BEST TOURING THEATER PRODUCTION OF THE PAST YEAR -My Fair Lady - With no monster production like Phantom of the Opera or Miss Saigon to snarf up all the votes this year, the Best Touring Theater Production race was a fun one to watch. In the end, the recent run of My Fair Lady at the Opera House won top... Full Story

BEST RADIO STATION - KPBX-FM - Where would we have been without KPBX this year? National Public Radio's reporting on the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks was some of the most complete and in-depth coverage out there, and in many ways, NPR's lack of a visual medium helped give the events a human face. Over days and... Full Story

BEST PUBLIC ART - The Bloomsday Runners in Riverfront Park - "The runners," as most people call them, have anchored the southwest corner of Riverfront Park and offered a visual touchstone for the spirit of both a city and a race since 1985. `"To run with so many people, you lose your sense of how well or... Full Story

BEST CHARITY EVENT OF THE YEAR - Wampum - To the Algonquins of pre-colonial New England, wampum was a medium of both exchange and jewelry. Disks and tubes, painstakingly carved out of coastal mollusks, were traded for goods and prized as adornment. To the arts organizations of Spokane, Wampum is a similar... Full Story

BEST LOCAL BAND - 10 Minutes Down - "We have seven guys in the band, and only two of us voted," reveals Ted Teske, trombonist and vocalist for Spokane's rocking, horn-driven ska combo 10 Minutes Down, conceding that if the band members themselves had been a little more participatory, they would have... Full Story

BEST ARTS FESTIVAL OF THE PAST YEAR - Art on the Green - Coeur d'Alene's annual arts festival on the North Idaho College campus is a three-day extravaganza of the visual and performing arts, spiked with a liberal dose of street fair food and farmers' market ambience. More than 135 artists participated last... Full Story

BEST LOCAL THEATER PRODUCTION OF THE PAST YEAR - Camelot - It turns out there are few things Inland Northwest audiences love more than a great big Lerner and Loewe musical, especially a Lerner and Loewe musical with jousting, swordfights and fabulous headdresses. In this, the Coeur d'Alene Summer Theater... Full Story

However you do it, there are plenty to choose from in Spokane (a number of voters said as much, or words to that effect).... Full Story

BEST CONCERT OF THE YEAR - Dave Matthews Band at the Gorge - Was it the band, the venue or the three-day booking? We're thinking it had to have been a combination of all three that made the Dave Matthews Band gig at the Gorge such a champion in this race. Die-hard fans who attended all three nights... Full Story

BEST PLACE TO SKI OR SNOWBOARD - Schweitzer - For the fifth consecutive year, the resort on the north side of Sandpoint, Idaho, has topped the voting in the Alpine and Nordic Combined event. With more than 2,000 acres, 59 trails and 300 inches of snow per year, you can see why. And you gotta like a place... Full Story

BEST PLACE TO HIKE - Riverside State Park - Jack Hartt, manager of Riverside State Park, has some hikes for you — and they're not just at the Bowl and Pitcher. Certainly the swinging bridge there is popular, along with the trail that continues up a hill and heads north for a mile along the west side of... Full Story

BEST PERSONAL TRAINER - Anthony Tevlin Like many trainers, whose function is to motivate their clients as much as to guide them in specific exercise techniques, Anthony Tevlin has plenty of nifty phrases at the ready. "Like I always say," he likes to say, "if you've done the crime [of getting out of shape],... Full Story

BEST OUTDOOR ADVENTURE SUPPLIES - REI - Why do these guys seemingly always win the sporting goods/outdoors category? Because at REI, you can get unusual stuff: For hikers, Petzl Tikka LED headlamps. For campers, Counter Assault Bear Spray, with Holster. For the "way honed" rock climber, training boards to... Full Story

BEST HEALTH CLUB - 24-Hour Fitness - For the fourth year in a row, the round-the-clock gym (with four Spokane locations, plus Liberty Lake and Coeur d'Alene facilities) has cornered the fitness-fanatic vote. Like other health clubs in the area, 24-Hour has cardiovascular workout areas, free weights and... Full Story

