Bloglander

As you're out scurrying around Friday, take a pause between Big Box stores (or better yet, skip them altogether to shop local), and give a moment's thought to you and your loved ones' music collections. 

Every April, the music biz trots out a bunch of exclusive vinyl and special releases for Record Store Day, and in recent years the event has expanded to include some cool Black Friday bonus releases. Here are five of the releases I have an eye on this year; you can find the entire Black Friday Record Store Day list right here. 

1. Tenacious D Live. Granted, the D is not for everyone, but only someone with no sense of humor (or sense of The Rock!) could resist Jack Black and Kyle Gass in their collective Tenacious D form. This set was recorded at a 2013 concert, and includes a download code, so you can get digital and whatnot. 

2. The Sonics, Fifty. Tacoma's garage-rock pioneers are celebrating a half-century in the game with this triple-vinyl collection of their three albums released on Etiquette Records. There's a 36-page ooklet featuring a brand new oral history by all five original Sonics members, and it's illustrated with over two dozen previously unpublished images from the archives of photographer Jini Dellaccio.  

3. Nick Lowe and Los Straightjackets, The Quality Holiday Revue Live. Why not mix in some off-kilter holiday tunes you can listen to for the next month without getting totally burned out on them? Nick Lowe is a masterful songwriter and singer, and teaming with the energetic instrumental heroes in Los Straightjackets makes for a fine set.  

4. Johnny Cash, Man in Black Live in Denmark 1971. An hour-long show recorded when Cash was touring with his variety show, this first-time-on-vinyl set captures the man at his best, delivering classics and being joined by June Carter, Carl Perkins, the Statler Brothers and the Carter Family. 

5. Eazy-E, Merry Muthafukkin' Xmas. For the first time on vinyl, the holiday classic by the diminutive former member of N.W.A. (R.I.P.). You saw Straight Outta Compton, now celebrate the season with Eazy!

Only a few of these releases will be available online, so be sure to visit one of our regional record stores and see what goodies they have in store. You can hit 4,000 Holes in Spokane, Groove Merchants in Spokane, Recorded Memories in Spokane, Garageland in Spokane and Long Ear Records in Coeur d'Alene. 

It depends on what the meaning of the word "lodged" is 

When the Inlander asked Mayor David Condon if any sexual harassment complaints had been lodged against former Police Chief Frank Straub he gave a flat "no." Well, if you define lodge as to "present (a complaint, appeal, claim, etc.) formally to the proper authorities" then technically, no complaint was formally presented. 

But Spokesman-Review Shawn Vestal isn't letting Condon off the hook:

That was a technical truth quacking like a lie. No formal complaint was filed, but the mayor had long since assigned an investigation into Cotton’s assertion that Straub had inappropriately touched and talked to her, and taken steps to prevent her from filing a claim against the city.

And now, guess what? The mayor of transparency and accountability – the guy who ran on a promise of cleaning up the police department – isn’t answering any questions. His spokesman, Brian Coddington said, “The records speak for themselves.”

Boy, do they. And what they say is this: Faced with a credible accusation of sexual harassment against the police chief he hired to restore credibility to the department, Condon attempted to hide it – to pay the victim and leave the alleged offender right where he was, supervising other women.

Read the whole thing. 

All power is finally restored.
Praise be unto Avista!

Thanksgiving Feast
Avista crews, incidentally, worked through Thanksgiving. KREM reports at least one lineman got free donuts and cookies from grateful neighbors as a result. 

Guild Quest
KXLY dives into how the Spokane Guild School helps families with disabilities. 

Sanctions on Russia's Christmas wishlist 
The Kremlin says "no thanks" to Turkey helping

In brightest day, on blackest Friday
Yet another American cultural product wins European love: Black Friday. 

Trumptzpa
Donald Trump appeared to mock a New York Times reporter for his disability. Now, he wants an apology. Trump, to be clear, is the one who wants the apology. From the New York Times. 

FROM INLANDER.COM
• Black Friday deals... at area pot shops
• EDUCATION: Why district graduation rates don’t count many low-performing students

• Alleged sexual harassment scandal widens at Spokane City Hall
After Council President Ben Stuckart called for an investigation in the Inlander, Mayor David Condon says he kept the allegations quiet out of respect for the woman involved. It wasn't about his own re-election. (SR)

• It's Thanksgiving, but many local residents are still in the dark
Crews are trying to restore power to those who have been without it for more than a week. (KXLY)

• In honor of Turkey Day, a look back
What did those first pilgrims actually eat? It wasn't turkey. 

• Tensions rising between Russia and Turkey
Russia is pushing back after Turkey downed one of its planes. Being considered: tough economic sanctions.

