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Dear Annie: My 19-year-old daughter has always argued with me about everything. I could say the sky is blue, and she would say, "No, it's azure." When she was a child, I tried to ignore her debates and told her to just do as I say. But now that she's a young adult, it no longer works. I don't know how to put an end to these constant ridiculous arguments.
President Barack Obama has the chance to give new meaning to the phrase "carry-on" as it applies to air travel. Here's hoping he pulls the trigger.
Q.My wife and I are 32 and have an 8-month-old daughter. We bought a house two years ago, and the payments fit comfortably into our budget. I earn $42,000 and my wife earns $37,000. We need life insurance, but aren't sure how much or what kind. Can you help?
Spokane Valley's Fiber-Tech Industries has earned the 2010 Clean Air Award for reducing emissions at its production plant in the Spokane Business & Industrial Park.
EVERETT – Boeing Co.'s giant 747-8 freighter – the biggest plane the company has ever built – successfully completed its first flight Monday, a year later than originally planned.
LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles prosecutors filed a long-anticipated involuntary manslaughter charge against Michael Jackson's personal physician Monday as the coroner's office made public a report concluding that the care the singer received in the final hours of his life violated accepted medical standards.
WASHINGTON – Navigational locks and gates in Chicago-area waterways crucial for shipping may be opened less frequently than usual under a $78.5 million campaign to prevent Asian carp from overrunning the Great Lakes, federal officials said Monday.
WASHINGTON – John Murtha, the Democratic congressman from Pennsylvania and decorated former Marine whose fierce opposition to the Iraq war helped catalyze public sentiment against the conflict, died Monday. He was 77.
BOISE – After Idaho hosted the Special Olympics World Winter Games last year, state Sen. Les Bock, D-Boise, said he was startled when reading through Idaho statutes to see outmoded terminology like "mentally retarded," "mentally deficient" and even "lunatic" and "idiot."
BOISE – The Idaho Human Rights Commission unanimously backed a new partnership between itself and the Department of Labor.
TIJUANA, Mexico – Mexican federal police arrested two suspected gang leaders Monday, delivering another big blow to a brutal drug cartel that terrorized the border city of Tijuana for several years.
BEIRUT, Lebanon – As Iran moved to enrich uranium to a higher level of purity and build new nuclear-fuel plants, U.S. and French defense officials suggested Monday that sanctions were needed to force Tehran to curb its nuclear program.
Agreed Second baseman Skip Schumaker and the St. Louis Cardinals have agreed to a $4.7 million, two-year contract, avoiding an arbitration hearing. Schumaker will earn $2 million this season and $2.7 million in 2011. The deal also contains performance bonuses that could bring the total value to $5 million over two years. Schumaker, who turned 30 on Wednesday, hit .303 with four homers and 35 RBIs while playing in 153 games last year. He also switched from the outfield to second base. Schumaker, who was arbitration eligible for the first time, had asked for $2.75 million while the Cardinals offered $1.45 million. He made $430,000 last season.
Men's basketball: Scottie Reynolds scored 19 of his 21 points in the final 13 minutes and No. 4 Villanova held off No. 5 West Virginia 82-75 in Morgantown, W.Va.
MOSCOW, Idaho – The morning after his first University of Idaho basketball practice, Orlando Lightfoot entered his coach's office and said he'd had enough.
The initial hype has subsided, but Eastern Washington University's decision to replace the natural grass in Woodward Field with a red synthetic playing surface continues to stir interest and conversations across the country.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge urged Russia on Monday to get tougher on drug cheats, voicing his concern at the high number of doping cases among Russian biathletes and cross-country skiers.
With pitchers and catchers opening camp in nine days, the Seattle Mariners revealed that newly acquired left-handed pitcher Cliff Lee underwent foot surgery last week.
This is the time of year when kids and adults like me lose one or more of their mittens. Our pairs simply don't match up in February the way they did in November.
Ooopsy the Clown threw in a bubble machine for the monkey- themed party marking Nicholas Castillo's first birthday.
Dear Annie: My boyfriend, "Michael," has been irritating me for the past month. He breaks his promises, goes back on his word, bosses me around like crazy and gets angry and aggressive about everything. He no longer seems fazed if we don't get to hang out or talk on the phone at night. It appears he doesn't care anymore, but he claims to be madly in love with me and insists his feelings haven't changed.
DEAR MISS MANNERS: When I was laid off after six years, it was not unexpected – there had been a change of ownership over a year ago, and it was only a matter of time until the entire "old management team" was replaced. I was actually thankful, considering how unhappy I had been, and the fact that I'm now eligible for unemployment insurance.
Student walkouts at EWU and WSU last week, part of a statewide protest over skyrocketing tuition rates and expected state spending cuts for higher education, stirred rousing debate among readers. Here's a sampling of the comments from www.spokesman.com.
The Medical Lake City Council unanimously approved a resolution last week opposing any new jail in the city. City officials also have threatened legal action if Spokane County or the city of Spokane attempts to use the Pine Lodge Corrections Center for Women, which Gov. Chris Gregoire has proposed closing. Mayor John Higgins explains the city's position:
PRESTON, Idaho – Tribal members gather in late January each year at the burial ground near the Bear River where soldiers felled hundreds of their ancestors in one of American history's bloodiest – but little-remembered – massacres.
DETROIT – There's nothing within the contradictions and hypocrisies of NCAA law prohibiting a 13-year-old from orally committing to a college football program before he has picked a high school.
WASHINGTON – Three goals from Alex Ovechkin. Two feet of snow on the ground. One big comeback against a detested rival, with punches and name-calling added for good measure.
LOS ANGELES – In a tournament everyone expected him to win, Steve Stricker was trying not to lose.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Justin Eller scored 17 points and Duro Bjegovic came off the bench to add 13 points and eight rebounds as Sacramento State beat Eastern Washington 74-67 on Sunday in college basketball, handing the Eagles their seventh consecutive loss.
NBA: The Orlando Magic needed less than 48 hours to go from a terrible third quarter to a terrific one.
Released Former NFL star Warren Sapp was released from jail in Miami Beach, Fla., on Sunday on $1,500 bond, a day after being arrested for allegedly choking a woman in his hotel room. Police arrested Sapp on Saturday on one charge of misdemeanor domestic battery. An arrest affidavit says the incident happened about 5 a.m. Saturday in the former defensive tackle's hotel room at the Shore Club on Miami Beach. Sapp's attorney said the former player is taking the matter seriously and will cooperate with authorities.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA fueled Endeavour for the second straight night Sunday in hopes of sending it on the last big space station construction mission.
In a possible move to deflect attention from Iran's political woes, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday ordered the nation's atomic energy agency to begin enriching uranium from 3.5 percent to 20 percent purity to serve as fuel for a Tehran medical reactor.
MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – An explosion that sounded like a sonic boom blew out walls of an unfinished power plant and set off a fire during a test of natural gas lines Sunday, killing at least five workers and injuring a dozen or more.
WASHINGTON – Planes were grounded, trains stood still and Greyhound buses weren't rolling in the Mid-Atlantic region on Sunday, leaving stranded travelers wondering when they'll be able to escape the icy, gray mess created by a major snowstorm.
WASHINGTON – In the first major step to revive his health care agenda after his party's loss of a filibuster-proof Senate majority, President Barack Obama on Sunday invited Republican and Democratic leaders to discuss possible compromises in a televised gathering later this month.
CHICAGO – The Democratic nominee for Illinois lieutenant governor has dropped out of the race less than a week after winning the nomination amid a political uproar about his past.
KIEV, Ukraine – Pro-Russian opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych declared victory in Ukraine's presidential runoff but his opponent rejected the claim, saying the vote was too close to call.
TEHRAN, Iran – Iran has arrested seven people linked to a U.S.-funded Farsi-language radio station for allegedly fomenting unrest, and accused some of the suspects of working for American spy agencies, Iranian state media reported Sunday.
NEW DELHI – India again successfully test-fired a nuclear-capable missile Sunday that can hit targets across much of Asia and the Middle East, a defense ministry press release said.
An anonymous tip led police to a suspect in a Saturday gas station robbery. The Spokane Police Department received a tip at 10:50 p.m. Saturday that Jakob B. McMath, 25, was planning to rob a gas station and was driving a stolen red Honda Civic, said Sgt. Kevin King.
The word agoraphobia, an aversion to wide-open spaces, is built from two Latin root words; "phobia" means fear, of course, but "agora" translates literally as "public marketplace."
Come to downtown Coeur d'Alene the second Friday of most months and you see a lively place with special events, usually an art walk that involves the many galleries and related shops. And this week the event will push Valentine's Day with a Chocolate Walk.
Sandi McKinley isn't a fairy godmother, but when formal gowns will be needed for special occasions, be it prom, Sweet 16 parties, homecoming, father-daughter dances or musical recitals, many Spokane and North Idaho residents will believe McKinley and her 13-year-old daughter, Kendall, are the next best thing.
I remember last winter, when it seemed as if every column I wrote each week had something to do with snow and cold. Leave it to Mother Nature to balance things out, as I write another column about above-normal warmth and the lack of snow this season.
Q: Four people at Java on Sherman in Coeur d'Alene were asked: "What do you like the most about Super Bowl Sunday: the game, the commercials, or the party?"
Until recently, the life of Perl Dye lived on only in the minds of his surviving friends and family, some 50 years after the north central Idaho native's death. A painted-on, washed-out sign on the side of an aircraft automotive shop, an old family journal and some faded photographs hinted at his lifelong aspirations and achievements, yet Perl Dye's life history remained an unwritten biography in the spoken stories passed down by later generations.
BOISE – It's not just layoffs, furloughs and holding positions vacant – budget cuts have forced the state Department of Environmental Quality to halt two key water quality monitoring programs for two years.
DALLAS – Baby boomer buyers fueled a big run-up in U.S. home construction and sales in the 1970s and 1980s.
In some ways, it was simpler before.When Joy Lane Hicks wanted to buy a new piece of furniture or do some redecorating, she says, "I would start with, 'Hey, honey, I have an idea,' and he would drop his head, groaning and moaning."
Q. I own a very old house that was never insulated. I want to insulate the attic but have received so many conflicting opinions from contractors that I don't know what to do. Also, should I be concerned about the thickness of the insulation? Can you help?
Choosing a room to function as a home gym or personal workout space is just as important as finding the right equipment. The key is to make the space inviting, experts say.
DALLAS — The CEO of one of the country's top commercial property firms says the industry is turning the corner.
VANCOUVER, B.C. – As snow falls on the craggy peaks providing the stunning backdrop to this glimmering city on the Pacific, Vancouver prepares to welcome thousands of athletes and visitors from around the world for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.
Animals are incapable of reason, or so we've been told, but we imaginative humans keep talking to our dogs and cats as if they could do algebra. In this poem, Ann Struthers looks into the mystery of instinctive behavior.
A fascinating new book has hit the shelves about an important part of our region's history: "African Americans in Spokane," by Jerrelene Williamson (Arcadia Press, $21.99).
People have been asking: Exactly how rude and bawdy is "Avenue Q" going to be?The tour arrives at the INB Performing Arts Center beginning Thursday. I'm at somewhat of a disadvantage, having never had a chance to see it on Broadway. But I have talked to a cast member, read the reviews and interviewed one of the puppets (well, sort of).
Dear Carolyn: My wife shares my views of the extreme difficulty, on a few fronts, of her mother's extended visits to our home. My wife is amenable to discussions with her mom, but fears we may be expecting too much from her – a 60-year-old woman whom we both agree is a very unusual combination of neutral congeniality and stone-quiet stoicism.
It was toward the end of President Obama's riveting visit on Jan. 29 with the House Republicans in Baltimore – a rare 90 minutes of candor on both sides that produced the most fascinating and revealing politics in memory – when Rep. Peter Roskam of suburban Chicago was called on for a question.
I keep hearing Democrats complain that Republicans don't have a health care plan, but they do. It's just that it doesn't achieve the same goal of covering more Americans.
Amanda Colin didn't hesitate when Spokane County threatened to cut its methadone treatment program last summer.
Bighorn sheep, among the most prized big-game animals in the West, are being killed by the hundreds this winter in Western Montana in a desperate effort to contain a disease outbreak.
Usually news reports mention them only in passing, something like this:"The injured hunter was found this morning by a search and rescue team after being reported missing last night ..."
Get out of harm's way. Shelter yourself from the elements. Build a fire. Signal your location. These basic elements of backcountry survival are easier said than done.
LA CANADA FLINT- RIDGE, Calif. – Thunderous mudslides damaged dozens of homes, swept away cars and pushed furniture into the streets of the foothills north of Los Angeles on Saturday as intense winter rain poured down mountains denuded by a summer wildfire.
BAGHDAD – A missing Iraqi-American contractor was kidnapped by Shiite militiamen who lured him into central Baghdad by promising to help him find distant relatives, an Iraqi defense official said Saturday.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – An Alaska dentist has given a bald eagle a unique beak – using a temporary crown, sticky poster putty and yellow highlighter.
The Northwest Bach Festival, now in its 32nd year, celebrated Johann Sebastian Bach at his biggest and best with an inspired performance of the Mass in B minor. The near-capacity audience at St. John's Cathedral gave the performers an immediate standing ovation.
Three passengers and the teenage driver of a car involved in a chase that ended in a foot pursuit and subsequent arrests Friday night by the Idaho State Police have been identified.
SODA SPRINGS, Idaho – Officials in Caribou County in eastern Idaho say they will file a motion to set aside a $2.92 million judgment against the county obtained by a man who spent an extra five years in prison due to a clerical error.
Nobody had to tell the cheerleaders at the Lilac City Regional Cheer and Dance Championships Saturday in Spokane to B-E aggressive.
Many jobless people have reached a conclusion that captures the depth of the unemployment crisis: Looking for a job is a waste of time.
NEW YORK – David Brown, a film and theater producer who helped bring to the screen two of the 1970s' biggest hits, "Jaws" and "The Sting," has died. He was 93.
IQALUIT, Nunavut – Top finance officials of the seven major industrial countries sought to calm jittery markets by pledging Saturday to keep providing government aid to sustain a fledgling economic rebound.
In a small house in Coeur d'Alene, 89-year-old Sid Rosen lives out his sunset years going through his life's mementos. ■ Tucked away in a box, the World War II veteran finds two small, dog-eared photographs of anti-Semitic graffiti sprayed on his Coeur d'Alene restaurant in 1980. ■ The vandalism – which still angers Rosen, his son says – was one of the first in a series of incidents that led to creation of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations.
WASHINGTON – Cross-country skiers lapped the Reflecting Pool along the National Mall. Hundreds crowded Dupont Circle for a snowball fight organized with the help of the Internet.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The burgeoning tea party movement should remain leaderless and decentralized, former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said Saturday, calling the effort "bigger than any king or queen of the tea party."
WASHINGTON – Attempting to rouse a party shaken by electoral setbacks, President Barack Obama told fellow Democrats on Saturday he would press ahead with his health care proposal and other pieces of his ambitious agenda, rejecting suggestions that a more cautious approach might minimize losses in the upcoming midterm elections.
Agreed It's official, free-agent left-hander Erik Bedard is coming back to the Mariners. General manager Jack Zduriencik announced the team and the oft-injured 30-year-old agreed to a one-year contract with a mutual option for 2011. The contract is expected to have a base salary a fraction of the $7.75 million Bedard made last season. It includes incentive clauses, the exact value of which were not immediately known.
Men's College Basketball: Austin Freeman scored 25 points, Jason Clark had 24, and No. 7 Georgetown forced 16 first-half turnovers in a 103-90 victory Saturday at Washington that ended Villanova's 11-game winning streak.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Kevin Harvick overcame a bout with the flu and a wrecked race car to earn his second consecutive victory in the exhibition Budweiser Shootout on Saturday night.
Three members of the Central Valley staff and two Mt. Spokane coaches picked up special awards from the Washington State Football Coaches Association last month.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Bobby Gerhart held yet another trophy.Danica Patrick held her own.
LOS ANGELES – An American missionary who illegally entered North Korea on Christmas Day and was detained by the communist regime for 43 days was welcomed back to the United States on Saturday evening at Los Angeles International Airport.
The best way to describe "Honky Tonk Angels" is to say that it is the live stage equivalent to my beloved "Classic Country Music" boxed set.
BEND, Ore. – Park workers in Bend have been sent on a wild goose chase.In the past week, Bend Park and Recreation District staff have been trying to shoo geese from city parks along the Deschutes River by using remote-control boats, biodegradable paint balls and slingshots loaded with gravel. On the riverbank, trained dogs try to chase the geese away.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – One helmet is an ancient symbol of rebirth, an eternal emblem of hope.
Gonzaga added another quality win to its NCAA men's basketball tournament résumé, holding off host Memphis 66-58 in front of 17,037 on Saturday at the FedEx Forum.
Isaiah Thomas responded from being benched the game before to score 17 points, Quincy Pondexter added 17 and resurgent Washington cruised to a 79-56 victory over Arizona State on Saturday night in Seattle.
I pray the 10 Baptist missionaries jailed in Haiti on child abduction charges are cleared soon. They deserve it.
Obama Girl has lost that loving feeling for the nation's commander in chief.Amber Lee Ettinger, the 28-year-old Pennsylvania native whose portrayal of Obama Girl in a series of online videos during the 2008 election catapulted her to sudden fame, says she's no longer politically infatuated with the president.
The Who's Super Bowl performance has come under fire from children's advocates concerned about Pete Townshend's child porn arrest.
Dear Annie: My blood is still boiling from the letter from "Sex Therapist," who said men look at porn because women don't take care of their sexual needs. What a bunch of horse manure.
North Idaho College recently announced local residents named to the dean's list for the fall semester for the 2009- '10 academic year. Students are listed by their hometowns.
NEW YORK – A battered stock market recovered from a sharp drop in late trading Friday but still posted its fourth straight weekly drop.
Q: Five people at Sullivan Scoreboard Bar and Grill, 205 N. Sullivan Road in Spokane Valley, were asked: "What was your most memorable Super Bowl?"
The drama department at West Valley High School will present a modernized version of "Faustus," Tuesday though next Saturday at 7 p.m. in the school auditorium, 8301 W. Buckeye Ave. Admission is free.
SPOKANE VALLEY – University High School Baseball Boosters club is holding its third annual Poker Tournament at Northern Quest Casino and Resort on Feb 28.
It was summer and Sean Biltoft was taking it easy. Too easy."It was just a couple weeks before the start of summer wrestling camp, and I just wasn't all that excited about going," the 135-pound East Valley High School wrestler said. "I knew I had to do something to get myself going, and I knew I wanted to do it the right way."
A Heart Like Yours Quilt Shoppe continues to grow as a haven for creativity and camaraderie. "A lot of people like to come and hang out," says company founder Lynn Jacobs. "And we like to have the atmosphere to make that happen."
Brittany Johnson, a sixth-grader at Greenacres Middle School in the Central Valley School District, said she usually brings her lunch to school, but when she works as a lunchroom helper, she likes the pizza the school offers.
No legislator would welcome the closure of a vital, job-producing and community-impacting facility within his or her district. So when the Pine Lodge Corrections Center in Medical Lake appeared on Gov. Christine Gregoire's list of recommended closures as part of her efforts to deal with our state's $2.6 billion budget shortfall, I felt I had to look at this as objectively as possible to make the best decision for the offenders, the community and the state as a whole.
"I am not an ideologue," President Obama protested at a gathering with Republican House members last week. Perhaps, but he does have a tenacious commitment to a set of political convictions.
EVERETT – Coffee shops in the Seattle area introduced the world to "bikini baristas" three years ago, hiring attractive young women to serve up steamy espressos and lattes while wearing as little as a G-string and pasties.
BRUSSELS – Fears of another crisis spiral for the world economy deepened Friday after the Portuguese parliament defeated a government austerity plan, triggering renewed concern that the financial crisis in that country and in Greece could spread through the eurozone and spill across its borders.
TOKYO – After a week of silence, the boss of the world's No. 1 automaker finally appeared in public Friday to apologize over massive car recalls, but it may not help stall Toyota's escalating public relations crisis.
SEATTLE – U.S. customs officials say nearly 17,600 Fox Sports NFL robot action figures seized at the Seattle waterfront last month were contaminated with lead paint.
I've been obsessed with the 1960s recently.Or, to use a phrase I thought was lame even back then: My head is totally into the 1960s.
HILLSBOROUGH, Northern Ireland – A breakthrough deal Friday to save Northern Ireland's Catholic-Protestant government has given a new lease of life to an awkward partnership of former foes that still must overcome many obstacles to survive.
BAGHDAD – A car bomb ripped through a crowd of Shiite pilgrims outside the holy city of Karbala on Friday, sending many fleeing into the path of a suicide attacker who detonated a second bomb in coordinated blasts that killed at least 40 people and wounded 150.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Ten U.S. Baptist missionaries charged with child kidnapping returned to jail Friday after failing to persuade a judge to grant them provisional release pending the outcome of their case, their lawyer said.
ASPEN, Colo. – Lots of people like to say they were there at the beginning.Jake Burton really was.
PITTSBURGH – There's a loose puck in the corner during an extremely physical grudge match Olympic game between Canada and Russia, and $170 million worth of NHL talent is chasing it.
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles County district attorney's office will file a criminal case against Dr. Conrad Murray on Monday, capping an eight-month police investigation into Michael Jackson's death and ending days of intense speculation about when the singer's personal physician would be charged, authorities said.
A man convicted of raping prostitutes will spend the rest of his life in prison, a judge ruled Friday.
Spokane ad agency Magner Sanborn is geared up for its two minutes of fame. The Spokane ad agency has produced three TV ads running during Sunday's Super Bowl XLIV.
BOISE – The only way to cut more deeply into Idaho's prisons budget than Gov. Butch Otter has proposed is to begin releasing prisoners, the state's prisons chief warned state lawmakers Friday.
ATLANTA – If the U.S. swine flu epidemic isn't over, it certainly looks as if it's on its last legs.
Spokane County resident Jon Livingston brought in his 2008 Toyota Tundra truck for an accelerator fix Friday afternoon.
Agreed Boston Red Sox minority owner Jeff Vinik agreed to buy the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday, taking on the challenge of turning around an NHL franchise that has struggled since winning the Stanley Cup in 2004. Vinik is purchasing Tampa Bay Sports & Entertainment from a group led by Oren Koules and Len Barrie, the team said in a statement. The deal is contingent on approval from the league's Board of Governors, which is expected to meet in three to four weeks.
NFL: A woman claims in a lawsuit that former Dallas Cowboys star Michael Irvin sexually assaulted her at a South Florida hotel, an allegation labeled a false attempt at "civil extortion" Friday by Irvin's attorney, Larry Friedman.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Ask Gail Hathaway, a warm, 61-year-old retired nurse from Vonore, Tenn., what she wants out of the "tea party" movement and she returns the quizzical look of someone worried she's been asked a trick question.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Army is curtailing plans to cut what it spends on running its bases worldwide after concerns from soldiers and Congress that services for military families might suffer.
WASHINGTON – Life in the nation's capital ground to a halt Friday as steady snow fell, the beginning of a storm that forecasters said could be the biggest for the city in modern history.
PRESCOTT, Ariz. – Two employees of a motivational speaker facing manslaughter charges told authorities they had no reason to be alarmed when participants in a deadly Arizona sweat lodge ceremony began vomiting and passing out, because their boss told them such responses were to be expected, according to documents released Friday.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The way Roger Goodell sees it, more is better when it comes to NFL games.
Jared Cowen's remarkable reversal of fortune is 12 months in the making.Exactly one year after Cowen learned his 2009 season was ending prematurely because of a devastating knee injury, the Spokane Chiefs' defenseman and captain is living a life renewed.
A kitchen fire was to blame for a blaze that caused the evacuation of a north Spokane apartment complex Thursday.
WALLACE – Priorities for ecological cleanup in the upper basin of the Coeur d'Alene River will be discussed at public meeting on Wednesday. The meeting runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Wallace Inn, 100 Front St.
YAKIMA – The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Friday it has abandoned a program that was intended to trace the movement of farm animals around the country but garnered little support from farmers.
Dear Carolyn: My 25-year-old daughter met a guy about a year ago. He's the perfect partner for her. She told me that he is "the one" and that she loves him so much. My whole family welcomed him as one of our own. They moved in together two months ago.
Grammy-winning singers Alicia Keys and Shakira will perform during halftime of the NBA All-Star game.
Tonight, downtown Spokane will be filled with roaming packs of art-appreciators.It's the Spokane Visual Arts Tour and if you haven't experienced one yet, you'll be amazed at the energy this semiannual event brings to downtown.
Job applications, successful or not, eventually end up in the wastebasket. But J.S. Bach's 1733 application to be appointed court composer of Augustus III, elector of Saxony, survives.
Playing to a packed stadium in Tokyo, a calamitous transcontinental tour, punchouts with sleazy club owners, attempts at a comeback record, guitar solos played with sex toys ...
NEW YORK – Stocks buckled Thursday under the growing belief that the global economy is weaker than many investors expected and likely to stop companies from hiring. The Dow Jones industrials briefly traded below 10,000 for the first time in three months.
WASHINGTON – Toyota faced mounting pressure Thursday as the government opened a probe of brake problems with the Prius, a crown jewel of its lineup. The beleaguered automaker said it was "too soon" to decide whether to add the hybrid to the millions of cars it has recalled.
NEW YORK – Wealthier shoppers went on a buying binge in January and even middle-income Americans spent a little more, retailers said Thursday. Some chains reported their brightest monthly results in years.
A few weeks ago, Will Brandenburg e-mailed his friends to thank them for their support and tell them it didn't look like he was going to live his lifelong dream.
MIAMI – With the NFL championship game barely 72 hours away, Coach Lombardi took a break from his team's preparations to revisit the notion that winning is the only thing.
KENT, Wash. – The state of Washington isn't fully paying for basic public education, a violation of its constitutional duty, a King County judge ruled Thursday in a lawsuit brought by a coalition of school districts, parents and teachers.
BOISE – A Kootenai County human rights group sent an open letter to the Idaho Legislature on Thursday saying criminals are going free in Benewah County because the sheriff there refuses to sign a cooperative agreement with the Coeur d'Alene Tribal Police.
KELLOGG – A portion of the closed Sunshine Mine complex in Idaho's Silver Valley has collapsed.
The city of Coeur d'Alene is planning once again to consider changes to one of its most beloved treasures – McEuen Field.
Spokane County's United Way has raised $4.7 million from businesses and residents to fund programs that do everything from helping children prepare for school to offering job counseling for adults.
PORTLAND – The ketchup packet has been around for more than 40 years, and complaints about it for nearly as long: too messy, too small, too hard to open. Now ketchup giant H.J. Heinz Co. is unveiling the first major packaging change to the to-go condiment.
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles County coroner's office says actress Brittany Murphy died of pneumonia complicated by an iron deficiency, anemia and multiple drug intoxication.
WASHINGTON – They were treated like pop idols – except for being stuck in travel crates.
LOS ANGELES – Heiress Casey Johnson died of diabetic-related complications, the Los Angeles County coroner's office said Thursday.
BOISE – Even as Democrats in both houses of the Idaho Legislature are pressing to repeal some of Idaho's existing tax breaks, a Democratic lawmaker on Wednesday successfully championed the first new sales tax exemption of the year, for nonprofit homeless shelters.
Signed Slugger Jim Thome signed his contract with Minnesota. Thome agreed to terms with the Twins on a one-year, $1.5 million contract last week, but he needed to take a physical and the Twins needed to make a roster move before making it official.
VILLANOVA, Pa. – Standing at a podium and delivering a Hall of Fame speech, former Temple coach John Chaney stopped in the middle of his story and veered into some advice he wished he had given Jay Wright last April.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The NCAA has met with conference commissioners, university presidents and athletic directors about the possibility of expanding the men's basketball tournament.
A driver who crashed into a power pole, two dump trucks and a sedan on Wednesday night while fleeing from police is facing possible charges of driving under the influence and attempting to elude an officer, officials said Thursday.
