Bloglander

Plenty of good ways to great March can be found in our event listings and Staff Picks, so check those out along with the dining options of our ongoing Inlander Restaurant Week and get out on the town.

Here are some highlights of the week ahead:

Monday, Feb. 27

FILM/WORDS | The Moran Prairie Library hosts a free screening and discussion of Unslut, a film about so-called "slut shaming" and gender bullying. Read our story about the film here.

Tuesday, Feb. 28

THEATER | The touring version of Broadway hit Kinky Boots opens its Spokane run tonight. Read our story about it and get ready to get kinky.

LIVE BANDS | The Northwest of Nashville rootsy throwdown returns to The Bartlett tonight, with sets by Jenny Anne Mannan, Folkinception and The Holy Broke.

Wednesday, March 1

LIVE BANDS | Andy Black (aka Andy Biersack) is best known as the founder and frontman of Black Veil Brides, but on his debut solo album The Shadow Side, he jumps feet first into a world of programmed beats, ’80s-flavored synths and anthemic choruses, according to our music writer Ben Salmon. Black headlines the Knit tonight; here's a little sample of his sound:


COMEDY | Adam Devine's career could go right down the shitter from this moment forward and he'd still be a legend just for helping bring the glorious Workaholics to life. I don't expect said toilet-bowling to occur, though, because he's a funny cat. And he's bringing his standup to The Bing tonight.

Thursday, March 2

LIVE MUSIC | I'm not typically one to extoll the virtues of the ukulele, having seen far too many unskilled players in my life. But I can say that Jake Shimabukuro is easily the best uke player I've ever seen (granted, a short list), and well worth seeing in person if you can. Think of him as the Jimmy Page of the uke, or Hendrix, or Eddie Van Halen. Whatever your shredder of choice — he's it on the ukulele. He's headlining the Bing. Here's a taste:

COMEDY | Brian Posehn is one of the best standups around, a veteran of the touring circuit and favored presence on shows like Mr. Show and The Sarah Silverman Program. He's playing all weekend at the Spokane Comedy Club, starting tonight.

Friday, March 3

WORDS | PBS personality Rick Steves swings by Spokane for a European Travel Talk, where you'll hear great stories and prepare to make your own.

Saturday, March 4

COMMUNITY | Join the festivities for International Women's Day in Spokane at the Women's Club of Spokane, featuring keynote speaker Favianna Rodriguez, an interdisciplinary artist, cultural organizer, and activist based out of Oakland.

It’s Thursday morning. You wake up before 7 a.m. after staying in a shelter overnight, step out into the bone-chilling 24-degree weather, and have to figure out where you can take your kids for the day until the warm space reopens in the evening.

Until December, your only option might have been to go to the library, a grocery store, anywhere public enough to let you hang out for a while sheltered from the cold.

Now, says Steve Allen, executive director of Family Promise of Spokane, for the first time in Spokane’s history, homeless families have another option during the day, designed just for them.

Open Doors

Allen was joined by Mayor David Condon and other city officials Thursday as they 

celebrated the recent opening of Open Doors family day shelter, which offers hot showers, case management and emergency shelter to families in need.

The shelter, located off Richard Allen Court in East Central, is open 7 days a week from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Since opening in early December, the shelter has had about 30 to 40 people walk through the door every day, says Joe Ader, Open Doors director.

“We’re one of few shelters that doesn’t separate men and women, so families can stay together,” Ader says.

With the opening night of Inlander Restaurant week just hours away “It’s like Valentine’s Day for 10 days in a row,” says Julie Holland, director of communications for Northern Quest Resort and Casino, where Masselow’s is the signature restaurant. “We know we have to be on our game.”

e checked in with Masselow’s Chef Tanya Broesder to see how the calm before the storm was going. “We’re ready,” she said Thursday afternoon, adding that a lot of the final preparations have to do with prepping the waitstaff for what’s to come.

Servers will meet lots of new people during the run of IRW, and even though it’s sure to be busy, Broesder wants to maintain the quality of service diners expect from Masselow’s. Finishing touches aside, the food’s been in the works since early January.

“I’ve been working with my suppliers for the best beef tenderloin and salmon we can get,” Broesder says. “The salmon was a huge hit last year, so we kept it on the menu for this year, too.”

Night one is now in the books, with a busy weekend of dining out starting up tonight. You can peruse the menus of the 100+ participating restaurants to make your own plan. Here are some of the experiences Inlander team members had out on the town Thursday.

