Bloglander

Fire's up Today is the due date to turn in any ballots for the emergency medical services levy. The levy has been renewed every six years since 1980. If it's not renewed this year, the city Fire Department loses a full fourth of their budget.

Ring a belle? No need to blast the air raid siren. That World War II flying bomber above is merely the Liberty Belle, one of only 14 B-17 Flying Fortresses left in existence. Family members of World War II veterans may be given a chance to fly in the plane their father or grandfather piloted.

Chief Seattle Spokane Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick is one of the top 11 choices to be the new Seattle police chief. The Inlander's Kevin Taylor reports that Kirkpatrick believes a recent vote of no confidence by the Spokane police guild was intended to harm her chances of getting hired for the Seattle job.  

Sry, g2g, car crash Good news, texting-while-driving-fans! Coeur d'Alene will wait at least one more legislative session before enacting their own city-wide ban on text messaging while driving. The city council is waiting for the state to pass its own law, before spending time on a law that may be overturned.

Kicking Sachs Today begins the hearings into all the hijiinks Goldman Sachs pulled as the country dove into recession. Expect a whole lot of "for shame!" speeches.

Spokane Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick was listed among 11 semifinalists in the running to replace Gil Kerlikowske, President Obama's pick for drug czar, as the next Chief of Police in Seattle.

The list, which includes three women and candidates from both coasts, was made public Monday by a 26-member search committee. The 11 choices reflect assessments made by a national headhunter firm, Police Executive Research Forum. The semifinalists will be interviewed by the search committee May 8, with the names of three finalists presented to Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn on May 11.

Other semifinalists include Rick Braziel, Sacramento police chief and national expert on neighborhood policing; Ronald Davis, another community policing advocate who has spent five years as chief reshaping East Palo Alto's reputation as a murder capital; John Diaz, appointed interim Seattle chief after Kerlikowske left, and two of Seattle's assistant chiefs, Clark Kimmerer and Jim Pugel. Candidates from farther afield include Adam Burden II from Miami, John Romero of Lawrence, Mass., and Rick Gregory of New Castle County, Delaware.

The female candidates include Judy Bradshaw, chief of Des Moines, Iowa; and Lisa Womack, former chief of Elgin, Ill.

The Spokane Police Guild, the union representing 268 police officers, announced a majority of its membership had voted for no-confidence in the Spokane's Office of the Chief, which includes Kirkpatrick and Assistant Chief Jim Nicks, but refused to release their ballot totals. Kirkpatrick said the vote was intended to hurt her chances in Seattle.

The delays of summer Birds are chirping, flowers are out and the sun is shining.That means massive construction delays are just around the corner. Interstate 90 through Post Falls will be choked up until mid-June thanks to stimulus-funded road construction.

R.I.P. Junior Bloomsday Back when I was a kid, Junior Bloomsday was the happening event, where all the cool kids hung out. Then Junior Bloomsday became the America's Kids Run, and now, due to lack of financial support, it's finished forever.

Like Arizona, like Idaho Arizona's controversial new immigration law, which makes it a state crime for an illegal immigrant to not have an alien registration document, has at least one Idaho state senator wanting to copy it. Mike Jorgenson (R-Hayden Lake), hopes the momentum from Arizona's law will get Idaho to pass some of his immigration legislation.

Donation appropriation The donations in the jar at the South Perry Hico store were meant for Haiti victims, not Spokane lowlifes. But early Monday morning, the glass door at the Hico was smashed in, and somebody made off with the jar.

In deep ship South Korea mourns the 40 sailors that died when their warship sunk last week. Most of South Korea believes North Korea was responsible — but government officials, afraid of sparking a war, are reticent to explicitly say so.

Weekend warriors! It is your time to shine! Behold! The weekend! 

We like growl with our weekend, and if you do, too, catch these two shows at Sunset Junction: tonight, Matthew Sonntag, a growly, gravelly-voiced singer/songwriter plays tonight. Be sure to grab a copy of The Goodbye Album — his wonderful little debut album. And on Saturday, an older, more-seasoned singer/songwriter, Matthew Winters, plays the Junc stage — bringing the latest incarnation of his act, Team Growl (a band that includes local scribbler, Ruben Villareal, and singer Stephanie Hatzinikolis) takes the stage. Both shows at 9 pm. 21 . $5.