JUNEAU, Alaska – The company developing the Kensington mine near Juneau has discovered a new vein of gold.
SAN FRANCISCO – Residents of Northern California's Humboldt County were rocked by a magnitude-5.9 earthquake Thursday, but officials said there were no immediate reports of major injury or damage from the second large temblor to hit the area within a month.
SALT LAKE CITY – Climate change might be wiping out some populations of the American pika, a relative of the rabbit, but not enough to warrant legal protection for the tiny mountain-dwelling animal, according to a decision released Thursday.
BELFAST, Northern Ireland – Lawmakers from Northern Ireland's major Protestant party have unanimously backed a compromise plan with the Catholic minority to save their power-sharing government, Democratic Unionist Party leader Peter Robinson declared today.
NEW DELHI – India offered Thursday to resume high-level peace talks with Pakistan, an overture that reflected a significant warming between the nuclear-armed countries one year after the deadly siege on Mumbai.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan– Pakistanis shouted anti-American slogans and burned the Stars and Stripes on Thursday in protest of a New York jury's conviction of a Pakistani woman accused of trying to kill Americans while detained in Afghanistan.
BUCHAREST, Romania – Romania's top defense body on Thursday approved a U.S. proposal to place anti-ballistic missile interceptors in the country as part of a revamped American missile shield, the president said.
NBA: LeBron James scored 36 points – 17 on free throws – and Daniel Gibson added 12 after returning from the hospital as the Cleveland Cavaliers ran their winning streak to 10 with a 102-84 win over Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat on Thursday night at Cleveland.
PORTLAND – Giggles the Green Bean has a problem. He's a happy little seed, planted in some good ground, but he sprouts into a world where the air stinks, the sky is gray and the trees are gasping.
VANCOUVER, Wash. – To the list of woes facing a cash-strapped state government, now add fuel efficiency.
Nic Wise couldn't find his stroke, Derrick Williams couldn't stay on the floor, and Quincy Pondexter couldn't miss.
The Inland Casket Company factory building on Atlantic Street on Spokane's near north side holds two distinctions. It was home to one of the longest operating casket companies in the area. And it is the only casket factory building still standing in Spokane.
Honey bees aren't the only bees out there that can pollinate our plants. There are native bees that work just as hard and with a little encouragement will set up shop in your garden.
St. David's Episcopal Church, 7315 N. Wall St., will present a Celtic Christian Communion service Friday at 7 p.m.
Q: Five people at Starbucks in Spokane Valley were asked: "What do you like the most about Super Bowl Sunday: the game, the commercials or the party?"
POST FALLS – Tickets are now on sale for The Jacklin Arts and Cultural Center, 405 N. William St. in Post Falls, Valentine's feature concert, "A Tribute to Judy Garland."
Even dormant bees need food and warmth to survive the chill of winter. Beekeepers dutifully tend to their hives through the winter with these priorities in mind. There are mixed approaches to addressing concerns about bee warmth in unpredictable cold weather. However, all seem to agree that keeping them fed through the winter is critical for survival.
Sandi McKinley isn't a fairy godmother, but when formal gowns will be needed for special occasions, be it prom, Sweet 16 parties, homecoming, father/daughter dances or musical recitals, many Spokane and North Idaho residents will believe McKinley and her 13-year-old daughter, Kendall, are the next best thing.
WEST HILLS – OutSpokane will host its first "Date with a Straight: A Night OUT with Our Allies" on Feb. 12 at Irv's Bar, 415 W. Sprague Ave., from 7 to 10 p.m.
Plans are taking shape for Fairfield's 2010 Flag Day celebration – an event that will put the small community in the nation's record books.
Dear Annie: I have a daughter from a previous marriage, and my husband and I have a son together. The problem is, my husband ignores my daughter.
The charity anthem "We Are the World" has been rerecorded by 80 artists who came together in the same Hollywood studio where the original was cut 25 years ago.
Spokane's newest dance company makes its debut Saturday night.Spokane Youth Ballet will present "The Dancing Princesses," a new ballet in two acts about the captain of the palace guard who solves the mystery of the worn dancing shoes and wins the princess' hand in marriage.
Plenty of folks loved it when Interplayers staged "Always … Patsy Cline" in 2003. Those same folks should lap up Interplayers' new show, "Honky Tonk Angels," which is by the same playwright, Ted Swindley. It mines similar country-music material.
EVERETT – Boeing Co. designers and marketers are betting that a lot of subtle changes in the interior of their new 787 jetliner will add up to strong passenger demand to fly on the plane.
The U.S. Army's virtual online recruiter, Sergeant Star, is being prepped for more advanced missions, his Spokane creators announced Wednesday.
The Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations is offering up to $1,000 for tips leading to the solution of any of the hate crimes that have plagued the Inland Northwest since spring.
A high school gym teacher and cheerleading coach is accused of sexually abusing a teenager.Darin J. DeBolt, 26, a teacher at Lakeside High School in Plummer, Idaho, appeared in court Wednesday on one count of sexual battery of a minor child ages 16 or 17 and one count of sexual intercourse with a minor child.
The first time Washington State played tonight's opponent, Arizona State, the Cougars didn't fare all that well.
BOISE – The Panhandle Health District will take another look at its rule limiting expansion of North Idaho cabins on old, noncompliant sewer systems, but the move won't help a Pullman resident who built a home on Lake Coeur d'Alene and now can't occupy it.
The football recruiting process turned a bit more selective for Beau Baldwin and his Eastern Washington University coaching staff this time around.
MOSCOW, Idaho – Robb Akey insists the University of Idaho honed in on the same high school standouts from the start. But when the Vandals started piling up victories in September and October, his staff could detect at least one difference.
College basketball: Dominique Jones ignited a comeback by scoring 22 of his 29 points in the second half, and South Florida extended its longest Big East winning streak, stunning No. 7 Georgetown 72-64 on Wednesday night in Washington.
MIAMI – In the 1973 Super Bowl, Bob Griese threw a grand total of 11 passes to help the Miami Dolphins complete the NFL's only perfect season.
Out New Orleans point guard Chris Paul will have knee surgery and miss the NBA All-Star game. Hornets coach Jeff Bower said Paul will have surgery today to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. Paul is likely to be sidelined for up to a month. The NBA announced Paul was replaced on the Western Conference roster by Denver's Chauncey Billups for the All-Star game on Feb. 14 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Paul hurt the knee Jan. 27 against Golden State, then aggravated the injury against the Chicago Bulls on Friday. Paul averages a team-high 20.4 points and an NBA-best 11.2 assists.
PHOENIX – An ambitious, $6.7 billion government project to secure nearly the entire Mexican border with a "virtual fence" of cameras, ground sensors and radar is in jeopardy after a string of technical glitches and delays.
BOSTON – Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown changed course and demanded he be sworn in to replace the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy today, an accelerated timetable that conservatives had been clamoring for and one that Democrats quickly accepted – and had already been moving to accommodate.
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Motivational speaker James Arthur Ray was arrested Wednesday on manslaughter charges after three people died following a northern Arizona sweat lodge ceremony he led last year.
In their own way, a team of a 45 medical professionals from Spokane will embark on a mission of medical and moral repayment when they travel to Rwanda later this week.
WASHINGTON – Congressional investigators are escalating their probe of Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles by examining whether sudden acceleration afflicts models that have not been recalled – and whether all Toyota vehicles should be modified so that their brakes override out-of-control throttles.
In a study certain to rekindle debate over life-sustaining care for those with grievous brain injuries, researchers report that five patients thought to be in a persistent vegetative state showed brain activity indicating awareness, intent and, in one case at least, a wish to communicate.
BERLIN – A U.S. military helicopter crashed in western Germany on Wednesday, killing all three people aboard, according to a spokesman for U.S. Army Europe.
LOGAN, Utah – Brian Green shot 4 of 4 from 3-point range and scored 16 points in 21 minutes to lead Utah State past Idaho 80-62 Wednesday night in a Western Athletic Conference men's basketball game.
SHAHI KOTO, Pakistan – Police said the suicide bomber who killed three U.S. soldiers in northwestern Pakistan knew which vehicle was theirs in a five-car convoy and rammed his car into it.
Craving a way to perk up from the midwinter gray? Try Ginger Asian Bistro. That is, if you can get in the door.
Although Heather Beedle is one of five finalists in the French's National Cook-off, she already feels like a winner.
It's been some time since Bravo lost "Project Runway," but the series remains the network's most influential show.
Megan Fox and Will Ferrell are definitely on the "F" list.
Hi, Carolyn: I am 29 and single. I have a very strong mother, who raised me to treat women with respect. I was taught women are strong, intelligent and independent. And that women don't need any special treatment.
If your sweetheart is passionate about conservation, consider the Lands Council wine and dessert tasting next Thursday as a Valentine's Day warm-up.
It can be hard to keep up with the ever-changing array in the frozen pizza aisle.Crusts, once simply thick or thin, can now be naturally rising, fire-baked, brick oven, crispy flatbread or even garlic bread.
A Balanced Budget Amendment has been the hobby horse of many politicians who want to pose as budget hawks. It got a lot of attention during the Contract With America campaign of congressional Republicans before the 1994 midterm elections. Because it would be a change to the U.S. Constitution, it would require the assent of two-thirds of both houses of Congress and the ratification of three-fourths of the states. In 1995, the amendment passed the House and came within one vote of passing the Senate. It hasn't been seriously considered ever since.
SAN FRANCISCO – A federal appeals court said Tuesday a 22-year prison sentence was too lenient for an al-Qaida-trained terrorist convicted of plotting to bomb Los Angeles International Airport at the end of the millennium.
SEATTLE – A federal judge has rejected a government request to dismiss a lawsuit by a U.S. citizen who was locked up for seven months at an immigration center.
Nurses are accusing Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center of pushing unfair and unsafe new workplace rules that would curtail rest breaks and trim staffing levels.
DETROIT – Toyota's auto sales fell 16 percent in January, a month when it recalled millions of vehicles and halted sales of several models. Most other automakers reported higher sales and looked for opportunities to snatch sales from the troubled Japanese automaker.
WASHINGTON – Al-Qaida can be expected to attempt an attack on the United States in the next three to six months, senior U.S. intelligence officials told Congress Tuesday.
St. John's, Newfoundland – The premier of Canada's east coast province is undergoing heart surgery in the United States this week because the treatment he is seeking was not available in his home province.
WASHINGTON – The nation's top military officer told Congress on Tuesday that gay men and lesbians should be allowed to serve openly in the military, the strongest endorsement ever by the nation's military leadership for overturning the law that excludes them from the U.S. Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The New Orleans Saints arrived during a Florida rainstorm Monday afternoon. Practice was moved indoors, to a different location, and the Saints had to put on their full gear at the team hotel before taking a one-hour bus ride to the Miami Dolphins' facility.
MIAMI – Go ahead, try to make heads or tails of this scenario:The Super Bowl is tied after four quarters. The captains from Indianapolis and New Orleans trudge wearily back to midfield, exactly where they stood four hours earlier to begin Sunday night's game. A referee holds the silver coin, turns toward one side and says, "This is heads. This is tails. You make the call."
WELLINGTON, New Zealand – A New Zealand teenager who says she auctioned her virginity online for $32,000 to raise tuition money did not break any laws but it might be risky for her to follow through on the deal, police warned today.
Punxsutawney, Pa. – The groundhog has spoken. And it's bad news.Punxsutawney Phil emerged Tuesday to see his shadow before chilly revelers in Pennsylvania, meaning winter will last another six weeks.
LOS ANGELES – Concern about the heavy metal cadmium in jewelry grew Tuesday as a California environmental group said new testing of adult necklaces and bracelets bought at three leading retailers, including Saks Fifth Avenue and Aeropostale, detected high levels of the toxic material – as much as 75 percent by weight.
BOISE – Idaho Fish and Game officials say they're moving ahead with plans to reopen a public shooting range at Farragut State Park this spring, despite a lawsuit from neighbors that shut down the range in 2007.
Health care executives say looming state budget cuts threaten to push thousands more people into the ranks of the uninsured and further strain the region's clinics and hospitals.
The weather forecaster many regional farmers rely upon predicted that spring would be cool and accompanied by modest rains and perhaps a bit of snow.
Fined New York Jets coach Rex Ryan was fined $50,000 by the team for making an obscene gesture at a mixed martial arts event last weekend. The team's decision came after a smiling Ryan was caught on a cell phone camera flipping his middle finger at a fan during the competition in Sunrise, Fla., on Saturday night.
Men's basketball: Jason Bohannon scored 19 points to lead No. 16 Wisconsin to a 67-49 victory over No. 5 Michigan State on Tuesday night, snapping the Spartans (19-4, 9-1) perfect Big Ten start and leaving them without leading scorer Kalin Lucas.
VANCOUVER, Wash. – The initial 911 report from the Vancouver, Wash., elementary school was alarming: shots fired at a school playground. That brought police patrol and SWAT officers scrambling Tuesday morning – only to find the weapon was a bright orange cap gun.
January 2010 in Spokane ended with the lowest snowfall amount for the first month of the year since 1994 and the fourth lowest on record, a complete turnaround from the last two winters.
If you have been to the grocery or drug store lately, you have seen the aisles packed with heart-shaped and heart-decorated merchandise for Valentine's Day.
Danielle Gayden of Oakland, Calif., had to stick her face in front of a fan for almost an hour to cool down. Second to her intolerance for heat was the anxiety, which caused her heart to beat 200 times a minute and sent her to the emergency room a dozen times in six months.
Olivia Newton-John is set to co-star in a movie musical about Canada's favorite pastime.
Dear Annie: My brother is smart, nice and a good person. The problem is, he married the worst possible human being. The verbal abuse started eight years ago, and she began hitting him within the last three.
A thoughtful "Frontline" (9 p.m., KSPS/KCDT/KUID) presents "digital_nation: Life on the Virtual Frontier."
A large study on a new oral medication for multiple sclerosis has yielded promising results both in terms of how well the drug works and its safety, according to a new study in the New England Journal of Medicine.
LOS ANGELES – Toyota Motor Corp. said Monday that it has a repair to stop one cause of unintended acceleration that has led to a recall of eight of its most popular vehicles.
Q.I just retired with $397,000 in my 401(k). My broker recommends rolling it to an IRA and buying mutual funds. He likes C shares because there's no commission. What do you think?
WASHINGTON – Toyota said Monday it would start shipping parts to dealers for repairing accelerator pedals in 2.3 million cars and trucks this week, vowing to move as quickly as possible while admitting the problem was an embarrassment.
Spray. Dab. Wipe, wipe. With the type of gentle cleaning normally reserved for rebuilt cars of yesteryear, Mark Prewett swiped away every grain of grit.
CHICAGO – An experimental abstinence-only program without a moralistic tone can delay teens from having sex, a provocative study has found.
BOISE – School groups might have to start paying to tour Cataldo Mission, some parks could close during winters, and the shooting range at Farragut State Park could be reopened under a plan to make Idaho's state parks financially self-sufficient.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Rain drove the New Orleans Saints indoors Monday. The NFL scrambled to move today's media day activities under cover. And tourism officials tried to shrug off the public-relations blow of a soggy start to Super Bowl week.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The hope is that Dwight Freeney will play in Sunday's Super Bowl for the Indianapolis Colts. The plan is to play the game without him.
Gone Oregon football coach Chip Kelly confirmed Monday that three Ducks will not return for the 2010 season. The most prominent of the three is Garrett Embry, a backup receiver who played in 25 games the past two seasons. Kelly says Embry was dismissed more than three weeks ago for an unspecified violation of team rules. Also gone from the squad are defensive linemen Andrew Iupati and Terrance Montgomery. The university says Iupati transferred to Humboldt State and Montgomery decided to give up football.
SAN DIEGO – Scott McCarron is not backing away from his accusation that Phil Mickelson and other golfers are cheating if they use the Ping-Eye 2 wedges with square grooves.
NBA: Kobe Bryant scored 44 points, passing Jerry West as the Los Angeles Lakers' career scorer, but it wasn't enough as the Memphis Grizzlies got 22 points and 17 rebounds from Zach Randolph to defeat the Lakers 95-93 on Monday night in Memphis, Tenn.
WASHINGTON – The U.S. military must prepare for a combination of humanitarian missions, untraditional threats such as cyber-attacks, environmental disasters, terrorist groups seeking weapons of mass destruction and as many as two major conflicts, the Defense Department's latest four-year policy review has found.
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama on Monday sent Congress a federal budget for the coming fiscal year that projects a near-record $1.27 trillion deficit, saying he would create a bipartisan commission to find ways to bring down government spending.
KABUL, Afghanistan – Four NATO service members – including one American – were killed in action Monday, the deadliest day for the international force in more than two weeks.
DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan – Taliban militants in Pakistan promised on Monday to soon prove their leader was still alive, dismissing as government propaganda reports he may have died from injuries sustained in a U.S. missile attack close to Afghanistan.
WASHINGTON – Federal health officials said Monday that patients taking a Bristol-Myers Squibb drug for HIV are at risk of a rare, but potentially fatal, liver disorder.
SEATTLE – A late 8-0 run and clutch free throws down the stretch by Seattle sent the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team to its sixth straight defeat, 68-62, in a non-conference game Monday night at KeyArena.
Birthdays weren't such a big deal when I was a kid.Sure, my parents got me a little something special when my day rolled around. Mom usually made a cake. Sometimes we'd get to go to Pizza Hut, where my brother and I played Pac-Man excessively while waiting for the pie.
Sometimes during the winter months, I just need a day brightener when it's dark and dreary outside. And that's where my spunky friend Carol fits in.
Dear Annie: I am happily married to an amazing lady who has been my best friend since the day we met 25 years ago. Our kids are all away at college, and we love our empty nest. We keep physically fit, are in great health, are financially stable and have a satisfying social life. The only problem is in the bedroom.
"Kell On Earth" (10 p.m., Bravo, TV-14) "stars" Kelly Cutrone, one tough woman.
Proving there's nothing really new in politics, the reordered agenda in President Barack Obama's State of the Union speech sounded very much like the key elements in Bill Clinton's familiar and successful 1992 mantra: "The economy, stupid. Don't forget health care."
JERUSALEM – A Hamas military commander slain in a Dubai hotel room played a key role in smuggling anti-aircraft missiles and other weapons into the Gaza Strip, Israeli and Hamas officials said Sunday.
KABUL, Afghanistan – The Pakistani Taliban leader tied to the Dec. 30 bombing of a CIA encampment in Afghanistan has died from injuries sustained in a U.S. missile strike in mid-January, Western military officials said Sunday.
SEATTLE – Those who lost loved ones when Alaska Airlines Flight 261 plunged into the Pacific Ocean off California have learned some hard, bitter truths in the 10 years since the crash.
SEATTLE – An investigation by the Seattle Times has uncovered serious flaws in Washington's adult family home system.
Quarterbacks Peyton Manning and Tom Brady joined two-time selections Willie Roaf, Larry Allen and Warren Sapp among the 53 players announced Sunday as members of the NFL's All-Decade team.
MELBOURNE, Australia – The weight of a nation's expectations broke Andy Murray's composure Sunday after Roger Federer broke his game.
MIAMI – In its new role as a warmup to the Super Bowl, the Pro Bowl became a series of wind sprints.
A proposed ban on assault-style firearms triggered plenty of debate, both in Olympia and on the Internet, where Spokesman-Review readers sparred over everything from the suitability of the definition for assault weapons to the role that civilian ownership of all types of firearms serves in preservation of democracy, as this sampling of comments clearly shows. Find the coverage and full debate at www.spokesman.com.
An anonymous $10,000 donation to the Spokane County veterans relief fund is shining a light on a little-known program that serves thousands of people. The money will be used to increase 1,000 food vouchers from $65 to $75. "We've fielded a lot of phone calls in the past two or three days from people that didn't know we even existed," said Chuck Elmore, director of Spokane County Veteran Services. To be eligible for assistance, veterans must be honorably discharged, live in the county and be unable to pay their bills. Their widows also are eligible. The department assisted in 5,505 cases last year, and by Friday had served 497 clients in January. A retired chief master sergeant who spent nearly 28 years in the Air Force, Elmore offered these insights:
SAN DIEGO – Ben Crane is back in the news for all the right reasons.Crane's quiet offseason took a strange turn in December when a gossip magazine quoted him as saying that Tiger Woods was a "phony and fake," even though Crane had never spoken to Life & Style and had not given any interviews in months.
For the second year in a row, the Lilac Festival Queen hails from Northwest Christian High School.
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama's proposed budget predicts the national deficit will crest at a record-breaking almost $1.6 trillion in the current fiscal year, then start to recede in 2011 to just below $1.3 trillion.
Returned Florida Panthers left wing David Booth returned from a concussion that had left him sidelined since Oct. 24. The 25-year-old forward missed 45 games because of the injury, which might have also cost him a spot on the U.S. Olympic team. The Panthers defeated the New York Islanders 2-0 on Sunday, and Booth tallied an assist.
NHL: Alex Ovechkin scored the go-ahead goal with 6:26 remaining, and the Washington Capitals tied a franchise record with their 10th straight win, beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 at home.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The new Action Express Racing team showed up at Daytona International Speedway this week simply looking to take its new engine for a test run.
LOS ANGELES – Twenty years later, grown men still grab Bo Kimble's hand and cry."They won't let go," he says.
Lindsey Vonn heads to the Vancouver Olympics happy and healthy after enjoying a perfect Sunday."Now I feel like I'm ready," Vonn said after winning a super-G race at St. Moritz, Switzerland, her final World Cup event before the Feb. 12-28 games.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Ten U.S. Baptists arrested trying to take 33 children out of earthquake-shattered Haiti say they were just trying to do the right thing, applying Christian principles to save Haitian children.
MOSCOW – Russian police broke up anti-Kremlin protests in Moscow and St. Petersburg on Sunday and detained more than 100 demonstrators, including several opposition leaders.
LOS ANGELES – Beyonce became the most decorated female on a Grammy night as she collected six trophies, including song of the year for her anthem "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)," but it was another diva – Taylor Swift – who nabbed the top honor, album of the year, for her best-selling "Fearless."
An eatery can throw bales of money toward fancy décor, high-gloss gourmet menus and endless advertisements, but word of mouth has always been the great equalizer, capable of making or breaking a restaurant.
Living in a small town is a lifestyle many in the Sandpoint community cherish. But it also comes with limitations. Just ask Paul Walsh.
Fearlessly, I decided Monday to check out our newest cafe in town. Formerly known as Terry's Cafe, it has been transformed into a clean, pleasant eatery, now known as The Bay Cafe. After introducing myself to Dean Knowles and his trusty sidekick Sherry, I asked about their backgrounds. Dean, it turns out, has spent the last six years cooking at Jimmy C's, while Sherry worked at the same place for two years. Doing his own thing appealed to him, and a new look in Bayview is born.
What had been the classy Brix restaurant and the lively Underground dance club at 317 Sherman Ave. has combined into Icon, a dual sports bar and music-and-dance venue for downtown Coeur d'Alene.
As we close out the month of January, it looks like the month will definitely go down in the record books as a warm one. Temperatures over the last 30 days averaged nearly 8 degrees above normal. Final snowfall totals are not yet available as I write this, but below-normal snowfall looks like a pretty obviously bet, as well.
Presumption of innocence. It is the foundation of our legal system and is a right granted to every citizen regardless of age.
SANDPOINT – Idaho Lights, a retail lighting store, plans to host the grand opening of its art gallery on Feb. 18 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the lighting store, 402 Cedar St. in Sandpoint.
Dr. Michael Ettner knows first-hand the heavy toll of daily life in Haiti.Through his travels to the least-developed and poorest nation in the western hemisphere, Ettner, an emergency room physician at Kootenai Medical Center, has tended to the urban and rural population of more than 65,000 Haitians who live in the city of Hinche and surrounding countryside 45 miles north of the capital Port-au-Prince, where during the dry season most survive on scant meals every three days. There, life is a constant struggle, as it is everywhere within the borders of the island country that's slightly smaller in size than Maryland.
BOISE – Former Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne has emerged back on the Idaho political scene, endorsing 1st District congressional candidate Vaughn Ward, introducing Ward at a Statehouse press conference officially announcing his candidacy, and traveling with him around the state for two days of Ward's four-day, 18-stop announcement tour.
Q. My wood entry door was beautiful about 10 years ago but has been dried out by direct sun and is now unsightly. It had a stained, wood-toned finish. How can I restore it?
Americans want smaller houses and they are willing to strip some of yesterday's most popular rooms – such as home theaters – from them in order to accommodate changing lifestyles, consumer experts told audiences at the recent International Builders Show in Las Vegas.
LABADEE, Haiti – With the Celebrity Solstice cruise ship anchored just offshore this beautiful expanse of white sand, vacationers stretched out on beach chairs in the sun, sipped cold beer and pina coladas with pineapple slices on the rim and listened to Haitian folk music.
Idaho's Division of Tourism says tours of Mother Nature's most popular offerings in the state are now available online.
The holding company for Banner Bank and Islanders Bank lost $35.8 million in 2009, an improvement over the $128 million loss it recorded in 2008.
LOS ANGELES – Since first importing cars to the United States more than five decades ago, Toyota Motor Corp. has slowly and steadily built itself into the world's pre-eminent automaker, developing a strong reputation for technical expertise and reliability.
ST. LOUIS – Even while calling Chicago home, Laura Hawkins Grimes is a country bumpkin. Her scenic rural spread has three dairy farms, two ponds and a log cabin, all skirted by a white picket fence as scarecrows stand sentry over her blackberries.
Already established in China, Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM), operator of Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and KFC, recently outlined its growth plans for India. The company intends to open 1,000 fast-food outlets by 2015. While investors invariably think of China when it comes to overseas growth, they need to look at India, too.
A small Sandpoint tech company has ignited a buzz of interest in its 3-D visualization tool, getting calls daily from state tourism agencies eager to use the tool to promote tourism.
Although the Dave Matthews Band's many achievements include a Grammy Award, getting a trophy has never been the focus of the group, which has blazed an independent path from pop's mainstream.
We still don't know if Spokane will be the actual setting for Martin McDonagh's new play, "A Behanding in Spokane," which opens for previews on Broadway on Feb. 15.
A big name in poetry – Sharon Olds – arrives here on Tuesday as part of the Gonzaga University Visiting Writers Series.
My grandfather, when in his nineties, wrote me a letter in which he listed everything he and my uncle had eaten in the past week. That was the news.
Loud rock music and a dizzying pace seem to be the antithesis of swinging a streamer through a steelhead run or drifting dries through a rise on a mountain trout stream. But the mix seems to be the antidote for what ails many anglers in the middle of winter.
Eastern Washington birding enthusiasts are flying high this week with the release of a colorful new birding trail map for the state's far-eastern region.
Oh no! Not the kitchen table analogy again! Here is White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett explaining to TV host Rachel Maddow how American families solve budget woes:
The sober, sprawling State of the Union address President Barack Obama delivered last week was marked by one extraordinary moment. It came when the president looked down at six robed members of the Supreme Court, seated directly in front of him, and criticized their recent 5-4 decision that he said "will open the floodgates for special interests, including foreign corporations, to spend without limit in our elections."
There is a popular story about two campers discussing the possibility of running into a bear. One says to the other, "Well, I'll just drop my backpack and run for the hills." "I don't think you can outrun a bear," the other camper says. "Oh, I don't have to outrun the bear," says the first camper. "I only have to outrun you."
From the bow of a 37-foot luxury cruise boat complete with leather seats, two flat-screen televisions, a full-size shower and a bed, Angela Moses' grin spread wide.
A decade ago, Bill Gates made his first major foray into the world of global health with a $750 million grant to boost immunization of the planet's poorest children.
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho – The Idaho National Laboratory plans to create a complex in Idaho Falls so that workers will be located closer together rather than spread out over the city.
If you love good dogs and good acting, book yourself a ticket to the Spokane Civic Theatre's production of "Sylvia" right away.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Morning arrives with the melody of the Haitian streets.A rooster crows, and two street preachers stand near the gates of a new tent city. They are both women, both wearing black kerchiefs over their hair. One shouts hoarsely into a bullhorn while the other sings sweetly from a "singing bible," a book of hymns. The sounds clash and blend, grate and harmonize, and the result is, incongruously, achingly beautiful, a sort of Haitian hip-hop gospel.
