Inlander 11/04/2021

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VOL. 29, NO. 4 | COVER DESIGN: DEREK HARRISON

COMMENT NEWS COVER STORY CULTURE

5 8 14 25

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30 34 36 38

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40 42 44 47

EDITOR’S NOTE

T

he evolution of GONZAGA MEN’S BASKETBALL from a scrappy mid-major program looking to upset the big dogs in March Madness into a perennial national powerhouse that has arguably the loudest bark in the land has been something to behold. Last year’s team made it to the national championship game, and the 2021 version welcomes some of the highest-rated recruits in the country as the Kennel welcomes in-person crowds back. But the Zags aren’t the only game in the Inland Northwest, and our college basketball preview introduces the Washington State women’s team that made some serious noise themselves last year, and the new head coach in Cheney.

Also this week, Madison Pearson checks out this year’s Spokane Print Festival festivities (page 25), we look into the latest mocktail trends (page 30), and review a new addition to the Marvel film world, Eternals (page 34).

— DAN NAILEN, editor

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WHO’S YOUR FAVORITE GONZAGA BASKETBALL PLAYER OF ALL TIME?

HOUSTON EYMANN: Steven Gray (Honorable mention to Williams, Goss, Turiaf, Ravio and Bouldin.)

BRIAN D. WITTY: So many greats, but my favorite is probably Matt Bouldin. Close second: Jeff Brown.

Solid Zags that were amazing ball players despite their relative lack of athleticism.

RIC MEYER: Adam Morrison ERIC REIS: [Przemek] Karnowski. He anchored the first team to make it to the finals.

CARRIE PETTIBONE: I have a lot of favorite players, but Jeremy Pargo is my pick!

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TERRY DUFFY: ONE? Are you kidding me? I’ve been a fan for 40 years… I have a favorite all-time dream team… But ONE? Can’t do it.

Favorite fan, EASY. MOM.

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On INLANDER Stands Now! NOVEMBER 4, 2021 INLANDER 5

COMMENT | HOUSING

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Sonya.Henderson@colvilletribes.com 6 INLANDER NOVEMBER 4, 2021

A tent city in front of Spokane City Hall after a protest against the sit-lie ordinance in December 2018.

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

The Moral Imperative of Doing Something Collective, decisive action on multiple fronts is the only way Spokane will successfully confront homelessness

BY JAC ARCHER

A

few years ago, I spent my days volunteering in a building on Second Avenue that now houses a pediatric clinic. It was a low, single-story building with multiple front entrances and a partially covered sidewalk all the way around that dropped off into the blacktop of the parking lot. For years, when I entered that building, I often passed a man I’ll call Reuben.

Reuben was ageless in that hard-living kind of way. The wrinkles of his sun-damaged skin, the pallor and jagged lines of teeth that hadn’t seen consistent dental care, and scraggles of brown hair on his chin and atop his head all spoke to years spent on the streets of Spokane and Tri-Cities. Inconsistent meals and an ongoing struggle with meth addiction left Reuben thin

and boney. He could have been 35 or 65, but most of all, he looked tired.

Sometimes the women working in the office would welcome Reuben into the building so he could use the bathroom or eat office snacks left on the break room table. Occasionally someone would hand him a few dollars. I remember thinking that if I were rich, or even middle class, I could just hand him a $20 bill on a whim, instead of walking past his crumpled frame every day on my way to try and make the world a better place.

W

hen I first moved into Spokane city limits, it was into the first apartment I’d ever found, applied for and paid for as an adult. I was so proud to be out of college or family housing for the first time in my life — proud enough to overlook the inconsistency of my frazzled landlord, and the fact my lease stipulated that my bathroom window (which did not have a screen and opened onto an empty lot) remain open at all times for ventilation. I shrugged off the creeping mold on the sweating bathroom walls, which I sprayed with a bleach solution after my shower each morning. I accepted the mice in the walls that occasionally ventured into our kitchen, and the single basement furnace that failed to heat the building two to three times a winter. I worked a retail job that I walked to at all times of the day, regularly trekking from the world of litter and occasional piles of human waste to the gleaming fronts of downtown restaurants and into the mall where I sold clothes I could only hope to afford on clearance.

When winter came, the insides of my apartment windows occasionally iced over at the seams, and Reuben became a heap of blankets and cardboard on the sidewalk. That heap (which we occasionally checked to ensure it still contained a person) would persist in snow and rain. Almost daily I asked myself, “Am I the kind of person who is OK with letting this happen?” And almost daily, I internally answered, “No.” But I felt powerless to act. I couldn’t help Reuben — or any of the many unhoused people I called neighbors until their bedrooms were covered in tons of basalt — because I didn’t have a spare $20. But one day I would.

When winter came, the insides of my apartment windows occasionally iced over at the seams, and Reuben became a heap of blankets and cardboard on the sidewalk.

One day came. I left my part-time retail gig for a full-time job that rewarded my education. I got a driver’s license and an apartment with a bathroom fan and in-unit heating. My spouse and I started to enjoy a relatively middle-class existence, and our circumstances have only improved since. But I don’t see Reuben anymore.

I still don’t often give the random $20, mostly because I don’t often carry cash on my person, but also because it doesn’t seem like enough. It feels like offering a Band-Aid to someone with a bullet wound. But every winter I will donate to shelters and other organizations that help keep homeless people in clothes, hand warmers and hot meals. It’s something.

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inter is coming again, and as a city we have the power to transcend our individual limits — to collectively address the struggle of the Reubens who are part of our community.

There are important conversations to be had about what long-term solutions look like and how different factors fit together, such as mental and behavioral health care, physical health care, debt-relief, addiction services and the honest-to-god affordable housing shortage. In the meantime, however, there are heaps of blankets and cardboard on our sidewalks. Inside them are people, members of our community, who persist regardless of the weather, in rain and snow.

Winter is coming, and while we discuss levies and public service funding, some of these people, these community members, will freeze and die. We need to ask ourselves, “Are we the kind of community that is OK letting this happen?” n Jac Archer (they/them/theirs) is a local activist, community organizer and educator in the fields of diversity, equity, civic engagement and sexuality. Jac has a passion for institutional policy and making difficult concepts easily accessible.

NOVEMBER 4, 2021 INLANDER 7

Danielle Martini found out her roofing contractor — Perrenoud Roofing — hadn’t ever called in the required city inspections: “The system is broken.”

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

CONSTRUCTION

EXPECT THE UNINSPECTED

One of Spokane’s biggest roofing contractors skipped the vast majority of city-mandated roofing inspections for over a decade — and almost nobody noticed

BY DANIEL WALTERS

I

t was the integrity of Perrenoud Roofing that convinced Danielle Martini to hire them to reroof her property on the lower South Hill this spring. Where other roofing companies had recommended unnecessary and pricey repairs, she says, Perrenoud’s “estimator was extremely honest and did the work.”

But by midsummer, Martini and Perrenoud were at war: Perrenoud had screwed up, she alleged, tearing holes in her siding, scattering cancer-causing asbestos, violating multiple Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency regulations, and costing potentially $100,000 to fix the mess. Martini refused to pay her bill until she was satisfied, and Perrenoud put a lien on her house.

And in the midst of all of this, she’d learned, neither of the two mandatory city roofing inspections her permit had paid for had been completed. Before Perrenoud declared her roof complete, they hadn’t scheduled either one.

“The city inspector told me, ‘This guy’s known for this,’” Martini says.

Real estate agent Jacci Bottler says she heard a city

8 INLANDER NOVEMBER 4, 2021

inspector say the same thing a few months earlier, while another property owner, Kathy Campbell, says her property manager heard a version of that from an inspector in 2016: Perrenoud was “notorious for not calling for inspections.”

It’s only when Martini ran a search on Perrenoud on the city’s online permit system that she found just how notorious: More than 1,300 Perrenoud permits — spread across over 1,200 different properties in the city of Spokane alone — had expired without Perrenoud scheduling a final inspection.

That included eight out of every 10 city roofs they’ve worked on since 2005: apartment complexes, condos, cemetery buildings, a bowling alley, a medical building, and countless neighborhood homes. It includes properties owned by St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, Salem Lutheran, and the City of Spokane’s parks department.

Even David Condon’s old house — back in 2008, before he ran for Spokane’s mayor — had been reroofed by Perrenoud without getting a final inspection.

And few, if any, of the property owners knew. Local

governments, if they knew, hadn’t done much of anything.

Outraged, Martini began firing off emails to practically everyone — including city departments, City Council members, the state attorney general’s office, and the Inlander.

“All of these consumers actually have un-permitted roofs due to the deceitful intentions of Perrenoud Roofing, Inc. & the negligence of the City of Spokane,” she wrote to the AG. That could impact their ability to sell their house, for starters.

Perrenoud, in stark contrast, argues that shirking city inspections is actually doing customers a favor. But there’s one thing that Perrenoud and Martini can agree on — albeit for different reasons: The city’s inspection process is deeply flawed.

“Bottom line, the system is broken,” Martini writes in an email to Spokane City Council.

NOTHING BUT THE ROOF

Crisp piles of permits are lined up in a row behind Nathan Perrenoud in his North Spokane office. Over two decades, the Perrenoud Roofing president — broad-chested, goateed — had built his company into one that he says handles 400 roofs a year. They’d been chosen to reroof everything from parts of Geiger Corrections Center to even, in 2014, Riverfront Park’s Looff Carrousel building.

“So you probably know that there are numerous city inspections that haven’t been completed by us,” Perrenoud says. ...continued on page 10

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NEWS | CONSTRUCTION “EXPECT THE UNINSPECTED,” CONTINUED...

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It’s not an oversight. It’s not an accounting error or a miscommunication or a computer glitch.

Perrenoud has been skipping most of the city and county required inspections intentionally.

“I’m not going to say it’s wrong or it’s right,” he says.

But his motivation, he claims, is about protecting his customers. The city, like most municipalities, requires two inspections. Before the roof can be closed up and the final inspection can be conducted, the roofer has to do a “deck” inspection of the roof’s bottom layer, assessing crucial components like the roof’s waterproof ice shield.

But the city and county inspection process, he says, makes him wait. It can take hours — even three days, if he calls it in on a Friday, before the inspector arrives — leaving the house vulnerable in the meantime.

“It exposes my customers and my company to unneeded threats,” Perrenoud says. “The exposure to the home, to the homeowner’s contents, to everything, is so great when that roof is torn off, that we can’t wait.”

He points to his bona fides as a “Master Elite”-certified contractor with GAF, America’s largest roofing material manufacturer, to argue that his own standards are far more rigorous than anything the county or the City of Spokane requires.

Yet, another local roofing company, Heritage Roofing & Contracting, has the same certification, but only 4 percent of their permits have expired without inspections.

“To me, it’s a pride thing,” Heritage owner Ted Flynn says of his inspection record.

“You should want everything to say final, final, final.”

He sees the inspection process in a lot less dire terms. You can almost always schedule it for the same day, he says — even sometimes requesting a specific hour. If there’s a problem, the inspectors can be flexible. They’ll approve half now and half later. They’ll sometimes even let you send in a photo documenting it if they can’t make it in person.

“It’s easy-cheesy,” Flynn says. “It’s the easiest inspection process there is.”

Perrenoud says if his customers ask for him to schedule the city-mandated inspection, he’ll be more than happy to make it happen. But every customer the Inlander spoke to said Perrenoud hadn’t initially told them they had to ask.

“It wouldn’t even occur to us,” says Sheri Boggs, a former arts and culture editor of the Inlander who got her garage roof redone by Perrenoud in 2018.

The owner of North Bowl didn’t know his bowling alley roof hadn’t been inspected. Neither did the 76-year-old woman who, a decade ago, sent Perrenoud a letter declaring that the company’s “owner is a very honest man and trustworthy.”

Both, however, liked Perrenoud’s work so much that they said they would be happy to

work with him again. But not all of Perrenoud’s clients were as enthused.

“The City of Spokane building inspector was not called for a ‘deck’ inspection,” former Browne’s Addition property owner Kathy Campbell wrote in a furious 2017 letter to GAF, the group that certified Perrenoud as a Master Elite roofer, “WE had to call for inspection after-thefact.”

Even the city parks department hadn’t known Perrenoud hadn’t requested an inspection when his company re-roofed its maintenance building in 2012.

When the Inlander suggests that Perrenoud hasn’t been telling his customers the full truth, he counters with indignation.

“You think I’m lying to them?” Perrenoud asks the Inlander. “Do you think I’m lying to my customers?”

A few customers say so bluntly.

“He’s a liar,” Martini says. “That’s my opinion.”

Bottler feels similarly.

As a real estate agent, she knows just how important inspections are. Banks often don’t want to lend to a buyer if the house they want to purchase has a big expired-permit question mark looming over it.

“Sometimes the deal falls apart,” she says.

This spring, Bottler bugged Perrenoud repeatedly over two months to finalize her permit, before he finally emailed her to say, “Yes, the final inspection has been completed.”

With inspectors covering up to 200 miles in a day, one Spokane County official says they don’t have the staffing to monitor when contractors are skipping their inspections.

Bottler called the city. Neither inspection had been completed, or even scheduled. Perrenoud could have confirmed that online in an instant.

Perrenoud says it was an honest mistake — he’d left a message for the inspector, and just assumed it got done. But Bottler doesn’t buy it.

When the city inspection finally was scheduled — after another month — he found something. He wanted Perrenoud to add in a few more vents to the garage, an extra measure to prevent heat damage to her roofing in the summer.

With so few city inspections completed, it’s hard to know how many other issues inspectors might have spotted over the years. In one rare Perrenoud inspection in 2017, the city inspector concluded that the roof’s ice and water shields — a waterproof membrane designed to prevent water damage to roof decking — came up short over the entryways.

“Even with people that are above and beyond trained and certified, they’re going to miss something,” says James Moore III, the Spokane County director of building and code enforcement. “That’s what we’re here for.”

INSPECTION INTROSPECTION

With his inspectors covering up to 200 miles in a day, Moore says he doesn’t have the staffing to monitor when contractors are skipping their inspections.

So, until the Inlander asked the county to run the numbers for Perrenoud, Moore says he had no idea.

Less than 8 percent of Perrenoud’s re-roofing projects in Moore’s jurisdiction had received all of their inspections. More than 300 permits in the past decade had expired without his team examining the property.

“I was like ‘Whoa, wait a minute?’” Moore says. “‘Are you kidding me?’”

Moore began making phone calls to other regional governments to see how they dealt with contractors ducking inspections.

Cheney warns contractors when their permits are about to expire. If the contractor refuses to do anything about it, Cheney Building Official Shane Nilles hits them with a $513 ONLINE ticket. Every day, it’s not View a detailed map fixed, it’s a new violation. comparing Perrenoud Roofing “One of my more and Heritage Roofing’s permit primary work functions is expirations at Inlander.com just having to deal with these violations,” says Nilles.

The City of Spokane, meanwhile, is the worst of both worlds: Contractors — but not homeowners — are told when permits are about ready to expire, and there’s nothing to force the contractors to actually do anything about it. The only penalty in Spokane for skipping inspections is a paltry $75 reinspection fee — and it’s only paid if the contractor decides to actually get an inspection after all.

Not requesting inspections is an International Building Code violation, according to the city, but Spokane hasn’t actually established a penalty for violating it. Therefore, Perrenoud argues, he’s not even breaking the rules.

Martini is aghast, writing to the state AG that Spokane had allowed “this contractor to exploit a loophole in its permit system.”

But not just one contractor: From his office desk, Nathan Perrenoud hands the Inlander four Washington state Labor & Industries printouts — with names circled of other contractors he claims have been skipping inspections or even ignoring permits entirely.

Though none of the other major roofing contractors the Inlander reviewed had as great of a percentage of expired city roofing permits as Perrenoud, plenty of them also played loose with inspection requirements. The Kodiak Roofing Company skipped almost every required city inspection in 2015, though their recent record is nearly spotless. Reve Exteriors only has a handful of City of Spokane permits on record, but two-thirds of them have expired.

Moore, for his part, says he wants to reach out directly to homeowners, a bit like what Spokane Valley used to do, to let them know their contracts haven’t been completed.

“I’m going to send a letter to the owner, saying, ‘Complete your permit,’” he says. The challenge is figuring out a way to automate it.

City of Spokane spokeswoman Kirstin Davis, meanwhile, says they’re trying to figure out their own way to address uninspected properties — maybe a steeper penalty for contractors who ignore the process. But considering the tight housing market and the city’s staffing crisis, more red tape may look unappealing.

So Perrenoud offers his own solution: When he re-roofs manufactured homes, a process overseen by the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, the department allows him to simply send in a photo of his work, and they’ll approve it remotely. Since he doesn’t have to wait around, he cooperates fully with that inspection process.

“We have a 1,000 percent batting average there,” he says. Spokane city and county could do the same, allow photos and videos and even drone footage be used instead of requiring inspectors to set foot on the property, and he’ll be happy.

