have been advocating for a third-party rate study to provide a crucial foundation for decision-making.

“We need to have a civilized discussion of how to make this work without two sides arguing about nothing,” board member Pfeiffer says. “So we need to publish what it actually costs to deliver water … [and] what the difference is from irrigators.”

Yet there’s even disagreement about the cost of that work. The district has set aside $100,000 for the rate study, but customers have challenged that figure as excessive, suggesting the cost should be more in the ballpark of $15,000 to $30,000.

For Carver, like many Moab customers, an affordable and trustworthy rate study can’t come soon enough.

“All this other stuff is like a sideshow that we don’t need to be dealing with,” he says. “We just want the community of Newman Lake to be able to afford to irrigate their land if they choose, and people to be able to pay their bill and have water. This is not just about irrigation. This is about every single customer of Moab.” n

Tuition Transparency

Whitworth reduces sticker shock. Plus, Avista Stadium concession stand lost in fire, and Spokane gets $5M+ in clean energy grants

BY INLANDER STAFF

For decades, Whitworth University has adhered to a confusing tuition model that reflects a high sticker price for annual attendance, which is often offset with large discounts traditionally labeled as scholarships. It’s an industry standard for private universities, Whitworth President Scott McQuilkin says, but it’s not something that’s in the best interest of prospective students. On Monday, Whitworth announced it would move to a transparent tuition model with the simplified undergraduate tuition rate for the 2026-27 school year at $26,900. For reference, the listed undergrad tuition rate for the current school year is $54,000. Academic scholarships have been adjusted for this new model — students are eligible for up to $9,000 per year depending on their “weighted cumulative high school GPA” — and returning Whitworth students can expect to pay about the same as they would have under the current model. “This is a move to be responsive to families who have said for generations the [private] higher education model of high-sticker price, high-discount is confusing,” McQuilkin says. (COLTON RASANEN)

BASEBALL BURNOUT

While the action heats up anytime the Spokane Indians take the field, it’s bad news when things heat up at Avista Stadium after the home slate for the season has already wrapped up. Unfortunately that was the case in the early hours of Sept. 5, when the main concession stand at the Indians’ home ballpark went up in flames. While the concession stand was a total loss, thankfully no one was injured. Spokane and Spokane Valley firefighters battled the flames for about six hours, preventing the blaze from spreading. As of Tuesday morning, Spokane Valley Fire Department investigators were still determining the cause of the fire. The Indians hope to totally rebuild the concession area in time for next season. (SETH SOMMERFELD)

GREEN FOR GREEN

This spring and summer, the Washington state Department of Commerce awarded $41.1 million to 49 Clean Energy Community Grants across 22 counties. Funded by the Climate Commitment Act, the grants support projects like rooftop solar, decarbonization, electric vehicle charging and more. In Spokane, two projects received funding: inclusive employment company Tessera got nearly $2.4 million for a microgrid for wildfire resistance and a workforce development project, and the city of Spokane’s Water Department was awarded $2.8 million for solar, battery backup, and electric vehicle charging stations. “We’re putting this money back into communities who need it,” said Commerce Director Joe Nguyễn in a press release. “Our goal is to reduce carbon emissions, and the people who know best how to do that are the people receiving these critical investments.” Gov. Bob Ferguson noted that the state aims to step up its climate change commitments in light of the Trump administration’s step back from the clean energy economy. “Washington will continue to be a leader in making investments in the future,” Ferguson said. “We’re supporting clean energy, good-paying jobs and community resiliency.” (DORA SCOTT) n

SAT, JANUARY 24, 2026 | 7:30PM

FEBRUARY 5, 2026 • 7:30PM

It Takes a Village

Village Cohousing Works is preventing homelessness by helping people buy affordable homes, starting in Mead

BY SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL

Afew years ago a group working with the New Hope Resource Center in Colbert, about 7 miles north of the North Division Y, started studying housing insecurity in north Spokane County.

This housing and homelessness task force of sorts looked at the pressures on affordable housing in the northern part of the county. Most of New Hope’s clients were living in manufactured homes, which make up most of the affordable housing stock there. As pandemic eviction restrictions ended, many residents in those communities started to see doubled or tripled “lot rent” from the landlords who own the land their homes sit on.

At the same time, the group recognized that it’s much harder to help someone find stability after they’ve already been forced to live outside than it is to prevent someone who’s on the brink from losing their housing.

So, in 2023, members of that group formed an innovative nonprofit, Village Cohousing Works, which over the last two years has been getting lowincome families and individuals who are at a higher risk of becoming homeless into new homes in Mead, says Sarah Ben Olson, the nonprofit’s executive director.

“By the time somebody has ended up unsheltered, they’re at the tail end of like 10 years at least of deep poverty. Once they have slept outside, it is so much harder and more expensive to get them permanently housed, and that’s if you use all the best practices — social services, and all the stuff they’re gonna need … because it’s such a traumatic experience,” Olson says. “So we looked at it

from the angle of, what is the cheapest, quickest and most permanent way we could do anything to impact the situation where we live? We decided the best thing we could do is prevent people from ever becoming homeless.”

As far as Olson knows, Village Cohousing Works is now the only nonprofit in the state helping people buy their own manufactured homes by covering all of the upfront costs.

“We order the homes, identify low-income homebuyers and help them apply for the home loan,” Olson says. “The reason we’ve done manufactured housing is it’s 40% of the cost per square foot of site-built homes. Also, it’s pretty hard to get a developer willing to build a 780-square-foot home.”

These aren’t “tiny homes,” but energy efficient, factory-built homes that can be produced in far less time than traditional construction and aren’t subjected to weather conditions while they’re built, she says.

“It was really the affordability and the speed that were big factors for us, as well as the quality of construction and energy efficiency,” Olson says. “And putting them into this residential community is just the cherry on top.”

Village Cohousing Works is currently working with Takesa Village (named for the phrase “It takes a village”) to place these homes in a permanent neighborhood.

Residents of the Mead manufactured home community formed a cooperative in 2016 to collectively purchase the land their homes sit on. Thanks to the resident-owned model, which is cooperatively managed by neighbors

under a board structure, Takesa Village has the most affordable lot rent in the state, Olson says, at only $380 a month, which includes water and sewer. Neighbors have more of a stake in maintaining the neighborhood, and often volunteer to help with maintenance and community projects, she says. There’s also a community building and regular gatherings to build camaraderie.

“It provides this social component that’s so key to anyone who’s experienced housing instability or frequent moves — to access a vibrant community is so stabilizing,” she says. “All those pieces are kind of bricks in the construction of this permanent affordability, which is what we’ve aimed for from the beginning. We want to make sure homebuyers are getting a home they can live in long-term, that will stay nice long-term and continue to stay affordable.”

So far, Village Cohousing Works has been able to place five homebuyer families into new two-bedroom homes in Takesa Village, Olson says, and two more homes could close this fall.

After raising the initial $100,000 or so to purchase the first home, the nonprofit now uses the money from each home sale to purchase the next home for a future buyer, she explains.

The nonprofit screens applicants, who typically make 50% to 80% of the area median income.

Though most of the applicants they’ve worked with never considered themselves homeless, Olson says they have all experienced housing insecurity in some way. One homebuyer was spending 75% of her income to rent; now, she’s paying 35% of her income to buy her own home. Other applicants were doubled up with family, with 11 people in a three-bedroom home, while others were facing a monthly rent increase of $500-plus. Others still were living in an RV or in substandard conditions without a lease.

Buyers who work with Village Cohousing Works take required homeownership classes and need to qualify for a 30-year home loan from Numerica Credit Union to get one of the homes.

“Our homeowners get nothing for free,” Olson says.

With the help of many volunteers, Village Cohousing Works has paired five families with homes in north Spokane County. PHOTOS COURTESY VILLAGE COHOUSING WORKS

“They are getting affordable home loans they have to work and apply for. We are just showing them the path.”

Traditionally, it’s been hard for people to get mortgages for manufactured homes, which until recently were not recognized as “real property” like traditional homes. Getting loans could soon become easier, since earlier this year Washington lawmakers allowed manufactured homes, which arrive on trailers but are permanently installed on foundations, to be considered real property, Olson says.

But even before the law change, Numerica recognized there was also an equity issue involved for low-income borrowers who have great credit scores but often can’t qualify for reasonable loan rates, Olson says, while people with the worst credit scores but higher income can. The credit union put together 30-year lending packages for this affordable housing effort starting in 2023.

It likely helps that Village Cohousing Works’ homes are all inspected and individually approved by the federal department of Housing and Urban Development.

“We have to meet a really high construction standard,” Olson says.

So far, the homes have each also received heat pumps to save even more on heating and cooling costs thanks to energy rebates and donations.

Applications are not limited by where someone currently lives (you don’t need to live in north Spokane County to apply), but by their willingness to move to Mead, Olson says. Once the 25 or so spaces Village Cohousing Works can fill in Takesa Village are successfully sold, the goal is to find more space to keep up the work.

“If anybody has a big property they want to donate to us, please do,” Olson says with a laugh. “This is really a grassroots organization started by local Spokane people who wanted to do something and felt an urgent need to be involved in trying to solve the housing crisis as best we could.” n samanthaw@inlander.com

Virus Revival?

Last month, the Panhandle Health District announced North Idaho’s first confirmed measles case since the early ’90s. On Aug. 12, an unvaccinated child in Kootenai County was confirmed to be infected and then on Aug. 20, the health district announced another unvaccinated child in Bonner County had measles.

By Aug. 25, the Spokane Regional Health District, or SRHD, announced that a Spokane County resident was “presumed to be positive for measles,” after being exposed in a high-risk setting, which included Providence Sacred Heart’s pediatric and adult emergency departments, and its pediatric oncology and hematology specialty clinic.

BY COLTON RASANEN

In an interview with the Inlander last week, SRHD epidemiologist Jenni Horecny confirmed that an infant in Spokane contracted measles after exposure related to one of the North Idaho cases.

Three connected cases of measles are considered an outbreak. She says the two North Idaho cases are not clearly linked, meaning the region is not technically experiencing an outbreak. However, without clear connections between those cases, Horecny worries about undetected community spread.

“Measles is one of the most contagious viruses out there. It spreads through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes, and it can linger in the air for up to two hours after they leave,” Horecny says. “Luckily, we don’t have any additional cases from these known exposures at this point, and we’ll continue monitoring closely until we’re past the window where people who were exposed would have developed symptoms — that’s usually about 21 days after exposure.”

For the last two decades the U.S. has primarily linked measles cases to international travel, but Horecny says the country has had more measles cases in 2025 (more than 1,430, per the CDC) than we have had in any other single year since the virus was declared eliminated from the U.S. in 2000.

“The good thing is we do have a highly effective vaccine, so I don’t think we need to be in panic mode,” she says, “but it’s important for people to be aware.”

The two-dose measles, mumps and rubella, or MMR, vaccine is 97% effective at preventing measles infections. Children can receive their first MMR dose between the ages of 12 and 15 months and the second dose is usually administered between 4 and 6 years old, but can be given as early as 28 days after the first dose.

Because the virus is so highly contagious, Horecny says 95% of the community needs to be vaccinated in order to provide herd immunity and protect those who can’t get vaccinated. Currently, about 87% of Spokane County residents are vaccinated for measles.

“It’s possible that there have been exposures out there that we don’t know about, so other ways for people to keep their families safe and our community safe, besides looking at those vaccination records, is just being alert for symptoms,” she says. “If you’re not immune and you haven’t received the vaccine, a high fever, plus something like a cough, runny nose or red watery eyes, is generally how it starts. Then that will be followed by a rash a few days later, which will start on the face or head and then spread downward.”

If you notice any of these symptoms, Horecny says it’s important to stay home and contact your family doctor for guidance. For more information on Spokane County measles cases, visit srhd.org/ health-topics/diseases-conditions/measles/current-local-outbreak.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, most counties in Washington, including the entirety of Eastern Washington, have seen their MMR vaccination rates decline from an average of 93.32% per county to 91.26% per county, according to a June study published by Johns Hopkins University.

“Unfortunately, COVID created a lot of mistrust in vaccine recommendations, and as a function of that, we’re seeing fewer and fewer parents going the direction of vaccinating their chil-

dren,” says Dr. Bob Lutz, public health officer at Asotin County Health District. “The three local cases raise concern that this is a reflection of people’s mistrust in vaccine recommendations, and I think that’s only going to get worse with the current messaging coming out from Washington, D.C.”

Lutz, who previously worked as the health officer at SRHD, says vaccine disinformation coming from U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will have a significant impact on communities like Spokane. Additionally, he says Kennedy’s June decision to remove every member of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which provides expert advice on the use of vaccines in the U.S., will have lasting effects.

“Just look at what Florida did recently,” Lutz says, referring to Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo’s announcement last week of his intention to remove all vaccine requirements in the state. “The efficacy of vaccines has been proven time in and time out, and yet, you have someone who is a conspiracist and is a leader in disinformation about vaccines in charge, and I think people are going to suffer.”

In response to the way Kennedy is handling public health, Washington, Oregon and California joined together last week to create the West Coast Health Alliance. Quickly joined by Hawaii, the alliance intends to provide “evidence-based immunization guidance rooted in safety, efficacy and transparency — ensuring residents receive credible information free from political interference.”

“It is a dark day indeed when states have to create parallel structures for vaccine guidance because HHS is under the thumb of a conspiracy theorist and cannot be trusted to follow basic science and make lifesaving vaccines widely available to people who need them,” U.S. Sen. Patty Murray stated on Sept. 3. n coltonr@inlander.com

Vaccination is the most effective way to prevent measles.

On a Roll On a Roll

This weekend, Emerge’s annual INK! Print Rally continues

the region’s rejuvenation of printmaking

While art forms, much like anything else, enjoy waxing and waning levels of popularity, the past decade has been a good one for the area’s printmaking scene.

With the founding of the Spokane Print and Publishing Center in 2019 and the monthlong Spokane Print Fest that same year, along with more low-key milestones like Eastern Washington University’s purchase of a unique machine known as a Risograph for its 4D Lab in 2024, printmaking in the Inland Northwest has been strengthened by more and more dedicated resources, advocates and attention.

You could trace at least one line of the current renaissance back to Emerge’s INK! Print Rally, which takes place this Saturday in front of the art organization’s hybrid office-studio-gallery space in downtown Coeur d’Alene. Now in its ninth year, the outdoor event has worked to bring together a sizable pool of artists — both emerging and established — for a fun and public celebration of the medium. Typically, INK! pairs an aspiring or outright newbie printmaker with someone who’s more experienced in the field.

BY E.J. IANNELLI

“This event is such an educational experience for many of the artists to be involved in because they’re working alongside professional printmakers. Usually we have an artist that has never even carved a block before just jump in feet first, so it becomes this team effort,” says Jeni Riplinger, Emerge’s executive director.

To keep things fresh, the artists receive a new prompt every year. Last year’s theme was “dichotomy.” This year, “portals” is the watchword, although Riplinger notes that creative riffs on that are not only expected but encouraged.

For example, one artist might follow a conventional line by representing a door or a tunnel. Another might choose to depict a more swirly sci-fi or technological vision. And another might adopt the loosest definition of the word and veer off into totally different territory.

“It’s wild to see the different interpretations of the themes each year. It’s kind of fun to be looking at all the prints and then have somebody that maybe wasn’t involved try to guess what the theme was. They never can because everybody has their own unique interpretation of it,” says Jaiden Haley, who leads Emerge’s programming.

Whether intentionally or incidentally, INK! functions as a showcase for many of the art programs at the region’s higher education institutions. Lead artists Jen Erickson and Carl Richardson are on the art faculties at North Idaho College and Spokane Falls Community College, respectively.

Among the 20 participating artists this year are Nate Gilchrist, Madeline Eileen Goolie (aka MEG), Katelyn Burdette, Chloe Howell, Willow Tree, Molly Klingler, Griffon Selby, Ezra Tickemyer and Ky Little, several of whom have current or recent involvement with the fine art programs at NIC, SFCC or the University of Idaho.

As one of the mainstays of Emerge’s annual calendar along with their Ceramic Throwdown and Block Party, INK! joins those other events in going big. Whereas typical printmaking blocks might be best measured in inches, the ones designed for INK! have dimensions between 3 and 5 feet. The artist teams carve the blocks in advance and then spend the day prepping them for the real endurance test.

“Once your block is inked, it gets put in the street,” Riplinger explains. “And then we have an 8,000-pound

CINDERELLA’S TOM KEIFERBAND WITH LA GUNS SEPT. 12

DARIUS RUCKER SEPT. 20

DASHA

WELCOME DASHVILLE SEPT. 24

asphalt roller that some lucky duck gets to drive for the day, and they roll over it and forwards and backwards.”

