Bloglander

We'll be providing live coverage of U.S. House Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers's town hall via Twitter and Facebook tonight, so stay tuned.

The town hall is schedule to start at 6 pm at the Lincoln Center, 1316 N. Lincoln St., in Spokane. Progressive activists organized by MoveOn.org are expected to attend, and the Spokane County Republican Party is planning to hold a rally prior to the forum.

Follow along on Facebook or Twitter.

There has been some misinformation reported about the campaign from Washington State mayors and 46 attorneys general to get Backpage.com to change its advertising policies. It was reported that you can place Backpage ads in The Inlander; that is not true.

The Inlander has maintained a ban on Adult Services ads, like “escorts,” since the early 1990s. Unlike many big urban weeklies, we have never published page after page of these ads. We did sign a contract with Backpage to provide us with regular classified ads, like to rent an apartment or sell a car; in the contract, we specifically opted out of publishing their Adult Services ads. But the relationship never turned into any real income, and last spring we terminated our agreement with them. Additionally, we haven’t linked to Backpage from our website for two years; and Backpage does not reference our past relationship on their site. You cannot place a Backpage ad of any kind at our office or on our website.

We never felt comfortable building a business on money that could be involved in illegal activity. We also don’t accept tobacco ads or strip club ads. We are not moral crusaders, but it is our paper and we decide what goes in it by our own sense of what is right. Other papers around the country are making hundreds of thousands of dollars on Adult Services ads, and we’re proud that the Inland Northwest has allowed us to have a successful newspaper that doesn’t need the crutch of Adult Services advertising to support it.

What's rain? — Yes, there's a chance that the sky will release water on our scorched heads today. And, FYI, there's Halloween merchandise on display at PetCo. So, yeah, summer's over. (NOAA)

No weed at WSU — For at least 60 days. The Pullman City Council voted to temporarily ban medical marijuana gardens for two months last night so it can it collect public testimony. Collective gardens are allowed under a new state law, but like everything else surrounding pot, no one really knows what's legal or illegal, or really what's going on. (KREM) 

Cops heart bounty hunters — But maybe not this bounty hunter, Dennis Kariores, who is unlicensed with a rap sheet. A senior Spokane cop has been on paid leave all year while the department looks into his relationship with Kariores, who is definitely not as cool as Colt Seavers or as badass as Dog. (SR)

Justice Department stands athwart history, yelling Stop — Or something like that. The DOJ has moved to block the merger of AT&T and T-Mobile. So all of you hoping to see Catherine Zeta-Jones chilling on top of that blue and white, tiger-striped globe are out of luck. (Atlantic Wire) 

Dueling groups of constituents will be attending Republican U.S. House Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodger’s Wednesday town hall in Spokane.

Spokane Valley resident Chris Nerison is urging local progressives to attend the public forum through the website of MoveOn.org, a national liberal advocacy group, of which he is a member.

“[We’re going] to express our outrage over the fact that Republicans haven’t done anything to create any jobs,” says Nerison. He also blamed Congressional Republicans for Standard & Poor’s recent downgrade of the country’s credit rating.

In response to MoveOn.org’s invitation, Spokane County Republican Party chairman Matthew Pedersen says he is organizing a “Freedom Rally” prior to the event, in solidarity with McMorris Rodgers’s stance against raising taxes.

“There’s been quite a bit of Internet chatter, including calls for raising taxes,” Pedersen says. “Organizations like MoveOn.org have continually misrepresented facts.”

McMorris Rodgers’s communications director Todd Winer says the event will use a randomized lottery system to determine who gets to ask questions during the event.

“We welcome anyone who wants to express their right to free speech, assuming they respect the right of others to do the same,” Winer says.

The town hall will be held at 6 p.m. on Wednesday at the Lincoln Center at 1316 N. Lincoln St. in Spokane.

