Bloglander

You were working behind the counter and had on a brown hat, blue t-shirt
and were sporting a very manly beard. I'm pretty traditional and would
never have asked for your phone number in front of other customers, but
really wanted to because I was instantly attracted. I have zero idea if you
have a girlfriend, but if you don't--I'd love to go out for coffee or
drinks. Let me know what you think!

Three brothers who are going for an exceptionally long and exceptionally charitable bicycle ride are passing through Coeur d'Alene on a journey south.

How far south? Ushuaia, Argentina, at the southern tip of South America.

Calling their venture Bound South, brothers David Berg, 19, Isaiah Berg, 22, and Nathan Berg, 24, of Starkweather, North Dakota, set out in August from Anchorage to raise money for their local chapter of Habitat for Humanity.

They plan to raise $60,000 to build a house for an impoverished family in eastern North Dakota, Isaiah Berg says, and hope to be home by next summer. Most of the money will be collected through their website and from donations gleaned on the road.

“We wanted an adventure, but also an adventure for a good cause,” he says. The brothers rode yesterday from Bonner's Ferry, and have spent their day in Coeur d’Alene resting, working out, and enjoying a rarity for these thrifty travelers: eating at a restaurant. “It’s very challenging but very memorable.”

On Saturday, the trio will head west into Washington, through Walla Walla and the Columbia River gorge to Portland.

From there, they continue their journey southwards.

Spokane's biannual Visual Arts Tour begins in just a few minutes. Ready, steady, go!

Join The Inlander — on Twitter and in person — as we ramble through tonight's festivities. Follow along on Twitter using the #vat, #terrain and #spokane hashtags.

The tour, made up of exhibitions across Spokane, runs tonight from 5 pm to 9 pm. Check the map below to see the stops on the tour.

View Visual Arts Tour Oct. 2011 in a larger map

TONIGHT!

April Smith sings a song about eating her boyfriends. EATING THEM. And somehow, cannibalism has made her popular. Read our interview with the DIY singer here, and check her out tonight at the Bing Crosby Theater. 8 pm. All-ages. $17.

Check out the sexy sounds of Mirror Mirror, an up-and-coming local band that we profiled here, tonight at the Hop with Zoanthrop and Power Chief. They play at 7 pm. $5. All-ages.

And then there's Terrain, of course. Here's the schedule for music tonight:

5:20 pm: Stone Tobey
6 pm: Wonder Wonder
7 pm: Surprise guest
8 pm: Horse Thieves
9 pm: House of Ghosts
10 pm: Summer in Siberia
11 pm: Ocean is … Black Ceiling
Midnight: Purple & Green

Now, there's no James Pants on the schedule. But I swear it'll be OK. Check out this video of Purple & Green. Now tell me you're not gonna wanna dance to that!

PURPLE & GREEN - "HUMAN NATURE" from judesays on Vimeo.

SATURDAY!

Let your eardrums bleed a little tomorrow at A Club — loud locals A Pyrrhic Victory, Straight to Our Enemies, Yukon the Archer, Among Thieves and Asylus play. 5:30 pm. $5. All-ages.

Over yonder in the International District, some of our favorite locals rock the Checkerboard Tavern: Mythship, True FO and the excellent, excellent surf-punk of BBBandits. 9 pm. $3. "Tavern" probably means you have to be 21 to go.

And if you never got the chance to see Metallica circa 1984 — the Cliff Burton Years (rest in peace, brother) — you can get glimpse of the action when our own local Metallica tribute band, Blistered Earth, takes the stage at the Knit tomorrow night. They're worth the $13. Check out my profile of the band from earlier this year, and head down for the show (with Fallen Regiment and Soblivios) at 8 pm. All-ages. 

Did you buy a sweet painting at the Visual Arts Tour? Spill mustard on a sculpture on display? Did a band on the Terrain stage change your life?

You need to tweet about it.  

Join The Inlander as we live-blurt our progression through tonight's festivities. Follow along on Twitter and join in using the  #vat, #terrain and #spokane hashtags.

If last night's preview was any indication, the tour will be a grand ride for the retinas, eardrums and whatever other senses you prefer to exercise. (Doubt that? Refer to "Mourning," by Bruce Maurey, above.)  

The tour, made up of exhibitions across Spokane, runs tonight from 5 pm to 9 pm. Check the map below to see the stops on the tour. 

View Visual Arts Tour Oct. 2011 in a larger map

Tired of movies based on toys, holidays, and dolphin-robocops? Well, 'tis the season for some excellent film festivals , and a handful are opening this week. Here's a taste of the alternatives:

The Classic Film Festival begins Monday, October 10th at the Kenworthy Performing Arts Center. Opening night boasts The African Queen, which stars Humphrey Bogart as a drunk on a boat and Katherine Hepburn as a straight-laced missionary who convinces him to attack a WWI warship. Tickets are a measly $3, or you can pay $12 to get yourself a snazzy festival pass good for all the upcoming movies such as Invasion of the Body Snatchers, House of Dracula, and Psycho.