And for 2025, INK! is going bigger still. Although the scale of the prints is the same, this year’s artist pool is larger, and there will be a beer garden and live music featuring Dazer, the psychedelic surf punk band that recently performed at Emerge’s Block Party in July.

The event itself will be even further augmented by a retail component coordinated by Gwyn Pevonka of 33 Artists Market.

“We trialed last year having a small vendor market, and all the vendors seemed to do really well. It really increased our attendance,” Haley says.

Having become a regular attendee of the 33 Artists events herself, she reached out to Pevonka for “a mutually beneficial collaboration” that would create some additional cross-pollination between the Spokane and Coeur d’Alene art scenes.

Around 20 vendors are scheduled to take part, among them Art by Annaka, Angel Teeth, Some Threads, R&P Paperie, Nomadic Knots, Cat & Crow Studio, Stinko Studios, and Bonez and Buggs. The full lineup includes photographers, potters, jewelers, painters and more.

Right after they’ve been rolled and hung for drying, the largescale prints that are produced during INK! will be for sale, too. But those who aren’t able to purchase them or even attend this weekend’s rally don’t have to miss out entirely. Come October, selected works from the event will also get framed and hung for public viewing in Emerge’s gallery. n

INK! Print Rally • Sat, Sept. 13, from 1-7 pm • Free • Emerge • 119 N. Second St., Coeur d’Alene • emergecda.com • 208-930-1876

SHAQ’S BASS ALL-STARS

DJ DIESEL, BLANKE, VASTIVE & EMORFIK

SEPT. 25

BRET MICHAELS

NOTHIN’ BUT A GOOD TIME OCT. 4

COLBIE CALLAIT & GAVIN DEGRAW CHRISTMAS TOUR 2025 DEC. 4

Supersized printmaking takes to the streets of Coeur d’Alene. PHOTOS COURTESY EMERGE

Late Night Bite

Riley Connors prepares to make audiences laugh with his late-night-style show, CONNORSversations

BY MADISON PEARSON

The world’s biggest late-night talk shows are set against the backdrop of iconic American cities like Los Angeles and New York City, but Riley Connors thinks Spokane deserves that kind of special attention as well.

“There are so many interesting people in Spokane,” Connors says. “And they all have something to say.”

When Connors was working as a writer on Lilac City Live!, Spokane Public Library’s Spokane-centric late-night talk show, he met local politicians, musicians, comedians and many other all-around interesting local folk. It inspired his own idea for a late-night talk show.

After months of hearing him talk about his ideas, plus contributing creative energy to many other folks’ projects, Connors’ friends kept asking when he was finally going to do his own show. He finally decided to branch out and try something with a more humorous twist.

And so CONNORSversations was born after a brainstorming session with his best friend and creative partner, James Dunfey-Ehrenberg.

“We thought about how we can reach the widest amount of people with a format that people understand,” Connors says. “You can do a stand-up show or a vaudeville show, you know, like burlesque or drag or you can do sketch comedy, but like talk shows… nobody’s really doing talk shows. And we were just like, what if we do something as earnest as possible?”

The two wanted the show to be reminiscent of Late Night with Conan O’Brien: wacky, absurdist,

sometimes just downright stupid, but still smart at the heart of it all.

With Connors as host, the show is planned to include live interviews, a backing band, and midshow bits and performances from local creatives and other acts. The first live show is happening on Friday, Sept. 19, at the Chameleon.

“It’s not going to be this super political, like ‘Let’s talk about unions and Bitcoin ATMs’ thing,’” Connors says. “Like, yeah, we have [Spokane City Councilmember] Paul Dillon and [Range media’s] Luke Baumgarten on, but it’s funny business. A lot of funny business.”

For the inaugural show, Connors aimed to round up a group of well-versed, talented locals who could all bring something unique to CONNORSversations. Thus, the series’ premiere features plenty of familiar faces, including local comedian Blade Frank (aka Dino Chef), musical guest The Bed Heads and comedian Adam Swensen, the latter of whom appears on the show while also working behind the scenes as a writer.

Along with his writing partner Dufney-Ehrenberg, Connors tapped Spokast! podcast creator/ host Brennon Poynor as executive producer, Darby Meegan (aka DJ Spicy Ketchup) to be in charge of announcing and music, and local designer Jaíz Boyd to create sets and manage creative elements.

he lead-up to CONNORSversations’ premiere has been a labor of love. All team members have been pitching in to build

Spokane is entering the late-night stage.

a set and ensure audiences will laugh, giggle, chortle and, at times, shift uncomfortably in their seats.

“It’ll be different,” Connors says. “My philosophy is to be the change you want to see, because so many people complain about how there’s not enough cool shit going on here. Well, be your own cool shit!”

DJ Spicy Ketchup serves as Connors’ side man, a staple of late-night shows tasked with spitballing off of the host and guests at just the right moments.

“He’s my Steve Higgins,” he says. “My Ed McMahon.”

Though there are pre-taped video segments, most of the show is live and completely improvised. Connors describes it all as having “punk rock energy” due to the DIY feel.

The set was built by hand, as well as the desk that Connors sits behind as he channels Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Colbert.

And what’s a late-night show without a few bits?

Connors is already dedicated to one of them from the beginning — he’s been wearing the same suit in all of the show’s promotional videos and will continue to wear it for every show for continuity’s sake. (He also wore the full suit to the interview for this story.)

He says the jokes will come naturally after a few iterations, yet he has some recurring bits planned for the debut… you’ll have to attend to find out.

CONNORSversations is first and foremost a Spokane-centric show, so expect “appearances” by local legends like the Garbage Goat and jokes only Spokanites can fully understand.

For those who can’t make it to CONNORSversations’ first live show, don’t fret — all the shows will be taped and uploaded to YouTube, bloopers and all.

Connors is aware that a live show can present difficulties and that things probably won’t go perfectly, but that’s show business.

“It’s going to be fun and absurd,” he says. “I’m just throwing things at a wall hard enough that it stresses people out and hopefully they like it.” n CONNORSversations • Fri, Sept. 19 at 8 pm • $12-$15 • 21+ • The Chameleon • 1801 W. Sunset Blvd. • connorsversations.com

The show is set to include bits, pre-recorded segments, live music and more.

A Tale of Two Women

Spokane-Coeur d’Alene native Marlo Faulkner returns home

present her new book, The Second Mrs. London

BY BEE REISWIG

The hunting jacket was so soft you could barely feel it.

Even Marlo Faulkner, who was writing a column on fibers and textiles at the time, couldn’t identify the fabric. She was exploring the Jack London State Historic Park in Glen Ellen, California, and had been let into some back rooms by a park ranger. A wardrobe full of matching jackets and boots, coordinating hats and dresses, and French silk undergarments awaited her.

The jacket turned out to be newborn lamb suede, and it belonged to Charmian London.

“And that’s what started this whole thing. I thought, ‘Oh my god, what kind of a person wears something like that?’” Faulkner recalls.

Faulkner, now 83, spent more than 30 years finding out. Of course, she did other things along the way. Throughout her life she’s had many roles, including being the youngest woman bartender in Idaho, an Unlimited hydroplane race crew member, a high school teacher and an English instructor at North Idaho College, as well as assistant to Ed McMahon on the Tonight Show

A fourth-generation member of a Spokane-Coeur d’Alene family, Faulkner has a special connection to the area. In 2000, she founded what’s now known as Inland Northwest Opera with her husband of 56 years. In 2022,

she was grand marshal of the Coeur d’Alene Fourth of July Parade. Throughout it all, she kept researching and writing.

After visiting a Glen Ellen bookstore and meeting a Jack London scholar, Faulkner got in contact with Irving Milo Shepard, London’s grandnephew. When they met, she explained that she wanted to write a book about Charmian, the first of its kind.

He gave Faulkner written permission to access the London archives at the Huntington Library. After all, Charmian had been his favorite great-aunt; she’d taught Shepard about all the flora and fauna around Glen Ellen.

The Huntington Library doesn’t let just anyone in,

however. Faulkner had to work first to be considered a scholar, which she was able to do after being sponsored by an old friend she’d met at the University of Idaho.

“I spent about five or six years driving back and forth to the Huntington, reading all of Charmian’s diaries twice, all of their letters, and all of the ephemera and went through over 2,200 photographs because she kept very detailed albums,” she says.

With so much information at her fingertips, her book’s first draft was about 150,000 words. But Faulkner believes that writing is about rewriting, and she began cutting and fixing and cutting some more. She worked on the project as she could around life’s other moments. Her children grew to be teenagers and young adults, and she moved back into the home that she’d lived in as an infant. Further down the line, Faulkner and her husband moved to an active senior community in California.

“So we have a wonderful dining room and an executive chef, and I have a cleaning lady who comes once a week,” Faulkner says. “So I don’t cook and I don’t clean, and so I had time to finish the book.”

She started writing in 1991. Her book was published in April of this year.

The Second Mrs. London follows the life of Charmian while she’s connected to novelist and activist. Their story begins in 1900, when she attends a luncheon with her literary editor aunt and happens to meet Jack. Though he soon married another woman, the two would eventually find each other again and wed in 1905.

The book is told in three parts: “Mates,” in which the two meet and marry; “The Snark,” the name of the yacht on which they took a long trip around the Pacific Ocean; and a final section on the Beauty Ranch where they spent the rest of Jack’s life together (London died in 1916 at the age of 40).

One key difference between historical fiction and biography is that historical fiction includes dialogue as well. Since The Second Mrs. London is told from Charmian’s perspective, it falls into the historical fiction category. However, all of the facts and details that Faulkner includes came straight from Charmian’s own diaries. She says Charmian was a bold, ambitious woman who was willing to stand against societal conventions.

“She was well ahead of her time,” Faulkner says. “She was a very petite woman, and she was a great horsewoman, and she never rode sidesaddle. She couldn’t find pants, so she went to the boys section.” Charmian even asked Levi Strauss to make her a set of pants for riding after the Londons had generated their share of fame. Her request was denied.

After Faulkner hosts a few programs for the book in and around Palo Alto, she’s heading back home to the Inland Northwest for a presentation hosted by the Coeur d’Alene Library Foundation. She plans to share a slideshow on each of the real-life people in the book, followed by a reading and book signing. Books will also be available to buy.

Faulkner’s Coeur d’Alene roots remain strong.

“From the time I could get a library card when I was 6, I’ve had a library card with the Coeur d’Alene Library,” she says. “So coming home and being in the Community Room … to be there as a presenter is really special to me.” n

Marlo Faulkner: The Second Mrs. London • Fri, Sept. 12 at 5 pm • Free • Coeur d’Alene Public Library • 702 E. Front Ave. • cdalibrary.org

Jack London’s second wife, Charmian, is the subject of a new book. PUBLIC DOMAIN PHOTOS

STREAMING INTO SEPTEMBER

Fall kicks off with a promising plentitude of new streaming shows, including The Paper, The Lowdown and Chad Powers

BY BILL FROST

It’s almost fall! And the fall TV season … just ain’t what it used to be. In decades past, September would drop an overflowing pile of new shows to try on like fresh school clothes; in 2025, you’re lucky to get some hand-me-downs or a quick rummage at the thrift store. If you’re not into cheap game shows or retreads of CBS procedurals, broadcast TV has little new to offer this fall. SAD. On the other remote hand, streaming TV — which is more expensive than ever (the “cable replacement” theory has finally come full circle) — has some cracking new offerings this month. Update that shared password while you can.

THE PAPER (PEACOCK)

Since it’s a roundabout spinoff of The Office, The Paper isn’t entirely “new,” but therein lies the funny. The documentary crew that shadowed the Dunder-Mifflin company for years is now chronicling a flailing Toledo newspaper, and former Office fixture Oscar (Oscar Nuñez) isn’t thrilled to be on camera again (“I’m not agreeing to any of this!” he exclaims). Those of us who’ve worked at a newspaper may experience more PTSD than laughter; civilian mileage will vary.

TASK (HBO, HBO MAX)

HBO Max struck retro gold with its hospital drama

The Pitt earlier this year, so now HBO proper is launching TV’s 1,786th FBI series with Task. But, since Task is “from the creator of Mare of Easttown” and is headlined by genuine Movie Star (and recovering Marvel Star) Mark Ruffalo, expectations are high. Ruffalo stars as a — shades of Mare — troubled FBI agent investigating a series of violent Philadelphia robberies. Thieves? Are we finally done with serial killers? About time.

THE GIRLFRIEND (PRIME)

Laura (played by Robin Wright, who also directs here) is highly suspicious of her adult son’s new squeeze (Olivia Cooke), and not just because her name is Cherry. The Girlfriend, based on the novel by Michelle Frances, is a psychological thriller that falls between a Lifetime movie and any recent Nicole Kidman streaming series. But, Kidman never had an adversary as fiercely capable as Cooke — The Girlfriend might be the campy hit of the fall season.

BLACK RABBIT (NETFLIX, SEPT. 18)

Jason Bateman’s evolution from a perturbed and bemused member of a comic crime family (Arrested Development) to a disturbed and abused member of a dramatic crime family (Ozark) takes another turn with Black Rabbit. Jake (Jude Law) runs the successful and above-board Black Rabbit lounge — until his ne’er-dowell brother Vince (Bateman) shows up with gambling debt and mob probs. This could have been a movie, but Law and Bateman still crackle together.

THE LOWDOWN

(FX, HULU; SEPT. 23)

Filmmaker Sterlin Harjo’s Reservoir Dogs snuck up and charmed the hell out of us in 2021, and his new crime-noir series The Lowdown will likely do the same. Unexpected Actor for the Generations Ethan Hawke stars as a Tulsa citizen journalist working to expose local government corruption, and his latest scoop is a doozy that might get him disappeared (how timely). As you’d expect from Harjo, there’s plenty of comedy to mine from the drama of The Lowdown

THE SAVANT (APPLE TV+;

SEPT. 26)

Like the best Apple TV+ originals that aren’t Severance or The Morning Show, The Savant is a taut true-crime thriller that’s as engaging as it is seemingly too abhorrent to be real (see also: Smoke, a twist-laden summer series watched by maybe dozens). The titular savant is Jodi Goodwin (Jessica Chastain), an investigator immersing herself in the ick of online hate groups to suss out potential violent attacks. Don’t dismiss The Savant because it’s based on reporting by Cosmopolitan.

CHAD POWERS

(HULU; SEPT. 30)

After all this seriousness, how about a comedy with a side of Glen Powell riz? (Also, are we still using riz?) Like Ted Lasso before it, Chad Powers escaped the land of sports content (where Eli Manning played him) to become a TV series lead (played by Powell, an improvement). “Chad Powers” is the cover name of college quarterback Russ Holliday, who joins a rival school’s football team after being kicked off his own. Like college ball, Chad Powers works best when not taken seriously, like, at all. n

THE BUZZ BIN

WRITING LOCAL

Spokane’s literary scene is bustling. It’s evident through the annual Get Lit! Festival, the sheer amount of independent bookstores in our area and, most importantly, the number of writers who choose to call Spokane home. Greg Bem, one half of the force behind the local, monthly open mic series Foray for the Arts, is currently collecting submissions for a new Spokane Poetry Anthology set to be published in December 2025 through Bem’s own Carbonation Press. The first issue’s suggested theme is “Home, Roots or Liminal,” and Bem invites local poets to submit their work by Sept. 26. For questions, comments or access to the submission form, email Greg at gregbem@gmail.com. Good luck and happy writing!

(MADISON PEARSON)

PAGEANT MATERIAL

While everyone wants to be a winner, there are competitions where merely participating is a grand achievement that will last a lifetime. This past weekend, Spokane’s Amber Pike, Miss Washington 2025, competed in the Miss America Pageant 2026 down in Orlando, Florida. Her time there was highlighted by her solo violin performance of “Summer” from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons While the crown ultimately went to Cassie Donegan (Miss New York), Pike has a bright future ahead having recently earned an MBA from Gonzaga University with plans to pursue a doctorate so she can become a marketing professor. (SETH SOMMERFELD)

THIS WEEK’S PLAYLIST

Noteworthy new music arriving in stores and online on Sept. 12.

IRON & WINE + BEN BRIDWELL, MAKING GOOD TIME

You’ve probably never thought, “I wish Iron & Wine and the guy from Band of Horses would cover ‘Luther’ by Kendrick Lamar & SZA,” but know that I told you it exists as part of this indie folk covers EP (also featuring songs by U2, Boygenius, etc.). You’re kinda interested in hearing it, right?

SPINAL TAP, THE END CONTINUES

In conjunction with the release of the new Spinal Tap sequel, the fictional metal band puts out a new record with completely real guest appearances by Paul McCartney, Elton John, Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood.