Just when they couldn't get any nice, the Empyrean girls helping people in Haiti with a series of benefit shows. The first one kicked off last night, but there are three left. Tonight: Hey! Is for Horses, Low-Fi, Matt Hopper, the Sassmatrons. Saturday: B Radicals, DJ Yochanon, Real Life Rockaz. Sunday: Belt of Vapor, Space Opera 77, Imperial Sparks. All $6. All-ages. 

She knows Jack, Meg and maybe Bill Murray. Awesome! Holly Golightly, a brassy, British-born vintage-sounding chanteuse takes the Blvd stage tomorrow night. You might know her from the White Stripes' Elephant (that's her on "Well It's True that We Love One Another") and Jim Jarmusch's Broken Flowers soundtrack. Double awesome! 6 pm. $10. All-ages.

So, does vinyl clothing breathe? If you're at all curious at all, come down and learn from the maven of liquid latex, the Divine Jewels. She's spinning new wave and rock during her Revitalized Vinyl Art You Can Wear Fashion show, and dance party. $5. 6:30 pm. Lion's Lair.

Our annual tribute to the vibrant music scene of the Inland Northwest, the Local Music Issue covers the bands, artists and fans that make our neck of the woods unique. This year kicks off the first year of a new feature: Bands to Watch. A committee of eight educated and diverse die-hard music fans will choose five local acts that are really upping the ante. Musicians pushing the envelope with their performances and unique style.

Those bands will all perform at our first ever "Volume: The Inlander's Local Music Extravaganza" on Thursday, May 27 at the Knitting Factory. And we're not just saying "extravaganza" because it sounds cool: it's a variety show with music, dancers, burlesque performings, marching bands and, if we're lucky, hula hoopers. And it's FREE — but you gotta have a ticket. Just come down to the Inlander offices (1020 W. Riverside Ave.) to get one.

We'll announce the bands playing on May 20 in our Local Music Issue — but trust us, they're damn good ones.

Just charge it! Your car, that is Spokane and Avista teamed up to unveil an electric car charging station in the City Hall parking lot. Just one thing: Bring your own cord, man. And another thing: Plug the meter. Other than that the juice is free.

At last, some Yard work Development schemes at Kendall Yards have faltered before, but Jim Frank and local dignitaries planted a tree on the north bank of the Spokane River to signify the downtown development is moving forward and will have first houses built by end of summer.

Calling all sidewalk supers If you are a construction and heavy equipment geek (and who isn't?) jonesing for an update on the reconstruction of Lincoln Street on Spokane's South Hill, strap on your bump cap and hit the link to check out the video. Twelve blocks of pavement gone, buddy, giant trac-hoes at work. We won't snitch.

The super-cool Spokane Music Helping Haiti series, a set of shows to benefit Yele Haiti (Wyclef Jean's nonprofit raising cash and education-dollars for Haiti), kicks off tonight at Empyrean. For the quality of shows you'll catch, it's worth the $20 weekend pass. The series kicks off tonight with a show featuring Jamal Ali, Phirst Impressions and Mon Cheri. Check the poster (below) for details on the rest of the weekend shows.

Seattle-based environmental think tank Sightline Institute recently asked its readers to send in images representing their visions for the future of the Northwest. They combined those images into the slideshow below, in honor of today's celebration of Earth Day.

The result is a feel-good liberal fantasy collage. In Sightline readers' vision of the future, there'll be more beautiful women staring into the distance, more minorities on public transit and old people holding hands while riding bicycles. Also, we'll cruise to the public market on rickshaws, wearing flannel and hipster beards, flashing the peace sign.

Sigh...

Loved/reviled celebrity vultures TMZ uploaded a video yesterday of Cuba Gooding, Jr. onstage at the Blue Spark, giving an apparently inebriated salute to the U.S. of A. Naturally, he began said benediction with "Show me the money!"(Click below to watch)

There's no indication of who filmed this or when (though we're guessing it was on his latest visit in Jan/Feb).

Anybody have more info? Was anybody at the Spark that night?

Last week's Tax Day rally in downtown Spokane was attended by thousands of Tea Party demonstrators. Where did all those people come from? This map shows us:

Produced by PBS NewsHour's "Patchwork Nation," the map details where Tea Partiers live. Only six of every 10,000 residents of Spokane County are members of this movement, according to this admittedly imperfect map. (The map was created by combing "through online directories to find people who have registered with tea party organizations.") The Tea Partiest county in Washington is Benton, which constitutes part of the Tri-Cities.

Unsurprisingly (and as a recent Inlander cover story detailed), the largest concentration of Tea Partiers live in Republican strongholds: central Texas and north Florida, among other places.