Bloglander

Former Spokane City Councilwoman Nancy McLaughlin was chosen Monday to replace Todd Mielke on the Spokane County Board of Commissioners.

Earlier this month, the Spokane County Republican Party picked her as the top candidate out of three to fill the seat. State legislative aide Josh Kerns and former state Sen. Jeff Baxter were the other two. Mielke vacated the seat for a job as Greater Spokane Inc. chief executive officer on Feb. 1. 

Commissioners Al French and Shelly O'Quinn interviewed all three candidates Monday starting with McLaughlin at 8 a.m., and she was chosen hours later. McLaughlin said she's "thrilled" to be on the Board of Commissioners, and she credited her past experience with local government in putting her in this position. 

For the Spokane County Republican Party, it was important that Mielke's replacement would be able to win the seat in the November general election. McLaughlin told the Inlander in January that she had doubts about "a possible 10 months of drama" before ultimately deciding to throw in her name. 

"I just was wanting to make sure that if I was going to be in, that I was all in," she says. 

French, who was once McLaughlin's ally on Spokane City Council, likes her chances to win the seat. He pointed out that of all three candidates she is the only one that has won two elections. 

McLaughlin said she is looking forward to working with both French and O'Quinn. A priority of hers, she said, is to grow the sales-tax base. 

"I am really big on, let's continue to have a positive economic development climate," she says. "Because if we don't want to raise taxes on our citizens, we have to grow the tax base." 

French said he chose McLaughlin because she was the first choice of the Spokane GOP. The commissioners had until April 1 to decide on a candidate, otherwise Gov. Jay Inslee would appoint Mielke's replacement. French says all three candidates were excellent, and he would have been proud to serve with any of them. 

"For that, I'm happy I was number one on the list," McLaughlin said. 

Beyond providing the soundtrack to countless college-party shout-alongs of "Blister in the Sun," Violent Femmes created a legacy of quirky sonic experiments wrapped in wry, hilarious pop songs during the band's heyday. Now, the Midwest crew is getting ready to release its first new full-length album in 15 years, We Can Do Anything, on March 4, and they'll accompany it with a tour that stops in Spokane this spring. 

Violent Femmes will play the Knitting Factory on Tuesday, May 17, according to a press release from the band. Tickets will go on sale this Friday at 10 am, and are $32.50 in advance. 

Still led by founders Gordon Gano and Brian Ritchie, the Femmes will make their first network TV appearance in 16 years on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Tuesday, and a new song, "Memory," is already garnering praise for the Femmes' new music. 

You can hear "Memory" right here: 

The Knitting Factory is also bringing Leon Russell back to town for a show on Monday, May 16. Tickets for that show go on sale Friday as well, and are $30 in advance. 

Embrace the chaos. 

That seems the best advice for Gonzaga fans who suddenly find themselves in the rare position of REALLY needing the men's basketball team to win the WCC tournament in Las Vegas to assure themselves a spot in March Madness. 

Saturday's Senior NIght loss to St. Mary's — the second year in a row the Zags have lost their last home game — put the Gaels atop Gonzaga in the conference standings, winning the tie-breaker due to sweeping the season series with the Zags. And with a road trip that includes a visit to BYU, a team that beat the Zags in Spokane earlier this year, it is not beyond the realm of possibility that Gonzaga ends the season in third place and with the No. 3 seed in the WCC tourney. 

That wasn't exactly the plan at the beginning of the year, when it looked like — with a little luck and great play from the new guards — Gonzaga could equal last year's run to the Elite Eight based on the play of preseason College Player of the Year Kyle Wiltjer, manchild Domantas Sabonis and giant center Przemek Karnowski. As we all know, Karnowski got hurt early and was lost for the season, Wiltjer has been inconsistent and Sabonis, well, Sabonis has been even better than expected. He's NBA-ready, and Zag fans need to start hoping he hangs around for another year. 

