Bloglander

As one meanders through the campers and barbecues that fill the north parking lot at Roos Field in Cheney there is a palpable energy that fills the crisp autumn air. This was no different on Halloween afternoon as the fifth-ranked Eastern Washington Eagles (6-2, 5-0 Big Sky) defeated the Weber State Wildcats (4-5, 3-3 Big Sky) at "The Inferno" in a pivotal conference game. In the end, it was the Eagles who came out on top, 14-13, but, as the score indicates, it was a tough win.

Facing a second-straight windy home game in which wind speeds exceeded 20 miles per hour, Jordan West and the Eagles offense got off to a slow start, managing only 27 passing yards and 62 total yards in the first quarter. Establishing the passing game early, Weber State racked up 115 yards through the air in quarter number one, allowing the Wildcats to run the football successfully and get out to a 10-0 lead. 

The Eagles' fortunes began to change in the second quarter as a timely tip was intercepted by linebacker Alek Kacmarcik. The redshirt freshman has taken advantage of his opportunities thus far, ranking second on the team in tackles per game (7.8) in addition to two sacks, an interception and a fumble recovery. Kacmarcik's snag turned out to be an important moment in the first half, as it led to a 40 yard touchdown reception by Cooper Kupp on a crucial fourth down attempt. The score was Kupp's 53rd career touchdown catch, bringing him within five of David Ball's FCS record of 58. 

The Wildcats responded with a methodical, six minute and 52 second drive that ended in a 24 yard field goal from Josh Kealamakia, bringing the score to 13-7 Weber State. As a windy, grey first half came to a close, the Eagles—who have seen five of their seven games thus far decided by one score — found themselves once again in a close battle.

The Eagles defense came out with gusto in the second half, forcing a quick punt by Weber State to get the football back in the hands of Jordan West. Shortly following a big third down conversion to Kendrick Bourne, the Eagles lined up to attempt a huge fourth down conversion inside the red zone. And right on cue, just as they have done all year in crucial situations, West hit Cooper Kupp with an absolute dart, just past the first down line. Three plays later, it was West and Kupp once again on a four yard connection for number ten's second touchdown catch of the game and the 54th of his illustrious career.

With the Eagles leading for the first time all day at 14-13, one could feel the momentum swinging in Eastern's favor. Then, the wind and rain picked up, and things got a little weird. 

Fast forward one quarter, and thanks to a pair of missed field goals by Kealamakia and an inert Eagles offense, the score remained the same with two minutes and twenty seconds left on the clock. With the ball on the Eastern 23 yard line, the Wildcats turned to their struggling kicker once more as the wind continued to gust seemingly from every direction. The ball was snapped, cleanly placed, and sent soaring through the air by Kealamakia... wide right. A third straight missed field goal for the senior kicker, and another bullet dodged by the Eagles at Roos Field.

The Wildcats did get one more chance with just over 40 seconds left in the game and the score still sitting at 14-13 Eagles, but the Eastern defense was too much for Weber State quarterback Jadrian Clark and his offense. 

It has been truly unbelievable that the Eagles have pulled off victories over and over again in the face of adversity. In their six wins, Eastern has won by a total of only 34 points, averaging a margin of victory of only 5.7. While Baldwin would surely prefer bigger victories, his football team has shown some serious heart on a weekly basis in order to achieve their current 6-2 record. Still undefeated in Big Sky Conference play, the Eagles seem poised for a run at another FCS playoff run, and the team's experience in close games this season will likely help them toward achieving that goal. 

Game Notes:
-Eagles receiver Cooper Kupp hauled in 7 receptions for 74 yards and two touchdowns
-Eastern quarterback Jordan West was only 12 for 25 for 121 yards and two touchdowns
-Jalen Moore led the Eagles rushing offense with 77 yards on 18 carries
-Despite the victory, the Eagles were dominated in the possession battle, holding the ball for only 18:25
-The game was Eagles' head coach Beau Baldwin's 100th game as the head coach at Eastern, and the victory was Baldwin's 50th career Big Sky Conference win

The Washington State Cougars, for the first time in forever, are on the verge of being a big deal again in college football. If Wazzu knocks off eighth-ranked Stanford on national television Saturday night in Pullman (7:30, ESPN), the Cougars will take a giant step toward playing in the Rose Bowl.

“This is why you play the game, for moments like this,” WSU quarterback Luke Falk says.

Cougars coach Mike Leach seems infinitely less enthusiastic than Falk. Outwardly, at least.

“There’s nothing special about this game,” insists Leach, who constantly preaches the need to focus solely on the next play. “We’ve just got to go out and play the best we can.”