LIQUID MIKE, HELL IS AN AIRPORT

The Michigan indie rock band wastes no time in following up Paul Bunyon’s Slingshot, one of 2024’s buzziest underground records. (SETH SOMMERFELD)

From left: Chad Powers, Task, The Girlfriend, The Lowdown and The Savant

Blue Ribbon Blue Ribbon

Season Season

The Spokane County Interstate Fair has been bringing fun and education to the region for more than seven decades and counting

STORY BY MADISON PEARSON

PHOTOS BY YOUNG KWAK

As children, we held tightly to our parents’ hands as they guided us through the bustling crowds at the Spokane County Interstate Fair.

We peered up at the sparkling lights, dreaming of the day when our heads reached the top of the height-measuring ruler and we could ride the big coasters and the Yo-Yo swings.

As young adults, we held (sometimes sweaty) hands with crushes or friends as we waited in seemingly endless lines for the Ring of Fire and the Gravitron, promising we weren’t scared as we rocked back and forth on our Converse-clad feet. We pulled the tickets purchased with our parents’ money out of our pockets and lost every ring toss and balloon pop game imaginable, all with smiles on our faces.

The Spokane County Interstate Fair is filled with a bittersweet nostalgia as an adult. Some of us may wonder if it’s worth our time anymore.

There’s no need for awkward first dates while walking along the midway, and it’s hard to muster the nerve to hop on a fair ride once you’re in your mid-20s, but those past moments at the fairgrounds stick with you like pink cotton candy on spit-moistened fingertips.

Since 1882, Spokane has held some sort of fair celebration, but the Interstate Fair as we know it today has been happening since 1952.

Each September — when the air usually begins to cool down — the corner of Broadway and Havana in far east Spokane turns into a blinding display of amusement rides, a showcase of locally raised animals and a hotspot of merriment for 10 days straight.

From the teenager deep frying sickly sweet molten Oreos to the person who commits to actually riding The Zipper with you, it’s the people you’re with and the people behind the event that ensure core memories are made each year.

...continued on next page

81-year-old Spokane resident Joan Nolan with her Grand Champion-winning, 12.1-pound honey frame.

“BLUE RIBBON SEASON,” CONTINUED...

Holding the role of fair coordinator since 2001, Jessica McLaughlin has planned and executed the past 24 editions of the Spokane County Interstate Fair. Along with a dedicated staff, McLaughlin brings new programming and old community favorites to the event each September.

She wants to feed the curious minds of children while also making the fair worthwhile for the nostalgic adults who are now bringing their own kids to these old stomping grounds.

“Over the years, people have said the top three reasons they come to the fair are food, entertainment and the animals,” McLaughlin says. “And I think that’s because we have a large disconnect between the urban population and agriculture. They’ve forgotten where their food comes from.”

Over the years, the fair has not only invited community members to show their animals to the public, but also provided educational opportunities for children and adults alike to learn more about farm animals and agriculture in general.

“The top three reasons they come to the fair are food, entertainment and the animals”

This year, for the first time in a decade, the fair brings dairy cows back to the animal barns. McLaughlin says the Spokane area isn’t as well-known for dairy cows as other regions, such as the Midwest or more coastal areas of the Pacific Northwest.

She says her team hopes to bring back a full dairy cattle show in the future, but this year they’re teaming up with

Dalkena Highlands owner Honey Smith with Cedar, her Scottish Highland cow who was the fair’s 2023 live mascot.

ABOVE: Helen Nowosad rides her 7-yearold Mexican Stallion Down Ta Drift.

LEFT: Bo the Nigerian dwarf goat, also from Dalkena Highlands, was the fair’s 2024 mascot.

Whitepine-Flats Farm to showcase a selection of dairy cattle and to offer educational opportunities for kids.

Whitepine-Flats Farm brought six of their beloved dairy cows to the fairgrounds: Anna, Daisy, Eevee, Foxy, Lucy and Midnight. Inside the dairy cow barn, visitors can meet the six cows, learn about the milking process, pet Midnight (the youngest cow), and learn from Danae and Jacob Cummins, Whitepine-Flats’ coowners.

Longtime fairgoers may remember the fair’s old milking parlor, which periodically showcased a dairy cow being milked. The demonstration often included a farmer spraying milk on the parlor window, making all the children with their faces pressed against the glass jump in surprise.

Though the milking parlor is not up and running for this year’s fair, staff hope that through fundraising efforts they’ll have it ready next year for the fair’s 75th anniversary.

The fair’s dairy cows have been a hit with kids and adults alike over the years, yet in their absence, a new cow has stolen the spotlight.

Two years ago, Cedar the Highland Cow was named the Spokane County Interstate Fair’s official live mascot — the first in over 20 years — for the 2023 “Showtime” themed event. She was an immediate hit.

Hailing from Dalkena Highlands, a farm located in Newport, Cedar was born outside of calving season, about two months earlier than is typical for her Highland breed.

“She was born so early, so we’ve been really hands-on with her since she was born,” says Honey Smith, co-owner of Dalkena Highlands. “Because of that, she’s very used to us and to humans in general.”

Her proclivity for human interaction made her a perfect fit to be an official animal mascot. Cedar’s fuzzy face made plenty of appearances at the 2023 fair, but also at last year’s event — she’d made such a buzz the year prior, why not give the people what they want?

Though still a calf when she became the face of the fair, Cedar is still living the high life as a 3-year-old. Smith has lately been hosting readings of a book she penned about the cow, titled Cedar’s Amazing Journey, which details her incredible life. Cedar, of course, often comes to the readings along with Smith’s daughter, Joy.

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The food vendor area on opening day of the 2025 Spokane County Interstate Fair, Friday, Sept. 5

Whitepine Flats’ Jacob Cummins cleans a pen holding the farm’s Holstein and Jersey dairy cows.

SPECIAL EVENTS

The 2025 fair may only have four days left; but here’s what to still check out!

Thu, Sept. 11: Boys Like Girls with Plain White T’s (main stage concert, 7 pm, $45-$80); Heroes Day (free admission for police, hospital staff, firefighters, EMTs/paramedics, veterans, active military and their families)

Fri, Sept. 12: Truck and Tractor Pull (7 pm)

Sat, Sept. 13: Demolition Derby (7 pm)

Sun, Sept. 14: School Employees Free Admission; Coats 4 Kids Day donation drive; Demolition Derby (4 pm)

“BLUE RIBBON SEASON,” CONTINUED...

“She’s become such a highlight for so many people,” Smith says. “People absolutely love to come see her when we’re at the fairgrounds, and she loves all of the attention and [being pet] as well.”

Though Cedar may steal the show with her darling face and perfect personality, she brings along two friends from Dalkena Highlands who also deserve their share of the spotlight: the 2024 fair mascot, Bo the Nigerian dwarf goat, and this year’s mascot, Jack the miniature donkey.

The 2024 fair theme was “Around the World,” so Smith leaned into that when choosing Bo the Nigerian dwarf goat as the mascot. In addition to his obvious worldly origins, Smith says Bo has a very even temperament.

“Bo is a gentle soul,” she says. “Bless him. He’s so sweet. He does really well at all of the events we take him to. Everyone is super drawn to his awesome beard and everything he’s got going on there.”

Smith says when staff reached out about a mascot for this year’s theme, “Discover the Fun,” she knew their miniature donkey was right for the job. Jack

“I think the live mascots bring a sense of joy to people”

loves nothing more than to play with his favorite giant red soccer ball all day. He may be small in size, but he’s big on personality.

As for next year’s mascot, Smith reveals Cedar is pregnant and that, as long as everything goes to plan and the calf is healthy, it will be the mascot for the fair’s 75th anniversary.

Fair attendees can meet Cedar and friends in the Wheatland Bank Animal Experience barns located near the fairgrounds’ agriculture areas throughout the event’s 10-day run.

“I think the live mascots bring a sense of joy to people,” Smith says. “But they also bring education about agriculture and regenerative farming, like we do at Dalkena. They bring back that classic nostalgia that you expect from the county fair.”

Each beaming smile you see on a child this week could be the start of something new as they learn interesting facts about farming or their favorite animals.

When Joan Nolan was a young girl, she showed her beloved horse, Smokey Blue, in the Spokane County Interstate Fair on a whim. She didn’t live on a farm or raise horses for 4H; she simply loved Smokey Blue and wanted to show her horse off to the judges. To her surprise, she won her category and received a trophy for her efforts.

“Right after, the judge came up to me and asked me why I thought I had won,” Nolan says. “I told him I didn’t know, and he told me it was because of my attention to detail.”

That small sentiment has stuck with Nolan for over 65 years as she’s continued to enter various crafts and homegrown vegetables nearly every year.

“Anytime I enter anything in the fair, I remember that,” she says. “I pay attention to the small things like cleanliness, uniformity and all of those things.”

...continued on page 28

Dalkena Highlands owner Honey Smith kisses miniature donkey Jack, the 2025 fair’s official live mascot.

Local kids show off their shorn sheep to the judges.

ABOVE: Entries in the fair’s photography competition are displayed in one of the fairgrounds’ exhibition halls.

LEFT: Arts and craft goods entered by local residents are displayed in another area.

BELOW: Freshly shorn sheep relax in one of the ag barns.

“BLUE RIBBON SEASON,” CONTINUED...

It’s definitely paid off for Nolan, who’s won plenty more blue ribbons since that first experience. In 2023 alone she won a trophy for the best dozen eggs, the adult blue ribbon and people’s choice award in the “Creature Feature” category (a piece of art made with only organic material), the heaviest extracting frame in the honey category, and gardener of the year.

“It was such a rush,” she says. “I tell my family every year that I’m going to cut back and not enter as many things. I still get eye rolls from them because they don’t believe me.”

This year Nolan, who just turned 81, entered 12 vegetables in the fruits and vegetables category (down from 112 entries five years ago), an array of flowers from her home garden and a honey frame into the “heaviest frame” category (which she’s won every year for a decade) at the fair. She never knows until the week the fair kicks off what exactly she’s going to submit. This year, for example, the weather broke heat records leading up to the 10-day event, and days before kickoff she was crossing her fingers that her flowers weren’t torched.

Nolan recently spent an entire day canning honey while keeping a close eye on various gourds in her garden, waiting to determine which prized specimens she’d tote to the fairgrounds for judging, which started on Thursday, Sept. 4. She plans on continuing this tradition until she simply can’t anymore.

“I see the up-and-coming young people, or not-so-young people, bringing in vegetables and flowers and whatnot, and I remember when I was like them,” she says. “I studied why one entry got a blue ribbon over another and took that with me into the next year.”

“I see the up-and-coming young people, or not-so-young people ... and I remember when I was like them.”

Of course, Nolan would like to win some more blue ribbons and trophies for her carefully honed efforts this year, but she says her simple philosophy has also become a mantra to live by.

Nolan encourages fairgoers to stop and pay attention to things they might not usually notice, because you never know what you’ll learn at the fair.

“It’s still so joyful to me,” she says. “Being attentive and learning from the past is such a good lesson that can be applied in any area of life. If you can do that, life goes pretty well.” n

2025 SPOKANE COUNTY INTERSTATE FAIR

Through Sept. 14; Wed 11 am-10 pm; Fri 11 am-10:30 pm; Sat 10 am-10:30 pm, Sun 10 am-8 pm

Admission: $11/adults; $8/youth, senior, military

Parking: $10/day per vehicle (cash only; $2 STA shuttle from SCC offered)

Info: thespokanefair.com

Kara and Tyler Spilker look for Kara’s San Marzano tomatoes in the produce displays.

Some of this year’s handmade quilt entries.

SEPTEMBER 20

Joan Nolan has entered her homegrown veggies, flowers and honey in the fair for decades. Inland Empire Beekeepers member Sondi Worlock shows a beehive frame.

LOCAL PRODUCE

LETTUCE TRADE!

Share and extend your garden bounty at Spokane Public Library’s fall harvest events

BY DORA SCOTT

Thousands flocked to Spokane Public Library’s Shadle Park branch for its annual plant swap at the end of April, stocking up on plant starts necessary for a successful growing season. Fast forward to now and garden vines are heavy with harvest, even producing more than some green thumbs can consume on their own.

If you’re one of those gardeners, bring your bounty to the Shadle Park Library (2111 W. Wellesley Ave.) on Saturday, Sept. 13, for the library’s annual harvest swap. Tables will be set up outside the building’s entrance, waiting to be covered in the community’s extra-giant zucchinis, tomatoes, cut flowers and more. Come and share, swap for produce you didn’t grow in your own garden this year, or simply come and take.

“There’s not really parameters, that’s the beautiful thing about the swap,” says Alina Murcar, Spokane Public Library’s marketing manager.

“It’s not limited to food,” adds Juan Juan Moses, the library’s community educator who runs its gardening and food events. “A lot of the time people remodel their garden. You know, irises need to be split, bleeding hearts, perennials need to be rearranged and split and moved … for everything that you dig up, there is a taker.”

Murcar asks community members to bring their extra harvest in containers, like a cup or cardboard box.

This year, the Shadle Library partnered with the

Filipino American Association of the Inland Empire to grow tropical and subtropical Asian vegetables in its onsite Discovery Garden, which was added as part of the library’s recent bond-funded renovations.

“When we built the Discovery Garden, one of the members approached me and said, ‘Hey, I see you have a garden. That’s really great. We would love to give you some seeds. We grow a lot of tropical Asian vegetables,’” Moses says.

She then asked the group to be this year’s partner, planting and tending to the bitter melon, okra, Asian eggplant and yardlong bean plants, which normally need humid and hot climates to thrive.

On a sunny afternoon in late August, Moses shows off the garden on the library’s south-facing side. Inside the plot with about a half-dozen beds, demarcated by a simple metal fence, sunflowers loom and plant vines creep through gaps. Small ripe strawberries peek beneath leaves, echinacea and bee balm flowers give the garden color, tomatoes hang ripe, and garlic, already pulled, dries in Moses’ office.

She points out ripe bitter melons on the far side of the garden, the green vegetable blending into leaves.

“The funny thing about the bitter melon is normally it’s extremely difficult to grow, it’s also extremely difficult to sell,” Moses jokes. “It’s a hard sell for American’s

culinary taste.”

She plucks two ripe Asian eggplants and then points out the yardlong beans, which are true to their name, as well as finger-like okra pointing toward the sky. Moses notes that whatever is ripe by the time the harvest swap comes will be either used in cooking demonstrations or added to the swap tables.

Dubbed a “Wok on the Wild Side,” the cooking demonstrations will take place outside the library entrance using local chef Alice Koh’s food venture, SeriMas. The first demonstration commences at 11:20 am, led by chef Antonio Mears, who’ll be cooking up Korean garlic green beans. The yardlong beans will be stir-fried with soy sauce and sesame oil for a quick, healthy and tasty side dish.

Then, at 12:15 pm, Koh plans to make Malaysian eggplant tempra (not to be confused with tempura). The Asian eggplants will be roasted and cooked with sweet onions and chili, giving the dish a savory and spicy kick. Stick around for the final cooking demonstration at 1 pm, led by the Filipino American Association of the Inland Empire. A mix of bitter melon, Asian eggplant, string beans, squash, tomatoes and chicken breast will be stir-fried with onion, garlic, ginger and other seasonings for pinakbet, a Filipino vegetable stew. Those who stick around are treated to a tasting of all three dishes at the demonstration’s end.

Growing Neighbors, a local nonprofit organization

Spokane Public Library’s Juan Juan Moses. YOUNG KWAK PHOTOS

that helps facilitate and maintain nearly 80 community gardens in Spokane, is also partnering with the library for the harvest swap.

On the same day, the nonprofit is hosting its annual Tour de Farms, which includes open-house-style tours of several gardens in the Whitworth University area with participants gleaning produce as they go, from 9 to 11 am, and ending at the swap around 11 am.

“We’re just trying to make it kind of a low-barrier, chooseyour-own-adventure kind of thing,” says Johnny Edmondson, Growing Neighbors’ founder and director. “We’re just inviting folks when they’re going between gardens to walk, jog or bike just to encourage physical activity, less fossil fuels and actually experiencing the neighborhood more.”

Five gardens will be featured, including sites at Whitworth University and the North YMCA. For more details, visit growingneighbors.org.

“All of this is certainly to provide actual produce, but really we want to inspire people to connect with their local garden and or reach out to us to start a new one if there’s not a good local community spot for them,” Edmondson says.

“From beginning to the end, we have provided a process from the spring plant swap to the planting of the garden, to partnership with community members…”

Even after the harvest swap has passed, keep your calendar marked for the Spokane Public Library’s food preservation series at the Shadle branch’s event room. The series is led by Courage to Grow Farms, based in Spokane Valley’s Greenacres area.

Attendees can learn all about pickling vegetables to preserve a harvest on Sept. 20. For those with too many tomatoes on their hands, get creative and learn how to ferment salsa on Sept. 27. Extend your fruit harvest, too, with a class on Oct. 4 covering how to make jams, fruit leather and more.