BEST FITNESS TREND - Yoga - Two years ago, the winners in this category were Tae Bo, kickboxing and walking. So how do we account for the "new-found" popularity of yoga, a discipline that stretches back 2,200 years? Certainly practitioners point to stress relief as one advantage. But another benefit centers... Full Story

BEST AREA WITHIN RIVERFRONT PARK - The Looff Carousel - I-I-I, love to love mah Looff, babe. Yet who knew that, concealed beneath the 54 gleaming carved wooden horses (and one giraffe), lies an intricate web of idler wheels, drive trains, vertical shafts and sectional ring gears? (We thought that was how... Full Story

BEST PLACE TO MEET YOUR BLIND DATE - Starbucks - As anyone can tell you who has ever sat there nervously waiting for a blind date to show up, it's all about location, location, location. What you want out of a good blind date meeting spot is the kind of place that does double duty, the kind of place that... Full Story

BEST PLACE TO MAKE OUT - Home - We always scratch our collective heads at this one. Whenever we count this category and discover "home" to be, as always, the landslide winner, we roll our eyes and exclaim "home!?" Somehow, home seems too tame an answer for this category. But it isn't long before one or more... Full Story

BEST BREAK-UP LINE - "It's not you, it's me" - Remember the Seinfeld episode when George has a fit when girlfriend Gwen tries to dump him, using his own time-perfected brush-off? Here's their exchange, from the episode, "The Lip-Reader." Full Story

BEST WEEKEND GETAWAY - Coeur d'Alene Resort - What makes the Coeur d'Alene Resort a hands-down winner in the "Best Weekend Getaway" category? Whether you're in the "I-can't-get-enough-of-this-person" throes of rose-tinted, early romance or in need of something strong enough to ward off a bad case of the... Full Story

BEST STEAKS - Outback Steakhouse - The lineup hasn't changed much for this category, with the same three steak joints duking it out for the title. But Outback just will not give up, consistently serving up the best steaks around to meat-eating Inland Northwesterners. For as long as Outback has been in... Full Story

BEST PIZZA - David's - I've had more David's pizza during my time at The Inlander than meatloaf dinners during my time as a kid. That's saying something. From their semi-out-of-the-way location in the Gonzaga University district, David's rules Spokane with its original, fresh, well-made pies. It's... Full Story

BEST SANDWICH - Domini's - If you've ever been to a New York delicatessen, you know where the inspiration for Domini's truly inspirational sandwiches originates. They keep it really simple here: meat, cheese and bread in terrific proportions. Considering the quantity and quality of the ingredients used in... Full Story

BEST NEW RESTAURANT - Sam's on Regal - Sam's on Regal is a classic. The yummy food, personalized service and casual, neighborhood atmosphere at the upper South Hill eatery make for a winning combination with Inlander readers. Full Story

BEST MEXICAN CUISINE - Azteca - Can you say repeat? For as long as this humble writer's admittedly defective noggin can remember, Azteca has been the clear choice among Inlander readers for fresh and tasty Mexican fare. Heck, why not? The enchiladas, tacos and burritos are well prepared, and the atmosphere... Full Story

BEST ITALIAN CUISINE & SERVICE - Luigi's - Can you say, play it again, Sam? People love Luigi's. They love the Olive Garden and the Italian Kitchen, too. But my God, do they love Luigi's. And so do we. Most businesses that close for two years (like Luigi's did after a devastating fire in 1998) stay closed.... Full Story

BEST FAST FOOD ALTERNATIVE - Subway - By the look of the responses in this category, it seems our perceptive readers knew exactly what we were getting at. The favorite sandwich shop of that goofy Jared Fogle and his slavish, hefty disciples is also Spokane's favorite place to eat fast while skipping out on... Full Story

BEST FINE DINING & DESSERT - Clinkerdagger -Clinkerdagger has a stranglehold on this category, having come out on top for the last five years in a row. With world-class food and service, a cozy and intimate feel and great views of the Spokane River (and marmots!) thanks to its location inside the... Full Story

