WELCOME

Inlander.com 3.0

This third version of The Inlander's website is better and more powerful than ever.

| Jun 23, 2010

| 2 Comments

The Internet has been hard on newspapers. Some guy named Craig created a list, put it online and crushed the bottom lines of big-city daily newspapers. Subscribers started reading their favorite paper on their laptops — for free — leading to circulation drops at paid dailies.

Welcome to the New Inlander.com

We go live with our shiny, new Website today. Let us know what you think

Joel Smith

| Mar 17, 2010

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Today we’re launching a new version of Inlander.com, the Pacific Northwest Inlander’s home online since 2000. We think the new site is more robust, more dynamic and will better serve our u

FOOD/DRINK

Pig Out 2010: The Food

Our quaint group cookout hits the half-century mark... of vendors.

| Sep 01, 2010

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Compared to leaner times, Pig Out 2010 is looking like the fattened calf.

Kung Pao Smackdown

Five critics, 10 cartons of Chinese takeout and a mess of fortune cookies

| Aug 25, 2010

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Through the haze of my cornstarch hangover, I’m re-evaluating what I believed to be true about take-out from Chinese restaurants. Leakage is virtually inevitable in transit. TRUE. You

Cup of Coolness

It’s high time that Spokane added another frozen yogurt joint

| Aug 18, 2010

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Froyo Earth, which is brand-new, is the closest thing to competition that Didier’s (Spokane’s reigning north-side king of cultures) has seen in, like, 20 years.

Fresh & Tasty

Learning Pekingese

What's the deal with that dog from the Molly's sign? Plus, sweets from Coeur d'Alene's Shugar Shack.

| Aug 18, 2010

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Every neighborhood has a celebrity: the topless sunbather, the compulsive lawn-mower, the woman who argues with her cats. Eccentrics like these make life more interesting. The corner of Third and Linc

Fresh & Tasty

A New Cocktail Culture

Bon Bon brings fancy drinks to Garland, at long last. Plus, Indian food returns to downtown.

| Aug 11, 2010

| 1 Comments

There was an abundance of relief in a usually darkened corner of the Garland District on Monday night. BON BON, the tiny cocktail lounge attached to the Garland Theater was finally — mercifully — open. The room was full of Garlanders and other well-wishers, along with several members of the theater’s brain trust.

The Agony and the Albacore

Sixteen hours in a fish truck with Spokane’s hardest-working sushi chef.

| Aug 04, 2010

| 1 Comments

At 4:30 am, a line appears on the horizon east of Airway Heights. Charlie Yang is in his pajamas, a simple white tunic and pants that reach to his shins. His wife Lucy blends juice in the kitchen of their California split-level.

Moveable Feasts

Pop-up restaurants and clandestine dinner clubs are about to change the way the Inland Northwest thinks about food.

Luke Baumgarten

| Jun 02, 2010

| 2 Comments

The information was disseminated on a need-to-know basis. On April 2, at around 4:45 pm, a message was circulated to test the integrity of the system and to tell subjects when to expect the next communiqué. “The location will be no more than two miles from Browne’s Addition,” it said.

SCREEN

Italian Snow Job

Leave it to those sneaky Swedes to ruin an assassin’s much-needed vacation.

| Sep 01, 2010

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If you’re of that demographic that will attend any movie starring George Clooney just so you can see him in close-up, you might want to check out this exercise in espionage. Be forewarned the looks on his face don’t vary much between a frown and a scowl.

Tall Tales

A hermit throws his own funeral party. Bill Murray is happy to help.

| Sep 01, 2010

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The look comes via cinematographer David Boyd. The story comes via screenwriters Chris Provenzano, C. Gaby Mitchell and Scott Seeke, vaguely inspired by the true story of a Tennessee man who, in 1938, decided to throw himself his own funeral so he could enjoy it while he still drew breath.

DVD Review

Harry Brown

A look at vigilantes and the disturbingly authentic limitations of law enforcement.

| Sep 01, 2010

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Michael caine’s harry Brown was a Marine, once upon a time. now he’s just a nice old bloke who lives in a terrible London council estate — we’d call it a project — where open drug-dealing, blatant intimidation and violence by hoodie-wearing teens approaches a Clockwork Orange.

Sons of Anarchy

Hellboy and the mom from Married ... With Children team up.

| Sep 01, 2010

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But Season Two, which begins with the gang rape of SOA matriarch (Katey Sagal) by white supremacists, trades cheese for brutality. Sagal played the grief of a proud, strong woman with heartbreaking transparency. The stakes rose. The pace quickened. Sons.