Lastly, on Oct. 11, learn about the versatility of tallow, rendered fat from cattle or sheep, that has many uses beyond its culinary purpose.

“From beginning to the end, we have provided a process from the spring plant swap to the planting of the garden, to partnership with community members to care for the garden, to the end of the season harvest swap [and] preservation series,” Moses says. She already has the theme in mind for next year’s garden, focusing on peppers in collaboration with the Garden4You club that meets at the Shadle Library on the first Wednesday of the month at 5:30 pm.

“It all comes back to the beginning,” Moses says. “So the beginning and the end is one big circle.” n

TO-GO BOX

Chew on This

Historic Harrison, Idaho, bar lands grant; plus, Spokane-Coeur d’Alene restaurant openings and closings, cultural food events

BY DORA SCOTT

Fifty historic restaurants across the United States have each been awarded a $50,000 grant, including One Shot Charlie’s in Harrison, Idaho. This is the fifth year the National Trust for Historic Preservation and American Express have awarded grants through the Backing Historic Small Restaurants program.

“What started as a pandemic response has grown into a movement to uplift the historic restaurants that shape our neighborhoods and connect generations through food,” Madge Thomas, head of corporate sustainability at American Express, said in a press release. “Our 2025 grantees reflect the deep-rooted food traditions that define American communities, and we hope these grants spark ripple effects that sustain them in the future.”

One Shot Charlie’s has been a cornerstone of Harrison since Charlie Jenicek bought the Oasis Tavern in 1952, later changing its name. Stepping into the bar and eatery overlooking Lake Coeur d’Alene, guests are surrounded by history: Rustic wood features complement the brick building and various antique knicknacks line the walls. Take a seat at the bar, come for a game of pool, grab a bite to eat from the pub-centric menu, or do all three!

OPENINGS

When sweet tooth pangs hit next, consider heading to Mother Bear’s Bakery’s new brick-and-mortar spot at 1028 W. Rosewood Ave. in North Spokane. The bakery, owned and operated by a motherdaughter duo, opened on July 18 and has been said to make some of the best huckleberry rolls around.

Adding to NorthTown Mall’s food court options, Fresh Today Catering & Bakery opened in June. The cafe features breakfast items like French toast ($13) and breakfast burritos ($8), as well as a large selection of sandwiches and salads for a midday refuel.

Residents of Liberty Lake can finally celebrate the opening of Tamale Box’s second location, at 2658 N. Wildrye St., offering its popular handmade tamales with generous filling options like shredded beef and chicken chile rojo.

Supa! Authentic Japanese Kitchen opened its third location (it’s also in Cheney and Post Falls) on Aug. 28 inside Soulful Soup’s (new owners moved the soup cafe to 111 S. Madison St. earlier this summer) former downtown space location at 117 N. Howard St.

Bringing small-batch, locally made mead to North Spokane, Back 40 Meadery celebrated

its grand opening at the end of July at at 10403 N. Newport Hwy. The meadery works with local beekeepers and farmers to source its honey and fruit, crafting flavors like Cascade Hop Peach that features wildflower honey, peaches and fresh hops.

CLOSINGS

For over a decade, Mangrove Cafe & Bakery offered a cozy cafe and Thai dining experience inside a remodeled former home in Spokane Valley, at 18 N. Bowdish Road. Unfortunately for regulars, the restaurant is closing on Sept. 30.

The Rathdrum food scene is also taking a hit with the closing of Penny’s Pit Gourmet Burgers, which grilled countless burgers for 11 years. A final operating day has yet to be determined, as the burger joint’s owners hope to finish out the fall and winter season, and plan to start the process of selling the restaurant’s equipment.

EVENTS

Spokane’s top mixologists go head-to-head on Sept. 13, from 2-4:30 pm, for Whiskey Wars ($40/ person), crafting the most creative, smoothest and smokiest whiskey cocktails. Enjoy a full tasting experience of handcrafted drinks from each competing bar, plus swag bags, tasty bites and raffles. All proceeds benefit the ISAAC Foundation, a local nonprofit supporting individuals and families affected by autism and developmental disabilities. For tickets and info, visit theisaacfoundation.ejoinme. org/WhiskeyWars.

Take your tastebuds on a trip to Greece at the 89th Annual Greek Food Festival, from Sept. 25 to 27. Held at the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church at 1703 N. Washington St., the event features authentic Greek food like gyros and loukoumades (fried dough balls), music, traditional dancing and more. Learn more at holytrinityspokane.org.

Several local community organizations were recently awarded funding from Downtown Spokane Partnership’s 2025 Mini Cultural Grant to hold free cultural events in downtown Spokane. Festa Italiana is the next on the lineup on Sept. 20, hosted by Spokane-Cagli Sister City Society, and will explore everything Italian, from pasta to pastries and Italian folk dancing. Then, celebrate Chinese culture on Sept. 27 from 1-3 pm in time for the Chinese Moon Festival. There will be traditional moon cakes to munch on, lantern making, calligraphy, martial arts showcases and more. n

Garlic, eggplant and bitter melon grown in the Shadle Library’s community garden.

One Shot Charlie’s

VIDEO GAMES

Game On at the GameCon

Rounding

up some of the best video games from a day at PAX West

BY SETH SOMMERFELD

While many folks were enjoying Labor Day taking in the Pacific Northwest’s summer sun-kissed natural beauty, I spent the holiday in crammed convention centers with a hodgepodge of exhausted nerdy gamers. But such is the life of my fellow indoor kids. Thus is the life of PAX West.

Originally launched in the Emerald City back in 2004 by the creators of the Penny Arcade webcomic, PAX West has become one of the biggest conventions for fans of both video games and tabletop games, with offshoot PAX cons taking place annually in Boston, Philadelphia and Melbourne, Australia. Some of the biggest gaming companies in the world show off their new games early, indie game developers gather to share unique creations, nerdy merch aplenty is peddled, cosplayers serve up their intricately tailored looks, gamers compete in tournaments across various media, panels dive deep into niche gaming topics and much more.

Here are a few of the video games that stood out from a day spent at PAX West 2025.

THE GOOD KIND OF PIRACY

While video game culture is somehow even more depressingly dependent on nostalgia than other mediums (for the love of god, we don’t need another remake of a game from the PlayStation 2 era, when the originals still hold up — make something new), there is fertile ground to be mined by bringing modern sensibilities to archaic platforms.

That’s an overly verbose way to set up that my favorite indie title of the show is essentially a Game Boy game. Ice Goat Games’ Draco and the Seven Scales is a swash-

buckling adventure RPG (role-playing game) presented via throwback Game Boy Color graphics. There’s no hiding its number one influence: Game Boy classic The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening. It basically plays as if Link were a sword- and musket-wielding buccaneer, but mixes up the formula in a completely fresh way via its dungeons marrying typical on-foot Zelda-esque battle exploration with seemingly equal sections where you have to hop in your pirate ship to fight and solve puzzles on the water.

While no release date for Draco is set yet, keep your non-patched eyes out for it (or wishlist it now on Steam).

DYING AGAIN

(...AND AGAIN …AND AGAIN)

Speaking of Nintendo, considering Labor Day was the fourth and final day of PAX, the crowd had thinned out a bit and not all of the big-name publishers had ridiculously long lines for short demos. I seized this opportunity to play the Switch 2 for the first time at one of Nintendo’s two big showcase areas.

Considering the Inlander had a whole cover feature about death in video games centered on the indie smash hit Hades back in 2021 (check those online archives!), I felt obligated to give the upcoming Hades 2 a play. For the uninitiated, the series centers on playing as the children of the Greek god of the Underworld who are attempting to battle out of the dark mythic realm with short roguelike gameplay loops (i.e. the general structure is the same, but the level layout and enemies vary each playthrough).

My brief time spent battling as Hades daughter Melinoë on a quest to defeat the Titan of Time only cemented that I’ll be pouring way too many hours into this

one, as I did with the original. The world-building, art style and character interactions are still top-notch, but with enough gameplay tweaks to liven things up (although extreme dashing has gotten nerfed).

While no release date has yet to be announced, most expect Hades 2 to rise from the Underworld (as a timed Switch exclusive) in the next few months.

(Speaking of sequels, I also played the just-released Hollow Knight: Silksong at the same Nintendo booth. The series’ Metroidvania action platforming is still, well, silky smooth. Considering they’re selling it for the absurdly cheap price of $20 and it’s available on all major platforms, it’s a must-snag for any gamer.)

SHRED THE GNAR

Let’s close things out back on the slopes of indie gaming.

Most gamers of a certain age spent copious hours skiing down an infinite digital mountain via SkiFree (which came installed on many ’90s Windows computers). Those same people have nightmares about how every run ended by being eaten alive by the impossible-to-escape Abominable Snowman.

For anyone dealing with that specific PTS-Ski, Fresh Tracks might offer some relief. It’s essentially a rhythm game where you’re first-person skiing across three tracks collecting power ups and avoiding obstacles to the beat of some chill flowstate music. Eventually enemies pop up on the trails, too, but unlike the Sisyphean SkiFree… YOU GET A RAD ICE CRYSTAL SWORD TO CHOP ’EM DOWN. Tangential revenge is a dish best served cold. Fresh Tracks is available now on PlayStation 5, XBox Series X and Steam. n

PAX West features both big developer pomp and indie gems.

SETH SOMMERFELD PHOTOS

All That and (Balti)more

Jay Duplass’ The Baltimorons may just make you fall in love with a delightful Michael Strassner and Liz Larsen

BY CHASE HUTCHINSON

Alowkey charmer that pulls off a modern Christmas miracle in how it crafts a story centrally built around the “yes, and…” principle of improv comedy without becoming annoying, The Baltimorons is a film that builds and builds so naturally that you can’t help going along with it.

It’s the type of experience that can feel freewheeling and a little all over the place at first glance before revealing its larger plan. Specifically, it’s a film about delicately yet compassionately drilling down into two disparate central characters that get brought together unexpectedly on Christmas Eve. What then begins as an encounter between strangers soon snowballs into a silly, sweet, and yet just serious enough romp of a movie to win you over. It’s like Before Sunset but with beer as opposed to wine, a great deal more mouth blood, and a Baltimore setting. This could sound like a horror film if tweaked a bit, but The Baltimorons is a bittersweet rom-com gem.

In this case, the ones going stumbling into the romance as well as the comedy are the sober former improv comedian Cliff (Michael Strassner) and the divorced dentist Didi (Liz Larsen). When the former accidentally

DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA INFINITY CASTLE

What’s the best way to complete a well-loved anime series? You turn its finale into a trilogy of movies. In this first installment, follow Tanjiro and the rest of the Demon Slayer Corps who’ve fallen into the demon king’s Infinity Castle as they fight through some of their toughest foes yet. Rated R

DOWNTON ABBEY: THE GRAND FINALE

Bring a frilly handkerchief to dab your tears, because the Crawley family and staff are back for one last aristocratic tale. As the characters from the beloved British drama head into the 1930s, the family’s reputation is tested by Lady Mary’s “scandalous” divorce. Rated PG

THE LONG WALK

An adaptation of a Stephen King novel, this dystopian horror follows a group of young men who enter an annual walking competition held by the totalitarian U.S. government. In order to win a grand prize they have to keep on walking at a 3 mph pace… those who fail are executed. Last man walking wins. Rated R

Over 40 years after the original comedy classic, the lords of mockumentary metal band Spinal Tap reunite to play one

causes serious, painful damage to his teeth and desperately tries to get a dentist still working on Christmas Eve, he finds himself at the latter’s business. Didi is just hoping to get Cliff fixed up then back out the door as soon as possible so she can get back to her holiday plans, though she discovers that her ex has actually gotten married that day with the intention to turn the evening into a reception for himself and his new wife. When Cliff then finds his car has been towed, the duo each begin to try to help the other out and open up about their lives.

Directed by Jay Duplass (longtime a collaborator with his brother Mark Duplass, as well as with the late, great Seattle filmmaker Lynn Shelton) from a script he co-wrote with Strassner, The Baltimorons proceeds about as you’d expect from this type of movie. There are some tonal surprises in how heavy it is willing to get, authentically grappling with questions about addiction, depression and loneliness. However, the general trajectory and some key scenes remain familiar. Thankfully, the film executes each emotional beat and comedic escalation so confidently that you don’t mind how it can feel slightly predictable. Much of this comes down to how Strassner is able to squeeze out so much genuine goofiness out of

repeated callbacks and catchphrases, just as Larsen brings the needed initial frustration that gives way to her having fun of her own to counterbalance him. The two begin to feed off each other, for better and for worse, as you realize they both needed something like this.

When it then leaves more of the laughs behind to reflect on why this is and where both are going in their respective lives, each of the leads carries the more dramatic weight with ease. They don’t ever sugarcoat their character’s respective flaws and fears, instead diving headfirst into them to create an earnest yet still playful portrait. Even when it risks being a little too cute in how it then literalizes the idea of improv comedy and has them perform together, it becomes something more unexpectedly warm in how it turns everything on its head.

It’s in these moments where The Baltimorons becomes a film itself best seen with a crowd — one you’d actually want to take your friends to join (which is where, again, it thankfully distinguishes itself from improv) — as each earned laugh that gets shared together only makes it all resonate that much more. Here’s only hoping we get a Before Sunset-esque followup where Cliff needs a root canal on New Year’s Eve and it starts all over again. Now that’s one sequel I may just say “yes, and…” to. n

The Baltimorons is an atypical rom-com done right.

ROCK

SCREAM THERAPY

Rocky Votolato musically processes his son’s death via his new alt-rock band Suzzallo

BY SETH SOMMERFELD

Death is real. Someone’s there and then they’re not.

Seattle singer-songwriter Rocky Votolato knows that all too well. The troubadour spent decades making gorgeous alternative-leaning indie folk music as a solo artist until his world crumbled down around him one December evening in 2021. That was the night Rocky’s 22-year-old son, Kienan, died in a car accident. It was the type of unfathomable tragedy that can upend any parent’s worldview. The world can become a dark, cold place even when surrounded and supported by the ones you love. Beauty can feel perverse. Music that once fostered joy can feel wrong, painful. But eventually you slowly start to pull yourself back together, tiny fragment by tiny fragment. Suzzallo is Rocky Votolato piecing himself back together. Seeking a rawer, louder creative outlet when his soft folky ways felt alien after the loss of Kienan, Votolato formed the new band with longtime friends Rudy Gajadhar on drums (who’d previously been in the indie rock band Waxwing with Votolato) and Stephen Bonnell on bass. Striving for some sort of musical catharsis, the band’s heavy alternative rock sound taps into the music the guys grew up on as kids (Jawbreaker, Pixies, At the Drive-In, Nirvana, Radiohead, etc.).

Suzzallo’s acclaimed debut album, The Quiet Year, marries that aggressive noise with a wall-to-wall lyrical exploration of Votolato working through the grief of los-

ing his son. It’s an album that completely blurs any lines separating the brutal emotions from the beautiful ones as Votolato’s wailing and aggressive guitar lines unleash all the agony that had been darkening the corners of his heart. The Quiet Year serves as a eulogy both for Kienan and the person Rocky was before the loss, a pure distilled tragedy turned into a joyously rocking liberation of the pain. Fittingly, it all end with a cathartic scream. Before Suzzallo kicks off its first tour ever with a stop at The District Bar on Sept. 16, we caught up with Votolato to talk about unfiltered authenticity of making such a deeply personal album about devastating loss.

INLANDER: How did Suzzallo come about?

VOTOLATO: Rudy and Steve and I have known each other for, oh gosh, so many decades now. [laughs] And we’ve played shows together in our old bands. So we were always connected. We went to high school together, too. So after everything happened with Kienan, and the tragedy around all that, I just was in a place where I didn’t really want to be making music alone. It was a headspace where I just really wanted to work with other people, and I felt super safe with those guys. They both are just really good friends who were there for me personally through that experience, and then also musically.

I had to kind of work on Steve, because he was a guitar player in Schoolyard Heroes, but we needed a

bass player. So I kind of kept saying, “Hey, do you want to try to switch to bass for this?” He was pretty hesitant at first, but once we played our first song together, I think it was “Time Machine,” and he joined on bass, we all three looked at each other and were like, “Oh, this is the band now.” [laughs]

It’s really been like a dream working with them, and sad as all the subject matter has been around it, we’ve been actually having a lot of fun working on the music.

Talking about that feeling of not wanting to play alone, there’s also a part of it where your solo music is much more rooted in quiet, contemplative, beautiful songs. And I imagine that’s not sort of the headspace you wanted to be in. Like, “I don’t really feel like writing nice, beautiful things right now. I want to scream.”

