Recently Reviewed

Bonsai Bistro -- The Bonsai Bistro (housed in a renovated concrete building just across the street from the Coeur d'Alene resort) is a fun restaurant with a cool concept and pan-Asian foods that range from mild and comfortable to fiery a

• by Inlander Staff

A Poet's Plea

Dear Inlander: I feel as though I should begin with an apology. I mean, I don't do this. "This" being the sending of poems to publications that don't usually publish poems. I can publish them elsewhere. That's not the problem. The proble

• by Robert Wrigley

Shock to the System

Washington state's voting system hasn't changed for 70 years, which may explain why voters are confused, frustrated -- even angry -- about the new primary ballot. Instead of simply checking the box next to any candidate, people must first ch

• by Cara Gardner
• Tags: News, election 2004

Personalize It!

2-H-O-T-4-U is just one example of my focus this week: personalized license plates. These hot items have been around for quite some time. In fact, I remember the yellow plates with the green lettering that used to be the norm for these ac

• by Clint Burgess

Movin' On Up

Bob Hemphill is the kind of guy who says "God bless you" before he hangs up the telephone. He smiles when he slides your order across the counter at his downtown mom and pop chicken 'n' ribs joint. And when you ask him what he thinks of hi

• by Leah Sottile

Letters to the Editor

Outsourcing Old News -- Unfortunately, outsourcing has been going on for years, both inside and outside the United States. For example, * Migrant laborers working mainly agricultural jobs in the States, where "legal" workers don't wa

• by Inlander Readers

Radioactivity on the Ballot

The Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Eastern Washington is the most polluted site in the Western Hemisphere and the biggest environmental cleanup site in the United States. The federal Department of Energy (DOE) has been charged with the cle

• by Cara Gardner
• Tags: News, hanford, election 2004

Love Potion No. 9

Early in the last century, a peddler rolls into a small northwestern town by a lake, selling potions that are nothing more than cleverly disguised cheap wine. A young man, something of a bumpkin, is madly in love with the most popular gi

• by Ann Colford

Touchdown!

Football matters in Odessa, Texas. I mean, really matters, as in the dreams of an entire town center upon whether or not the Permian Panthers are winning or losing. Based on the H.G. Bissinger book about the intense 1988 season, Friday Nigh

• by Ed Symkus

Catastrophe in Iraq

In the Sept. 27 issue of Newsweek, conservative columnist George Will, a supporter of President Bush, scoffs, "Who believes there are now fewer terrorists in the world than three years ago?" The answer is: President Bush, or at least he

• by William Stimson

Politics in the Air

This month marks the 40th anniversary of the Wilderness Act, signed in 1964 by Lyndon B. Johnson. Traditionally bipartisan, wilderness designation has been advocated by presidents as ideologically opposite as Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter

• by Cara Gardner
• Tags: News, environment

Life's A Farce

People are funny when they act like machines. Whether it's Charlie Chaplin caught up in oversize gears or Lucy falling frantically behind the conveyor belt at the chocolate factory, we giggle when people try to act with inhuman regularity

• by Michael Bowen

Opening Films

Friday Night Lights -- High school football is a way of life in Texas, and in this portrait of a town and team in the late 1980s, it feels like it is life itself. Billy Bob Thornton, in calm mode, plays the coach who tries to keep the yo

• by Inlander Staff

& amp;quot;What, Him Worry? & amp;quot;

A former colleague of mine studied during the 1960s at the University of Chicago in a graduate school class that included Paul Wolfowitz. While my friend expresses surprise and disappointment at what he sees as his classmate's many errors

• by Robert Herold

It's McMorris vs. Barbieri

The TV's been humming with a flood of political ads for weeks now, but if you think that's been wild, well, it's just the beginning. With the Primary Election in the books, it's on to the Nov. 2 General Election - a

• Tags: News, election 2004, elections

Jan of the Jungle

You would be hard-pressed to find a library in town that doesn't carry Jan Brett's books, or a kid who hasn't encountered at least one along the way. The Mitten, Brett's most ubiquitous title, is a staple in schools and reading programs a

