Friday, February 19, 2016

Posted By on Fri, Feb 19, 2016 at 10:41 AM


As you may have seen, our local media was all over the story of Flossie Dickey, a Cheney resident who celebrated her 110th birthday yesterday. To celebrate the occasion, FOX 28's Good Morning Spokane sent a reporter out to visit with Flossie, but she wasn't terribly enthused to be on television. Flossie, we're told, enjoys her whiskey straight up and proved to be a straight-up boss in this segment.

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Posted By on Fri, Feb 19, 2016 at 9:19 AM


FROM INLANDER.COM:

• FILM REVIEW: How to Be Single feeds stereotypes and is largely forgettable
• MUSIC: Macklemore and Ryan Lewis drop yet another song this week
• ARTS & CULTURE: Spokane Civic Theatre executive director Keith Dixon resigns


• Car crash
A Jeep Cherokee crashed into a building in Kendall Yards, narrowly avoiding a pedestrian. Both people in the Jeep have been treated for injuries. (KREM)

• Prostitution down along East Sprague
A city ordinance intended to deter prostitution in a part of town infamous for the activity appears to be working a year after it went into effect. The ordinance gives police the authority to tow the cars of men charged with soliciting prostitutes, which appears to be having an impact. (KXLY)

• When the levy breaks
Washington state lawmakers are pledging to come up with a proposal that they say will put an end to school district's having to rely on levies to fund local education. 

• Vatican softens remarks on Trump
Pope Francis didn't mean to personally attack Donald Trump or signal to people how to vote with his comments that Donald Trump's proposal to build a wall to keep out immigrant was un-Christian, according to a Vatican spokesman.

• U.S. strikes back
The U.S. carried out air strikes in Libya targeting militant involved in a terrorist attack on a Tunisian beach. 

• Harper Lee dies
The famously reclusive author of To Kill A Mockingbird has died at 89. 

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Thursday, February 18, 2016

Posted By on Thu, Feb 18, 2016 at 4:50 PM

There are two types of singles on a Saturday night: the one who, panty-clad and smiling, paints onto a canvas what her heart desires, and the one who, wearing tights and push-up bra, swings from the chandelier with a bottle of champagne in hand. Both are sexy, independent women and together make up the essence of singleness — freedom and solitude. Separated, and they are overwrought silhouettes of drama and spectacle.

We see both of these types in How To Be Single, when Alice (Dakota Johnson), who plays the good-girl-turns-bad and Robin (Rebel Wilson), the wild coworker who forgets who she slept with the night before, become best friends. After leaving her long-term college boyfriend, Alice starts a new job in New York City with the intention of "finding herself." Of course, Robin spices this goal up by taking Alice out to party and enjoy the single life in a cross between Miley Cyrus’ foam finger and Fifth Harmony’s sass.

Young director Christian Ditter stoops low when he feeds the stereotype of newly single women being boozy, sex-crazed party animals. Considering the film features single women, it might have been more fitting for a female director to apply her perspective in instructing, as the title indicates, how to be single.

At first, there is casual sex, alcohol, partying, and flirty-tigress-overload. Wilson takes center stage with her hilarious sense of humor and inflated confidence, largely a continuation of her work in Bridesmaids and Pitch Perfect. Weaved throughout are moments when Johnson's Alice is insecure and lonely, as she tries to rekindle her past college relationship or is let down by possible partners and runs to her sister for solace. These lapses are akin to a child who can’t part with their binky (which is understandably often the case in transitioning from companionship to solitude).

Then, too abruptly for coherence, things turn serious. Robin makes fewer appearances (unfortunately robbing us of Rebel Wilson's comedy), when Alice realizes that, in fact, booze and hooking up do not induce self-discovery. Although the backdrop of the free-spirited and liberated lifestyle remains, the film quickly moves into phase two, in which the binky is torched and the woman muscles her way through the single life with grace and fervor.

This shift forces Alice to experience solitude, and it's counterpart — loneliness (which is heartache over the absence of companionship) — is rightfully sidelined. However, Alice slides into the pre-established profile of what a single woman ought to be: strong, book-reading, waiting.

Had the film combined the book-reading and party-going perspectives in a cohesive hybrid of single life, Alice’s story might have been a modern genre flick manifesto of what it means to live, especially in busy New York City, as a single person. That is, it might have given viewers something they weren’t expecting. How to Be Single is a watered-down version of Sex in the City and variant of He’s Just Not That into You — simply put, it is largely forgettable. 