Leach rebounded from that drab quote in spectacular fashion when asked about the game-day atmosphere in Pullman.

“It would be probably on a scale with Woodstock, I would say,” Leach deadpanned, “as far as being a historic event where people gather. It’s kind of a statement for our generation.”

The Cougars hope to make the type of statement Saturday that will vault them into the Top 25 for the first time since 2003 (WSU’s last winning season). The Cougars received votes in both major polls this week.

As usual, the Pac-12 Conference North Division leaders from Stanford (6-1, 5-0) love to run the ball and play physically. The second-place Cougars (5-2, 3-1) will test the Cardinal’s league-leading defense with the Pac-12’s leading passer (Luke Falk) and receiver (Gabe Marks).

“It’ll be a fun one,” Falk predicts.

The Cougars’ fun figures to be short-lived if they can’t control Stanford running back-kick returner Christian McCaffrey and inside linebacker Blake Martinez. Coming into the week, McCaffrey led the nation with 259.7 all-purpose yards per game, and Martinez ranked fourth with 11.4 tackles per game.

Stanford, favored by 12 points, has won seven consecutive games against Washington State and six straight overall. The Cougars are riding a three-game winning streak.

“They’re playing with a lot more confidence,” Stanford coach David Shaw says.

“As long as we execute,” Falk says, “we’ll be fine.”

Falk has executed as well as anyone in the nation the past three weeks, completing 73 percent of his passes for 1,426 yards and 16 touchdowns.

“We’ve always had a long history of losing around here,” Falk says, “and we’re sick of it.”

Each year, school boards across Washington state draft a list of legislative priorities. Such lists can give you a sense for the biggest frustrations and desire of the school boards. 

On Wednesday, the board of directors for Spokane Public Schools finalized their list: 

Fund Schools: This is the biggie, and a source for a fair amount of weary frustration on the school board. They look at the court rulings in McCleary finding that the legislature still isn't fully funding basic education (the state's "paramount duty" according to its constitution) and say it's time to start. 

But precisely how it's funded is an important aspect as well. The board wants to make sure teacher salaries are fully funded, but based on the market-rate. A teacher in Seattle, in other words, might need a higher salary than a teacher in Spokane, because the market's radically different in the two cities.

On top of that, the board's also looking for boosting capital funding as well: Smaller class sizes mean the old building setups won't work, so new classrooms need to be built.

Make it easier to pass school bonds: Right now, it takes a 60 percent supermajority from voters to approve school bonds, making it particularly difficult for tax-averse school districts like East Valley to pass bonds. Spokane Public Schools' board wants to lower that threshold to 50 percent-plus-one, making it as easy to pass a bond for school construction as to pass a levy. 

Make it easier to fire (or suspend) bad teachers: The state recently implemented a complicated new teacher evaluation system to dig down into teacher performance. Spokane's school board wants a clear, practical way to fire or suspend employees who aren't up to snuff, but also give them due process and a way to appeal their termination.

Use test scores (as part) of teacher evaluations: This is a controversial one, and an issue that continues to divide the legislature.  Teachers unions hate the idea of using standardized test scores at all in evaluations. But the federal government wants the improvement (or decline) of student test scores to at least be considered. 

The school board appears to support that goal, urging the legislature to make sure "multiple student growth and/or value-added assessment measures comprise a portion of a teacher’s performance evaluation."

Recognize weighted grades on official state transcripts.To get a sense for what weighted grades are, read this article.

If you’re like us at the Inlander, you never tire of fresh tunes from local artists. Here's some of the newest stuff, from over the last month and a half, and it's well worth your time. Take a listen. And if you're feeling generous, feel free to purchase these tracks, too. 

Bullets or Balloons
The band's newest EP, Naturalistically,was released at the Big Dipper earlier this month. Here, the act continues to delve into complex instrumental math rock territory along with punk rock. The entire EP is over in just 15 minutes, so it won't take long to listen to.


Jan Francisco

Neither side is changing its story. On the one hand, Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich maintains he heard that the city's top administrator, Theresa Sanders, wanted to tone down the language of a press release announcing that a police officer had been accused of a raping a female colleague at a party over the weekend.

"This is the information I was presented," Knezovich says. "And when asked a question, I'm not going to cover for anybody. I'm just not going to do it." 

On the other hand, Sanders flat-out denies any wrongdoing.

"Ozzie's remarks are a pure fabrication, and there will in fact be consequences for him perpetuating that lie," she told KHQ Thursday. "I consider it to be an attack on my reputation, and I will take action." 

The dispute arose from discussions surrounding language in the news release, which identified Sgt. Gordon Ennis, the officer accused of rape, only as a "sworn employee."  