Saturday's loss was pretty ugly. The Zags shot just 36 percent from the field compared to St. Mary's 48 percent. Wiltjer had just 13 points in his home finale, and Sabonis had just 7. The Zags were down seven at halftime, and lost by 5, and never really looked in control. 

FROM INLANDER.COM
• THIS WEEK: Local laughs, twangy tunes and a whole lotta roller derby
• FILM: Chattaroy ark seekers' film nominated for a Crystal Seal Dove Award
• FOR FUN: Escape rooms are in — check out these local perplexing puzzles

• Republican candidates turn attention to Nevada
Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio try to position themselves as the anyone-but-Trump alternative.

• The search for a WSU president narrowed to eight finalists  
A decision is expected in April. (KXLY) The university has been searching for a new president since Elson Floyd died of cancer in June.

• Kootenai County sheriff warns of a possible phone scam
The callers say they are raising money for local search and rescue efforts. (KHQ)

• The STA is considering raising rates
A hearing on the rate increase — bumping fares from $1.50 to $2 — has been scheduled for June 16 at 1:30 pm at 1230 W. Boone Ave. (SR, behind pay wall)

• The FBI director on the need to unlock San Bernardino terrorist's phone
“We simply want the chance, with a search warrant, to try to guess the terrorist’s passcode without the phone essentially self-destructing and without it taking a decade to guess correctly,” the director said. Watch the video below:

As we fly toward the end of February, and the month holds on for dear life by adding an extra day this leap year, you can head into March with a bang, not a whimper. Check out our event listings and Staff Picks for some options for your entertainment dollar. 

Here are some highlights of the week ahead: 

Monday, Feb. 22

FILM | Whitworth University hosts the 8th Annual Leonard A. Oakland Film Festival, featuring an evening of faith and film that includes screenings, discussions with alumni filmmakers and more. The festival runs for three days, so hit the event website for more info on the day-to-day schedule. 

Tuesday, Feb. 23

WORDS | Learn all about Gonzaga's Jundt Art Museum's history and get a preview of upcoming exhibits at a lecture by director and curator Paul Manoguerra as part of the museum's 20th anniversary celebration. 

LIVE MUSIC | The Bartlett kicks off a new monthly hoedown called Northwest of Nashville, hosted by local musician Jenny Anne Mannan and featuring a rotating cast of acoustic-based musicians on the microphone. The first edition includes Gregory Spaatz and Caridwen Irvine-Spatz, Kevin Brown and Prairie War. Read our story about the development of the series before you go. 

Wednesday, Feb. 24

COMEDY | Midweek laughs are always a bonus, and GI:S:T, aka GREAT IDEAS: Spokane: Today!, brings them big-time to the Big Dipper with an ensemble offering a litany of slides as part of a healthy skewering of local culture. Among the comedians involved are Matt Dargen, Tony Russell, Matt Slater, Mara Baldwin, Phil Lindsey, Annica Eagle, Phil Kopczynki and David Honeycutt. 

A few months ago we wrote about a Chattaroy father/son team who were part of a couple of expeditions to Turkey's Mt. Ararat in search of the real Noah's Ark. 

Bill Hughes and his son, Will, were two members of the crew attempting the theological and archeological feat, a process captured in the film Finding Noah. 

"Just the sincerity of what Will and Bill were doing, they gave the credibility to me of the idea of what this film all about," producer Jonathan Shaw said at the time of the film's release. "If you climb Mt. Everest, you're doing that for yourself. If you're climbing Mt. Ararat to look for the ark, you're doing something beyond yourself. You're doing something for your faith and your belief."

Now Finding Noah is nominated for the 8th Annual Crystal Dove Seal Awards, a fan-voted set of awards for film's deemed "family-friendly" and/or "faith-friendly" by the Dove Foundation. Not all the movies are religious-themed — you'll find Ant-Man and the latest Hunger Games among the nominees. 

Voting continues through Feb. 28, and you can vote right here. 

