The unmistakable melody of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” filled the packed room at the Pavilion at Northern Quest Resort and Casino. A trio of women took the stage, executing the iconic dance moves as the lead singer, sequined hat, one glove and all, belted out the song. The tune was familiar but the words were not. That’s because the song was performed in Salish at the Salish Karaoke Contest on March 6 during the Celebrating Salish Conference/Cindy Hval, SR. More here. (Jesse Tinsley SR photo: Lawrence McDonald, a Colville and Nez Perce Indian, chats with Kaienna Noel, 3, while dancing in the Celebrating Salish Conference powwow)

• Also: 2 other stories by Cindy today

Question: Was a foreign language spoken in your childhood home? Which one? Did you understand it?

It’s time to bust out your hairspray and dust off your platform dancing shoes: Earth, Wind & Fire is coming to a casino near you. Merging jazz, R&B, soul, funk, rock, and yes, even disco, this legendary band has been together since 1969 and is still touring internationally. They are renowned as one of the most successful bands of all time, earning 20 Grammy nominations, and five members of the group are recognized in the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame. But, being a big fan, you probably already knew that, right? Catch the show tonight at 7 pm at Northern Quest Casino. Tickets: $30-$60/Pacific Northwest Inlander. (Wikipedia photo of Earth, Wind & Fire performing in 2009)

Question: When did you last see an oldie-but-goodie band in concert? Were you disappointed that the old rockers had lost it?

After getting her hair styled, Mary Borden, left, gets her makeup done by Kara McCollum, right, at the “Let Your Crown Shine” event at Northern Quest Casino Hotel Thursday. The YWCA and several sponsors put on the event for 100 women who got hair and makeup makeovers while snacking and listening to speakers. The event was meant to be a prequel to the Queen Latifah visit, but she cancelled at the last minute. SR story here.
(SR photo: Jesse Tinsley)

• Idaho Records/Sherry Adkins, SR
• Burglary suspect: These pants ain't mine/SR
• Spokane man killed in accident near stateline/SR
• Idaho lawmakers pass anti-speed trap legislation/AP
• Shawn Vestal: Settlement lays 'Ron & Steve' to rest/SR
• Utah jury finds Montana religious sect leader guilty of rape/AP
• Spokane woman scolds thief who stole her bike/Colleen O'Brien, KXLY
• $65M convention center expansion called economy boost/Mike Prager, SR
• Edit: Legislature finally gets serious on animal cruelty/Idaho Press-Tribune
• Idaho women charged more for health insurance than men/Audrey Dutton, Statesman
• Orbusmax Special: Legalizing pot in Washington could raise $560M here

Question: What would you do if you were named queen for a day?

Queen Underwood goes to a neutral corner and watches as her opponent N'teeyah Sherman has her mouthpiece replaced during their Lightweight match in the 2012 US Olympic Team Trials for Womens Boxing at Northern Quest Resort Pavilion Thursday in Spokane. Underwood won a close fight and now is one step away from making the U.S. Olympic Team for female boxers. Story here. (SR photo: Christopher Anderson)

• Idaho Records/Sherry Adkins, SR
• Winter storm to bring rain, snow/Mike Prager, SR
• Over 1200 welcome Ron Paul to Twin Falls/Times-News
• Texas Supreme Court denies WSU coach Leach's appear/AP
• Police investigate blaze that destroyed 11,000sf home/Brian Walker, Press
• Agency OKs shooting buffalo leaving Montana tolerance sites/Eve Byron, Missoulian
• Agency rejects wolf hunt extension, to study mule deer decline/Missoulian, Ravalli Republic

Papering the walls of the subterranean Howard Street Boxing Club are the usual posters from bouts and cards going back decades, and they suggest the musty odor of smoke and beer from arenas and armories long razed. Those yellowing bills were the back-in-the-day come-ons for wannabe fighters. Here’s how much boxing has changed: Converts are now made in beauty shops. It helps, of course, if a boxer is in the chair. This happened just on Monday to Queen Underwood, who by virtue of her bronze medal at the last world championships and her Seattle roots is the flag-bearer for next month’s U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Women’s Boxing at Northern Quest Resort. Booked for an awards show later this week, she made an appointment with a stylist. “I’m tired of braids and ponytails,” she said to the stylist, pinning her hair issues on her current vocation of boxing/John Blanchette, SR. More here.

Question: Would you want to see a sanctioned boxing match between women?

Plans by the Spokane Tribe of Indians to build a casino in Airway Heights ignited criticism from another area tribe during a closed-door Thursday meeting held by a federal agency that oversees Indian gaming.

The Thursday afternoon “consultation” was organized by the Office of Indian Gaming, a division of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

The group is hosting six meetings between now and Nov. 18 to review rules that decide when tribes can build casinos on nonreservation land.

The Spokane Tribe hopes to build a 2.2-million-square-foot casino complex in Airway Heights on land that’s not part of its reservation. A change by the Office of Indian Gaming on its current rules would simplify that process.

If approved, the Spokane Tribe casino would be several miles from the Northern Quest Resort and Casino, opened by the Kalispel Tribe in 2000. Tom Sowa, SR Full Story. 

The only casino I’ve been to is Northern Quest. I loved the resort aspect, and the spa is divine, but the casino? Row after row of elderly folks staring at machines. Frankly, it creeped me out. Do you enjoy casinos? Why? And what do you think about this effort to build another casino a few miles away from an existing one?