The Player

Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days

Loaded with plenty of original style and even more unoriginal flaws.

| Sep 01, 2010

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There’s a certain enjoyable expediency to some of the game’s sloppiness. Noncombatants just walk right through one another, occasionally remaining untouched by gale-force blasts of bullets, wandering with their arms held out in front of them as though they were feeling their way through a dark room.

The Seven Deadly Exes

You may not want to sit through Scott Pilgrim once, but if you do, you'll likely need to see it again.

| Aug 11, 2010

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Give yourself five minutes to figure out if this is the right movie for you. If you’re immediately annoyed by the loud rock music, words popping up — onomatopoeia-like — onscreen and the presence of doe-eyed, squeakyvoiced Michael Cera in the lead role, perhaps you should ask for your money back (or sneak in to see Inception.

Unusual Suspects

This film about forensic accountants, scaffolding permits and Michael Keaton is funnier than it probably should be.

| Aug 04, 2010

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It opens with a roar, looking like one of those standard cop-buddy-action flicks. Detectives Highsmith and Danson (Samuel L. Jackson, Dwayne Johnson) are tearing through New York City on a high-speed chase, with bullets blazing and cars literally flying.

Dinner Games

A funny, warmhearted comedy that’ll leave you salivating for more.

| Jul 28, 2010

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Fans of the terrific 1998 French farce The Dinner Game are going to be pleased to find that Hollywood has some semblance of an idea regarding how to Americanize a foreign film. This long-gestating rem

Music

CD Review

'A Wolf in Hipster’s Clothing,' The Toy Garden

It took the Toy Garden a long time to get to where it is. And we're sure glad they stuck around.

| Sep 01, 2010

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It took awhile for the Toy Garden to really, truly become what it is today. Members left, sounds changed, new members joined … but in the end, the time and effort it took to get to where it is now was worth it.

CD Review

'The Deadbeat Verbatus,' Faus

The local hardcore outfit shows depth, promise and insight on their debut full-length.

| Sep 01, 2010

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It’s about halfway through the ninth track, “Magnoramoq,” that you can hear it all. Their vision, their aspiration, the true depth of knowledge and foresight of these very promising locals. FAUS, a band that the noise-fearing masses might write off as macho hardcore, looks deeply into the eye of its stormy soul on The Deadbeat Verbatus.

Pig Out 2010: The Music

Four decades after Woodstock, Sha Na Na will play a different meadow - probably with fewer hippies.

| Sep 01, 2010

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It was the perfect slot. Sunday night, 9 pm, just before Jimmy Hendrix. Between a monumental lineup of psychedelic rock bands and flower-power folkies, a greaser doo-wop band fresh from Columbia University played Woodstock.

Honky-Tonk Hootie

What happened to Hootie without the Blowfish? Country music, actually.

| Sep 01, 2010

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But, it seems, a whole lot of people can make sense of Rucker being a country singer. Since releasing his debut album on Capitol Nashville in fall 2008, the singer has seen three singles — “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It,” “It Won’t Be Like This For Long” and “Alright” — go to No.

Family Values

Stephen Kellogg and the power of home and love.

| Sep 01, 2010

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But this amorphous idea is one Kellogg, along with his band the Sixers, has spent the last seven years exploring in his writing. In an unadorned Americana style, they spin engaging vignettes, equating family, belonging and love with that feeling of home.

Live or Die

Sure, buy a Japandroids record. But don’t call yourself a fan until you’ve seen them live.

| Sep 01, 2010

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The Vancouver, B.C., two-piece barrages listeners with a wall of hard rock, despite its meager size. As drummer David Prowse pounds away on the skins and cymbals, guitarist David King wails away on his guitar with its signal split into two different amps: one for high harsh sounds and one for the lower-end bass-like sounds.

Ladies First

Is the local music scene a level playing field for male and female musicians?

| Aug 25, 2010

| 2 Comments

It’s not that we’re man-haters or feminist zealots. These bras are way too expensive to burn. Let’s get that fact — this is merely a pointed Q&A and not some prelude to she

A Hubbub of Hopefuls

Talent shows aren’t always about talent. Sometimes they’re about something more.

| Aug 18, 2010

| 26 Comments

Nevertheless, Red Eye Promotions, a local marketing group, was determined to show that Spokane has, in fact, got talent. The second annual show will assemble the top 20 acts — discovered at auditions like the one last Saturday — who will perform for a celebrity panel.

ELECTION 2010

Read all our 2010 election coverage here.

Big Stories

And the Awards Go To...

They like us! They really like us!

| Jul 21, 2010

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Every year, the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies honors the best journalism and design published by its member papers. The AltWeekly Awards for 2009 were handed out at the AAN annual conference in Toronto last week, and our own Managing Editor Jacob Fries and Director of Advertising Roger Nelson were on hand to accept.