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Posted By on Thu, Feb 18, 2016 at 3:25 PM

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis drop yet another song this week
Macklemore and Ryan Lewis just keep dropping new tunes, but are any of them worth your while?

Macklemore has come a long way from his days schlepping sandwiches at Subway — and spray painting graffiti all over Seattle on his lunch breaks. Yet, he recalls that time fondly in the new squad anthem "Buckshot," the second single from he and Ryan Lewis this week. While Sunday's "Spoons" (which graphically, and lazily, spells out some under the sheets action) was an eyebrow-raising track, "Buckshot," made in collaboration with KRS-One and DJ Premier, is seemingly a return to form. 

Here the Seattle hip-hop duo is just having fun being bad: "I'm gonna paint a better world until the cans are empty," Macklemore raps over a moderate tempo. Like other favorite tunes released by the group, the song is largely grounded in a retro sound. The song is yet another single released from the upcoming This Unruly Mess I've Made, the act's first album since their Grammy-winning 2012 disc, The Heist

The new album finally hits next Friday. Who knows how many singles will be sent out into the world before then. Of course, of the singles released thus far, we still like "Downtown" best. Here is an entire track list of the upcoming LP. There's some big name collaborators here, a major change from the duo's first album. 

1. Light Tunnels (Feat. Mike Slap)
2. Downtown (Feat. Eric Nally, Melle Mel, Kool Moe Dee & Grandmaster Caz)
3. Brad Pitt’s Cousin (Feat. XP)
4. Buckshot (Feat. KRS-One & DJ Premier)
5. Growing Up (Feat. Ed Sheeran)
6. Kevin (Feat. Leon Bridges)
7. St. Ides
8. Need to Know (Feat. Chance The Rapper)
9. Dance Off (Feat. Idris Elba & Anderson .Paak)
10. Let’s Eat (Feat. XP)
11. Bolo Tie (Feat. YG)
12. The Train (Feat. Carla Morrison)
13. White Privilege II (Feat. Jamila Woods)



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Posted By on Thu, Feb 18, 2016 at 1:28 PM

click to enlarge Spokane Civic Theatre executive director Keith Dixon resigns
Kristen Black
Dixon photographed backstage at the Civic for the Inlander's 2014 Fall Arts issue.

The Spokane Civic Theatre's executive director for two years, Keith Dixon, announced his resignation from the position in a press release distributed this afternoon.

Dixon was hired in February 2014 to fill a vacancy after the Civic's board controversially fired former executive director Yvonne A.K. Johnson.

Dixon cites as his reason for the departure a desire to be closer to his family in Louisiana, where he lived prior to coming to Spokane.

A search committee has been formed to find a new executive director for the Civic. Dixon was scheduled to direct a few upcoming productions during the remainder of the theater's 2015-16 season, including the season-closing show Guys and Dolls. His last day at the theater will be April 11. 

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Posted By on Thu, Feb 18, 2016 at 9:26 AM


ON INLANDER.COM 

• Some dude really doesn't like Rep. Matt Shea. Listen to the profane message threatening "armed occupation" of Shea's office. 
VA surgeon's autopsy reveals evidence of a fall and news to start your day
Rep. Matt Shea

• The transgender bathroom debate continues — Seattle man undresses in women's locker room. 

• Meet the man behind the mask of the Spokane Empire mascot

• CdA record store, The Long Ear, is moving ... but not far

IN OTHER NEWS 

• An autopsy for Dr. John Marshall, the VA surgeon whose body was found in the Spokane River last month, revealed injuries consistent with a long fall. (KXLY)

• The New York Times has been posting previously unpublished photos of African American history — including Sammy Davis Jr., Zora Neale Hurston, Harlem and the Brooklyn Dodgers. 

• U.S. Air Force airman arrested on the roof of a downtown apartment building won't face criminal charges. Public affairs office at Lackland Air Force Base told the Spokesman-Review the airman faced "additional action," the details of which weren't disclosed. (Spokesman-Review)

Jason Hoy, the man who crashed into several cars downtown, and his wife, Kellie, are both accused of molesting two teenage girls on separate occasions. (Spokesman-Review)  

Manny Pacquiao lost his Nike sponsorship after calling people in gay relationships "worse than animals." 

Check out the funky vibes of The New Mastersounds at the Hive in Sandpoint this Saturday. 


