Wednesday, June 21, 2017
Ripped off by Big Pharma
Say you’re a big pharmaceutical company looking for a way to make some fast cash. How about combining two over-the-counter medications, available to consumers for about $40 a month, into a new “specialty” medication that gets billed to insurance at more than $3,000 for a month’s supply? It happened, and the drug earned the company, Horizon Pharma, $455 million in sales. You won’t want to miss this installment in ProPublica’s series on wasteful spending in health care.
Healthy eating rewards
Safeway is teaming up to offer $5 rebates on $10 qualifying purchases of fresh fruits and vegetables for participants in the Washington State Department of Health's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The new program, called Complete Eats, is aimed at rewarding healthy choices. “We are pleased to partner with Safeway to help our most vulnerable kids and families get fresh, accessible and healthful foods,” said state Secretary of Health John Wiesman in a statement. “Complete Eats exemplifies how much we can achieve when government and private industry work together.”
Read more about helping kids get a healthy diet in the current issue of InHealth!
Hoopin’ it up
As the ballers take to downtown Spokane's streets this weekend, there will be a lot of fun, but also some unfortunate ankle sprains, finger jams, and cuts. Here are tips on how to cope.
Tags: InHealth , Horizon Pharma , ProPublica , Department of Health , SNAP , Complete Eats , Safeway , fruits , vegetables , basketball injuries , Image
ON INLANDER.COM
NEWS: A carbon tax proposed by the right-leaning Climate Leadership Council could result in a monthly dividend check for Americans, courtesy of Big Oil.
MUSIC: Foo Fighters haven't played Spokane in 14 years, but they're coming to the Arena in December; tickets go on sale next Thursday.
NEWS: Advocates for coal and wind energy have found common ground: A push to lower the cost of moving power through Bonneville Power Administration lines in Montana.
IN OTHER NEWS
Georgia seat stays red
Georgia's 6th Congressional District, held by Republicans since Newt Gingrich's victory in 1988, will remain in GOP hands after Karen Handel defeated Democrat Jon Ossoff in a special election in the suburban Atlanta district; $55 million was spent on the race, the most expensive House contest ever. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution/New York Times)
Democrats are now 0-for-4 in House races this year: Where do they go from here? (Vox)
A secret no more?
Tomorrow, Senate Republicans will finally release a draft of their attempt to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, according to NPR. It may not matter, says the New York Times; a GOP rift over Medicaid and the national opioid epidemic could scuttle the proposed legislation before it even comes up for a vote.
The Jets, the Sharks... and the Whales
Organized groups of aggressive orca and sperm whales are harassing fishing boats in Alaskan waters and and devouring their catches; one boat owner likened them to a "gang.” (The Province)
Acting great says 'farewell'
Daniel Day-Lewis, the only man to win three Academy Awards as Best Actor, announced his retirement from acting at age 60, ending a career of more than 35 years. (New York Times)
Desert scorcher
Think it's hot around here on the first full day of summer? Be glad you're not in Phoenix, where it'll be at least 40 degrees hotter, with highs expected to hit 120°. (Arizona Republic)
Seven things to know about the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. (Vox)
Tags: carbon tax , Climate Leadership Council , Foo Fighters , Bonneville Power Administration , Georgia 6th CD , Karen Handel , Jon Ossoff , Senate Republicans , health care , whales , Daniel Day-Lewis. , Phoenix , 120 degrees , summer solstice , News , Image
Tuesday, June 20, 2017
Major companies that have pushed back on carbon tax plans here and in other places took out a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal today to pitch an idea: tax carbon.
Yep. You read that right.
ExxonMobil, BP and Shell, and major corporations including Unilever, Procter & Gamble and General Motors, announced their support of a plan by the Climate Leadership Council on Tuesday, June 20.
The plan would tax carbon dioxide emissions starting at $40 a ton.