MIAMI – The Pro Bowl's experimental one-year move to Miami has resulted in better ticket sales, more media coverage and some grousing by players.
ASPEN, Colo. – Snowboardcross rider Nate Holland was cruising along in his semifinal run when a spray of snow suddenly shielded his vision, a pileup of crashed snowboarders cluttered his path.
ST. MORITZ, Switzerland – Lindsey Vonn is no longer perfect in downhill races. Not to worry, she says. It might help her win an Olympic title.
Las Vegas – Miss Virginia Caressa Cameron won the 2010 Miss America title Saturday night after strutting in a skintight yellow dress, belting Beyonce's "Listen" from "Dreamgirls" and telling kids they should get outside more often.
PORTLAND – A Portland police officer who was transferred to work at a property evidence warehouse has filed a whistle-blower complaint against the Portland Police Bureau claiming he is being punished for speaking out.
BOISE – Some law enforcement agencies in southwest Idaho are retraining officers about when to use Tasers following a decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
VANCOUVER, B.C. – Five blocks from the venue for Vancouver's Olympic opening ceremonies, four grizzled addicts huddle in the rain, injecting themselves with heroin behind a trash bin.
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama's budget blueprint would expand the Pell Grant program to nearly $35 billion in aid next year, an increase in the college funding program for low- and moderate-income families of more than 92 percent since he took office.
Raises have been scarce and budget cuts common at colleges dealing with the fallout from the worst state budget in memory.
The Coeur d'Alene Tribe is proposing legislation that would give tribal police the authority to arrest or cite non-tribal members and send them to state court.
RICHLAND – Words come slowly when Richland's Nancy Nelson speaks about the recent Haitian earthquake. And when they do, they paint a picture of horror, agony, death and destruction she witnessed firsthand in Port-au-Prince.
On the 18th anniversary of being named Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl XXVI, Spokane's Mark Rypien was back in the nation's capital last week to receive another special honor.
Phil Mickelson hit a drive into a eucalyptus tree that never came down. D.A. Point had a chip from 30 yards short of the flag that tumbled 20 yards over the green and into a hazard.
Men's College Basketball: Sherron Collins bounced back from a back injury to score on a hard drive with nine seconds left in overtime, helping No. 2 Kansas pull out a gritty 81-79 win over No. 11 Kansas State on Saturday night at Manhattan, Kan.
Agreed Closer Brian Wilson and the San Francisco Giants agreed to a $4,437,500, one-year deal Saturday, avoiding an arbitration hearing. The Giants confirmed to the Associated Press the sides settled at the midpoint of what each proposed in arbitration.
Reeves Nelson finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds and UCLA used a late 12-2 run to pull away from Oregon State for a 62-52 victory Saturday night at Corvallis, Ore.
SEATTLE – Steffan Johnson had 18 points and Idaho converted 10 of 12 free throws in the final 2 1/2 minutes to hold on and beat Seattle 87-85 on Saturday night.
Eastern Washington University has been forced to deal with its share of disappointing defeats this winter.
HAMAR, Norway – Haralds Silovs had better take a close look at a Vancouver city map on the first full day of the Olympics.
Bo Gregg had a career game at the Whitworth Fieldhouse on Saturday night, but no one needed to tell him he didn't accomplish it on his own.
Dear Annie: I am a 23-year-old girl, and my best friend, "Natalie," is my roommate. We have been best friends since childhood and have a strong bond. We went to the same high school, now attend the same college and even studied abroad together.
John Travolta says his Scientologist faith has helped him survive the tragic death of his 16-year-old son.
As a teenager, Lubni "Lu" Cazeau swore she would never waste time sweating away in a kitchen. "I'd see my stepmom come home from a hard day of work and have to turn around and make dinner," Cazeau says. "I thought, 'I would never do that.' I wanted to be a new age woman. "Then I went to college," she recalls. "And started to starve."
Pope Benedict XVI is condemning what he called "growing aversion" to the Christian faith in the world.
NEW YORK – Stocks ended a disappointing January with a loss as investors questioned whether the economy will be able to sustain its big fourth-quarter growth rate. Downbeat earnings at tech companies also pulled stocks down.
The real scandal surrounding the failed Christmas Day airline bombing was not the fact that a terrorist got on a plane – that can happen to any administration, as it surely did to the Bush administration – but what happened afterward when Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was captured and came under the full control of the U.S. government.
I am standing on the shore of the river, downstream from the State Line Bridge, near the two wide supports of the old bridge that once spanned the river. The gray concrete obelisks remind me of Easter Island statuary or the ruins of a medieval castle.
SPOKANE VALLEY – The community is invited to an open house at Spokane Valley City Hall on Thursday, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. to receive an update on the Spokane Valley Shoreline Master Program.
Don't let the recent run of warmer weather fool you. We aren't done with winter yet. We have had winters like this before and had the bottom fall out of the thermometer in early February. The daffodils may be poking the tips of their leaves out of the ground but they are just testing the weather. Just settle for raking leaves and doing some cleanup for now.
Devan Silva didn't fall in love with wrestling until he was older than most. While so many of his competitors grew up on a wrestling mat, Silva didn't discover the sport until high school, despite coming from a family of wrestlers.
The Freeman School District had anticipated the opening of its newly renovated high school gymnasium in December, but unsuitable soil underneath the footprint of the gym has pushed that opening back a few months.
Students participating in the YMCA after-school program in eight elementary schools across the greater Spokane Valley will now receive free snacks from Second Harvest.
INDIANAPOLIS – The trailer industry and lawmakers are pressing the government to send Haiti thousands of potentially formaldehyde-laced trailers left over from Hurricane Katrina – an idea denounced by some as a crass and self-serving attempt to dump inferior American products on the poor.
WASHINGTON – Two days after he announced that job creation is his administration's top priority, President Barack Obama detailed a proposal, which he unveiled Friday in Baltimore, to encourage small businesses to start hiring.
DETROIT – Toyota said it began shipping gas pedal parts to its dealers Friday for use in fixing the millions of cars and trucks recalled because of accelerators that could become stuck.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – When he was packing for South Florida a few days ago, New England defensive lineman Vince Wilfork hadn't realized he would be attending what essentially has become a meeting of Miami Hurricanes alumni.
Agreed Texas Rangers right-hander Scott Feldman, a 17-game winner last season, agreed Friday to a one-year contract worth $2,425,000 and avoided an arbitration hearing.
NFL: Kurt Warner thanked God, hugged his children and wife and said goodbye to an NFL career that seems the stuff of sports fiction.
Spokane police on Friday said they are investigating the cause of a traffic accident in which a man riding a motorcycle crashed into the rear of a Spokane Transit Authority bus.
The votes are tallied and the people's verdict is in: Heck, yeah. Stick it to the downtown parking lot companies.
MOSCOW, Idaho – Identifying troubled students and getting them help early in the semester helped the University of Idaho post a 3 percent enrollment gain over last spring, according to the university.
BOISE – A state senator representing Hayden Lake on Friday introduced sweeping legislation aimed at punishing Idaho employers who knowingly employ undocumented immigrants.
PLANT CITY, Fla. – Winning $30 million in the Florida Lottery should have been the best thing that ever happened to Abraham Shakespeare.
HONOLULU – The Republican National Committee, pressed to find a way to distinguish itself more clearly from Democrats, on Friday adopted a rule that will prod GOP leaders to provide financial support only to those candidates who support the party's platform.
YAKIMA – A state judge ruled Friday that Phillip A. Paul, the criminally committed Eastern State Hospital patient whose escape during a September field trip to the Spokane County Interstate Fair outraged residents and led to changes in state policy, should be stripped of his right to live away from the hospital campus.
Like thousands of others before him, Volody Nesteruk brought his family to Spokane from the Ukraine.
BALTIMORE – In an unprecedented town hall meeting, President Barack Obama went toe-to-toe Friday with some of his fiercest critics – a ballroom-full of House Republicans – accusing them of derailing his health care overhaul while they complained about being shut out of the political process.
HONOLULU – Hawaii lawmakers declined to vote Friday on a bill that would have allowed same-sex civil unions, effectively killing the measure.
WASHINGTON – The Obama administration announced plans Friday to sell $6.4 billion in weapons to Taiwan, including helicopters and missile defense systems, a move that's certain to anger China, which considers the island nation a renegade province.
CAIRO, Egypt – Osama bin Laden sought to draw a wider public into his fight against the United States in a new message Friday, dropping his usual talk of holy war and focusing instead on an unexpected topic: global warming.
WARSAW, Poland – A dog rescued from the Baltic Sea after braving a 75-mile journey on an ice floe is making himself at home on the Polish research ship whose crew rescued him, the captain said Friday.
Moscow – Russia's first stealth fighter intended to match the latest U.S. design made its maiden flight Friday, boosting the country's efforts to modernize its rusting Soviet-built arsenals and retain its lucrative export market.
The legs still may be a little rubbery, but the Spokane Chiefs' spirit was not Friday night.Kyle Beach notched two goals and an assist, and Spokane held off Seattle's frantic comeback in a 4-2 Western Hockey League victory Friday night at the Arena.
It's was a basket so ugly the officials needed to check a courtside television monitor to see if it was even legal.
ASPEN, Colo. – Shaun White's face smacked against the halfpipe, his neck snapped back and his helmet popped off and flew 15 feet in the air.
GRANTS PASS, Ore. – The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Friday it will take another look at the decision to move its research fleet from Seattle to the central Oregon Coast after a competing port raised questions about the potential for flooding.
More than 2,000 ballots mailed to Whitman County residents last week will now be considered void by the county auditor.
Martha Stewart is heading to cable.The lifestyle queen has signed a deal to move her daily program to the Hallmark Channel, effective this September.
Hello, Carolyn: Help. My 22-year-old daughter, a college senior, has gained weight over the past two years. Every holiday she returns home bigger than before.
The similarities to a certain 1993 theatrical event are striking.In September of that year, Interplayers did exactly what it is doing this week: staging a three-performance fundraiser of A.R. Gurney's romantic dramedy, "Love Letters," starring Hollywood veterans Ellen Travolta and Jack Bannon.
Bach (1/29/2010)
Spokane's Northwest Bach Festival celebrates its 32nd season starting this weekend with music by Bach and a batch more composers.
Empyrean Coffee House is cozying up to its new home.The coffee house, local arts hub and all-ages music venue reopened at the former Big Dipper space, 171 S. Washington St., a couple of weeks ago.
The Spike cable network is looking to get into late-night television, but Conan O'Brien need not apply.
The developer of a downtown loft project who filed suit in October for damages related to the devastating Joel Building fire has withdrawn the lawsuit.
DETROIT – Toyota has begun shipping parts to fix the faulty gas pedals that led to a still-expanding recall and an unprecedented decision to stop selling and building some of its top-selling models, but it still could not say Thursday when millions of its drivers would get their cars fixed.
LOS ANGELES – Ford Motor Co. posted a profit of $2.7 billion for the year, a dramatic turnaround for the company, which weathered one of the worst years in the history of the automotive industry in comparatively good health.
PROSSER, Wash. – A Benton County sheriff's officer says President Barack Obama's State of the Union address apparently sparked a Prosser domestic dispute that ended with an arrest.
Money raised by the Kootenai Health Foundation's 2009 Festival of Trees will pay for a new Cancer Wellness Program for at least two years.
BOISE – Idaho state schools Superintendent Tom Luna on Thursday proposed dipping into state reserves for nearly $53 million to help balance next year's school budget – a proposal that surprised and pleased lawmakers who are facing the prospect of making big cuts in education.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Snow or no snow, freestyle skiing and snowboarding at Cypress Mountain will go forward.
The sunrise never looked so good, ascending over the mountains to turn the lake from deep blue into molten gold. I had made it through the night on skis in 24 Hours of Schweitzer.
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – Argentina's president thinks eating pig meat is really sexy.Many people in this beef-loving nation reacted with surprise Thursday after Cristina Fernandez promoted pork in a speech during which she not only said pork is better than Viagra, but suggested she's personally proven it.
Fined LeBron James has been fined $25,000 by the NBA for kicking a water bottle during Cleveland's victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves. The NBA says James kicked a water bottle with 12.4 seconds left in the first quarter of the Cavaliers' 109-95 win Wednesday night.
WICHITA, Kan. – The judge in the trial of a man accused of murdering an abortion doctor dealt the defense a major setback Thursday, ruling that the jury cannot consider a lesser charge of manslaughter.
NEW YORK – Opposition to the government's plans to hold the Sept. 11 terrorist trial in New York City intensified Thursday, one day after Mayor Michael Bloomberg revealed he had changed his mind and now hoped the trial would be held elsewhere.
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – Honduras' new administration began its term Thursday saying the nation is bankrupt and will likely need international financial assistance to recover from months of diplomatic isolation over its June coup.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Hundreds of thousands of people still need food and shelter, all schools remain closed, and efforts have intensified to protect children from human trafficking in post-earthquake Haiti.
LONDON – A new type of morning-after pill is more effective than the most widely used drug at preventing pregnancies in women who had unprotected sex and also works longer, for up to five days, a new study says.
Jamal Boykin scored a career-high 25 points and had 10 rebounds, and California defeated Arizona State 78-70 at Tempe, Ariz., on Thursday night to remain alone atop the Pac-10.
MOSCOW, Idaho – For six weeks, the Idaho men's basketball team wandered. Pushed out of its usual home so the football team could prep for the Humanitarian Bowl, the Vandals were relegated to ancient Memorial Gym.
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Sherron Collins consulted family, friends and coaches before deciding between the NBA and one more season at Kansas. Cole Aldrich took a similar approach.
STANWOOD, Wash. – Police say a pickup truck that hit a freight train at a Stanwood crossing had been stolen from a nearby farm – and there's no indication anyone was inside the truck when the crash occurred.
Former University of Washington and NFL football player Steve Emtman is relying on perseverance, a trait that made him a dominant lineman, to complete his first residential development project, taking shape south of downtown Cheney.
Police are investigating the death of a 25-year-old Coeur d'Alene man who suffered a fractured skull apparently after either falling or jumping from a moving vehicle Jan. 17.
NEW YORK – The Los Angeles Sol of Women's Professional Soccer folded Thursday after one season, despite the star power of world player of the year Marta and a successful campaign that ended in the championship game.
LOS ANGELES – The first time Peyton Manning hunkered into an NFL huddle, called an NFL play, scanned the field and fired a pass to an NFL receiver, didn't come as the No. 1 overall pick of the Indianapolis Colts.
Men's College Basketball: E'Twaun Moore scored 20 points and No. 10 Purdue held off No. 16 Wisconsin 60-57 on Thursday night at West Lafayette, Ind.
SPOKANE VALLEY – The city of Spokane Valley Parks and Recreation Department will have a meeting today at 6:30 p.m. for dog owners and dog lovers to assess the level of interest and possibilities for development of a dog park.
The phrase "world-class" aptly describes the Spokane International Film Festival – but don't get the idea that this means the world's paparazzi will descend, Cannes-style.
Yes, A.R. Gurney's "Sylvia" is a dog play.One of the three main characters is a dog named Sylvia. She's played by a human – in this case, Spokane actress Beth Carey – who said she is basing her performance on a certain Charlie, her own friendly Lab mix.
The urge to savor every hour often arrives only when we realize that our moments are short. That's pretty much the lesson and hook of the reality special "Live for the Moment" (8 p.m., CBS, TV-G).
Allegro, Baroque and Beyond makes a musical journey to Paris on Friday at the Bing Crosby Theater, 901 W. Sprague Ave.
A lawyer for Charlie Sheen's wife said Wednesday that she's recovering at a North Carolina wellness center after an infection that nearly took her life.
Dear Annie: My in-laws live in a condominium about 35 miles from us. We visit them once a month. My father-in-law does not move around very well and is incontinent. He seldom leaves the condo. My mother-in-law still walks, but only to the grocery store or doctor's office. She is obviously beginning to slow down.
Don't let the recent run of warmer weather fool you. We aren't done with winter yet. We have had winters like this before and had the bottom fall out of the thermometer in early February. The daffodils may be poking the tips of their leaves out of the ground but they are just testing the weather. Just settle for raking leaves and doing some cleanup for now.
Spokane videographer Sean Stanelun, 48, died in the early morning hours of Jan. 23 at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center, after battling necrotizing fasciitis and several medical complications that followed the initial infection in September.
RIVERSIDE – The Western States Equipment Co. and Spokane Ag Expo have teamed up for a Dump Hunger campaign to collect food for the Second Harvest Food Bank.
EAST CENTRAL – Kids Sports, 416 N. Madelia St., will have a fundraiser full of music, dancing and fun Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to benefit God's Littlest Angels orphanage in Haiti.
It's been 70 years since Shannon (Mahoney) Mitchell was selected as Spokane's first Lilac queen.
Spiritual Living to offer seminars
The Center for Spiritual Living, 2825 E. 33rd Ave., will offer an eight-week course, "This Thing Called YOU," Tuesdays from 6:30 to 8:45 p.m. starting Tuesday.
Plans are taking shape for Fairfield's 2010 Flag Day celebration – an event that will put the small community in the nation's record books.
I believe it when Cheney School District says the middle school is overcrowded and needs repair. I also believe that the voters of Cheney School District will pass the bond. However, that's where the district and I go down different paths.
Soccer is a simple sport. In its most primitive form, all that's needed to play is a ball and two rocks to mark a goal. Not traditionally an American sport, soccer has gained many supporters and players in this country during the past couple of decades – in Spokane County it's estimated that about 10,000 kids play recreational and competitive soccer.
The Cheney City Council approved an agreement Tuesday with the Washington State Department of Transportation to improve pedestrian crossing over the Burlington Northern Santa Fe and the Union Pacific railroads on Cheney-Spangle Road.
Three days before Christmas, I was returning home from some errands and, since the garage door was open, was about to pull in, when my husband came out and waved me off. There in the garage was a chicken.
Spokane Transit Authority held the first of two public meetings Saturday about bus service in Browne's Addition.
It's been 70 years since Shannon (Mahoney) Mitchell was selected as Spokane's first Lilac queen.
The Hillyard Kiwanis Club, the Hillyard Lions Club and the Hillyard Rotary Club will have the second annual Hobo Dinner on Feb. 12 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the Northeast Community Center, 4001 N. Cook St.
What a great boy. He has such potential and will be easy to train. He knows "sit," and he is pretty good on the leash. He loves kisses, and he loves getting scratched. Kuruso is a little shy at first, but he is very sweet. He seemed to be fine with cats. He is about a year old and needs a family to give him lots of love and encouragement.
It's been 70 years since Shannon (Mahoney) Mitchell was selected as Spokane's first Lilac queen in 1940.
On the very same day this week when the Congressional Budget Office warned that the succession of previously unimaginable trillion-dollar- and-more budget deficits could inflict ruin on the United States, the Senate faced a moment of truth.
SAN FRANCISCO – Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the company's much-anticipated iPad tablet computer Wednesday, calling it a new third category of mobile device that is neither smart phone nor laptop, but something in between.
MINNEAPOLIS – Boeing Co. surprised investors with a bigger-than-expected fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday and said testing of its two newest planes is on track.
LOS ANGELES – Thousands of Toyota owners now find themselves with autos that may not be as reliable as they had thought, following the Japanese company's unprecedented decision to halt sales and production of eight models because of a design flaw.
CAIRO – Nearly three months of fighting between Saudi Arabian troops and Shiite Muslim rebels along the Yemen border has ended, the Saudi government announced Wednesday, declaring victory two days after the rebels offered a cease-fire.
MEXICO CITY – Money sent home by Mexicans abroad plunged a record 15.7 percent in 2009, the central bank reported Wednesday.
Liege, Belgium – Rescue workers recovered seven bodies from the rubble of a crowded apartment building that collapsed Wednesday after an apparent gas explosion.
MEXICO CITY – As a new Honduran president took office, former leader Manuel Zelaya flew into exile in the Dominican Republic on Wednesday under a deal that ends months of turmoil since his ouster by the military last summer.
Sprague Lake's value as a fishery and a wildlife sanctuary will be scrutinized next week when the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission votes on fishing rule changes.
Gonzaga junior guard Steven Gray has put together a solid four-game stretch, averaging 17.3 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists. He's made 55 percent of his shots and 84.6 percent of his free throws.
SANDUSKY, Ohio – Authorities say a woman who had been out celebrating her lottery winnings at a north-central Ohio bar was killed when she was struck by a car.
A man was racially harassed and assaulted shortly after midnight Saturday in Coeur d'Alene while walking home from the grocery store.
BOISE – An Idaho lawmaker upset that regulators refuse to bend the rules for a Worley-area cabin owner with an inadequate septic system is proposing legislation that threatens to undermine the Panhandle Health District's ability to keep sewage out of North Idaho lakes and streams.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – In Florida to help kick off the Pro Bowl, leaders of the NFL Players Association expressed frustration with the league changing the game's location and positioning it before Super Bowl.
Signed The New York Yankees and free-agent outfielder Randy Winn agreed Wednesday to a $2 million, one-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told the Associated Press. The agreement, which all but eliminates any chance Johnny Damon has of returning to the World Series champions, is subject to a physical that is scheduled for today.
NBA: Deron Williams scored 24 points and the Utah Jazz scored 21 of the first 23 points and went on to beat the Portland Trail Blazers 106-95 on Wednesday in Portland.
RALEIGH, N.C. – John and Elizabeth Edwards have separated, severing a marriage that has been relentlessly scrutinized since the disclosure of the former presidential candidate's messy affair.
NEWARK, N.J. – A lawyer for the brother of Ponzi king Bernard Madoff said in court papers made public Wednesday that his client has been told he is a "subject" of criminal investigators probing the multibillion-dollar fraud.
WASHINGTON – Scientists have for the first time confirmed color in a dinosaur. Don't think purple Barney, but reddish-orange Conan O'Brien.
Punxsutawney, Pa. – An animal rights group wants organizers of Pennsylvania's Groundhog Day festival to replace Punxsutawney Phil with a robotic stand-in.
BOISE – Idaho lawmakers aren't too keen to pull the plug on "Sesame Street."Members of a key budget-setting committee Wednesday expressed doubts about Gov. Butch Otter's proposal to phase out state funding for Idaho Public Television over the next four years.
Homeless people in North Idaho can find medical care, employment opportunities, transportation assistance, food, clothing, showers and other services today at "Project Homeless Connect."
Dr. Mathew Rawlins answered the phone and changed his life.Within hours the surgeon packed his bags, hugged his family and left the comforts of Spokane for the ravages of Haiti, answering a pledge he had made years ago to use his medical skills to save the lives of those wounded by natural disaster.
Fire damaged the front portion of a home at 5112 W. Rosewood Ave. in northwest Spokane Tuesday night, and a woman living there got out without injury, firefighters said.
Dear Carolyn: How do I get my husband to discuss tough subjects, like important health issues (death, severe illness)? First he deflects with a joke. Then, when I say, "No, really, this is important to me to discuss," he jokingly calls for the dog to protect him. When I repeat that I need to discuss whatever, he gets up to leave.
Filmmaker Oliver Stone says the United States remains in denial over the possibility that someone other than Lee Harvey Oswald could have assassinated John F. Kennedy, calling it a "national fairy tale."
"Psych" (10 p.m., USA, TV-PG) enters the winter half of its fourth season with a renewed and frequently refreshing sense of silliness.
Cheesecake isn't a terribly difficult dessert, it just requires a bit of attention to detail. This recipe is perfect for those who love sweet-tart desserts. It has a classic graham cracker crust and a rich and creamy berry cheesecake, all topped with a sweet-tart blackberry lime curd.
Across the nation, talk has turned to recovery. But in the Inland Northwest, restaurants are still scrimping and tweaking menus to lure customers back through the doors.
Spokane residents might find a familiar scene if they flip over to the Food Network's "Ace of Cakes" on Thursday evening.
Whether you call it pizza, pita, tortilla, lavosh, injera or naan, flatbread is fashionable.Although the first flatbreads date back to ancient times, health-conscious Americans are quickly adopting the breads as their own. You can find examples at fast-food joints and in supermarkets, but perhaps the best flatbreads are the ones you make yourself.
Try as I might, I can't compress the point I'm about to make into a soundbite. Nonetheless, here it goes.
LOS ANGELES – Toyota Motor Corp. is temporarily halting sales and production of eight models, including the top-selling Camry and Corolla, that it has recalled because the accelerator pedal can stick and cause unwanted acceleration.
LOS ANGELES – More signs emerged Tuesday that the auto industry is recovering from its deep slump, including the sale of the Swedish upscale car brand Saab.
NEW YORK – Borders Group Inc., the No. 2 traditional U.S. bookseller, said Tuesday its CEO Ron Marshall is leaving after about a year with the company to accept the CEO post at another retailer Borders didn't name.
TACOMA – Two state legislators are looking to move golf carts from fairways to roadways.A bill by Rep. Tami Green, D-Lakewood, would let people drive golf carts in bike lanes and on sidewalks throughout the state.
Riverfront Park's Looff Carrousel closed for restoration Monday. Spokane's Parks Department said in a news release that the restoration includes painting and repairing the horses as well as mechanical work on the gears.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA's plans to return astronauts to the moon are dead. So are the rockets being designed to take them there – that is, if President Barack Obama gets his way.
LOS ANGELES – After six highly successful years of exploring the red sands of Mars, NASA's rover Spirit will rove no more.
BOISE – GOP congressional candidate Vaughn Ward was joined by former Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne and state Superintendent of Schools Tom Luna on Tuesday as he kicked off an 18-stop, four-day announcement tour of the 1st Congressional District.
SEATTLE – Quincy Pondexter rebounded from his worst game of the season with 27 points and 11 rebounds, and Washington overwhelmed neighboring Seattle University 123-76 Tuesday night.
Hired The Oakland Raiders hired Hue Jackson as offensive coordinator on Tuesday, hoping the man who helped develop Joe Flacco in Baltimore can do the same for JaMarcus Russell. Jackson is expected to take over the play-calling duties from coach Tom Cable, who did not have an offensive coordinator in his first full season as coach.
Men's basketball: Kentucky's return to No. 1 might not last long.Devan Downey scored 30 points and South Carolina (12-8, 3-3 SEC) sent No. 1 Kentucky (19-1, 4-1) to its first loss of the season with a 68-62 victory in Columbia, S.C.
Washington residents will be able to buy tickets for the multistate lottery game Powerball this weekend, making Washington one of the latest to join the popular game.
In the interest of helping people file their taxes, Gerald Scharrenberger pretended to be a 49-year-old divorced mother of two on Tuesday morning at Silver Lake Mall.
ODESSA, Wash. – A Houston company wants to build a 32-turbine wind farm about three miles southwest of Odessa.
Washington – Two veteran workers on the Washington area's transit system were crushed by a maintenance truck Tuesday, the latest in a string of fatalities that has made Metro the most deadly for U.S. transit rail workers in the past five years.
LA HABRA, Calif. – A bouquet of balloons – six blue and two pink – was delivered to the home of Nadya Suleman Tuesday, commemorating the first birthday of the world's longest-living octuplets.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A German couple who fled to Tennessee so they could homeschool their children was granted political asylum Tuesday by a U.S. immigration judge, according to the legal group that represented them.
WASHINGTON – Four young men posing as telephone repairmen have been arrested for allegedly interfering with the telephones in Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu's office in downtown New Orleans, including James O'Keefe III, a conservative filmmaker whose undercover videos have scandalized the ACORN voter registration operation.
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – A Supreme Court judge cleared Honduras' military commanders Tuesday in the coup that toppled Manuel Zelaya, and hours later lawmakers approved amnesty for the ousted leader and all those involved in his removal.
LONDON – Is it possible to have too much ABBA?Knowing me, knowing you, the answer is no.
LOS ANGELES – CBS Corp., acknowledging Tuesday that it has changed its policy and now accepts commercials that advocate political causes, defended its decision to run a politically sensitive advertisement during next month's Super Bowl.