Totally. That was it, man. I just needed more volume, more distortion, more energy. It was like this cathartic release I was looking for. So I knew I needed to make a bigger, louder sound. And so it was a combination of getting those guys involved and then finding my Mesa Boogie amp. So once I kind of connected with that, I homed in on the sound that I wanted for the record.

How do you approach using “making an album” as a coping tool?

I feel like in this case more than ever, that was really

Rocky Votolato (right) and his friends are getting through it with Suzzallo.

ADRIEN WILHITE PHOTO

what was happening. For some projects I’ve been a part of it can be a little bit more conceptualized — kind of in your mind and you have this clear concept of what you’re trying to carve out. But in this case, I feel like it was just like a huge cathartic release. And very necessary. Probably more necessary than ever for me, in terms of music being there as a healing force. I really hope that comes through in the record.

Did you have goals coming into the making of The Quiet Year or was it sort of whatever flowed out?

I had less of a clear vision and more just like knowing that I needed to express, if that makes any sense. It was very much a raging rapid of expression. I was not so in control of it as much as I just was like a part of what was coming out. That’s why I feel like it’s more intense than most of the music I’ve made. Definitely very raw.

It’s not overthinking, which I felt like happened to me with a lot of the older records. Or if you go back to what we said earlier, if you’re trying to make something really beautiful and capture something that’s softer and prettier — there’s none of that. Let’s just go for the raw expression of how I feel, because in deep grief, you’re totally blown away and not in control of it. And you have to kind of surrender to it. I feel like that’s a lot of what I’m trying to express in these songs.

When you were writing these songs, was there anything that felt too personal to musically share?

No, absolutely not. There was zero filter. As long as I felt it was artful in some way. The goal was communication. That’s what I love about Suzzallo — it has no pretense. There’s no cool kid-ness around it. What you see is what you get, and it’s not trying to be anything. Authenticity was the litmus test for these songs — is it a real, honest expression that’s raw?

Do you think part of going back to this heavier sound you played in your younger days is also about letting your brain go back to a younger pre-grief period in order to filter your grief?

Absolutely. After Kienan passed, I feel like it kind of shattered my identity in a lot of ways. So I didn’t know how to relate to who I was as a person. And I definitely didn’t relate to soft acoustic music anymore. And I’ve struggled with that. That part of me was just kind of gone. But I did end up relating to this person I was in high school or when I sang in Waxwing. All the music I wanted to listen to was like that, too: super heavy ’90s rock and all kinds of punk and hardcore. So there was this sort of return to the identity I had when I was younger as a coping mechanism. And that definitely came out in this album and everything to do with Suzzallo. And I still feel that.

It just fundamentally changed me as a person. But in some ways, it was a clearing. Maybe not changed me, but revealed who I really was all along, if that makes sense. And I feel like, if you’ve been through deep grief and trauma and loss — one thing I’ve really realized and that I like to talk about with this record — is just that art can really help. And it always has helped me, even if I was not always aware that was what was going on. When I was younger, it was more subconscious. But in this case, I really knew that I needed to lean into my creative practice to deal with this. When we play, it’s almost like a portal to another world opens up. That’s how I feel. That’s kind of the magic of music. It’s a transcendent thing that can take us to another place with other human beings. We have this community around it where people are able to process grief and be authentic and raw and expressive. I think there’s something wild in it that as humans we all need. So I hope that in some way, we’re creating that for other people. n

German Inspired, Locally Rooted

The fresh, green hop vines are hanging from the rafters of the No-Li Bier Hall, which can only mean one thing: Oktoberfest is here!

No-Li kicks o the annual celebration with a road trip down to Oasis Farms in Prosser to harvest hops at their peak ripeness. at’s an advantage of living in Washington state, which alone produces around 70% of the entire country’s hops — four times the amount produced in any other state.

Oasis is a fourth-generation family farm that’s home to a special variety of hop called Simcoe, which is popular among the craft beer and homebrewing communities on account of its versatility and avor. A cionados will tell you that it’s reminiscent of passionfruit, pine resin and apricot.

SQUATCH SEZ!

No-Li staff make a regular pilgrimage to Oktoberfest in Germany, but you can experience the same atmosphere without the airfare. Just head down to the Bier Hall and Riverside Bier Garden on September 20 and 27 between noon and 3 pm for No-Li’s Northwestern spin on Oktoberfest. Along with an oompah band and a DJ, revelers get a Tübinger Oktoberfest mug, an authentic red Bavarian hat and a festival pin. Insider tip: To lock in 30-minute early access to the event, simply swing by the Bier Hall and pick up an Oktoberfest Lager Sixer or an Oktoberfest T-shirt beforehand. Supplies are limited, though, so hop to it! ON

The steinhold competition is a highlight of No-Li’s Oktoberfest.

Every fall, No-Li heads down to the Yakima Valley to gather and brew fresh-harvested hops for their Oktoberfest celebration

“We drive there, pick them out, cut the vines, get the hops and bring them back here,” says NoLi’s Cole Bryant.

By the time the crew returns with a pickup full of hops, the kettle is already red up and ready to go. eir haul goes straight in and starts boiling. You can try the Simcoe fresh hop IPA at Oktoberfest.

“It’s literally vine to brew kettle in about three hours,” Bryant says, “which is about as fresh as you can get.”

Clearly, sourcing freshly harvested hops requires more e ort. But it’s an intentional choice because it produces a very di erent brew.

“When the hops are dried, they lose a little bit of their avor and potency,” explains Tyler Sabin, the hops manager at Oasis. “Wet hops maintain the true character they have on the vine.”

For Sabin, his relationship with No-Li goes well beyond the harvest period. He recently founded Countrymen’s Bierhall in Moscow, Idaho, where No-Li’s Cascade Fog is always on tap.

“I’m growing the hops here, they brew them and then we buy the beer from them. It’s pretty cool to be able to make something that hyperlocal with such a short supply chain. It’s a truly Northwest beer.”

And that might actually speak to the true heart of the festivities during No-Li’s Oktoberfest. While it’s fun and exciting to step inside the Bier Hall and be virtually transported to the famous Hofbräuhaus in Munich, there’s so much worth celebrating right here at home.

Pumpin’ Up the Party

A definitive list of the best Disney Channel songs

BY MADISON PEARSON

When I really start to think about it, I owe everything to Hannah Montana.

Like any other Disney Channel-obsessed 9-year-old, I was enamored with Miley Cyrus’ show about a teen with a pop star alter ego. I owned at least four blonde wigs and put on concerts in my front yard for my saint-like family and neighbors who put up with it all.

My adoration for Hannah Montana and the music that came out of the show was the catalyst for my love of live music, as well as the associate degree in vocal performance that I completed before deciding journalism was a better career route.

Even so, my first interaction with reporting was when I was interviewed over the phone by a journalist in 2007 for a Seattle PI article about the upcoming Hannah Montana and Jonas Brothers concert at the then KeyArena.

With the Bop to the Top — a touring DJ dance night themed around Disney Channel songs — coming to the Knitting Factory this Friday, I figured I could reach far back into the recesses of my knowledge to bring you a list of the best Disney Channel songs ever. (For length’s sake, I’m limiting this to songs featured in Disney Channel movies and shows, as much as I’d like to include “Potential Breakup Song” by Aly & AJ.)

“INTRODUCING ME” BY NICK JONAS FROM CAMP ROCK 2: THE FINAL JAM OK, fine. You caught me. I’m a Nick girl. The Jonas Brothers were a phenomenon in their teen idol prime (and they still are in my world!), so it’s not surprising that they got their own series of musicthemed movies and an entire TV show on the Disney Channel. The entire Camp Rock saga featured so many now-iconic songs, but “Introducing Me” has hauntingly honest lyrics like no other: “I eat cheese, but only on pizza, please. And sometimes on a homemade quesadilla. Otherwise, it smells like feet to me.” and “I really like it when the moon looks like a toenail.” Plus, Nick Jonas’ voice remains unbeaten in the land of Disney Channel stars.

“STRUT” BY THE CHEETAH GIRLS FROM THE CHEETAH GIRLS 2

As an adult, I can confirm that having a close group of girl friends is just like the Cheetah Girls made it out to be. You totally can just wish on a star, fly to Barcelona, meet a mysterious guitar player and become worldwide superstars if you so choose.

“Strut” oozes confidence and is a staple on every workout playlist I’ve ever made. It’s especially effective on the treadmill. Just be sure not to twist an ankle.

“TAKE ME AWAY” BY

CHRISTINA VIDAL FROM FREAKY FRIDAY

Though you can’t stream the original version of this tune on any major platforms, it’s one of the catchiest, most iconic songs to ever appear in a Disney production. This tune is downright grungy and transports listeners right back to the early 2000s through Christina Vidal’s killer vocals. A new version of this song was just rerecorded by Vidal for Freakier Friday, but it lacks the oomph of the original.

“OUTSIDE LOOKING IN” BY

JORDAN PRUITT FROM READ IT AND WEEP

Jordan Pruitt had one of the shortest-lived Disney music careers, with just a few hits and a stint on the third season of NBC’s The Voice, but her impact on my personal music taste will last a lifetime. She was never in any Disney Channel movies or shows, but her songs ended up in a few, and she toured with the likes of Demi Lovato, The Cheetah Girls and the Jonas Brothers. It was super uncommon to find a Disney musician with an actually incredible singing voice, and Pruitt was that with her unique, soulful vocals. Plus, Read It and Weep is highly underrated. So if you watch it, listen for Pruitt crooning in the background while the world falls down around Jaime, the main character who suddenly finds herself as a best-selling author.

“BET ON IT” BY ZAC EFRON FROM HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 2

If this list were ranked, this song would be at the top. This banger has everything: angst, an iconic bit of choreography and Zac Efron. (Another close second is “Scream” from HSM3, which has all of the same great elements.) In my mind, it doesn’t get better than watching Troy Bolton prancing around a golf course, trying to figure out why he’s been such an idiot and deciding to right his wrongs through the power of music and basketball. Hell yeah

“YOU’LL ALWAYS FIND YOUR WAY BACK HOME” BY HANNAH MONTANA FROM HANNAH MONTANA: THE MOVIE

The premise of Hannah Montana: The Movie is straightforward: Return to your roots and rediscover yourself. Miley is sent back to her hometown in Tennessee by her father after her fame begins to get to her head. There, she remembers what life was like before Hannah and wonders if she should continue her dream or go back to her humble beginnings.

In the end, she performs “You’ll Always Find Your Way Back Home” as Hannah at a benefit concert to save her hometown from a developer taking over and building a shopping mall, proving that she can have the best of both worlds (bah-dum-tss) by staying true to her roots but also following her dreams of superstardom, so long as she remembers where she came from. n

Bop to the Top • Fri, Sept. 12 at 8 pm • $28 •

All ages • Knitting Factory • 919 W. Sprague Ave. • sp.knittingfactory.com

LOCAL MUSIC FESTIVAL PORCHFEST

COUNTRY WARREN ZEIDERS

Thursday, 9/11

ARBOR CREST WINE CELLARS, Robert Vaughn

J THE BIG DIPPER, Psychic Death, Operative, Grave Depression, Poise

THE CHAMELEON, Tomboy, Sugar Bear, Fern Spores

PJ’S PUB, The Dirty Champions

J QQ SUSHI & KITCHEN, Just Plain Darin

RED DRAGON (THIRD AVENUE), Thursday Night Jam

RED ROOM LOUNGE, Thurrsdays EDM Night

J SOUTH HILL GRILL, Just Plain Darin

J J SPOKANE COUNTY FAIR, Boys Like Girls, Plain White T’s ZOLA, Cruxie-ish

Friday, 9/12

AK ASIAN RESTAURANT, Ron Criscione

BERSERK, Iron Firmament, Ravenlord, Cult of Suffering

J CENTRAL LIBRARY, Get Loud in the Library THE CHAMELEON, Dance Romance: A Lady Gaga Dance Party

EATS ON SPOKANE STREET, Nate Ostrander

J THE GRAIN SHED, Haywire

GREEN CITY SALOON, DJ KJ

J HAMILTON STUDIO, Les Greene & The Swayzees

HELIX WINES, Just Plain Darin

J J KNITTING FACTORY, Bop to the Top

J PINE STREET PLAZA, Dave Long

RED DRAGON (THIRD AVENUE), Sonic Groove

RED ROOM LOUNGE, Zoozy B2B DAVEsmalls, Conobo B2B SAV, KosMos the Afronaut B2B Eben, Tayto B2B Cosmic Cadet

J REPUBLIC BREWING CO., Bill Price

J SPOKANE TRIBE CASINO, Cinderella’s Tom Keiferband, LA Guns

THE GOODY BAR AND GRILL, Midnight Open Mic

TRVST, Jersey

ZOLA, Alcohol & Feelings, Jason Lucas

Saturday, 9/13

BING CROSBY THEATER, America’s Diamond: The Neil Diamond Legacy Tribute

BULLHEAD SALOON, The Lime Wires

J CENTRAL LIBRARY, Get Loud in the Library

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

J INDABA FLAGSHIP CAFÉ, Rosethrow & Spro

J J BONES MUSICLAND, Time Baby, Ben Rose

J JAGUAR ROOM (CHAMELEON), Sex With Seneca, Carson Daniel, When She Dreams

LIVE AT ANDRE’S, Shawn Mullins

While calling an event a “community music festival” tends to just mean that the artists performing are local residents, PorchFest ups the ante by also turning local residences into stages. Neighborhood nonprofit REACH West Central organizes the annual musical gathering where Spokanites can plop down in front of the porches of certain West Central abodes to watch artists perform. The PorchFest concept began in Ithaca, New York, back in 2007 before spreading across the country and arriving in Spokane in 2014. After taking place across six porches last year, PorchFest 2025 features 13 porches this time around with acts like Alcohol & Feelings, Spokaloo, Thirsty Bootz, Marina Obscura and Devon Wade gracing the makeshift stages. So grab your lawn chairs and blankets (and pack your own food and drinks) and get ready to musically explore West Central.

— SETH SOMMERFELD

PorchFest 2025 • Sat, Sept. 13 from 3-7 pm • Tips and donations suggested • All ages • West Central Neighborhood • reachwestcentral.org/porchfest

Like many of us then-isolated souls, Warren Zeiders started posting on TikTok back in 2020. Unlike most of us, posting to the social media site made him into a country music superstar. At first Zeiders drew attention with his acoustic covers (it also doesn’t hurt that he’s a Grade A country beefcake) before breaking out big with his original tune “Ride the Lightning.” He’s followed that up with more hits like “Pretty Little Poison” and “Relapse,” proving he’s more than just a viral flash in the pan. Expect the denim-clad gals in the crowd to be swooning when Zeiders rocks the BECU Live stage at Northern Quest.

— SETH SOMMERFELD

Warren Zeiders, Chayce Beckham • Sat, Sept. 13 at 7:30 pm • $49-$217 • All ages • Northern Quest Resort & Casino • 100 N. Hayford Road, Airway Heights • northernquest.com

RED DRAGON (THIRD AVENUE), Rolling Tones

RED ROOM LOUNGE, Latin Night with DJ Americo

J ROCKET MARKET, Dave Long

J BEARDED GINGER BAR & GRILL, Nate Ostrander

THE GOODY BAR AND GRILL, Midnight Open Mic

TRVST, The Black House Delegation ZOLA, RCA and the Radicals, Anthony Ray

Sunday, 9/14

ARBOR CREST WINE CELLARS, Lake City Blues

J CENTRAL LIBRARY, Get Loud in the Library

Monday, 9/15

RED ROOM LOUNGE, Red Room Open Mic

ZOLA, Jason Perry

Tuesday, 9/16

J THE BIG DIPPER, Yudai, Absent Cardinal, Trash Planet, Atomsk

J THE DISTRICT BAR, Suzzallo, Tinsley

J KNITTING FACTORY, The Struts, Dirty Honey

J NORTHERN QUEST CASINO, Train, Edwin McCain

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

J MIKEY’S GYROS, Shadow Work, Cameron McGill NIGHT OWL, Four On The Floor Fridays

J BECK’S HARVEST HOUSE, Just Plain Darin

RED ROOM LOUNGE, Turn Up Tuesdays with Scozzari J

J THE BIG DIPPER, HAUNT, Toxic Vengeance

MOEZY INN, Quarter Monkey

J J NORTHERN QUEST CASINO, Warren Zeiders, Chayce Beckham

J MOSCOW MOOSE LODGE, Iron Firmanent, Hísemtuks Hími•n, Monarchy of Mold

J PANIDA THEATER, Little Live Radio Hour: Maya & Authur Goldblum

AUSTIN SCREWS PHOTO

SWING LOUNGE, Swing Lounge Live Music Tuesdays

ZOLA, The Zola All Star Jam, Hannah Boundy

Wednesday, 9/17

THE DRAFT ZONE, The Draft Zone Open Mic

J MATCHWOOD BREWING CO., John Firshi

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

PACIFIC AVE PIZZA, Square Wave Wednesday RED ROOM LOUNGE, Red Room Jam

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

Just Announced...