The proceeds of the tax would go straight back to the American people on a "monthly basis via dividend checks, direct deposits or contributions to their individual retirement accounts," according to the council.
That could mean a family of four would get $2,000 in dividend payments in the first year, the council's site states.
The nation would agree to tax the carbon we emit, and have that rate increase over time in order to promote a decrease in emissions.
So, what's the catch?
Well, for one, the cost of that tax would be passed onto you, the consumer, in higher gas and fossil fuel prices.
Oh, and one of the pillars of the plan is "significant regulatory rollback," which, depending on where you stand, could be a good or bad thing.
Over time, the EPA would lose power and authority to regulate carbon dioxide, and the Clean Power Plan would be repealed:
"The final pillar is the elimination of regulations that are no longer necessary upon the enactment of a rising carbon tax whose longevity is secured by the popularity of dividends. Much of the EPA’s regulatory authority over carbon dioxide emissions would be phased out, including an outright repeal of the Clean Power Plan. Robust carbon taxes would also make possible an end to federal and state tort liability for emitters. To build and sustain a bipartisan consensus for a regulatory rollback of this magnitude, the initial carbon tax rate should be set to exceed the emissions reductions of current regulations."
The plan, put out in February, was authored by a group of conservative leaders that includes former secretaries of state, presidential economic advisers, businessmen and founders of the Climate Leadership Council.
Tags: energy , news , oil , paychecks , money , cost , carbon tax , climate change , global warming , emissions , dividends , Image
What can bring supporters of wind and coal together? A push to drop the cost of moving power across a small eastern Montana segment of the Bonneville Power Administration's 15,000-mile network.
Currently, there's about a $2 fee per megawatt hour to use a 90-mile portion of the public utility's network that runs from Townsend to Garrison, Montana.
That fee, added to the normal network charge, could make a huge difference in the bottom line for companies using that line, argue groups that want the BPA to drop the fee.
Most of the capacity on that segment is used by the Colstrip power plant east of Billings, but 184 megawatts have been unused for more than three decades, something politicians on both sides of the aisle in Montana and Washington point to as a sign that the fee should be dropped to encourage more development and use of that line.
But BPA Administrator Elliot Mainzer opted to keep the fee in place in a draft of the rates to be charged next year that was released last week.
Supporters of wind development, including the Sierra Club and Renewable Northwest, want BPA to take another look at the fee before the final draft is released in late July.
"For Montana to remain an energy exporting state," a critical achievement "is for them to be focusing their attention on where they have a product their West Coast buyers want: that’s wind," says Doug Howell, senior campaign representative with the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign.
"This fee is a barrier to wind development," Howell says. "If we can knock that out, we have a much better chance."
Though it may sound small, a $2 fee per MWh can be the tipping point to make a project affordable or not, Howell says.
"I think this is a case of an agency that either doesn’t know about the challenges Montana faces in transitioning our energy economy, or doesn’t care," says Jeff Fox, Montana Policy Manager for Renewable Northwest, a nonprofit that advocates for renewable energy projects.
Tags: news , BPA , Montana , utility , electricity , energy , rates , cost , price , money , wind , coal , development , Image
For the first time since 2003, Foo Fighters are coming to Spokane. Led by Dave Grohl and arguably the biggest American rock band of the past 20 years, Foo Fighters will hit the Spokane Arena stage on Dec. 4 on their tour in support of a new album, Concrete and Gold.
Tickets for Foo Fighters go on sale Thursday, June 29, at 10 am at the Spokane Arena box office and all TicketsWest outlets. They'll sell for $51, $81 or $101. English band the Struts will open the show for the Foos.
The new Foo Fighters album comes out Sept. 15. Grohl said in a statement, "I wanted it to be the biggest sounding Foo Fighters album ever." For anyone who's kept up with the band from its early days as a Grohl one-man band until its current six-man lineup, that's saying something.