BEST DRIVE-through ESPRESSO - Jacob's Java - The Jacob brothers understand that coffee is a staple of Northwest life. But that doesn't mean Northwesterners have time to sit down and relax over a cup of joe. Heck, no. Jacob's Java employees realize that coffee is as important as oxygen for many Spokane... Full Story

BEST DELI - Brooklyn Deli - "We're surprised and honored and happy," responds Brooklyn Deli owner Jody Harville to the news that her modest but stylish soup-and-sandwich shop breezed into first place in the Best Deli slot. It's no small feat, as this has often been one of the most hotly contested categories... Full Story

BEST ESPRESSO DRINKS - Starbucks - Like it or not, the world is becoming a smaller place due to globalization, and the coffee world is no exception. Starbucks, the mother ship of espresso huts, once again reigns supreme in this category. That taunting little mermaid (or whatever she is) lures us back every... Full Story

BEST BURRITO - Sonic - Last year's winner in this category repeats the feat with ease. And this is why: Sonic's delicious, handmade creations are massive. So massive, in fact, they can hardly be contained within the boundaries of a mere 12-inch tortilla. The ingredients are as fresh as they come, the crew... Full Story

BEST BURGER - Red Robin - We at The Inlander editorial department all moan and groan whenever a national chain restaurant takes top honors in a category over a local hero, as if it's some personal affront to our holier-and-hipper-than-thou sensibilities, as if no matter how technically good the food is at... Full Story

BEST BAKERY - The Rocket - Sometimes the best ideas start out simple and small. When Jeff Postlewait and his family would visit his hometown of Spokane, they were disappointed. "Every time we came home," he explains, "there were no little bakeries open on Sunday. And at the time it seemed like there was... Full Story

BEST BREAKFAST - Frank's Diner - Breakfast, they say, is the most important meal of the day. Why then don't we just blow off the pretenses of every other distinct meal and just have breakfast for lunch and dinner, too? Breakfast for every meal of the day! At Frank's, you can. In fact, you are on some level... Full Story

BEST ASIAN CUISINE - Mustard Seed - Can you say shut up already? Okay, I promise not to use this tired and annoying literary device ever again. That is, unless I see this and the previous two categories sporting the same lineups next year. Not that there's anything wrong with the winners, mind you. In fact,... Full Story

BEST BRUNCH - Patsy Clark's Brunch — it's neither breakfast, nor lunch, but something temporally and semantically in between. And sometimes, it's every fabulous, scrumptious meal you've ever had in your entire lifetime spread out before you on silver platters accented by ice sculptures, lush ferns,... Full Story

BEST APPETIZERS - The Onion - An appetizer has the potential to upstage all other elements of the dining experience. I've seen it happen. And whether it's some outlandishly creative construction of exotic ingredients and flamboyant presentation or just a pile of French fries and a tub of creamy, tangy... Full Story

BEST FAST FOOD- Zip's - Ah, Zip's. Is there any place thou art... not? This regional fast food juggernaut is incredibly ubiquitous, a fact that no doubt helps push it into the stratosphere of the quick eats categories each year come "Best Of" time. But the fact is, the real reason we like Zip's so much is because... Full Story

Best Place for Wine and Spirits - Niko's - This purveyor of Greek cuisine has been a local favorite for years for its food, but for the past few years, Niko's has been known as a great place for wine, too. Ever since the downtown Spokane restaurant added a wine bar, it's been on the map for those... Full Story

Best Way to Help the Local Economy - Shop Locally - There's no stopping the trend toward major national retailers — hey, this is America, and business growth is what we're all about. But perhaps people can lessen the trend's impacts by being aware that when they spend their money locally, the... Full Story

Best Place to Drink Beer - The Elk - Running a pub in an old pharmacy creates some weird moments. Co-owner Brad Fosseen says they get people who say they used to come in with their grandma to get her prescription filled. "They're always saying, 'Where's the old soda fountain?' I don't know, that was... Full Story