J THE BIG DIPPER, Dying Remains, Oct. 4.

J THE BIG DIPPER, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Oct. 9.

J J THE PODIUM, Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán, Oct. 10.

J HAMILTON STUDIO, Ken Peplowski, Oct. 12.

THE DISTRICT BAR, Growlers, Oct.24.

J JAGUAR ROOM (CHAMELEON), The Lavendar Project, Oct. 25.

J JAGUAR ROOM (CHAMELEON), Smokey Brights, Oct. 26.

J KNITTING FACTORY, ATLiens, Nov. 21.

J J SPOKANE TRIBE CASINO, Warrant, Nov. 22.

J THE FOX THEATER, Vitamin String Quartet, Feb. 5.

J NORTHERN QUEST CASINO, Bailey Zimmerman, June 4.

Coming Up...

J CUTTER THEATRE, Hannah King, Sep. 18, 12 pm. ARBOR CREST WINE CELLARS, Pamela Benton Band, Sep. 18, 4:30 pm.

J J JAGUAR ROOM (CHAMELEON), Black Belt Eagle Scout, Sep. 18, 7 pm.

J SPOKANE ARENA, Thomas Rhett, Tucker Wetmore, The Castellows, Sep. 18, 7:30 pm.

KNITTING FACTORY, Man’s Best Party: Sabrina Carpenter Night, Sep. 18, 8 pm.

J CREATE ARTS CENTER, Terry Robb, Sep. 19, 6-8 pm.

EATS ON SPOKANE STREET, Kosh, Sep. 19, 6-9 pm.

J NEATO BURRITO, Sunbather Die, Jumbotron, Index, Tea, Sep. 19, 7 pm.

J J THE BIG DIPPER, Coffin Break, Scatterbox, The Dilrods, Toledo Panic Button, Sep. 19, 7:30 pm.

KNITTING FACTORY, Shrek Rave, Sep. 19, 9 pm.

J BLACK LODGE BREWING, Eric Tollefson, Ethan J Perry, Monarch, Sep. 20, 7:30 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

Jundt Art Museum

Through Kiln & Press: Works by Freuen & Farrell

Arcade Gallery

September 13 to December 20, 2025

JundtArtMuseum.org

Myrtle Woldson Center Presents

Lyyra

Presenting Partner: Gonzaga Music September 24, 2025

Complexions

Contemporary Ballet

Presenting Partner: Gonzaga Dance October 10, 2025

Gonzaga University Performance Highlights

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: Gina Freuen, Landscape Water Vessel with Sparrow and Stick Trivet, n.d., porcelain and stoneware, stains and glazes, soda fired, with silver luster paint, 20 x 19 x 10 in., courtesy of the artist.

MUSIC VAMPIRES & WEREWOLVES

It’s almost “whoa-hoa-hoa-hoa” meme season and what better way to celebrate than with a live orchestral accompaniment to the movie that started the trend nearly two decades ago. Twilight In Concert, presented by GEA Live and Lionsgate, shows at the First Interstate Center for the Arts this Friday. The event features a screening of Twilight accompanied by a live band. The 12-piece ensemble of rock and orchestral musicians play along with the movie’s best songs, from Muse’s “Supermassive Black Hole” and Paramore’s “Decode” to Blue Foundation’s “Eyes on Fire,” which went viral in posts satirizing the song’s backing vocals. Additionally, more than 1,000 twinkling candles illuminate the stage, furthering the dreamy love story many of us know and love.

— COLTON RASANEN

Twilight in Concert • Fri, Sept. 12 at 7:30 pm • $47-$146 • All ages • First Interstate Center for the Arts • 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. • firstinterstatecenter.org

MUSIC DAS TALENT

To kick off the Spokane Symphony’s 80th season, the orchestra is showcasing a masterful display of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No.1, a work full of dramatic highs and lows. In addition, the symphony also performs Alma Mahler’s (Gustav’s talented composer wife) Sieben Lieder. Shortly after marrying Alma, however, Gustav forbade her from composing music. The immense amount of talent that was subsequently stifled is evident in Sieben Lieder. Accompanying works by the Mahlers include the intermezzo from Act 1 of Alexander Zemlinsky’s Es War Einmal. Conducting this grand display of talent is James Lowe, the prize-winning conductor and music director for the Spokane Symphony.

— ELLIS BENSON

Spokane Symphony Masterworks 1: The Mahlers • Sat, Sept. 13 at 7:30 pm and Sun, Sept. 14 at 3 pm • $24-$83 • The Fox Theater • 1001 W. Sprague Ave. • foxtheaterspokane.org • 509-624-1200

COMMUNITY COZY FOR A CAUSE

Get ready for bed a bit early and slip into your comfiest and cutest sleepwear before heading over to Brick West Brewing Co. for the SNAP’s third annual Pajama Party fundraiser. The free, familyfriendly event aims to collect donations of pajamas, hats, gloves, socks and hand warmers — all the winter weather essentials to help those vulnerable in our community. The afternoon also offers fun activities like a scavenger hunt, photo booth, petting zoo, face painting, balloon animals and live music. Besides the comfort factor, wearing pajamas and making a donation also ensures you’re eligible for exclusive perks like a chance to win a $250 Amazon gift card.

— DORA SCOTT

Third Annual SNAP Pajama Party • Sat, Sept. 13 from 3:30-7:30 pm • Free • All ages • Brick West Brewing Co. • 1318 W. First Ave. • snapwa.org

ARTS CORSAGES & CROWNS

Though the arts are celebrated daily in our lovely city, it’s time for the official annual celebration of our arts community at the 47th annual Spokane Arts Awards. This year’s theme is “homecoming” and invites all jocks, cheerleaders, goths, nerds and theater kids to revel in camaraderie in support of the local arts scene. Nominees are celebrated in six categories throughout the night that reflect the values of Spokane Arts: Leadership, Collaboration, Imagination, Inclusion, Youth Arts Leadership and Arts Advocacy. The evening promises vibrant performances from nominees and prizes to those who show up in their best homecoming attire. So whether you peaked in high school and you’re looking to relive the glory days, or you’re in need of a redemption homecom ing, there’s no better place to be than at the Spokane Arts Awards, surrounded by the artists that make Spokane more beautiful each day.

— MADISON PEARSON

Spokane Arts Awards • Sat, Sept. 13 at 6:30 pm • Free; donations accepted • Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts Center • 211 E. Desmet Ave. • spokanearts.org

COMMUNITY VINTAGE VIBES

While it’s hard to think about fall (as I write this, we’re having another 100-degree day) on the horizon, there are still a few more weeks of actual summer before the autumn equinox on Sept. 22. So don’t put away those short shorts and tank tops yet; you’ll wanna dress for the heat — both literal and figurative — when Teleport’s annual Block Party returns. Taking over Broadway Avenue from Monroe to Lincoln, the fourth annual end-of-summer shindig boasts dozens of vintage vendors setting up booths on the street (plus all the hip retro threads to be found inside the shop) alongside live music, food and drink purveyors, and plenty of other local artisans offering everything from houseplants to tattoos. Don your coolest summer ’fit one last time and come shop to restock your closet sustainably for fall.

— CHEY SCOTT

21st Annual

IN PERSON 10 AM - 5 PM FRIDAY, SATURDAY & SUNDAY SEPT 26-28 & OCT 3-5

This free, can’t-miss event is your chance to walk through some of the most beautifully built, newly constructed homes in the Spokane area. Whether you’re dreaming of building your own home, remodeling, or just love great design, the Fall Festival of Homes is the perfect way to spend a fall weekend.

From Prairie-style to Contemporary stunners, from cozy nooks to open-concept living, the 2025 Fall Festival of Homes is where Spokane’s home dreams come to life.

SCAN HERE FOR 3D VIRTUAL TOURS

Photo: Paras Homes

Photo: Brytech

Photo: Grit & Timber

Photo: Lennar

I SAW YOU

INDIE SADBOY, IT’S OKAY ME: An anxious female. You: A Scott Pilgrim-esque sad boy with a Blink-182 shirt and a clear sense of humor. My friends and I came into your taco establishment the other day. The energy was high but your aura cut through the room like a serrated knife. I felt lowkey shy when it was our turn to order, but the few smiles you flashed me made me feel better. None of my friends ordered alcohol so maybe to rouse your attention I ordered a house margarita. You smoothly recommended I try it with the strawberry cayenne juice on tap. I wondered to myself how I could slip you my number, but I was being watched by everyone at the bus plaza and I was just too shy. I don’t know what it is, but you seem like someone I could stay home and watch a movie with. Let’s meet up and talk about our favorite post hardcore or shoe gaze bands? mjjillian@gmail.com

A TALL GLASS OF WATER JS, I met you back some 47 years ago while I was visiting WSU campus from Auburn, WA. I was a tagalong with some of your friends going out to Moscow. We talked all night long, you telling me of your dream to work for the FBI. I had plans to become an architect. All of these years later, I still think of you often, wishing I had gotten to know you better and what I missed out on by not doing so. Just wanted to pass on what an impression you had made on me and hopes that life has treated you well. If you ever want to get in touch again, grace6057@comcast.net.

100 DAYS CHARLIE After 100 days of talking I asked to meet up. You decided to ghost.

Seriously, it’s not complicated to get lunch there was nothing else intended by the suggestion. At any rate I hope your life gets easier. I’d say see you around but it appears that’s too much. Good luck.

YOU SAW ME

PANIC ATTACK I had just left a memorial for my friend, and my sibling and I smoked in her honor, but that turned out to be a horrible idea. I could hear you above me, talking to me; I could feel you holding my hands, trying to fix my hijab, but all I could do was repeatedly say “I’m sorry.” I appreciate you trying to help me. I couldn’t see you, but I remember you, and I’ll never forget your kindness.

PLZ GET YOUR BRAKES FIXED BEAUTIFUL

“You were in your grey Toyota 4Runner w rear brake pads about to fall out of your calipers and ripping my eardrums out at the stoplight. You rolled down your window and we chatted, but alas the light went green…doing a safety follow up here. You should fire your mechanic and let me do the job gingerbrakejobguy@gmail.com”

CHEERS

COULDN’T HAVE ASKED FOR ANY BETTER You- great mom! me forever greatful I love you, and jaxson and max and my kiddo too. We are lucky to have such a great role model in our lives. Thank you.

RE: LONESOME DOVE You found me! I did like “The Fifth Child,” and the video of Doris was funny, “I suppose I have a Royal Flush then” as if she can’t be bothered. HaHaHa! Did I tell you about “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn”? What is your next recommendation? - The Hat Creek Cattle Company & Livery Emporium

THANK YOU ALL PROTESTERS!! Thank you for protesting Trump and this administration. Thank you for all the signs of truth you made, (for those who think we don’t even know what we are protesting!) Thank you to the people who showed up and had the guts to say they regret their vote! Thank you for supporting the DNC. Thank you for calling all the GOP senators and telling them off! Keep it up!! POWER TO THE PEOPLE!

ROAD CONSTRUCTION As much of a pain as it is to navigate around road construction, especially with school starting, I am grateful

for the end result. I personally don’t want to be working outside in this horrible heat and air quality but I so appreciate those who do to improve our city and make our streets safer and smoother. Thank you for what you do!

STAFF AT CENTENNIAL PEDIATRICS On 9/3 and 9/4 the staff at Centennial Pediatrics went above and beyond regarding my son’s prescription medication. They worked with me through multiple pharmacies promising me that they had the medication and then not having the medication they sent multiple prescriptions for me all with a nice attitude. I am forever grateful for the kindness they showed especially since I was dealing with this on my birthday. Thank you for your great care always!!

the outdoors, let alone be able to do simple things like walk my dog without spending the whole freaking walk ripping garbage and food waste out of her mouth. Seriously, pick up after yourself or get the hell out of the city. Nobody wants you here anyways.

RE: SERVES YOU RIGHT Let’s set parameters around who can own guns. Let’s not let the mentally ill be able to own guns, but is it

“ Yep. You jinxed it. ”

really a gun ownership issue? Gun law folks like you could never point to what laws will stop gun violence. Please defend what it is that you think needs to happen. Just how do you make guns safer? That sounds extremely oxymoron. Just know people kill people. BTW, heart disease is the leading cause of death in the US.

RE: SMOKE-FREE SUMMER Yep. You jinxed it.

PEOPLE’S WAFFLE FOR THE WIN! Just visited People’s Waffle for the first time, and it did not disappoint! Our server, Darian, had such a great presence and seemed to really enjoy being at work and interacting with others. Whoever hired him, you’re doing something right! The food was amazing too!

JEERS

RE: WASHINGTON LAWMAKERS What homeschools, guns, vehicles all have in common is they are all dangerous in the hands of anyone who thinks they know better than everyone. We all know your big loud black smoke blasting diesel truck, that gun on your hip, and if it’s not in the Bible I’m not teaching it to my homeschooled kids attitude, is just a way of overcompensating for how small you really are. If you were really confident it wouldn’t matter what those liberals do because you wouldn’t be scared of someone doing to you what you would do to others.

TRASH EVERYWHERE To all you people who think it is perfectly okay to drop your trash and food waste outside all over the ground, shame on all of you. I am so sick of walking around and seeing what used to be the beautiful city I grew up in now just littered with garbage. You have made it an absolute nightmare for people like me to try and enjoy

SOUND OFF 1. Visit Inlander.com/isawyou by 3 pm Monday. 2. Pick a category (I Saw You, You Saw Me, Cheers or Jeers). 3. Provide basic info: your name and email (so we know you’re real). 4. To connect via I Saw You, provide a non-identifying email to be included with your submission — like “petals327@yahoo.com,” not “j.smith@comcast.net.”

CHOOSE-YOUR-OWN LEFT TURN AT S MCCLELLAN & W 8TH. Look, Spokane, this is not an improv class. Both northbound lanes turn left. Both. Two. The inside lane is not a VIP lane where you get to swing wide like you’re discovering a new route to Oregon. And every time someone does the drift like a shopping cart with a bad wheel — we all get the symphony: horns, every 15 minutes, most days. The other night around 11:30 p.m. I even watched an STA bus kiss a car because nobody knew whose lane was what. This is fixable without a citywide summit: paint LEFT TURN ONLY arrows in both lanes, put up a “Both Lanes Turn Left — Stay in Your Lane” sign, and run dashed lane-guidance lines through the arc. Do that, and we can retire the honk concerto and stop playing bumper cars after dark.

WORST COFFEE SHOP I won’t say names….. there was a recent discovery from a particular coffee shop owner. My favorite barista worked there, I went there to see her. Until she was gone in one day. When I asked the baristas why, I found out more. The owner takes tips to pay for salaries in the name of honor. Shame on him. I give tips to the baristas serving me. Not to pay for accountants. There’s lots of local mom and pop coffee houses to frequent in Spokane that don't take advantage of regulars.

HOMELESS/NORTH CENTRAL Mayor, City Council, Police Chief, there is a homeless problem in North Central area, so where

are you, and what are you doing about it? Obviously nothing, why do we residents have to be the ones to call about the homeless situation? We see homeless people coming to the neighborhood from the Dollar Tree, and Salvation Army thrift store, we have seen them at McDonald’s on Monroe, no Police, no Zappone, now we seen prostitution, no police patrolling the area, also abandoned cars, motor homes. Happened if you want to be elected you need to see what’s going on in the North Central area, I am not voted for you.

JEERS TO TARGETING THE WRONG DRIVERS. The proposed .05 BAC limit is a misguided policy that targets the wrong people. Washington’s own data shows the real danger isn’t someone at .06 BAC, but the severely impaired driver at .15 or higher who causes the most fatal crashes. This law would divert police from catching the truly reckless to penalizing responsible adults who had a beer with dinner. Let’s demand proven solutions that stop the actual threat, not political theater.

TO DRIVE THRU OR NOT TO DRIVE THRU So the city of Spokane is considering a drive thru at 29th and Fiske, but denied one at 29th and Regal. Are we going to have neighborhood meetings with faux outrage again?!?

WHAT DOES IT TAKE? Hundreds of elderly & handicapped STA passengers board the buses daily. What is it going to take for the bus driver to put down a “ramp” or “lift” to assist these passengers upon boarding & leaving the bus? On 8.20.25 I had no such assistance departing at Sprague & Jefferson & fell into the gutter with my walker on top of me. The hip pain was so severe that my scream reached people who ran over to see what had happened. I think that part of the STA drivers job should be to ask handicapped passengers if they want to use an apparatus. n

for the content.