“I 100 percent believe that the permits are needed,” Perrenoud says. “I think everybody should live up to a minimum standard.” n danielw@inlander.com

NOVEMBER 4, 2021 INLANDER 11

NEWS | ENVIRONMENT

Transition from Plastic

My Fresh Basket Manager Hailey Higashi helps bag groceries for a customer.

Washington shoppers get their first taste of the plastic bag ban as stores use up backstock, and bag fees start

BY SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL

S

ince Washington’s plastic bag ban started on Oct. 1, shoppers may have noticed stores are now charging a fee for each bag you need to carry out your groceries, clothes, electronics — pretty much anything you buy.

Under the ban, customers should be seeing less and less of the plastic “T-shirt” bags that became popular starting in the 1980s.

Instead, they’ll be asked to pay 8 cents (or more) for a paper bag or a thicker, recyclable plastic bag that’s intended to be used many times and/or recycled at a proper facility. Or, customers can use their own reusable bag.

Lawmakers passed the ban to encourage the use of reusable bags and reduce litter across state waterways.

Spokane Riverkeeper staff say plastic bags make up a significant portion of the more than 15,000 pounds of trash they remove from the Spokane River each year.

Single-use plastic bags can also clog up the gears at sorting centers like the Spokane Materials and Recycling Technology (SMaRT) Center, because people “wishfully” throw the bags in their recycling bins hoping they can be recycled there. They can’t.

While heftier reusable bags have a larger carbon footprint, with studies showing they need to be used 15 to

12 INLANDER NOVEMBER 4, 2021

150 times to equal the impact of a single-use plastic bag, proponents of the ban point out that the bags are stronger and can often replace more than one single-use bag. The heftier bags often last for years or decades of reuse.

Grocery stores in particular are experiencing a large effort to educate customers as they switch to the other options.

At My Fresh Basket in downtown Spokane, store manager Hailey Higashi says they started posting signs about the ban a few weeks in advance so customers wouldn’t be surprised come October.

“Everybody who has had questions has been super lovely about it, really,” Higashi says. “The more we can help everyone, the more knowledge everyone can have about it, the easier the transition will be.”

Still, hiccups with supply chains and efforts not to waste backstock have raised questions for some shoppers who still aren’t sure what the ban means for them. Here, we try to answer some of the most common questions that have come up in the last month.

WASN’T THIS SUPPOSED TO START AWHILE AGO?

The ban was supposed to start on Jan. 1, 2021, but Gov. Jay Inslee delayed it.

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

The delay was partly due to supply chain issues, as some manufacturing resources had been redirected to make personal protective equipment during the pandemic, and partly due to problems with shipping new bags to stores in time for the start date, says Shannon Jones, the Western Washington recycling coordinator for the state Department of Ecology.

WHY AM I STILL GETTING PLASTIC BAGS WHEN I SHOP? In July, Inslee announced the ban would start on Oct. 1. But many businesses had purchased single use plastic bags in the interim, Jones says.

So, even though the flimsier plastic T-shirt bags were technically supposed to be gone by Oct. 1, many stores continue to use their backstock.

Understanding that process will take some time, and Ecology hasn’t started enforcement on those complaints yet, Jones says. It would go against the intent of the law to ask stores to throw away the backstock.

Plus, some stores have had issues getting enough paper and thicker plastic bags delivered to them on time.

My Fresh Basket, for example, is close to using up the end of their backstock of thin plastic bags, and they expect a shipment of the thicker plastic bags in the next week or so.

“They were supposed to be here when the plastic bag ban took effect,” Higashi says, “but with how the supply chain is at the moment, everybody’s a little backed up.”

OK, SO WHEN WILL ENFORCEMENT START?

While Ecology didn’t help draft the new law, the agency is tasked with fielding consumer complaints and enforcing the rule.

The transition away from flimsier plastic bags altogether could take months, but Ecology expects that most

stores will have used any backstock purchased before Oct. 1 by the end of the year, Jones says.

“After Jan. 1 we’ll pretty much expect everyone to be in compliance,” Jones says.

Still, customers are able to make a complaint about stores they feel aren’t following the law. In following up on complaints, Ecology sends each store a letter explaining the rules and allowing the business to explain what’s going on before any enforcement action. Stores could face $250 fines for not following the law.

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ARE COMPLAINTS ALREADY ROLLING IN?

So far, Ecology has received 180 complaints statewide about stores not following the bag ban properly, Jones says.

Of those, 73 were in the eastern region of the state, and 18 were specifically in the Spokane area.

Some smaller stores are finding it hard to stock up on those paper bags or thicker plastic bags right now, says Tammie Hetrick, the president and CEO of the Washington Food Industry Association, which represents small independent grocers.

“We’ve had some issues with the paper bag supply even before COVID,” Hetrick says. “The real hope is to get people to bring in their bags.”

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HOW MUCH DOES EACH BAG COST?

The state ban requires that stores charge an 8-cent fee for providing paper or plastic bags that meet the new requirements.

“However, if they want to provide canvas bags or more durable, reusable bags to their customers [for free], we encourage that,” Jones says. “It comes at a greater cost to the business, but those are the kind of bags I think people will actively reuse. I think that’s a really good solution.”

Stores can also opt to charge a higher fee per bag. If they do so, they are supposed to show a separate line item on customer receipts splitting out the state’s 8-cent fee and the store’s separate fee.

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“We’ve had some issues with the paper bag supply even before COVID. The real hope is to get people to bring in their bags.”

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The store you’re buying the bag from keeps the fee, which is intended to help cover the costs of the pricier bags that contain more recycled or recyclable content.

While the 8-cent fee is eligible for a waiver from state business and occupation tax, if a store charges more than that, the additional amount becomes taxable income for the business.

WHAT ABOUT PEOPLE ON FOOD ASSISTANCE?

Any person who uses food assistance programs does not have to pay for bags.

Those programs include Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and the Washington State Food Assistance Program (FAP).

However, the exemption from the fee only applies when that person is using their benefits card specifically for that purchase, Jones explains.

Purchases made with other payment methods would still be subject to the 8-cent fee per bag.

So far, Ecology has had four complaints statewide about stores wrongly charging food assistance recipients for bags, and only one of those was in Eastern Washington, in the city of College Place. n samanthaw@inlander.com

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NOVEMBER 4, 2021 INLANDER 13

The Zags after their Halloween exhibition game: A lot of new faces, but the same uniform of excellence. YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

14 INLANDER NOVEMBER 4, 2021

ON A

ROLL THE ZAGS ARE SET FOR ANOTHER SEASON COMPETING AT THE VERY TOP OF COLLEGE BASKETBALL BY WILL MAUPIN

F

orget rebuilding and reloading. Those words don’t apply to the Gonzaga Bulldogs anymore. The Zags are firmly in a wash, rinse and repeat cycle these days.

In case you’ve forgotten, Gonzaga’s men’s team spent the entirety of last season ranked No. 1 in the AP Top 25. They won 31 consecutive games to start the season, lost just once all year, and found themselves playing in the national championship game. The team’s accomplishments were in no small part thanks to an incredibly talented roster, which subsequently sent three of its best players to the NBA. Last season’s Zags were one of the best statistical teams in college basketball history. It would be hard for any program to replicate that in back-to-back seasons, especially a program that lost as much talent as Gonzaga did this offseason.

Yet that’s exactly what this year’s crop of Bulldogs are expected to do. For the second season in a row, Gonzaga is ranked No. 1 in the preseason AP Top 25. The prognosticators picked them, once again, to be the best team in the sport.

Only two starters return from last year’s team, but they’re about as good of a duo as you could ask for. Senior point guard ANDREW NEMBHARD was second on the team in assists with 4.4 per game and fifth in scoring with 9.6 points per game a season ago. Expect those numbers to go up, especially in the assist column, with Jalen Suggs no longer sharing time with Nembhard in the backcourt.

Nembhard’s the senior, but junior forward DREW TIMME is the face of the team. After leading the team in points and rebounds with 19 and seven per game last season, Timme was named a consensus second-team All-American. This year, he’s a preseason first-team All-American who is raking in just about every preseason player-of-the-year honor out there.

Those two upperclassmen bring not only talent to the team but leadership as well.

“You’ve got this great mixture of Drew’s confidence and bravado and Andrew’s great example-setting that our young players can both lean on,” says Assistant Coach Stephen Gentry.

“You do have a very vocal, outspoken player in Drew. Our young guys really rely on Drew’s swagger and confidence. For a young player that’s very calming. Andrew’s admittedly much more quiet and much more soft spoken, but an incredible leader in how to do it by example. How Andrew approaches the game, and how professional he is about his approach, and how diligent and detailed he is with his preparation, it blends together really well.” ...continued on next page

NOVEMBER 4, 2021 INLANDER 15

“ON A ROLL,” CONTINUED...

The team will need that leadership because, relative to years past, there’s a dearth of Zag veterans on this year’s roster. Outside of Timme and Nembhard, the only rotation player with more than a year of experience on the roster is junior forward ANTON WATSON. And his career has been up and down due to injuries.

“That’s always been the thing about Gonzaga,” Gentry says. “The torch has always passed, so to speak, from team to team in terms of the standard that we play at. And even individually, so much of that is addressed in recruiting. By recruiting very talented players and having a plan in place knowing who you’re going to be losing and knowing that you have a next man up.”

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hose next men up this season were high school players last season. For what it’s worth, though, they were really good high school players. According to 247Sports, a college recruiting news service owned

by CBS Sports, Gonzaga has the third-best incoming class in the country. Among Gonzaga classes of years past, this season’s is the best in program history. The first-, third-, fifth- and ninth-highest-rated prospects to enroll at Gonzaga, ever, enrolled for this season. They join Timme and Watson, seventh- and eighth-highest rated in program history, on the roster. Altogether, five of Gonzaga’s 10 highest-rated prospects, ever, are on the roster at the same time.

Leading that group is CHET HOLMGREN, the No. 1-ranked player in his class and former high school teammate of last year’s stud freshman, Jalen Suggs. The lanky seven-footer is often called a unicorn for his inimitable style of play. He’s tall and long, but super thin. He can protect the rim like a dominant center or dribble into a silky smooth stroke from long range like a guard. He’s the ultimate matchup nightmare.

Then there’s HUNTER SALLIS, a fellow five-star recruit, who will be the latest in Gonzaga’s long line of big guards. The 6-foot-5 combo guard showed off his athleticism and emphatically won the dunk contest at Kraziness in the Kennel, the Zags’ preseason fan festival.

Alongside Sallis in the backcourt is four-star point guard NOLAN HICKMAN from the Seattle area. The freshman was initially committed to play for Kentucky, a powerhouse of the sport, but changed his mind in favor of the Zags earlier this year.

16 INLANDER NOVEMBER 4, 2021

The Zags used to avoid recruiting prospects with interest from power conference teams. Now they’re snatching players away from the blue-blooded goliaths of the game.

A pair of bigs from the Portland area, BEN GREGG — a familiar name to fans, as Gregg graduated from high school early and joined the team midway through last season — and Battle Ground’s KADEN PERRY round out this highly touted freshman class.

Those two bolster an already strong, massive and versatile Gonzaga frontcourt with Timme, Holmgren and Watson.

“They all bring something a little different in their individual skill-sets, but they all play so well off of each other and within the flow of our offense,” Gentry says. “It gives us some versatility in how we want to play on both ends of the court, and also depending on who we’re playing we might have to react to the style of the team we’re playing and counterpunch that.”

Stuck in between the guards and the bigs is sophomore wing JULIAN STRAWTHER, who looks poised for a breakout year. Stuck behind a logjam of talent on the wings, Strawther averaged just 7.4 minutes over 25 games played last season. In his first action as a sophomore, in the scrimmage at Kraziness in the Kennel, Strawther led all scorers.

“He had a great year of development, kind of in the shadows. He learned a lot from Corey and Joel about how to play that position. He got some decent reps in games but more great reps in practice,” Gentry says of Strawther.

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he Zags will need the young players like Strawther and all the freshmen to step up from the jump, as yet again the program has put together a murderers’ row of a nonconference schedule.

Gonzaga’s season opener comes Nov. 9 at home against Dixie State, a team that got blown out 112-67 by the Zags last year. Despite the lowly opponent, the game will be notable because of one man’s absence. Head Coach Mark Few was charged with and subsequently pleaded guilty to DUI during the offseason. As a result, the university has suspended him for three games to start the season. Frankly speaking, he’s suspended for one game, against Dixie State, and two preseason exhibitions against Eastern Oregon and Lewis-Clark State that don’t

count in any meaningful way, regardless.

Few’s suspension ends just in time for his team to run the gauntlet. Fifth-ranked Texas will visit The Kennel on Nov. 13, as what should be the highest-ranked team to play at Gonzaga in program history.

From there, it’s second-ranked UCLA in a Final Four rematch on Nov. 23 in Las Vegas. Then, three days later, ninth-ranked Duke down in Vegas as well. Alabama, ranked 14th, travels to Seattle to face the Zags on Dec. 4. On Dec. 18 in Phoenix, the Zags face off with Texas Tech, which was unranked but received votes in the preseason AP Poll.

Conference rival BYU also received votes in the preseason AP Poll, and they won’t be the only roadblock on the Zags’ annual run through the West Coast Conference. The Zags will be as strong as ever this season, but the conference as a whole should be even stronger than usual.

Statistician Ken Pomeroy, whose metrics are used by the NCAA to help select and seed teams for the 68-team NCAA Tournament, projects four WCC teams to be top 40 nationally. San Francisco, Saint Mary’s and BYU are all in the mix to make the big dance, as is Loyola Marymount. The Lions landed at No. 69 in Pomeroy’s preseason rankings, which means if his metrics alone were used to determine the 68-team field, they’d be the first team left out.

The West Coast Conference has never had more than three teams make the NCAA Tournament in a single season. This year, that number is expected rather than aspirational.

Still, despite all the challenges on the schedule and turnover on the roster, the expectation remains sky-high for the Zags. As high as ever, even.

“I feel like we’re the best team in the country, and I’m going to stand by that for as long as I live,” Timme said after the team’s scrimmage last month. “I have no wavering confidence in that regard.”

Before the scrimmage, before a packed house of fans for the first time since March 2020, Timme offered a similar, but a more direct message.

“We’re taking it all this year,” he said. n

FROM LEFT: Drew Timme, Chet Holmgren and Andrew Nembhard. Holmgren is the nation’s No. 1 incoming prospect. YOUNG KWAK PHOTOS

YOUTH MOVEMENT FOR GONZAGA WOMEN t’s a rebuilding year for Head Coach Lisa Fortier and her staff. Gone

I

are a trio of four-year players who provided ability and stability to the program over their careers. The Wirth sisters, forwards Jenn and Leeanne, and guard Jill Townsend, were senior leaders last season. Jenn Wirth was last season’s conference player of the year, while Townsend won the award the season prior. They leave some big shoes to fill.

Fortunately for the Zags, another pair of twins is ready to rise to the occasion in guards Kayleigh and Kaylynne Truong. Sophomore Yvonne Ejim had some breakout performances in big games down the stretch last season. She followed that up by leading Canada to fifth place in the FIBA Under-19 World Cup this past summer, where she was a double-double machine and ranked top 10 in the tournament in both points (14.4 per game) and rebounds (9.4 per game).

A talented five-player freshman class with some international flavor will help the Zags this year and going forward. Esther Little, from England, and Maud Huijbens, from the Netherlands, are talented overseas finds for the Zags. But it’s Michigan’s Bree Salenbien, the seventh-best wing prospect in the country, according to ESPN, who headlines the incoming class.

The Zags were picked to finish second in the West Coast Conference preseason poll, and senior Melody Kempton was named to the preseason all-WCC First Team.

— WILL MAUPIN

Kaylynne Truong YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

NOVEMBER 4, 2021 INLANDER 17

UNDERDOG SPIRIT

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A ZAG RETURNING TO SPOKANE AFTER GONZAGA’S BLUEBLOOD ASCENT BY SETH SOMMERFELD

onzaga enters this season as the No. 1-ranked team in the Associated Press poll.

When I saw this announcement, my first thought as an alum and diehard Zags fan wasn’t pure glee or unbridled excitement, it was an emotion-free, “Well yeah… obviously.”

That should tell you all you need to know about how far the program has progressed since I graduated from GU and moved away from Spokane in 2010.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not to say Gonzaga’s men’s basketball program wasn’t a national force during my time as a student. By the time I arrived on campus in 2006, the team had already made eight straight NCAA Tournament appearances and were coming off Adam Morrison’s superstar season. The Bulldogs were a model of how a tiny school could succeed, but they were far from their current blueblood juggernaut status.