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Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Posted By on Wed, Feb 17, 2016 at 5:49 PM


Last night, Gonzaga basketball made its debut as the subject of Gonzaga: March to Madness, and if you missed it, or don't have HBO, let's bring you up to speed.

So the show, which airs on HBO at 10 pm for the next four Tuesdays, got off to a face-in-palm start when the lead-in announcer said, "And now, GonZOGa, the March to Madness." Really? You're going to devote five segments of programming to a basketball team, but you're not going to learn how to pronounce it?
 
When the actual show began, we were out in the wilds somewhere outside of Spokane, assumedly upon the expansive stretch of land that Coach Mark Few calls home. He talked about the beauty of the area, and the beauty of basketball, before getting in his car and heading to Spokane.

In Spokane, of course, the shots were of railroad tracks, bridges and defunct grain silos. I expected a hobo with one of those knapsacks tied to a stick eating beans out of a can to come pacing through the frame. But then we eventually got to the idyllic Gonzaga campus and the immaculate interior of McCarthey Athletic Center where the Zags were out on the court in the middle of practice.

And it was last week's practice, which was a bit of a surprise. Maybe I was the only one who assumed that it would begin in the early stages of the season, given that the crews were rumored to have followed the team across the world in their early-season adventures. Instead, we saw the Zags prepping for a trip to Portland before jetting off to a nationally televised showdown with SMU.

For deep Zag fans, it was a whole lot of what you already know — Karnowski is injured, they've had some bad losses, but are still playing solid basketball. If you were waiting for some backstory, that was about all you got. But maybe in an upcoming episode they'll explain how Gonzaga became, well, Gonzaga.

But as far as behind the scenes stuff goes, we weren't disappointed. And I'll just get it out of the way — the Zags' travel accommodations are pretty damn sweet. I'm pretty sure they got off a charter bus on the freaking runway and walked directly into a charted jet. Anybody else catch that?

We also saw Kyle Wiltjer spend an evening at his folks' home in Portland the night before the showdown with the Pilots. We didn't learn a whole lot about him, other than that he won a National Championship at Kentucky before transferring out West, which you probably already knew. But when his dad jockeyed the car around to illuminate the driveway hoop with the headlights, it was TV gold. Then, on the hoop he grew up on, Wiltjer proceeded to drain a long string of deep shots... and you couldn't but help that he would have saved some of that magic for Dallas.

So the Zags romp Portland and then head to SMU, where former President George W. Bush watched the Zags lose a game that saw Wiltjer miss 15 of the 17 shots he tossed up. There was no driveway magic to be found.

Perhaps the most interesting moment of this debut episode came in the locker room when the players sat in silence, heads to the floor until Few came in and gave them a talk about what went wrong and basically took the blame for the loss.

Next week, the promo told us, the series watches the Zags prepare for their rematch with St. Mary's.

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Posted By on Wed, Feb 17, 2016 at 4:00 PM


A man in Seattle undressed in the women's locker room and, when confronted, cited a state rule that allows transgender people to use facilities consistent with their gender identity, pool employees told KING 5

For those against the state rule, this may appear to be the exact situation they fear: A voyeur abusing the rule in order to gain access to a women's locker room. Given what has been reported so far, however, this could also fuel the argument on the other side. 

Here's the gist of the King 5 story: On Monday, around 5:30 p.m., Seattle Parks and Recreation says a man — not a transgender women, according to employees — walked into the women's locker room and took off his shirt. Women in the locker room alerted staff, and staff told him to leave. He replied, "the law has changed and I have a right to be here," KING 5 reports.

Employees, according to the station, reported that "the man made no verbal or physical attempt to identify as a woman, yet he still cited a new rule that allows bathroom choice based on gender identification."

Whether or not this was a man or a transgender woman remains unclear based on the reports available, but employees were not treating this as a "transgender issue," a Seattle Parks spokesman told King 5. Even though the man apparently returned a second time while young girls were changing for swim practice, he was not arrested and police were not called.

Washington has had a nondiscrimination law in place since 2006 that protects transgender people in public spaces. In December 2015, the state's Human Rights Commission made a clarification to the law that allows transgender people to use a bathroom or locker room consistent with their gender identity. That has sparked protests across the state, with many arguing that the rule would allow sex offenders to exploit the rule and cause harm to women or children in the bathroom.