WASHINGTON – When President Barack Obama addresses a joint session of Congress tonight, there'll be no shout-out this time.
SEATTLE – Washington state will do more to prevent polluted stormwater from running off state highways into rivers, lakes and Puget Sound, where it poses a serious threat to salmon and other aquatic life.
YAKIMA – A kindergarten teacher who sent a 5-year-old student home with a bag of feces tucked in his backpack is retiring at the end of the school year.
All the "American Idol" buzz has been about the judges, not the talent, and Randy Jackson says that needs to change.
Dear Annie: I have been married to "Glenn" for 18 years, and we have two teenage daughters. Three years ago, we bought a new home so we could have a larger family room.
Being only 5 years old, Clay Bowden isn't aware of the drama surrounding the drug that keeps him alive. But he can watch the movie.
By this time next year, Tom will finally have his Ph.D. completed.A 40-year old Spokane academic, Tom is smart, healthy and successful. But three years ago, he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder – a condition characterized by alternating periods of mania and severe depression.
"Game Change" is so hot that many bookstores were sold out the week before last. Sales for the recap of the 2008 campaign written by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann were no doubt fueled by Harry Reid's analysis of Barack Obama's skin tone and dialect.
Q.What is a Roth IRA? Also, I keep reading something about new laws concerning Roth conversions. Can you explain?
SAN FRANCISCO – Apple Inc. rocketed to its most profitable quarter ever over the holidays, as huge sales of the iPhone – and a new way the company accounts for the device – led to a nearly 50 percent jump in net income.
Liberty Lake-based Itron Inc. announced it has sold 150,000 automated water meters to the Indian city of Mumbai.
Idaho first lady Lori Otter will be the keynote speaker Wednesday at a luncheon fundraiser to support the Idaho Meth Project.
BOISE – The University of Idaho has taken $22 million in budget cuts in the past two years, and with more looming, UI President Duane Nellis told lawmakers Monday that higher education is key to Idaho's recovery from the current economic downturn.
WASHINGTON – Moving to address rising voter anger over the tattered shape of their pocketbooks, President Barack Obama is readying new initiatives for federal belt-tightening as well as aid to middle-class families on problems ranging from child care and student loans to retirement savings and assistance with aging relatives.
As he has for possibly more than four decades, the trumpeter swan nicknamed Solo returned Monday to the year's first big patch of ice-free water at Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge.
LOS ANGELES – Actor Pernell Roberts, who shocked Hollywood by leaving TV's "Bonanza" at the height of its popularity, then found fame again years later on "Trapper John, M.D.," has died. He was 81.
LIMA, Peru – Heavy rains and mudslides in Peru blocked the train route to the ancient Inca citadel of Machu Picchu on Monday, keeping nearly 2,000 tourists stranded.
ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Former U.S. Sen. Charles McC. Mathias, a liberal Republican from Maryland who championed civil rights and protection of the Chesapeake Bay during his 26 years in Washington, has died. He was 87.
WASHINGTON – An independent investigator is launching two probes into the government's rescue of American International Group Inc. and the insurer's subsequent payments of billions to big banks.
MONTREAL – The United States and other allies of Haiti agreed Monday to a 10-year effort to rebuild Port-au-Prince and foster the long-term development that has eluded the Caribbean country despite decades of foreign assistance.
Giving its blessing to a deal that could transform the music industry, the Department of Justice on Monday approved the controversial merger of the nation's dominant ticket seller and the world's largest concert promoter – but only after extracting major concessions to address concerns that Ticketmaster and Live Nation would have a stranglehold over ticket sales.
CHICAGO – Women elementary school teachers who are anxious about math may undermine girls' confidence and unwittingly encourage them to believe that boys are better at the subject, research at the University of Chicago shows.
KABUL – Bomb strikes killed two NATO soldiers – a Briton and a Norwegian – while a rocket attack at the major international military base in southern Afghanistan wounded eight other international troops, officials said Monday. Bulgaria's defense minister was at the base but was not injured.
BAGHDAD – Suicide bombers struck in quick succession Monday at three Baghdad hotels favored by Western journalists in well-planned assaults that killed at least 37 people and wounded more than 100.
Traded The New Orleans Hornets have traded starting shooting guard Devin Brown to the Chicago Bulls for backup 7-foot center Aaron Gray. The 31-year-old Brown has played in 39 games for New Orleans this season, starting all but two games.
Men's basketball: Kris Joseph scored 15 points, Wes Johnson added 14 and No. 4 Syracuse rallied from a big early deficit to beat seventh-ranked Georgetown 73-56 on Monday night in Syracuse, N.Y.
MOSCOW, Idaho – The unrelenting chorus of boos came in unison, almost as if they had been rehearsed for weeks. Every time Anthony Thomas touched the ball Monday night, University of Idaho students unleashed another round of catcalls.
SpokAnimal C.A.R.E. will continue to provide animal control services to the city of Spokane thanks to a two-year contract approved Monday.
When the forecast calls for rain, sleet, snow or frigid sub-zero temps like we've experienced this month in Minnesota, don't let old man winter keep you inside. Try something new with your kids that you'll never forget. Like ice fishing!
"Damages" (10 p.m., FX, TV-MA) returns for a third season of time-shifting plots and homicidal intrigue.
Nick Jonas of the Jonas Brothers says he wasn't sure how ticket sales would go for his new side project, Nick Jonas and the Administration.
Dear Annie: I have two 21-year-old granddaughters who live in different states. My son was never married to "Shannon's" mother, and there are a lot of hard feelings between them. My other granddaughter, "Christy," recently married, and I traveled to another state to attend her wedding.
A pair of sparkly, peekaboo shoes with heels 2 inches high have been favorites of 6-year-old Helena Bell ever since she got them for a wedding.
DEAR MISS MANNERS: Ever since I can remember, the salad plate and bread-and-butter plate are on the left side of the dinner plate. But at a wedding rehearsal dinner in an Italian restaurant, where there were eight tables each seating 10 people, everyone (I mean everyone) used the bread and butter plate on the right side (which I thought should have been the plate used by one's neighbor sitting to your right).
Have you heard about the Jesus rifles?ABC News broke the story last week. It seems there was this fellow named Glyn Bindon, who used weapons of war to speak for his faith.
Michael Boge, of Sandpoint, has hosted North Idaho screenings of the Banff Mountain Film Festival for 14 years, first bringing the popular tour to his hometown, then adding events in Coeur d'Alene and Sun Valley. Proceeds have supported a variety of community organizations, including Sandpoint's Panida Theater, Coeur d'Alene's Centennial Trail Foundation, and contributions to an avalanche forecasting position in Sun Valley. Four years ago, Boge and his wife, Anavel, started using the proceeds to send Peruvian children to school in her hometown of Satipo, located in the high Amazon basin, east of the Andes. To date, about 60 children have attended school thanks to the Satipo Kids Project.
The U.S. Supreme Court struck down campaign finance limits on free speech grounds last week, and plenty of readers exercised their free speech rights to concur, dissent or generally second-guess the decision. Coverage of the ruling, along with full reader debate, can be found at www.spokesman.com.
Police arrested two people on suspicion of burglary after a standoff involving the SWAT team early Sunday in north Spokane.
Eckart Preu and the Spokane Symphony, along with violin soloist Vadim Gluzman, delivered the energy and brightness of a spring day to the audience at The Fox on a dark, chilly January night Saturday. By the calendar, this rite of spring may have been premature, but the performance was a joy to hear.
Thirteen cotton-clad bee aficionados, ages 22 to 63, squeezed into Jacqueline Freeman's little country kitchen.
MOSCOW, Idaho – Idaho timber companies say they are cautiously hopeful for an industry recovery in 2010 but admit it will be a slow one at best.
NEW YORK – Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will cut about 11,200 jobs at Sam's Club warehouses as it turns over the task of in-store product demonstrations to an outside marketing company.
NEW YORK – Juan Manuel Lopez and Yuriorkis Gamboa will have a busy year if Bob Arum's plan unfolds the way he wants.
PARK CITY, Utah – She went for it.One fewer spin four years ago in Italy, and Kelly Clark probably wouldn't have fallen, meaning there would be two Olympic gold medals hanging at her family's restaurant in Vermont today instead of only one.
Absent Dallas Mavericks guard Jason Kidd missed the team's game against the New York Knicks because of personal reasons. The Mavericks said before the game Sunday that Kidd returned to Dallas after their loss in Philadelphia on Friday night. Owner Mark Cuban said it was a family matter, and the point guard is expected to play Tuesday when the Mavs return home to host Milwaukee.
NBA: The Dallas Mavericks rolled to the biggest win in franchise history, ignoring the absence of two starters to crush the host New York Knicks 128-78.
Bubba Watson, Alex Prugh and Joe Ogilvie all had late chances to create a little separation atop the Bob Hope Classic field Sunday. All three made mistakes better suited to their amateur playing partners.
NEW ORLEANS – Battered and beaten, Brett Favre limped off the field for perhaps the last time.
INDIANAPOLIS – Pierre Garcon celebrated the biggest day of his NFL career by honoring his Haitian relatives.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Arkansas Democratic Rep. Marion Berry plans to announce today that he won't seek re-election this fall, people who have spoken to Berry told the Associated Press.
TOKYO – Japan's prime minister said today he may overturn a key military deal with Washington on relocating U.S. troops, after a local election in Okinawa showed that residents oppose any new Marine base in their region.
NEW YORK – A notable painting by Picasso will undergo repairs after a visitor to the Metropolitan Museum of Art accidentally lost her balance and struck it.
DALLAS – Crews worked Sunday to protect two sensitive wildlife areas after a crude oil spill shut down parts of a major southeast Texas port, state Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson said.
CAIRO, Egypt – Osama bin Laden endorsed the failed attempt to blow up a U.S. airliner on Christmas Day and threatened new attacks against the United States in an audio message released Sunday that appeared aimed at asserting he maintains some direct command over al-Qaida-inspired offshoots.
BEIJING – The Chinese government denied involvement in Internet attacks and defended its online censorship today after the United States urged Beijing to investigate complaints of cyber intrusions in a dispute that has added tension to bilateral relations.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – International relief officials on Sunday turned their attention to finding shelter and getting aid to the hundreds of thousands who survived the most devastating natural disaster in Haiti's history.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Cite Soleil looks like a place where an American soldier might be expected to fight. An impossibly crowded warren of tin-roofed shacks, open sewers and blind alleys, it is one of the poorest slums in the Americas, with a long history of unrest, crime and violence.
Again they took to the ice and dazzled with their athleticism and grace.And again, the spectators inside Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena cheered, clapped and tossed trinkets.
BOISE – State transportation officials say they're scrambling to prepare for what they're calling "Stimulus II," federal legislation also known as the 2010 Jobs Bill that could potentially bring another $182 million to Idaho for shovel-ready, bid-ready transportation projects.
Bayview ushered in the 2010 centennial year with a town meeting Jan. 15 called by the Independent Centennial Committee.
The Blue Man Group may have met its match.On a mild, mid-week winter evening in Coeur d'Alene, three black-clad characters swayed in unison over makeshift drums under the soft glow of center stage in the otherwise pitch black auditorium at Lake City High School. While several hundred spectators waited in hushed anticipation, a chorus of letters began to radiate from members of the audience seated strategically throughout the cavernous room.
You'd think people had to eat to survive since nearly all the business news this week has to do with food.
Where's the snow? Well it's definitely not in our neck of the woods. El Niño's influence seems to be playing out as expected here in the Northwest, with the warmer-than-normal temperatures keeping the snowfall amounts at bay. As of Jan. 20, The Spokane airport had seen only 11.9 inches of snow for the season – and only .5 inches of that in January. At this time last year, Spokane had 17.3 inches of snow for the month of January, though fortunately, the snow depth had been whittled down to about two inches thanks to a brief thaw during the second week of the month.
POST FALLS – The Jacklin Arts and Cultural Center, 405 N. William St., has a busy schedule of upcoming events.
If Kurt Cobain had gone into writing teen novellas instead of angst-filled grunge rock, he might have come up with some of the things the guy at the next table was saying.
For more than four decades, Dawn Forest has been taking the shapeless, injecting it into form and, oftentimes, mixing in function. A Coeur d'Alene native, Forest is an artist of the ceramic mold variety, who began working with ceramics as a little girl through the city's Parks and Recreation Department.
In today's world, an increasing number of people are taking their health care into their own hands. Generations before simply followed the doctors' orders and assumed they were getting the best treatment possible.
Q. I have a very loud groaning noise in my house that seems to go on longer each time I hear it. I can't tell where it originates. Can you help?
In a recurring dream, I walk down a hallway in my apartment and discover a whole wing that I never knew existed.
The spotlight hasn't shined this brightly on the Smothers Brothers for 40 years. The battling brothers are the subject of a new best-selling book, "Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" (Touchstone, $24.99) by National Public Radio television critic David Bianculli.
The poet Lyn Lifshin, who divides her time between New York and Virginia, is one of the most prolific poets among my contemporaries, and has thousands of poems in print, by my loose reckoning. I have been reading her work in literary magazines for at least 30 years. Here's a good example of this poet at her best.
Spokane's The Big Read event has landed a big name: Mary Badham, who played Scout in the 1962 film version of "To Kill a Mockingbird."
PHILADELPHIA – As Michael Oh watched his daughter easily navigate her iPod Touch, he had an epiphany.
NEW YORK – Pontiac? Goodbye. Saturn? So long. Saab? Off to the old junkyard in the sky.Those are the three brands that General Motors Co. is shutting down as it remakes itself into a smaller, nimbler and – it hopes – profitable automaker.
Recession-smacked Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) lowered prices on roughly 10 percent of its products last year. Now it's trying to squeeze more sales out of its most popular brands – but that move could flop badly.
Rob Lowe is leaving ABC's "Brothers & Sisters" at the end of this season.Lowe plays Sen. Robert McCallister, who is married to Calista Flockhart's character, Kitty. He has appeared on the Sunday night drama for four seasons.
Will the financially strapped Interplayers Professional Theater be able to complete its current season?
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision that limits on corporate and probably union speech are unconstitutional stems in part from the notion that corporations are "persons." In September, Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor challenged this assumption during arguments over whether corporations have the same constitutional protections as people.
If you are John Cornyn, the 36 hours from Tuesday night through Thursday morning had to be the best time of your life.
This month marks the fifth anniversary of the death of 7-year-old Tyler DeLeon, who lived and died in Washington's child welfare system.
BOISE – Although Gov. Butch Otter has proposed a four-year phase-out of state funding for Idaho Public Television, the plan likely would force the network to make deep cuts next year, including shutting down service to much of rural Idaho and laying off a third of its staff.
BOISE – Idaho is discovering the hidden costs of budget cuts.One example: The $1.6 million the state would save by cutting off funding for Idaho Public Television may be less than the amount IPTV has to repay the federal government for portions of $4 million in grants. The grants paid for equipment to convert the statewide TV network to digital signals, and if the equipment isn't used for its intended purpose for 10 years, repayments are due.
MOUNT VERNON, Wash. – A man sentenced to spend the rest of his life in confinement for killing six people, including a Skagit County sheriff's deputy, is not mentally ill, two psychiatrists said in a letter leaked to a newspaper.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – The earthquake destroyed just about everything Georges Marceau owned, even his shoes.
BAGHDAD – Vice President Joe Biden promised Saturday that the Obama administration would appeal a U.S. court's decision to drop charges against a group of Blackwater guards involved in a shooting that left at least 14 Iraqi civilians dead.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – An international team of rescuers unearthed a shop clerk in good condition from deep beneath the concrete and wooden wreckage of a hotel grocery store Saturday, 11 days after an earthquake crumbled Haiti's capital.
LOS ANGELES – Jeff Bridges of "Crazy Heart" and Sandra Bullock of "The Blind Side" claimed top acting honors at Saturday's Screen Actors Guild Awards, building momentum for possible Academy Awards glory for the two stars.
PHILADELPHIA – A college student returning to school after the winter break fell victim to a prank at Philadelphia's airport by a Transportation Security Administration worker who pretended to plant a plastic bag of white powder in her carry-on luggage.
WASHINGTON – Players' unions for the four major sports leagues have started a campaign to support the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund's relief efforts in the earthquake-stricken country.
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama on Saturday endorsed a bipartisan plan to name a special task force charged with coming up with a plan to curb the spiraling budget deficit, though the idea has lots of opposition from both his allies and rivals on Capitol Hill.
RENO, Nev. – Wild-horse advocates are calling for an independent investigation after the deaths of nine mustangs so far in a government roundup of the animals on the range north of Reno.
PORTLAND – Health officials say eight people from Oregon and 14 from Washington were sickened in a salmonella outbreak that led to the recall of more than 1 million pounds of pepper-coated salami.
Men's College Basketball: Jerome Dyson scored a career-high 32 points and Connecticut overcame a 10-point second-half deficit to upset top-ranked Texas 88-74 on Saturday at Storrs, Conn.
Reunited The Baltimore Orioles and Miguel Tejada are headed toward a reunion. This time, however, Tejada will play third base instead of shortstop. Tejada and the Orioles have agreed on a one-year contract, pending a physical, the infielder confirmed. Tejada made more than $14 million with the Houston Astros in 2009, the final season of a six-year, $72 million contract he signed with the Orioles.
Nancy Benson waited in line for more than 15 minutes Saturday for a sample of Yukon taquito served with chili-lime sauce and avocado, cooked by Spokane's Wild Sage American Bistro.
"I'd love to talk to you, but could we please sit down?" Emily Querna asked as she greeted a reporter after becoming the top woman in a 24-hour ski marathon at Schweitzer Mountain shortly after 10 a.m. Saturday.
Three young tennis players from the Spokane Racquet Club rose above their No. 3 seedings to win championships at the Copper Bowl Junior Nationals in Tucson, Ariz., earlier this month.
Back in 2007, skaters and fans visiting Spokane for the city's first U.S. Figure Skating Championships spent $12 million to $26 million – depending on whose numbers you use – over the event's eight days.
WASHINGTON – Something curious is going on with the songs of blue whales in oceans all over the world: The whales are singing their same old songs, but year by year, they're all shifting the frequency lower.
OGDEN, Utah – Damian Lillard scored a career-high 36 points, including 25 in the first half, to lead Big Sky-leading Weber State to an 89-67 basketball win over Eastern Washington on Saturday, the Eagles' fourth straight loss.
LA QUINTA, Calif. – Alex Prugh's last name rhymes with "Who?"For PGA fans outside of the Inland Northwest, that's a good question.
MOSCOW, Idaho – Efficient, precise, never flashy – all three have been trademarks of Stew Morrill's basketball clubs at Utah State. And the Aggies did nothing Saturday night to persuade Idaho followers otherwise.
SANDPOINT – The Bonner County Sheriff's Office and three police departments in the county are launching a service to alert residents of emergencies, hazardous weather, road closures and other important information.
WALLACE – Volunteers and donations are needed to help put on events for the 100th anniversary of the 1910 fire, which burned more than 3 million acres across Idaho, Montana and northeast Washington.
GREAT FALLS – Concerned about the graying of its work force, three Billings area oil refineries persuaded MSU-Billings College of Technology to create a two-year program in process-plant technology. Almost 50 students are starting the concentrated, two-year program this semester, hoping to take advantage of median Montana wages of $51,200 in the industry.
Kyle Fogg scored 21 points, Derrick Williams added 20 and Arizona rallied from an early 10-point deficit to rout Arizona State 77-58 on Saturday night in Tempe, Ariz., snapping a five-game skid against its in-state rival.
SEATTLE – In designing the futuristic headquarters of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the lead architect says, the wife of the Microsoft co-founder wanted it to be a bold reflection of the organization's mission to improve the lives of the poor around the world and inspire visitors to give back to their communities.
BOISE – Two environmental groups are asking a federal judge to throw out the Salmon-Challis National Forest's plan for managing off-road vehicle use across hundreds of thousands of acres of backcountry.
An Oprah Winfrey tell-all is coming in April from celebrity biographer Kitty Kelley.
Dear Annie: I have been with the man of my dreams for a little more than three years. We have a son together, and I am the happiest I can remember being. There is just one problem. "Karl" is still married. Karl lives with our son and me, but every time his wife or one of their kids snaps their fingers, he jumps. Sometimes, that means our toddler gets the short end of things and so do I.
Gonzaga University's winter performance, "Weaving Our Sisters' Voices," weaves together dance and poetry to convey the intersections of contemporary issues with ancient stories of Vashti, Jochebed, Miriam and nine other women from Scripture.
Actress Meredith Baxter recently went public about being a lesbian – at age 62, after three marriages and five children. Instead of reacting with shock, many people thought, "Oh, there goes another one."
NEW YORK – The stock market suffered its worst setback in more than 10 months as investors rejected President Barack Obama's plans to restrict big banks and earnings reports that just weren't good enough.
Plans are taking shape for Fairfield's 2010 Flag Day celebration – an event that will put the small community in the nation's record books.
Alleged secret meetings, alleged secret deals, boorish behavior at public meetings, half truths and outright lies are not the best way to start a new "era of positive change."
The Spokane Valley Fire Department responded to 201 calls from Jan. 14 to 20, including five reports of minor fires.
Jake Laden and Dustin Johnson both play high school football. The juniors each started for the University Titans last fall, Laden at defensive end; Johnson an All-Greater Spokane League honorable mention at outside linebacker.
While most towns are settling in for a calm, cold January after a busy holiday season, Deer Park is revving up for its annual Winterfest event today. Every year hundreds of people come out into the cold to celebrate the coldest month of the year with a festive flair.
Where's the snow? Well it's definitely not in our neck of the woods. El Niño's influence seems to be playing out as expected here in the Northwest, with the warmer-than-normal temperatures keeping the snowfall amounts at bay. As of Jan. 20, The Spokane airport had seen only 11.9 inches of snow for the season – and only .5 inches of that in January. At this time last year, Spokane had 17.3 inches of snow for the month of January, though fortunately, the snow depth had been whittled down to about two inches thanks to a brief thaw during the second week of the month.
East Valley High School is looking to expand its advanced placement program.The school has several classes for students who want the challenge of advanced courses and can get college credit for them. Steve Pointer, assessment coordinator at the school, said East Valley offers AP U.S. history for juniors, government and politics for seniors, biology, calculus, European history, English language and English literature classes. Next year, the school also will offer AP physics and statistics.
It was too quiet and maybe a little lonely for Amy Snoddy as she sat in her cubicle after landing a job in her chosen career field of graphic design.
Central Valley School District is starting to plan for its long-term future by holding a series of community forums to discuss its facilities needs.
Three people were booked into the Spokane County Jail and the Juvenile Detention Center early Tuesday after they were captured as they ran from the scene of a residential burglary in the 11000 block of East Fourth Avenue, said Spokane Valley police spokesman Sgt. Dave Reagan.
FAIRGROUNDS – The 55th annual Spokane National Boat Show begins next Saturday at the Spokane County Fair and Expo Center, Broadway Avenue and Havana Street.
WASHINGTON – Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke faced mounting Senate opposition for another four-year term Friday, and the White House worked aggressively to keep his nomination afloat.
WASHINGTON – The number of union workers employed by the government for the first time outnumbered union ranks in the private sector last year, the result of massive layoffs that plunged the rate of private sector union membership to a record low.
CHICAGO – McDonald's dollar menu keeps gaining fans in the recession, and its profit rose last fall, but the world's largest burger chain said Friday that its annual revenue slipped for the first time in at least a quarter century.
On Jan. 14, five days before the Massachusetts special election, President Obama was in full bring-it-on mode as he rallied House Democrats behind his health care reform. "If Republicans want to campaign against what we've done by standing up for the status quo and for insurance companies over American families and businesses, that is a fight I want to have."
Shirley Wagoner remembers her big brother sneaking out to the woods behind their St. Maries home when he was a teenager to smoke cigarettes.
Silver Mountain Ski Resort in Kellogg shut down Thursday and will remain closed at least through the weekend after a gondola bearing failed.
BOISE – Facing a proposal from Gov. Butch Otter to phase out all its state funding over the next four years, the Idaho Human Rights Commission announced Friday it's in talks with the state Department of Labor to join forces.
Careful optimism and a heightened sense of uncertainty were the themes of the day at the University of Idaho's biannual faculty meeting Thursday afternoon.
The Panhandle Health District is warning that 15 cases of pertussis – also known as whooping cough – have been confirmed since mid-December in Kootenai County.
BOISE – Idaho Gov. Butch Otter and state Parks Director Nancy Merrill announced a plan Friday to save $4.5 million at the state parks department next year – but not to eliminate it.
The subject of today's story: My ethically ambiguous revenge against Spokane's downtown parking lots.
WASHINGTON – As the number of U.S. soldiers in Haiti and aboard a small armada floating offshore builds toward 18,000, the question of how and when they will leave remains unanswered.
WASHINGTON – Republican candidates for Congress are latching onto Scott Brown's bolt-from-the-blue win this week in the Massachusetts Senate race, with political outsiders and longtime officeholders alike casting themselves in a similar mold – or seeing Brown in their image.
LOS ANGELES – Jean Simmons, a radiant British actress who as a teenager appeared opposite Sir Laurence Olivier in "Hamlet" and emerged a star whose career flourished in the 1950s and 1960s in such films as "Guys and Dolls, "Elmer Gantry" and "Spartacus," has died. She was 80.
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – The remnants of the biggest storm to hit Arizona in nearly two decades lingered over the state Friday after drenching California, while authorities in both states continued to tally the damage.
HONOLULU – The Hawaii Senate approved same-sex civil unions Friday, potentially setting up the measure for final passage as soon as next week.
Anchorage, Alaska – Sarah Palin's oldest daughter, Bristol, is seeking child support from the young man who fathered her 1-year-old son.
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – A newly released video shows the mother of the 6-year-old boy purported to be in a runaway balloon finally acknowledging to authorities it was all a hoax – contrary to her husband's repeated public denials just before reporting to jail.
ROME – The Perugia magistrate who prosecuted U.S. student Amanda Knox for murder was convicted Friday of abusing his office in an unrelated case, officials said.
BAGHDAD – Vice President Joe Biden flew into Baghdad on Friday night with a mission to ease rising tensions over the barring of hundreds of mostly secular candidates from competing in the country's upcoming election.
LONDON – Britain raised its terror threat alert to the second-highest level Friday, one of several recent moves the country has made to increase vigilance against international terrorists after a Christmas Day bombing attempt on a Europe-U.S. flight.
LA PAZ, Bolivia – Evo Morales began a second term as Bolivia's president Friday by declaring colonialism dead in the Andean nation.
Called Oakland Athletics prospect Grant Desme is retiring from baseball to enter the priesthood. Desme, 23, was considered one of the top prospects in Oakland's system. "It's about a 10-year process," he said. In a way, he added, it's like "re-entering the minor leagues."
Tennis: Serena Williams moved a step closer to successfully defending her Australian Open title today with a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Carla Suarez Navarro in Melbourne, Australia.
LA QUINTA, Calif. – The persistent, heavy rains in Southern California washed away the first-round leader at the Bob Hope Classic, but Spokane native Alex Prugh held his ground, holding onto second, two strokes back of Bubba Watson.
The arrival of conference play has often heralded the beginning of the toughest part of Whitworth's basketball schedule.
NEW YORK – Juan Manuel Lopez basked in the attention, standing on stage and pounding his bare chest as he weighed in for today's featherweight title fight against Steven Luevano.
FORT WORTH, Texas – Bobby Bragan, the longtime baseball man with ties to the Spokane Indians, has died. He was 92.
NEW ORLEANS – He's one of the New Orleans Saints' most popular players, a fearless tight end on the field and definitely a free spirit in the locker room.
A. A. (Scott) Bondy is widely regarded for his didactic lyricism and heavy subject matter.But when it comes to writing his alt-folk songs, the former frontman for '90s grunge band Verbena said he'd rather not think at all. He'd just as soon let his songs write themselves.
If you come across the 1973 film version of "Jesus Christ Superstar," you'll see Ted Neeley on the screen, imparting his blessings on the multitudes.
