Bloglander

ON INLANDER.COM 

• As heroin and opioid dependency occupies much of the public discussion around drug abuse, meth is making a comeback. 

• Staff writer Dan Nailen chatted with Spokane's poet laureate about weed, G.I. Joes, his two '69 Cameros and, of course, poetry. Check it out.

• Chris Hansen started writing to students at Adams Elementary when he was first deployed to Afghanistan in 2013 and has maintained that pen pal relationship ever since. Recently, Hansen returned to meet with the kids.

IN OTHER NEWS: 

• The family of the man shot by Spokane police for a second time in less than three years searches for answers. (Spokesman-Review)

• The City of Spokane is set to replace its lead pipes. (KXLY)

• E-cigs, hookah tobacco, cigars and pipe tobacco are now under the watchful eye of the FDA. 

• An Army officer is suing President Obama over the legality of the deepening war against the Islamic State. Capt. Nathan Smith says he supports the efforts, but argues that Obama needs authorization from Congress. Smith's challenge comes as Obama has expanded the number of ground troops in Syria. 

• The Department of Justice is NOT happy with North Carolina and its law banning transgender people from certain bathrooms. In a letter to Gov. Pat McCrory, the agency threatened a lawsuit and denial of millions in federal funds.

• The Last Phone Call: A multi-part, graphic journalism project, inmates document their time on death row, revealing the "complexity of American notions of justice, guilt and punishment."