This was a time when Mark Few still hadn’t even reached a single Elite Eight — something the squad has

18 INLANDER NOVEMBER 4, 2021

now done four of the last six years. It was an era when five-star recruits wouldn’t even consider committing to Spokane — this year Chet Holmgren comes in as the No. 1 player in his class. This was even before Few realized that maybe a defense built around guarding the paint at the cost of allowing a ton of open three-pointers was a bad idea (which is why he’d yet to make an Elite Eight).

Heck, during my four years, the Zags were considered a bubble team for the NCAA Tournament at points during a couple seasons and only made it past the second round of the tournament once. Can you even imagine that now?

It’s been amazing to watch Gonzaga morph from perennial plucky underdog to a team where not making the Final Four seems like a disheartening end result.

So many moments stick out from that stretch. Seeing Kelly Olynyk transform from a skinny Canadian heckled with Justin Bieber chants his first game as a freshman into a All-American post bruiser. Watching Przemek Kar-

nowski abuse guys inside while also being an elite passer.

The squad finally — blissfully — getting over the hump and making the Final Four in 2017. Seeing the basketball joy that was Rui Hachimura. And taking in the basketball precision that was last season’s nearly undefeated run.

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ags fans — myself included — are incredibly spoiled at this point. Playing in the West Coast Conference basically guarantees that even if the Zags get upset in the conference tourney, they’ll already have amassed enough wins to easily make the NCAA Tournament.

Though, the conference “ease” also serves as the lone source of frustration that comes with being a Zags fan: having uninformed fans of other schools and Twitter commenters saying the Zags aren’t actually any good. Despite literally having a higher conference RPI ranking than the ACC and Big East last year, the WCC isn’t perceived as a “real conference.” It’s a false narrative because the WCC has actually improved a lot over recent years, but

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Different year, same Kennel.

YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

the Zags have gotten better at an even quicker rate. People see blowout Gonzaga scores and assume the opponents are trash, when really they’d be destroying middle-of-the-pack teams in the Big 10 and Pac 12 by just as much. (And before anyone suggests GU should swap conferences, consider how awful joining the Big East or Mountain West would be for all non-basketball sports.)

Until Gonzaga wins a national title, that public narrative piece will always remain (and honestly, it’ll probably continue until they get multiple titles ’cause people like being the haters in the discourse).

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ow being back in Spokane, I look forward to experiencing the communal energy of a Zags season again. While I rarely have missed a game over the past 15 years, watching from afar in Seattle, Syracuse or Montana doesn’t have the same feel.

I also can’t deny that at least a modicum of drama would be nice for the 2021-22 Zags. Perhaps that rub will come in the form of fallout from Mark Few’s minute suspension or the departure of longtime assistant coach and international recruiting titan Tommy Lloyd to take over Arizona’s program. Sure, last year’s undefeated run was great until the final game, but having a touch of adversity in the form of an early season loss or two might restore a pinch of that underdog Bulldog attitude that once defined the program.

Will this finally be the year for the Zags? Who knows.

But it should be a good ride.

And it’s great to be back. n

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And they’re back.

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PERFORMANCES

here are expectations on the Palouse this time around.

A year ago, the Washington State Cougars were in familiar territory. They were picked to finish dead last, landing 12th in the Pac-12 preseason poll. For a program that hadn’t managed a top-half finish in their league since the mid-1980s, it shouldn’t have been much of a surprise.

The real surprise was what came next. When

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it was all said and done, the Cougars sat in sixth place — a top-half finish — and earned an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1991.

Now, entering this season, the Cougars are expected to do that again. They’ve been picked to finish sixth — a top-half finish — in this year’s preseason poll.

“I’m the last coach that’s going to sit up here ...continued on next page

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“TWICE AS NICE,” CONTINUED... and say we’re built perfect and we’re ready,” head coach Kamie Ethridge said at Pac-12 media day last month. “Every single day I walk out into the gym and just hope we can keep finding ways to get better in the gym and compete.”

Improvement is key for the Cougars to live up to expectations. The Pac-12 is no cakewalk. Quite the opposite. It’s home to the reigning national champions, Stanford, and the team the Cardinal beat to earn that title, Arizona. Fully half of the league’s teams made the NCAA Tournament last season.

“The expectation is bigger and better, and we’re not afraid of that. We’re in the best league in the country. No one is getting worse,” Ethridge says. “The expectation was great, and we got on a great run last year. It’s exciting to be here now. You know, the target will be on our back a little bit.”

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ast year’s team exceeded expectations thanks in large part to the emergence of a dynamic duo of players, one a freshman and the other a senior, but both in their first year playing with the program. Sisters Krystal and Charlisse Leger-Walker took the college basketball world by storm. Krystal, the senior, was the team’s starting point guard and led the conference in assists with 109. Her 9.8 points per game were second on the team only to her younger sister, Charlisse, who averaged 18.8 points per game. The younger Leger-Walker was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and earned honorable mention All-America honors from the United States Basketball Writers Association. Entering this season, ESPN ranked her as the 17th best player in college basketball.

It was expected that Charlisse would be back for her sophomore season. Her elder sister, though, had a decision to make. Already a fifth-year senior, Krystal was given the chance at a sixth season when the NCAA announced all student-athletes would gain one extra year of eligibility due to the pandemic.

“She milked it,” Ethridge says of Krystal’s decision with a laugh. “They torture the coach, they toy with me, both of them. They’re just like that. That’s why I love it when I can just run them. I still have a little power at times.”

Ultimately, Krystal decided to come back for that last run.

“It was kind of always a no-brainer, playing basketball alongside some of my best friends, in the best conference in America. It’s some of the best women’s basketball you’re going to get anywhere,” Krystal Leger-Walker says. “After seeing the runs we made and some of the games we won, there’s no way I didn’t want to be a part of that again.”

With their backcourt dynamos both back, the Cougars’ foundation is strong, and they have the supporting cast to build an even stronger team. Eight of the 12 players on the roster are upperclassmen. The lone freshman, Tara Wallack, is the only player who wasn’t around for last season’s magical run.

Beyond just continuity, though, what might make this year’s Cougars better?

“We shot the ball a ton this summer,” Ethridge says.

“We put them on a mission to be better shooters by the time we start. I think that’s going to be key for these players to be more successful, for our post game to be more successful, is that we can stretch the floor a little better than we could last year.”

Not only are the expectations high, but so is the standard inside the program. Ethridge says the team wants to compete with everyone in the league, and that there are teams the Cougars haven’t defeated yet. That, along with what they experienced last year, is pushing this team.

“The belief is more there than it was this time last year,” Krystal says. n

Krystal (left) and Charlisse Leger-Walker bring nearly 30 points of scoring between them. WSU ATHLETICS PHOTO

The new Eagle has landed: David Riley.

EWU ATHLETICS PHOTO

LINE OF SUCCESSION NEW EWU COACH DAVID RILEY AIMS TO BUILD ON THE SUCCESS OF HIS PREDECESSORS BY WILL MAUPIN

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t’s been a successful decade on the hardwood at Eastern Washington University, and the Eagles are moving forward with their accomplished lineage.

When it was announced in March that thenhead coach Shantay Legans would be leaving the Eagles for the University of Portland, the program needed little time to find his replacement.

Two days later, EWU announced that longserving assistant David Riley would be elevated to the top job. It was a promotion that came as a surprise to no one.

“All signs pointed to David Riley deserving the opportunity to be a NCAA Division I head basketball coach,” the school said in the opening sentence of their introductory press release.

They weren’t lying about that, either. Riley, despite being just 32 years old, had 10 years of experience on Eastern’s staff. Even more if you consider the circumstances of his career as a collegiate player across town at Whitworth.

“I played at Whitworth four years for Coach Hayford,” Riley says, referring to Legans’ predecessor at EWU, Jim Hayford. “My senior year was his last year at Whitworth. He offered me a grad assistant spot in his first year [at EWU].”

Riley followed Hayford to Eastern in 2011, right after his senior season. When Hayford left Eastern for Seattle University in 2017, the Eagles promoted long-time assistant Legans. Four years later, when Legans left for Portland, the Eagles elected to stay in-house once again.

“It shows a lot of faith and belief in what we have going here — in what we’ve built and the blueprint to our success,” Riley says. “Jim Hayford came in and built something with an incredible foundation and went to the NCAA Tournament. Then Shantay built on top of that and put his own little twist on it. Now my job is to come in and do the same thing. At the end of

the day we’re sticking to the same general plan that’s been successful for the past 10 years.”

The past seven years specifically, after Hayford, Legans, Riley and company were able to lay their foundation, have been the most successful and consistent stretch in program history. The Eagles have a 157-94 record over that span, with six winning seasons. The program has made three NCAA Tournaments all-time, with two of those coming in the past seven years.

What’s been the secret to this success? To Riley, it’s simple.

“I think it starts with the people,” Riley says.

“Recruiting the right kind of guys. Making sure you have the right guys on staff, all the way up and down. That’s the biggest thing for us. When we’re recruiting guys, the first thing on the list is character.”

Q

uite a few of the people around the program this season are new to Cheney.

The seven leading scorers from last season are all gone. Some players followed Legans to Portland. Others like Kim Aiken, who transferred to Arizona, and the Groves brothers, who transferred to Oklahoma after becoming NCAA Tournament sensations in the Eagles’ thriller against Kansas, moved to bigger programs at a higher level of the sport.

That’s not to say there isn’t continuity in Cheney, though, and the level of continuity goes much deeper than just Riley.

“We had about 21 people who traveled with the team for every game — coaches, trainers, players — and most of those guys are coming back.

We’ve got six players, we’ve got our [operations] guys and our [graduate assistants] coming back.

There’s enough continuity where the culture is going to stick,” Riley says. ...continued on next page

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www.vtti.vt.edu NOVEMBER 4, 2021 INLANDER 23

“LINE OF SUCCESSION,” CONTINUED...

However, six players and some staff aren’t enough to field a competitive basketball team. So, Riley had to act quickly over the offseason to fill out a complete roster of players and staff. He managed to keep the two freshmen who had committed to play for the program under Legans and then went out and brought in four additional freshmen of his own. On top of that, the Eagles were active in the transfer portal, where they found five players, some from the Division I level and some from junior colleges.

Riley takes over an Eagles program that is arguably in as good shape as it ever has been. Nonetheless, this season could be seen as something of a rebuilding year due to all of the turnover.

On the other hand, when handled properly, that presents an opportunity. Thanks in part to the pandemic, as strange as that may seem, taking over this season as opposed to any other gives Riley a head start on the process most first-year head coaches experience. Rule changes allowing transfers to be immediately eligible, as well as giving players an extra year of eligibility due to the pandemic, made the pool of transfer players available to Riley deeper than ever before.

David Riley in his Pirate phase.

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WHITWORTH ATHLETICS PHOTO

“It goes both ways,” Riley says. “We had a really good team that could’ve come back last year, but at the same time we’ve taken advantage of the portal and had some good players come in. We’ve had some freshmen that we think have slipped through the cracks.”

While the roster will look considerably different than it did a season ago, the product on the court should be familiar. The program’s goal remains the same: Make the NCAA Tournament.

The way they will strive to achieve that goal remains the same as well. It’s the Riley era at Eastern now, and it’s a direct descendent of the Legans and Hayford eras before it.

“Year by year it could change, personnel-wise, but I don’t have a ton of experience with other programs. This is what I know, and this is what I know has been successful. That’s going to be our identity.” n

Reinaldo Gil Zambrano reveals a woodblock print of Monroe Street Bridge at the Spokane Print & Publishing Center. YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

VISUAL ARTS

PRINT TOWN USA

Artists from Spokane seek to make impact on the art community through the annual Print Festival

BY MADISON PEARSON

W

hen artist Reinaldo Gil Zambrano moved to Spokane four years ago, he settled into the art community but had immediate ulterior

motives.

“I have a secret desire,” says Gil Zambrano. “I want to turn Spokane into a Print Town.”

And that’s exactly what he’s doing.

Since moving here, Gil Zambrano has literally made his mark on the art community in Spokane. He’s a cofounder of Spokane Print & Publishing Center, creator of Spokane Print Fest, and teaches at Eastern Washington University and the Print & Publishing center when he isn’t creating art for his own installations.

“I love printmaking and community events, and using printmaking as a tool to bring people together,” he says.

Gil Zambrano says Spokane Print Fest started as an event to assemble students, artists, professors and print enthusiasts to celebrate printed material and share it with more people in the art community.

“I heard so many people celebrating the amazing things happening in the big cities,” he says. “So I wanted to create ‘our’ festival and celebrate our regional printing community for a whole month.”

So Gil Zambrano got to work creating the Spokane Print Fest. ...continued on next page

NOVEMBER 4, 2021 INLANDER 25

HOME OF THE S P O K A N E SYM P H O N Y

T HE FOX T HEAT ER Spokane Youth Symphony

REJOICE IN COMMUNITY Sun, Nov. 7, 4pm

Spokane Symphony Masterworks 3

POINTS NORTH

James Lowe, conductor Sat, Nov. 13, 8pm•Sun, Nov. 14, 3pm

SPOKANE STRING QUARTET with Guest Artist Archie Chen Sun, Nov. 21, 3pm

ALTON BROWN: BEYOND THE EATS Tues, Nov. 23, 7:30pm

Spokane Symphony with State Street Ballet

THE NUTCRACKER BALLET Morihiko Nakahara, conductor

Thurs, Dec. 2 , 7:30pm • Fri, Dec. 3, 7:30pm Sat, Dec. 4, 2pm & 7:30pm • Sun, Dec. 5, 2pm Spokane Symphony

HOLIDAY POPS WITH THE SWEEPLINGS Morihiko Nakahara, conductor Sat, Dec. 18, 8pm • Sun, Dec. 19, 2pm Spokane Symphony

NEW YEAR’S EVE: BEETHOVEN’S NINTH James Lowe, conductor Fri Dec. 31, 7:30pm

Spokane Symphony Masterworks 4

ECKART RETURNS

Eckart Preu, conductor Sat, Jan. 15, 8pm • Sun, Jan. 16, 3pm M AST E R WO R KS

Inbal Segev, cello

3

POINTS NORTH

James Lowe, Conductor

SAT, NOV. 13 8PM • SUN, NOV. 14 3PM

With Hope and

Thanksgiving Featuring excerpts from

HANDEL’S MESSIAH and modern choral classics James Lowe, Conductor with

SPOKANE SYMPHONY CHORALE & CHAMBER SINGERS Kristina Ploeger-Hekmatpanah, Director

SAT NOV 20 7:30PM

ST. JOHN’S CATHEDRAL 127 E 12TH AVE, SPOKANE, WA

Tickets (509) 624-1200 SpokaneSymphony.org • FoxTheaterSpokane.org 26 INLANDER NOVEMBER 4, 2021

CULTURE | VISUAL ARTS “PRINT TOWN USA,” CONTINUED...

“We wanted to have an event where people goes hand-in-hand with the world of print and could see professional works on paper in differpublishing. ent galleries from regional and national artists, “I’m completely self-taught,” says Hewitt. “I enjoy regional artists’ workshops, and participate was that kid who would read in her room from in panel discussions and lectures,” he says. “At the moment I woke up in the morning until the the same time, we wanted to offer our students sun went down.” an opportunity to become instructors and share Hewitt started creating art with books about their skills with their community to realize the seven years ago. Her art forces a new perspective difference between a fine art print and a photoonto observers, taking an object they’re familiar copy and be also part of the creative process. with and changing the meaning almost entirely.

“Our first ever Spokane Print Fest [in 2019] Her workshop for Print Fest this year, on Nov. was a great time with all our ideas materializing 10, is based on this idea of forced perspective. and our community supporting it fully,” Gil Zambrano recalls. “We got so excited about the possibilities and opportunities to expand for the following years. Still, COVID happened, and SPF also had to be adaptable and go online, switching from April to November, and offering exhibitions on different locations through virtual visits, online panel discussions and digital demos.”

After moving the Spokane Print Fest Gil Zambrano wants to turn Spokane into a Print Town. YOUNG KWAK PHOTO completely online last year due the pandemic, the in-person festival “This year I’m teaching a workshop on a is back this year, and it’s packed with hands-on structure called the tunnel book,” she says. “It’s in experiences and shows ready to wow the comthe same realm as pop-up books, but this is more munity. of a book that is meant to throw you into a scene.

Taking you ‘down’ a tunnel.” il Zambrano didn’t work alone to create When asked why Print Fest is so important the annual festival; he had help from for the community, Hewitt says print and publishother local artists as well as the support ing as art forms could always use some more love of the nonprofit arts organization Terrain and the in Spokane. local arts community.