In the early days of video games, point-and-shoot games often placed players inside a confined space, challenging them to escape by exploiting their surroundings. But alas, when imagination isn't enough, you make it real. It comes as no surprise then, that these and other modern, online games have sparked a new chapter of puzzle-solving entertainment as real-life escape rooms have emerged in recent years in cities across the U.S.

These real life escape rooms require quick thinking and some physical adventure. Typically, clues are placed throughout the room, giving participants an hour to crack the code to gain their freedom. It's not easy — often a clue or two will bamboozle you for longer than you'd like. Some tricky puzzle makers might even try and throw you and your group off-track with red herrings that actually have nothing to do with "breaking out" of the room you're trapped. 

And more often than you may guess, groups who take on these escape room challenges might fail to solve their predicament before time runs out. As the escape room entertainment trend has grown in popularity, the trend has reached the Inland Northwest in full force over the past year. Below are some escape rooms that recently broke onto Spokane's entertainment scene (some local media outlets have even tried to escape these confinements). Take a look and partake in them if you dare. 

CLAUSTROPANIC 
1325 E. Francis Ave. | claustropanic.com  
Claustropanic is home to three different rooms: school detention, a fallout shelter and an interrogation-themed puzzle. With 60 minutes on the clock, up to eight people can work as a team to escape from one of these confined rooms. As a school delinquent, your attention to detail is tested in an hour-long detention session. If you choose to face a nuclear disaster, you must break free from a faulty fallout shelter due to limited air supply. Or, opt for a session in the interrogation room and dupe your kidnappers with clues left behind from your boss. You choose, but the clock is ticking.

ESCAPE SPOKANE
7456 N. Division | dareyou2escape.com
One of the first escape rooms to open in Spokane, there are three different themed options here: prison, purgatory, and Dr. Ella Mentall's Testing Facility. Most first-timers try the "prison escape" because it's the most standard of the three, though purgatory is perhaps the most thrilling because of its horror elements. Escaping from any of these rooms is not a picnic! On average, only 20 percent of participants succeed. So, if you're looking to get your brain working and want a variety of themes to choose from, this is an option.

KEY QUEST ESCAPE ROOM
202 W. Second Ave. | keyquestescaperoom.com 
With some incentive and team work, groups of up to six individuals can try their hand at finding the plane tickets hidden in a ransacked travel office to make it to the airport in time to make their vacation flight, or escape certain death at the hands of a serial killer from the depths of a dark cellar. Groups who make it out of their room successfully in the 45 minute time block are awarded a Laser Quest 2-4-1 pass. As one of multiple Key Quest locations across North America and Canada, these rooms offer a team-building experience for individuals looking to bond, or just for some live-action fun.

CARTEL HAUNTS
225 N. Ella Rd., Spokane Valley | cartelhaunts.com
To match the changing of the seasons, Cartel Haunts regularly builds new rooms with different themes. During the month of love, there's a Valentine's-esque, horror-themed escape room called "The Curse of Evilina." Visitors must follow clues and retrace Evilina's tracks while looking for her dead body. The room is set up like a haunted house and there are creepy elements throughout: a masked man lurking in corners while you search for clues, moving in once in a while to groan in your ear, and a ghost woman popping out when you least expect it. Your brain might hurt at the end of the hour because the clues require acute cleverness.

The widespread, mosquito-borne Zika virus — linked to abnormally small heads of babies recently born in Central and South America — is not likely to spread to the Northwestern U.S. due to our region's temperate, dry climate. But the Zika outbreak is affecting the region in other ways. In an email sent earlier this week to its blood donor database, the Inland Northwest Blood Center reports it's already noticing an impact on blood bank supplies due to people who've traveled to an area affected by Zika being advised not to donate until 28 days after they've returned.

While travel to areas impacted by the virus has caused a relatively small decrease in donations — about 2 percent of blood donors have been turned away from donating for this reason — INBC is still trying to catch up after some major storms that hit our area months ago, and a traditional slowdown during the holidays.

