LILACS to Prohibition Gastropub on North Monroe Street. On the first Friday of every month they have Service Appreciation Night. Military/Fire/Police eat free when someone purchases a meal of equal or greater value. They wish to honor those who serve. We hope this catches on!

LEMONS to the City of Spokane Valley for abruptly firing city manager Mike Jackson. Described as brilliant, professional and dedicated, this smacks of politics, much the same as when Spokane let the universally praised city planner Scott Chesney go. Why can’t we just get out of the way and let great people do their jobs?

LILACS to the great volunteers who help clean up the People’s Park area by the Sandifur Bridge each year, as well as those in Coeur d’Alene who clean up Tubb’s Hill. Does any community rally around a great cause as well as those in the Inland Northwest do?

LEMONS to Apple for not cooperating with the FBI in creating a key to unlock the phone of the San Bernardino shooters. Yes, it does raise security concerns, but couldn’t they place the phone in a secured room with their staff present, extract the information and then destroy the software? It’s probably just a matter of time before a hacker figures it out anyway, and by then more acts of terror may be committed.

LILACS to Facebook for finally creating an alternative to the “Like” button. All we really wanted was a “dislike” button, but now there is “Like,” “Love,” “Ha ha,” “Wow,” “Sad” and “Angry.” Sadly, you still can’t do anything but like a reply, which is where some of us tend to really want to express our pleasure or displeasure, but this will make Facebook a little more fun. Now if they could only come up with an emblem to indicate sarcasm so we don’t have to explain that we are just joking, or emoticons that express “you’re lying!” or “you’ve got to be kidding” or “my BS detector is going into overdrive” or “you know, for the most part I think you’re crazy as a loon, but this time you were spot on”!

LEMONS to city leaders who don’t understand that they could save money by offering treatment to drug abusers rather than jail time. The recidivism rate is ridiculously high, but treatment would end most of our local property crimes and save a huge amount of court costs.

LILACS to River Park Square for reopening skywalk access to the Old City Hall building, where the Bozzi Gallery has been dormant for the past four months due to nearly impossibly access. Glad to be able to reopen!

LEMONS to all of us for not thinking big. Maybe it’s time for a zoo in Spokane again! Maybe it’s time for a Saturday Market in Riverfront Park (we tried but got stalled by the city). Maybe it’s time for a zipline from the Penthouse at the Paulsen to Riverfront Park! Maybe it’s time to restore the block in front of the Courthouse to a public park with a promenade, as originally planned! Maybe it’s time to create a safe haven for the homeless and the mentally handicapped! Maybe it’s time to create a world-famous food festival (okay, we’re working on it!) in Spokane! Maybe it’s time to put up a 50 story building downtown just to do it. For the longest time, Seattle’s tallest building was the dinky Smith Tower. Look at the city now! Maybe it’s time to finally create a sandy beach by the river downtown! Maybe it’s time to follow the Hoopfest model and create the world’s largest Frisbee Golf tournament? We are only limited by our imagination. Let’s make Spokane great!