“The most prominent art forms in Spokane Jackie Caro, Terrain’s operations director, are definitely pottery and 2-D visual art,” she was immediately sold on Print Fest, wanting to says. “Part of the reason that Reinaldo came up get things rolling right away and help Gil Zamwith Print Fest is to bring a new medium of art brano’s dream come to fruition. to Spokane. We want to get a community of “When Reinaldo came to us with the idea, printmaking going here.” we absolutely loved it,” Caro says. “We wanted Next year, both artists hope that Print Fest to give people the opportunity to collaborate will be back up and running during its regular inside of our event spaces and to showcase their timeline in April, and pushing full steam ahead work in our gallery.” by bringing local universities back into the mix Caro says that the beauty of Print Fest is seeand having even more galleries open their doors ing an often overlooked art form come to life. to the printmakers of Spokane.

“To a lot of people, when you say print, they “We are looking forward to growing this think, ‘Oh it’s just easy, you just print it,’ but event and incorporating more institutions and to see what goes into these print techniques is galleries, making this a festival that celebrates all incredible,” she says. “Someone who’s doing, say, things prints and book arts for a whole month,” a block print has to actually carve out that wood says Gil Zambrano. block and then print it. We usually just see the “Our city has tons of potential to become the finished product and don’t realize what went into hosting place for people in the region to gather that piece of art.” and share their passion for printmaking. We Several artists who’ve been involved since the believe this will enrich our town considerably in festival’s beginning are also excited to get back to future years, claiming April as the month of print its roots after a year online. in Spokane.” n Mel Hewitt, who started as a member of Spokane Print & Publishing Center, now serves as a Spokane Print Festival • Nov. 5-27 • Prices and Print Fest board member. Though her preferred event locations vary • spokaneprintfest.com • medium of book art is not exactly printmaking, it 509-443-3399

G

CULTURE | DIGEST

THE BUZZ BIN

Actors exchange Salish dialogue in Strongest at the End of the World.

NO CINEMATIC RESERVATIONS

SHADLE’S NEW LOOK After closing for two years to undergo a major renovation that nearly doubled the size of Spokane Public Library’s second-busiest branch, the Shadle Library reopened this week. Upgrades to the branch, part of a $77 million voter-approved bond, include lots of free meeting space, a kids’ play area, kitchen for classes and events, “discovery” garden, drive-thru book drop, quiet reading room, and more. Next up for remodel is the Indian Trail Library, now closed until mid-2022. Meanwhile, the downtown branch — renamed the Central Library — is expected to reopen in spring 2022. SPL also recently rolled out a newly redesigned website at spokanelibrary.org; updates on all bond-funded projects are at future.spokanelibrary.org. (CHEY SCOTT)

A Salish short by Counting Coup Films hopes to grow the film industry in Indian country

T

BY SETH SOMMERFELD

he fire crackles under the vast starry sky, keeping Quemtshena and Xwistu warm on this chilled autumn night. The pair huddle around the blaze and discuss what to name their unborn child in front of their tule mat tipi. The tension between the two is as visible as their warm breath through the cold air, crackling with an intensity that pops like the fireengulfed tinder.

Then the director yells cut.

About an hour and a half north of Spokane on the Kalispel Indian Reservation, the second night of shooting has begun on the short film Strongest at the End of the World, a period piece/supernatural thriller in which the two lead actors speak entirely in Salish.

The brainchild of writer, director and cinematographer Ryan Abrahamson, a Spokane Tribe member, the project serves as a small but ambitious piece of artistic representation.

“I’ve never seen a Salish movie,” says Abrahamson during our on-set visit, “so when we were rolling yesterday and they were speaking Salish in the hunting scene? That’s f---ing nuts.

“We’ve got them in [Pre-Colonial] period costume, speaking period Salish, in an actual region they existed in,” he says. “It just feels like we’re on the right path.

All the local elders here and local leadership love this.”

Authenticity was paramount for Abrahamson. The tipi in the aforementioned scene was crafted by Shawn Brigman, a member of the Spokane Tribe who works out of Spokane Public Library and Spokane Public School’s communal space, The Hive. The tule mat tipi took eight hours just to assemble on-site for the shoot, which is a fraction of the time it takes to harvest the reeds and put together the mats in the first place.

Sulustu “Barry” Moses acts as the film’s Salish language adviser, helping actors Tanajsia Slaughter (Quemtshena) and Shane DuBray (Xwistu) wrap their tongues around an extremely tricky dialect for the untrained.

“This is a really advanced Salish,” says Abrahamson. “It’s not just colors and numbers, which is Salish 1.

They’re on Salish 3, and they’ve never heard this stuff.

Our guy Barry’s been teaching it for several years, and he’s like, ‘These guys are great.’ That said, even he recognizes Salish is f---ing hard. It’s not like studying Spanish. You don’t know where the word stops and where it begins. Because the sounds are just wholly different.”

Strongest at the End of the World falls under the umbrella of Counting Coup Films, Abrahamson’s production company. Counting Coup’s goal is to “preserve the past, share the future” in part by training aspiring young Native American filmmakers in various on-set roles. To date, the company has created a wide variety of shorts, PSAs, music videos, etc.

The stealth goal of Strongest is to try to push for more film incentives in Washington state, specifically ones directed at film shoots in Indian country. Washington notoriously does not have great incentives for film shooting — only $3.5 million annually. It’s why so many shoots go to places that prioritize incentives that make productions financially feasible, such as Vancouver, British Columbia (which offers a 35 percent tax credit) and Georgia (which gave out $870 million in subsidies in 2019). Abrahamson thinks not taking advantage of the unique shooting locations that reservations provide is just foolish.

“There’re like 29 [reservations] in Washington.

All of them have dramatically different climates.

They’re all kind of like (popular filming location) New Zealand, because there’s swaths of land that are undeveloped.”

He’s hoping Stronger can shake Olympia awake to the potential economic and social boon of Indian filmmaking in the state.

“Everyone wants to make movies,” says Abrahamson. “They just want to be represented, right?” n

BLUE NOTES During last year’s election, Jason Isbell tweeted that he’d record a covers album of Georgia artists if the state went blue for Joe Biden, and he kept his word with Georgia Blue, a 13-song set that feels anything but tossed off on a whim. It starts and ends with R.E.M. tunes (“Nightswimming” and “Driver 8”), includes guest appearances by both hot newcomers (Brittney Spencer, Adia Victoria) and established stars (Brandi Carlile, Bela Fleck), and delivers some serious highlights as Isbell tackles Otis Redding (“I’ve Been Loving You Too Long”) and the Black Crowes (“Sometimes Salvation”). Best of all, proceeds from the album, available now digitally and soon on CD and LP, go to voting-rights groups in Georgia. (DAN NAILEN) THIS WEEK’S PLAYLIST Noteworthy new music arriving in stores and online Nov 5: RADIOHEAD, Kid A Mnesia. While its core might be reissues of Kid A and Amnesiac, the real draw here is a third disc featuring unreleased material from the albums’ recording sessions.

ABBA, Voyage. On their first new album in 40 (!!!) years, ABBA sounds remarkably unchanged. Must be something in that Swedish water.

SNAIL MAIL, Valentine. Indie singer-songwriter Lindsey Jordan’s sophomore LP took longer than expected to arrive. This delay isn’t Louis DeJoy’s fault, though. (SETH SOMMERFELD)

NOVEMBER 4, 2021 INLANDER 27

CULTURE | LITERATURE

Grim Tidings Scablands Books’ latest regional writing anthology, Evergreen, is a deep dive into humanity’s dark side

BY CHEY SCOTT

G

ritty. Gruesome. Gripping. Glittering.

These words and more describe Evergreen: Grim Tales & Verses From the Gloomy Northwest, a newly released anthology from Scablands Books, the small independent press founded by Spokane author Sharma Shields.

A 377-page collection of poetry and prose, both fiction and nonfiction, Evergreen features the words and musings of 56 Pacific Northwest writers. Among the tales contained within its navy blue and gold-etched cover are stories that, Shields hopes, stick with readers long after they’ve set the book down. Evergreen ($25) released this week and is available locally at Auntie’s Bookstore and Wishing Tree Books, plus a few other local retailers, and online at scablandsbooks.org.

“Literature of despair,” as she’s dubbed it, has long been Shields’ personal creative focus, seen in her two novels, The Sasquatch Hunter’s Almanac and The Cassandra, plus dozens of short stories. For Evergreen, however, Shields sought to collect similar somber stories from fellow writers across the Inland Northwest, from the Pacific Coast to Western Montana.

The result is an unhappy mix of stories — no optimistic fairytale endings here — about death and destruction, colonization and oppression, monsters and molesters, and plenty more uncomfortable truths about the terrible things humans inflict on each other and are forced to endure.

In one sense, Evergreen feels like the literary equivalent to rubbernecking over grisly tragedy. While it fulfills that morbid, animal impulse to watch those around us suffer through unimaginable loss or pain, the anthology also underscores that we’re all battling our own demons, real or imagined, seen and unseen.

Despite this bleak theme, Shields hopes readers find solidarity, personal connection and even comfort in Evergreen’s writers and characters.

“This is kind of the antidote to social media,” and its carefully curated content of life’s happy highlights, she says.

“It’s a real story that you can stay with for a while, and get to know these characters and their experiences, and see a side of life that is not glorified, but spoken about with real honesty. That is increasingly rare, I think, for people.”

Many of Evergreen’s inclusions are based on writers’ real, lived experiences, Shields says, including Richard Fifield’s recounting of a deadly car accident, CMarie Fuhrman’s encounter with a maimed coyote, and Elissa Washuta’s bitter reflection on the generations-long trauma White colonizers have inflicted on Indigenous people like her and her ancestors.

Other pieces center on the more absurd and fantastically grotesque, like Shawn Vestal’s Frankenstein-esque monster that destroys a small, rural town, and Erin Pringle’s “Digging,” about a filicidal mother.

Evergreen is bookended by a quote and poem from the late Washington state poet Lucia Perillo, a MacArthur Fellow whose poetry often reflected on mortality and life with multiple sclerosis, a disease Shields also lives with.

In her introduction for Evergreen, Shields summarizes her

28 INLANDER NOVEMBER 4, 2021

fascination with and appreciation for such serious, bleak literature: “It’s not that grim writing can solve the world’s many problems, but that, by reading it, we can perhaps more fully see what these problems are.”

S

hields founded Scablands Books back in 2017 to focus on publishing local writers’ work.

“I was seeing local writers who were writing really quirky and interesting work, but not being published,” she says. “I really wanted to get their work out there, and I have always been really interested in the publishing business in every regard.”

As founder, publisher and editor, Shields admits that, early on, she realized Scablands was a big project to tackle solo. Running it as a nonprofit has also proved more difficult than she foresaw.

“I tend to want to support the community more than I want to make sure that we still have money for next year’s printing costs, so that is a big lesson I’m learning,” she says.

The logistics of running the small press have smoothed out since Shields brought on designer Keely Honeywell, who oversees layout, typography, cover design and other elements of the book-making process.

Poet Maya Jewell Zeller also serves as Scablands’ poetry editor.

“I might do a little editing with the poetry, but Maya really handles the schematics, and you know, she is a wizard with all those things in a way that I’m not,” Shields says.

Many other local writers and poets have contributed to Scablands’ success. Several of its existing titles were created to support fellow community nonprofits, like Lilac City Fairy Tales (benefitting Spark Central), Try This at Home (Carl Maxey Center) and Baby Speaks Salish (Salish School of Spokane).

Evergreen is one of few Scablands projects not connected to another nonprofit, an intentional decision to “see if we could have an anthology where the money was coming back to us,” Shields says.

“We have such an awesome collection of writers in the anthology, it’ll be fun to finally hold the actual book in our hands,” Shields says. “I’m getting really excited for how the book will be received.” n

The cover for Evergreen: Grim Tales & Verses From the Gloomy Northwest (above) and an illustration by Katrina Roberts in the anthology.

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NOVEMBER 4, 2021 INLANDER 29

DRINK LOCAL

BUZZ

Without the Booze Mocktails are becoming more common as drink menu standards, giving both nondrinkers and imbibers more options

BY MADISON PEARSON

I

n the corner of my grandma’s bedroom sat a baseball trophy. This trophy was different from most. It stood about two feet high, with two red-and-gold graduation cords draped around a shiny gold baseball player perched on top.

My cousins and I would stare at it, but knew it was not to be touched.

The trophy belonged to my late uncle Ronnie, who died in a drunk-driving accident before I was born. My grandma made me promise to her from a young age that I would stay away from alcohol for fear of my meeting the same fate as Ronnie did, turning her world upside down. His death was a huge loss to the small-town community where he lived and where I grew up. All of my high school teachers knew Ronnie; they all had fond memories with him and talked about him often.

When I turned 21 my grandma wasn’t around anymore, but I didn’t want to feel guilty for breaking promises that we sealed with a twist of our pinkies all those years ago.

So, no, I don’t feel alienated by friends when we’re out on a Saturday night at a karaoke bar. I’m going to sing my heart out to Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” whether I have a Truly in my hand or not. Still, I can’t help but feel a bit annoyed when I’m sipping tap water or soda through two tiny, plastic straws while my best friend drinks something extraordinarily pink that probably tastes just as good as it looks.

One positive outcome of the pandemic is that the nonalcoholic drink market skyrocketed in 2020 as people re-evaluated their relationship with alcohol during and after lockdowns.

Food and beverage industry tracker Tastewise reports searches for nonalcoholic beverages are back up 47 percent since April 2020, when related search terms hit an all-time low.

Trending “Sober October” and “Dry January” movements also continue to help bulk up nonalcoholic drink menus at bars and restaurants, with more people abstaining from alcohol consumption during those months — and after — than ever before.

That had us thinking, what do drinking establishments in the Inland Northwest have to offer to those of us tired of the same old G&T, hold the G? Here’s just a sampling of what we found.

30 INLANDER NOVEMBER 4, 2021

FACING PAGE: A Bijou mocktail with elderflower and lavender syrup, butterfly pea flower tea, lemon juice and soda water. YOUNG KWAK PHOTO

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BIJOU

1925 W. Fourth Ave. and 2910 E. 29th Ave., facebook.com/bijoubeverages, 509-413-2379 Bijou in Browne’s Addition only sits about seven, but the small space isn’t lacking in character or atmosphere. Along with bartending and managing the business, owners Shelayna and Tyson Skidmore produce their Skidmore Alchemy bitters and syrups to go in their craft cocktails.

“When we opened Bijou, we wanted to make sure that we had options for people who don’t drink alcohol,” says Shelayna. “That’s why we decided to go the tea-based route and make all of our syrups in house.”

Shelayna asks non-alcohol-consuming patrons what flavors they like, dislike, and how she can make their mocktail experience as fun and as non-othering as possible.

For me, she makes a drink with a base of butterfly pea flower tea with Bijou’s housemade elderflower and lavender syrups. She finishes it off with a splash of soda water and some lemon juice, and garnishes the glass with a piece of lemon peel.

DURKIN’S LIQUOR BAR

415 W. Main Ave., durkinsliquorbar.com, 509-863-9501 If you’re a sucker for something out-of-theordinary to drink, Durkin’s should be on your radar. Bartender Blaine McNicol says all of Durkin’s cocktails can be restructured to become mocktails.

“We always try to create nonalcoholic drinks when people ask,” he says. “We get customers asking for them all of the time, and accommodation is really important.”

Durkin’s current menu features a cocktail called the DFLB, usually containing aquavit and vodka, but that becomes nonalcoholic by simply replacing the aforementioned with pomegranate juice and 7UP. Honey and yogurt in the drink add creamy texture and a tangy punch, making it a unique replacement for the dull tonic water, lime and ice that usually comes with a nonalcoholic night out.

WILEY’S DOWNTOWN BISTRO 115 N. Washington St., wileysbistro.com, 509-838-4600 Wiley’s boasts a daily mocktail at the top of the “alcohol-free” section of its lengthy cocktail menu, which is a treat in the alcohol-free world.

(Representation matters, people!)

Of course, we couldn’t get through this list without some PNW huckleberry representation, so the huckleberry limeade mocktail at Wiley’s gets a shout-out. It’s vibrantly purple and makes your lips pucker, two important factors in any drink.

If you’re down for something more understated, the alcohol-free drinks section also offers ginger beer, flavored iced teas and hot apple cider — great for an autumn night out or to accompany dinner.

HONEY EATERY & SOCIAL CLUB

317 Sherman Ave, Coeur d’Alene, honeyeateryandsocialclub.com, 208-930-1514 If you don’t drink, being social at a pub can be daunting, especially when the name includes the word “social.” Honey Eatery & Social Club in Coeur d’Alene offers three standard house mocktails — here called “virgin cocktails” — on its extensive drink menu for anyone who abstains from liquor, as well as plenty of hot coffee and tea if you’re looking to warm up before braving the changing weather outside.

The orange popsicle mocktail is a must if you’re a citrus lover. Once mixed, it becomes a creamsicle concoction that recalls chasing down the ice cream truck as a kid, and the whipped cream is an exciting and enjoyable touch.

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I

t would be remiss not to mention the price difference of cocktails vs. mocktails. No matter if you’re drinking Coke or a specialty mocktail, you’re going to be paying significantly less than your alcohol-drinking counterparts.