"Run," the first single from Foo Fighters' new album, arrived a couple of weeks ago:
Also announced this week, A Perfect Circle will swing by Spokane Arena on Nov. 28 for a headlining show. The group fronted by Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan has a new album on the way as well, but a release date and title haven't been announced.
A Perfect Circle tickets go on sale Friday, June 23, at 10 am through the Spokane Arena box office and TicketsWest outlets. They'll cost $49.50 and $69.50. The Beta Machine opens the show.
Tags: Foo Fighters , Dave Grohl , Spokane Arena , A Perfect Circle , Music , Image
ON INLANDER.COM
NEWS: After suspicions that an arcade located near a proposed Smokane weed shop just to prevent the weed shop from opening, Spokane City Council enacted an emergency law that let Smokane relocate to an East Spokane industrial park. (Spokesman-Review)
NEWS: Spokane attorney Robin Haynes resigned as president of the Washington State Bar Association on Sunday. Now, she's being accused by two law firms of embezzling nearly $10,000. (KREM)
IN OTHER NEWS
Tensions rising with North Korea
U.S. college student Otto Warmbier, who was held in a North Korean prison and released last week after nearly a year and a half in captivity, died on Monday. Three American citizens are still being held in North Korea. Arizona Sen. John McCain, meanwhile, says that Americans are "stupid" to travel to North Korea, and should sign a waiver absolving the U.S. from blame should they be harmed there. (New York Times/Associated Press)
Drawing a line
In a potential landmark case, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether gerrymandering, drawing a legislative map along partisan lines, violates the constitution. (Washington Post)
Georgia race in voters' hands
The race for a House seat in Georgia's 6th Congressional District, which some see as a referendum on President Trump, goes to voters today. Democrat Jon Ossoff, facing Republican Karen Handel, is trying to flip the seat. (Associated Press)
Tags: North Korea , Otto Warmbier , Smokane , Spokane , arcade , Robin Haynes , Supreme Court , morning headlines , News , gerrymandering , Georgia House race , Jon Ossoff , Image
Monday, June 19, 2017
I'm not going to say that Alice Cooper made a deal with the devil to still be so spry and rocking at 69 years old — as we all know by now, the man's an avowed Christian — but there's something unnatural about how much raucous fun the man still has on stage, nearly 50 years after first hitting the public eye.
Sunday night, Cooper kicked off Northern Quest's Outdoor Summer Concerts series with a setlist that leaned hard on his '70s-era classics like Welcome to My Nightmare and Billion Dollar Babies. In the process, he showed why he's considered a garage-rock pioneer, while still offering up the theatrics one has come to expect from an Alice Cooper show.
A live boa constrictor for "Welcome to My Nightmare." A Frankenstein monster for "Feed My Frankenstein." Alice in a straightjacket for "The Ballad of Dwight Fry." Alice beheaded with a guillotine just before "Killer/I Love The Dead." All the eye-candy greatest hits were there, and entertaining for sure.
I'll admit that for years, before ever seeing Alice Cooper perform, I thought the theatrics were the ONLY reason to go to an Alice Cooper show. But that's not the case, as he emphatically proved Sunday night with a barreling performance that touched on punk, metal, blues and Tin Pan Alley balladry over the course of about 20 songs. An Alice Cooper show is inherently musical — and much more so than many of the heavy metal bands he's toured with since his '80s comeback with songs like "Poison."
Tags: Alice Cooper , Dokken , Northern Quest , Music , Image
ON INLANDER.COM
WHAT'S UP? This week's calendar brings you Hoopfest, Steel Barrel's birthday, David Sedaris and more. Check out a curated list of events for this week here.
ARTS & CULTURE: Best 25 movies of the century so far? The New York Times came up with their list, so Inlander film editor Nathan Weinbender took up the challenge and made his own. See what made the cut here.
IN OTHER NEWS
Attack targets London mosque
The New York Times reports that UK authorities are treating a deadly van attack outside a mosque in London this morning as terrorism targeting Muslims, "amid fears of retaliation for several recent assaults in the country attributed to Islamist extremists."