Also at the Kenworthy Performing Arts Center, they're kicking off a French film festival. On October 12, they'll be screening Potiche ("Trophy Wife"). Gerard Depardieu and Catherine Deneuve star in the comedic story of a man who gets taken hostage by his striking employees, and it's up to his wife to maintain control of the family business. This time a scant $4 will get you in, and $15 will get you a festival pass. Other films to come include: A Screaming Man and Queen to Play. (which was included in this year's SpIFF).

Moving on down the line, October 15th marks the one-day extravaganza for the Birth Film Festival at The Bing Crosby Theater. Watch films about pregnancy, birth, and babies from around the world from noon to 8pm. Tickets are $10 in advance, or $15 at the door.

The parent company of Spokane's Washington Trust Bank has used money from the Treasury Department to pay back the money it owed to the Treasury Department, according to the Puget Sound Business Journal.

About $115 million that WTB Financial got through the Small Business Lending Fund went straight back to the Treasury to pay for money it had received during the bank bailout, officially known as TARP. 

According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, about $2.2 billion of the $4 billion handed out to banks through the SBLF has gone to paying the government back for TARP loans.

“The SBLF has a specific and targeted purpose — increasing lending to small businesses so they can invest and hire in their local communities,” the article quotes the Treasury saying in a statement Thursday. “Allowing community banks that received TARP investments to participate in the program will help propel that mission forward by helping ensure that more Main Street entrepreneurs can access the loans they need to create new jobs.”

Headlines

Get your piece of the Ridpath — Portions of the run-down, shuttered, graffitied, downtown hobo toilet will be up for foreclosure auction on Jan. 6 (SR)

Watch your credit cards in Pullman — More than 200 people in the Pullman area have checked their bills to find evidence of vacations in Paris that they don't remember taking. Collective cultural amnesia? Or widespread credit fraud? (KXLY)

CdA Moose Lounge employee gets beat up — The 27-year-old was surrounded by a group of men while taking out the trash. (CdA Press)

Bad advice? — A therapist has been ordered to pay almost $700,000 after diagnosing a Spokane man as a sex addict, claiming that he molested his sons, and ruining his marriage. (SR)

Last Thursday's Spokane Valley City Council featured a mystery: A spot for a write-in candidate to challenge Chuck Hafner. Yet, this "Orvella Kendall" never showed.

Fortunately, she's in the phone book.

Orvella is a 62-year-old woman who just graduated from Carrington College for Pharmacy Tech. She says she and her husband always have very political conversations — about topics like the economy and Obama.

Two weeks after the filing deadline, Orvella decided she might as well run for a local political position.

She admits that she has some catching up to do.

"I don’t want to put my foot in my mouth before I get started," Kendall says. "I’m going to give it my best try and see what happens."

She does say that Spokane Valley needs to attract business and that she's opposed to changing Sprague Avenue back to a two-way street. "I used to go up and down Sprague when it was a two-way, and it was a nightmare," she says.

As for why she missed the debate? She says she didn't have the address and didn't know where CenterPlace was.

"I’ve probably driven by it, and didn’t even [see it.]," she says, adding that she will be at the debate at Central Valley high school, which is on Oct. 10 at 5 pm.

The Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture got off lucky this year. Instead of losing its entire budget, the MAC only lost five percent and was able to remain open, as the Inlander reported in June. 

Now, local diners have the chance to help make up some of that budget shortfall. Three local restaurants will donate proceeds from dinner service this week to the MAC.

Luna, 5620 S. Perry St. in Spokane, offered a prix fixe menu last night and half of every $25 to $30 meal will go to the MAC. Front of House Manager Kara Siemens said the restaurant was full and that they sold about 30 or 40 dinners. “It really brought in a lot of people,” she said. “It was great to see so many people supporting the museum.”

If you missed Luna last night, you still have a chance to pitch in at Santé Restaurant and Charcuterie in Spokane and at Left Bank Gallery and Bistro in Palouse.

Santé is offering a special dinner menu through Saturday and 50 percent of sales from that menu will be donated to the museum.  The restaurant is open 9 am to close Wednesday through Saturday and 9 am to 4 pm Sunday through Tuesday.

404 W. Main, Spokane
For reservations, call 315-4613

Bank Left Gallery and Bistro will feature dinner 5:30 to 8 pm Saturday to support the MAC. For $65, the meal includes salad, fresh bread, Cuban Central American saffron soup capirotadas, Italian panna cotta and coffee or tea.

100 S. Bridge St., Palouse, Wash.
For information or reservations, call 878-1800