Alcohol is pricey, and a big selling point of abstaining from it is the money saved on Friday nights at the bar.

Recently, though, bartenders have been given new tools to create mocktails: nonalcoholic spirits. These products have ENTRÉE the great(?)

Get the scoop on local taste of alcohol food news with our weekly without the Entrée newsletter. Sign up side effects that at Inlander.com/newsletter. come with consuming it. But the price point comes back to bite, adding that former deduction back into the total.

“They’re simply not worth it,” says Bijou’s Skidmore. “Who’s going to spend $8 on a mocktail when others are spending that much on a cocktail? It seems steep just for the added flavor profile.”

Zero-proof spirits are interesting in concept, but not practical when it comes to what most people look for in mocktails. Brands like Seedlip and Ritual sell 750 milliliter bottles of tequilainspired spirits for just as much, or even more, as your run-of-the-mill Jose Cuervo.

“We would much rather cater a unique drink to your specific taste than just substitute spirits for nonalcoholic spirits,” Skidmore says. “Some specialty alcohols that cannot be replaced by common syrups are being mimicked, but that’s the only time I would ever splurge on a zeroproof spirit.”

Whether you don’t drink for personal reasons or you just can’t stand the taste of alcohol, there’s a whole new world out there for us sober folk in the form of mocktails that don’t suck.

Don’t be afraid to ask for accommodation, garner your courage and sing your heart out with that mocktail in hand at karaoke night. n

NOVEMBER 4, 2021 INLANDER 31

FOOD | OPENING

Lebanon Cafe’s sampler platter includes hummus, dolmades, falafel and more.

CARRIE SCOZZARO PHOTO

Mediterranean Mouthful Newly opened Lebanon Restaurant & Café welcomes fans of Lebanese cuisine and culture

BY CARRIE SCOZZARO

T

he downtown medical community got a new neighbor at Fifth and Wall recently, offering a convenient spot for culinary exploration of the Mediterranean diet, touted as a heart-healthy cuisine particular to Italy, Greece and Middle Eastern countries on the Mediterranean Sea. Anchoring the ground floor space of the Cooper George apartments, Lebanon Restaurant & Café opened in June, much to the online delight of local foodies.

The restaurant’s most popular dishes, explains general manager Saif Alazrai, are shawarma, gyros, kofta

32 INLANDER NOVEMBER 4, 2021

kebabs and a sampler platter ($16).

Although the dishes on its menu might be found in culinary traditions throughout the Middle East, the focus here is the Lebanese version, Alazrai says.

Shawarma, for example, references the way meat turns as it cooks — rotisserie-style — in a dish ubiquitous across the Middle East. Lebanon Café offers chicken, beef or lamb shawarma wrapped in a pita ($13-$15) or on a platter ($14-$17), drizzled with a creamy, nutty dressing called tahini. But the basmati rice that accompanies all entrees is uniquely Lebanese.

Tinted gold with turmeric and saffron, Lebanon Café’s basmati is made enigmatically fragrant — is that fenugreek? a touch of cumin? — by something Alazrai describes as Lebanese seven spices. Available at spice merchants as baharat, a Lebanese spice blend might vary widely, much like Indian curry, Japanese togarashi, or North African ras el hanout.

For newcomers to Lebanese cuisine, R E S TA U R A N T ask your server any FINDER questions, or keep your Looking for a new place to phone handy to Google eat? Search the region’s dishes. The feast platter most comprehensive bar ($44), for example, and restaurant guide at includes two each of Inlander.com/places. vegetarian and beef kofta kebabs and one each of the chicken and beef shish kebab, so although both are roasted on a skewer (kebab), kofta is more of a meatball.

In the sampler platter ($16), find hummus, that thick, creamy spread of pureed chickpeas, pungent with garlic.

It’s typically spread on pita bread, but also a tasty bite when paired with a forkful of tabbouleh salad, a wheat grain smaller than rice and also nuttier, tossed with finely chopped parsley and tomatoes. You’ll also get dolmades, grape leaves preserved so that they’re sturdy but mouthtender and stuffed with seasoned rice and veggies. And fried falafel patties and spinach pie both pair well with tangy tzatziki sauce of yogurt, cucumber and spices.

You can see how the restaurant prepares Lebanese coffee ($5) on its Facebook page. First, they grind beans from a Lebanese coffee brand called Maatouk, and use a long-handled metal coffee pot warmed over heated sand to produce a cup that’s likely stronger than any espresso.

Coffee’s perfect accompaniment is dessert, and Lebanon Café has three choices. Baklava ($5), familiar to fans of Spokane’s annual Greek food festival, is a pastry made with layers of thin, flaky filo dough, plus walnuts, cinnamon and honey. Knafeh ($7) uses the same filo dough, but includes Arabic cheese, pistachio nuts and honey. And qatayef ($6), which many of Lebanon Café’s online fans have expressed cravings for, are dumplings stuffed with walnuts and cinnamon and covered in syrup.

Lebanon Café has a robust to-go business, including breakfast pitas ($5), smoothies and shakes. Its owners plan to add more dishes in the near future, including baba ghanoush and shakshuka, with live music and belly dance performances scheduled through the end of December. n Lebanon Restaurant & Cafe • 707 W. Fifth Ave. • Open daily 11 am-8 pm • lebanonrestaurantandcafe.com • 509-279-2124

GlobeBar_JustDance_110421_5H_CFP

NOVEMBER 4, 2021 INLANDER 33

EPIC FAILURE REVIEW

The Marvel Cinematic Universe makes a major misstep with Eternals

BY JOSH BELL

T

he opening onscreen text of Marvel’s Eternals lays out the history of the title characters as if it’s a creation myth for the universe, and in a way that’s exactly what it is. The Eternals aren’t just individuals with extraordinary powers; they’re a race of beings who’ve shaped the entirety of human development for thousands of years, and they carry themselves with the corresponding solemnity.

That doesn’t sound like the recipe for a fun superhero adventure, and the tension between grandiose cosmology and blockbuster action is never resolved. Eternals is a ponderous sci-fi movie about the meaning of existence, drawing from heady cult classics like 2001: A Space Odyssey and Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life. But it’s also the latest building block in the never-ending Marvel Cinematic Universe, capped with multiple post-credits scenes that

The superpowered stars of Eternals don’t shine.

34 INLANDER NOVEMBER 4, 2021

set up future movies. Director and co-writer Chloé Zhao also devotes substantial time to the small-scale character interactions that define her earlier films, including the Oscar-winning Nomadland.

Those various pieces aren’t successful on their own and don’t fit well together. They combine to drag the 157-minute movie down, as it lumbers across history and slowly brings together an unwieldy set of 10 main characters. Early scenes establish the arrival of the immortal alien Eternals on Earth in 5000 B.C., sent by godlike galactic entities known as Celestials with a primary directive to protect humanity from the deadly monsters known as Deviants. But the Eternals also mingle with humans, using their powers to help shape human culture and civilization, even though they’re technically not supposed to interfere with human conflicts.

That’s the flimsy excuse for why the Eternals have remained hidden until now, never helping any of the other MCU superheroes with various world-threatening catastrophes. They’re living mundane lives scattered around the globe, until Eternals Sersi (Gemma Chan) and Sprite (Lia McHugh) unexpectedly encounter a Deviant in present-day London. With the Deviants seemingly returned, the Eternals slowly reunite, starting with Sersi’s former lover Ikaris (Richard Madden). Eventually a larger threat emerges, and in typical MCU fashion, the Eternals must band together to save Earth from destruction.

The Deviants are mostly just savage beasts, so Eternals lacks a primary villain for the heroes to focus on. Instead, there’s a lot more intra-group conflict, as centuries of resentments and disagreements come to the forefront for all 10 Eternals. The fractured relationship between Sersi

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and Ikaris gets the most attention, but Zhao attempts to make time for all of the other Eternals, including fierce but unstable warrior Thena (Angelina Jolie), introspective inventor Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry), wisecracking movie star Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani) and wise leader Ajak (Salma Hayek).

All of those characters and more struggle for the movie’s attention, and none of them progress beyond thin sketches. Most of the dialogue is pompous and overstated, which makes the standard ETERNALS MCU comic relief, especially the awkward references to Rated PG-13 other Marvel characters, sound Directed by Chloé Zhao jarring and out of place. The Starring Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Lia McHugh characters continuously pontificate but rarely say anything, and Chan and Madden generate no passion as characters who have supposedly been in love for thousands of years.

Zhao shot much of the movie on location rather than on sound stages, as is common for MCU movies, but the characters still feel divorced from the world around them.

The action sequences are unremarkable, and the characters’ range of powers mostly just amounts to slight variations on the same swirls of gold CGI. Even lesser MCU movies can generally be relied on to deliver fast-paced blockbuster entertainment, but there’s very little fun in Eternals. It’s sprawling and somber, collapsing under the weight of its own misguided ambitions. n

NOW SHOWING: BEANS PASSING THE HIDDEN LIVES OF TREES THE FRENCH DISPATCH

ALSO OPENING BEANS

Set against the backdrop of the Oka Crisis — a violent 1990 land dispute between the Mohawk people and residents of Oka, Quebec — this Mohawkmade coming-of-age story wrestles with a young girl trying to find her way in the midst of cultural chaos. At the Magic Lantern. (SS) Not rated.

PASSING

Issues of racial identity come to the forefront of this New York-set 1920s period piece, when a Black woman (Tessa Thompson) reconnects with a childhood friend (Ruth Negga) who is passing as a White woman. At the Magic Lantern. (SS) Rated PG-13.

FOR SHOWTIMES: 509-209-2383 or MAGICLANTERNONMAIN.COM For all rental information email: MagicLanternEvents@gmail.com 25 W Main Ave #125 • MagicLanternOnMain.com

Celebrate First Friday at Two Winey Bitches...

SPENCER

Director Pablo Larraín (Jackie) once again turns his eye toward another ultrachic/ultimately tragic woman, as Kristen Stewart plays the titular Princess Diana in a role that looks to be catnip for Oscar voters. (SS) Rated R.

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NOVEMBER 4, 2021 INLANDER 35

Granger Smith and the explosive Earl Dibbles Jr.

CHARACTER WORK

IGNORANCE IS BLI$$ Searching for substance in country singer Granger Smith’s comedic redneck alter-ego, Earl Dibbles Jr.

BY SETH SOMMERFELD

A

lot of people would love to be music stars. A lot of music stars love being other people.

There’s no shortage of notable alter-egos throughout musical history. David Bowie glammed up to portray the interstellar Ziggy Stardust. Cross-dressing punk David Johansen turned on the cheese to become lounge singer Buster Poindexter. Miley Cyrus split time as Hannah Montana, and mined the musical double-life for kiddie sitcom hijinks. The list goes on and on. A current cog in that continuum is Earl Dibbles Jr., the redneck alter-ego of country singer Granger Smith.

On his own, Granger Smith has settled into a comfortable spot in the modern country landscape.

The Texan’s had five albums land on Billboard’s country charts on the strength of relatively nondescript moderate hits like the love song “It Happens Like That” and the pickup truck-driving ode “Backroad Song.” If there was a video game about country singers, Smith would be the generic default in the create-a-singer mode. So it’s not shocking he’d look for a way to break out of that mold.

Earl Dibbles Jr. emerged in 2011 via a video Smith made titled “Country Boy (Part 1).” The documentary

36 INLANDER NOVEMBER 4, 2021

style follows Dibbles — Smith speaking in a slack-jaw drawl while adorned in overalls, a white tank top, and a trucker hat — during his daily routine of cracking cold ones, putting in dips of chewing tobacco, shooting his shotgun, etc. It’s relatively mundane, but was enough of a YouTube hit that Smith decided to record a song as Dibbles, 2012’s “Country Boy Song,” which extols the virtues of the stereotypes laid out in his initial video.

Sitting at 27 million views, the music video for the song is by far Smith’s most-watched clip.

It led to a slew of Dibbles content: fake presidential campaigns, college football picks videos, and in-character songs on all of Smith’s subsequent albums. Five of Smith’s top-eight songs on Spotify are Dibbles tunes including the on-the-nose “Merica” and “Don’t Tread on Me,” the gasguzzling “Diesel,” and the Smith/Dibbles duet “Holler.”

If the Blue Collar Comedy tour had a musical opener, it would probably be Dibbles since he’s essentially a living “You Might Be a Redneck” joke (except poorly written by a musician instead of a comedian) mixed with a somehow far less subtle Larry the Cable Guy (Dibbles even has a catchphrase, “Yee Yee,” which Smith has adopted for his Yee Yee Apparel brand).

W

hile alter-egos may seem like less of a fit in country than other pop genres, the trend actually predates the more familiar rock star touchstones. In 1953, Hank Wiliams released an album of songs as Luke the Drifter. The character dispensed temperate moralistic wisdom, essentially serving as the antithesis of Williams’s real life persona centered on hard living, boozing and infidelity. One of the most-mocked alternate identities also emerged from country — Garth Brooks’s moody, soul-patched rock persona Chris Gaines.

Comedic musical alter-egos are also nothing new.

Digital Underground’s Humpty Hump allowed rapper Shock G to tap into his sillier and raunchier side, and fans ate it up. Father John Misty started out as Josh Tillman’s fabulously cutting satire on L.A. rockstar navelgazing (though the humor of FJM flew over many folks’ heads, who took it literally and found it unsufferable).

Scrolling back through YouTube, one can see that Dibbles isn’t Smith’s first attempt at comedy and character work, and isn’t even his most cringey one. Granger also attempted to embody an awkward interviewer (Lionel), an obsessed female fan (Key), a magician (Criss Angel), and most troublingly, a mind-numbingly lazy, racist

UPCOMING SHOWS Be sure to check with venues about vaccination/COVID test requirements.

SAWYER BROWN Thu, Nov. 4 at 7:30 pm Northern Quest Casino $39-$69

BARONESS Wed, Nov. 17 at 8 pm Lucky You Lounge $60

KUINKA, STRANGE HOTELS Fri, Nov. 5 at 8 pm Lucky You Lounge $15-$18

THE BOBBY LEES, ITCHY KITTY Thu, Nov. 18 at 9 pm Baby Bar $5

THIRD EYE BLIND Fri, Nov. 5 at 7:30 pm ICCU Arena (Moscow) $55-$75

SPOKANE STRING QUARTET WITH ARCHIE CHEN Sun, Nov. 21 at 3 pm The Fox $20

LIZ COOPER, PEARL CHARLES Sat, Nov. 13 at 8 pm Lucky You Lounge $15-$18 EARTH GROANS, EMPTY, NO HOME, GHOST HEART, STUBBORN WILL Tue, Nov. 16 at 7 pm Big Dipper $10

Hey Spokane!

now broadcasting with 100,000 watts and in full

THANKSGIVING THROWDOWN VII Wed, Nov. 24 at 6:30 pm Knitting Factory Free TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA Fri, Nov. 26 at 7:30 pm Spokane Arena $50-$70

enchiladas peddler (Freddy). In an equally questionable call, he posted an edited version of the much-memed Nazi bunker scene from the movie Downfall to make it look like Granger Smith is Adolf Hitler’s favorite artist (in fairness, David Bowie also courted facism during his Thin White Duke era).

But while Earl Dibbles Jr. is clearly presented in a comedic framing, it’s hard to determine exactly what the joke is supposed to be. (For the record, the Inlander reached out for an interview with Smith to try to understand Dibbles, but received no response.) Self-described as a white trash man who needs to “practice [his] words” to get good at reading, it feels like it should be wildly insulting to Smith’s rural-identifying country fans. If Saturday Night Live just aired Dibbles sketches sans context, there’d likely be Fox News segments the following week bemoaning how the coastal media elite is out of touch and offensive.

But instead, his fans eat it up, seemingly as a sort of “f--- you” to the imaginary city folks in their head. Dibbles has all the trappings of satire, but is presented with 90 percent earnestness. It seems more a way of Smith being allowed to embrace the ’Merica mindset and profit off the folks who like it without having to commit himself to it: Granger’s not saying this stuff, Earl is. Smith has mostly steered away from making Dibbles overtly political besides being paranoid and defiant about not letting the government take his guns (Yee Yee Apparel completely sold out of its softshell jackets designed for concealed carry).