Ruins
Emily Walden, account executive

Rolling in toward the end of a busy opening night, Emily got a table right away — which is unusual, as Ruins does not take reservations and is busy on weekends year-round. She immediately took advantage of the Drink Local option — the Mr. Wednesday cocktail, featuring Dry Fly gin and fennel liqueur. “Yummy!”

And her group loved the raviolo al uovo: “The broth by itself was wonderful,” says Emily, “but then you break the egg and mix in the creme fraiche and it turned into a whole new thing that was amazing. And the braised beef was to die for.”

Nutella fans, you are on notice: One of Ruins’ dessert choices is Nutella tiramisu.

It's cool to hate on John Mayer.

He's churned out a lot of safe blues rock over the years. He's said some dumb stuff in interviews. He probably takes himself a bit too seriously. But it's impossible to deny that the guy's a solid guitarist, and he's generated a huge fan base since releasing his first album in 2001.

Mayer has made a habit of playing the Gorge Amphitheatre every few years, and his upcoming summer tour has him returning to George, Washington, on July 21. Earlier today, Mayer released an EP titled The Search for Everything: Wave Two, a sequel of sorts to a four-song collection he dropped last month.

July's concert marks the first time Mayer has played a solo gig at the Gorge since 2013. He was there last summer with Dead and Company, a jam band he formed with the surviving members of the Grateful Dead.

Tickets go on sale next Saturday, March 4, at 10 am on livenation.com and through Ticketmaster outlets.

Want to see into the future? Subscribers to the Spokesman-Review are able to do just that today — reading about Gonzaga's perfect regular season record (30-0!) a day before the Zags play their final game on Saturday against BYU. (Thursday night, the Gonzaga crushed San Diego to take their record to 29-0 on the season.)

You can find the digital version of the four-page section, with tomorrow's date, on the SR's website this morning — with the paper declaring, "After completing a perfect regular season, Gonzaga sets its sights on making an unprecedented postseason run."

Obviously, it's a safe bet that the No.1 team in America will beat BYU on their home court — catch the action on ESPN at 7:15 Saturday — but then again ... talk to old President Dewey about hubris in newspapers.

UPDATED 11:40 AM TODAY: Fearing the wrath of the basketball gods — and Zag fans everywhere — the Spokesman-Review has now taken down the special, end-of-the-season section.

ON INLANDER.COM

FOOD: Inlander Restaurant Week (Feb. 23-Mar. 4) is in full swing — check out some of our menu picks, learn more about the charity and people this week benefits, some food trends  you can try out, and more in our IRW Guide out now.

MUSIC: Julia Keefe's path to this year's Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival headlining stage started as a Spokane middle-schooler.

FOOD: New all-ages venue Lucky Puppy joins its big brother Scotty's Doghouse as a Logan neighborhood hangout.

IN OTHER NEWS

Docs can't tell us what's up
The two Spokane physicians who filed a $191 million bankruptcy struggled to explain their own personal finances at their hearing yesterday, much less the business decisions behind their failed medical companies. (Spokesman-Review)

The face behind the case
Meet 17-year-old Gavin Grimm, the transgender student and lead plaintiff in the "bathroom debate" court case that's headed to the Supreme Court. (New York Times)

Conservative conference
Trump just finished speaking at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC, the event Milo Yiannopoulos was disinvited from recently for his comments about sex between "younger boys and older men").

Trump, who skipped CPAC in 2016 and was booed when he went in 2015, said in nationalist, campaign-era overtones that he's "not representing the globe. I'm representing your country." (CNN)

Wednesday, President Donald Trump rolled back federal guidelines for transgender students that required schools to let those students use the bathrooms of their choice.

The move essentially leaves it up to the states to make decisions on protecting transgender students. And in Washington and Idaho, those protections look much different.

The federal decision won't impact how transgender students are treated in Washington schools, says Chris Reykdal, Washington state Superintendent of Public Instruction. Washington state law will continue to protect transgender students, and losing the federal guidelines shouldn't affect any district policies.

"Our state laws are explicit," Reykdal says. "We must not discriminate against our students, no matter their gender identity or sexual orientation."

The federal guidelines unveiled last year by President Obama made more of a difference in Idaho. When Obama directed school districts to let transgender students use the restrooms matching their gender identities in May, Idaho leaders, including Superintentent Sherri Ybarra, objected to the protections. Ybarra called the move "extreme top-down overreach," in a statement, and Gov. Butch Otter said the guidelines disregard states' rights and local control of schools.