Simmer down — After that exciting, hot, hot weekend, temperatures drop! To the freezer-like 70s. (SR)

To violate — The Endangered Species Act. That is, Jeremy Hill, of Bonners Ferry, is being tried for violating the act after he shot and killed a Grizzly bear on his property this spring. Yesterday, his legal team argued that he was simply protecting his family. Here's an idea: Don't live in Grizzly bear country! (Reuters)

Or not to violate — The wolf hunt begins in Idaho. For seven months, the good people of Idaho — including Little Red Riding Hood and the Three Little Piggies — will hunt down and take out nature's fiercest terrorists. (AP)

First Steve Jobs, now this?! — Robots won't be taking over the world. It turns out, instead of being smart, they're jokesters. And kind of petty. What a let down. Watch them chat below. (Atlantic Wire) 

Spokane county prosecutors have determined that last year's shooting death of Quentin Dodd by a sheriff's deputy was justified.

According to a press release, Chief Deputy Prosecutor Jack Driscoll determined that Deputy Rustin Olson was justified in shooting Dodd, who, according to officials, charged at the deputy with a knife during an encounter on Oct. 24, 2010.

Olson, along with Deputy Todd Miller, were responding to a call at a Spokane Valley halfway house where Dodd lived. The owner had called police, saying that Dodd had cut himself after a fight with the tenants. He was armed with a sharp piece of obsidian when he confronted police.

Officials say Dodd committed "suicide by cop," and yelled "shoot me" to the officers who confronted him. He was shot three times after charging at Olson, who had warned him to drop the weapon.

Dodd was one of four people shot to death by law enforcement in a four-month span last year.

Scorch! — First off, yes, yesterday was the hottest day of the year at 94 degrees. Which means we're very dehydrated for work today and, of course, the climate control is broken at Inlander HQ. Awesome. It's all downhill from here. (SR)

Timeline! — The University of Idaho was in contact with Katy Benoit before she was killed by a professor she had a personal relationship with, Ernesto Bustamante. In fact, since Benoit first complained to UI on June 10, the school kept in contact with her. All the way through the day she was killed. (SR)

Shocking! — The Spokane Shock have a new head coach: Andy Olson. First he was a wide receiver for the team, then the offensive coordinator. Now, he's coach. It's like a fairy tale. (KXLY) 

That's nine! — Nine people in Idaho have been arrested for protesting "megaloads," the huge trucks ferrying equipment to Canada for a massive oil extraction project. Six were arrested in Moscow Friday, three more in Coeur d'Alene Saturday. (SR) 

C'mon, Irene! — Flooding, death, destruction. The tropical storm mayhem continues. (NYT)

It's been two years since the front door to the building has been broken.
And your solution this week is to remove the front door and let every
druggie and bum hang out in the stairwells. You are jeopardizing our safety
and the safety of little children. Even after the fire in the building I
thought you would use the insurance money to fix the door as promised.
Maybe to get you off your duff someone should complain to the city counsel
and have them declare our building as a nuisance.

You didn't exactly catch me at my best. I am not as rude and inconsiderate
as I seemed that day and I am sorry for giving you the impression that NW
drivers are impatient a-holes, when I am not by a long shot. What I did was
not only an insult to you and other drivers but it was also rude and
inexcusable action on my part that I deeply regret. Please don't let my
love for the Spokane Shock and the Arizona Wildcats overshaddow the fact
that I didn't live up to your expectations when we crossed paths. I would
like to buy you coffee sometime as my way of saying I am sorry and I was
wrong. Again please accept my sincere apology. Please email me:
patheticdriver@gmail.com with the location this occurred if you are
interested. Thanks!

To the POS that comes into my shop, makes small talk while loading up your
pockets with my handmade one of a kind jewelry! You have some bad things
coming your way! I am a single mother just trying my damndest to get along
and take care of mine. So if you plan to give either the carved coral
beaded, Chinese turquoise, or Impression stone necklaces to your
girlfriend, mother, grandmother, or whoever, just know I will be ripping
them from the necks of whoever is wearing them and telling them all about
how you obtained said items! I hope you fall into one of Spokane's potholes
and are run over by some large construction vehicle!