Bloglander

Around Town

Short sighted — The Spokesman-Review outlines how a new interpretation of the regulation from the Washington Board of Optometry is preventing the Union Gospel Mission from giving used eyeglasses to people who need them. (SR)

Still a mining town — Despite the accidents and the tragedies, Silver Valley still claims to be supportive of the Lucky Friday Mine. (KXLY)

The long anticipated city center? — Spokane Valley gets the Walmart they asked for for Christmas. (KREM)

Out There

Dangers of truthtelling — Another journalist was shot and killed in Russia last night. He ran a muckraking newspaper that purported to expose police corruption and Islamic extremism. (Meanwhile, Russia just joined the World Trade Organization.) (NYT)

Unhitched — Christopher Hitchens, the eloquent, acidic, brilliant and contrarian writer for Slate and Vanity Fair — a modern-day H.L. Mencken — has died of pneumonia, a complication of esophageal cancer. You could comfort yourself with saying, “He’s in heaven right now,” but, if Hitchens were alive, he would mock you unceasingly for doing so. (Slate)

Committee for Future 404 Errors — The House of Representatives debated the Stop Online Piracy Act yesterday, a measure that would regulate the Internet — the one you’re on right now. Critics say it won’t stop piracy, and could destroy the free Internet. (Washington Post)

Around Town

Gonzaga.xxx — Gonzaga University, and other schools, are buying .xxx domains to avoid potential pornographic sites from becoming associated with their university.  Yet, Eastern Washington University has decided not to spend money on .xxx domains. So, there you have it, interested sleazy parties — EWU.xxx is up for grabs. (SR)

Performance standards — Governor Christine Gregoire proposes a plan to fire bad teachers, or even consistently mediocre ones. (SR)

Garage vigil — At the River Park Square Parking Garage, Ferris students mourned a classmate who fell off the garage two weeks ago. (KXLY) 

Out There

Goodbye, Boris — The Russian Speaker of Parliament, an ally of Prime Minister (and once and future president) Vladimir Putin, resigned after widespread allegations of voter fraud. As recently as a week ago, the Russian citizenry began to hold massive protests in Moscow. (NYT)

Overarching Concept of the Year — Once again, Time magazine has chosen someone generic (in this case The Protestor) instead of an actual person for their Person of the Year. Yet, surely, it’s better than 1989, when Earth won “Planet of the Year” (Narrowly beating out Omicron Persei 8, presumably.) (Time)

Clash of Kingmakers -- Not-a-witch Christine O’Donnell endorsed Mitt Romney, yet Gary Busey endorsed Newt Gingrich. (Atlantic, LA Times)

Around Town

Don’t Tell Your Mom I Crashed the School Bus — If you were a fretting parent of a young school child, you’d certainly want to know if your child’s school bus was in an accident, right? But in the 11 accidents in the East Valley School District since 2008 — including some so bad the students had to be transferred off the bus — a letter was sent home only once. (SR)

Granddaddy issues -— The city of Coeur d’Alene considers adding rules to ban family members of the mayor or City Council members from being hired by the city. State law already prohibits this, but council member Ron Edinger stepped into controversy after a City Council challenger pointed out that he had three grandchildren currently employed by the city. (CDA Press)

Helicopter crashes at the Lewis-McChord Air Force base kill four (KREM)

OUT THERE

Turbulence — A Saturday Night Live skit joking about Alec Baldwin’s refusal to turn off a Words with Friends game on his American Airlines flight has some from the flight attendants union demanding American Airlines ban 30 Rock from their flights. And not just because the quality really fell off after Season 3. (Reuters)

Fail.edu — The New York Times takes a look at whether financially successful online charter schools are actually good for education. (NYT)

Don’t be afraid of change — A writer at Salon suggests that, instead of fighting futilely against climate change, the nations of earth should just get used to it. (Salon)

Around Town

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Condon and Co. want first crack at union deal — Spokane's mayor-elect, along with incoming conservative council members, wrote to the council president this weekend, asking him to delay negotiations with city workers until the administration is sworn in. (Bloglander)

North Spokane LGBT center broken into — Security camera at neighboring coffee shop may have caught the offender on tape. (KXLY)

Date night at the shooting range (NWCN)

Occupy Seattle aims to shut down port — It's part of an Occupy goal to shut down all ports on the West Coast. (KXLY)

Out There

Designers withdraw plan for Korean towers that look like exploding WTC (KHQ)

Why the MLK memorial failed (Atlantic)

Is Richard Dawkins a proper atheist? (Telegraph)

Playing Beethoven for Elephants

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Just over two weeks left before Christmas. Have you finished your shopping? Are you at a loss for ideas? Let us help. 

We published our annual Gift Guide yesterday, and it's bursting with ideas for aspiring Julia Child, jetsetters and revolutionaries, as well as for Twilight lovers, secret lovers, geeks, Greeks and more.

Got all your shopping done but you still want to ogle pictures of our graphic designer in drag? Head to our Tumblr page for extra takes from our cover shoot.