Strong Arm of the Law

What happens when someone complains a cop used excessive force? Usually, not much.

| Jun 29, 2010

| 36 Comments

Kaitlyn Jellison barely reaches most people’s chins. At 19, she’s a slight 5-foot-2, wears glasses and is about as dainty as they come. So it’s unclear how she could pose much of a t

Reasonable Doubt

How spotty detective work and careless prosecution may have put the wrong men behind bars

Jacob H. Fries

| Feb 19, 2010

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The courtroom was full of tears. Tyler Gassman, a 22-year-old Spokane kid, had just learned his fate — 25 years in prison — and his sister, mother and friends wept. So did David Partovi, his lawyer. Partovi had lost cases before, but this felt different.

Mad as Hell

Why ex-Republicans, right-wing radicals and a few crazies love the Tea Party

Nicholas Deshais

| Apr 07, 2010

| 26 Comments

Thomas Dixon is a red-blooded American, a military man and a citizen who absolutely despises his government. The Spokane Valley resident despises what he sees as a tyrannical president and a new healt

Paper Cuts

Why phone books are on the chopping block for greens, pols and pissed-off citizens

Leah Sottile

| Mar 31, 2010

| 6 Comments

For Kitty Klitzke, it’s a one-woman war. Big stacks of shiny new phone books get dropped at her Spokane apartment building — and they just sit there, untouched by any of the tenants.“

THIS WEEK´S COVER STORY

The Volt Wrangler

Working on power poles is a deceptively nerve-wracking line of work.

| Aug 31, 2010

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The Cleaner

Brent Riddle makes tragedy disappear, one bloody sponge at a time.

| Aug 31, 2010

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The Creosote Crawler

Scraping tar, restoring crumbled brickwork, discovering dead animals — today’s chimney sweep is no Dick Van Dyke.

| Sep 01, 2010

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The Pains Taker

When you spend your days bearing other people’s tragedies, what do you when you go home at night?

| Sep 01, 2010

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The Vindow Viper

Hanging on a string above the streets of Spokane. How much would they have to pay you?

| Sep 01, 2010

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NEWS/COMMENTARY

Back in Biz

Spokane’s Sterling Savings regroups and, for now, appears to be on stable footing.

| Sep 01, 2010

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Repaying the cost of those troubled assets sent Sterling’s capital dwindling, precisely at a time when federal regulators were demanding banks have more capital than ever. In came the federal regulators, demanding changes at the beleaguered bank. More board oversight.

Under Review

When will we know what happened in last week’s officer-involved shooting?

| Sep 01, 2010

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The Police Department is leading the investigation due to a critical incident protocol between local law enforcement entities that ensures other agencies assist in investigations involving shootings by officers, to maintain the investigation’s integrity as well as to guard against charges of internal corruption.

What's the Deal With...…?

Your (imaginary) construction traffic questions answered.

| Sep 01, 2010

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On Second Avenue downtown, the city is tearing the street down to the dirt and rebuilding it from curb to curb. Several of the streets that cross it are just getting their surfaces ground away and reapplied.

Common Ground

Dream Castle

Maybe pricey real estate has been too expensive all along.

| Sep 01, 2010

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Just across the lake from Sandpoint, high on a hill it sits like a fairy-tale castle — a turret juts into the sky and a wall of windows reflects the sun. If you sat on the deck up there above it all, you could survey your kingdom, from the peaks of Schweitzer on down the run of the Pend Oreille River.

Commentary

Slippery Slopes

Comparisons to the Ground Zero mosque have been, by and large, fanciful and far-fetched.

| Sep 01, 2010

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First, let’s remove the morally challenged, the grifters and the wildly incompetent from the mosque debate. I’m referring to the likes of Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh and associated scoundrels in Congress, all of whom are playing off the nincompoop Fox News team.

Money Pit

For the county, the Spokane Raceway bill has gone from zero to $6 million in two years — is it worth it?

| Aug 25, 2010

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Cole Hooper, a young boy at the Spokane County Raceway drag strip, is equipped with flame-embellished earplugs to help muffle engine screams. Speedsters with names like “The Reaper” and &l

Between Rocky and a Hard Place

A city attorney with a tough-guy reputation tries to strong-arm a lawyer into staying away from City Council members.

| Aug 04, 2010

| 7 Comments

The letter said that Beggs — who had helped craft the legislation over the previous few weeks at the request of some council members — had spoken to the city’s elected officials “without my knowledge or prior permission.