Dibbles’s success seems emblematic of the race to the lowest common denominator of modern pop country. It’s the rockinfused monotony of the Blake Shelton, Florida-Georgia Line and Luke Bryans of the world. It’s people who’d cite rebel country as their inspiration only opining for keeping the status quo. In theory, Dibbles could be the shell for some humorous commentary, but when cracking the character open, it’s mostly empty with the only substance being a gnarly cup of chew spit. n Granger Smith featuring Earl Dibbles Jr. • Wed, Nov. 10 at 8 pm • $25-$27 • Knitting Factory • 919 W. Sprague Ave. • sp.knittingfactory.com • 509-244-3279

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More Vendors Welcome! Sign up at BeYoutifulLocalMarket.com NOVEMBER 4, 2021 INLANDER 37

EWU’s Eric Barriere

ERICK DOXEY PHOTO

SPORTS FLY LIKE AN EAGLE

The Eastern Washington University football team was flying high at 7-0. Their star quarterback Eric Barriere had vaulted himself into the poll position for the Walter Payton Award, as he’d been making opponents look absolutely foolish — he threw for seven touchdowns against Idaho, and legitimately could’ve tossed 10. But then Weber State came to town, and the Eagles got their wings clipped a bit with a 1-point loss.

While the squad is still a near-lock to make the FCS playoffs, they now absolutely need to beat the Big Sky-leading Montana State Bobcats if they want to win the conference title. Expect an electric atmosphere for this crucial matchup on Senior Day at Roos Field.

— SETH SOMMERFELD EWU Eagles vs. Montana State Bobcats • Sat, Nov. 6 at 1 pm • $60-$80 • EWU Roos Field • 1250 Swoop Ln., Cheney • goeags.com • 509-359-6059 • Televised on SWX

THEATER SMILING’S MY FAVORITE!

Don’t be a cotton headed ninny muggins: Join the kids of Spokane’s Christian Youth Theater for their holiday season production of Elf: The Musical. Based on the 2003 hit movie starring Will Ferrell, the musical tells the familiar and beloved by all ages story of Buddy, an orphan who grew up at the North Pole alongside Santa and his elves, believing he was one, too. But when Buddy finds out that’s not the case — he’s actually human — he travels to New York City to find his real father, and ends up helping his dad discover the true meaning of Christmas. Remember: The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear!

— MADISON PEARSON Elf: The Musical • Nov. 5-6 and Nov. 12-13 at 7 pm; Nov. 6 and Nov. 13-14 at 3 pm • $14-$18 • Bing Crosby Theater • 901 W. Sprague Ave. • cytspokane.org • 509-227-7404

38 INLANDER NOVEMBER 4, 2021

ARTS TRIBAL PRIDE

November’s designation as Native American Heritage Month dates back to 1986, and offers an opportunity to learn more about and celebrate the 570-plus federally recognized tribes across the United States. Locally, the Spokane Tribe-owned Chewelah Casino invites the public to its annual Tribal Artisan Day, featuring artisans from the Spokane, Coeur d’Alene, Colville and Nooksack tribes on site to showcase and sell their unique, handmade goods. While you’re at the casino (which is 100 percent nonsmoking), be sure to also check out a newly completed mural depicting traditional tribal culture, created by two young women from the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation.

— CARRIE SCOZZARO Tribal Artisan Day • Sun, Nov. 7 from 11 am-4 pm • Free • Chewelah Casino • 2555 Smith Rd., Chewelah • chewelahcasino.com • 800-322-2788

GET LISTED!

Submit events online at Inlander.com/getlisted or email relevant details to getlisted@inlander.com. We need the details one week prior to our publication date.

VISUALS ARTS RECEPTION ROUNDUP

For this month’s First Friday, it’s a three-fer at Saranac Art Projects, showing the collaborations of printmaker Reinaldo Gil Zambrano and mixed-media artist Kurt Madison. Ann Porter also explores the difficulties of communication in “1,000 Words.” New Moon Gallery has a three-fer, too, with “TI-KIDA,” showcasing new work by the talented trio of Tim Lord, Kim Long and Dara DeBast. And for a good cause there’s also Trackside Gallery’s annual coasters exhibit, which this year benefits River’s Wish Animal Sanctuary.

What’s buzzing at The Hive? Find out at Spokane Public Library’s very cool new space in East Central, currently hosting a batch of artists “in residence” until February. Get a sneak peek at their textile, photography, mixed media and other projects. All this and more is happening on Friday, and most shows continue through the month.

— CARRIE SCOZZARO First Friday • Fri, Nov. 5 from 5-8 pm • Free • Spokane; times and locations vary • Details at firstfridayspokane.org and individual venue websites

YOUR FINANCIAL SUCCESS FAN CLUB At Idaho Central Credit Union, the most important thing to us is helping our members succeed. We’re here to help you with a full range of both personal and business financial services like checking, loans, mobile banking, and more. Come visit your local ICCU branch and see for yourself how we can help you achieve your financial success.

WORDS ‘KING’ OF NETFLIX

While the “king” of streaming TV for 2021 is undoubtedly Squid Game, don’t y’all remember its predecessor, Tiger King? True, it feels like ages ago that the can’t-look-away documentary series about a big cat park owner (and convicted felon) in Oklahoma captivated millions, since well, the pandemic hit right around the same time. To reignite viewers’ past fascination, however, Tiger King 2 debuts on Netflix just a week-and-a-half after several cast members from season one stop in Spokane to spill about what really happened when the cameras weren’t rolling. For this live show, they’ll engage in a moderated conversation, sharing wild stories about Tiger King’s most notorious characters — Joe Exotic, Carole Baskin, Doc Antle and others — while allegedly holding nothing back.

— CHEY SCOTT Uncaged: Untold Stories from the Cast of Tiger King • Sat, Nov. 6 at 7 pm • $25-$115 • First Interstate Center for the Arts • 333 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. • firstinterstatecenter.org • 509-279-7000

• Ranked #1 in the Northwest for member giveback* • 1 in 5 Idahoans are ICCU members • Helping members achieve financial success for over 80 years • Over 40 branches throughout Idaho to serve you • 24/7 access with eBranch Mobile and Online Banking

Become a member today.

*Callahan & Associates’ Return of the Member value.

WE BELIEVE being rich has little to do with wealth.

NOVEMBER 4, 2021 INLANDER 39

CHEERS UNCONDITIONAL Cheeseburger!!

JERRY!! A real man doesn’t give up so easily! A real man fights for love and friendship! A real man knows what he’s got when he’s got it!! Our love is unconditional THANK GOD or I wouldn’t still be blessed with you!

Thank you for being a REAL man and my best friend!! I love you more than bacon and ranch!! <3

I SAW YOU MISSING YOU Missing your honeysuckle eyes and arms wrapped around me. Your giant traps to protect me. Miss you smelling your ear and blushing. I wish I could fix things, and we could start over with a clean slate.

God willing we get another chance to do it right, I’ll give you the schmooka AND the wooka.

YOU GUESSED MY COSTUME RIGHT AWAY I was the Virgin Mary carrying a bearded baby Jesus. You were wearing camo pants and tactical suspenders. You had a sick scar on your face. I don’t know who you were, but you definitely could have taken my virginity. You looked like a cop who arrests dinosaurs. Like “Rambo” crossed with “Daamn girl!” Like if the Letters from Iwo Jima were just OMFG. But we didn’t really get to talk about you, because I was swept away by my friends as the bar closed in chaos. If I had gone stag, maybe you would have been my deer hunter.

I hope you had a blessed night. I am not a real virgin, but I am a Virgo. Tell me what bar we were at?

SOUND OFF

HORSE RIDING BARBIE BOY Just wanted to say I am sorry, forgive you and wish you the best life has to offer.

Anyway, be well and may you achieve your dreams; just miss you.

MAN OF CUSTOMER SERVICE We have been doing business at the discounted material store off the freeway on the corner of Hamilton as we remodel a home. I’m not sure the name of this warehouse that carries new and used building materials. A lot of tile. But I feel the man who works there with dark hair does the most excellent job of customer service. At times I’ve seen him have some help, but mostly he has been the one alone to help us. And he is all over that warehouse helping customers yet manages to serve us so promptly in all our needs.

I listen to him: “Do you need help?”

“Is there anything I can help you with?

Let me know.” Or “I just am going to help these people, and then I’ll be right with you.” And he is always fair.

We love going to this place. He has saved us a ton of money. And he is just excellent at customer service. I felt he should be complimented on a job well done. Not sure if he is owner or employee. But this man is good at what he does, and we thank him and will go there for whatever we need even though we live in Murray, Idaho.

It is worth the trip. Thank you, sir!

JEERS WHAT A MESS! Instead of walking my dog to the river, I now take him down North Barker more often with plastic bags in hand. Ever since construction and Amazon started, the garbage on the side of the road is OFF THE HOOK! Grrrr! I HATE when pigs litter, don’t care, and are probably the same people who start brush fires all summer from tossing a cig butt.

I know it’s not ALL the workers, but you know who you are! Please talk to your workers and put a plastic bag in your rig for your lunch, cans and booze bottles!! >:-( ...

Sincerely, a nature lover!

“

3-CAR WILDLIFE GARAGE Some of the quotes in the recent article about the West Plains “earthforward home” forced me to stop and double-check to make sure I wasn’t reading The Onion. After describing the site as a historical game trail, the architect said that “keeping (the game trail) as intact as possible was an explicit agenda.” How did they do this? Maybe they turned the site into a conservation area? No, they built a house on it. At least they were thoughtful enough to include a threecar garage just in case those migrating animals need a place to park. If you’re building a modern house that looks more at home on a Star Wars set than in the forest, choosing the exterior finish is crucial “to be somewhat silent to the landscape ... and to blend respectfully.” You probably want to avoid “a material that takes on nature in a sort of defiant way.” So the obvious choice is metal which, obviously, reminds one of the snowcapped peaks, forests and rivers of

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.”

40 INLANDER NOVEMBER 4, 2021

the Pacific Northwest. Don’t get me wrong — the house is interesting, but pretending that it honors or respects the environment around it is just being pretentious.

MUFFLER WHINER Last night they stole my cat convert...so sorry my neighbors yur ears gonna hurt...kinda not my fault...they probably used a dewalt...and now that my humvee is

very negative way. First off, stop your complaining. Second, review your facts before you open your mouth.

The U.S. stands at 54 percent FULLY vaccinated... I'll say it again, FULLY. That means two shots if required.

Idaho stands at 45 percent FULLY vaccinated, a 9 point difference.

Many Eastern Washington counties have the same vaccination rate or lower than Idaho has as a whole... for

Grrrr! I HATE when pigs litter... now a noisy hoop tee ..I’m sure I’m hated now...by the neighborhood and wow...guess what? I gotta make it to work... so stuff it up yur butt.

IGNORANCE IS UNREAL! At a chain restaurant, a family of four walks in right past all the signs on the door that say a mask is required, yet the puzzled look on the wife’s face says she didn’t realize they had to wear masks. Their kid looks like he was running a fever, and he was wiping his nose with his arm. So if your kid is sick and you won’t protect yourself or others by wearing a mask, then you shouldn’t be going into places like that because you’re going to end up killing people by spreading this disease!!! The restaurant did supply them with a mask so they put them on and they wore them down on their chin?!

DON'T BUY IT In the Sept. 23 edition, Inlander took it upon themselves to highlight the post of a fed-up medical employee who is tired of treating COVID patients. The poster goes on to berate our neighbors in Idaho in a

”

example, Whitman/42 percent fully vaccinated, Pend Oreille/35 percent, Stevens/34. I am sick and tired of this mindless division that is pumped at every level to pit one person against another, or one state against another, or one group against another. Grow up and stop buying the division being fed to you! n

THIS WEEK'S ANSWERS B T U S

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A N O N Y M O U S T I P T O E

G G A I L N S E U C C H O O L D P I D O T O P A T E P E N T A O T S E

R A M M U R I C E I G H D O A A S M B O M I N E E T E R O T T E C O H E S C E U L S A B I T S A S Y A

D I A M

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O R A N G E T I C T A C T O E

N A N C E

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

EVENTS | CALENDAR

BENEFIT

SHADLE PARK BOOSTERS HOLIDAY CRAFT SHOW This twice-yearly show offers a chance to buy quality products from local vendors, supporting both local businesses and Shadle Park students.

Nov. 6, 9 am-5 pm and Nov. 7, 10 am-3 pm. Shadle Park High School, 4327 N. Ash St. shadleparkboosters.com RACE TO FEED OUR VETS 5K Pay tribute to veterans of past and present in the race to fight senior hunger. This is a 5K run/walk at Riverside Memorial Park and Greenwood Memorial Terrace. All proceeds benefit Meals On Wheels Spokane to provide warm, nutritious meals to their veterans and their families. Beer and chili provided after the race. Nov. 7, 10 am-noon. Heritage Funeral Home, 508 N. Government Way. mowspokane.org

COMEDY

DUDE PERFECT The American sports and comedy group consisting of Garrett Hilbert, Cody Jones, Tyler “TT” Toney, and twins Cory and Coby Cotton are former college roommates at Texas A&M University. They rose to fame when they uploaded videos of them performing impossible trick shots on YouTube. Nov. 4 & 7 pm. Spokane Arena, 720 W. Mallon Ave. spokanearena.com (279-7000) COMING SOON... Go behind the scenes as the BDT players improvise the making of a movie based on audience suggestions. Fridays in November at 7:30 pm.

Rated for general audiences. $8. Blue Door Theatre, 815 W. Garland Ave. bluedoortheatre.com/coming-soon DUSTIN SIMS The comedian from Oxford, Alabama, is best known for his Snapchat videos and “Talking to Myself” series.

His style of storytelling has accumulated him over one million followers, and his raw comedy is mostly centered around bizarre life experiences. Nov. 6, 4:30 pm. $30-$50. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com SAFARI Blue Door’s version of “Whose Line,” a fast-paced improv show with a few twists and turns added. Rated for mature audiences/ages 16+. Reservations recommended. Saturdays from 7:30-9 pm. $8. Blue Door Theatre, 815 W. Garland Ave. bluedoortheatre.com WELLRED Often compared to Carlin and Hicks, or a modern-twist on the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, this trio of comedians and writers challenge stereotypes and deeply-held beliefs about what is means to grow up humbly in the South. Nov.

7, 7:30 pm. $30-$45. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com/shows/148289 (509-318-9998) PAULY SHORE Shore tasted super-stardom in 1990 when his MTV show “Totally Pauly” hit the airwaves. He’s now working on a historical documentary spanning the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s about his life growing up at the Comedy Store in West Hollywood. Nov. 12 and 13 at 7:30 and 10:30 pm. $25-$33. Spokane Comedy Club, 315 W. Sprague. spokanecomedyclub.com/events/45619 (509-318-9998) PICASSO AT THE LAPIN AGILE Drawn Together Arts in collaboration with The Art Spirit Gallery presents Steve Martin’s award-winning absurdist comedy, directed by Tracey Vaughan and starring seven actors from around the region. The play is about Picasso and Einstein meeting at a bar in Paris, where banter and calamity ensue. Drawn Together Arts is a local nonprofit that seeks to intersect the arts in a curated, intimate and interactive theatrical experience. Nov. 12 and 14 at 7:30 pm. $20. The Art Spirit Gallery, 415 Sherman Ave. drawntogetherarts.com/events

COMMUNITY

DROP IN & PLAY Join staff, volunteers and other members of the creative community to play board and card games together in a relaxing, positive environment. Play a game you already know or learn how to play a new one! A variety of games are available, including card games and board games. Or, bring your own game with you and teach it to others. Thursdays from 12-2 pm. Free. Spark Central, 1214 W. Summit Pkwy. sparkcentral.org (509-279-0299) INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON HATE STUDIES Join Gonzaga University for presentations, workshops and discussions from local, national and international experts and organizations, including regional Human Rights groups, the Western States Center, Asian Americans Advancing Justice Los Angeles, the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon’s Collaboratory Against Hate, and the University of Copenhagen, among others. Nov. 4, 6:30 pm. Online at gonzaga.edu/icohs LOUIS COMFORT TIFFANY: TREASURES FROM THE DRIEHAUS COLLECTION A celebration of the artistry and craftsmanship of the Tiffany artworks from Chicago’s distinguished Richard H. Driehaus Collection, highlighting masterworks never before presented in a comprehensive exhibition. Tue-Sun from 10 am-5 pm through Feb. 13. $7-$12. Northwest

Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org WILD THINGS This showcase inside the Campbell House explores the personal histories behind period clothing made from leather, fur and feathers to interpret the social fabric of the Campbell family’s era. It also tracks historical relationships with living creatures, from subsistence to fashion and features exceptional examples from the MAC’s collection. Through November 30; Tue-Sun from 10 am-5 pm. $7-$12. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org (509-456-3931) DROP IN & RPG Bring your curiosity, imagination and thirst for adventure and experience the unique form of role-playing games. In these sessions, participants build a shared narrative using cooperative problem solving, exploration, imagination and rich social interaction. Priority seating for participants age 17 or younger. First and third Saturday of the month from 1-3:45 pm. Free. Spark Central, 1214 W. Summit Pkwy. spark-central.org HOLIDAY BLITZ A holiday shopping event offering furniture, home decor, gift items and DIY crafts, along with food, drinks and prizes to enjoy while you shop.

