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Gov. Jay Inslee wants more study before raising the speed limit to 75 mph in part of the state. (Spokesman)

Spokane Valley wants to draw more tourism, so it’s raising its hotel tax, which will be used to develop sports venues. (KREM)

Agricultural drones are coming to Idaho. (Spokesman)

THERE

President Obama has apologized for a drone strike targeting Al Qaeda that killed two hostages. (New York Times)

Food workers and janitors laboring for the U.S. Senate walked off the job in a protest calling for better wages for employees of government contractors. (CNN)

Prosecutors in the trial of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev showed jurors footage from a surveillance camera of the Chechen-American making an obscene gesture with his hand. Prosecutors hoped to show jurors that Tsarnaev was unrepentant for his crime. (The Independent)

Welcome back to Weed Wednesday, your weekly dose of pot news. Wondering what this is about? Click. Looking for our previous marijuana coverage? Click. Got a question or tip? Email me at jaket@inlander.com

Embattled Drug Enforcement Administration head Michele Leonhart is resigning over her handling of a sex scandal. Those familiar with her tenure at the agency know that she was an unflinching drug warrior, saying that the legalization of pot “just makes us fight harder.” Critics said that her stance on pot was out of step with that of President Obama, and now they are seeing opportunity to set a new course for the agency.

“Hopefully, her resignation will mark the end of the Reefer Madness era at the DEA,” Dan Riffle, director of federal policies at the Marijuana Policy Project, told The Hill.

At times, she clashed with members of Congress for her stridently anti-pot views. Here’s a video of U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colorado, trying to find out if she thought heroin and meth are more harmful than pot.

IN OTHER NEWS: 

California could be one of the next states to legalize marijuana. Buf first, advocates have to figure how they’re going to do it.

Stock photos used by the media often aren't that flattering to stoners. So the Drug Policy Alliance made its own stock photos of normal people doing normal things, like smoking pot and playing Jenga.
The Ohio Rights Group, an organization seeking to legalize pot in the Buckeye State, is accusing a like-minded group of infiltrating it and stealing its donors.

In Kansas, a woman lost custody of her 11-year-old son after he defended medical marijuana in class.

Willie Nelson is launching his own brand of weed.

The Denver Police Department had this to say on 4/20:

🎶 We see you rollin, but we ain't hatin’ 🎶 HAHA… Seriously though, #Denver, please remember to #ConsumeResponsibly this 4/20 weekend.

— Denver Police Dept. (@DenverPolice) April 20, 2015

They weren’t joking. They gave out 100-pot related tickets on that day.

Speaking of Denver, The Denver Post was Pulitzer Prize finalist for its series on families with children suffering from severe seizures who relocated to Colorado to use Cannabidiol as a treatment. It’s worth a read.

Lastly, here is a video of ex-cops smoking pot and giving each other sobriety tests.

You've made it to midweek, and it's all downhill to the weekend from here. Might as well get it started early, so go ahead and check out our event listings and Staff Picks.

Here are some highlights I found for Wednesday, April 22: 

LIVE BANDS | Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Leon Russell brings his soulful, gospel-tinged rock to The Bing tonight. Here's a sample of his sound: 

LIVE BANDS | Locals Von the Baptist celebrate the release of their new EP with a gig at Baby Bar, along with Cathedral Pearls. 

FILM | The Magic Lantern honors Earth Day with a screening of Planetary, a documentary about the fragility of the planet, starting at 7:30 pm. Here's a look at the film: 

HERE

Documents show that one of the officers that shot an immigrant farmworker had just weeks earlier drug him away from a burning house. (Spokesman)

Spokane has had its first measles case in 21 years. (KREM)

Spokane police are hoping that a ban on high-octane drinks in downtown stays in effect. (Spokesman)

THERE

Barack Obama will be in the everglades to celebrate Earth Day today to raise concerns about climate change. (Guardian)

Saudi Arabia has concluded its military campaign against rebels in Yemen. (New York Times)

The mega-donor Koch brothers haven’t settled on a GOP candidate to shower in money. (Talking Points Memo)

Every week the entertainment biz drops a slew of new albums and movies on the market, and we're here every Tuesday to sift through it all to give you the best of the week's new releases. Let's get to it. 

