Bloglander

Your typical walk or ride on the newest section of the Centennial Trail just west of the downtown core may need to be slightly altered for the remainder of the summer months.

Development of what's called the Veterans Court area overlooking the Lower Spokane Falls between the Monroe and Post street bridges requires a section of the trail to be closed from the corner of Post and Lincoln (where the trail comes up to connect with the Post Street Bridge) to just west of the Monroe Street Bridge, beginning today, July 16, until approximately Friday, Sept. 5. This part of the trail is closed to the public Monday through Friday, from the hours of 7 am to 3:30 pm. It will reopen for evening and weekend use.

Since this mile-long section of the Centennial Trail was completed last fall, it's been incredibly popular. From the Inlander's offices just off the pathway, we see a steady stream of walkers, joggers and cyclists pass by daily, heading to and from downtown.

But because of road construction starting any day on Summit Parkway — which offers the nearest sidewalk access paralleling this part of the trail — the weekday trail detour directs users up to Broadway via Cedar and then back down to Monroe and Bridge. Summit's closure is expected to run until Aug. 5.

Garrett Jones, a landscape architect with the city parks department, tells us improvements to the Veterans Court area include installing lighting, a drip irrigation system, native plants, landscaping and pedestrian pathways. Paired with the recent completion of the new plaza and Huntington Park near City Hall, Jones said the Veterans Court improvements were part of "a domino effect" to improve the area around the falls.

A picnic shelter currently located in the small park space is to remain. The city plans to lay sod to create a grassy area for park users to sit and enjoy the view of the Lower Falls and the new Huntington Park across the water. Also being added is a new stairway from Bridge Avenue near the Boy Scouts statue to provide access to the trail and the park space, as well as a paved pathway leading to an existing overlook under the bridge.

Local videographer Josh Frost just posted this video earlier in the week and it's quite darling. Frost uses a technique called tilt shift, which makes an image, or in this case a video, appear as if it were a miniature model. It makes for a quirky, almost animated look to the video.

Frost has done some other videos in a similar style, including this piece from the 2013 Lilac Festival. 

Enjoy:

HERE

A state of emergency has been declared for 20 counties in Eastern Washington, including Spokane, as multiple wildfires burn and temps continue to hover near 100 degrees. (KREM)

Vivint, the Utah-based home security company (read our story about the company here) that recently closed its year-old call center after being lured to Spokane by economic incentives, has repaid the $150,000 in state funds it received to move here. (S-R)

SCRAPS is investigating a case of animal cruelty after a dog died of apparent heat-related distress, and another was in serious condition, after being tied up to a fence yesterday without water in the heat of the day. (KXLY)

A Spokane County Sheriff's deputy has been fired after it was discovered that he was also still posting hours at his former job at Best Buy. (S-R)

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Residents of many Southwestern U.S. border towns continue to firmly protest the arrivals of thousands of immigrant children fleeing the violence in their home countries of Central America, while other towns are embracing the refugees. (CNN)

Israeli military officials fear a ground invasion of the Gaza strip is inevitable after nine days of air strikes that have left more than 200 Palestinians dead, including the recent deaths of four children. (NYT)

Director Ron Howard announced he's working on a feature-length documentary about the Beatles' touring years, scheduled to open sometime next year. (Reuters)

Hundreds of people gathered under the hot Cheney sun to watch the Cheney Rodeo on Sunday, July 13. Fans cheered and yelled as brave cowboys rode wild horses, roped calves and took down bulls.

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The city of Spokane received $8 million in grants to support homelessness programs and services for local veterans. (KXLY)

Owners of theft-prone cars can apply to the Spokane Police Department to get a free steering-wheel lock device to defend themselves from car thefts. (KREM)

The state of Idaho is re-evaluating its trapping practices following the deaths of two dogs in North Idaho this past winter. (S-R)

Coeur d'Alene has reached a tentative agreement with the BNSF Railroad to buy 20 acres of waterfront property for $2.5 million. (KXLY)

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Three bright orange Tillamook cheese-branded Volkswagen mini-buses stolen yesterday (each worth about $100,000) have been recovered from a California storage locker. (Oregonian)

More than 80 civilians were killed in a car bombing at an Afghan market this morning in one of the deadliest terror attacks in the country since 2001. The believed perpetrators are denying any involvement. (NYT)

At least 19 people were killed and 120 injured in an underground train derailment in Moscow, Russia early this morning. (Reuters)

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and undocumented immigrant Jose Antonio Vargas is being detained at the McAllen, Texas Border Patrol checkpoint. (NYT)

Hamas and Israel can't agree on a cease fire. (CNN)

