Schmine Flu

Swine Flu Schmine Flu
One. Just one (possible) case of H1N1 swine flu is all it took to shut down the Great Northwest Athletic Conference’s NCAA-qualifying championship track meet in Monmouth, Ore., last weekend. One student, who did not even live on campus at Western Oregon University, tested positive for influenza A, prompting the state’s university system and health department to cancel the event, fearing an outbreak of swine flu.

Wimps.

In Spokane on Sunday, more than 45,000 people paraded through the Bloomsday course, despite at least two suspected cases of swine flu in the area.

Not that the local race was run without fear. Several participants were spotted with facemasks painted with pig snouts. And Bloomsday board members report that entire busloads of Canadian school kids were kept away from the race, as were students at Mukogawa Fort Wright Institute.

Thirty-five probable cases have been identified in Washington, according to the Spokane Regional Health District, along with one in Kootenai County. Officials from the SRHD noted that the state recently received a shipment of anti-viral medications, which would be distributed in Spokane this week. — JOEL SMITH

Vanishing Indian, Redux
It was on a mild afternoon one year ago today that Spokane Tribe spokeswoman Jamie Sijohn, in her office at Wellpinit, got a call from a puzzled friend: “Do you know why they are tearing down the statue of Spokan Garry?”

By the time Sijohn grabbed her camera and drove to Chief Garry Park on Spokane’s near-north side, the statue of the Spokane tribal leader was gone. The dense shrubbery surrounding the statue was gone. The demolition workers were gone.
A stunned Sijohn photographed the circle of bare dirt and started making calls.

More than a bald patch in a park, the spot became a hole of sorts in the relationship between local Indians and the city. Many Indians have told The Inlander the vanishing Garry is a reminder that descendents of indigenous people still feel largely invisible in a city that takes its name from them.

Today, Sijohn is still making calls. Only now it’s to raise an estimated $150,000 for a replacement statue since the Tribe recently took over fund-raising efforts from the city.

A kickoff concert at the Bing last month, featuring local rocker Jim Boyd, raised nearly $4,000, Sijohn says, and a penny drive in the Wellpinit schools brought in $357.

Another fundraiser is planned for 7 pm on May 14 on the reservation. The Wellpinit Elementary School choir and dancers will reprise a performance they did last year with the Spokane Symphony.

Donations can be sent to: Chief Spokane Garry Statue Fund, c/o Spokane Tribe of Indians, PO Box 100, Wellpinit, Washington 99040. — KEVIN TAYLOR

Bring me your tired, your poor… just don’t sit
The knot of an intersection at Monroe, Indiana and Northwest Boulevard in Spokane saw more than snarling traffic Monday morning. It was a bit of an impromptu news conference called by Mayor Mary Verner, who was surrounded by cameras, politicians and reporters with long, skinny notepads.

“The bus benches here are a good example of what’s wrong,” the mayor said, referring to the two bus benches to her left. The benches were taking up much of the sidewalk and their huge, gaudy ads didn’t match. Many more of the city’s bus benches were in disrepair, unsafe and far from a bus stop. “My goal is to get bus benches that are actually usable.” That and she wanted to do away with advertising on the benches.

As journalists and city council members looked on, Verner tried to stay on message. Horns blared behind her, and the occasional head craned out of a car window to yell some incomprehensible complaint at the gathered officials.

Near the end of her prepared remarks, a small audience formed and the mayor was interrupted by a gentle tap on her shoulder. The mayor turned to the tapper, a bearded and grizzled man named Dave Parisia, and told him she was in the middle of a press conference but she’d speak to him in just a moment. This prompted a second man to howl, “This is how the public is treated!” The cameras flew to capture the growling man’s image. Verner continued with her remarks.

Press conference over, the mayor turned to the men and engaged in quiet conversation. Reporters tried to listen in, before packing their gear and leaving. Later that evening, the City Council voted against the mayor, and allowed continued advertising on bus benches. — NICHOLAS DESHAIS