Starbuck was running surveillance in her own home — Details of a search warrant reveal that police sized a video camera Chanin Starbuck had been using inside her home to catch someone breaking in. Months before her death, Starbuck had reported to police that she suspected her ex-husband had been burglarizing their home. The warrant also reveals further details of the nature of her murder. (KXLY)

Man who stole shoes from NorthTown Champs arrested — Turns out the man who robbed Champs at knifepoint on Wednesday, making off with a pair of shoes, had asked the same employee he pulled the knife on to help him with his car only 30 minutes prior. Smart. (SR)

"Self-proclaimed skinhead" pleads guilty to racial harassment — A guilty plea was given by 28-year-old Daren C. Abbey, a self-proclaimed skinhead, after he poked Marlon L. Baker, who is black, in the chest and told him that Baker didn't belong in the town of Bayview last July. In self-defense Baker, who was wearing a Spokane Boxing Club Champion T-shirt when Abbey confronted him, punched Abbey in the face, knocking him out and fracturing his face. (KXLY)

Tonight

BeGin! Anniversary featuring the Flying Spiders and New Lagoon at the MAC

Sick of Sarah, Rawrly, Now, Now and Act 1 Scene 1 at AClub

Toys for Tots benefit featuring Trap Boss and Young Hus$tle

Territory: Generational Triptychs at the MAC

A Christmas Carol at the Spokane Civic Theater

"Seed Folk" exhibit at Saranac Art Projects

Out There

Fire kills 89 in Indian hospital, staff flees the scene (AJC)

Second body at Virginia Tech was shooter (NYT)

The world gets answers behind the "year's best weird internet video" (Gawker)

Norway has run out of butter, for the love of God save the children (Vancouver Sun)

Man murdered in North Spokane — Last night at 11:45, police received a call from a man who told them he had been shot. The man, who was located at a residence in the 1300 block of West Dean Avenue (near police headquarters), was dead by the time rescuers arrived. (SR)

Downtown liquor store robbed — Last night at 8:30, the liquor store on the corner of Third and Cedar was robbed by two men wearing identical clothes and ski masks. The men, who have yet to be caught, made off with cash after pulling a silver handgun on the cashier. (KXLY)

Investigators believe Starbuck knew her killer — Because there was no sign of forced entry in her Deer Park home, investigators are determining that Chanin Starbuck, the mother of five who was found dead in her home over the weekend, likely knew her killer. (KREM)

Tonight

Comedy open mic night at Uncle D's Comedy in Bluz at the Bend

A Christmas Carol at the Spokane Civic Theater

Devin the Dude at the Knitting Factory

Where the Wild Things Are illustrator presents his exhibit at the JFK Library

Margot Casstevens' exhibit at Saranac Art Projects

Out There

Obama administration restricts the sale of over-the-counter Plan B on account of it being "dangerous" (Washington Post)

Here are five common over-the-counter drugs more dangerous than Plan B (Jezebel)

There are a bunch o' secret prisons are all over the world, apparently (The Awl)

Remember Newt Gingrich's ethics investigation back in '97? (NPR)

Recovering from the recession will be a lot harder on you, lady (The Atlantic)

Here's a video by an Australian filmmaker showing us once and for all what English sounds like to people who don't speak it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt4Dfa4fOEY&feature=player_embedded

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Thompson's lawyers denied access to jury — Attorneys representing former SPD officer Karl Thompson have had their request to interview jurors from his trial last month denied by a judge. The jurors convicted him of two felonies in relation to the 2006 death of Otto Zehm. (SR)

Medical examiner rules Starbuck was strangled  — A medical examiner has determined Chanin Starbuck, the mother of five and recent divorcee who was found dead in her Deer Park home over the weekend, was strangled to death. Police say Starbuck's ex-husband is not a suspect. (KXLY)

Man robs NorthTown Mall Champs at knifepoint — At 9 pm Tuesday, a man tried to walk out of Champs at NorthTown Mall with a pair of shoes he did not pay for, say police. When confronted by a clerk, he showed a knife and left the store. (KREM)

WSU welcomes new head coach, gives him $1.8 million to hire staff — Mike Leach, who allegedly mistreated a player at his previous position at Texas Tech, will be the new head coach of the WSU football team. The university has given him $1.8 million to "fill out his staff". (KXLY)

Tonight

Allegro Baroque and Beyond at Pasty Clark's Mansion.

Small Works Invitational exhibit at the Art Spirit Gallery.

“Lang and Rue: Verses” exhibit at the Jundt Art Museum.

Out There

Winner of worst sex writing in fiction award announced. (Daily Beast)

National Geographic is home to a ton of Pearl Harbor Day interactive media. (National Geographic)

Those fighting for marijuana legalization find support from African-American clergy members. (Stranger)

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2011 inductees announced. (Village Voice)

Obama takes on LGBT discrimination abroad, faces outrage. (Reuters)

Deer Park woman's death ruled as a homicide — Investigators have officially ruled the death of 42-year-old Chanin Starbuck, a recently divorced mother of five, as a homicide. There have been no arrests made in the case. (KREM)

Deer Park pharmacy robbed — The Deer Park Medicine Shoppe was robbed at gunpoint early Monday evening by a man in his mid-20s who made off with an undisclosed amount of oxycontin. (KXLY)

Two stabbed with machete in Coeur d'Alene — A dispute over marijuana on Saturday led to the stabbing of two 20-year-old men in Coeur d'Alene. Two NIC students, Wesley Celestine and Jacob Selaci, have been arrested and appeared in court on Monday and "may face charges stronger than jail time." (KREM)

Tonight

Kid Rock at the Knitting Factory

Allegro Baroque and Beyond at Patsy Clark

Chef Amadeus at Kitchen Engine

Five-course meal with beer pairings by Deschutes Brewers at the Saranac Public House

Out There

25 cities way colder than here. (Daily Beast)

Fox News accuses the Muppets of being Commies, world says "WTF". (Slate)

Rosie O'Donnell is getting hitched to girlfriend of 3 months.  (People)

Student loans aren't ruining everything after all, says this one guy. (GOOD)