In Knezovich's mind, it should have said: "Spokane police sergeant under investigation for sexual assault on fellow officer." Knezovich adds, "I told them 'if you do this press release wrong, you're going to pay for it all week.'" 

Instead, the statement read: "The sworn employee has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of a criminal investigation involving an alleged sexual assault where the victim was known to the employee." 

During a press conference Thursday afternoon addressing the investigation, Mayor David Condon refused to answer questions about Knezovich's statements and Sanders' response. 

"We're here to talk about the investigation that the sheriff is conducting," Condon said.

Despite the weekend weather forecast for a less-than-dry Halloween (couldn't it have rained last week instead?) kids are still going to don their favorite character getups and hit the streets for buckets of free candy. That's what umbrellas and rain boots are for, right?

But if getting so soaked that face paint runs down your cheeks isn't your idea of a good time, here's an overview of the kid-friendly Halloween night happenings (not all are indoors, but many are) we're aware of, from our online calendar of events:

Ghoul Ol' Fashioned Fun
Camp Dart-Lo's 12th annual Halloween celebration for families. Visit the Not-So-Haunted Hospital, Treat Hunt, Roast-a-Ghost and hike Pluto's UN-Nature trail. Also includes a costume parade, crafts, treats and bingo, too. Proceeds benefit the camp. Fri, Oct. 30, from 4:30-7 pm, and Sat, Oct. 31, from noon-4 pm. $5/youth; parents/free (747-6191)

Halloween at the Campbell House
The historic Campbell House at the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture is open to trick-or-treaters in costume, with staff and volunteers also in costume. Events include a scavenger hunt, crafts, games and more, in the spooky setting of the house's dim lighting. Oct. 31, from 5-7 pm. $5/person; pre-purchase tickets online. (456-3931)

Trip or Treat
Families are invited to travel around the world this Halloween during an event hosted by AAA Washington. Kids get a map, a passport, coloring pages and a chance to receive treats from six different destinations as they learn about other parts of the world. Oct. 31, from 11 am-4 pm. Free. (358-7039)

Spooktacular Storytime
Celebrate Halloween by painting a mini pumpkin, listening to slightly spooky stories, and decorating a cupcake to take home. Children under 8 must be accompanied by an adult. Oct. 31, from 1-4 pm. Free. At the Airway Heights Library, 1213 S. Lundstrom. (893-8250)

Spokane Humane Society Trunk-or-Treat
Bring your family and load your trunk full of goodies for both people and pups, then trunk-or-treat from car to car. Also includes costume contests, bobbing for tennis balls, music and fun. Oct. 31, from 3-5 pm. Free. SHS is at 6607 N. Havana. (467-5253)

Mobius Broomstick Bash
Mobius hosts spooky games, not-so-scary crafts, a costume contest and more at the children’s museum and on the first level of River Park Square. The mall also hosts indoor trick-or-treating from 6-8 pm. For ages 10 and under. Oct. 31, from 5:30-7 pm. $1/person. (624-3945)

Post Falls Community Trunk-or-Treat
Includes trunks of candy and games, prizes, pumpkin carving, costume contests, free hot cocoa, hay rides, and more. Oct. 31, from 4-8 pm. Admission is one can of food per person, to benefit the Post Falls Food Bank. At Findlay Post Falls, 1800 E. Polston Ave. (208-262-7430)

Every Monday at noon Pacific time, it arrives. A fully-curated feel-good indie playlist brought to you by Clark Dinnison, a Spokane native, at the Noon Pacific website/mobile app. Take this week’s playlist, for example: It starts with a upbeat, electronic pop song by Leo Islo, a Portland musician with a little more than 700 fans on his Facebook page. The playlist continues along in this vein; the sound is very much California-inspired and totally beachy. It’s mostly artists you’ve never heard of, and that’s the point.

“People like Noon Pacific because they see there’s a personal value to our mixtapes,” Dinnison says. “Everyone is trying to do it. Spotify and Pandora are making their own playlists, too, but those are seen as corporate. With us, there’s this sense we’re a personal, trusted tastemaker.”

Not only can users listen to this week's playlist, they can also play previous lists along with other collections. In the past year, the service has grown exponentially. The free app has 100,000 downloads, the email list has about 28,000 unique users. A few months, ago the streaming service was even featured in the New York Times.

Dinnison now live in Newport Beach, California, a place he feels lends itself better to a startup business. We last reported on Dinnison when he co-launched the Upbeat website/mobile app, which used a Reddit format for music where listeners could vote up songs they liked best. Although it received early press and accolades, the company never quite took off and has since dissolved. But Dinnison says he may someday combine that format into his Noon Pacific service.