MUSIC
It's a pretty monster-sized week for new music, coming hot on the heels of Record Store Day, and new releases from Joywave, Passion Pit, Rocky Votolato, Wire, Yelawolf and They Might Be Giants all warrant a listen. Here are the three new releases I'm most excited about:  

Built to Spill — Boise's finest! — took six years between albums, and the band has undergone some lineup changes in the intervening years. You wouldn't notice, though, listening to the new Untethered Moon, another set of searing guitar solos and dreamy excursions courtesy of main man Doug Martsch. Here's a pretty damn funny video for "Never Be the Same:"

Alabama Shakes seemed like one of the most overrated band's in recent memory when I saw them just as their debut album was being released. There was no denying the magnetic appeal of lead singer Brittany Howard, but the rest of the band were boring on stage, coming off as a competent bar band and little more. On their recordings, though, Howard's voice and guitar is the focus, and that's a good thing. Sound & Color is their new album, here's a taste: 

You don’t judge your neighbors based on one unfortunate incident involving gunshots and injuries. You judge them based on their courtesy over time.

And when they aren’t shooting each other or inspiring their neighbors to call the police (as they have 19 times since 2013), the Hells Angels are good neighbors.

The most recent 911 call came in Sunday at 11:30 am. Witnesses reported hearing five or six shots fired. Police arrived at the clubhouse on East Sprague soon after, only to learn that the victim had transported himself to the hospital with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound.

When police caught up with the victim at the hospital, he was focused on his recovery and not interested in debriefing with them about the shooting. Though the victim is not cooperating, the Spokane Police Department's Major Crimes and Gang Unit is chasing down a few leads. SPD does not believe the shooter poses a danger to the public at large.

Since the shooting, KREM 2 has been covering the story from every angle. Historical perspective? Check. Charitable behavior? Check. Neighborhood reputation? KREM 2 hit the ground to investigate that, too.

Charitable works
The Hells Angels recently donated 26 bicycles to children at the Union Gospel Mission. Also, they once got a woman who didn’t make it into the shelter a hotel room across the street.

History
Federal agents raided the clubhouse in March 2011 and turned up six loaded firearms and two bags of marijuana within 15 feet of a convicted felon. Before that, in the early 2000s, group associates were accused of extortion, drug-running and killing a Spokane Valley meth cook.

Neighborly behavior
Monday KREM 2 went down and interviewed women outside the Union Gospel Mission’s Crisis Shelter. The shelter residents painted a portrait of a group of guardian angels next door. Descriptions included “not rugged and mean”, “protective” and “gentlemanly”.

One woman described an incident where an unsavory man was following her back to the shelter. The Hells Angels asked her if she was okay and she told them the guy was following her.

“So they said, o.k., we'll take care of that for you,” she told KREM 2.

So are they guardian angels or Hells Angels? The vote is still out.

Starting a concert by announcing one of the band members is missing might seem an odd choice, but when it comes to the importance of singer Kelly Hogan to Neko Case's crew, an unmentioned absence would have surely distracted long-time fans who knew they'd be missing out both killer harmony vocals and the priceless, hilarious stage banter the two women share. 

As much as Hogan was missed Monday night, though, Case and the rest of her band promptly did their best to make everyone at the Bing forget about the empty spot on stage, starting with Case's stunning a cappella take on show-opener "Nearly Midnight, Honolulu" and continuing through the triumphant closer "Ragtime" — both from her 2013 album The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You. 

Much of the show was drawn from that excellent release since Case spent much of the past year or so recording and touring with New Pornographers. Like the missing Hogan, the show didn't suffer from a lack of new tunes. Hearing Case's clarion call of a voice ring through the Bing immediately engaged the audience (although dancing along was strictly verboten, judging by one overzealous security guard who shut down a couple trying to dance). Photos and videos were no-nos as well — a welcome restriction given how distracting glowing screens are in an intimate, intense setting like the one Monday. Case is the kind of powerful presence who can bring a room to silence just by opening her mouth to sing, and it was hear-a-pin-drop-quiet more than once during the evening. 

