Inlander

A home burns during the 2023 Gray Fire. Photo courtesy of Wade Clutter On Aug. 18, 2023 — almost exactly three years ago — the Gray Fire tore through Silver Lake and Medical Lake, ultimately burning more than 10,000 acres and destroying more than 250 structures. One person died. The fire started on a Friday afternoon, with hot, dry and windy conditions.

Lilac City Roller Derby members scrimmage during a recent practice at Pattison’s North. Young Kwak photo At first glance, roller derby can look intimidating: fast skaters, hard hits and plenty of bruises. But spend a few minutes with Lilac City Roller Derby and you’ll find a community where anyone, regardless of gender, size or experience, can lace up a pair of skates and step onto the rink. One moment, skaters are mapping out their next move while hitting the track at 25 to 30 mph.

My grandmother resides in an Indian Trail nursing home, so she had to be evacuated. Luckily, my family was able to support her and bring her into the home. I know that other people at the home did not have the same resources, and so there’s several people that are at the Convention Center. A lot of people in my cohort have had to evacuate. I know some people who have lost their houses. It’s been very devastating to hear about. How do you plan on helping?

No other body swap film can match Your Name’s profundity. Talk to enough people about film, or life for that matter, and you’ll hear some recurring regrets. One surrounds wishing you could erase the first time you saw a meaningful film from memory so you could go back and experience it anew. A different but related one involves not wanting to watch something too many times, as to do so would, with each successive rewatch, risk making the experience too familiar.

Lilac City Early Learning Center owner Colleen Condon outside Balboa Elementary School, where her staff will provide childcare. Young Kwak photo For many Spokane families, finding childcare has become a balancing act between long waitlists, limited availability and monthly costs that rival rent. As prices continue to climb, advocates say the childcare shortage has grown beyond a family issue into an economic challenge affecting employers and the broader workforce.

Young Kwak photo Voters within Spokane Transit Authority’s public transportation benefit area approved the renewal of a 0.2% sales tax to maintain and enhance public bus service. The special taxing district includes the cities of Spokane, Spokane Valley, Liberty Lake, Millwood, Medical Lake, Cheney and Airway Heights, as well as some unincorporated portions of the county near city limits. The STA measure was passing by 51.6% as of the Aug. 10 ballot tally.

People evacuating from the Old Trails Fire on West Francis Avenue. Myk Crawford photo When a wildfire is headed your way, evacuating may sound straightforward: Gather your belongings, get in the car and leave. Fast-moving fires, shifting winds, heavy smoke and limited escape routes can quickly turn an orderly evacuation into gridlock.

Young Kwak photo PHOTO EYE: VISIONS OF A VINTAGE FUTURE Chris Bovey and his wife, Liz Bovey, paint a “Trade Winds Motel” sign on part of a large-scale mural in what is set to become “Vintage Alley,” on Wednesday, July 29. The project, a partnership between RenCorp Realty and Urbin Developments, is going up in Railroad Alley, between the Norman and Jefferson buildings, which are being refurbished into apartments.

A home in Spokane’s South Indian Trail neighborhood smolders a day after it was destroyed by the Old Trails Fire. Erick Doxey photo Pat McMurray lost his home of 20 years when the Old Trails Fire tore through Spokane’s South Indian Trail neighborhood. The dark grey multilevel house on West Excell Avenue was among the more than 70 residences destroyed in just that corner of Indian Trail, where the wind-driven flames razed entire streets.

La Luz keeps pushing surf rock’s limits. Wyndham Garrett photo Strange as it may seem now, there was a sliver of time in the 1960s when surf culture was pop culture. The beach party film genre — which appropriately started with 1963’s Beach Party — brought the West Coast teenage aesthetic to the masses and represented the peak of the trend’s popularity. But the big screen visual representation of the surf lifestyle was predated by a few years by the aural experience.