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Less than a week after a murder-suicide on the Deaconess Hospital campus, a Corrections Officer fired a gun inside the hospital after an inmate tried to escape early this morning. No one was injured. (KXLY)

The CdA Police Department has received several threatening emails and calls after an officer fatally shot what he believed to be an aggressive pit bull, but was really a black lab. (KREM)

We stopped by the 20th annual Northwest Renaissance Festival in Nine Mile Falls this weekend. The annual event continues every weekend through July. (Inlander)

Temperatures are expected to stay in the upper 90s through most of the week, with heat advisories and red flag warnings issued across the state as several wildfires continue to burn in Central Washington. Thunderstorms are also in the forecast. (KHQ)

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Former Taliban captive Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has completed his reintegration at a Texas Army hospital and is now returning to regular duty at the Fort Sam Houston. (USA Today)

With no cease-fire in sight despite warnings from the United Nations, the Israeli military is continuing its ground attack on the Palestinian-occupied Gaza Strip. Death tolls have reached 140. (NY Daily News)

The Church of England voted to allow women to become bishops in a historic decision that comes more than 20 years after the church decided to allow women become priests. (Reuters)

For the past 20 years in Nine Mile Falls, the Northwest Renaissance Festival has entertained patrons with jousts, music, mud shows, sword fights, gypsy shows and comedy shows. Vendors make everything from leather goods to chain mail and sell a variety of renaissance themed goods.

Here are some photos from Saturday's events:

Five days ago, when I interviewed Ayman Nijim, a Gazan masters student working on his degree in Vermont, the bombardment of his neighborhood and other major population centers in Gaza had barely begun. Since then, he has posted updates that tally the numbers of dead and wounded in his town and others in the besieged area and memorialized specific friends killed in the bombing. While the news we see here might portray the success of Israel in targeting Hamas specifically, the stream of images coming directly from Gaza tells a different story. An ambulance carrying wounded to a hospital that can’t sustain electricity for more than 12 hours a day targeted and destroyed; homes, churches, and stores bombed without warning; children dead in their parents’ arms or missing entire pieces of their bodies. 

Mention of the tunnel economy is only made in reference to the weapons that can be brought in and neglects the fact that the tunnel system is also one of the only ways that Gazans receive any supplies whatsoever (food, construction equipment, medicine) as they live under siege. Americans hear the argument that Israel withdrew its troops and all military presence from Gaza in 2005 and therefore, Hamas supporters and civilians have no reason for their rage at Israel. What many people don’t comprehend about this so-called withdrawal is that it was replaced with an arguably more brutal blockade of the 139-square-mile strip, including restriction of access to the Mediterranean Sea that comprises its western edge. This restriction of movement and supply lines began when Hamas won the election in Gaza in 2007 and has degraded conditions in Gaza since then to nearly unlivable levels.

Over half of the population in Gaza, one of the most densely populated places on the planet, are children. For children over the age of 5, this week marks the third time in their lives that they have experienced major military strikes on their homes, schools and neighborhoods. As a result of this daily reality, the majority of people treated for psychological trauma and PTSD in Gaza are children who exhibit symptoms ranging from changes in appetite to loss of speech and permanently stunted brain development. These facts and the humanity of people living in the open air prison that Gaza has become are swept under the rug in favor of more militarism, calls for holy war and scrambles to justify Israel’s actions as self-defense.

Violence, in my mind, has no role to play in a functional human society. As we struggle toward realizing a better world, the attacks from the brutish mentality of war, colonialism and racism remain real threats to their victims. Self defense and nonviolence are complicated philosophies that every political group grapples with as they promote their visions of the world. International law supports the right of occupied people to defend themselves, but Israel’s government consistently shows little regard for those standards. (People interested in the legal technicalities at play in the case of Gaza can read Noura Erakat’s comprehensive piece here.) I can’t endorse the firing of rockets by Hamas into Israel, but even less can I endorse the dishonest and chilling reaction from Israel, funded by the U.S., to level entire neighborhoods and put vast resources toward propagandizing the world into believing a lie.

Barack Obama said this week, “Budgets in Washington are tight, but our commitment to Israel’s security remains ironclad. The United States is committed to providing more than $3 billion each year to help finance Israel’s security through 2018.” That $3 billion a year keeps Israel flush in advanced weaponry including their much-touted Iron Dome missile defense system and the bombs and shells currently falling on Gaza. Americans who do not support the U.S. policy of supporting Israel’s actions and “right to exist” as a brutal occupying force based on apartheid policies have little to gain from their lawmakers, it seems. Breaking the normally sluggish pace of policymaking in Congress, both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate have already passed resolutions reaffirming unconditional support for Israel and repeating the idea of self defense, casting Hamas as the instigator of current attacks.