That doesn't mean the show was stiff or staid. Quite the contrary. Even without Hogan to goad her on, Case had plenty of great one-liners eliciting laughs between songs. After "Bracing for Sunday," she looked toward the chandeliers and said, "I'm pretty stoked on these lamps. They look like macaroons, but they light up around the edges. They make me hungry and design-y."

After "Where Did I Leave That Fire," "This Tornado Loves You" and "That Teenage Feeling," Case strapped on an electric guitar and kicked up a good ruckus with her guitarists Jon Rauhouse and Eric Bachmann for "If You Knew." Known for her voice for obvious reasons, Case's playing on electric and acoustic guitars is probably under-appreciated. She spent plenty of time Monday showing that she's a fine instrumentalist, too. 

Some of Case's older songs were clear fan favorites, and highlights of the show. "Margaret vs. Pauline," "The Pharaohs," "Hold On, Hold On" and "Hex" all killed, as did The Worse Things Get songs "Calling Cards" (complete with Rauhouse on trombone!), "Man" and "City Swans." 

Case hit the encore after 19 songs by singing the praises of the venue, noting they had popcorn hot and ready when she arrived, as well as organic tampons. The first encore featured just Case on stage, singing "Outro With Bees" from her Blacklisted album before the band rejoined her for "Deep Red Bells," "I Wish I Was the Moon" and "Ragtime." 

It was a great show by all counts, although I wish the lack of Hogan meant we were guaranteed a return visit when Case makes another album. 

So you made it through the 4/20 festivities of your choice, but you're still looking for some fun in the spring sun? Perfect! Check out our event listings and Staff Picks for some great options. 

Here are some highlights I found for Tuesday, April 21: 

WORDS | The Get Lit! festivities continue, and Tuesday has the Landmarks reading and art show collaboration in the spotlight. Read all about the meeting of visual and literary artists in our preview story. Or consider a trip to see Alice in Wonderland at the Lincoln Center. 

LIVE BANDS | Art-rock duo Mr. Gnome headlines a show at The Pin, and with a name like that I can hardly think of a band better-suited for playing during Get Lit! week. Here's a little sample of the Cleveland-based husband/wife duo: 

WORDS | It's the season finale for the National Geographic Live series, and tonight you get a look at Untamed Antarctica, courtesy of adventurers Cory Richards and Mike Libecki.

Last night, Spokane City Council took initial steps toward passing a paid sick leave ordinance and also voted to put a measure on the August ballot intended to curb rises in the mayor's salary.

The council voted to form a working group to get feedback from stakeholders on a future ordinance that would mandate that employers offer their workers paid time off to deal with illness or domestic violence. The 12-member working group would be comprised of representatives from businesses, ranging from food service to healthcare, unions, the Spokane Regional Health District and the Spokane Human Rights Commission.

Spokane is likely to join cities like Portland and Seattle, which already have paid sick leave policies. Several representatives from business associations showed up to to express their opposition to the whole idea.

Michael Cathcart, government affairs director for the Spokane Homebuilders Association, told the council that a survey sent out to his association's members revealed that many worried the policy would be burdensome. According to Cathcart, 84 percent responded that a sick leave policy would increase costs to consumers, 70 percent said they'd have to reduce employees and 33 percent said they'd reduce employee hours.

“I hope that this work groups take into account whether or not we actually need a sick leave policy,” he told council.

HERE

State Sen. Michael Baumgartner, R-Spokane, has filed a bill that will ticket drivers for going too slowly in the left lane. (KHQ)

The victim in a shooting incident outside the Hell Angels’ clubhouse in Spokane is refusing to cooperate with investigators. (KXLY)

Researchers digging up a mammoth south of Kennewick have found remnants of other ancient critters, maybe even a camel. (Spokesman-Review)

THERE

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State, has been seriously wounded in an air strike. (Guardian)

Mohammed Morsi, the first freely elected president of Egypt who was ousted by the country’s military, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison. (New York Times)

Ice cream maker Blue Bell Creameries has recalled all of its products after concerns of they could be contaminated by Listeria monocytogenes. (CNN)

COMPETITIVE EATING NEWS

A 120-pound mother from California ate three 72-ounce steaks in 20 minutes. (Independent)