Women are dominating the nominations for Britain's leading music awards – the Brits – but Internet sensation Susan Boyle was snubbed.
Dear Carolyn: My 29-year-old, unmarried daughter is under-employed and without health insurance. I'd like to help her by suggesting that I pay for half the cost of insuring her. Would it be reasonable to ask in return for an agreement to quit smoking and decrease the amount she drinks?
DEAR MISS MANNERS: For 20-some years, I have been annoyed by the seemingly universal habit here of people standing cheek-to-jowl with the folks who are checking out ahead of them at retail stores.
LOS ANGELES – Toyota Motor Corp. said it will recall 2.3 million vehicles because their gas pedals can stick open, potentially causing unintended acceleration.
LOS ANGELES – Ending his brief reign as host of one of television's longest-running shows, Conan O'Brien on Thursday finalized a rich severance deal with NBC that releases the comedian from "The Tonight Show" and frees him to join another network in time for the new fall season, an NBC spokeswoman confirmed.
Late-summer openings are anticipated for new Walmart stores in Hayden and Post Falls. The Hayden store, at the southwest corner of U.S. Highway 95 and Honeysuckle Avenue, will be a mid-size store at about 213,000 square feet, Walmart says. Located on 19 acres with 968 planned parking spaces, it will include a seasonal garden area and a fast-food tenant that hasn't been determined.
WASHINGTON – Trying to ride a wave of public anger at Wall Street, President Barack Obama on Thursday proposed tough new restrictions designed to limit the size of the nation's largest commercial banks and reduce the risks they take in complex and exotic investments.
EVERETT – For nearly 40 years, scientists have flocked to a drab, two-story building along Mukilteo's waterfront.
WASHINGTON – Overturning a century-old restriction, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday that corporations may spend as much as they want to sway voters in federal elections.
Several local doctors have left for Haiti as suffering continues to unfold on a staggering scale.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Within days, the government will move 400,000 people made homeless by Haiti's epic earthquake from their squalid improvised camps throughout the shattered capital to new resettlement areas on the outskirts, a top Haitian official said Thursday.
SEATTLE – A doctor's permission to use medical marijuana doesn't preclude police from arresting a patient or searching his home, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
HELENA – Gov. Brian Schweitzer said Thursday that he is canceling a new Labor Department computer system in order to save $18 million, the latest budget-cutting announcement amid new forecasts that a projected surplus is just about gone.
PHILADELPHIA – Flying to Kentucky on Thursday to visit his grandmother, a teenager began the morning prayer ritual expected of Orthodox Jewish men by strapping small leather boxes to his forehead and arm.
LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE, Calif. – Hours of heavy rain fell Thursday on saturated Southern California as the fourth Pacific storm in a week came ashore, triggering dire warnings by authorities that huge mud flows were likely in foothill communities and residents of endangered homes should obey evacuation orders.
WASHINGTON – Though reeling from a political body blow, House Democrats rejected the quickest fix to their health care dilemma Thursday and signaled that any agreement on President Barack Obama's signature issue will come slowly, if at all.
Accounting students at Whitworth University took a turn as gumshoes Thursday, trading in their ledgers and balance sheets for search warrants and surveillance.
Hired East Carolina hired former Texas Tech defensive coordinator, and Pirates alum, Ruffin McNeill to replace Skip Holtz, who left to become head coach at South Florida. East Carolina announced the move after members of the board of trustees approved McNeill's hiring and an outline of a contract. The contract won't be finalized until next month. McNeill spent 10 seasons at Texas Tech as an assistant, then served as interim coach when Mike Leach was suspended and later fired.
NBA: Cleveland showed its Christmas Day win over the Los Angeles Lakers was no gift as LeBron James scored 37 points, including 12 straight down the stretch, and the Cavs beat Kobe Bryant and the NBA champions 93-87 Thursday night at Cleveland.
Two Canadian men who smuggled marijuana into Ferry County last fall pleaded guilty to federal drug charges Thursday.
January is Learn a Snow Sport Month. Resort associations representing 32 states and more than 300 alpine resorts are part of this massive ski industry promotion. In the spirit of the occasion, I left my skis at home and went to Mount Spokane for a snowboard lesson.
Patrick Christopher scored all 21 of his points in the first half as California quickly took a commanding lead, and the Golden Bears beat Oregon for the third straight time with an 89-57 basketball victory Thursday night at Berkeley, Calif.
A controversial technical foul that cost Washington State a basketball victory over Oregon will not be overturned. A review by the Pacific-10 Conference concluded the foul call was correct, so Oregon's win stands.
Q: Five people at the Rocket Bakery in Millwood were asked: "Have you attended any U.S. Figure Skating Championships competitions? If you haven't, are you planning to?
Somewhere between last week and this week, I became a senior citizen. It wasn't easy and admittedly, I should have been watching the signs more closely.
His parents tried to warn him away from such a path, but like many headstrong children, he took it anyway: Vadim Gluzman became a violinist.
Amy Winehouse pleaded guilty Wednesday to assaulting a theater manager who asked her to leave a family Christmas show starring Mickey Rooney because she'd had too much to drink.
Dear Annie: I have been with "Sven" for two years, and we have been living together since August. He is good to me and my two kids, but I'm having a problem.
What can you say about "The Deep End" (8 p.m., ABC, TV-14)?For starters, it's anything but deep, and I couldn't wait for it to end.
Spokane County Hearing Examiner Mike Dempsey has made a decision in an appeal brought by Glenrose Community Association, challenging the Spokane South Little League's proposed development of a baseball complex on the southeast corner of 37th Avenue and Glenrose Road.
The shop is located smack in the middle of all the other car dealerships on East Sprague Avenue, and it really doesn't look that much different. Used Buicks, Fords and Hondas are lined up next to second-hand Kias, Subarus and Jeeps – a little bit of everything – at prices starting around $500.
Sheriff's Deputy Ron Nye spends his days creating relationships with the students in the Liberty and Freeman School Districts. As a school resource deputy, he shows up to football games and dances at the schools and works as an extension of the school staff.
Voters in the Cheney and Medical Lake School Districts should receive their building bond ballots in the mail this week. The ballots must be postmarked by Feb. 9 and each bond requires a supermajority – at least 60 percent – to pass.
While most towns are settling in for a calm, cold January after a busy holiday season, Deer Park is revving up for its annual Winterfest event this Saturday. Every year hundreds of people come out into the cold to celebrate the coldest month of the year with a festive flair.
The squeals of joy and surprise were unmistakable. Little heads could be seen bouncing through rows of tomatoes and corn that were taller than they were. "Look at the butterfly," one little voice called out.
SPOKANE COUNTY – Elementary schools in Eastern Washington and North Idaho are invited and encouraged to sign up for the Fit for Bloomsday ... Fit for Life youth fitness program.
First Presbyterian Church, 318 S. Cedar St., will assemble World Vision caregiver kits Feb. 20 and needs donations and volunteers.
Moser (1/21/2010)
Moser is neutered and ready to go to a wonderful home. He's good with cats and dogs. He knows sit and is extra gentle on the leash. When contacting SCRAPS with questions about one of the adoptable pets, please refer to the pet's identification number. You can see Moser on www.petfinder.com, and also through www.spokanecounty.org/animal. SCRAPS is open Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays-Saturdays, noon to 5:30 p.m. at 2521 N. Flora Road, Spokane Valley, (509) 477-2532.
LIBERTY LAKE – The Liberty Lake Kiwanis will donate $2,000 to the Surgical Implant Generation Network, or SIGN, on Feb. 10 at the Richland Kiwanis meeting to help the victims of the Jan. 12 earthquake that devastated Haiti.
Spokane County's jobless rate climbed in December, hitting 9.3 percent, compared with 8.5 percent the month before, state labor analysts said Wednesday.
A key supplier of Toyota Motor Corp. has formed a partnership to mine lithium in Argentina, securing greater access to a metal critical to the production of future hybrids and electric cars.
NEW YORK – Wells Fargo says it sees signs of recovery in its loan business.But the big bank may be more of an exception than a leading indicator that the economy is improving.
BOISE – Idaho lawmakers might have to make millions of dollars in additional cuts to both the current-year state budget and to next year's if a new state revenue forecast is used to set the state budget.
A draft environmental impact statement for the proposed Upper Lochsa land exchange won't be ready until July, U.S. Forest Service officials said Tuesday.
OLYMPIA – Efforts to legalize or decriminalize marijuana use in Washington may have been snuffed out Wednesday as a House committee refused to send either proposal to the floor.
APPOMATTOX, Va. – The victims of a gunman's violent rampage in central Virginia included the suspect's sister and brother-in-law, as well as two other adults, three teenagers and a 4-year-old boy, according to authorities who charged the alleged shooter with first-degree murder on Wednesday.
Washington – Cindy McCain, the wife of 2008 Republican presidential nominee John McCain, and their daughter Meghan have posed for photos endorsing pro-gay marriage forces in California.
Some people are better shooters than others often by a combination of natural talent and hours of practice.
BOISE – Hayden Lake Rep. Jim Clark has a proposal for an "economic development tool" for the state: Allow samplings of distilled spirits, just as Idaho now authorizes wine tastings.
A 90-year-old Montana man received minor injuries Wednesday after he fell asleep at the wheel and drove his van off a steep embankment along Interstate 90 in Shoshone County.
BEIJING – China, the primary engine leading the global economy out of recession, is starting to put the brakes on its fast-growing economy – and the rest of the world is watching closely.
MIAMI – Somewhere in the dust and blood of his own grave, blind violinist Romel Joseph began to play the strains of Tchaikovsky's violin concerto.
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic – The Dominican government announced a deal Wednesday with Honduras' president-elect to give ousted leader Manuel Zelaya safe passage to this Caribbean nation.
WASHINGTON – Education Secretary Arne Duncan on Wednesday said poor graduation rates among some college basketball programs would improve if the NCAA linked postseason play to the number of student-athletes getting their diplomas.
Replaced New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has pulled out of the Pro Bowl after a season in which he played with rib and finger injuries. He has been replaced by Matt Schaub of the Houston Texans. Brady was chosen for his fifth Pro Bowl but withdrew for the second straight time. It is the first Pro Bowl for Schaub.
Christianne Lyn Sharman, a writer and owner of a local public relations company, died of complications from a brain tumor Wednesday in the Orchard Prairie home of family. She was 45 years old.
Tennis: Venus Williams won her second-round match at the Australian Open in Melbourne early today, beating Sybille Bammer of Austria 6-2, 7-5.
We've said a few times over the years that the student-run restaurant at the Inland Northwest Culinary Academy is one of Spokane's best-kept dining secrets.
DEAR MISS MANNERS: I have been dating a man for 2 1/2 years. His wife passed away 6 1/2 years ago. I knew both of them for 30 years.
Carnivores can help fund student scholarships at North Idaho College through the annual Wild Game Feast.
Apricot-glazed turkey. Meatloaf with frizzle-fried onions. And Vietnamese pho.These may not sound like typical dorm foods – especially the Asian rice noodle soup – but they topped the list of most popular cafeteria items according to Sodexo, which provides food service at 600 campuses across the country.
Hi, Carolyn: Each year for Christmas, my parents usually get each child/married couple a substantial gift, and small presents for any grandchildren. We live across the country from them, and when she called to ask us what we might want, I had a hard time coming up with anything.
We bumped along in the back of the pickup, passing men threshing rice under the hot morning sun, roosters pecking at their bamboo cages and a water buffalo grazing near the canal, her baby tethered alongside.
Curious about the cleanliness of your favorite haunt?The Spokane Regional Health District has a new Web site that can give you a glimpse into the kitchen of every licensed food and beverage establishment in Spokane County.
Before getting into today's topic, please head over to YouTube, enter "Test Your Awareness: Do The Test" and watch. I'll wait here.
The scale and sophistication of the cyber attacks on Google Inc. and other large U.S. corporations by hackers in China is raising national security concerns that the Asian superpower is escalating its industrial espionage efforts on the Internet.
Avista Corp. wants to certify its two Clark Fork River dams as "low-impact" hydro projects, a designation that would allow the utility to sell renewable energy credits from the dams.
London – Half of all Afghan adults paid at least one bribe to a public official over the course of a year to cut through red tape or get help with poor service, the U.N. said Tuesday in a report that documents the extraordinary depth of corruption in Afghanistan.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Jean Peterson Estime was outside playing soccer when his home pancaked in last week's earthquake and killed his parents and five sisters.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – U.S. forces rushed Tuesday to prepare new airports to increase the flow of aid to Haiti, but a week after an earthquake devastated its capital the relief effort was increasingly hampered by a crimp in the supply chain: a shortage of gasoline that left medicine, food and water sitting out of reach of the needy.
Men's basketball: Connecticut men's basketball coach Jim Calhoun took a medical leave Tuesday for an undisclosed condition, the latest health concern for the 67-year-old Hall of Famer.
Sued Sacramento Kings rookie Tyreke Evans is being sued over a fatal shooting committed by a teenage cousin in his vehicle. Evans is among four people being sued over the November 2007 drive-by shooting near his home in Chester, just south of Philadelphia. Jamar Evans is serving a 9- to 20-year prison term after admitting he fired out the passenger-side door and killed 19-year-old Marcus Reason. Jamar Evans was 16 at the time.
A Spokane Valley woman became an unwitting accomplice to a "secret shopper" fraud, and police are warning people to be alert to such scams.
LONDON – Erich Segal, the Ivy League professor who attained mainstream fame and made millions sob as writer of the novel and movie "Love Story," has died of a heart attack, his daughter said Tuesday. He was 72.
BOSTON – Robert B. Parker, the blunt and beloved crime novelist who helped revive and modernize the hard-boiled genre and branded a tough guy of his own through his "Spenser" series, has died. He was 77.
A man first charged with attempted murder for a July shooting will be released from jail soon after pleading guilty to a lesser charge.
BOISE – A proposal from Idaho's state parks to charge people who launch nonmotorized boats $7 for a mandatory invasive species sticker next year, up from $5 this year, fell flat in an Idaho legislative committee on Tuesday – but it could come back.
A Washington State University wildlife researcher said he was "absolutely shocked to see such a high prevalence" of tapeworms found in Rocky Mountain gray wolves.
Whitman College, as expected, pushed the tempo of Tuesday night's Northwest Conference matchup against Whitworth University to breakneck speed from the opening tip – and, almost as quickly, had its collective will broken by the Pirates.
BOSTON – In a stunning blow to Democrats, Republican Scott Brown on Tuesday seized the Massachusetts Senate seat once held by Edward M. Kennedy, handing the GOP the crucial vote that could thwart President Barack Obama's far-reaching agenda, beginning with health care reform.
OLYMPIA – Improvements in pensions and other benefits for law enforcement and firefighters killed on duty moved a step closer to reality Tuesday.
Dear Annie: My wife and I were high-school sweethearts. We have been together for 13 years and married for seven. I am 29 and she is 28. Like every couple, we have had our ups and downs, but nothing that couldn't be resolved, until this year.
Two nights into "American Idol" (8 p.m., Fox, TV-PG) is too early to start reading tea leaves, but who can resist?
We are through the first weekend of the 2010 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. From novice class (as young as 10) to the senior skaters (in their late teens and early 20s), it has been an exciting and busy time.
After spending the majority of her 48 years trying, and failing, to slim down, Veronica Mahaffey was still 50 pounds overweight – not morbidly obese by a long shot, but still far from the size she wanted. Worried about her health, she called a San Diego weight-loss surgery clinic last spring and asked for help.
TOKYO – The head of the IMF said China and other developing Asian economies are leading a global recovery that is faster and stronger than expected, but warned that money rushing into emerging markets could lead to asset bubbles.
YAKIMA – More than two decades after parents dumped apples from children's lunch boxes because of concerns about a chemical applied to the fruit, most researchers agree the crop is safer, although most of it still carries pesticide residue.
ANKARA, Turkey – The Turkish man who shot Pope John Paul II nearly 29 years ago emerged from prison Monday, declared himself a messenger from God, then spent his first night of freedom in a luxury hotel room.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – The staggering scope of Haiti's nightmare came into sharper focus Monday as authorities estimated 200,000 dead and 1.5 million homeless in the quake-ravaged heart of this tragic land, where injured survivors still died in the streets, doctors pleaded for help and looters slashed at one another in the rubble.
ATLANTA – A scholar and activist invoked the fiery side of Martin Luther King Jr.'s rhetoric Monday at the civil rights icon's church, urging the audience not to "sanitize" King's legacy or let the president off the hook on issues like poverty.
BOSTON – Nearly one year to the day after President Barack Obama was sworn into office as an agent of change, Massachusetts Senate candidates battled to the wire Monday in an election that threatened his agenda and reflected voters' frustration with the status quo.
Seventy-eight-year-old Hallen Griffin remembers when civil-rights marches weren't quite so peaceful.
Two Spokane Valley women suspected of stealing panties and sexy costumes from an adult superstore have been arrested.
Police have seized guns and drugs as part of their probe into the city's first homicide this year, a suspected gang-related shooting early Sunday in a north Spokane alley.
BOISE – House and Senate Democrats are closing their caucus meetings to the public, joining Republicans in keeping their political strategy sessions private.
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. – Rex Ryan has his players – and maybe just about everyone else these days – believing in the New York Jets.
Men's basketball: Jamar Samuels scored 15 of his 20 points in a dominating first half and No. 10 Kansas State withstood a gut check rally to knock off top-ranked Texas 71-62 in Manhattan, Kan.
Albert Pujols supports Mark McGwire, both for acknowledging his use of steroids and in his new role as hitting coach of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Dear Annie: My sister-in-law is overly obsessed with bleach. She uses it to wash dishes, and within minutes before she bathes her two small children, she wipes down the bathtub with it.
He won't be the next "American Idol," but the show's hardly over for Larry Platt.
It would be an apt description to call my husband a "musher" even though he has never trained, led or raced a dog team of huskies. Simply put, he likes to wake up on a chilly January morning to a hot pot of coffee and prepare a big, steaming bowl of homemade oatmeal, or what our family has called it for generations – "mush."
The most unexpected thing about the new melodrama "Life Unexpected" (9 p.m., CW, TV-PG) is that it's actually good.
DEAR MISS MANNERS: Of course, the proper reply to the all too common sneeze is a cultural issue. But many people are insulted if one does not provide the common English expression of "Bless you" or "God bless you" addressed to one who sneezes.
One year later.One year after that icy Washington day Barack Obama raised his hand and swore the oath that made him president of the United States, it turns out something fundamental has changed.
Early morning gunfire left a man dead Sunday in Spokane, police said.The victim, identified only as a male in his late 30s, was found about 3:40 a.m. in an alley in the 5400 block of North Crestline after authorities were alerted to several gunshots in the area, according to the Spokane Police Department. The man had been shot, and paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.
SEATTLE – They gathered Saturday for lunch to honor the oldest member of a very exclusive club.
Because "Curtains" is part backstage comedy, part musical and part murder mystery, let's give it separate grades for each.
The marijuana debate again drew heavy reaction from readers last week as state lawmakers in Olympia tackled a proposed plan to legalize and tax the currently illegal drug, while pot advocates took the first step toward getting a legalization measure on the November ballot.
The Rev. Percy "Happy" Watkins has become the face of Martin Luther King Jr. in the Northwest. Each year for decades, Watkins has performed King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech at schools, churches, public gatherings – even a recent funeral. The pastor at New Hope Baptist Church, Watkins said that giving the speech and studying King's life and work since the 1970s has helped shape his life.
If the U.S. Figure Skating Championships have whetted your appetite for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, B.C., you don't have to travel far in the next week or so to participate in Olympic activities.
PORTLAND – If you need a table saw, a 10-foot pipe clamp or a 20-foot pruner, you've normally got three choices: Buy it, rent it or borrow it from a neighbor.
SALEM – A new task force is looking for ways to control Oregon's wild goose problem, which officials say costs millions of dollars a year and is among the worst in the nation.
POTLATCH, Idaho – A 92-year-old rural farmhouse in North Idaho that was being restored to its original appearance has been significantly damaged by a fire.
WASHINGTON – Some incidents of violence in Haiti have hindered rescue workers trying to help earthquake victims, a top official leading the U.S. government's relief efforts said Sunday.
TORONTO – Canada will send an additional 1,000 troops to support relief efforts in Haiti in the wake of the devastating earthquake and will host a meeting of diplomats aimed at coordinating reconstruction efforts.
ST. LOUIS – Mark McGwire received a standing ovation from Cardinals fans Sunday in his first public appearance in St. Louis since admitting he used steroids.
Dartmouth interim coach Mark Graupe arrived at the prestigious university in Hanover, N.H., right on time.
SAN DIEGO – Rex Ryan is on a roll.The rookie coach who declared his team Super Bowl favorites after he figured out they were still in the playoffs is just a game away from being hailed for his psychic powers.
HONOLULU – Ryan Palmer expected the worst when his chip from 50 feet short of the 18th green came out a little strong.
KAANAPALI, Hawaii – Old guys still rule on Maui.Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson held off defending champions Fuzzy Zoeller and Ben Crenshaw to win the Champions Skins Game on Sunday.
NEW YORK – A man returning from Haiti who walked through a restricted door and set off an alarm that led to the evacuation of a terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport simply went the wrong way, his attorney said Sunday.
A fire swept through a two-story motel in central Alabama, killing four Mississippi college students who were trapped in their room, officials said Sunday.
BOSTON – A panicky White House and Democratic allies scrambled Sunday for a plan to salvage their hard-fought health care package in case a Republican wins Tuesday's Senate race in Massachusetts, which would enable the GOP to block further Senate action.
It must be something in the water.The water that's used to make the ice inside the Arena, that is.
This one felt right – probably because it was better.And it left Jeremy Abbott more confident about his figure skating future than, perhaps, any performance of his career.
College men: Scottie Reynolds scored 27 points and No. 4 Villanova ended a five-game losing streak to No. 11 Georgetown, hanging on for an 82-77 victory in Philadelphia.
MIR ALI, Pakistan – At least one suspected U.S. drone fired on a house in Pakistan's volatile tribal region Sunday, killing 20 people in the 11th such attack since militants in the area orchestrated a deadly suicide bombing against the CIA in Afghanistan, intelligence officials said.
LONDON – An 18th-century account of how a falling piece of fruit helped Isaac Newton develop the theory of gravity is being posted to the Web, making scans of the fragile paper manuscript widely available to the public for the first time.
BAGHDAD – Saddam Hussein's notorious cousin "Chemical Ali" was convicted Sunday and sentenced to hang for ordering the most infamous of his crimes, the attacks against the Kurdish town of Halabja that killed more than 5,000 people in clouds of poisonous gas.
I might not ever get accused of being exactly trendy, but openness to all things new and exciting is just built into my Aries nature.
The summer of 2008 ushered in a new era as the Idaho State Parks Department decided to move ahead with sewage systems in the most sensitive areas. Farragut (Lake Pend Oreille) and Heyburn (Chatcolet, Benewah, and Hidden Lakes) state parks were slated for this upgrade.
BOISE – If the Idaho Transportation Board's much-scaled-back bonding proposal for the coming year wins legislative support, bonds would pay for $14 million worth of additional work on the Garwood-to-Sagle project on Highway 95 in North Idaho.
I remember it vividly. It was two and a half years ago when newscasts around the country flashed pictures of five young women, ages 17 and 18, who were killed in a car accident in New York.
One of the tools meteorologists use on a daily basis to forecast the weather are computers. Using equations based on the laws of physics, powerful computers perform millions of calculations that result in an output of variables such as temperature, pressure, humidity, and wind speed that can be plotted on a map and analyzed.
What had been Paddy's II tavern at 900 Highway 41 (at its intersection with Mullan Road in Post Falls) is now Club 41. The 3,000-square-foot sports pub is remodeled with seating for 30-plus customers.
In the last few years, as social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter began to dominate the digital landscape and Youtube continued to attract tens of millions of viewers, the technologies have allowed people to connect in ways not previously possible.
Riverstone is a male, short-haired, brown tabby cat. He is about 8 months old now and has been at the shelter since he was a kitten. When he came to the shelter he had burns all over his face, with his whiskers completely burned off. He was terrified of people and shied away from any human contact. After much time and love from the staff, Riverstone now loves people and getting attention. He loves to play and loves to purr. His face has completely healed. He has come to have a great personality and is a shelter staff favorite. He will make someone a wonderful pet. Riverstone is neutered, current on shots, and litterbox trained. He has been here too long and would like to have his own home! Riverstone is at Kootenai Humane Society, 11600 N. Ramsey Road, Hayden, ID 83835; (208) 772-4019.
Propelled by unsmiling determination and a choppy leg motion, the freckled kid in the dark blue coat carved a wobbly path through the weekend thicket of skaters at the Riverfront Park Ice Palace.
CHICAGO – For a pizza joint, it's a bold move to tell customers your crust tasted like cardboard and your sauce was like ketchup.
For crafters, this is revolutionary stuff: It's now possible to design and print your own fabric.
Q. Part of my home sits over a crawl space and the floors in that area get extremely cold in winter. Would adding insulation in the crawl space help? Would there be moisture problems if insulation is added?
One of the wonderful things about small children is the way in which they cause us to explain the world. "What's that?" they ask, and we have to come up with an answer.
Cuba Gooding Jr. and Christian Slater will be coming back to Spokane in February to film another North by Northwest movie, "The Hit List," an action thriller.
New and veteran NBC dramas and a comedy produced by Jerry Seinfeld will take over the bulk of the prime-time slots soon to be vacated by Jay Leno.
ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) has gone shopping – agreeing to buy XTO Energy in a $41 billion all-stock deal.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – An ounce of filet mignon can cost you $1 at your grocery store, and the butcher won't hesitate to quote you the price.
Jack Nisbet and Timothy Egan have won 2010 Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Awards.
The boat, RV and sportsmen's show season is under way, giving outdoor enthusiasts a chance to see the latest products from manufacturers and learn sporting techniques at seminars.
With its new high-top trail shoe, Inov-8 stakes a simple claim that the Roclite 288 GTX is "the lightest-weight waterproof boot on the market."
An old joke suggests "The family that shoots together, stays together – because nobody's brave enough to turn and run away."
Labor unions have been excused from the tax on "Cadillac" health care plans until 2018, which has drawn strong rebukes.
On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Monday, hundreds of people will gather, greet friends, hear inspiring words, walk Spokane streets together and promote racial and community harmony. It's a genuine community event, but some of us experience it more personally because our lives, faith perspectives and worldviews were transformed by the life and death of Dr. King.
WASHINGTON – There will be no parade this time for President Barack Obama. No grand speech from the west front of the Capitol, no fireworks, no glittery balls to kick off the second year of his presidency on Wednesday, as there were for the first.
Cairo, Egypt – Egypt's largest opposition movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, announced Saturday it has chosen a new leader, a conservative academic who looks unlikely to challenge the government's relentless crackdown on the group.
BAGHDAD – Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki threw his support Saturday behind a decision to ban about 500 candidates from participating in Iraq's upcoming elections despite an outcry from the mostly Sunni and secular parties that are affected.
Langley, Va. – A group led by anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan protested near the CIA's headquarters and former Vice President Dick Cheney's home in northern Virginia on Saturday.
PHOENIX – Thousands of immigrant rights advocates marched in front of a county jail in Phoenix on Saturday in a protest that was aimed at Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's immigration efforts and was marked by a clash between a small group of protesters and police officers.
Spokane's Amanda Furrer put together a record-breaking performance in qualifying for the Junior Olympic Rifle Championships in Colorado Springs, Colo.
SAN DIEGO – In typical Southern California fashion, the San Diego Chargers have been chillin' since the end of the regular season.
Recent changes to state rules have prompted a rush to build new kidney dialysis clinics across Eastern Washington.
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has outdone his powerful predecessor – as an artist.
The Spokane Symphony took its sizable Casual Classics audience at the Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox on a whirlwind musical tour of 18th- and 19th-century Prague.
CHICAGO – Some think the Cincinnati Reds just took the biggest risk in franchise history. I think they made the shrewdest acquisition of the offseason.
ST. LOUIS – Over a 48-hour period last week, Henry Aaron forgave Mark McGwire, and the Roger Maris family forgave McGwire.