Offensive or taking back terms?
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a law against registering a trademark of a disparaging term violates the First Amendment, in a case brought by the Slants, an Asian American rock group who were originally told they couldn't trademark their band name, reports the Washington Post.
What remains
Hecla Mining Company (the same company in a deadlock with miners in Mullan, Idaho, who are on strike) has started reclamation work at a mine it bought and closed in Montana two years ago, the Flathead Beacon reports.
Tags: news , London , terrorism , film , events , trademark , offensive , disparage , Hecla , mining , movies , Image
Sunday, June 18, 2017
We officially reach summer this week, and there's a bevy of entertaining activities for your consideration in our event listings and Staff Picks.
Here are some highlights of the week ahead:
Monday, June 19
LIVE BANDS | Joseph Huber brings a sparse but compelling style of Americana to the Pin! for a show on Monday. Here's a little sample:
Tuesday, June 20
FILM | The Garland Theater's summer camp series continues with a personal fave, The Lost Boys! Vampires! Kiefer! Cory and Corey! A killer soundtrack! Here's the trailer:
Wednesday, June 21
SPORTS & OUTDOORS | It's the seventh annual Summer Parkways bike ride, when several Spokane streets are closed to cars to allow easy cruising. Hop on your wheels and roll!
Tags: What's Up? , Image , Video
Friday, June 16, 2017
Last week, New York Times film critics A.O. Scott and Manohla Dargis embarked upon a fool's errand and ranked the 25 best films of the century so far. These kinds of lists always engender debate, and you probably saw someone share it on Facebook, no doubt grousing about titles that were omitted (look at the comments on the Times' original post for some of that).
But what Scott and Dargis did select was, as their writing so often is, illuminating and surprising. Their pick for No. 1: Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood. No complaints there. Also in the mix: Popular Hollywood fare (Inside Out, Mad Max: Fury Road, The 40-Year-Old Virgin), major works from prestigious American filmmakers (Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby, Steven Spielberg's Munich) and a number of more obscure foreign films — China's A Touch of Sin, Romania's The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, Mexico's Silent Light.
I love exercises like this, not only because they point you in the direction of lesser-known work, but because they inspire you to mentally form your own list. Which is exactly what I did, and narrowing it down to a more digestible 10 titles was something of a feat. Here are my choices, about which you'll no doubt disagree.
10. Zodiac (2007)
An unshakeable sense of dread pervades every meticulous frame of David Fincher's Zodiac, which is easily one of the scariest movies of the last few decades. On its surface, it's a true crime thriller about an elusive serial killer running roughshod over 1970s San Francisco, but it's also about the elusive nature of the truth and the dangers of obsession.
9. Talk to Her (2002)
This is Spanish auteur Pedro Almodovar's masterpiece, a full-blown melodrama centered on a pair of comatose women (one's a bullfighter, the other a ballerina) and the relationship that develops between the two men who care for them. Almodovar, one of the world's greatest living filmmakers, has always trafficked in the stuff of soap operas, but his virtuosic command of style — from the music to the bold colors to the out-of-nowhere silent film interlude — is completely rapturous.
8. Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
Part fairy tale, part brutal war film, this macabre fantasy from Mexico remains the strongest statement, both visually and narratively, by visionary director Guillermo del Toro. His sense of beauty has always had a gruesome edge to it (no one excels at marrying gorgeous production design with horrifying special effects quite like he does), and that's never been more apparent than in Pan's Labyrinth, which has the uncanny ability to repulse, fascinate and enchant all at once.
Tags: Arts & Culture , New York Times , 25 Best Films of the Century , Zodiac , Talk to Her , Pan's Labyrinth , Kill Bill , Children of Men , Boyhood , Her , Moonlight , The Royal Tenenbaums , No Country for Old Men , Image