Nov. 6-7 from 10 am-5:30 pm. Free. Paint In My Hair, 3036 N. Monroe St. facebook. com/paintinmyhair (509-326-6999) RIVERFRONT WINTER MARKET Riverfront’s second annual market hosts a variety of local vendors, including farmers, processors, artisans and hand crafters.

Wednesdays from 3-7 pm, Nov. 10-Dec. 22. Free admission. Riverfront Park Pavillion, 507 N. Howard. spokaneriverfrontpark.com HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE Colfax’s official kick-off to the holiday season with stores open late and specials galore. Pick up the Colfax Chamber Passport at participating stores and collect six stamps to enter a drawing to win $200. Nov. 11-13. Free.

Colfax Chamber of Commerce, 104 S Main St. explorecolfax.com/events VETERANS DAY SING-A-LONG A morning to celebrate past and current military members with a presentation of the Colors, message of hope, sing-a-long to the National Anthem and other patriotic songs, plus a patriotic dance from Christian Youth Theater. Nov. 11, 10-11 am. Free and open to the public. Kroc Center, 1765 W. Golf Course Rd. kroccda.org

ers and storytellers with a special screening of short films that were part of Seattle Black Film Festival 2021. Stick around after to chat with the SBFF team and learn more about the festival. Nov. 6, 6:30 pm.

Free. Magic Lantern Theatre, 25 W. Main Ave. magiclanternonmain.com UNITED BY WATER In conjunction with the MAC’s exhibit “Awakenings,” are regular public screenings of the documentary “United by Water” created by the Upper Columbia Unified Tribes (UCUT).

The film follows the first tribal canoe journey and gathering at Kettle Falls, Washington, since the Ceremony of Tears in 1943. Saturdays at 1 pm; first and third Wednesdays at noon, through Jan. 31.

Included with admission. Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 W. First Ave. northwestmuseum.org (509-456-3931) A CINEMATIC TRIBUTE TO VETERANS Hollywood has a long-running relationship with war efforts, and a great number of actors have also served. Film and literature scholar Lance Rhoades discusses the many ways in which Hollywood has helped commemorate the sacrifices of veterans. Register to receive an email with instructions on how to participate via Zoom. Nov. 9, 6:30-7:30 pm (online).

Free. events.spokanelibrary.org INK! MOVIE NIGHT The premiere of this year’s INK! Print Rally documentary features the artists along with behindthe-scenes footage of their workspace, creative process and the reveal of their 5×5 woodblock prints. Ticket includes a meal from the Incrediburger truck, a drink from the bar (non-alcoholic beverages available), the first chance to view and purchase prints, plus live music from Willow Tree and Jet McLaughlin. Nov. 10, 6-9 pm. $45. Emerge, 119 N. Second St. emergecda.com (208-930-1876) THE STOMPING GROUNDS Gonzaga Outdoors hosts this showing of Matchstick Production’s new ski movie. From a “born-and-raised” resort in Idaho to the spectacular Lyngen Alps in northern Norway, skiers on camera thrive in what’s familiar and find thrills in the unexpected.

Nov. 11, 7-8:30 pm. $10. Gonzaga Hemmingson Center, 702 E. Desmet Ave. (509-313-4189)

FILM

FARM & FOOD SYMPOSIUM The Spokane Conservation District hosts this two-day, in-person event where farmers, ag industry professionals and other conservation partners gather to gain a

SPOKANE FILM PROJECT: SBFF REMIX A free event celebrating Black filmmak-

FOOD & DRINK

deeper understanding of the ecological practices and the economic incentives of regenerative farming. Nov. 5-6. $135$150. The Centennial Hotel, 303 W. North River Dr. SpokaneCD.org (509-535-7274) ROCKET WINE CLASS Rocket Market hosts weekly wine classes; sign up in advance for the week’s selections. Fridays at 7 pm. Call to reserve a seat, or register online.Price varies. Rocket Market, 726 E. 43rd Ave. rocketmarket.com (509-3432253) SUDS & SCIENCE SEMINAR SERIES Dr. Kevin Measor, PhD Lecturer in biology at Gonzaga University, presents “Strobe Lights in The Brain.” Using light we can now turn brain cells on-and-off. This powerful tool called optogenetics has been used to discover how circuits in the brain lead to behavior. Join an engaging talk and discussion on how this revolutionary advancement was developed, some of the many uses and what we will hope to uncover in the future. Nov. 6, 7-8 pm. Free. The Golden Handle Project, 111 S. Cedar St. goldenhandle.org/suds-andscience (509-868-0264) BOTTOMLESS(ISH) MIMOSA SUNDAY BRUNCH Sunday brunch and bottomless(ish)* mimosas, with a variety of choices. Pour your bubbles, pick your juice, and garnish with fruit. Two seating times available each Sunday at 9:30 and 11 am, through Nov. 21. $25. Nectar Catering & Events, 120 N. Stevens St. bit. ly/3qIJju9 (509-951-2096) KILL THE KEG & SERVICE INDUSTRY NIGHT This weekly special includes $2 off select GHP beer, $1 off select guest beer and a 20% discount for service industry patrons. Tuesdays from 3-9 pm.

The Golden Handle Project, 111 S. Cedar St. goldenhandle.org MEDICAL PERSONNEL APPRECIATION NIGHT All medical and healthcarerelated personnel, students, staff and professionals receive a 20% discount off all GHP beer and food. Wednesdays from 3-9 pm. The Golden Handle Project, 111 S. Cedar St. goldenhandle.org

MUSIC

JAZZ COMBO SERIES The WSU jazz combo program presents several concerts in Pullman, featuring original student and faculty compositions along with the music of Benny Golson, Duke Pearson, and John McLaughlin. Schedule as follows: Rico’s Public House on Nov. 4 at 8:30 pm; Kimbrough Concert Hall on Nov. 9 at 7:30 pm. Free. events.wsu.edu/ event/jazz-forum-16/ (509-335-7696)

NOVEMBER 4, 2021 INLANDER 41

RELATIONSHIPS

Advice Goddess ON CROWD NINE

I’m a 43-year-old woman in my second marriage with a man who’s also on his second marriage. We are both determined to make this marriage our last! We have a scheduled date night. We make sure sex happens weekly. I’d like to know whether there are other things we can do to keep from walking down the aisle a third time. —Hopeful In some marriages, somebody could lose consciousness and it wouldn’t be all that noticeable.

Date nights are good for keeping the marital jets firing, as is having sex weekly, but regular dates and sextivities don’t change how being married is like subscribing to Netflick. No, my copyeditor isn’t day-drinking, and yes, I mean “flick.” Netflick would have only one movie, and you and your partner would be forced to watch it every night of your life together...until one or both of you shrivel up and die of boredom or start dialing jackals with law licenses (aka divorce lawyers).

What can help is making your married life more like single people’s lives — uh, in ways that don’t remodel your vows into something more along the lines of suggestions. In a New York Times op-ed, social historian Stephanie Coontz explains, “Single people generally have wider social networks than married couples, who tend to withdraw into their coupledom.” Though marriage “can provide a bounty of emotional, practical and financial support … finding the right mate is no substitute for having friends and other interests.”

Disappointingly, Coontz trots out a view widely (and uncritically) accepted among researchers: “On average, married people report higher well-being than singles.” And sure, there are studies that conclude this. However, social psychologist Bella DePaulo points out rather glaring flaws in some of the research making this claim. For example, she observes that even respected developmental psychologist E. Mavis Hetherington couldn’t see her faulty reasoning in concluding: “Happily married couples are healthier, happier, wealthier, and sexier than are singles.” The problem? Hetherington is comparing a subset of married people — HAPPILY MARRIED people (as opposed to ALL married people) — with ALL single people. I put this in perspective in a 2013 column: “Yes, shockingly, happily married people are happier than clinically depressed single people.”

In fact, people who are unhappily single — who feel “distress” about being single — tend to be those who’d previously been married (and especially those newly divorced or widowed), notes Coontz. About the single-’n’-miserableness of the newly divorced or widowed, you might think, “Duh...they’re lonely or grieving!”

Some or many might be. But I think Coontz is onto something in advising married people to “cultivate the skills of successful singlehood.” (Conversely, “people who are successful as singles” — meaning socially connected and relatively content with their lives — “are especially likely to end up in happy marriages, in large part because of the personal and social resources they developed before marrying.”)

Coontz suggests you bring other people into your marriage — though not like they did in the ‘70s at those suburban parties with all the couples dropping their keys into a bowl. She’s talking about friendships with people beyond your spouse, and ideally, not just one or two others but a whole group. Research (by evolutionary social psychologist Stephanie Brown, among others) consistently finds being socially connected increases individuals’ personal well-being and is even associated with better physical health. Likewise, “maintaining social networks … after marriage” can also “enhance and even revitalize your marriage,” writes Coontz.

As for how you two could put this into practice, you might start by making some date nights double-date nights. This might seem like a bad idea — a date-night romance- and intimacy-killer. However, Coontz describes a date-night experiment in which researchers “assigned some couples to spend time by themselves and have deeply personal conversations,” while others were set up with a couple they’d never met “and told to initiate similar conversations.” Afterward, all of the couples “reported greater satisfaction with their relationship,” but only those who’d been on the double date reported feeling more “romantic passion” for each other!

Because it seems “the more” really is the (maritally) merrier, you and your husband could also host regular dinner parties, cocktail hours, brunches, and/or game nights. However, it’s also important that you each maintain individual interests, activities, and friendships. Ironically, regularly spending less time together — as well as following wise advice from Coontz to each maintain your ability to be self-reliant — should help you avoid going your separate ways. It’s great if your relationship starts to remind you of an iconic one in a classic movie — but not if the movie is “Cast Away,” starring Tom Hanks and a volleyball he draws a face on so he won’t be all alone on a desert island. n ©2021, Amy Alkon, all rights reserved. • Got a problem? Write Amy Alkon, 171 Pier Ave, #280, Santa Monica, CA 90405 or email AdviceAmy@aol.com (www.advicegoddess.com)

AMY ALKON

42 INLANDER NOVEMBER 4, 2021

EVENTS | CALENDAR MUSIC AT THE WINERY Doors open at 5 pm; reservations required. Guests can bring a picnic dinner or order food from Beacon Hill Catering (orders must be placed by noon the day prior before). Find updates on who’s playing each week on the winery’s Facebook page. Music happens Wednesdays and Fridays from 7-9 pm. Free. Barrister Winery, 1213 W. Railroad Ave. facebook. com/BarristerWinery (509-465-3591) 25TH BLUES CATS FOR KIDS W/ LEVI PLATERO & BAND The IEBS’s 25th annual fundraiser benefiting charities assisting high-rise children in the region.

Opening is the Vision Seekers, an Inland Northwest-based Native American band. Headliner Levi Platero and Band are from the Navajo Nation. Nov. 6 starting at 4 pm. Coeur d’Alene Casino, 37914 S. Nukwalqw. cdacasino.com WASHINGTON IDAHO SYMPHONY: HALLOWEEN POPS This holiday themed program includes works by John Williams, Edvard Grieg and more.

Proof of full vaccination required for guests ages 12+. Nov. 6, 7:30 pm. $10-$25. Jones Theatre at Daggy Hall, Washington State University Pullman Campus. wa-idsymphony.org SPOKANE YOUTH SYMPHONY The first concert of the SYS’s 2021-22 season, titled “Rejoice!” Nov. 7, 4 pm. Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox, 1001 W. Sprague. spokaneyouthsymphony.org GATHERING OF THE BANDS Student musicians from Coeur d’Alene Charter Academy, Kellogg Middle School, Lakes Middle School and Sandpoint Middle School compose this year’s concert band. In previous years, a guest clinician/conductor has rehearsed the middle school band, but this year the group will be conducted by NIC’s own Bryan Hannaford. Nov. 10, 7 pm. Free and open to the public. Schuler Performing Arts Center, 1000 W. Garden Ave. (208769-3258) WEDNESDAY EVENING CONTRA DANCE Join the Spokane Folklore Society each Wednesday for contra dancing. First-time dancers get a coupon for a free dance night. Contra is danced to a variety of musical styles: Celtic, Quebecois, Old Time, New England, or Southern Appalachian music from live bands. All dances are taught and walked through, then called to live music. Events feature a different band and caller each week. Come 15 min. early for a lesson. Proof of Covid-19 vaccination required. Wednesdays from 7:30-9:30 pm. $7/members; $10/general (18 and under free). Women’s Club, 1428 W. Ninth Ave. (509-869-5997) SPOKANE SYMPHONY MASTERWORKS 3: POINTS NORTH Grammynominated composer Anna Clyne has taken the music world by storm in the last decade. She studied at the University of Edinburgh at the same time as music director James Lowe, and her work from 2019, DANCE, a cello concerto in all but name, is full of deep expression and melodic invention. This exploration of the North opens with Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture, written after a trip to the Scottish Highlands, and includes a lost gem by Nikolai Tcherepnin. Nov. 13 at 8 pm, Nov. 14 at 3 pm. $19-$62. Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox, 1001 W. Sprague Ave. spokanesymphony.org (509-624-1200) AMERICA SINGS AGAIN: HONORING OUR VETERANS The Palouse Chorale Society chorale, chamber choir and children’s choir perform beloved

Americana and patriotic songs in a concert conducted by guest conductor Dr. Matthew Myers. Veterans of the Armed Forces are invited to attend at no charge. Proof of vaccination and masking required for all attendees 12+.

Nov. 14, 4-6 pm. $8-$20; free to veterans. St. Boniface Catholic Church, 207 S. St. Boniface St. palousechoralsociety. org/2021-2022-season (509-597-8917) IMAGINE JAZZ PRESENTS: DARRYL YOKLEY’S SOUND REFORMATION The critically-acclaimed New York Saxophonist Darryl Yokley and his band Sound Reformation perform in concert and lead a workshop. Concert offered with limited-capacity, in-person tickets and as a free livestream. Yokley has performed for music legend Quincy Jones as well playing with Motown legends The Four Tops, The Temptations and The O’ Jays. Nov. 14, 7-9 pm. $15$30. Holy Names Music Center, 3910 W. Custer Dr. imaginejazz.org/events MCS FALL SERENADE This annual event features the talent of MCS teachers. Proceeds benefit the youth of our community who wish to learn to sing or play an instrument. The event includes a raffle of items from local Sandpoint businesses, a bake sale and a light reception and no-host wine bar. Nov. 14, 3-5 pm. $15-$25. Music Conservatory of Sandpoint, 110 Main St. sandpointconservatory.org (208-265-4444)

SPORTS & OUTDOORS

SPOKANE CHIEFS VS. EVERETT SILVERTIPS Regular season match. Face coverings required for all guests ages 5+. Special: Avista ‘Way to Save’ team poster giveaway. Nov. 5, 7 pm and Nov. 6, 7 pm. $17-$37. Spokane Arena, 720 W. Mallon Ave. spokanechiefs.com MT. SPOKANE JOB FAIR An event to recruit staff for the 2021-22 season.

Come to the mountain to connect with hiring managers from each department and explore opportunities to turn a passion for skiing and snowboarding into a job. Nov. 6, 8 am-noon. Free. Mt. Spokane Ski & Snowboard Park, 29500 N. Mt. Spokane Park Dr. mtspokane.com (509-238-2220) STATE PARKS FREE DAY Visit Washington State Parks without a required Discover Pass ($10/day or $30/year).

Includes day access locally to Riverside, Mt. Spokane, Palouse Falls and more state parks. Nov. 11 and Nov. 26. Free. parks.state.wa.us/281/Parks MONSTER JAM Drivers tear up the dirt with gravity-defying feats in 12,000-pound trucks going head-tohead for points in freestyle, skills challenges and racing competitions. Fans can vote for winners of some categories via real-time, in-stadium fan voting on their smartphones. Nov. 12-14 at 7 pm, Nov. 13 at 1 pm. Spokane Arena, 720 W. Mallon. spokanearena.com (279-7000)

THEATER

OUT OF THE SHADOWS THEATER: BYE BYE BIRDIE Out of the Shadows Theater, a presentation of Celebrate Inc., is a company for actors with disabilities to experience and excel in authentic musical theater productions.