KABUL, Afghanistan – The Afghan parliament delivered another rebuke to President Hamid Karzai on Saturday when it rejected 10 of the 17 ministers he proposed on his second try at forming a government – the latest sign that his fraud-tainted election victory has weakened his leadership.
NEW YORK – A man who left Haiti and flew to the U.S. following the earthquake opened a restricted door at a busy terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Saturday, setting off an alarm that led to the evacuation of hundreds of travelers, officials said.
KABUL, Afghanistan – The brutality of Taliban attacks in northwest Pakistan has cost the militants public support, the U.S. special envoy to the region said Saturday.
If the Seattle Seahawks had made it to the playoffs, Bob and Marianna Metke would have had a tough decision to make: football or figure skating.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – For the first time since a catastrophic earthquake shuddered across Haiti last week, there were real signs of relief Saturday, with U.S. helicopters ferrying emergency supplies from an aircraft carrier off the coast and bulldozers taking to the streets of Port-au-Prince to shove through mountains of debris.
NHL: Craig Anderson made 37 saves, Chris Stewart and T.J. Galiardi scored and the Colorado Avalanche hung on to beat the New Jersey Devils 3-1 at Denver.
Reinstated Tennessee basketball players Melvin Goins and Cameron Tatum will rejoin the Volunteers for practice today after serving suspensions for their Jan. 1 arrests. Coach Bruce Pearl said he decided to reinstate the pair after learning more details from the legal investigation and Tennessee's student judicial affairs process. Pearl also suspended forward Tyler Smith and center Brian Williams after the four were arrested on misdemeanor gun, drug and alcohol charges in Knoxville.
Dwight Lewis hit five 3-pointers while scoring 24 points, and Southern California rolled to its biggest victory at its archrival's hallowed Pauley Pavilion, beating UCLA 67-46 Saturday.
RENO, Nev. – Luke Babbitt scored 19 points and Armon Johnson added 17 to lead Nevada to a 76-68 win over Idaho on Saturday night.
Short turnarounds are never easy, especially when you're playing short-handed in the backcourt against an up-tempo opponent with plenty of depth, talent and experience.
STORRS, Conn. – Connecticut got off to a near-perfect start, showing there is a chasm between it and the rest of women's basketball.
MIAMI – As more celebrity gossip sites have launched through the years, this much is clear: The public's appetite seems boundless.
BOISE – A private Lutheran university has announced a preliminary agreement to buy a building in Boise where it plans to start offering law school classes in 2011.
Jack Bauer's back. But he's a grandpa now, and retired to boot.Fox's "24" returns Sunday and Monday (9 p.m., TV-14), offering four quick hours of nail-biting tension kicking off with an assassination plot on the leader of a Muslim nation brave or foolish enough to make a peace deal with President Taylor (Cherry Jones).
Rosie O'Donnell says it's time for Jay Leno to step aside to make room for Conan O'Brien.
Dear Annie: I am a middle-school teacher in California and would like to thank you for your wonderful response to "Frustrated," who wrote about her son dealing with a "mean and degrading" teacher. You said to first talk to the teacher.
Earthquake service
A service in response to the earthquake in Haiti will be held Sunday at 7:30 p.m. at Life Center Church, 1202 N. Government Way.
This is one of those reflections that was nearly victimized by "writer's block." An irony here is that I want us to think about "stumbling blocks."
NEW YORK – The Dow Jones industrial average had its first triple-digit drop of 2010 as mounting losses from loans at JPMorgan Chase & Co. and a disappointing consumer sentiment reading sent investors rushing from stocks.
In December 1993, under the cover of darkness, an unidentified individual pitched a cinderblock through the bedroom window of a 5-year-old Jewish boy in Billings. This cowardly act was the most disturbing in an escalating pattern of hate crimes perpetrated by Skinhead and Ku Klux Klan splinter groups attempting to establish themselves in the southeast Montana community.
When Mary Floy Dolphin, 81, was a girl, she and her friends would visit the Herschell-Spillman Carousel in Liberty Lake Park during the summers.
SPOKANE VALLEY – On Tuesday the 2010 Spokane Valley Relay for Life Kick-Off Party will be held at the Quality Inn, 8923 E. Mission Ave., from 6 to 7 p.m.
Q: Five people having coffee at Starbucks on Broadway Avenue in Spokane Valley were asked: "If money were not an object, what would you be doing?"
The city of Liberty Lake came out against it. So did both the Liberty Lake Sewer and Water District and the Central Valley School District. The majority of the citizens who took the time to give input were opposed to it. Even Spokane County's own Planning Commission recommended they not do it. So why did commissioners Todd Mielke and Mark Richard ignore the will of the people and these public agencies and proceed with the approval of the Lancaster Enterprises development?
The drama department at University High School, 12420 E. 32nd Ave., in the Central Valley School District will present the play, "The Miser … Maybe," an adaptation of a French play by Moliere Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m.
A new Thai restaurant has opened in Spokane Valley.Owners Savann and Ny Ratahnahk combined their first names to call their eatery Savanny Food Express. The pair moved to the Inland Northwest from Bellingham about four years ago after they sold a similar style restaurant there.
First off, let's get the name thing straight. Public address announcers throughout the Greater Spokane League introduce Loree Hill as though her first name were spelled "Laurie." They're wrong. When a senior is in the midst of a breakout season, you don't want to get her name wrong.
What went wrong? A year ago, he was king of the world. Now President Obama's approval rating, according to CBS, has dropped to 46 percent – and his disapproval rating is the highest ever recorded by Gallup at the beginning of an (elected) president's second year.
Spokane-based Coffman Engineers Inc. has opened a two-person office in Honolulu, the company said.
WASHINGTON – The spending power of families is being squeezed, government data showed Friday, highlighting doubts about consumers' ability to drive the economic rebound.
NEW YORK – Crying, cheering and embracing, the survivors of US Airways Flight 1549 raised a toast to life Friday, marking the anniversary of their harrowing water landing with a return to the place their crippled jet hit the Hudson River.
NEW YORK – Federal health agencies said Friday recent research shows cause for concern over the chemical bisphenol-A's potential effect on children, but more study is needed before any regulatory changes are considered.
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama and top congressional Democrats closed in on agreement Friday on cost and coverage issues at the heart of sweeping health care legislation, their marathon White House bargaining sessions given fresh urgency by an unpredictable Massachusetts Senate race.
FRANKFORT, Ky. – An eastern Kentucky census worker found naked, bound and hanging from a tree had told a friend he intended to kill himself and that he had chosen the time, place and method to do it, police records show.
NEW ORLEANS – Questions persist about Reggie Bush's future with the New Orleans Saints, at least outside the Saints' training facility. Within those walls, they're far more concerned about the immediate future.
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. – Rex Ryan has been called lots of things in his first season as the New York Jets coach, and it's hard to argue with any of them.
Deuce McAllister will lead the New Orleans Saints into the playoffs, at least during introductions.
CAIRO, Egypt – One of al-Qaida's top military strategists in Yemen was reportedly killed Friday along with five other militants in strikes by the Yemeni air force that targeted two vehicles in the country's northeast mountains, according to officials and news agencies.
TOKYO – Seafood-loving Japan – having faced years of international pressure to stop whaling – finds itself with a potentially bigger fight over a highly prized type of tuna that conservation groups say is being fished to extinction.
KABUL, Afghanistan – A rocket slammed into a Kabul district housing several embassies, the latest in a series of attacks in the Afghan capital despite heavy security measures.
Years ago, I attended a tribute at Interplayers for the artist Harold Balazs.Someone uttered a phrase during that tribute that has stuck with me ever since: "He bloomed where he was planted."
Deaconess Medical Center and Inland Northwest Health Services have stepped back from a dispute over unpaid bills and financial records that threatened to disrupt the hospital's use of electronic medical records.
NEW YORK – Johnson & Johnson issued a massive recall Friday of over-the-counter drugs including Tylenol, Motrin and St. Joseph's aspirin because of a moldy smell that has made people sick.
CLEVELAND – The Indians don't know who their starting catcher will be this year. However, they've already settled on a backup.
One year ago today, 2-year-old Karina Janay Moore died from injuries she sustained 10 days earlier in her Post Falls foster home.
SEATTLE – More than 20 Seattle middle school students have been suspended after allegedly bullying a classmate over the Internet.
For Angela Simpson, the television images are hard to watch. And hard not to. Every phone call puts the household on edge. As Haiti reels in the aftermath of a catastrophic earthquake, she waits in the hope that someone, somehow, will get her word on the whereabouts of her adopted son, Emarc, an 18-year-old native of Haiti who was back on the island when the quake hit.
SEATTLE – A recent college graduate from Port Orchard who was volunteering at a Haiti orphanage was killed when the Port-au-Prince earthquake struck, her family said Friday.
A man police believe robbed a coffee stand was arrested Friday after a SWAT team standoff.Shawn Michael Westlie, 41, hid inside a home in the 2100 block of Montgomery Avenue in west Spokane when police arrived about 3:30 p.m. He surrendered about 90 minutes later without incident, said Officer Glenn Bartlett.
PORT-AU-PRINCE – Relief efforts struggled to get food, water and medicine to the hardest hit areas of the island on Friday, as security deteriorated amid a government vacuum and world leaders pledged more aid and personal visits to this devastated nation.
Haley Anderson has had many sleepless nights since November.That's when the 10-year-old figure skater began practicing the routine for the opening ceremonies for the 2010 AT&T U.S. Figure Skating Championships in her hometown.
Yes, last Sunday's rare road win over Montana State still counts.But any cloud of euphoria it might have created over Eastern Washington University's men's basketball program was blown away Friday night when the Eagles kicked away a five-point lead in the final 2 minutes to hand Northern Arizona University a 73-69 Big Sky Conference victory in front of a Reese Court crowd of 1,342.
Leaving Alabama cornerback Kareem Jackson is skipping his senior season to enter the NFL draft after the advisory committee projected him as a second-round pick. Jackson announced his decision Friday, the last day for underclassmen to declare for the draft.
NBA: Straight-faced and subdued, Washington Wizards star Gilbert Arenas on Friday pleaded guilty in a Washington, D.C., Superior Court to a felony gun charge connected to a locker-room argument, leaving his All-Star career in limbo and his freedom in doubt.
The last time Ryan Bradley passed through Spokane, he left local figuring skating fans with a memory to cherish.
Dear Carolyn: Both of our sons came home for Thanksgiving with their families. We put up our older son and his family in a hotel and had our younger son, his new (second) wife and their 5-month-old baby stay in our basement guest room.
The Golden Globes' guest list includes a former Beatle, an Oscar winner and Indiana Jones.The Hollywood Foreign Press Association says Paul McCartney, Reese Witherspoon and Harrison Ford will be presenters at Sunday's show.
If the Sunset Junction had a Facebook page, its latest status update would probably read something like this: "Under reinvention."
It's a new year and traditionally the time when television's dead are carried from the field and their replacements sent in.
Cold-blooded reptiles are lurking everywhere in the slick new noir "Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans," with snakes, iguanas, gators – and, especially, Nicolas Cage – at their slithering and cynical best.
NEW YORK – Early reports from stores on the holiday shopping season looked good. But it turns out retail sales actually fell in December, leaving economists scratching their heads about the state of the recovery.
SAN JOSE, Calif. – Police in California say a car dealer who repossessed a San Jose woman's Honda Accord left with something a bit more valuable: her 2-year-old son.
Chicago – Two Chicago men were indicted Thursday on charges they planned a violent attack on a Danish newspaper and helped lay the groundwork for the November 2008 terrorist rampage that killed 166 people in the Indian city of Mumbai.
BOSTON – President Barack Obama and the family of Edward M. Kennedy on Thursday pushed to keep a Democrat in the late senator's seat and protect a 60th vote needed to pass the health care bill that would be Kennedy's legacy.
WASHINGTON – All airlines flying to the United States or within the country were told Thursday to prepare for even tighter security because of the al-Qaida threat from Yemen, a law enforcement official said.
Spokane firefighters said Thursday they were investigating the cause of a fire that caused about $20,000 in damage to a home Wednesday evening.
BOISE – Cleanup of contaminated residential yards and other properties in the Coeur d'Alene Basin is so far ahead of schedule that Idaho lawmakers on Thursday authorized speeding up spending to do even more work this year.
The AT&T U.S. Figure Skating Championships, starting in Spokane today, will attract up to 75,000 passionate and vocal fans.
NAJAF, Iraq – Three bombs exploded in quick succession after sunset Thursday in the southern holy city of Najaf, killing up to 25 people and wounding scores of others, Iraqi Interior Ministry officials said.
Islamabad, Pakistan – The leader of the Pakistani Taliban was apparently targeted in a U.S. missile strike on a meeting of militant commanders close to the Afghan border Thursday, but he escaped unhurt, Pakistani officials and militants said. Twelve insurgents were believed killed.
NEW YORK – Two South Korean teenagers have been crowned fastest texters in the world.The team of 17-year-old Bae Yeong Ho and 18-year-old Ha Mok Min went thumb-to-thumb against competitors from a dozen countries to win the title in a competition Thursday in New York City.
WASHINGTON – In a major breakthrough, union leaders bowed Thursday to White House demands for a new tax on high-cost insurance plans as part of landmark health care legislation taking final shape in intensive negotiations. "We are on the doorstep" of success, President Barack Obama said.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Emergency aid flowed from around the world toward Haiti on Thursday, only to confront a reality that grew more desperate by the hour: Crippled ports and communications left stunned earthquake survivors on their own to scavenge for food and water, carry away legions of dead and dig frantically for voices calling out from under the rubble.
LOS ANGELES – In Haiti, average life expectancy is 53, three-quarters of women give birth without a health attendant, diarrheal illnesses are the second-leading cause of death, and 30 percent of children under 5 have stunted growth.
IRVINE, Calif. – Newspaper trade magazine Editor & Publisher was sold to an Irvine-based trade show company and publisher of boating and fishing magazines Thursday.
HELENA – A District Court judge has dismissed former Montana State football coach Mike Kramer's claims that the university breached its contract with him when he was fired in May 2007.
Figure skating has a scoring system only a computer could love.The judging accentuates the negative by nitpicking performances and demands technical requirements that lead to tediously repetitive routines.
About 30 miles high in the atmos- phere, the stratosphere thins out into the mesosphere. Meteors burn up here. Burning meteors may have been what Matt Gillis' quads felt like after winning 24 Hours of Schweitzer last January.
Hired South Florida hired Skip Holtz as its football coach. Holtz takes over a program recovering from a scandal that led to the firing of Jim Leavitt. Holtz led East Carolina to the past two Conference USA championships. He replaces Leavitt, fired last week after a school investigation concluded he grabbed a player by the throat, slapped him in the face, then lied about it. . Holtz is the son of former Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The recruiting section of the massive NCAA manual is 49 pages of do-this-don't-do-that finger wagging at coaches.
Rihards Kuksiks scored 25 points, Arizona State buried Oregon with eight 3-pointers in the first half, and the Sun Devils defeated the Ducks 76-57 at Eugene, Ore., on Thursday night.
College basketball: Angie Bjorklund's reverse layup with 2.3 seconds remaining lifted No. 4 Tennessee to a 66-64 victory over Florida on Thursday night.
OWENSBORO, Ky. – Southern Indiana officials say center Jeron Lewis has died after collapsing during a game at Kentucky Wesleyan.
CHENEY – Choices for Cheney will hold road shows the weeks of Jan. 19 and 25. The shows will include booths around Cheney that will include information regarding the update of Cheney's comprehensive plan and an upcoming workshop in February.
To the west of us is the magical gardening area created by the rains and mild climate of the maritime Northwest. To the east is the more extreme interior continental climate that can blast us with subzero cold in the winter. The Inland Northwest sits between these two opposing climates in what I call the East of the Rain and West of the Cold climate, and we have to deal with both.
EMERSON/GARFIELD – The Spokane office of the Washington state Department of Revenue, 1330 N. Washington St., will host a free workshop for new and small business owners on Tuesday, from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m., and 1:30 to 4:30 p.m.
Ziggy (1/14/2010)
Ziggy is a fun and energetic boy. Very sweet. He loves the plush toys. He likes to play and he knows sit. With proper dog introductions, he plays well. He would make an excellent hiking partner. Please come check him out at SCRAPS, 2521 N. Flora Road, (509) 477-2532, scraps@.spokanecounty.org.
Spokane City Forum will present its January speaker, Earl Martin, dean of Gonzaga University School of Law and acting academic vice president of Gonzaga University, Wednesday from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Spokane First Presbyterian Church, 318 S. Cedar St.
Burns Night events at casino
AIRWAY HEIGHTS – The Scottish St. Andrews Society of the Inland Northwest will host the 2010 Burns Night Supper and Scholarship Fundraiser Jan. 22 to celebrate the birthday of the Scottish poet Robert Burns at Northern Quest Casino, 100 N. Hayford Road.
Supporters and staff at the Chase Youth Commission and the Youth Department drew a huge sigh of relief just before Christmas, when the Spokane City Council approved Mayor Mary Verner's budget without cutting the Youth Department.
When this year's Mt. Spokane High School seniors were just freshmen, they started fundraising for their prom. They planned dances and car washes, held bake sales and sold T-shirts to raise enough money to pay for the prom by the time they were ready to graduate.
So, how are those New Year's resolutions coming? I am happy to report that my one and only one – resolving that 2010 shall be my personal year of curmudgeonly embrace – is going swimmingly.
Paula who?Despite losing judge Paula Abdul, "American Idol" started its ninth season with an audience of nearly 30 million people.
Dear Annie: I am one of four sisters, all of us in our 50s. We are a close-knit family, although we no longer live in the same communities.
As a cartoon, "Archer" (10 p.m., FX, TV-MA) is fairly interesting to look at. As a spy spoof, it's as old as "Get Smart," and as a comedy, it's a tedious exercise in network envelope-pushing.
Traveling by music holds few of the drawbacks of, say, air travel. There's no luggage, no lines, no pat-downs or full body scans, no delays.
You might say you can see two musicals for the price of one at the Spokane Civic Theatre beginning Friday:
The Cheney City Council has officially changed.Council members Teresa Overhauser and Mike McKeehan were sworn in after winning their re-election campaigns in November. Also sworn in was new council member Fred Pollard and new mayor Tom Trulove.
CHENEY – Eastern Washington University will celebrate the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday with a lecture by Angela Schwendiman, a lecturer in Africana Studies at EWU, on Tuesday at noon in Showalter Hall, Room 109, and the "A Day On, Not a Day Off" school supply drive, to benefit Cheney grade school students. The supply drive runs through Jan. 22.
LIBERTY LAKE – On Jan. 30, parents and caregivers will have the opportunity to have their child's car seat inspected by a certified safety technician for free.
A proposal to protect shorebirds and waterfowl by changing a wildlife reserve boundary at Sprague Lake has caused consternation among fishermen.
NBA: Kobe Bryant went from having a slow night because of a sore back to nailing the winning jumper with 28 seconds left, lifting the Los Angeles Lakers to a 100-95 road victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night in a matchup of the top two teams in the Western Conference.
Finalized The San Francisco Giants completed their $3 million, one-year contract with Aubrey Huff. The team said Wednesday that the first baseman had passed a physical. The sides agreed to terms during the weekend.
LOS ANGELES – Jeff Zucker was a fearless news producer and fast-rising entertainment executive who was just 41 when he became head of NBC Universal. But in the last few years, the one-time whiz kid behind the "Today" show – he turned Katie Couric into a star – has made several costly miscalculations that have led to a spectacular fall by the country's premier television network.
WASHINGTON – The federal budget deficit hit an all-time high for the month of December, and the red ink for the first three months of the current budget year is rising at a more rapid pace than last year's record clip.
ANKARA, Turkey – The gunman who wounded Pope John Paul II said Wednesday he would answer questions about the 1981 attack after he is released from prison next week.
LOS ANGELES – The nation's product safety agency issued an unprecedented warning Wednesday to parents: Don't give your children cheap metal jewelry. And if they already have some, toss it because it could contain hazardous levels of heavy metals such as lead and cadmium.
Porterville, Calif. – Investigators were mystified Wednesday as to why an 11-year-old boy was behind the wheel when the car ran a stop sign in Tulare County and crashed into another vehicle, killing him, his mother and younger sister.
Walgreen Co. said it will stop filling Medicaid prescriptions at about half of its pharmacies in Washington next month because of continued reimbursement reductions.
BOISE – A joint legislative task force split 7-5 on Wednesday in favor of condemning congressional health care reform legislation and backing Idaho Gov. Butch Otter's vow to sue, if necessary, to block it.
PHILADELPHIA – Teddy Pendergrass, who became R&B's reigning sex symbol in the 1970s and '80s with his forceful, masculine voice and passionate love ballads and later became an inspirational figure after suffering a devastating car accident that left him paralyzed, died Wednesday at age 59.
WASHINGTON – The man accused of trying to blow up Flight 253 on Dec. 25 apparently selected the Detroit-bound flight at random, members of Congress briefed by Obama administration intelligence officials said Wednesday.
Caracas, Venezuela – President Hugo Chavez indefinitely suspended rolling blackouts in Venezuela's capital just a day after they began, and sacked his electricity minister saying he was responsible for mistakes in the way the rationing plan was applied.
For Drew Gonzales, coming to Spokane for the 2010 AT&T U.S. Figure Skating Championships feels like a homecoming.
Tobey Maguire is out as Peter Parker and Sam Raimi won't be returning as director when "Spider-Man 4" hits theaters in 2012, a year later than expected.
Dear Carolyn: My husband has been offered a job (hooray!) with a decent salary, but he doesn't want it. I'm trying to be sympathetic: It is a step down and it really doesn't capitalize on his incredible skills (Ph.D. plus years of cutting-edge research). He's awfully bummed this is his only option. He's considering not taking the job.
"Passing Strange" on "Great Performances" (8 p.m., KSPS; 9 p.m., KCDT/KUID) is a great musical.
DEAR MISS MANNERS: My "first love" from my junior and senior years in high school was just heading off to Army boot camp when we broke up. Our breakup wasn't terrible, but not a happy one to say the least.
My father has always loved tapioca pudding; I was more of a rice pudding person throughout my youth.
There's a new way to get a taco-truck fix: El Que.Taco-truck food and infused tequilas are the foundation of the new joint, which co-owner John Grollmus describes as "50 percent food- and 50 percent cocktail-focused."
January brings plenty of soup weather.Two new offerings from Campbell's Chunky Soups will help fill any hankering for a "soup that eats like a meal."
I'm a big fan of one-pot meals, especially ones that really cook in one pot, start to finish. Not only is cleanup a snap, but I find that if the vegetables are part of the mix, the chances that everyone will eat them increase exponentially.
CHICAGO — Pomegranate thyme and bing cherry balsamic may sound like salad dressings, and lemon chamomile crème custard may evoke thoughts of fancy teas, but they're actually cutting-edge flavors in the latest fad to hit the baking scene — doughnuts.
Leadership Spokane students are selling a new cookbook.The modest spiral-bound collection of favorite recipes was created as part of their leadership training for 2010 – but that's only the beginning of the story.
Washington state's medicinal marijuana law is dopey. It is legal to have a certain amount of pot with a doctor's prescription, but the police might bust you for obtaining or dispensing it.
SEATTLE – Airbus topped Boeing both in the number of planes produced and in the total of new orders last year, but the U.S. company prevailed in perhaps the most important tally: the actual money received for airplanes delivered to customers.
Local winemaker Don Townshend has bought downtown Spokane's Catarina Winery with a plan to reopen the business as a destination wine bar.
Joe Morris will retire next year from his post as chief executive of Kootenai Health, the public district that runs Kootenai Medical Center.
Requested Texas Tech asked a judge to throw out fired coach Mike Leach's lawsuit, saying state law gives the university immunity from legal action. The university contended Leach is barred from suing the university without a waiver of sovereign immunity from the Texas Legislature. Leach was fired last month amid allegations he mistreated a player who had suffered a concussion.
College basketball: Eric Bledsoe scored a career-high 25 points, Patrick Patterson added 15 and No. 2 Kentucky stayed unbeaten with an 89-77 victory over Florida in Gainesville, Fla.
WASHINGTON – The Federal Reserve on Tuesday issued sweeping new rules to better protect Americans from sudden hikes in interest rates on credit cards.
A 60-year-old man hit by a car on North Division Street on Friday was identified Tuesday by the Spokane Police Department.
Inland Northwest Health Services plans to pull its electronic records staff out of Deaconess Medical Center as a multimillion dollar fight over unpaid bills worsens.
LOS ANGELES – Conan O'Brien is prepared to walk.Relegated again to second-string status, comedian O'Brien on Tuesday refused to go along with NBC's plans to push his show back a half-hour – upending the network's hope to keep its two late-night stars, Jay Leno and O'Brien, on its schedule.
Caracas, Venezuela – Venezuela's government imposed rolling blackouts of up to four hours every other day throughout the country on Tuesday to combat an energy crisis.
MEXICO CITY – A Mexican drug cartel kingpin accused of dissolving victims in barrels of lye and waging a terror campaign that turned Tijuana into one of Mexico's most dangerous cities was captured early Tuesday in the port city of La Paz, federal authorities said.
Albuquerque, N.M. – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Tuesday it will set aside critical habitat for the endangered jaguar and develop a recovery plan for the elusive animal once thought to have disappeared from the United States.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – A proposal to legalize and tax marijuana in California was approved by a key committee of the Assembly on Tuesday, but it is not expected to get further consideration by the Legislature until next year.
WASHINGTON – A group of dangerous sex criminals who took their case before the Supreme Court Tuesday had one clear champion: Justice Antonin Scalia.
BOISE – All Idaho Health and Welfare offices except state hospitals will close at noon every other Friday through the end of June so the state can save money by sending workers home early without pay.
BOISE – Republicans have let special interests loot from Idaho's revenue stream by giving them special tax breaks, minority Democrats charged Tuesday in an angry response to Gov. Butch Otter's bid to cut education and state agency funding.
Someone early Friday spray-painted swatikas on a car outside the downtown Coeur d'Alene home of a woman who regularly has African-American friends visiting.
RENTON, Wash. – Seahawks chief executive Tod Leiweke took issue Tuesday with criticism he was less than genuine in interviewing minority candidates before Seattle hired Pete Carroll as its coach.
An 18-year-old Rathdrum man may be facing drunken driving charges after driving his van into a home near state Highway 53 and Trails End Road on Tuesday.
BILLINGS – Wildlife officials from the United States and Canada want to gauge how climate change is affecting grizzly bears and hope to encourage conservation groups to purchase key parcels of bear habitat.
Q. Can you comment on the efficacy and safety of nasal capsaicin (Sinus Buster, Sinol-M) for rhinitis, sinusitis or sinus headache?
Shobana Kubendran loves putting together family trees. From them, she helps people tease out the answers to questions that often begin, "What are my chances of having ... ?"
As I am writing this, we are counting down the days to the 2010 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Spokane.
"American Idol" (8 p.m., Fox, TV-PG) is back! Paula's gone, replaced by Ellen DeGeneres. We'll see.
Dear Annie: I am a divorced woman in my late 30s, with two young sons. My ex-husband is not a good father, but my boys understand that and accept that he will not be a huge part of their lives.
Stephen King is a master at creating characters. But when Shooter Jennings came calling, the best-selling author decided to become one, playing a central figure in Jennings' upcoming concept album, "Black Ribbons."
PITTSBURGH — Alcoa Inc. on Monday reported a smaller net loss for the fourth quarter, though revenue shrank as higher metals prices were offset by ongoing weakness in aerospace, construction and gas turbines businesses.
For almost two years Spokane tech startup Pacinian Corp. has been mostly keeping its plans under cover.
DETROIT — The vital signs are improving for American automakers.General Motors may reopen some shuttered factories because it can't produce four of its vehicles fast enough to meet demand, and Chrysler is set to hire more engineers and product development workers.
BOISE – Gov. Butch Otter laid out a grim budget proposal for Idaho on Monday, calling for cutting public education both this year and next, slashing 400 state jobs, phasing out state funding for Idaho Public TV over the next four years and more.