Strong Arm of the Law

What happens when someone complains a cop used excessive force? Usually, not much.

| Jun 29, 2010

| 36 Comments

Kaitlyn Jellison barely reaches most people’s chins. At 19, she’s a slight 5-foot-2, wears glasses and is about as dainty as they come. So it’s unclear how she could pose much of a t

FOOD CARTS

Search our map of all the Inland Northwest's food carts

COLLEGE GUIDE 2010

College Guide

Whitworth University

Embracing dorky activities and avoiding (getting caught for) the Big Three.

| Aug 24, 2010

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Fog chokes the lamppost lights. I staggered on, past the Frisbee crossfire, past the flocks of proposing boyfriends, past the poor, hoodied souls diving for pinecones like starving men lunging for scr

College Guide

Meanwhile, Deep in the Jungles of South America

Turning yourself from Captain Never-Leaves-Campus to Captain Planet.

| Aug 24, 2010

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It’s Friday afternoon and Spain is closed. I stare uncomprehendingly at the man at the ticket counter. There is no way I could have heard him correctly. Spain can’t be closed. It’s

College Guide

Eastern Washington University

Where the grass is green and the turf is red.

| Aug 24, 2010

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The field glows a bright red, like some psycho soaked the whole thing in the blood of the Kool-Aid man. An eagle lets cry an ear-piercing shriek from above — an omen, surely. From the Pence Unio

College Guide

Gonzaga University

How to get into the best parties and which play was too hot for campus.

| Aug 24, 2010

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The realization hit me harder than a lacrosse-team hangover. The face with no neck, the hand with no body, the Bing with no pipe — I was in Zags territory now. Where athletic gods bestride the q

College Guide

The Heroes and Villains of College

The allies you'll need and the enemies that can end your college adventures with a splatter.

| Aug 24, 2010

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HALL OF HEROES Sometimes you’re the superhero at college. But other times you’re the damsel — or man-damsel (mamsel?) — in distress. Here are the true heroes of college, the all

ARTS & CULTURE

College Football Preview

James Montgomery is back on his feet after a frightening incident last season. (Plus, profiles of all area teams.)

| Sep 01, 2010

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Combined with his considerable skills — Scout.com ranked him 20th in the nation among high school senior running backs in 2005 — it’s easy to see why Montgomery quickly became popular with his Cougar teammates after transferring to WSU from California in 2008.

Hybrid Hippies

A new generation shows us the other side of the Rainbow People.

| Sep 01, 2010

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In the dirt lays a cast-iron skillet with the remains of noodles. A blue-and-teal glass hash pipe sits next to a Folgers can. It’s packed and ready to go. Medical drugs and hallucinogens are condoned here, but everything else — including alcohol — is prohibited.

Book Review

'Long for This World,' Jonathan Weiner

Reading Long for This World will make you feel like a lot of time has gone by.

| Sep 01, 2010

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Weiner spends his second chapter on the startling revelation that humans have long pondered and desired immortality — imagine that — then puts off considering the moral aspects of aging until his concluding chapters. If we lived for centuries, he finally suggests, few of us would have children.

Word, People

Local booksellers, like most of us, have a preferred type. Is it you?

| Aug 25, 2010

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People are more than just stereotypes, and good books explode our assumptions about them.Similarly, a look at Spokane’s book-buying habits may adjust your likeliest assumptions: Most book-buyers

Off the Rack

Fledgling designers are working to put a price tag on local fashion, but they wonder if Spokane is ready to pay up.

| Aug 18, 2010

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p {font-size: 14px; line-height: 150%; } Pink taffeta hangs thick as cotton candy. The material on a zebra print dress squeaks like someone has sat on a plastic couch cover. A bottle of Budweiser

Dance Off

Can a once-vibrant dance scene hang on in a place like Spokane? A prominent local dance instructor has his doubts.

| Jul 28, 2010

| 28 Comments

This, frankly, isn’t the ideal location for the timeless art of dance. It’s jammed in a strip mall of ugly asphalt and cigarette butts, neighboring a coin-op laundromat and a smoke shop. I

The Lives of St. John

How a small town on the Palouse is beating the odds.

| Jul 21, 2010

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Fourteen miles west of Highway 195, the rolling hills of the Palouse suddenly give way to the town of St. John. Visitors are welcomed by the grain elevators of Whitgro, a continual reminder of the

Blood Sport

Local backyard wrestling teeters between athletics and maniacal violence.

| Jul 06, 2010

| 27 Comments

Tending to two toddlers parked in a stroller on the sidelines, she cheers for Shadow, a stone-faced fighter wearing a black bandana around his head and a shirt that reads, “F--- You You F---kin