BENEFIT

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 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. jessroskelleyfoundation.com

NO WATER NO BEER Every beer you drink at Black Label Brewery after 5 pm sends $0.50 to the American Water Works Association local scholarship fund and $0.50 to support water for underprivileged communities via Water for People. Also features silent and live auctions and a raffle. Sep. 11, 5-10 pm. Free. Black Label Brewing Co., 19 W. Main Ave. facebook.com/iess.awwa MOSCOW CONTEMPORARY’S 2ND BIENNIAL ART AUCTION GALA This fundraiser for Moscow Contemporary doubles as an exhibit preview. Auction items can be viewed on the website and the live auction takes place in-person at the gallery. Sep. 12, 6-9 pm. $35-$75. Moscow Contemporary, 2012 W. Pullman Dr. moscowcontemporary.org

DREAM BEYOND AUCTION A fundraiser for Life Services featuring speakers sharing their stories and live and silent auctions. Sep. 13, 4:30-8:30 pm. $125. The Centennial Hotel, 303 W. North River Dr. lifeservices.org (509-327-0701)

MARCH FOR THE FALLEN A 5 or 15.6k ruck, run or walk in honor of post-9/11 fallen military members from the Pacific Northwest. All participants receive a tshirt, commemorative bib and dog tag and are invited to enjoy the camaraderie of a bbq, lawn games, historic vehicles and beer garden at the finish line. Proceeds support the WA Fallen Heroes Project. Sep. 13, 9:11 am-2 pm. $30-$40. Seven Mile Trailhead, Riverside State Park, W Seven Mile Road and Riverside Park Dr. marchforthefallen.com

SNAP 3RD ANNUAL PAJAMA PARTY A fundraiser for SNAP featuring activities like face painting, scavenger hunts, photo booths and more plus raffles and auctions directly benefitting SNAP. Bring cold-weather gear to donate. Sep. 13, 3-7:30 pm. Free. Brick West Brewing Co., 1318 W. First Ave. snapwa. org/pajama-party (509-456-7627)

WHISKEY WARS: BOLD WHISKEY. BIGGER IMPACT Spokane favorite establishments like Bon Bon, Pure Pacific, Garden Party and more go head-tohead in a whiskey cocktail competition benefitting the ISAAC Foundation. Sep. 13, 2-4:30 pm. $40. The Pergola Event Center, 2928 N. Madelia St. theisaacfoundation.org (509-325-1515)

PUTTS ON THE PATIO CLASSIC A fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity North Idaho featuring a 9-hole mini golf challenge, live music, hors d’oeuvres, raffle prizes and more. Sep. 18, 5-9 pm. $50. Parkside Event Center, 601 E. Front Ave. northidahotitle.com (208-610-5170)

COMEDY

DREW LYNCH Lynch was the recipient of the Golden Buzzer for his performance on season 10 of America’s Got Talent where he finished in second place. Sep. 11-13, 7 pm, Sep. 12-13, 9:45 pm. $37-$52. 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. Fri at 7:30 pm through Sep. 26. $9. Blue Door Theatre, 319 S. Cedar St. bluedoortheatre.org

EXPEDITION A family-friendly improv show featuring the Blue Door Theatre players playing a variety of improv games with audience suggestions. Every Saturday at 7:30 pm. $9. Blue Door Theatre, 319 S. Cedar St. bluedoortheatre.org (509-747-7045)

KEVIN FARLEY Farley is an actor and comedian with over 100 television and film appearances during his three decade career including award winning shows, like Curb Your Enthusiasm and It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia Sept. 14, 7 pm. $22-$32. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com (509-318-9998)

TALES OF VICIOUS MOCKERY: AN RPG COMEDY SHOW A high-energy, fully improvised Dungeons & Dragons comedy show where comedians and improv performers dive into epic quests, outrageous shenanigans, and chaotic dice rolls. Sep. 14, 4 pm. $17-$27. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com (509-318-9998)

DAVE ATTELL David Attell is a stand-up comedian, actor and writer, best known as the host of Comedy Central’s Insomniac. Sep. 18-20, 7 pm, Sep. 19-20, 9:45 pm and Sep. 21, 4 pm. $40-$50. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com

CONNORSVERSATIONS A late-nightstyle talk show hosted by Riley Connors featuring special guests Paul Dillon, Luke Baumgarten and musical guest The Bed Heads. Sep. 19, 8 pm. $12-$15. The Chameleon, 1801 W. Sunset Blvd. chameleonspokane.com

COMMUNITY

ADVENTURE AWAITS: RECREATION

IN NORTH IDAHO This exhibit celebrates the diverse ways people have enjoyed the great outdoors in North Idaho from kayaking and fishing on Lake Coeur d’Alene, hiking the Bitterroots, to skiing Silver Mountain. Daily from 11 am-5 pm through Sep. 30. Free. Museum of North Idaho, 115 Northwest Blvd. museumni.org

FIRE: REBIRTH AND RESILIENCE An exhibition exploring the catastrophic 1889 fire that destroyed more of Spokane’s downtown core. The exhibit features information on historic and contemporary fires, illustrating how destruction is a catalyst for rebirth and resilience. Tue-Sun from 10 am-5 pm through Sep. 28. $9-$15. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org

MINECRAFT CLU: Drop in and explore architecture, engineering and art through Minecraft. Participants are given a building prompt related to one or more of these fields. Grades 3-8. Every Thursday from 4-6 pm. Free. Spark Central, 1214 W. Summit Pkwy. sparkcentral.org (509-279-0299)

SPOKANE COUNTY INTERSTATE FAIR

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

BOTANY & BEAST NIGHT MARKET & STREET FAIR A themed-night market featuring vintage vendors, live painting, interactive art installations, food trucks and more. Sep. 12, 5-9 pm. $3. Catalyst Building, 601 E. Riverside Ave. nightmarketandstreetfair.com

BINGO LOCO: NAME THAT SONG A “name that song” contest with music trivia, dancing, lip sync battles and prizes. Sep. 13, 7 pm. $42. Knitting Factory, 919 W. Sprague Ave. sp.knittingfactory. com (509-244-3279)

EATS END OF SUMMER PARTY Celebrate the end of summer with various activities like face painting, live music, a vendor fair, a bounce house, food specials and giveaways. Sep. 13, 8 am-10 pm. Free. Eats on Spokane Street, 106 N. Spokane St. eatsonspokanest.com

OUT IN THE PARK A community event featuring queer and allied organizations, activities for kids and more. Sep. 13, 12-4 pm. Free. Mission Park, 1208 E. Mission. spectrumcenterspokane.org

RED: A WALKTHROUGH PEEK SHOW Wander through the maze of red curtains to discover intimate performances from aerial artists, belly dancers, pole dancers and more. Sep. 13, 7 pm. $65$125. Overbluff Cellars, 304 W. Pacific. coilspokane.com/red (509-991-4781)

RIVERSTONE BLOCK PARTY & BREWFEST A block party celebrating Riverstone’s 25th anniversary and raising funds for the operation and maintenance of the Centennial Trail. Activities include a family fun zone, live music, and more. Sep. 13, 1-6 pm. $30-$35. 2151 N. Main St., Coeur d’Alene. nictf.org

SPOKANE ARTS AWARDS GALA The annual Spokane Arts Awards Gala features the presentation of awards to their respective winners, performances from local creatives and more. Sep. 13, 6:30-9:30 pm. Free. Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts Center, 211 E. Desmet Ave. spokanearts.org (509-313-4776)

TELEPORT BLOCK PARTY IV A street fair hosted by Teleport Vintage + Co. featuring vintage vendors, live music, food trucks, flash tattoos and more. Sep. 13, 11 am-6 pm. Free. Teleport Vintage + Co., 917 W. Broadway Ave. instagram.com/teleportvintageandco

SUNDAYS AT THE CROSBY HOUSE: A series of educational workshops featuring local authors, historians and various experts who share information about Bing Crosby and his hometown. The last edition features Inlander publisher Ted McGregor. Sat, Sept. 14 at 3:30 pm. Free. Crosby House Museum, 508 E. Sharp Ave. gonzaga.edu

SPOKANE VALLEY SENIOR CENTER

RESOURCE FAIR Local businesses from around the community will be providing informational booths to provide seniors with helpful information and resources. Sep. 15, 10 am-1 pm. Free. CenterPlace Regional Event Center, 2426 N. Discovery Pl. spokanevalleyseniorcenter.org (509-720-5200)

CALM IN THE CHAOS: A CONFERENCE ON YOUTH ANXIETY & WELLNESS A free community event equipping parents, educators, and adults to respond to the growing youth mental health crisis. The event features keynote speaker Dr. Tanita Maddox, a panel of mental health experts, resource tables and free dinner. Sep. 16, 5-7 pm. Free. Summit Church (U-District), 1003 E. Trent Ave. spokaneyfc.org (509-327-7721)

SHAWN MULLINS FIREFIGHTER TRIBUTE SHOW

EVENTS | CALENDAR

TOGETHER SPOKANE NORTHEAST RE-

GION TOWN HALL Residents of Northeast Spokane and District 1 are invited to a town hall presentation about Together Spokane. Spokane Public Schools superintendent Dr. Adam Swinyard and Spokane Parks and Recreation director Garrett Jones will share information about the joint initiative to improve schools, parks and neighborhoods. Sep. 16, 6-7 pm. Free. Rogers High School, 1622 E. Wellesley Ave. togetherspokane.org

ROCK THE DISABILITY VOTE Join SelfAdvocates from The Arc of Spokane and AtWork! to learn about the power of the disability vote, legislation that affects you and have the opportunity to register to vote. Sep. 17, 5:30-6:45 pm. Free. Central Library, 906 W. Main Ave. spokanelibrary.org (509-444-5300)

SCOTTISH GAELIC CONVERSATION

GROUP A Scottish Gaelic conversation group perfect for beginner learners. No experience is necessary. Sep. 17, 6-7 pm. Free. Spokane Valley Library, 22 N. Herald Rd. scld.org (509-893-8400)

FILM

ELEMENTAL: REIMAGINE WILDFIRE

FILM SCREENING A documentary about the growing risk of wildfire in our area followed by a community discussion. Proceeds benefit 350 Spokane. Sep. 11, 6:30-9 pm. $15. Magic Lantern Theatre, 25 W. Main Ave. actionnetwork.org

CINEMA CLASSICS: DUCK SOUP Rufus

T. Firefly, named dictator of bankrupt Freedonia, declares war on neighboring Sylvania, contending with two inept spies who can’t seem to keep straight which side they’re on. Sep. 14, 4-6 pm. $8. The Kenworthy, 508 S. Main. kenworthy.org

BACK TO SCHOOL MOVIE NIGHT: MEAN GIRLS Watch Mean Girls on a projector while you enjoy food and wine specials at Cellar & Scholar. Sep. 17, 7-9 pm. Free. Cellar & Scholar, 15412 E. Sprague Ave. cellarandscholar.com (509-218-6226)

MOSCOW FILM SOCIETY: DEATH

PROOF Two separate sets of voluptuous women are stalked at different times by a scarred stuntman who uses his “death proof” cars to execute his murderous plans. Sep. 17, 7-9 pm. $8. The Kenworthy, 508 S. Main St. kenworthy.org

FRIDAY NIGHT MOVIE: AFIRE Aspiring young writer Leon joins his friends to stay in a summer house by the Baltic Sea. Focusing on his upcoming Manuscript, he meets Nadja, who encourages him to break out of his shell. Forrest fires surround the house and tensions flare in this German drama. Sep. 19, 6:30 pm. $8. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org

FOOD & DRINK

KITCHEN ENGINE 19TH ANNIVERSARY

SALE Shop doorbuster deals, 20% off storewide, participate in giveaways and product demos for the Kitchen Engine’s anniversary sale. Through Sep. 11, 9 am-8 pm and Sep. 12, 9 am-7 pm. The Kitchen Engine, 621 W. Mallon Ave. thekitchenengine.com (509-328-3335)

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

HARVEST SWAP Bring in any extra vegetables, flowers, fruit or other garden bounty to share and swap with others. Sep. 13, 11 am-1 pm. Free. Shadle Library, 2111 W. Wellesley Ave. spokanelibrary.org

SALSA FIESTA Celebrate all things salsa with tastings, dancing, live music and more. Sep. 13, 12-5 pm. $10. China Bend Winery, 3751 Vineyard Way. chinabend. com (509-732-6123)

WELCOME BACK DINNER A dinner featuring pork roast with noodles and red cabbage. Dancing music provided by Norm Seeberger. Sep. 13, 5:30-11 pm. $25. German American Hall, 25 W. Third Ave. germanamericansociety-spokane.org

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

CONDIMENT CLASS An entertainmentstyle class with no hands-on participation all about made-from-scratch condiments, sauces and seasonings that are gluten and dairy-free. Sep. 17, 5:45-8 pm. $89. The Kitchen Engine, 621 W. Mallon Ave. thekitchenengine.com

COEUR D’ALENE OKTOBERFEST Sample crisp Oktoberfest-style beers and ciders in 30+ participating downtown Coeur d’Alene businesses. Sep. 19, 4-8 pm and Sep. 20, 12-8 pm. Downtown Coeur d’Alene, Sherman Ave. cdadowntown.com (208-415-0116)

NO-LI OKTOBERFEST A celebration of beer and Bavarian activities featuring a live oompah band, small batch German lagers, live music, games and more. Sept. 20 and 27 from noon-3 pm. $20. No-Li Brewhouse, 1003 E. Trent Ave. nolibrewhouse.com (509-242-2739)

MUSIC & CONCERTS

THE ROARING 20’S BIG BAND An evening of sizzling brass, smooth saxophones and toe-tapping rhythms performed by the SFCC Jazz Big Band. Sep. 12, 6:30-8 pm. Free. Olmsted Brothers Green, N. Nettleton St. and Summit Pkwy. greenstonehomes.com (509-321-5877)

TWILIGHT IN CONCERT A screening of vampire romance movie Twilight accompanied by a live band performing the film’s 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

SPOKANE SYMPHONY MASTERWORKS

1: THE MAHLERS The Spokane Symphony performs pieces by both Gustav and Alma Mahler, along with a piece by Alexander Zemlinsky. A pre-concert lecture is also included. Sep. 13, 6:30 pm and Sep. 14, 2 pm. $63-$88. The Fox Theater, 1001 W. Sprague Ave. foxtheaterspokane.org

THREE MASTERS, ONE STAGE: CLASSICAL GUITAR SHOWCASE Hosted by Spokane’s own Michael Millham, the concert features acclaimed guitarists Paul Grove and John Paul Shields in an inspired mix of solos and trio performances. Sep. 14, 6-8 pm. $30. Hamilton Studio, 1427 W. Dean Ave. hamilton.live

CROOKED KILT WITH MSD IRISH DANCERS A performance of Celtic music featuring dancers from the MSD Irish Dancers group. Sep. 18, 7-8:30 pm. $15. Opportunity Presbyterian Church, 202 N. Pines Rd. msdirishdance.com

SATURDAY WITH THE SYMPHONY The Coeur d’Alene Symphony performs, puts

on an interactive activity and a book is read by the children’s librarian. Every third Saturday at 11 am. Free. Coeur d’Alene Public Library, 702 E. Front Ave. cdalibrary.org (208-769-2315)

SPORTS & OUTDOORS

OPEN PLAY PICKLEBALL Play pickleball at the HUB. Every week Mon-Thu from 10 am-noon or 1-3 pm. $5.50-$7. HUB Sports Center, 19619 E. Cataldo Ave. hubsportscenter.org (509-927-0602)

EAGLE AVIARY TOUR A tour of the first tribal Eagle Aviary in the Northwest, owned by the Coeur d’Alene tribe. Sep. 12, 8:45 pm and Sep. 19, 8:45 pm. $65. Coeur d’Alene Casino, 37914 S. Nukwalqw. cdacasino.com (800-523-2467)

KAYAK LITTLE PEND OREILE LAKE

CHAINS Explore the four-lake chain of this mountain-ringed area in the Colville National Forest on tandem kayaks. Meet at Yoke’s Fresh Market on Market. Sep. 13, 8 am-5 pm. $89. Yoke’s Fresh Market, 14202 N. Market St. my.spokanecity.org

SPOKANE KENDO CLUB The Spokane Kendo club meets Every Saturday from 11:45 am-12:45 pm and every Monday and Wednesday from 6-7 pm. Free. PARKFIT Athletic Club, 8121 N. Division St. SpokaneKendo.com (509-714-3081)

BRICK WEST RUN CLUB A run club for runners of all skill levels. Every Tuesday at 6 pm. Free. Brick West Brewing Co., 1318 W. First Ave. brickwestbrewingco.com

CHAIR YOGA Join certified yoga teacher Steve Peck for a chair yoga practice. Open to all levels of ability. Bring a water bottle. Chairs and blocks are provided. Sep. 16, 9:30 am. Free. South Hill Library, 3324 S. Perry St. spokanelibrary.org