• by Kris Dinnison

Now Playing

The Bourne Supremacy -- Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) still doesn't know who he is or where he's come from, but he and his lover Marie (Franka Potente) just want to be left alone. Of course, they're not, and there will be hell to pay. Damon

• by Inlander Staff

Rock Starling

Everyone comes from somewhere. That tenet of existence is especially significant for songwriters because while most of us regular folk could, with relative ease, pull up from whatever burg we were hatched and set up shop in another corner

• by Mike Corrigan

Counting Conundrum

It's almost become routine anymore; on Election Night, Washingtonians go to bed knowing that more votes are yet to be counted. In any close race, it'll be as least a few more days until a winner can be crowned. Why does it take so da

• by George Howland Jr.
• Tags: News, election 2004, elections

Buzz Bin

So Bad They're Good -- Attack of the Killer Tomatoes is about as B as B-movies can get -- in fact, it's an hommage to the form. The "Worst Midnight Movie Series Ever" at CenterStage celebrates this and all manner of trashy cult cinema wit

• by Inlander Staff

DVD Review

The two big documentaries of the year - Fahrenheit 9/11 and Super Size Me -- share more than a few similarities. Both were created by likeable, populist documentarians. Both use pop culture - familiar logos, TV, pop music and animation - to

• by Sheri Boggs

Election '04 Endorsements

Initiatives -- In general, our first response to all initiatives is to vote no. We have a Legislature to settle these matters, with sensitivity to the needs of all the state's citizens, institutions and businesses. As recent history has

• by Inlander Staff

A Race to Lead

As the presidential campaign picked at scabs of the Vietnam War, our gubernatorial race reopened the wounds of the struggle for civil rights. Reliving of the 1960s began with a Seattle Times story on Monday, Aug. 23, about Attorney

• by George Howland Jr.
• Tags: News, election 2004, elections

Book Review

Everybody knows sprawl when they see it, but finding the words to talk about it has been a challenge. How do you describe those office and retail parks that sprout at freeway interchanges? And what about the miles of big box stores and f

• by Ann Colford

A Geek Speaks

Many a Star Wars geek has been screaming in Internet chat rooms, refusing to pony up for the long-awaited DVD release of the original trilogy, because of all the alleged changes George Lucas has made. For purists, the recently released, four-

• by Bob Grimm

Who's No. 1?

With four weeks to go before the election, Democrats around the country have been riding a roller coaster of emotion about their party's prospects. Here in Washington, however, many local Democrats have been steadfastly predicting si

• by George Howland Jr.

Taking the 6th

Washington State Senate -- Two years ago, Spokane was home to the most expensive legislative race in Washington state history: Republican Jim West and Democrat Laurie Dolan ran against each other for the 6th District state Senate seat. Bot

• by Cara Gardner

Music is the Message

Hunched over a 12-string acoustic guitar, standing in the lone spotlight of an otherwise darkened Wachovia Center in Philadelphia last Friday night, Bruce Springsteen began to help unseat President Bush with a bluesy, instrumental version

• by Eric Boehlert

In Brief

Tales of Thunder Dragon -- SPOKANE - Only about 5,000 visitors a year are allowed into the remote Asian nation of Bhutan. Former county commissioner and Spokane outdoors advocate John Roskelley is one of them. Tonight, Thursday, Oct. 7, Ro

• by Cara Gardner

Courting the Courthouse

The race for Spokane County Commissioner used to be one of the main events on the local electoral landscape. But with a news cycle dominated by the latest fallout from presidential and vice presidential debates, it seems to be hard

• by Ted S. McGregor Jr.

Home on the Range

It's safe to say a guy like Wylie Gustafson marches to his own drummer. He fronts an outfit called the Wild West, is a nationally renowned yodeler and is country western to the bone. And this is the real de

CD Review

If Miles gave birth to the cool, Horizon Reassembled represents a minor renaissance in hard bop. While a couple of Blue Note albums in the late '80s joined Bobby Watson with drummer Victor Lewis and pianist Edward Simon, the exact quint

• by Michael Bowen