• How do you carve a turkey?
Watch Alton Brown do it below

Officially, the on-time graduation rate for the Class of 2014 in the West Valley School District is an incredible 96.9 percent. It’s difficult to understate how impressive that is. It seems out of every 100 West Valley School District students, only 3 fail to graduate within four years.

It’s impressive enough that it’s worth raising an eyebrow.

It turns out that there are dozens of West Valley students not included. And they happen to be the students most likely to drop out. 

Currently, 47 West Valley district students attend Dishman Hills, a West Valley alternative school profiled in this week’s Inlander. Last year, only 24.8 percent of the students at Dishman Hills graduated on time.

At Spokane Valley Transition School, another alternative school in the West Valley school district, only 24.7 percent graduated on time.

But if a student drops out at Spokane Valley Transition or Dishman Hills, it doesn’t hurt the district’s near perfect score. When the state calculates West Valley’s graduation rate, it only looks at West Valley High School, ignoring the alternative schools.

It didn’t used to be this way.

3 Green Thumbs: $20 eighths and 10 percent off edibles, tinctures and cartridges

4:20 Friendly: A Dama representative will have free giveaways; in-store sale TBD

Alternative MMD Co-op: $10 grams

Cannabis & Glass: $25 quarters (limit one per client); $10 1/2 grams of oil; $20 eighths; $20 100mg packs of edibles

Cinder: Both stores will be offering specials on Oakor, Spokamsterdam, Billifer's Green Chief, Nu Green and Spot. Watch their Facebook and Instagram for details.

Cured Cooperative: 25 percent off everything in the store

Green Light: $25 eighths and other “crazy deals”

Happy Daze Grass: 25 percent off all purchases

Herb Nerds: 25 percent off everything in the store

Northside Alternative Medicine: 20 percent off anything coupon in this week's Inlander.

Green Nugget: 20 percent off edibles

The Peaceful Choice: $30 eighths

Royal’s Cannabis: Opening at 6 am with Wake and Bake event; 10 percent off all joints and one gram packs; 15 percent off all eighths, quarters and ounces; 20 percent off edibles and paraphernalia and 15 percent off of concentrates 

Sativa Sisters: $20 eighths and sales on edibles and concentrates. (Open on Thanksgiving: $5 full gram prerolled joints)

Satori: $20 eighths; 20 percent off vape pens and edibles

Smokane: Member specials all weekend, including White Russian eighths and 4 different pre-rolls; 10mg cookies; 20mg candies; among other deals

Spocannabis: Free gram for everyone who visits and 10 percent off everything

Spokane Green Leaf: $20 eighths, discounts on concentrates, among other deals.

The Top Shelf: $25 eighths of AK-47 strain from Northwest’s Finest, discounted 50mg and 100mg candy from Made Right Wholesale, among other deals

TreeHouse Club: 40 percent off Diamond Glass products

FROM INLANDER.COM

• Documents reveal that Mayor David Condon knew of alleged sexaul harrasment from police chief. Council President Ben Stuckart is calling for an investigation.  
  

• Raheel Humayun has accepted the job as Spokane's next police ombudsman 
  
  
• City Council heard an update on efforts to address the aftermath of windstorm
  
  
• Schweitzer Mountain will open on Friday
  

• Protests in wake of release of police shooting video
  

In Chicago, streets have been filled with protesters after a judge ordered the release of a dash cam footage showing a police officer shooting a black teenager.

• Obama apologizes for hospital bombing
  

President Barack Obama has apologized to Doctors Without Borders after military personnel mistakenly ordered an airstrike on a hospital run by the charitable group.

• Gov unsure if Spokane qualifies for federal help
  

Gov. Jay Inslee was in town yesterday to assess the damage done by the record windstorm. Although he said he was impressed with the community’s response, he expressed uncertainty if the city would qualify for federal dollars.

• Eyman foes file suit to block tax initiative

Two Democratic state lawmakers and the League of Women Voters filed a lawsuit in King County seeking to strike down a recently passed initiative from Tim Eyman that could result in significant tax cuts.

Three weeks to the day of Spokane Mayor David Condon’s re-election, his administration this afternoon dropped a bombshell — revealing in public documents that Condon knew in April that his hand-picked police chief had been been accused of sexually harassing a female subordinate.

The mayor will no doubt face increasing scrutiny in the coming days about why these records are only now being released, but tonight the mayor’s spokesman, Brian Coddington, told the Spokesman-Review that Condon would not comment, adding that “the records speak for themselves.”

City Council President Ben Stuckart tonight called for an investigation into the city's "cover-up" of the alleged sexual harassment. He didn't hide his displeasure with the timing of today's revelations, calling it "bullshit."

