Bloglander

ON INLANDER.COM

Spokane on screen
A conversation with, Jeremiah Chechik, the director of Benny & Joon.

English language learners
Idaho schools are struggling to keep up with an increase in students who speak English as a second language.

Full(ish) steam ahead
The Steam Plant restaurant finally reopened with an all-new vibe and menu — sandwiches, stone-oven pizza, small plates and a range of entrées.

Then the executive chef, Steve Leonard, left. The restaurant's manager says he cannot provide any details on Leonard's departure.

IN OTHER NEWS

'hey ED this is one of the few kids you molested'
Lloyd Anderson typed that message into a constituent-comment form and sent it to former Seattle Mayor Ed Murray's office in 2015.

Murray resigned last year, but now more details of his alleged sexual abuse of children, and his efforts to save his career, are surfacing.

The Seattle Times dug through hundreds of pages of text messages and emails.

A Stranger reporter worked as a speech writer for interim mayor Tim Burgess in the six months following Murray's resignation. If you read one thing today, read Eli Sanders' account of anxious six-month fallout from a mayoral sex scandal.

Meanwhile, Murray has begun collecting retirement benefits that will come to $115,920 a year for the rest of his life, the Times reports.

Pulling weeds
San Francisco prosecutors will begin to toss out thousands of marijuana-related convictions dating back to 1975. District Attorney George Gascón's office will dismiss and seal 3,038 misdemeanor pot convictions and review almost 5,000 more felony cases.

Along with the announcement, Gascón's office cited marijuana arrest data from 2000 to 2010 showing that African Americans make up 40 to 50 percent of arrests, yet are only about 6 to 8 percent of the city's population.

A recreational marijuana officially kicked off in California at the beginning of this year. (NPR)

Mueller and the memo
Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is charged with investigating the Trump campaign's connections to Russia, is reportedly focusing on a media statement drafted aboard Air Force One last summer. The statement addressed a meeting between top Trump campaign officials and the Russians in Trump Tower. The news release apparently attempted to obscure the goal of the meeting, which was to get dirt on Hillary Clinton. (New York Times)

Meanwhile, the White House is deciding whether to release a memo — known as the Nunes Memo, after its creator California Rep. Devin Nunes — that reportedly details abuse of power by the FBI in the Russia investigation. (Washington Post)

Democrats and FBI director have vehemently opposed the memo's release. FBI Director Christopher Wray says the memo contains inaccurate info. (Bloomberg)