At this for three years now, Noon Pacific was Dinnison’s first attempt at a website. He says it’s been through about five iterations and that the clean format it has now is finally right. Dinnison and his colleagues are constantly scouring Soundcloud and other music websites and blogs for new tunes. So far no artist has refused to be featured on the site. "They see it as great promotion," Dinnison says. 

The mixtape is free to listen to and receive. No artist can pay to be a part of the playlist. Currently, the service is a labor of love, but Dinnison sees the potential to turn this into profit trying to expand to other platforms.

To get your weekly Monday playlist, sign up at noonpacific.com. 

On Inlander.com:

A breakdown of where Spokane's two mayoral candidates are getting their money and how they're spending it. 

A preview of this weekend's college football showdowns, as Eastern takes on Weber State, WSU takes on Stanford and Whitworth takes on Pacific University.

Other headlines:

A 16-year-old girl in Oregon has been diagnosed with the bubonic plague following a hunting trip. Health officials believe she contracted the bacterial disease, carried by rodents and their fleas, from a flea bite. She's doing okay, since if caught early the disease can be treated with antibiotics. (USA Today)

Details are being revealed surrounding a deadly shootout involving a Texas motorcycle club. More than five months after the May shootout, no one has been charged with the deaths of nine bikers, even though 177 people were arrested and 480 weapons on those present were seized. CNN recently published a new story delving into the complex case after requesting documents and surveillance video of the Waco shootout. (CNN)

NASA released new images of an unusual series of massive patterns — geoglyphs — on the Earth's surface, discovered several years ago on Google Earth. The geometric shapes are located in Kazakhstan, and are estimated to be 8,000 years old. (New York Times)

In case you hadn’t heard, there’s an election that’s about to happen next week that will determine who occupies the mayor’s office. And you might have also heard that incumbent Mayor David Condon has raised large stacks of cash.

The Inlander crunched the numbers to find out who the biggest donors are and what each candidate is doing with money.

David Condon 
Money raised: $391,461.50
Money spent: $357,111.12

Mayor David Condon has raised more than ten times that of his opponent. But it’s not enough money.

In email sent out earlier this week, carrying the subject line “Urgent Campaign News!”, the mayor made one more appeal for money.

“As we enter the final week of the campaign, my opponent has surprised the political insiders by buying a big block of television time and is running deceptive ads attacking me. Of course, that’s standard in our politics today, but I need to quickly raise another $10,400 to match her latest buy.”

The email ended with: “P.S. This is the last time I’ll need to ask for your support for mayor — but please, your contribution of $50, $100 or even $20 will let us counter her negative, dishonest ads.”

Although Condon has raised $391,461.50, he only has $34,000 left, which is still more than his opponent, Shar Lichty, has raised since filing to run.

Who are his biggest donors?

David Clack, a Spokane retiree, is largest donor to Condon, shelling out $2,150.

Twenty-three companies and individuals tied for second place, giving Condon $1,900. Of them includes Barr-Tech LLC, which is owned by Ted Condon (a brother of the mayor) as well as Build East PAC (the political arm of the Associated General Contractors).Others include engineering firm HDR INC., Clearwater Paper, Premera Blue Cross, Potlatch Corp., a maker of forest products, Edmund and Beatriz Schweitzer, the owners of Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories in Pullman.

James Cowles, an executive at Inland Empire Paper, and his wife Wanda, each contributed $1,800.

So how did he spend that money?

Beau Baldwin and the Eastern Washington Eagles look for a sixth consecutive victory, the surprising WSU Cougars continue their quest for a top 25 ranking, the University of Idaho Vandals hit the road to face an atrocious New Mexico State team, and the Whitworth Pirates take on Pacific at home after suffering their first loss of the season to second-ranked Linfield. Catch up on all the details with the Halloween College Football Preview.

Weber State Wildcats (4-4, 3-2 Big Sky) vs. #5 Eastern Washington Eagles (5-2, 4-0 Big Sky) 12:10 pm on ROOT Sports, Roos Field, Cheney, Washington
Coming off a dramatic, last-second victory against Northern Colorado on a Jordan Dascalo 44-yard field goal, the Eagles return home for head coach Beau Baldwin's 100th game at EWU. Since beginning the season 0-2, the Eagles have won five in a row and established themselves as the best passing offense in the FCS at 409.1 yards per game — mostly thanks to Cooper Kupp, the unbelievable junior who continues to shatter EWU and FCS records. With his 20 receptions, 275 yards and three touchdowns against Northern Colorado, Kupp is now the all-time leading receiver in Big Sky Conference history at 4,338 yards. He now has 52 career touchdowns, passing Jerry Rice's career total of 50 and leaving him only six behind the FCS record of 58.