"Going forward, I don't know how I trust a single thing anybody says," Stuckart tells the Inlander. "How do I as an elected official in the city of Spokane trust a single thing anybody says? I just don't know. ... I've been lied to numerous times, and I think the public has been lied to for months." 

The harassment allegations were leveled by Monique Cotton, a former police spokeswoman, who told the mayor and his top administrator, Theresa Sanders, that Police Chief Frank Straub had “grabbed her ass, tried to kiss her,” according to her account contained in the records. Cotton was suddenly transferred to the parks department to manage communications in May, and city officials gave shifting explanations as to why.

As for Straub, Condon forced him out on Sept. 22, citing the chief's abrasive style. "After receiving concerns over the last several weeks of his management style, it was clear we needed to move in a direction, change management," Condon said at the time.
However, it’s clear from the just-released records that other factors were also at play. According to notes of a meeting on March 31, taken by Lt. Mark Griffiths, Straub berated Cotton, Capt. Eric Olsen and Griffiths in a profanity-laced tirade for not informing him of an issue with Griffiths' overtime. 

Straub yelled at Cotton, blaming her for not telling him of the issue soon enough. According to Griffiths' notes, Straub said that she "made him look like a f—-ing asshole" and "f—-ed him in the ass."

Cotton then reported the incident to Condon and Sanders on April 13. She said she did not want to file a sexual harassment complaint against Straub but agreed to back up accusations of his "abusive behavior." Cotton also demanded to be transferred out of the police department. 

In a subsequent text message to Sanders on April 13, Cotton wrote: "My transfer into a new position has to be viewed as advancement; without any hint that it is for any reason other than as a promotion for my past performance. I'm happy to participate in an investigation regarding the way I was berated on 3/31, and other times I was berated however cannot cooperate with any investigation regarding the matters I presented confidentially to the Mayor and you because of the inevitable publicity and disclosures that will impact me and my life in every way — physically, emotionally and professionally." 

Condon himself denied that any complaints of sexual harassment had been filed against the former chief when he announced Straub's departure on Sept. 22.  "The issue that you speak of, there has been no official filings of anything," the mayor said.

Technically, it seems, there have been no official complaints. However, moments before the Sept. 22 announcement, Stuckart recalls asking Sanders if any public records would eventually come out to bite them, and she said "no." 

"She lied right to my face," Stuckart says. "Quite frankly, they made liars out of a lot of people and denied there was any motive for moving Monique from the police department to the parks department."

The Condon administration has previously been criticized for being less than truthful about Straub and Cotton. In the days leading up to the chief’s ouster, city officials also denied to reporters any knowledge of problems between the two. However, after questions arose about the veracity of those claims, Sanders, the city’s top administrator, acknowledged she violated the city’s ethics code barring dishonesty. Earlier this month, she agreed to pay a $75 fine.

Straub, meanwhile, has filed a $4 million claim against the city for violation of due process. When Condon announced the chief's departure, the city released a letter from police command staff complaining about his management style. Mary Schultz, Straub's lawyer, has said Straub was never given a chance to respond, violating his right to due process.

"You can release or reassign a police chief. He's an at-will employee," she says. "But what you can't do is send out a bunch of attorney client confidential letters without letting the person accused of these things address them."

In December of 2006, Gonzaga played Washington for what they knew would be the last time in quite a while, and they made the most of it. The Zags, in their first post-Morrison campaign, slaughtered then then 13th-ranked Huskies 97-77 in Spokane.

The rivalry went cold after that, with the schools putting the annual matchup on an infinite hold. There had been a lot of beef about Gonzaga and UW going after the same recruits and rumors of other squabbles between the coaching staffs and athletic departments.

Since then, the Zags and Huskies haven't squared off, which is a shame because in some of those years, both schools had very good clubs. People really wanted to see them play again and state Rep. Michael Baumgartner even introduced a bill that would require the cross-state rivals to take the floor once a year. 

But without any legislative help, the UW-Gonzaga series is returning next season and will alternate between Spokane and Seattle going forward. That said, the party is getting started early tomorrow thanks to the scheduling committee at the Battle 4 Atlantis, an elite, swanky, slightly futuristic basketball tournament tipping off in the Bahamas tomorrow.

Gonzaga and Washington are set to face off in the opening round of the tournament, which also includes Texas, Texas A&M, Michigan, Syracuse, UConn and Charlotte. It's an impressive field, to say the least.

