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Posted on 13 July 2022 by admin

New Special Events Application Aims to Improve Process

Carly Cortright, Office of Neighborhood Services Director, 509.625.6263

Wednesday, July 13, 2022 at 11:21 a.m.

The City of Spokane has a long history of being a community that celebrates and embraces special events.

Whether it’s the world’s largest 3-on-3 basketball tournament in Hoopfest, or the nation’s largest Armed Forces torchlight parade in the Lilac Parade, or making our mark as hosting one of the largest time foot races in Bloomsday, we have made our mark for hosting events that spotlight Spokane.

We now have an event application process to match the pageantry of our many special events that will make it easier for sponsors to apply for their permit and for City staff to quickly process.

In 2019, we rolled out a new paper-based application with the promise it would be temporary as we explored an online solution that would streamline the process. A global pandemic might have delayed the release of this solution, but we believe it was worth the wait. Applicants will now apply fully online and only be prompted for additional information should it be required.

For example, if you are planning a small block party, with the old paper application, you would often have to list N/A for several questions as they were not relevant to your event. For other larger events, additional permits may be needed from the Fire Department or Development Services Center, and that was sometimes overlooked in the fine print. The new solution is responsive and only displays questions if they are relevant to your event. If your event won’t have an open flame, for example, you’ll move right along to the next question. But if you will have an open flame, a series of additional questions will need to be answered.

This responsive system will speed up the application process on the applicant’s end and will also provide places to upload documents, such as the certificate of insurance. Once submitted, the application will be instantly routed for approval. With everything in one location, this will also speed up the approval process as staff won’t have to assemble and enter the documents for review. The new system will also provide you updates. If we need clarification on an element of your application, you’ll receive an email from us. If everything looks good, you will receive an email notifying you your event has been conditionally approved.

We believe these improvements are going to make it as easy as possible to apply for permits so event sponsors can spend more time focused on putting the event together rather than dealing with the hassle of paperwork. Learn more about the new application process. Visit our permits page for more information about the application process and whether a permit is even needed.

We look forward to hosting your next event!

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Posted on 13 February 2022 by admin

Indigenous duo aims to create good medicine and good vibes only with online dating event | CBC News

Dating can feel daunting but when you add the impacts of intergenerational trauma into the mix it can become exhausting, say two friends who are trying to eliminate all that stress with a virtual snag fest.

The cheeky title implies that the upcoming Zoom sessions are meant to be fun. The concept started as a joke between Deanna StandingCloud and Victoria Marie but as they thought about Indigenous networking, the talks became serious.

“It’s such a hard time to get out there and meet new people,” said Marie, who is a tribal member of Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate and lives in Minnesota.

The pair met when they were both pregnant and developed a friendship while they organized an Indigenous wellness retreat together. Both work in the Indigenous wellness field and organize other events centred on Indigenous healing.

StandingCloud, a citizen of Red Lake Nation in Minnesota, is a powwow MC, a bingo caller and a wellness advocate for Indigenous communities.

She said dating is yet another task on an already long list that includes child-rearing and healing from her own hurts and said a lot of single Indigenous women can understand that. Then when you have a partner who wants help dealing with their own trauma, it can be exhausting.

“I get tired of holding it all together, so I would love for men to be medicine for their communities,” said StandingCloud.

Marie’s company, Indigenous Lotus, is hosting the event on Zoom. There will be two 90-minute sessions where participants will break out into speed dating rounds and will play connection games, like the old-time dating game shows.

Victoria Marie is the owner of Indigenous Lotus, which is hosting the Indigenous speed-dating event. (Submitted by Victoria Marie)

Jane Meader, a Mi’kmaw grandmother from Unama’ki, said in dating, Indigenous people are asked to be good medicine to one another because of a responsibility to the community. Ensuring women feel safe in dating has always been a part of Mi’kmaw culture, she said.

“Women were very helpful to one another and treated each other with kindness,” said Meader.