Best Name for a New City in the Valley - Spokane Valley - Readers weren't too adventurous when it came to choosing a new name for the proposed city in the Valley — after all, "Spokane Valley" wasn't exactly what we were hoping for. Maybe people are just satisfied with the tried-and-true. The... Full Story

Best Movie Theater - AMC River Park Square 20 - There's nothing controversial about this downtown success-story — people love it. The Kansas City-based theater chain redefined the movie-going experience in the Inland Northwest when it opened for business in 1999, featuring luxurious seats (with... Full Story

Best Casino - Northern Quest - Who needs Vegas when you live in the Inland Northwest? Over the past decade, our region has become decidedly well-served from a gambling perspective. Now, with the addition of Northern Quest — this year's winner — you can satisfy your urge for craps, blackjack or slots... Full Story

Best Dance Club - Dempsey's - After a one-year hiatus, Dempsey's Brass Rail in downtown Spokane has reclaimed its status as the Inland Northwest's best place to boogie. Known for being accepting of all kinds of people, the proprietors only ask that their patrons bring the same attitude with them. For... Full Story

BEST LIVE MUSIC CLUB - Mootsy's - The fact that Mootsy's emerged as Spokane's favorite live music venue this year says a lot about the customers who frequent and the people who run this small and unassuming bar on West Sprague Avenue. No one really saw it coming, least of all owner Rick Turner. Over the... Full Story

Best Hot New Nightspot - Hotteez -There's always a hot new nightspot somewhere, but many voters opted instead to vote for simply a hot nightspot. With past winners like the Blue Spark still garnering significant support, we had to institute a two-year rule. If a place has been around two years or... Full Story

BEST STORE THE INLAND NORTHWEST NEEDS - IKEA - Just the merest mention of IKEA here brings forth dozens of unsolicited testimonials about the Swedish chain's vast selection of eminently affordable, high-quality, assemble-it-yourself home furnishings. Founded in 1943, the company didn't open its first U.S.... Full Story

BEST NEW CAR DEALER - Wendle Ford - Actually, the name is a little misleading, because Wendle carries new cars from Nissan, Isuzu, Infiniti and Suzuki as well. The dealership has been around since 1943, and for the last several years it has had two locations to serve the Inland Northwest's eager car and... Full Story

BEST SHOPPING MALL - NorthTown Mall - In this category, the top competitors and the results are exactly the same as last year — our readers still flock to NorthTown. We'll have to admit it's quite an exiting setup they have created up on North Division: with the addition of Chili's Bar and Grill,... Full Story

BEST MUSIC and videos - Hastings - The wide selection of musical artists and genres keeps Inland Northwest music lovers flocking back to this category's perennial winner, Hastings. Just about anyone can find music here to soothe the inner savage beast, and with four stores in the Spokane... Full Story

BEST JEWELRY - Pounder's Jewelry - Here's a business that's won or placed in this category several years in a row. And when you visit the North Division store, it's obvious why: the selection of fine jewelry, watches and even estate jewelry is enormous. Pounder's clerks and sales people are always friendly... Full Story

BEST HOTEL - Hotel Lusso - Since it opened in 1998, this small luxury hotel has been the premier place for visiting celebrities and dignitaries to rest their weary heads, but it's also an elegant destination for an in-town getaway when pampering is high on the list. The marble and stone flourishes and... Full Story

BEST GIFTS - Boo Radley's - As an eight-time winner, the Boo seems to have a clamp on this title. Our readers know what they want, and they know where to find it. You just have to have a trademark punching nun, you say? Look no further. A Jaws lunch box, complete with matching thermos, just like you had in... Full Story

BEST GROCERY STORE AND NATURAL FOODS - Huckleberry's - Shopping at Huckleberry's is a whole different experience than at your typical supermarket. First, there's the matter of size. This is a store built on a human scale, unlike the newest megamarkets. You won't get lost making your way from the meat... Full Story

