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Aging Spokane flag talk of City Hall

Aging Spokane flag talk of City Hall

A version of the City of Spokane flag discovered Tuesday morning prior to a mayoral press conference now stands on the 7th floor in a conference room alongside the state and national flag. It was discovered packed away in boxes.

Marlene Feist showed off the flag Thursday afternoon. It is silky smooth and a slight creme color either on purpose or from sunlight damage.

“The dry cleaners wouldn’t even clean it,” Feist said. The central star signifying the Salish meaning of Spokane, “Children of the Sun”, is a kind of material that Feist says is a “dry clean at your own risk.”

One perplexing quality that Feist notes regarding the flag is the placement of the stripes. The version photographed in 1977 by the Spokane Daily Chronicle shows green and blue stripes on the right side of the flag. The version Feist showed off Thursday afternoon has stripes on the opposite side. Somewhere in the past 35 years, the stripes switched places.

Mayor signs proclamation for Spokane Chiefs Hockey Day

Mayor signs proclamation for Spokane Chiefs Hockey Day

Well, this is a Spokane treasure. Tomorrow has been declared Spokane Chiefs Hockey Day according to a news release from the City of Spokane. To celebrate, Mayor David Condon and Council President Ben Stuckart hope all citizens wear red, white and blue.

The Chiefs play the Tri-City Americans tomorrow at 7 p.m. in a four game series at the Spokane Arena. The Americans are leading two to one against the Chiefs.

Mayor Condon will also be dropping the puck to kick off the game.

Hopefully the color choices don’t ruin Casual Friday, Hawaiian Shirt Friday or Formal Friday. For those that are superstitious, tomorrow is Friday the 13th. According to Punchbowl, tomorrow is also National Peach Cobbler Day.

Online Document: You can read the actual proclamation the mayor signed for the event, but unfortunately the PDF came to our newsroom sideways.

What's a sign of spring in Spokane?

What's a sign of spring in Spokane?

There’s a lot of science to back up what brings the spring season to a region. It’s not the same for everyone. It depends on your proximity to the equator and climate and all that jazz. One sure sign of the season is the spring equinox, but that’s boring.

What defines spring in Spokane? Obvious answers are the blooming flowers, warmer weather and rushing river, but we know there’s more than that. There’s factors of culture stewing in our midst. You know, those endearing factors about the city.

We asked folks on Facebook what they thought was a sign of spring. Here’s what they had to say:

  • Jenni Dexter says a sign of spring are birds making nests in her bird boxes. Has anyone seen the bird boxes in the roundabout center in Browne’s Addition? They were recently installed and are rather cute.
  • Craig Baker II says marmots. We assume he means the grand awakening of the city’s unofficial mascot. Somebody go wake up @SpokaneMarmot. He’s been hibernating too long.
  • Emily Swigart-Davis says spring is here when the squirrels start using their mating calls to attract her. We all know squirrels are the most flirtatious animal with their constant wiggling of their tail.

One mustache to rule them all

One mustache to rule them all

Are mustaches the new ninjas? The pop culture central of Spokane thinks so. During the month of March, the downtown Spokane store Boo Radley’s, located at Howard and Spokane Falls Blvd., searched high and low for the best mustaches, organic and faux, to award worldly treasures upon.

Out of nearly 20 submissions, they found their winner, a Mr. Mike D. Scott who sports a rather well-shaped handlebar mustache.

Boo Radleys sent us the above photo of the mustache winner receiving his winnings. In order to take care of the handlebar mustache, they gave him a switchblade mustache brush.

Mustaches are the latest trend they’ve seen soar following ninjas, zombies and vampires. They’re the envy of the world. Maybe because not everyone can grow them.

Facebook: Scott beat out hand-drawn mustaches, tree moss staches, hand-held mustaches and even ladies with mustaches. You can see examples of these submissions at Boo Radley's Facebook page

What would you do with $540 million?

What would you do with $540 million?

If somebody won the all-time record Mega Millions jackpot, they’d walk away with $540 million, not including taxes. The cash option is $389 million. Curious minds wonder how many work places have started up their own underground office pools. If one colleague wins, they’d all share the wealth fair and square.

Imagine the sunny beaches you could spend the rest of your life at, frolicking through the warm ocean waves. If that’s not your cup of tea, imagine a life of remote solitude enjoying land as far as the eye can see because you own it. Not a neighbor in sight. If you had a wild hair, you could share it with your favorite non-profit, supporting a worthy cause.

We asked readers on Facebook what they would do with $540 million. Here’s a few of their answers:

  • Laura Ast would buy a car, pay off bills, help her kids, give a little cash to her parents and of course buy new towels for the bathroom.
  • Seth Carey would buy lots of cats. When he says lots of cats, he means more than one hundred. That’s a lot of cats. We hope he understands what he’s getting himself into.
  • Scott Byrnes would put his kids through college and open a hot rod shop. He’d also build a really cool house that looks like a castle.
  • Ricky Orth would give half of it to WSU Athletics. Go Cougs.

Transforming reality to comic in The Cullective

Transforming reality to comic in The Cullective

From this seedy (and very rainy) High Bridge Park photo shoot, photographer Deke Cloyd turns Kurt Madison into a character from a post-apocalyptic web comic. Earth is long gone. All that is left is a select few humans living on a distant planet trying to survive with a catch: super powers.

I stopped by the High Bridge Park location and followed Cloyd and Madison down the hill below the I-90 bridge. Monday's down pour spewed water out the bridge's pipe and unfortunately drenched our clothes and hair.

A unique post-processing technique turns these real life scenes into the web comic that builds The Cullective. You can learn more about the project at Cloyd's Kickstarter page where he talks about the introduction of sound effects and music into the story. Local band, Dead Serious Lovers, provides the soundtrack for the project.