Bloglander

ON INLANDER.COM

CULTURE: Over coffee and conversation, Spokane author Bruce Holbert talks about his new novel, Whiskey, in which two brothers, Smoker and Andre, bound across the Inland Northwest.

"There's a tendency for self-annihilation in the West, and in these characters. You go and you stand and you look at a beautiful vista, and you say, 'Man, this is almost perfect.' And what's the one thing that keeps it from being perfect? That you're here. Because that means someone else is coming, too," Holbert tells the Inlander.

Holbert will read from his novel at Auntie's tonight at 7.

SPORTS: In a reaction to a federal investigation’s revelations last year of widespread corruption in college basketball recruiting, the Pacific-12 Conference announced yesterday that it was putting its weight behind several reforms that would fundamentally change the sport, according to the New York Times. 

The proposals include new eligibility standards and limiting the presence of shoe companies — a bold statement from a league that counts the so-called University of Nike among its members.

IN OTHER NEWS

#PA18
Republican officials in Pennsylvania are alleging voting irregularities in the District 18 special election yesterday, and say they plan to go to court seeking to impound all the voting machines used Tuesday. The news comes after a contentious congressional election between Democrat Conor Lamb and Republican Rick Saccone. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Walkout against guns
Thousands of students across the country are expected to walk out of class in a growing protest movement against gun violence. (New York Times)

With the stars
Acclaimed British physicist and author Stephen Hawking has died at the age of 76. (The Guardian)