She said today’s sexual objectification of Indigenous women is a foreign concept and that traditionally in Mi’kmaw families, women held the power. They chose who they wanted to marry and a potential partner would have to prove to her and her family that he was worth marrying. When they married, he was committing to the woman’s language, culture, clan and family, and it was also within her power to decide if she wanted a divorce.

Mi’kmaw grandmother Jane Meader says Mi’kmaw women always cared for one another and their safety was always important. (Tom Ayers/CBC)

Meader said anyone considering dating should ask if their potential partner loves, honours and respects themselves, other genders and Creator.

“It’s about us being better human beings, first before anything else,” said Meader.

Marie said she hopes Indigenous women can have fun at their online connection event and that for men, being in a circle with healthy Indigenous women will encourage them to seek healing for intergenerational trauma.

“I believe in bringing people together with the same intention of having fun, and connecting is expanding our ability to heal one another,” said Marie.

The online event will also centre on creating new friendships and participants can either hold a yellow ribbon for friendship or a red ribbon for romantic interests.

Posted on 7 February 2022 by admin

Live Olympics Updates: Eileen Gu Aims for First Medal in Beijing

Credit…Gabriela Bhaskar/The New York Times

[Follow our live coverage of Nathan Chen and Yuzuru Hanyu at the Winter Olympics.]

For two days, social media users in China have been heaping scorn onto Beverly Zhu, a 19-year-old figure skater who was born and raised in the United States but competes for China under the name Zhu Yi.

The criticism began on Sunday, when the naturalized athlete fell during the women’s singles short program in the team event.

By that afternoon, the hashtag #ZhuYiFellDown had been viewed more than 200 million times on Weibo, a popular Chinese social media platform. Commenters called her “shameless,” “rotten” and an “embarrassment.”

In an unusual move, Weibo stepped in by Sunday evening to ban the hashtag. It did not provide a reason, citing only “relevant guidelines and policies.”

“I’m upset and a little embarrassed,” a tearful Zhu said after the competition, according to Reuters. “I guess I felt a lot of pressure because I know everybody in China was pretty surprised with the selection for ladies’ singles, and I just really wanted to show them what I was able to do, but unfortunately I didn’t.”

Searches for Zhu’s name remained visible. Furor erupted again on Monday, after she stumbled twice during her free skate event. Zhu, who broke out in tears during the program, finished last.

“Don’t cry, I’m the one who wants to cry,” one commenter wrote online.

Chinese athletes face enormous pressure to win medals and bring glory to the country. The criticism of Zhu showed how naturalized athletes were sometimes subject to even harsher scrutiny.

Before the 2022 Games, Zhu had come under attack for her apparent inability to speak fluent Chinese. The uproar is in contrast to the international attention on Eileen Gu, the star skier who was born and raised in California but is also competing for China, and is widely favored to be a gold medal contender.

Some social media users suggested, without evidence, that Zhu had gained a spot on the Chinese Olympics team because of the prominence of her father, Song-Chun Zhu, a computer scientist who relocated to Peking University from the United States.

Her unsteady performances also elicited sympathy from some users. Even Hu Xijin, a recently retired editor of Global Times, a brashly nationalist Chinese newspaper, criticized the mockery of Zhu.

“To vent emotions on this young athlete, using social media to throw rocks down a well when she makes mistakes — that’s cyberbullying, and no matter what it’s going too far,” Hu wrote in a commentary that was widely shared online.

Chen Lu, a Chinese former figure skater who won bronze medals at two Olympics in the 1990s, said Zhu’s mistakes reflected the pressures of performing at a global event before a Chinese audience.

“For Zhu Yi, the biggest challenge is lack of experience in big competitions,” Chen said, according to Sohu, a Chinese news website. “She has never had this experience of competing on her home doorstep, and the pressure is enormous.”

Zhu is scheduled to compete again in the women’s singles skating program next week.

— Amy Qin and Chris Buckley