Actors have opportunity, tools and support of community members who support their roles by “shadowing” (coaching) during production. See local actors

realize their gifts and talents and be recognized for their abilities rather than disabilities. Nov. 4-5 at 7;30 pm; $14; $10 for groups of 10 or more. Kroc Center, 1765 W. Golf Course Rd. outoftheshadowstheater.com/on-stage-2021 (208-667-1865) ELF: THE MUSICAL A title known the world over, Elf is a holiday musical that can easily become an annual tradition for any theatre, including CYT Spokane, performing this version. Nov. 5-6 and Nov. 12-14. $14-$18. Bing Crosby Theater, 901 W. Sprague Ave. cytspokane. org (509-227-7404) THE FALL FOLLIES An evening of music and comedy for the whole family. Nov. 5-21; Fri-Sat at 7 pm, Sun at 2 pm. $13$15. Sixth Street Theater and Melodrama, 212 Sixth St., Wallace. sixthstreetmelodrama.com (208-752-8871) MOSCOW COMMUNITY THEATRE: THE NERD Now an aspiring young architect, Willum Cubbert has often told his friends about the debt he owes to Rick Steadman, a fellow ex-GI whom he’s never met, but who saved his life in Vietnam. He’s written to Rick to say that, as long as he is alive, “You will have somebody on Earth who will do anything for you.” So Willum is delighted when Rick shows up unexpectedly at his apartment on the night of his thirtyfourth birthday party. But his delight soon fades as it becomes apparent that Rick is a hopeless “nerd.” Nov. 5-6 and 12-13 at 7:30 pm, Nov. 7 and 14 at 2 pm. $10-$15. The Kenworthy, 508 S. Main St. moscowcommunitytheatre.org AUDITIONS: CORPUS CHRISTI Auditions for Stage Left’s 2022 season opener, written by Terrence McNally and directed by Troy Nickerson. This beautiful retelling of a well-know story will have you pondering the nature of love and God. Roles: 13 people of all gender identities, ages 18+. Characters portray multiple roles. Includes religious, sexual and LGBTQIA+ themes; partially-clothed scenes of intimate sexuality, scenes of violence and strong language. Nov. 6 and Nov. 7. Stage Left Theater, 108 W. Third Ave. stagelefttheater.org UNCAGED: UNTOLD STORIES FROM THE CAST OF TIGER KING Featuring four cast members from the pop culture blockbuster: John Reinke, Saff, Joshua Dial and Barbara Fisher. The four engage in a live moderated conversation, and audiences can peek behind the curtain of 2020’s most bizarre and addictive TV series. Audiences will hear stories about Joe Exotic, Carole Baskin, Doc Antle and all the others – direct from the people who lived the mayhem. Nov. 6, 7 pm. $25-$115. First Interstate Center for the Arts, 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. firstinterstatecenter.org (509-279-7000) FERRIS PERFORMING ARTS & THESPIAN TROUPE 1506: SEUSSICAL THE MUSICAL Based on the Works by Dr. Seuss, with music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and book by Lynn Ahrens & Stephen Flaherty. Open seating, masks required. Nov. 11-13 and Nov. 18-19 at 7 pm, Nov. 20 at 2 pm. $10/$12.

Ferris High School, 3020 E. 37th Ave. ferristheatrearts.com (509-354-6036) STAGED READING: IN CALL Join Spokane Playwrights Laboratory for a fullyacted staged reading of “In Call,” an original script by Joy Wood. Then grab a drink from the bar and join us for a live “talk back” session with the playwright. It’s your chance to help make a

new play. Free; donations appreciated.

Nov. 11, 7:30 pm. Washington Cracker Co. Building, 304 W. Pacific Ave. spokaneplaywrightslaboratory.com A CHRISTMAS CAROL Two visionary Tony Award winners — playwright Jack Thorne (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child) and director Matthew Warchus (Matilda) — offer a magical new interpretation of Charles Dickens’ timeless story. Nov. 12-13 at 7:30 pm; Nov. 13 at 2 pm. $53.50-$93.50. First Interstate Center for the Arts, 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. firstinterstatecenter.org THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD The Gonzaga Department of Theater and Dance presents Rupert Jones’ musical exploring the various possible endings of Charles Dickens’ final, unfinished whodunit. Nov. 12-13 at 7:30 pm, Nov. 14 at 2 pm. $17; $5/student. Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts Center, 211 E. Desmet Ave. gonzaga.edu/myrtlewoldson-performing-arts-center

VISUAL ARTS

BRAINSTORMING: AN INTELLECTUAL SPORT BY LEN DAVIS California-based artist Len Davis exhibits a series of assemblages, collages, drawings and paintings which dive into the practice of brainstorming itself. The self-revelatory process explores his discovery of the brain as a machine that is constantly evolving in developmental space. Open daily, 8:30 am-3:30 pm through Nov. 23. Free. SFCC Fine Arts Gallery, 3410 W. Whistalks Way, Bldg. 6. spokanefalls. edu/gallery SCULPTED SPACES, WILD LIVES A showcase of art depicting intentionally-shaped spaces and the wild lives that inhabit them. This juried exhibition includes art from 18 artists from the Palouse and across the U.S. Open Mon-Fri, 8 am-5 pm, through Jan. 7.

Free. Third Street Gallery, City Hall, 206 E. Third St., Moscow. ci.moscow. id.us/230/Third-Street-Gallery THE SPOKANE JEWELERS GUILD The SJG was formed in 1982 and consists of an ever-varying membership with a variety of specialties, backgrounds and interests. Guild members work in sterling silver, titanium, copper and mixed metals, as well as vitreous glass enamel, polymer clay, fibers, found objects, crystal and more. Nov. 1-30, open daily 10 am-6 pm. Free. Pottery Place Plus, 203 N. Washington St. potteryplaceplus.com EYE OF THE BEHOLDER A show featuring Audreana Camm, who creates thought-provoking surrealist paintings.

Also includes work by Shotgun artists John Thamm, Jesse Swanson, Roch Fautch, Rick Davis, Matt Wolf, Darrell Wilcox and Hank Chiapetta. Fri, Nov. 5 from 5-9 pm and Sat, Nov. 6 from 1-4 pm, also Fridays in Nov. from 5-9 pm or by appt. Free. Shotgun Studios, 1625 W. Water Ave. facebook.com/shotgunstudiosspokane (509-688-3757) FIRST FRIDAY OPEN HOUSE AT THE HIVE Artists-in-Residence, and one Writer-in-Residence, have been working hard for the last few months and invite the public to come see their progress during First Friday. Come visit their studios and check out their work.

Nov. 5, 5-8 pm. Free. The Hive, 2904 E. Sprague Ave. events.spokanelibrary.org FIRST FRIDAYS WITH POAC First Friday arts events in Sandpoint, organized by the Pend Oreille Arts Council. First Friday from 5:30-7:30 pm. Pend Oreille Arts Council Gallery, 110 Main St. artinsandpoint.org (208-263-6139)

KATRINA BRENNAN: DREAM REALMS Brennan has been an artist most of her life, and showcasing her art for the past 13 years. Her paintings often have a dream-like quality, which enhance the beauty and intrigue of nature into a surreal vision. Fridays in Nov. from 4-8 pm or by appt. Free. Kolva-Sullivan Gallery, 115 S. Adams St. kolva-sullivangallery. com (509-458-5517) MIXOLOGY: REMIX Starting as a simple studio event, Sheila Evans’ Mixology series soon took on a life of its own with 100s of paintings, two illustrated cocktail books, exhibits, book release parties, reproductions and recipe card sets.

Nov. 5, 5-8 pm. Free. Dry Fly Distillery, 1021 W. Riverside Ave. Also online at sheilaevans.net/mixology-remix GONZAGA NEW FACULTY SHOW The exhibition includes a variety of media from sculpture, installation, painting and works on paper and features the work of Christopher Wagner, Posie Kalin, Lena Lopez Schindler, Ashley Vaughn, Cozette Phillips, Benjamin Necochea and Reinaldo Gil Zambrano. Nov. 5, 4-7 pm. Free. Gonzaga University Urban Arts Center, 125 S. Stevens. gonzaga.edu/college-of-arts-sciences/departments/art/events#newfacultyshow ORNAMENT & SMALL WORKS SHOW This annual show features small works and ornaments made by over 35 local artists, and most pieces are under $50 each. Nov. 5-Dec. 23, open Mon-Fri from 10 am-5 pm and Sat from 10 am-4 pm. Free. Spokane Art School, 811 W. Garland Ave. spokaneartschool.net PHOTO COLLAGE BY GAY WALDMAN Gay Waldman’s artwork relies on a multitude of photographs layered with rich colors and translucent texture. Her imagery includes flora, landscape, seasons, and geometric shapes. Open daily Nov. 3-Dec. 1, opening reception Nov. 5 from 5-7 pm. Free. Iron Goat Brewing Co., 1302 W. Second. gwaldman.com SPOKANE PRINT FEST An annual event by Spokane Print & Publishing Center and Terrain to educate and inspire the community on the traditional and contemporary practices of printmaking. This year’s show, titled ESTAMPA, highlights the artwork of printmakers living both regionally and throughout the US. A kick-off party and gallery opening includes print demos and other print-related activities. Nov. 5. Free. Washington Cracker Co. Building, 304 W. Pacific. terrainspokane.com THE GREAT OUTDOORS ART SHOW Featured artists LR Montgomery, Leslie Lambert, Megan Perkins, Kay West, T Kurtz, Pierr Morgan and Isaac Mann capture the connection we have to these outdoor spaces with works in oil, watercolor, acrylic and pastel. Nov. 5-Dec. 26; open daily from 10 am-7 pm.

Free. Liberty Building, 402 N. Washington. spokanelibertybuilding.com TI-KI-DA: A TRIPLE ART SHOW Local artists Tim Lord, Kim Long and Dara DeBast adorn New Moon’s walls with wildly visual options, from whimsical to edgy. Opening reception Nov. 5 from 5-10 pm; open Wed-Sat from 12-6 pm through Nov. 27. Free. New Moon Art Gallery, 1326 E. Sprague, Suite B. newmoonartgallery.com (509-413-9101) TRACKSIDE COASTERS BENEFIT Each piece was created by friends and fellow artists and are available for $10 each. All sales benefit River’s Wish Animal Sanctuary, a nonprofit rescue, rehabilitation, placement and lifelong sanctuary for a variety of species. Nov. 5 from 5-8 pm and Nov. 6 from 12-4 pm. Free. Trackside Studio, 115 S. Adams St. Trackside-

Studio.net WORKS BY KURT MADISON, REINALDO GIL ZAMBRANO & ANN PORTER November’s show features Kurt Madison and Reinaldo Gil Zambrano’s “Remember Last Summer”, a collaborative mixed media installation. Also showing is Ann Porter’s “1,000 Words.”

Opening reception Nov. 5 from 4-8 pm; artist talk Nov. 12 at 6:30 pm; closing reception Nov. 26 from 5-8 pm. Gallery open Fri-Sat 12-8 pm. Free. Saranac Art Projects, 25 W. Main Ave. facebook. com/events/941225783408604/ JIEMEI LIN: REFURNISH The Whitworth University Art Department and the university’s Bryan Oliver Gallery present the work of Jiemei Lin. Opening reception Nov. 9 from 5-6 pm in the Lied Center; artist lecture to follow from 6-7 pm. Show on display Nov. 9-Jan. 21, open Mon-Fri 10 am-5 pm and Sat 10 am-2 pm. Visit online at whitworthart. com. Free. Whitworth University, 300 W. Hawthorne Rd. whitworth.edu/cms/ academics/art/bryan-oliver-gallery/ SPOKANE PRINT FEST: MONOTYPES Learn to make colorful monotype prints with Mary Farrell. Monotype is a broad term in printmaking that mostly refers to a print that is pulled from a nonrepeatable matrix creating one impression. Nov. 6, 10 am-1 pm. $60. Spokane Print & Publishing Center, 1925 N. Ash St. facebook.com/spokaneprint/ TRIBAL ARTISAN DAY Join Chewelah Casino in celebrating National Native American Heritage Month. Local tribal artisans sell and showcase their unique, authentic goods. Nov. 7, 11 am-4 pm.

Free. Chewelah Casino, 2555 Smith Rd. chewelahcasino.com

WORDS

HISTORY TO MYSTERY Local author Patricia Meredith shares Spokane history that inspired her newly published novel “Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Taker” in celebration of National Novel Writing Month. Register online to attend via Zoom. Nov. 4, 6-7 pm. Free. events.spokanelibrary.org 3 MINUTE MIC Spokane’s long-running first Friday poetry open mic, returns to Auntie’s live and in-person. Readers can share up to three minutes’ worth of poetry. Nov. 5, 7 pm. Free. Auntie’s Bookstore, 402 W. Main Ave. auntiesbooks.com (509-838-0206) A (VERY) SHORT HISTORY OF LIFE ON EARTH WITH HENRY GEE In the tradition of Richard Dawkins, Bill Bryson and Simon Winchester comes this entertaining and uniquely informed narration of Life’s “life story.” Henry Gee will be Zooming in from his home in Norfolk, England. Nov. 6, 12-1 pm. Free. auntiesbooks.com (509-838-0206) AMERICAN DEMOCRACY’S INDIGENOUS ROOTS AND FUTURE Join storyteller Fern Renville as she shares mythic and personal stories that reframe and highlight Indigenous female power and leadership in America. This program celebrates Native American Heritage Month. Register to receive an email with instructions on how to participate.

Nov. 10, 6:30-7:30 pm. Free. events. spokanelibrary.org (509-444-5300) BROKEN MIC: Spokane’s longestrunning weekly poetry open mic. All ages, however, this is a free speech event. Food and drink specials available. Wednesdays from 6:30-9 pm.

Free. Neato Burrito, 827 W. First Ave. facebook.com/pages/Neato-Burrito/115509695145435 (509-847-1234) n

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BUSINESS

Cannabis and Cash Money The data show Washingtonians are spending more now than ever on cannabis

BY WILL MAUPIN

C

annabis sales in Washington continue to grow year over year, according to annual data released last month by the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board. Consumers in Washington spent $1.49 billion on cannabis in the fiscal year ended June 30, up from $1.27 billion in fiscal 2020. This continues an upward trend in the revenue numbers, which topped $1 billion for the first time in 2019. Fiscal 2021 sales generated a record $533.9 million in tax revenue for the state.

Spokane County continues to be among the leaders

44 INLANDER NOVEMBER 4, 2021

in revenue produced overall and revenue produced per capita. Rounding up, $164 million was spent on retail cannabis in Spokane County over the past fiscal year, generating $60.6 million in tax revenue.

That puts Spokane County third in the state, behind only King and Pierce counties. King and Pierce are the state’s first and second most-populated counties, while Spokane County ranks fourth in population.

This is where things get interesting.

Looking at the county-by-county data there’s a pretty clear correlation with bigger counties amounting to larger sums of money spent on cannabis. More Washington counties bordering Idaho had some of the highest cannabis spending per capita. people, more money — makes sense.

But, if you break it down per capita, that correlation falls Whitman County, which also borders Idaho, was third in apart. Take Asotin County, for example. Located in the per capita spending each of the past two years. This year southeast corner of Washington, Asotin County is home it’s fourth, by less than a dollar behind Grays Harbor to just 22,820 residents, according to the most recent County, at $266.79. Three of the top four counties in Census Bureau estimate, but generated $15.3 million Washington, based on per-capita spending on cannabis, in cannabis sales in fiscal 2021. That averages out to border Idaho, a state where cannabis remains entirely $672.50 per resident. The state average is $197.13 per illegal. It appears non-residents are pumping up borderresident. county stats.

So, is Asotin County just high out of its mind? Or, If this could be written off at one time as a statistical does it happen to border a state where cannabis remains blip, it no longer can. This is an established trend, and illegal?

Washington is clearly benefiting financially from the Gem The latter seems to be true. Spokane County ranks State’s abstinence when it comes to entering the legal cansecond in per capita spending at $310.03 per resident. nabis market. n

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DOWN 1. A/C measures 2. Traveled by horseback 3. Sound of an unnamed person sneaking around?

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38. “That’s my cue!”

40. Try to stop 42. King or queen, but not princess 43. Hoedown move 45. Apt name for a car mechanic?

47. Dove’s sound 48. Classic moonroof alternative 49. Subj. for Janet Yellen 50. Some ESPN highlights, for short 51. Morphine and codeine, for two 54. 2003 #1 hit with the lyric “Shake it like a Polaroid picture” 56. Cost of a bag to feed the birds in the “Mary Poppins” song “Feed the Birds” 58. Cutting-edge brand?

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1. Toot your own horn 5. 1980s-2000s Texas senator Phil 10. Discoveries of Michael Faraday 14. Morrison who wrote “Love” and “Beloved” 15. Apt first name of Fleming’s Goldfinger 16. “Doggone it!”

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“ON TOE”

25. Feeling when you put a sandal on in the winter?

26. “____ Baby” (“Hair” tune) 28. Surrounded by

29. QB-turned-commentator Tony 31. En pointe, in ballet ... or how to describe 3-, 9-, 11and 25-Down 36. Clothing brand since 1938 37. Co. captains?

39. Rain-on-the-roof sounds 41. Scratch the surface?

44. Shower love (on) 46. Cameo stone 51. “SNL” castmate of Shannon and Gasteyer 52. World leader who’s a judo black belt 53. Subject of lessons at an island resort 55. Like some small dogs 57. Yale students

59. Recipe amts.

60. “Hamilton” Tony winner Leslie ____ Jr. 63. Pigpen 64. “Sex Education” actor Butterfield

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