BEST FURNITURE - Burgan's Furniture - Located on Division under the big red "FURNITURE" sign, Burgan's has been around for the better part of a century, even though the family-owned business didn't begin specializing in furnishings until the 1950s. The boxy, tile-striped exterior belies the 60,000 square... Full Story

BEST DAY SPA - Spa Paradiso - This downtown beauty oasis is a full-service day spa, so you can line up to get everything from a massage to a huge variety of body treatments and facials. There's also an in-house hair salon and a nail salon, which does only natural nail work. Now, just because it's a day spa... Full Story

BEST BEAUTY SALON - 14th and Grand - This hair-temple is a legend around town, and there are many reasons our readers have voted it into first place. Highly skilled hairdressers here apply the latest techniques while creating some of the boldest hair designs we've ever seen. Trust us — they can make... Full Story

BEST BOOKSTORE - Auntie's - No need to read between the lines for this one; Auntie's remains the overwhelming favorite among local fans of the written word. With three levels of browsing space, a wide selection of new and used titles, and literary events several nights each week, Auntie's lures literati... Full Story

BEST ANTIQUES - Finders Keepers - This place looks a little like the bedroom of your favorite great-grand aunt — you know, the one who really wanted to be an actress but never quite made it. Instead, she began collecting little porcelain dogs and tall candlesticks, and when she died she left you with... Full Story

Owners Jim and Kellee Alice are the third generation to serve the floral needs of the Spokane community from the corner of Eighth... Full Story

BEST MEN'S and Women's clothes and customer service - Nordstrom - There's this thing about Nordstrom, it's like a spell that's quietly cast on you when you walk into the store. While under the enchantment, you see only beautiful things, smell only pleasant scents, hear only sparkling laughter. You feel... Full Story

BEST BANK - Washington Mutual - Groucho Marx once remarked that he would never want to join a club that would have him as a member, but to the best of our knowledge he never added a corollary pertaining to a bank that would give him a loan. No matter; we don't think he voted this year, anyway. But of those... Full Story

BEST TV WEATHERCASTER - Tom Sherry, KREM - Maybe we should just give this guy his own category, because he's always winning. Whether it's sunshine or heavy weather, Sherry and his famous weatherdog, Doppler the golden retriever, are the ones residents say they trust year in and year out. Full Story

BEST TV NEWSCASTER - Randy Shaw, KREM - Every evening, at 6 and 11 pm, Spokanites watch the area's Numero Uno TV anchor Randy Shaw, whose popularity stems from his combination of down-home charm and TV-lite gravitas (in his off-hours, he plays guitar in the Randy Shaw Band). Full Story

BEST TV REPORTER - Dana Haynes, KHQ - It's "Dan-Na," not "Day-Na". However you pronounce it, Dana Haynes likes to be in the thick of the action. "What I like about my job is, it's soup to nuts," she says. "I cover everything from hard news — I was in on the serial killer coverage — to things like... Full Story

BEST Radio team - The Breakfast Boys, KZZU - Some people need four cups of coffee to kick-start their mornings, or a five-mile crack-of-dawn jog. Others just tune in to Dave Sposito and Ken Hopkins, known to loyal listeners as the Breakfast Boys. They've glommed onto first place radio team for the fourth... Full Story

BEST LOCAL AUTHOR - Sherman Alexie - Sherman Alexie is a Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian, but his readers will tell you that, as one critic has said, his writing is as powerful as any writer's "of any color today." Full Story

BEST BARISTA - Andy Egloff, Field of Beans - Talk about your dogs learning new tricks. Andy Egloff says that when he met his wife Sam — they were both living in London, working at the Hard Rock Café there — "I didn't even drink coffee." Full Story

BEST MECHANIC - Rich Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald Motors - For Rich Fitzgerald, fixing up cars is a way of life that began when his father, an automobile dealer, brought home a couple of beat-up cars for him and his brother to play with. Fitzgerald was five years old at the time. He's been at it ever... Full Story

But the best, Inlander voters say, is John Powers. Did he win because he's mayor of Spokane? Because of name recognition?... Full Story