As if it wasn't odd enough that teams separated by less than 300 miles would travel to foreign soil to do battle, there are a few other weird things about tomorrow's game. First off, it's being played at 9 am Pacific time, which is not exactly when college athletes are at their most lively and active. Also, the game comes just two weeks after both schools played games in Asia and are likely a little air weary. Gonzaga went to Japan to play one half against Pitt before the court became a slippery deathtrap and the contest was called off. Washington, on the other hand, went to China and defeated Texas in a game made most memorable by 23 points from Husky guard Andrew Andrews and the verbal insanity that rolled out of color commentator Bill Walton's mouth on the television broadcast. Adding to the weirdness, Washington would play Texas again, should both the Huskies and Longhorns emerge victorious tomorrow.

So how do they measure up? Well, all the aforementioned variables could play a part, as will the fact that this is a rivalry game...although played in front of likely very, very few students in what looks more like a Barry Manilow concert set up than a college basketball arena. The Huskies are very, very young — Andrews is the lone senior and there's only a pair of juniors on the roster. But freshman Marquese Chriss and Noah Dickerson have played very well. Chriss scored 29 points against Mt. Saint Mary's in the Huskies' 100-67 win.

Gonzaga also took on Mt. Saint Mary's on Saturday, and with similar results, a 101-56 win. Like pretty much every other team, the Huskies are going to have trouble with Gonzaga's size and will hope to contain Domantas Sabonis, who is getting insane open looks this season, which is why he's made 19 of 23 shots in the Zags' two blow-out wins. Expect the Huskies to try to run up and down the court in the sort of up-tempo style Romar has featured at UW for the last decade-plus. They might look to do that to counter the Zags' size, but remember, Gonzaga has four very fast guards who can hang with anybody. Oh, and Kyle Wiltjer. They have Kyle Wiltjer...

Again, the game is at 9 am PST and you can watch it on ESPN because your boss has probably already left for Thanksgiving.

As of last night, Mayor David Condon and City Councilman Mike Fagan were without power as a result of the historic windstorm that blew through the region last week. Council President Ben Stuckart was also without power as well until he received a text from his wife during the weekly council meeting notifying him that it was back on.

Stuckart joked that he was going to head home early, but instead stayed to hear updates about the storm from an Avista representative and the mayor.

“This has been absolutely the worst weather event that our company has experienced in our 126-year history,” said Steve Trabun, Avista regional business manager, explaining that the windstorm resulted in 180,000 customers without power.

As of Monday evening, 153,000, or 85 percent, of those customers had their power restored and 132 crews, which had been called in from nearby states as well as Canada, were working on the remaining 27,000 left without power, he said, most of which were in the heart of Spokane.

“Our goal is to really focus on trying to restore power to the majority of our customers by the end of Wednesday night,” he said. “The devastation is extensive.”

Trabun said that restoring power is very difficult work for crews. For instance, he said a crew went out yesterday for 16 hours and was only able to restore power for 8 customers.

“It’s that hard,” he said. “If we get outside of the public right of way, we’re in backyards... we can’t take our big trucks and equipment in there, we have to hand-dig holes to replace poles.”

He said that “ground zero” for the windstorm was the 99203 zip code, which encompasses much of the South Hill.

Trabun said that he’s heard suggestions that Avista just put it lines underground to avoid situations like this. While Avista does that for newer construction, it’s just not practical for more established neighborhoods, he said, noting that Spokane is built on top of very dense basalt rock.

The council also heard a report from Mayor Condon on the windstorm. He said that at the peak of the windstorm, 60 intersections were without signals.

“We now as of today have only 9 intersections without power,” he said.

“We received 2,289 calls to the 911 system between 1 pm and 9 pm on the day of the storm,” he continued, adding that it received another 800 calls for medical incidents, structure fire, gas leaks and other calls for service. Police, he said, also arranged extra patrols for neighborhoods without power. Condon also said that all the city’s expenses will be paid for out of reserve funds or grants from the state.

You might have noticed that unusual white discharge plummeting from the sky when you woke up this morning. That's snow, and it's been a while since we've seen any around here. 

While some Inland Northwesterners are already driving like they've never seen the stuff as they navigate the roads, many are rejoicing at its arrival, none more than the local ski resorts that struggled through a momentously awful ski season last year. 

Schweitzer Mountain Resort sent word that they'll officially open on Friday, and they've been updating their Facebook page as they get more inches on the ground. The North Idaho mountain started manufacturing snow early this month, so they were glad to see the real stuff fly. Bill Williamson, the mountain's operations director, noted Monday that "we have received about 12 inches of natural snowfall, and with the cold temps last week, we were able to keep our snow machines turning, giving us another foot or so." Add the overnight dump, and there should be some worthy turns to look forward to this weekend.  

Schweitzer plans to have the Basic Express Quad running Friday through Sunday from 9 am to 3:30 pm, and adult full-day tickets are $40. The mountain will close after the weekend, but reopen the next Friday, Dec. 4. For more info, visit the resort's website.