"Normally right now we would have more units," says Tesia Lingenfelter, INBC's marketing and communications director. "February is not a rough time for us; the slow times are December because students are on vacation and while they're out, donations typically drop."

FRIDAY
The Observatory is getting into that good weird rock tonight with Dead See Squirrels, Siamese Suicide and Bird Fight. The show starts at 9:30 pm with a $5 suggested donation. If you still haven’t checked out one of the newest music venues in town, tonight is the night.

KYRS is at it again with another concert fundraiser (they’ve opted to do a lot more small shows, rather than one big one Marmot Fest), featuring Mama Doll, Casey Dubie and Water Monster. For fans of folk, folk-pop and electronic-pop, this show offers some of the most polished local acts around.

Touring Christian music show Rock and Worship Roadshow is back at the Spokane Arena tonight. Truly a family-friendly event, the show features big names like Newsboys and Jeremy Camp as well as Family Force 5 and Audio Adrenaline. Anyone who was majorly into Christian music in the '90s will be flooded back with memories during this performance. Show is $10 at 7 pm. 

SATURDAY
I shouldn’t even be talking about this. I’d like to keep it all to myself, but the SPR Recordings & Videos sale starts Saturday at 9 am at the Lincoln Center and runs through Sunday. The earlier you arrive, the better vinyl you may be able to find.

The United Kingdom is nowhere near New Orleans. Yet while growing up in Wales, New Mastersounds guitarist Eddie Roberts was continually drawn to the jazz and funk music coming out of the Big Easy. Forming his band in Leeds, England, in the late ’90s, that exploration of soulful grooves continues to this day. This Saturday — as one of the Sandpoint Winter Carnival’s final events — the four-piece provides the perfect, mostly instrumental soundtrack for those looking to let loose and feel at one with the earth. Expect a lot of tunes off New Mastersounds’ sprawling October release Made For Pleasure, which includes a cover of Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy” and, unsurprisingly, was recorded in New Orleans. Show starts at 9 pm and is $15.
The Dancing Plague of 1518 (an actual plague that swept France) is releasing its debut EP (on tape) Saturday at the Baby Bar. The new electronic act is a solo project for Sea Giant’s Conor Knowles. Sea Giant and Paisley Devil open the show that starts at 9 pm and is free.

Class act Tyga, yes, the dude who decided that Beck, Taylor Hawkins from the Foo Fighters and Paul McCartney weren’t cool enough to get into his Grammy after-party, is hitting up the Knitting Factory tonight. Openers include Bonaphied, Lee Haze and Bezzel. Tickets are $40 and the show starts at 8 pm. Some people are probably excited about this one.
SUNDAY
Matisyahu, in all of his former-Hassidic Jew-turned-reggae artist glory, is coming to the Knitting Factory just over a year after his last appearance. This time it's all about the Live at Stubbs Vol. 3 album. The show is $28 and starts at 7:30 pm. 

It's hard to imagine by looking at the calendar or even looking at the overcast skies today, but two of Spokane's golf courses are open for duffers to hit the links this weekend. 

Both Downriver Golf Course and Qualchan Golf Course are taking reservations for play on Saturday and Sunday. Downriver is Spokane's oldest course, and Qualchan is its newest.

“We’re excited to be able to kick off the season this early,” says Jason Conley, executive officer of Spokane Parks and Recreation in a press release. “Saturday is expected to have temperatures in the high 40s. What more could you ask for in Spokane during February?”

Well, we could think of a few things. Maybe a Springsteen concert? Temperatures in the 70s? Winning the lottery? 

But we get it — golfing in February is a gift for people who love it. As of midday Friday, 183 folks had already booked tee times at Qualchan, and another 113 did the same at Downriver. 

You can book a tee time online right here, and you should probably do it quickly before the spots fill up.