BEST STORY TIME - Spokane-Area Libraries (city & county) - Susan Creed, a children's librarian at the Shadle Park branch, calls Spokane "a good library town." That's readily apparent in local storytelling programs. Some area parents, perhaps because they're concerned about the onslaught of TV and video... Full Story

BEST PLAYGROUND - Manito Park - Maybe it's the proximity to the duck pond. Maybe it's the fact that this particular playground is surrounded by the area's best urban park. For whatever reason, results this year exactly reversed those of two years ago, when Manito took third and the elaborate wooden Fort... Full Story

BEST KIDS-FRIENDLY - RESTAURANT - Chuck E. Cheese - For children who dream of flashing lights, fast-moving video, screaming kids and the ear-splitting noise of an arcade, this is Kid Heaven. Kids can prance around in Studio C and see themselves on several CEC-TV (get it?) video monitors. There's skee-ball,... Full Story

BEST PRESCHOOL TEACHER - Suzanne Brooks, St. John's Preschool - She's been at it for 20 years, teaching the tykes at St. John's Episcopal Cathedral Preschool the things they need to know. And just what do the three- and four-year-olds in Suzanne Brooks's classes need to learn? "I want to help them learn how... Full Story

BEST ACTOR TO PLAY STEVE EUGSTER - Pee Wee Herman - Can't you just see it? — Steve Eugster in red lipstick, a tight gray suit, a teensy bow tie and gleaming white shoes, chirping happily through his Big Adventure, squeaking in that little voice at City Council meetings? Still, let's not push the parallel too far: you may recall that... Full Story

BEST STREET NAME - Funk Avenue - There's nothing really funky about Funk Avenue, located as it is in a nice South Hill neighborhood populated by mostly white people, mostly living in split-levels, mostly built in the mid-1970s. Not that there's anything wrong with that... But the name, we've got to admit... Full Story

BEST PERSON TO CHRISTEN THE reopening of the DAVENPORT HOTEL - Walt Worthy - Was there really ever any doubt? Walt Worthy won this category by a landslide, beating out such non-local interlopers as President George W. Bush and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani. Still, with the hotel in its final stages of... Full Story

BEST replacement - for "famous potatoes" as an Idaho slogan - Spuds R Us - If an archaeologist 200 years in the future were to dig up this year's Inlander votes for the best new Idaho slogan, he'd have to believe Idaho was a place of gorgeous natural beauty peopled by potato-eating skinheads. Don't jump... Full Story

Best Patriotic Sign - The Metropolitan Mortgage Building - Patriotism has been running thick since the Sept. 11 attacks. Patriotic signs have become mainstays on local billboards and reader-boards, and the American flag can be seen flapping off the sides of many cars and buildings. When asked in our poll... Full Story

STRANGEST INLAND NW LANDMARK - The Garbage Goat -The Inland Northwest itself is a pretty strange place. As a loose collective of people with disparate agendas and cities and towns haunted by the echoes of past glories, it never seems completely comfortable in its own skin — always searching, with... Full Story

BEST MASCOT FOR A SPOKANE UNIVERSITY - Marmots - Overwhelmingly (as in by a factor of 15-to-1), our fauna-minded voters went with everyone's favorite local rodent, Jimmy Marks. Just kidding; they voted for the Marmots. Now, marmots are a more varied breed than you might think. There are at least four major... Full Story

BEST THING FOR LOCAL TV NEWS TO GET HYSTERICAL ABOUT BESIDES THE WEATHER - Gonzaga Bulldogs Basketball - We know, we seem to give our friends in local TV news a hard time about how ballistic they can get about the weather. Sure, everybody wants to watch the weather, but isn't it just the same story,... Full Story

BEST END TO THE RIVER PARK SQUARE BATTLE - The Cowles Should Pay Up - In a lot of cities, all the armchair quarterbacking is about sports. But in good ol' Spokane, water cooler chatter is about the weather and the scuffle over the River Park Square parking garage. As non-scientific as our method may... Full Story