In our interview Monday, Ayman Nijim focused on his belief that Americans will soon come to understand our role in this violence and remedy our past actions. He said, “I understand it’s very hard, especially in the U.S. because of the Zionist lobby, but I believe there is deep knowledge now of the atrocities against their brothers and sisters in Palestine and [Americans] will spare no effort to break this lobby.” If you wish to express your support for justice in Palestine as a means to reach peace for everyone involved, the options may seem limited. Corporate and special interest control of our government is, in practical terms, total. The best hope for undoing the apartheid system in Palestine and Israel lies in the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, which is currently gaining steam internationally and in congregations and campuses here in the U.S. The power of stories is also key. At every opportunity, we must learn to question the dominant tales of the culture and replace them with those that are accurate, fair and in service of humanity.

For those seeking an opportunity to express their outrage at this latest expression of militarism and violence funded by the U.S., the Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane (PJALS) invites you to join in a rally and march this coming Thursday, July 17 at the Rotary Fountain in Riverfront Park at 5:15 pm. More information available at pjals.org. ♦

Taylor Weech, who hosts the weekly public affairs program Praxis on KYRS-FM, is a Spokane writer and activist. She's advocated, among other things, for environmental sustainability and all-ages access to the arts. She shares writing, photography and her podcast at truthscout.net.

This glorious thing we call summer can only be amplified by heading out to awesome local shows this weekend. Here’s some of what you should be checking out. 

FRIDAY
Teachers Mark Robbins and Eric Woodard of the Camaros prove that educators really can be cool. Their rock four-piece plays tunes that may come off as low-key, but build into something so infectious you’ll have to dance to the beat. After an action-packed year playing kick-ass shows — they set the stage well for Terrible Buttons’ final performance at Volume — the group will release its first album  since 2012 tonight at nYne at 9 pm. A couple of tracks already have been released on the band’s Facebook page, so feel free to check those out (especially fun is “Jazzed To Meet You”) before heading down to the show. The show is $5.

Next door at the Bartlett is Portland collective Ages and Ages (see below) with A Sunny Day in Glasgow opening up. The all-ages show starts at 8 pm. Tickets are $10.


For those really excited about the legalization of pot, celebrate by heading over to the Big Dipper for a Reggae Rock Dance Party with the Working Spliffs and Real Life Rockaz.

Red Room Lounge offers up Bass Ships & Snare Planes mini tour that features Colorado psychedelic bass artists Cloud-D, Resonant Language, Professional Chillers (Leavenworth) and Docta Ugz (Spokane). For real. That show starts at 9 pm and is $5. 

SATURDAY
The big news for Saturday is 4,000 Holes record shop celebrating its 25th anniversary as a local business. Cursive Wires plays for the event, and there are giveaways from labels like Sony and Sub Pop. The event starts at 11 am and is open to all. 

For the second year, KYRS is throwing a fundraiser in the form of a music festival at Peaceful Valley's Glover Field. This year it’s called Marmot Fest (formerly called KYRS Music Fest) and features Rogue Wave headlining.


Jones Radiator brings in California Americana act Reverend Red Saturday night. According to their Facebook page, Reverend Red's music is "for those who have been flavoring their liver with whiskey and resentment." Servio the Tri-Tone will open. 

Help Mama Doll raise funds for an impending album at their show at nYne on Saturday. Water Monster and Twin Towers also perform.

The recently-opened Underground 15 is going to get extremely loud Saturday with Elephant Gun Riot and Death By Pirates on the bill. That show is free and starts at 10 pm. 

Check out a list of other cool shows this weekend here. 

Experienced fish conservationist Jerry White has been named the new Spokane Riverkeeper clean water advocate by the Center for Justice. A former employee of Save our Wild Salmon and a volunteer with the Spokane Falls chapter of Trout Unlimited, White will serve as the organization's third Riverkeeper.

Rick Eichstaedt, executive director of the Center for Justice and former Riverkeeper, announced the hiring this morning. Eichstaedt says in a news release that White will carry on recent efforts to protect and enhance Spokane waterways.

"With Jerry's strong leadership and experience," he says, "we will continue our ability to protect our Spokane River."

White grew up in the Cheney area. The Center says his family instilled in him a love for the outdoors and the importance of environmental responsibility. He will spend much of his time targeting pollution issues along Latah Creek, which flows into the Spokane River near downtown.

"As a lifelong river lover," White says in the news release, "it is a great pleasure for me to expand my environmental efforts to the protection of the Spokane River and its native redband trout, its habitat, and everyone's basic fundamental need of clean water within the Spokane's iconic river."

White takes over for Bart Mihailovich, who recently left for a position with the International Waterkeeper Alliance. The program was founded in 2009.