The words "gender identity" or "sexual orientation" are not included in Idaho's human rights law.

The Kalispel Tribe announced Wednesday its plans for a $20 million expansion of its resort and casino in Airway Heights, most it focused on additional options for people less interested in gambling and more interested in a family getaway.

A supersized arcade focused on non-violent games, a children's entertainment center and daycare, additional dining and shopping options and a new high-end RV park are all part of the expansion that will include 40,000 additional square feet connected to the current south side of the Northern Quest Resort & Casino building.

"We're excited to bring additional family-friendly entertainment options to the West Plains," said Phil Haugen, Kalispel Tribal Economic Authority COO via press release. "For many years, our vision has included the desire to develop the property south of Northern Quest and create an even larger entertainment destination with a true sense of place and community."

The resort plans to break ground on the expansion this spring, with a grand opening of the new features envisioned for spring of 2018. The addition will continue the ongoing evolution of the West Plains as an entertainment destination, which also includes the expected 2017 opening of the Spokane Tribe's Hard Rock Hotel and casino in Airway Heights.

ON INLANDER.COM

• NEWS: Spokane city officials are still mum on reasons why longtime Street Director Mark Serbousek was booted from his position.

• MUSIC: Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukonen will bring their acoustic blues to the Chateau Rive this Saturday. They're playing two sets 7:30 (sold out) and 10 pm.

• GONZAGA: Women weren't allowed to attend Gonzaga University until 1948. A new on-campus exhibit shows how they shaped the campus then and for future students.

IN OTHER NEWS:

Gender Discrimination Suit Settled
• The Department of Justice settled a gender discrimination lawsuit with a former Spokane prosecutor. Katherine "Jill" Bolton claimed she was paid less than a male colleague and her authority was undermined by men in the office. Bolton's attorney, Mary Schultz, said the $225,000 settlement was the largest paid by the DOJ for a gender discrimination suit. (Spokesman Review)

Bathroom Discrimination Bolstered
• President Donald Trump reversed Obama's order allowing students to use the bathroom in line with their gender identity. Trump's order reportedly divided members of his cabinet with Attorney General Jeff Sessions opposing the expansion of transgender rights and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos initially opposing Trump's decision. (New York Times)

Racial Discrimination Struck Down
• The U.S. Supreme Court ruled yesterday that a man sentenced to death in Texas can seek a new sentence after his own defense team called a witness who testified that the man was more likely to commit new crimes because he is black. (The Atlantic)

New Planets?
• Astronomers say they've discovered at least seven Earth-sized planets orbiting a single star 40 light years away. The planets might have water on their surfaces, and could therefore support life. (CNN)

Tooth troubles
More than 3,600 people headed to local emergency rooms in 2015 to get help with dental pain. Most of those visits could have been avoided if better preventive and specialized care were more readily available. Unfortunately, many of the region’s Medicaid patients aren’t able to access dental treatment due to a provider shortage in the region.

That’s why Providence Health Care, CHAS Health and the Spokane District Dental Society are teaming up to open two new dental clinics, as well as offer up to six dental residency slots to train future specialty dentists. A large outpatient clinic will be situated near Providence Holy Family, while a smaller hospital-based clinic at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center will assist dental patients who have other medical issues, such as cardiac disease, cancer and dementia. Getting the clinics up and running will cost $5 million. They are expected to open next year.

Read more about how teeth affect your health here.

New high in life expectancy — but not in U.S.
How long will you live? If you are a woman in South Korea, a lot longer according to a new study published in the Lancet. For the first time, life expectancy for a population group has topped 90 years. The country is noted for investing in “childhood nutrition, education and technology, as well as low blood pressure, low levels of smoking and good access to health care.”

The United States had the lowest life span prediction among high-income countries, checking in at a little more than 83 years for women, and 79.5 for men.

Slim Down
Looking for some new ideas on how to lose weight? Healing Spokane will present a forum, “Weight Loss: Beyond the Ordinary Approach,” on February 28 from 6 to 7:30 pm at the WSU/EWU Auditorium at 668 N. Riverpoint Blvd. Healing Spokane is a group of healthcare providers, including doctors, as well as representatives from other fields including chiropractic, massage, naturopathy and acupuncture. The goal is to provide insights from complementary and integrative specialties about a variety of topics.