WSU/SPOKANESCAPE WATERWISE

GARDEN TOURS Tour the WSU Extension Spokane County Master Gardener Waterwise Demonstration Garden that showcases SpokaneScape principles to help reduce water use (and bills) in home landscapes. Sep. 17, 6 pm and Sep. 20, 9 am. Free. WSU Spokane County Extension, 222 N. Havana St. spokanecounty. gov (509-477-2209)

FAMILY FUN FESTIVAL An open gym event with sports, games and more activities for families. Sep. 19, 4-7 pm. Free. HUB Sports Center, 19619 E. Cataldo Ave. hubsportscenter.org (509-927-0602)

VALLEYFEST RIVER RUN This annual race starts and finishes at the Plante’s Ferry picnic shelter. Choose from a 5k or 10k loop. Sep. 20, 8 am-8 pm. $25. Plantes Ferry Sports Complex, 12308 E. Upriver Dr. valleyfest.org (509-922-3299)

WALK, RUN, READ FOR LITERACY

Choose between a kid dash, a 1-mile, 5k or 10k race to benefit literacy in North Idaho. Sep. 20, 8 am. $10-$40. Coeur d’Alene City Park, 415 W. Fort Grounds. Coeur d’Alene. theliteracyprojectni.org

THEATER & DANCE

THURSDAY NIGHT DANCES A seniorfriendly dance extravaganza with live music by TNT. Refreshments and adult beverages available. Every second Thursday from 7-9:30 pm. $5. Southside Community Center, 3151 E. 27th Ave. southsidescc.org (509-535-0803)

LINE DANCE A weekly exercise class designed for all ages and fitness levels, of-

fering a fun and welcoming atmosphere. Presented by the Filipino American Association of the Inland Empire. 10:30-11:30 am. Free. Shadle Library, 2111 W. Wellesley Ave. spokanelibrary.org

BHANGRA & BOLLYWOOD DANCE FITNESS This class combines the excitement of Bollywood with the folk of Bhangra. Wear loose clothing and come for a fun and invigorating class. No experience necessary. Sep. 14, 2:30-3:30 pm. Free. Liberty Park Library, 402 S. Pittsburgh St. spokanelibrary.org (509-444-5300)

SPOKANE FOLKLORE SOCIETY CONTRA DANCE A community dance starting with a beginner workshop 15 minutes before each dance. No partner needed. Every Wednesday at 7:15 pm. $7-$10. Woman’s Club of Spokane, 1428 W. Ninth. spokanefolklore.org (509-838-5667)

PICASSO AT THE LAPIN AGILE A staged reading of Steve Martin’s absurdist comedy, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, directed by Tracey Vaughan and performed by a cast of seven professional regional actors. Sep. 19-20 at 7:30 pm. $20. The Art Spirit Gallery, 415 Sherman Ave. theartspiritgallery.com (208-765-6006)

SEA CHANGE WITHIN US A sixty-minute performance addressing local Washington state water concerns and climate change consequences through the voices of real people. Ten dancers move four panels into dynamic configurations to express concerns about rivers and dams, endangered species and more. Sep. 19, 7:30 pm. Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts Center, 211 E. Desmet Ave. gonzaga. edu/climate-institute (509-313-4776)

SOUTH INDIAN CLASSICAL DANCES OF INDIA A performance featuring a number of traditional South Indian classical dances performed by members of the South Asian Cultural Association of Spokane. Sep. 20, 6:30-8 pm. $15-$25. Spokane Community College, 1810 N. Greene St. scc.spokane.edu (509-991-8662)

VISUAL ARTS

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. MonFri from 10 am-5 pm through Sep. 26. Free. Spokane Art School, 503 E. Second Ave., Ste. B. spokanewatercolor.org

ANISH KAPOOR: DISSOLVING MARGINS A showcase of Anish Kapoor’s four-decade-long printmaking practice. Known for sculptural works like Cloud Gate, Kapoor’s prints are heavily pigmented and evoke a sense of awe. TueSat from 10 am-4 pm through March 14. Free. Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art WSU, 1535 NE Wilson Road. museum. wsu.edu (509-335-1910)

CONCENTRIC DANCE A group show that brings together artists whose work engages with ecology across diverse mediums. Artists include Bradd Skabina, Josh Hobson, Daniela Molnar and Mery Smith. Daily by appointment through Sep. 27. Free. Kolva-Sullivan Gallery, 115 S. Adams St. mobile.kolva.comcastbiz.net

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. Wed-Fri from 11 am-5 pm through Sep. 27. Free. Trackside Studio, 115 S. Adams. tracksidestudio.net

HEATHERANN WOODS: GROUNDED A solo exhibition exploring perspective

and perception in atmospheric oil paintings by capturing ephemeral light from familiar views in the Spokane region. Daily from 11 am-6 pm through Sep. 29. Free. 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 natural world. Thu-Sat from 4-7 pm through Sept. 27. Free. Terrain Gallery, 628 N. Monroe St. terrainspokane.com

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 Sept. 28, 11 am-7 pm. Free. Pottery Place Plus, 203 N. Washington St. potteryplaceplus.com

PRESTON SINGLETARY: RAVEN AND THE BOX OF DAYLIGHT An immersive exhibition that tells the Tlingit story of Raven and his transformation of the world. Featuring works from internationally acclaimed artist Preston Singletary. The exhibition takes visitors on a multisensory odyssey through the transformation of darkness into light, brought to life through narration, original music, coastal Pacific Northwest soundscapes and projected images. Tue-Sun from 10 am-5 pm through Jan. 4. $9-$12. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org (509-456-3931)

REUSE WORKSHOP Learn about creative reuse by getting hands-on and bring home your own craft. Free with admission to Mobius. Every second Thu of the month from 10-11 am. Free. Mobius Discovery Center, 331 N. Post St. artsalvagespokane.com (509-321-7137)

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 St. rraofaofspokane.com

SUMMER MOON Local artist Ken Scott and visiting artist Red Burnell showcase ceramic art and painter Heidi Barnett displays nature-inspired paintings. Wed-Sat from 11 am-5 pm through Sept. 27. Free. New Moon Art Gallery, 1326 E. Sprague Ave. manicmoonandmore.com

GENERATIONS IN COLOR This exhibition unites the art of surrealist painter and sculptor Roch Fautch and his daughter, Amberle. Sept. 12-28; Fri from 1-7 pm, Sat from 1-4 pm. Free. Shotgun Studios, 1625 W. Water. shotgunstudiosspokane.com

SECOND FRIDAY ARTWALK Stroll the streets of downtown Coeur d’Alene and enjoy locally- and nationally-acclaimed artists, along with local shops, restaurants and businesses. Second Fri. of every month, 5-8 pm. Free. Downtown Coeur d’Alene, Sherman Ave. artsandculturecda.org (208-415-0116)

STUDY WITH THREE MASTERS Learn some fun tips by copying the styles of three famous artists: Alphonse Mucha, Eric Sloan and Dean Mitchel. Sep. 12, 1-4 pm. $126. Spokane Art School, 503 E. Second Ave. spokaneartschool.net

ARTIST STUDIO TOUR Step inside the creative spaces of Boundary County’s working artists during this second annual, self-guided artist studio tour. Sept. 13-14, daily from 9 am-5 pm. Free. Teascarlet Fine Art, 6389 Kootenai St. teascarlet.com (208-946-8415)

COLORWORK HOLIDAY STOCKINGS

For intermediate or advanced beginners, this class will walk you through how to make multiple patterns of holiday stockings to be the next heirloom gift. All patterns involve colorwork and will teach students the basics of sock knitting as well. Sep. 13, 10 am-noon.

$99. Spokane Art School, 503 E. Second Ave., Ste. B. spokaneartschool.net

INK! PRINT RALLY 2025 A community event where artists create large scale block prints pressed by an asphalt roller. This year’s event also features a beer garden, live music, as well as a vendor market full of local artists and makers. Sep. 13, 1-7 pm. Free. Emerge, 119 N. Second St. emergecda.com

INTRO TO PLEIN AIR

This outdoor class is designed for artists with, or without, plein air experience who are looking to deepen their practice in a natural setting. Sep. 13, 9-11 am. $140. Spokane Art School, 503 E. Second Ave., Ste. B. spokaneartschool.net

PERSONAL TO POLITICAL: CELEBRATING THE AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTISTS OF PAULSON FONTAINE

PRESS Featuring about forty prints and other assorted works by contemporary African American creators, this traveling exhibition focuses on the visualization of personal narrative and political issues by these artists. Sept. 13-Dec. 20, Mon-Sat from 11 am-4 pm. Free. Jundt Art Museum, 200 E. Desmet Ave. gonzaga.edu/jundt

THROUGH KILN & PRESS

This special exhibition combines the ceramic work of Gina Freuen and the printed work of Mary Farrell centered on their shared interest in organic forms and in the process of creating. Sept. 13-Dec. 20, Mon-Sat from 11 am-4 pm. Free. Jundt Art Museum, 200 E. Desmet Ave. gonzaga.edu/jundt (509-313-6843)

DROP IN & DRAW

Join a creative community for this weekly free-form drawing program. Explore different artistic mediums, develop skills and ideas and cultivate imaginative thinking through art. All skill levels are welcome. Supplies and projects provided. Wednesdays from 5:30-7 pm. Free. Spark Central, 1214 W. Summit Pkwy. sparkcentral.org (509-279-0299)

OPEN ART NIGHT Bring your own materials and grab a chair for creative time with a side of friendly chatting with fellow creatives. Every first and third Wednesday of the month from 6-9 pm. Free. Lunarium, 1925 N. Monroe. facebook.com/Lunarium.Spokane

ARTVANA PAINT & SIP CLASS A guided acrylic painting class of a field of sunflowers. Enjoy Black Label Brewing Company’s full menu of beer and pizza while you paint. Ages 10+. Sep. 18, 6-8:30 pm. $45. Black Label Brewing Co., 19 W. Main Ave. artvana.life

HILLYARD ART WALK Wander the historic Market Street Corridor to explore pop-up art galleries in neighborhood shops, live music, historic spaces, and hands-on art activities. Every third Thursday through Dec. 18 from 4-7pm. Free. Hillyard, Spokane. hillyardspokane.org/artwalk (509-724-1924)

PALOUSE PLEIN AIR Artwork from members of the Palouse Plein Air group. Sept. 18-Oct. 3, Mon-Fri from 8 am-5 pm. Free. Third Street Gallery, City Hall, 206 E. Third St. ci.moscow. id.us/230/Third-Street-Gallery

WORDS

MIYAZAKI IS MY RELIGION: STUDIO GHIBLI AND SPIRITUALITY This talk explores religious themes and imagery in the animated films of Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, the directors’ outlook on religion and the impact they have had on fan’s. Sep. 11, 2 pm. Free. University of Idaho Student Union Building, 875 S. Line. uidaho.edu

DROP IN & WRITE Aspiring writers are invited to be a part of a supportive writers’ community. Bring works in progress to share, get inspired with creative prompts and spend some focused time writing. Thursdays from 5:30-7 pm. Free. Spark Central, 1214 W. Summit Pkwy. spark-central.org

AUNTIE’S BOOK CLUB: NEW FICTION Discuss The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley at the meeting. Sep. 11, 6-7 pm. Free. Auntie’s Bookstore, 402 W. Main Ave. auntiesbooks.com

STUDIO GHIBLI: WHO’S THE AUDIENCE? Former Studio Ghibli senior executive Steve Alpert will share his experiences, having spent fifteen years working closely with Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki. Sep. 11, 4-5 pm. Free. University of Idaho Student Union Building (ISUB), 875 S. Line St. instagram.com/uiasianstudies

MARLO FAULKNER: THE SECOND

MRS. LONDON Local author Marlo Faulkner discusses her book The Second Mrs. London which details the story of Charmia Kittredge, the second wife of author Jack London. Sep. 12, 5 pm. Free. Coeur d’Alene Public Library, 702 E. Front Ave. cdalibrary.org

BOOKS & BREWS BOOK FAIR A book fair hosted by Aunties featuring books and merch with drinks by Brick West Brewing Co. Sep. 13, 11 am-6 pm. Free. Brick West Brewing Co., 1318 W. First Ave. auntiesbooks.com

WOMEN WHO RUN WITH THE WOLVES READING CLUB A book club focused on feminist topics, journaling, reframing thoughts, beliefs, relationships and life patterns. For women and men. Sep. 13, 10:30-11:30 am. Free. Coeur d’Alene Public Library, 702 E. Front Ave. kimemorgan.com

CHRIS WHITAKER Author Chris Whitaker discusses his bestselling book All the Colors of the Dark. Ticket purchase includes entry to the event, a paperback copy of the book and one drink ticket. Sep. 14, 3-5 pm. $30. Vantage Point Brewing Co., 208 E. Lake Coeur d’Alene Dr. wellreadmoose.com

POETRY FOR EVERYONE A poetry workshop facilitated by local poet Sarah Rooney. Bring old work, new stuff to show to fellow writers. Sep. 16, 1-2:30 pm. Free. Shadle Library, 2111 W. Wellesley. spokanelibrary.org

JOHN SCALZI: THE SHATTERING PEACE Science fiction author John Scalzi returns to the “Old Man’s War” series with the seventh book, The Shattering Peace. Sep. 17, 7-8:30 pm. Free. Auntie’s Bookstore, 402 W. Main. auntiesbooks.com

IMAGINING THE FUTURE: A SPECULATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP In this hybrid lecture and interactive writing workshop, audiences learn a brief history and definitions of speculative fiction from author Tara Campbell. Registration required. Sep. 17, 7-8 pm. Free. Central Library, 906 W. Main Ave. spokanelibrary.org n

Some companies are isolating intoxicating compounds from hemp.

NEWS

Not Quite Cannabis

Hemp is not supposed to produce a high, but hemp-derived products are doing just that

BY WILL MAUPIN

Hemp-derived cannabis products have been streaming into the market in recent years. With the expansion of legalization across the nation, these products appear to be sold by legitimate businesses, but in reality they are operating in an unregulated gray area of the law.

Even calling them “hemp-derived cannabis products” is a misnomer. Because, according to the federal laws that have allowed their proliferation, hemp and cannabis are not the same plant.

These products that contain THC, the molecule in cannabis largely responsible for intoxication — or isomers of the molecule like delta-8 THC or delta-10 THC — are illegal in the state of Washington.

If that seems confusing, it’s because it is confusing. These products are technically legal under federal law because of the 2018 Farm Bill, which legalized hemp, but they are illegal in Washington because they can be distributed outside the state’s regulated cannabis market.

The 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp production at the federal level, and defined hemp as cannabis that contains below 0.3% THC by dry weight. But there is still THC in hemp, even if it is not at the concentrations that easily produce intoxication — cannabis sold in licensed dispensaries commonly exceeds 20% THC by dry weight.

Entrepreneurs have taken advantage of the

loophole that allows small amounts of THC to be grown legally in hemp. The chemical can be extracted from hemp or created by converting similar molecules that are fully legal into THC.

One of those legal hemp molecules is the commonly found CBD, which is now sold in grocery stores across the country. Unlike CBD, however, hemp-derived THC products produce intoxication, and isomers like delta-8 THC can have radically different potencies.

Another key difference in the hemp-derived products is, unlike cannabis produced legally in Washington, hemp can be grown for industrial uses like rope making and is not regulated to be safe for human consumption. Pesticides that are banned for use on recreational or medicinal cannabis are not regulated when it comes to hemp.

On a molecular level, there is no difference between the chemicals produced in hemp and cannabis, but the growing process can be radically different.

Any product sold in a state-licensed dispensary must meet these regulatory requirements.

Washington banned these hemp-derived intoxicating products in 2023, but due to the federal loophole they are still available online and in stores around the country. n

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

YOUR TEEN ASKS WHY

IS LEGAL FOR YOU, BUT NOT HIM. AND YOU SAY?

Now that marijuana is legal for those 21 and over, it’s more important than ever to talk with your kids.

Cinder_BackToSchool_090425_10H_AP_NEW.pdf

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.

"Little Blue" Travel Trailer

Birthday” writer 46. One who agrees 48. Subject of a neighborhood flier 51. “Scratch that,” in texts

52. “If you think you can’t remember the prefix for three, just ___”

53. Submitted, as completed homework 55. A head

57. “Despicable Me” supervillain 58. Protective gear 60. Actor Christopher

Wise one?

Adult Swim fare, for short

Beach house feature

Jack of nursery rhymes

Online administrator DOWN

G.P., e.g.

2. Line leader?

3. 1947 film set in India with Deborah Kerr as a repressed Anglican nun 4. Miley and Noah Cyrus’s manager mother

Vintage photo prints

Basic beginning

Main squeezes

Concert setting 9. Title location for an “Adventure,”