LONDON – God bless this BlackBerry.A venerable British church has done what e-mail addicts and workaholics have been doing for years – invoking the Almighty's blessing on their high-tech gadgets.
BOISE – The state of Idaho contends that the four grounds for dismissal of the state's transportation director listed in state law are mere "examples," and the state can fire its transportation director for any reason or no reason at all.
OLYMPIA – The Washington state Supreme Court has a new chief justice.Barbara Madsen was sworn in to the top administrative role on the state's high court Monday morning. She replaces Gerry Alexander, who has served as chief justice since 2001. Alexander, who is set to retire at the end of 2011, will serve out the remainder of his term as an associate justice.
WICHITA, Kan. – Prosecutors asked a judge Monday to prohibit Scott Roeder from using voluntary manslaughter in his defense during his first-degree murder trial in the shooting of George Tiller.
LOS ANGELES – Federal and state watchdogs opened a new front Monday in the campaign to keep poisons out of Chinese imports, launching inquiries into high levels of cadmium in children's jewelry while Wal-Mart pulled many suspect items from its store shelves.
BAGHDAD – Iraqi security forces locked down parts of Baghdad today and were searching neighborhoods, said Baghdad's chief military spokesman, in what appeared to be a wide-ranging operation across the city.
SEATTLE – Five activists filed a ballot initiative Monday that would legalize all adult marijuana possession, manufacturing and sales under Washington state law – one of the most sweeping efforts at marijuana reform playing out around the country this year.
Men's basketball: Scottie Reynolds scored a season-high 36 points, including a game-clinching layup in the final minute, to lead No. 4 Villanova (15-1, 4-0 Big East) past Louisville 92-84 on Monday night in Louisville, Ky.
Declared Alabama All-America linebacker Rolando McClain is skipping his senior season to enter the NFL draft. McClain anchored the national champion Crimson Tide's defense and is projected as a first-round pick. He led Alabama with 105 tackles, 14.5 for losses in 2009, and had two interceptions. He was the Butkus Award winner as the nation's top linebacker in 2009.
Outfielder Vladimir Guerrero will now be hitting in the middle of the lineup for the Texas Rangers instead of doing damage against them.
Washington state could either gain an extra $277 million over four years if it gets out of the liquor business, or lose $47 million, a state auditor's review says.
SEATTLE – Pete Carroll is coming to Seattle as more than the eighth head coach in 34 years, but not the general manager.
MOSCOW, Idaho – Idaho dropped its third consecutive men's basketball game Monday, and each loss has been more excruciating than the last for a team with postseason ambitions.
OLYMPIA – The state Department of Natural Resources would close more than 20 trails, campgrounds and interpretive centers in March under Gov. Chris Gregoire's cash-strapped supplemental budget.
Donny Osmond is coming back to the airwaves with a radio show on the heels of his "Dancing With the Stars" win.
Dear Annie: I am married to a wonderful man who loves my kids and me very much. Since the first of our five children was born, I've stayed home to raise them. The problem is his family.
Turn a ho-hum Saturday meal into a memorable family activity when you dive into this "Octopus Lunch Surprise" recipe. With a few simple ingredients that kids love, your imaginations can soar when everyone creates an underwater scene right on their plates.
At 88, Grif Crawford knows he's at risk of a fall or other sudden health problem. So he wears a pendant around his neck that can summon help if something goes wrong.
Thanks to modern technology, a Spokane preschooler is about to become a TV star.Three-year-old Damian Carrera Ordaz will be featured in Thursday's episode of "PICME," a new show on the PBS KIDS Sprout network.
We must put a stop to the rape of young people behind bars.When the government removes someone's freedom, it takes on an absolute responsibility to keep that person safe, including from sexual violence. When the detainee is a child, that duty to protect becomes especially critical.
BANDON, Ore. – It may sound like a slogan from the 1970s, but "Save the Whales" might well be artist Vicki Affatati's mantra for 2010.
Area high school students are again asked to help the community remember the Holocaust.For a fourth year, a creative writing contest is part of the Spokane Community Observance of the Holocaust.
LEWISTON – An official with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game said two biologists and a pilot injured in a helicopter crash in North Idaho on Friday are being treated at a Missoula hospital.
BOISE – Would you rather learn science in Biology 101 or work a crime scene and study fingerprints, DNA, maggots and blood spatter? Eagle High School students Rhees Stilinovich and David Dionato spent a day examining blood types and DNA at a crime scene.
YAKIMA – The federal government's plan for a new immigration detention facility in Yakima is not being welcomed by local residents.
Lisa Brown's office, just off the floor of the Washington state Senate chambers, was abuzz last week with legislators, staff and people who needed a few minutes to talk about something that would be coming up during the session that starts today. The Spokane Democrat has served 17 years in the Legislature, 13 of them in the state Senate. This session, Brown's fifth as Senate majority leader, is short on days and long on problems: Even-numbered years are limited to 60 days, and Washington's budget is an estimated $2.6 billion out of balance. The Spokesman-Review sat down with Brown last week.
CAIRO, Egypt – Egyptian archaeologists discovered a new set of tombs belonging to the workers who built the great pyramids, shedding light on how the laborers lived and ate more than 4,000 years ago, the antiquities department said Sunday.
SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea's "appalling" human rights situation must improve before the country can expect to normalize relations with the United States, President Barack Obama's special envoy on the issue said today.
LONDON – An explosion outside a village in southern Afghanistan killed a U.S. Marine and a veteran war correspondent who became the first British journalist killed in the conflict, officials said.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Most of NASCAR is throwing out the welcome mat for Danica Patrick. Former driver-turned-TV analyst Kyle Petty is a bit more cautious about what her arrival means for the sport and the risks she's taking.
It took a few extra minutes, but the lineup for the divisional round of the NFL playoffs is set.
EUGENE, Ore. – Seth Tarver and Daniel Deane scored 15 points each and Oregon State made its final game at Oregon's McArthur Court a memorable one with a 64-57 upset of the Ducks on Sunday night.
KAPALUA, Hawaii – Nothing was familiar about Geoff Ogilvy's return to Kapalua except the winner's lei draped around his neck.
NBA: LeBron James had 41 points and 10 rebounds and the Cleveland Cavaliers held off a fourth-quarter Portland rally to beat the Trail Blazers 106-94 on the road.
WASHINGTON – Republicans on Sunday accused Democrats of a double standard by accepting Sen. Harry Reid's apology for racial remarks about Barack Obama instead of demanding Reid's ouster as majority leader.
NEWARK, N.J. – A United Airlines jetliner landed Sunday without one of its wheels fully deployed, damaging its right wing after a frightening few moments for passengers, who were braced in the crash position before an "unbelievably smooth" touchdown that drew cheers.
MIAMI – Freakish cold weather continued across the South, with snow flurries spotted around Orlando and a record low set for Miami, and forecasters said Sunday that more of the same was expected.
LOS ANGELES – Barred from using lead in children's jewelry because of its toxicity, some Chinese manufacturers have been substituting the more dangerous heavy metal cadmium in sparkling charm bracelets and shiny pendants being sold throughout the United States, an Associated Press investigation shows.
From Memorial Day to Labor Day, Kevin Eskelin's bar and restaurant hops with activity. Located at the edge of City Park in Coeur d'Alene, the Parkside Bistro opens at 11 a.m. and doesn't close until midnight, all summer long. ■ "This has been a dream," the 41-year-old owner said. "There's nothing that has this kind of feel in the Inland Northwest."
POST FALLS – The Jacklin Arts and Cultural Center, 405 N. William St. in Post Falls, is selling tickets to itsValentine's feature concert, "A Tribute to Judy Garland."
So, how are you liking this "El Niño" winter so far? As I write this article, the Midwest is once again bracing for another winter storm. Just two weeks ago, Oklahoma City picked up more than 14 inches of snow during a Christmas Eve blizzard. Even Dallas has seen several inches of snow so far this season (3.2 inches). A quick peek outside locally, and I see a street devoid of any traces of the white stuff. Most folks here were greeted by pouring rain to start 2010.
Looking for a place to get away but don't want to stand in line at airports or battle the crowds of bigger cities? This week in Sandpoint, residents and visitors will celebrate the 37th Annual Winter Carnival. With several days of festivities planned, organizers say that the old favorites will return and new ones will be added to the roster.
Now I understand why women relish a day at the salon. As a male with a fondness for action flicks, the Phoenix Suns and all things high-tech and high-definition, the typical hairstyling setting is, in my mind, somewhat off-putting. Not anymore.
Good for achieving a New Year's resolution, fitness is the major topic today. Describing Precision Fitness as specializing in one-on-one, high-intensity-resistance- training programs, owner Scott Stockwell this past week expanded his business from Coeur d'Alene to Hayden. The new facility is in a 2,688-square-foot space at 8252 N. Wayne Drive.
Some pink or no pink? It's a question on the lips of thousands of smiling Red Robin servers across the USA and Canada. They're asking if you want your burger cooked either medium or medium-well, but the question is evocative of something that might float through the mind of a fine artist at work.
BOISE – Former GOP state Rep. Jana Kemp has launched her independent campaign for governor, now that she's surpassed the number of required verified signatures on her petition for candidacy by several hundred. Candidates for governor of Idaho can either collect more than 1,000 verified voter signatures or pay a $300 fee to get on the ballot.
The gifts were sent about 10 days prior to Christmas. When opened, tears of remembrance flowed and the phones around Sandpoint began to ring with friends calling one another to see if they received a similar package with the same mysterious return address.
Sandpoint has long been recognized as an artists' community. But just when you think the creative level could not be more intriguing for a small town such as this, a new form of art is introduced.
New Year's Day marked the first polar plunge here in Bayview. Not to be out gunned by Sanders Beach in Coeur d'Alene, a few hardy souls put the word out that there would be a mid-winter swim at the Lake Pend Oreille public boat launch at 2 p.m. Sensing that there wouldn't be a conflict with boats launching at the same time, they went ahead with plans to take to the water.
With chilly temperatures, it may take a leap of imagination to realize spring is coming soon and with it the 34th annual Lilac Bloomsday Run. But to help fortify New Year's resolutions to get in shape, early registration for Bloomsday is now open at www.bloomsdayrun.org.
When Tanya West began skating at 5, she knew she always wanted to skate, but she never guessed she would one day be responsible for choreographing the opening ceremonies when the 2010 U.S. Figure Skating National Championships hit Spokane next week.
Michael Pollan, best-selling author of "The Omnivore's Dilemma" and expert on America's food culture, will present the Third Annual Common Reading Invited Lecture on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Washington State University's Beasley Coliseum in Pullman.
Two Spokane-filmed movies are about to be released on DVD:• "Wrong Turn to Tahoe" – This is the Cuba Gooding Jr.-Harvey Keitel thriller that was shot last winter. The official release date is Tuesday, but it's already available through Netflix and those Redbox DVD rental boxes.
BELLINGHAM – It's hard to miss the Whatcom Museum's new facility here, even at night. How can you miss an $18.3 million building that glows? The Lightcatcher museum, with its 37-foot-high glass wall, reflects sunlight during the day and illuminates from interior lights at night, a constant glow hovering over downtown.
I'm very fond of poems that demonstrate their authors' attentiveness to the world about them, as regular readers of this column have no doubt noticed.
Erin Bried is hoping to teach a generation of women the skills their grandmothers took for granted, such as how to shine your shoes, swaddle a newborn and spring-clean your home.
January is National Mailorder Gardening Month, and the mailboxes of gardeners will soon be stuffed with tomatoes and melons, peas and perennials.
It's the season for resolutions, and for many people that means vowing to get their home in the best shape possible.
Q. Our dining room, which isn't very large, never seems to get enough heat from our central heater. We'd like to get an electric space heater to help heat it, but are baffled by the different types of heaters available. Which is best for our purpose?
Overstock.com Inc., the online discount retailer, says it no longer will be offering for sale products that are made from the skins of snakes, sharks, eels, stingrays, ostriches or other exotic animals.
DENVER — Shares of steel manufacturers surged Friday after a JPMorgan analyst forecast a continued rebound in steel prices fueled by higher materials costs and some improvement in demand.
CHICAGO — Coming off an awful 2009, travel-related businesses from casinos to cruise lines to ski resorts are crossing their fingers that 2010 will bring something of a rebound.
Those who remember the old ticker symbol aren't dreaming. AOL (NYSE: AOL) is back, now that Time Warner has spun off its problematic online arm.
During the last three decades that I have been covering politics in Washington, there was never a time when I could not reach Chris Dodd to check what was happening. It didn't matter whether the question was about a House race in Connecticut or someone's presidential chances or the prospects of a big bill in the Senate, the answers always came back – straight, quick and informative.
A group of scientists has come to the conclusion that lopping off the tops of mountains to gain better access to coal is bad for the environment. Never saw that one coming.
Rick Giampietri, the Central Valley High School head football coach who is in his 40th year as a coach and educator in the Spokane area, received the Tom Oswald Memorial Award at Eastern Washington University's football awards banquet Friday.
HAUS IM ENNSTAL, Austria – American Lindsey Vonn won her fourth straight World Cup downhill Saturday and second in two days, overcoming poor visibility because of increasing snowfall.
SEATTLE – A little over a year after researchers feared a drop in the Northwest's endangered killer whale population meant disaster, the number of orcas has bounced back with six new babies and no whales lost.
The Methow River Valley's premier cross-country trail system has the diversity to attract skiers ranging from shufflers to members of the U.S. National Team. Take your pick of routes on the meadow flats, up the timbered hills, over the river bridges, past hot tubs or away from it all.
Berlin – A plane slid off an icy runway and powerful winds and heavy snow forced hundreds of flight cancellations across Europe on Saturday as blasts of freezing cold buffeted Europe.
CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuela is at risk of a devastating power collapse as drought pushes water levels precariously low behind the country's biggest hydroelectric dam, posing a serious political threat for President Hugo Chavez.
LONDON – The wife of Northern Ireland's leader will step down as a lawmaker within days, British media reported Saturday, as pressure mounted on Peter Robinson's shaky coalition government over her admissions of an affair with a far-younger man.
Mary Daly, feminist professor
Boston – Radical feminist Mary Daly, the iconoclastic theologian who proclaimed "I hate the Bible" and retired from Boston College rather than allow men to take her classes, has died. Daly, 81, died Jan. 3 of natural causes at Wachusett Manor nursing home in Gardner, Mass.
ODESSA, Wash. – It has been a rough go for Washington's fledgling biodiesel industry, with only a handful of the announced projects actually coming into production and promised financial support from the state withering in the harsh economic climate.
BOISE – Things seemed bad last year, when Idaho made an unprecedented cut in state funding for public schools while slashing budgets for everything from universities to economic development.
HONOLULU – Cash-strapped Hawaii can't afford to pay for an election to replace a congressman who is planning to step down next month to run for governor, potentially leaving 600,000 urban Honolulu residents without representation in Washington.
SALISBURY, Vt. – Three snowmobiles crossing a Vermont lake plunged through the ice Saturday, killing a man, his 24-year-old daughter and 3-year-old granddaughter, police said.
Washington – California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said concessions made to Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson to win his vote on the health care overhaul bill were a "rip-off" for his state and is urging California lawmakers to vote against it.
FERNDALE, Calif. – A 6.5 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Northern California Saturday afternoon, shaking buildings south of the Oregon border and knocking out power in several coastal communities.
WASHINGTON – Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., apologized Saturday for newly revealed racial remarks he made about Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign, comments that could hurt his re-election hopes.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Firebombs were used at two more churches in Malaysia early today, the latest in a series of assaults on Christian houses of worship following a court decision that allows non-Muslims to use "Allah" to refer to God.
As young girls growing up in Medical Lake, Nina Cruger and Jessica Johnson played make-believe about their far-off wedding days.
WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah – The husband of a missing Utah woman was moving out of the couple's home in a Salt Lake City suburb to Washington state Saturday, and police said they couldn't prevent the move.
BOISE – The Idaho Capitol officially opened to the public on Saturday.The ceremony marked the end of $122.5 million worth of expansion and renovations over the last two years that added 50,000 square feet to the century-old Capitol.
An 18-year-old girl escaped serious injury early Saturday morning after her car veered off Interstate 90 and rolled down an embankment.
Men's basketball: Jordan Taylor scored a career-high 23 points, Jason Bohannon tied a career high with 20, and the No. 17 Wisconsin Badgers (13-3, 3-1 Big Ten) beat No. 4 Purdue 73-66 in Madison, Wis., and handed Boilermakers (14-1, 2-1) their first loss of the season.
Injured The University of Texas football trainer said his staff could not clear quarterback Colt McCoy to return to the BCS championship game after he injured his right throwing shoulder in the Longhorns' 37-21 loss to Alabama on Thursday. Trainer Kenny Boyd said in a statement released by the school on Saturday that McCoy "wanted to go back in the game ... (but) we couldn't clear him to do that." McCoy was hurt on Texas' fifth play on offense and the NCAA career leader in victories (45) as a starting quarterback didn't take another snap in his final game. Freshman Garrett Gilbert played the rest of the game. "Colt sustained a nerve injury involving his right shoulder that prevented him from returning to the game. The injury caused numbness and weakness in his arm that prevented him from throwing with the strength or accuracy he needed," Boyd said. "He wanted to go back into the
YAKIMA – Yakima police say a Yakima Avenue barista served up a little more than coffee this week.
OROFINO, Idaho – Jacob Walk is blind in his right eye and deaf in his left ear, and chances are he'll eventually lose all sight and hearing.
NORTH COVE, Wash. – Washaway Beach, the area between North Cove and Tokeland infamous for rapid erosion that causes whole houses to tumble into the ocean, now has a second reason for fame: Coastal storms in late December and early January have unearthed the remnants of a shipwreck.
GREAT FALLS – A police dog that helped solve 213 misdemeanor cases and 84 felonies, assisted in the capture of 47 criminals and took down seven suspects on his own has retired from the Great Falls Police Department.
CINCINNATI – With the kind of bravado only his father, Buddy Ryan, has matched over the last two-plus decades, Rex Ryan said his team should be favorites throughout the playoffs and then handed his players itineraries for the next month with plans that culminate in a parade Feb. 9, two days after Super Bowl XLIV.
GLENDALE, Ariz. – The gung-ho Green Bay Packers (11-5) broke the franchise record for scoring, Aaron Rodgers passed Bret Favre for the second-most yards passing in Packers history, and Ryan Grant finished third in the NFC with 1,125 yards rushing.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Patriots (10-6) won the AFC East, but the Baltimore Ravens (9-7) won't have to face Wes Welker, the NFL's leading receiver with 123 catches, who seriously injured his knee in last Sunday's 34-27 loss to Houston. But the Patriots should have their best defensive linemen back. Nose tackle Vince Wilfork missed the last three games with a foot injury and end Ty Warren sat out two of them and much of the third with an ankle injury.
After strong finishes in their last three tournaments, including a first place in the Viking Invite in Lake Stevens on Dec. 30, University wrestling coach Don Owen said the Titans' goal for Saturday's Pacific Northwest Classic was nothing short of first place.
Heard any good jokes lately?"There is a new book out about the life of Warren Beatty . . . It says Warren has slept with 12,000 women . . . They say that barring injuries, Tiger may have a shot at that record."
Jerome Randle scored 21 points and Theo Robertson added 20, leading California to a 67-59 victory over Southern Cal at Berkeley, Calif., on Saturday night.
MOSCOW, Idaho – The freefall started with turnovers – bunches of them in rapid succession. Then came frightful free-throw shooting, and the University of Idaho's curious meltdown was underway.
MCMINNVILLE, Ore. – A survey of the state's top wineries suggests that Oregon's production in 2009 is likely to top that of 2008 by a good margin.
Nate Montgomery showed up early and worked late into the evening Saturday.Whitworth University needed every productive minute its active 6-foot-8 senior center logged to hold off an inspired upset bid by Northwest Conference basketball rival George Fox and keep its winning streak alive.
If I asked a random group of American workers how they feel coming out of 2009, I'm pretty sure of what they would say – exhausted.
The Pokemon Trading Card Game Spokane City Championships will be held Sunday at 11 a.m. at Uncle's Games, 404 W. Main Ave.
The corny fantasy "The Wishing Well" (9 p.m., Hallmark) may be worth checking out more for the cast than the plot.
Police say self-inflicted stab wounds put Howard Stern sidekick Artie Lange in a New Jersey hospital last week.
Dear Annie: I'm 42, and my mother, sister and adult daughter have all informed me repeatedly that I'm worthless, useless, unattractive and unlovable. I've examined my whole life to try to fix whatever it is I'm doing wrong, but I just can't seem to come up with any specific thing. I also have an ex-husband who agrees with everything they say, blames me for everything that ever went wrong in our marriage and adds that I'm lousy in bed, too. I've never been with anyone else to compare, but I'm too scared to discover he's right.
NEW YORK – A disappointing jobs report couldn't stop the stock market from having a strong start to the new year.
It all started with a basketball and an elementary school playground.Jenni White and Sammie Grater are the best of friends. They laugh together, they play together. If you see one, you generally find the other. At East Valley High School, they take all of their classes together and lunch together.
They don't come nicer than this young man. He is extremely friendly, very outgoing and a bit on the chatty side. He is always happy to see people and loves to stand on your shoulder and rub against your head and tell you all about his day.
Area high school students are again asked to help the community remember the Holocaust.For a fourth year, a creative writing contest is part of the Spokane Community Observance of the Holocaust.
I'd like to express complete satisfaction to the expelled Spokane Valley City Council Mayor Rich Munson and council members Diana Wilhite and Ian Robertson.
Under pressure from friends and colleagues, I finally signed up for Facebook in July 2009. At first I thought it was silly. Then the "friend requests" started coming in daily.
On Wednesday, Nigerian would-be bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was indicted by a Michigan grand jury for attempted murder and sundry other criminal charges. The previous day, the State Department announced that his visa had been revoked. The system worked.
LOS ANGELES – Nearly seven months after Michael Jackson's death, the official investigation of his death is edging toward conclusion with prosecutors prepared to seek an indictment of Jackson's doctor on a charge of involuntary manslaughter, the Associated Press has learned.
WASHINGTON – What goes up must come down, particularly when it's a billboard in Times Square picturing the president in an advertiser's overcoat.
NEW YORK – Regulators shut Horizon Bank in Bellingham on Friday, the first bank closing of 2010.
WASHINGTON – Americans borrowed less for a 10th consecutive month in November with total credit and borrowing on credit cards falling by the largest amounts on records going back nearly seven decades.
CARACAS, Venezuela – President Hugo Chavez announced a currency devaluation Friday for the first time since 2005, setting a two-tiered exchange rate designed to help Venezuela's oil earnings go further domestically while holding down prices of priority imports like food to counter soaring inflation.
The Washington State University College of Engineering and Architecture has decided to offer a four-year mechanical engineering degree at Olympic College in Bremerton.
SEATTLE – Beginning today, JPMorgan Chase will be giving away what's left of about $3 million in office supplies from the former headquarters of Washington Mutual to about 300 Puget Sound schools and nonprofits.
A 24-year-old accused killer is not mentally competent to be tried for the crossbow slaying of a Spokane woman two years ago, a judge ruled Friday.
Harsh winter weather across the Midwest disrupted Amtrak's Empire Builder service, cancelling the westbound Saturday morning train. The Amtrak Web site said it's possible the disruption could continue through the weekend.
A Missoula land trust has purchased 57 acres of grizzly habitat at North Idaho's Bismark Meadows.
Women say this to other women all the time:"You don't need a husband, honey. You need a dog."
Lisbon, Portugal – Portugal's parliament passed a bill Friday that would make the predominantly Catholic nation the sixth in Europe to permit gay marriage.
LUANDA, Angola – Gunmen in an area plagued by separatist violence used machine guns Friday to fire on a bus carrying Togo's national soccer team to a tournament in this southwest African country, wounding at least nine people including two players.
VANCOUVER, B.C. – An anti-energy industry activist convicted of bombing oil and gas wells a decade ago was arrested Friday in connection with the investigation into a series of pipeline bombings in northeastern British Columbia, his lawyer said.
TEHRAN, Iran – Pro-government demonstrators opened fire on the car of one of Iran's opposition leaders and shattered his windows, but he escaped unharmed from the rare armed attack on a top reformist, his Web site reported on Friday.
ATLANTA – The unyielding cold spell gripping much of the nation was expected to hang on tight over the weekend, though some areas that saw snowfall during the week were expected to have drier weather.
WASHINGTON – Astronomers say they are on the verge of finding planets like Earth orbiting other stars, a key step in determining if we are alone in the universe.
DENVER – A federal grand jury is investigating Joe Arpaio – the Arizona sheriff best known for his aggressive stance on illegal immigration – for possible abuses of power in launching investigations of local officials who disagree with him, officials said Friday.
WASHINGTON – The U.S. economy ended the worst year of employment losses since the Great Depression with an unexpectedly large new drop of 85,000 jobs in December – dimming hopes of a quick upswing in hiring and intensifying Washington's partisan fight over how to create more opportunities for workers.
A new Coeur d'Alene deli that delivers boxed lunches offers more than sandwiches packed with meat and cheese, accompanied by a homemade peanut butter cookie. It helps provide mentally ill people with the support services they need to rejoin the work force.
WILMINGTON, Del. – Jean Biden, who raised her son Vice President Joe Biden to believe in what he called "America's creed … everyone is your equal," died Friday after falling ill in recent days. She was 92.
NFL: Jerry Rice, who retired as the NFL's career receiving leader, and Emmitt Smith, who finished as the top rusher, were among 17 finalists announced Friday for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, including two senior nominees. The voting for entry into the shrine by a 44-member panel will take place Feb. 6.
Fired South Florida fired football coach Jim Leavitt after a school investigation concluded he grabbed one of his players by the throat, slapped him in the face and then lied about it. The only coach in the program's 13-year history said he was "disappointed" and the allegation was "absolutely false."
TEMPE, Ariz. – Rihards Kuksiks matched his career high with 27 points and Arizona State dominated No. 24 Washington from the start in a 68-51 Pac-10 win Friday night.
On a night when the gunpowder normally used to ignite Whitworth University's ample arsenal of scoring weapons seemed a bit damp, the Pirates turned to some smothering man-to-man defense to brush aside Northwest Conference basketball rival Pacific University 86-62.
SEATTLE – Jim Mora is out and it looks like Pete Carroll may be in as the Seahawks' new head football coach.
BOZEMAN – Ted Turner's bid to get 74 wild bison from Yellowstone National Park is drawing opposition from those who say the animals are being given up for profit instead of conservation.
COLVILLE – A Colville School District psychologist will be arraigned in Stevens County Superior Court on Monday for alleged molestation of an 11-year-old Colville resident.
ARLINGTON, Texas – Now the Dallas Cowboys have to figure out how to do it again.A week after shutting out Philadelphia to clinch the NFC East title and shaking some of their reputation for late-season lapses, the Cowboys (11-5) stay home for a rematch tonight against their division rival.
On her third album, "Give Up the Ghost," Brandi Carlile can't help but feel inspired. Working side-by-side with some of her biggest heroes in music has that effect on her.
Julia Keefe has several things in common with Mildred Bailey:• Both are Spokane-raised jazz singers.
Dear Carolyn: My husband's sister makes me crazy. First she named her son after my husband, meaning the name is "taken" and we can not use it if we have a son. Now, she has gone and bought her daughter a puppy for Christmas, of the same breed we've been talking about getting for years once our beloved dog passes. I know these things are not a big deal, but I can't help but feel like she keeps trying to beat us to the punch! Do I say anything to her or just remain silently frustrated? – D.C.
Sharon Stone will soon be fighting crime in a guest role on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit."
NEW YORK – Boeing Co. said Thursday it delivered more aircraft last year than in 2008 and sees even brighter days, relieving some of the market anxiety over production cuts and delivery cancellations.
Spine Team Spokane is putting up a 10,000-square-foot north Spokane clinic at 410 E. Holland, just east of the Division Street Y. The group already has a Spokane Valley location.