That argument has been made by state lawmakers and Spokane Valley City Council members as well. A state bill was proposed that would have repealed the rule, but it narrowly failed in the state Senate. When it failed, Sen. Michael Baumgartner said, "I certainly was disappointed with the rule because it definitely does put people at risk," according to the Associated Press. This week hundreds of demonstrators both for and against it gathered at the state Capitol

This story out of Seattle will likely do nothing to quell the debate. For those against the transgender bathroom rule, it's an example of a man exploiting the rule and frightening women in a locker room. Those for it, however, will point out that if this was not a transgender person, then the law worked how it's intended to — men are still not allowed to use a women's locker room in public spaces. Both men and women, it should be noted, are also still not allowed to commit crimes, no matter which bathroom they're in.

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Posted By on Wed, Feb 17, 2016 at 3:30 PM

click to enlarge The Long Ear is moving its CdA record store
In with the new: the Long Ear's soon-to-be-opened location on Government Way.

The Long Ear is closing its current Coeur d’Alene location this week, but thankfully for music fans, it will be reopening nearby next month. After more than 15 years on 4th Street, the music store known for its huge selection of CDs, vinyl and more is moving its business to Government Way, in what was formerly the Army-Navy Store.

“It’s only seven-tenths of a mile away, but this is still a big deal,” says Deon Borchard, who has owned the business with husband Terry since 1973, first in California and then Idaho starting in 1985.

The couple was forced to make moves this year after their current building’s owner put the space up for sale. But Borchard sees the change as a way to recharge and expand the Long Ear.

“We’ll be able to spread our wings,” Borchard says. “The new place is so much larger. There’s so much elbow room, people will be able to walk in and breathe better there.” 
click to enlarge The Long Ear is moving its CdA record store
Inside the current Long Ear location.


The new layout includes 12-foot ceilings and a large rectangular floor plan and is about 1,500-square-feet larger. Borchard says they plan to further expand their lifestyle selections, which includes a lot of fair-trade clothing and accessories, along with their vinyl picks.

A resurgence in vinyl (as well as the popularity of Record Store Day) has certainly helped local music stores like 4,000 Holes and Recorded Memories stay open and give other music entrepreneurs the confidence to open shops like Garageland and Groove Merchants. And Borchard is glad to be able to up her in-store record supply, including a whole aisle of new titles.

“We’ve missed vinyl, it’s a different entity,” Borchard says. "Back in the 80s we were getting rid of so much of our vinyl supply. Now I of course wish we'd held on to it." 

With big changes on the way, Borchard says the only person who'll probably be upset by the move is their store cat, Boots, who’ll have to get used to the new territory. But keeping the rescued feline around is all part of making the store feel like home.

“The Long Ear strives to be the other room of your house,” she says. “When you walk in it feels comfortable. Like that magic door you open up at the back of your house, you come here to listen to music.”

Starting today, the entire store will be on sale until final close Saturday, Feb. 20. The current plan is to open in the new location March 1. 

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Posted By on Wed, Feb 17, 2016 at 2:55 PM

Listen to the profane message threatening “armed occupation” of Rep. Matt Shea’s office
Some guy really, really, really hates Matt Shea

Back in January, after the Spokesman-Review wrote a story about his trip to visit the occupiers at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Shea claimed that he’d received multiple threatening messages. He said he had received a “death threat” sent to him on Jan. 12.

“Today, more threats have come in and my address was published on FB in association with them,” Shea wrote on Facebook on Jan 13.

Now that the records request has finally come in, here’s the text of that voicemail message. It does not appear to be an explicit death threat, but rather a threat of “armed occupation” of his office in Spokane.

Hey, Will. Uh, your office in Spokane is going to suffer an armed occupation and we’re going to take it over. You wanna chase around the sheriff’s wife and children there? Remember, we can do it here too. Matt Shea lives in our community. He’s a f—-in’ treasonous piece of shit, though. And you know what? I can’t wait until his f—-in’ ass comes back to Spokane. 

Because you know what? You don’t need to be supporting terrorists. You’re insane, you know that right? Absolutely f—-in’ insane.

It’s comin’ dude.  Don’t be threatening the rest of the community and your own government. There’s a lot of people like me that are not going to tolerate your bullshit anymore. All you f—-in’ Republicans. F—- you all!

You better get your ass out— I hope you told them to get your ass out of there. Your ass needs to get out of there too, motherf—-er.

F—- you! You represent me? You’re f—-in’ insane!

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