Cashiers with Spokane's United Food & Commercial Workers recently approved a contract with Fred Meyer, ending a two-year dispute that included negative ads asking shoppers not to shop from the retailer's stores.
LAS VEGAS – Need a billion-dollar corporate turnaround? There's an app for that.Hitching a ride with the fast-paced Internet and consumer electronics industry, Ford Motor Co. on Thursday unveiled new features for its SYNC in-car technology designed to turbocharge its financial turnaround and polish the Dearborn, Mich., company's image to be the Apple Inc. of the car industry.
CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Oil and gas companies face more drilling delays and higher costs because of a new U.S. Bureau of Land Management policy for protecting sage grouse in Wyoming, according to the Petroleum Association of Wyoming.
BOISE - Idaho Gov. Butch Otter on Thursday declared his support for additional midyear budget cuts that would hit schools along with all other state operations.
A group of California investors has accused a pair of Spokane real estate developers of using a sophisticated scheme that tricked them out of tens of thousands of dollars and left them on the hook for millions more in bank loans.
City workers likely will be able to keep riding Spokane Transit Authority buses at no cost to them.
The controversy over the Oregon-Washington State men's basketball game last week took a new turn Thursday when a key figure on the NCAA rules committee said an important element wasn't in place for game officials to levy a pivotal technical foul.
The people at 49 Degrees North were busy maximizing their U.S. Forest Service permit area in the last decade. In 2006 they added about 600 acres of terrain and a quad chairlift in the east basin. In 2007 they extended Chair Two 300 vertical feet to midmountain.
Baseball: The Texas Rangers have signed free-agent infielder Matt Brown to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training.
Announced University of Mississippi quarterback Jevan Snead is going pro, skipping his senior season to enter the NFL draft after leading the Rebels to their best back-to-back seasons in nearly four decades. Snead, considered a top prospect, made the announcement Thursday in a news release issued by the university.
Washington – Defense Secretary Robert Gates, a holdover from the Bush administration, will remain in his Cabinet post for at least another year, his spokesman said Thursday.
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama on Thursday declined to fire anyone for the lapses that allowed a suspected terrorist carrying explosives to board a plane for Detroit on Christmas Day, and said for the first time he bears the ultimate responsibility for any breach that endangers Americans.
ST. LOUIS – A disgruntled worker embroiled in a pension dispute with his company showed up at the plant and opened fire Thursday, killing three people and wounding five before apparently killing himself.
PASADENA, Calif. – First, the Alabama defense knocked Colt McCoy out of the game. Later, it saved a national championship.
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Steadily falling snow blanketed the Midwest on Thursday, part of a vicious cold snap engulfing much of the nation, and a tractor-trailer spun out of control on snow-slick roads in Ohio, killing four people and injuring seven.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Three Malaysian Christian churches were attacked with firebombs today, causing extensive damage to one and sharply escalating religious tensions in the country over the use of the word "Allah" by non-Muslim minorities.
Nathan Gonzalez considers himself a football aficionado. Baseball is also his thing.So Gonzalez, a 20-year-old Whitworth University student studying to be an athletic trainer, was a little out of his element Thursday as he learned how to tend to an injured figure skater.
SEATTLE – The fallout from Mount Rainier's shrinking glaciers is beginning to roll downhill, and nowhere is the impact more striking than on the volcano's west side.
A 58-year-old man who died Tuesday after crashing his car into a railroad bridge abutment in northeast Spokane was identified Thursday.
They don't come nicer than this young man. He is extremely friendly, very outgoing and a bit on the chatty side. He is always happy to see people and loves to stand on your shoulder and rub against your head and tell you all about his day.
With chilly temperatures, it may take a leap of imagination to realize spring is coming soon and with it the 34th annual Lilac Bloomsday Run. But to help fortify New Year's resolutions to get in shape, early registration for Bloomsday is now open at www.bloomsdayrun.org.
New Year's resolutions are meant to be broken. At least that is the only logical explanation I can come up with. In years past I have simultaneously resolved to stop smoking, lose weight, get in shape and stop drinking. Talk about planning for failure.
While Kerri Williams may be going through a rough patch, one thing she is not short on is friends. As a hairdresser in Deer Park, she is part of the community.
"He plants trees to benefit another generation." – Caecilius Statius
MILLWOOD – Volunteers from West Valley School District and members of Millwood Presbyterian Church will distribute food to those in need on Friday at the church, 3223 N. Marguerite Road in Spokane Valley, from noon to 2 p.m.
The faculty of Central Valley High School will compete in an able-bodied wheelchair, Shoot for the Stars basketball exhibition game with Team St. Luke's athletes during halftime of the varsity basketball game with Ferris High School Friday at 7 p.m.
Dare I say it that maybe the weather folks were right when they said we'd have a mild winter. We still have a couple of months to prove them wrong, but in the meantime we have a chance to get ahead of spring gardening chores. So bundle up and get out there.
Cheney High School has been named one of the top 9.3 percent of high schools in the country by U.S. News and World Report.
CHENEY – Eastern Washington University will hold H1N1 flu shot clinics for students on Tuesday and Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., in the Pence Union Building multipurpose room.
The second half of Spokane's classical music season offers some masterworks for choir and orchestra, trips to musical cities, chamber music masterpieces and a visit from a world-famous dance company.
Theatergoers can look forward to some unusual sights on Spokane stages the next few months – an actress playing a dog, a man with a hangup about argyle socks – but nothing can surpass the naughty puppets of "Avenue Q."
In its third season, "Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew" (10 p.m., VH1, TV-14) leaves me with more questions than answers.
Mariah Carey lived up to her loopy reputation at the Palm Springs International Film Festival awards with a long, rambling speech after being named Breakthrough Actress for her performance in "Precious."
Dear Annie: Some time ago, relatives from out of town asked to visit us when they were here for a nearby event. We agreed, as we seldom get to see these people. To our surprise, they arrived with the dog they had recently rescued from the pound. It was just a few months old and not housebroken. Worse, we were stuck dog-sitting the evening they went out.
Catholic Charities Spokane, 12 E. Fifth Ave., will present a volunteer information session Wednesday from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m.
When Tanya West began skating at 5, she knew she always wanted to skate, but she never guessed she would one day be responsible for choreographing the opening ceremonies when the 2010 U.S. Figure Skating National Championships hit Spokane next week.
There is a new house listed on the Cheney Register of Historic Places.The house on I Street was built in 1885 and was once owned by Guyel and Ella Frost. Bettye Hull, Historic Preservation Commission chair, said the house was added on to twice before 1929.
It really had nothing to do with the snow. Dave Robertson, 44, of west Spokane, was walking home from his job at Rings and Things downtown at dusk, on one of the first snowy days in December. Headed west on Second Avenue, he waited at the crosswalk to cross Monroe Street.
The Episcopal Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, 127 E. 12th Ave., will present Windsong, a quartet of four local musicians, Sunday at 4 p.m.
Some economists see Washington state workers enjoying an average 4 percent boost in personal income this year.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer demonstrated a new touch-screen, tablet-style computer from Hewlett-Packard Co. on Wednesday night, the first of several such devices expected to be unveiled this month.
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. – Nick Saban gave Mack Brown a cooler full of Alabama's favorite, Dreamland Bar-B-Que. Brown presented Saban with a pair of genuine Texas spurs.
BOISE – Idaho Gov. Butch Otter has scheduled an announcement for this morning on the state budget, just days before he'll unveil his proposed budget Monday to a joint session of the state Legislature.
The Washington State Cougars have played in a couple of hostile environments this season, losing in early December in the cacophony of sound that is Gonzaga's McCarthey Athletic Center and at Kansas State three days later.
Spokane's closely knit ice skating fraternity is mourning the loss this week of its beloved matriarch, Sandy Blackwell, who died Monday afternoon at the age of 71, following a prolonged battle with cancer.
A wildlife murder mystery is unfolding in the Colville River Valley with possible links to one of the region's remarkable romance stories.
MOBILE, Ala. – Dan LeFevour put on one last show Wednesday, Andrew Aguila kicked five field goals, including the 37-yard winner in double overtime, and No. 25 Central Michigan beat Troy (9-4) 44-41 in the GMAC Bowl.
CAIRO – Three men in a car sprayed automatic gunfire into a crowd of churchgoers in southern Egypt, killing at least seven people as they left a midnight Mass for Coptic Christmas, the church bishop and security officials said.
DUBLIN, Ireland – An unknowing 49-year-old electrician emerged Wednesday as an unlikely symbol of what can go wrong in the war on terror after authorities in Slovakia planted an explosive in his backpack to test security – then let it travel all the way to Ireland.
WASHINGTON – U.S. border security officials learned of intelligence concerning the alleged extremist links of the Christmas Day airline bomber as he was airborne en route to Detroit and had decided to question him when he landed, officials said in disclosures Wednesday.
Another teenager has come forward claiming to have been victimized by a former Post Falls church volunteer, police confirmed Wednesday.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A central Kentucky autoworker said he bought a Powerball lottery ticket worth $128.6 million on Christmas Eve while doing some last-minute shopping.
LAS VEGAS – This is supposedly the year 3-D television becomes the hot new thing: Updated sets and disc players are coming out, and 3-D cable channels are in the works. But it's not clear the idea will reach out and grab mainstream viewers.
NBA: Gilbert Arenas tried joking about his gun trouble. David Stern found none of it funny.Arenas was suspended indefinitely without pay Wednesday by the NBA commissioner, who determined the player's behavior made him "not currently fit to take the court."
Out Wide receiver Wes Welker's season officially ended Wednesday when the New England Patriots placed the NFL's leading pass catcher on injured reserve. Welker was running Sunday after making his NFL-best 123rd catch when his left leg buckled as he planted it to make a cut. He fell to the ground, grabbed his knee and was helped off the field.
NEW YORK – A woman says a Manhattan gym left her hanging when she tried a new workout: pole-dancing.
DENVER – The Colorado father who pleaded guilty to a felony in the runaway balloon saga insisted in an interview set to air Friday that the event wasn't a hoax.
Jarrett Mann made one free throw with 10.6 seconds left and host Stanford stopped several last-second chances on the defensive end to beat embattled Southern California 54-53 Wednesday night and snap the Trojans' eight-game winning streak.
Mead's Jordan Rogers and University's Jacob Mason gave a glimpse into what could possibly be the top tier of the 160-pound weight class for Washington during their dual wrestling match Wednesday at Mead.
With the long, dark days of winter upon us, active days and fresh healthy dishes of summertime seem a distant memory.
Dijon mustard is one of my go-to ingredients for making sauces, dips and glazes.A slew of brands are on the market, though Grey Poupon is perhaps the most well-known.
What separates man from other creatures? Thinkers both religious and secular have been wrestling with this question throughout history.
Dear Carolyn: Last week I mentioned to my on-again off-again boyfriend that I considered getting tested for STDs while we were apart. (We broke up for about two months; I thought it was completely over and testing seemed wise, if a bit late in the process.) His reaction was very defensive and angry. He said it made him feel like I was accusing him of being unfaithful, having a disease, etc., which I was not. The reason I was considering was two of my overly paranoid friends kept encouraging me to, and I felt like it was a generally beneficial thing to do. Should I be concerned about his reaction? I haven't been with anyone besides him while we have been on or off. – D.C.
Courteney Cox and Lisa Kudrow, who starred as Monica Geller and Phoebe Buffay for 10 seasons on NBC's "Friends," are reuniting for tonight's episode of "Cougar Town" (9:30 p.m., ABC).
Perhaps one good outcome of tight budgets will be the death of the death penalty. Fifteen states have rescinded capital punishment since the U.S. Supreme Court revived it in a 1976 ruling, with the latest being New Mexico. The Connecticut Legislature passed a similar bill last year, but the governor vetoed it.
Do Washington laws protect a worker from retaliation if he reports seeing a supervisor under the influence of alcohol or driving while intoxicated?
A former Post Falls church youth leader was arrested last week on suspicion he had sexual and inappropriate contact with several minor girls from the congregation.
WASHINGTON – If there is one thing in the proposed congressional health care overhaul that sets Michael Cannon's libertarian teeth on edge, it's the requirement that all Americans get health insurance.
TORONTO – Full-body scanners will be introduced in Canada in the wake of the failed Christmas Day bombing attempt of a U.S. airliner, Canada's transport minister said Tuesday.
TACOMA – Less than a month after law enforcement officers filled the Tacoma Dome for a memorial service for four of their own, they returned Tuesday for yet another sad ceremony for one of their colleagues.
WASHINGTON – GOP Chairman Michael Steele thinks Republicans have "screwed up" for the most part in the years since Ronald Reagan was president. And, he adds in an interview on the heels of his new book's release, Republicans won't win back the House in fall elections and might not be ready to lead even if they do.
Fresno, Calif. – Three California Department of Fish and Game biologists and a pilot were killed Tuesday when their helicopter crashed in a craggy stretch of the Sierra National Forest where they were surveying wildlife.
WASHINGTON – Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd, a five-term Democrat whose political stock began falling after the financial meltdown and his failed 2008 presidential bid, has decided not to seek re-election in November, Democratic officials told the Associated Press early today.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Rhode Island lawmakers voted Tuesday to allow same-sex and unmarried couples the right to plan the funerals of their late partners, overriding a veto by the governor, who warned it eroded traditional marriage.
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Subfreezing temperatures across the South have Florida farmers worried that strawberry, tomato and other crops could be destroyed, with temperatures in usually balmy Miami only in the 50s on Tuesday.
A Kootenai County 1st District judge denied Tuesday a motion for a temporary restraining order that would have prevented Coeur d'Alene's newly re-elected mayor and three council members from being sworn in Tuesday night.
A Spokane County man accused of running a Ponzi scheme has agreed to repay about 200 investors and has been banned from selling investments or securities.
A Spokane County Superior Court judge heard pretrial motions on Tuesday in a lawsuit against Morning Star Boys Ranch by a former resident who claims he was sexually abused by ranch personnel.
Sydney, Australia – A conservation group's boat was sinking today after it collided with a Japanese whaling ship in the frigid waters of Antarctica, the group said. The boat's six crew members were safely rescued.
DEARBORN, Mich. – At least nine Detroit area high school juniors are in trouble for wearing sweat shirts bearing a design that evokes the terrorist attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center's Twin Towers.
Antidepressant medications likely provide little or no benefit to people with mild or moderate depression, a new study has found. Rather, the mere act of seeing a doctor, discussing symptoms and learning about depression probably triggers the improvements many patients experience while on medication.
TONOPAH, Nev. – Brothel owner Bobbi Davis got the go-ahead Tuesday to hire what her Web site cheekily calls "a few good men."
WASHINGTON – The White House announced Tuesday that it is halting the transfer of detainees held at the Guantanamo Bay prison to Yemen, a move that could complicate President Barack Obama's plans to close the controversial military center on a naval base in Cuba.
MIAMI – Stymied by the Iowa Hawkeyes' swarming defense, Georgia Tech found itself out of options.
Football: Mike Shanahan has agreed to become the Washington Redskins' next coach, according to multiple reports.
SASKATOON, Saskatchewan – John Carlson scored in overtime to give the United States a 6-5 victory over Canada in the world junior hockey championship on Tuesday night.
The Catholic Diocese of Spokane has appealed a recent series of bankruptcy court rulings that could cost it millions of dollars more.
Where is fitness going in 2010? Well, people want to sweat, get it done quickly and not spend a lot of money.
Everyone has events or circumstances in their lives that make them frustrated, irritable or depressed. When I was younger and I would talk about something bothering me, a relative of mine would tell me: "Just don't let it get to you."
Dear Annie: How do you deal with a married 40-year-old daughter with two children who is so jealous of her brothers that she causes family rifts? Right now, "Claire" isn't speaking to her father, her brothers or me. We don't understand it. We have always treated our children the same.
After 68 years and hundreds of books on the subject, you'd think we'd know everything about the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. But "Nova" (7 p.m. KSPS; 8 p.m., KCDT, KUID) uses forensics to disinter another fragment of evidence about the infamous December morning.
If you thought America would quickly regain the world's love, admiration and – most important – it's willingness to follow the U.S. lead once Barack Obama came to power, the news is disappointing. A useful guide to what has transpired comes from Venezuela's president and his most peculiar sulfur-ometer. Hugo Chavez, it seems, can smell the devil, especially when the Prince of Darkness takes up residence in the body of an American president.
WASHINGTON – We can't get no job satisfaction.Even Americans who are lucky enough to have work in this economy are becoming more unhappy with their jobs, according to a new survey that found only 45 percent of Americans are satisfied with their work.
WASHINGTON – An unexpectedly strong report on manufacturing activity Monday bolstered confidence that the nation's factories will help sustain an economic recovery.
Q.In your "Planning Tips for the New Year" column (Dec. 29), you said everyone needs cash for emergencies. But if I have credit cards and a personal line of credit, do I still need cash? How much should it be and where should I keep it? – Carl J.
WASHINGTON – The IRS plans to require tax preparers to pass a test and register with the government to better police a largely unregulated industry used by most taxpayers.
KENOSHA, Wis. – Seven dog tracks halted racing across the country last year, forcing hundreds of greyhounds into an uncertain future. With fewer tracks available for them to race, the sleek long-limbed dogs are now flooding the adoption market at a difficult time.
HONOLULU – U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie announced Monday he will resign from Congress on Feb. 28 to run for Hawaii governor.
Holiday charity was a mixed bag in the Inland Northwest, with some 2009 goals being met and others falling by the wayside while the recession chugs along.
SAN JOSE, Calif. – Its namesake first described the laws of planetary motion. Now a 2,300-pound spacecraft directed by NASA's Ames Research Center is revealing exotic new collections of distant planets that may again transform how we think of our own solar system.
BOISE – A group of property owners from four failed luxury resorts – including the Tamarack Resort in Idaho – has filed a $24 billion class-action lawsuit against Credit Suisse, alleging that the big Swiss bank engaged in a "predatory" lending scheme designed to force all four resorts into foreclosure and acquire the pricey properties for pennies on the dollar, while raking in "enormous" fees.
COLUMBIA, S.C. – A bitter chill has settled in across the eastern half of the country, threatening crops, closing schools and making Charleston, S.C., feel more like New York City.
LOS ANGELES – Smoking raises the risk of diabetes, but new research indicates that – at least in the short term – kicking the habit increases the risk even more.
With cold weather predicted, a Coeur d'Alene warming center will open tonight at 8 p.m. and remain open through Thursday.
WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton declared Monday that Yemen is a threat to global security but warned that the Obama administration will continue accelerating U.S. aid only if the Yemeni government meets U.S. demands to take steps toward stability.
HONIARA, Solomon Islands – Authorities in helicopters flew over coastlines in the Solomon Islands today assessing damage from a large earthquake and tsunami that crashed ashore a day earlier, devastating at least one village.
BEIJING – Web users reported an outage of China's strict Internet controls, known as the Great Firewall, for several hours Monday morning, allowing them brief access to banned Web sites such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.
WASHINGTON – The suicide bomber who killed eight people inside a CIA base in Afghanistan was a Jordan-born terrorist double agent who was invited to the base because he claimed to have information targeting Osama bin Laden's second-in-command, a former senior U.S. intelligence official and a foreign government official confirmed Monday.
Jim Zorn was fired by the Washington Redskins early Monday, the first step in yet another team overhaul under owner Dan Snyder.
NEW YORK – The St. Louis Rams are on the clock. The team with the worst record in the NFL at 1-15 has the No. 1 pick in the April 22-24 draft.
Agreed The Colorado Rockies and catcher Miguel Olivo agreed to a $2.5 million, one-year contract Monday that includes a club option for 2011. Olivo hit .249 with 23 home runs and 65 RBIs in 114 games for the Kansas City Royals last season, when he served as A.L. Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke's catcher for 31 of his 33 starts. Olivo threw out 18 of 74 base stealers. The 31-year-old also has played for the Marlins, White Sox, Mariners and Padres. He is a .243 career hitter with 96 homers and 330 RBIs in eight major league seasons.
Men's college basketball: Andrew Goudelock's long 3-pointer tied the game with 2 seconds left in regulation, Donavan Monroe gave College of Charleston the lead for good with a 3 to start overtime and the Cougars beat No. 9 North Carolina 82-79 on Monday night at Charleston, S.C.
Regis Philbin is set to return to his daytime talk show today after successful hip replacement surgery.
With twins on the way, Stacey Blackmar and her husband were looking to be prepared first-time parents when they started researching baby products. Instead, they found themselves bewildered by all the choices and information available.
DEAR MISS MANNERS: The small company I work for hands out Christmas bonuses every year. The last two years I have been with the company, I have received a bonus, but I was not sure as to whether or not I should send a thank you note to the owner, so I didn't. Once again, I'm torn – do I write a thank you note or don't I?
CHICAGO – The recession and a new baby are a scary pairing, but some are hoping it will inspire more mothers to breast-feed.
The year is young enough to still have that new car smell, but we may already have the worst show of 2010 with "Conveyor Belt of Love" (10:02 p.m., ABC, TV-PG). This one-hour special combines elements of "The Dating Game" and "The Gong Show" with a meat-market/speed-dating motif.
Dear Annie: My wife decided to offer our young teenage daughter a trip to Japan because a friend of ours moved there last summer. Our daughter would stay for a week with this friend. My wife agrees with me that the decision was impulsive, but we both know it offers an opportunity for our daughter to enjoy a great experience. This friend is only in her 20s, but both she and my daughter are very responsible individuals.
Idaho's federally recognized Indian tribes, citing their growing economic clout statewide, want Gov. Butch Otter to create a Cabinet-level post dedicated to improving tribal relations. The governor's staff described the proposal as little more than an idea that arose during a meeting with tribal respresentatives, but it quickly drew mixed reactions from readers, who shared their thoughts on spokesman.com's Huckleberries Online blog.
John A. Schultheis, 75, retired last week from the Washington State Court of Appeals. He had been Spokane's longest-serving active judge, with 35 years on the bench. After graduating from Gonzaga University Law School, he started working as a private attorney in 1962. He was appointed to the Spokane County District Court in 1974. He won a seat on the appeals court in 1993 and stayed there until last week.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Rex and The Sanchise are headed to the playoffs, lucky breaks and all.
Women's College Basketball: Shekinna Stricklen had the second triple-double in Tennessee history, finishing with 17 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists and in the fourth-ranked Lady Volunteers' 96-75 victory over No. 14 Oklahoma on Sunday night at Knoxville, Tenn.
PHOENIX – An advocate for immigrant and civil rights has started using text messages to warn residents about crime sweeps by a high-profile Arizona sheriff.
WASHINGTON – Stronger regulation is the best way to prevent financial speculation from getting out of hand and throwing the economy into a new crisis, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Sunday.
LOS ANGELES – Responding to allegations that former star O.J. Mayo received improper benefits while in school, the University of Southern California basketball team will forgo any postseason play this season, including the Pacific 10 Conference tournament, and forfeit all 21 victories from its 2007-08 season.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Dubai is set to open the world's tallest building amid tight security today, celebrating the tower as a bold feat on the world stage despite the city-state's shaky financial footing.
NEWARK, N.J. – A man walked through a screening checkpoint exit into the secure side of a terminal at one of the nation's busiest airports on Sunday night, and flights were grounded for hours and passengers had to be re-screened while air safety officials searched for him.
SARGODHA, Pakistan – Five Americans suspected of plotting attacks in Pakistan are due to appear in an anti-terrorism court today.
TOKYO – Japan's prime minister said today he will press for equal ties with Washington this year, the 50th anniversary of a joint security treaty that grants many special privileges to U.S. troops stationed in the country.
DUSHANBE, Tajikistan – About 20,000 people were left homeless in the impoverished Central Asian nation of Tajikistan after an earthquake leveled their homes in a mountainous region, officials said Sunday.
SAO PAULO, Brazil – The mayor of a mudslide-devastated city on Sunday urged a precautionary shutdown of Brazil's only nuclear power plants due to blocked highways while the death toll from flooding and slides rose to 75.
WASHINGTON – When the Senate takes up a jobs bill later this month or early in February, the debate will center on whether it will create enough jobs to be worth plunging the government tens of billions of dollars further into debt.
Looming Washington state budget cuts could erase a program that puts eyeglasses on 69,000 poor people.
Jerry D'Amigo scored two goals, the second short-handed, and the United States beat Sweden 5-2 on Sunday night in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, to set up a championship game showdown Tuesday night against rival Canada in the world junior championship.
PORT ORCHARD, Wash. – State Rep. Jan Angel, R-Port Orchard, is proposing a bill that would require cities and counties to notify property owners when their properties will be considered for rezoning.
SEATTLE – With the Legislature facing a $2.6 billion budget deficit, Washington environmentalists have a modest agenda for the upcoming session and hope to avoid further cutbacks they say have already devastated environmental protection in the state.
Some years, I tend to get a little extravagant around Christmastime and end up spending pretty much my every last dime. I like to give gifts that people might actually remember and use, and I enjoy going out for nice dinners and festive nights on the town.
Some years, I tend to get a little extravagant around Christmastime and end up spending pretty much my every last dime. I like to give gifts that people might actually remember and use, and I enjoy going out for nice dinners and festive nights on the town.
Some years, I tend to get a little extravagant around Christmastime and end up spending pretty much my every last dime. I like to give gifts that people might actually remember and use, and I enjoy going out for nice dinners and festive nights on the town.
Some years, I tend to get a little extravagant around Christmastime and end up spending pretty much my every last dime. I like to give gifts that people might actually remember and use, and I enjoy going out for nice dinners and festive nights on the town.
About 60 employees in Bonners Ferry will be back at their jobs in new buildings in the next few months. Riverside Auto Center and TrussTek lost their major facilities to fires last summer.
Shady (1/3/2010)
About 60 employees in Bonners Ferry will be back at their jobs in new buildings in the next few months. Riverside Auto Center and TrussTek lost their major facilities to fires last summer.
About 60 employees in Bonners Ferry will be back at their jobs in new buildings in the next few months. Riverside Auto Center and TrussTek lost their major facilities to fires last summer.
About 60 employees in Bonners Ferry will be back at their jobs in new buildings in the next few months. Riverside Auto Center and TrussTek lost their major facilities to fires last summer.
When people think of bad weather, they are usually thinking of some type of storm. During the warm season, it might be thunderstorms with dry lightning or even tornadoes. During the cold season, we worry about snow storms and ice storms.
COEUR D'ALENE – The Coeur d'Alene Public Library, 702 E. Front Ave., has a number of events in January.
Q. I want to give my house a complete interior painting, walls and ceilings. Is there a sprayer that a do-it-yourselfer can use indoors, or is a power roller the way to go?
Q. I want to give my house a complete interior painting, walls and ceilings. Is there a sprayer that a do-it-yourselfer can use indoors, or is a power roller the way to go?
NEW YORK – Who says you need to spend an entire Saturday cleaning the house?If you can spare 10 minutes once or twice a day, you can spruce up the house without breaking a sweat:
DENVER – Colorado's minimum wage dropped slightly in the new year – the first decrease in any state's minimum wage since the federal minimum was adopted in 1938.
NEW YORK – Companies with international operations are set to take advantage of a global economic recovery this year, continuing the rally that began in 2009.
NEW YORK – Companies with international operations are set to take advantage of a global economic recovery this year, continuing the rally that began in 2009.
Hasbro (NYSE: HAS) spanks larger rival Mattel on a quarterly basis, so why not wrestle away a key licensed property between quarterly financial updates?
One of the biggest questions surrounding Clearwater Paper at its founding a year ago was if manufacturing operations previously run by Potlatch could make money without the support of the parent company.
Childhood is too precious a part of life to lose before we have to, but our popular culture all too often yanks our little people out of their innocence.
Dear Carolyn: For the last seven months, I have been exclusively dating a man who I am crazy about. When we first met, he told me he had been single for 15-plus years and "didn't see the need for people to get married if they didn't want kids" (we are both in our 50s).
U.S. adults said they are spending more time on the Internet – nearly 8 percent of their week this year, according to a recent survey.
SAN JOSE, Calif. – Grainy cell phone images are often used against cops accused of using excessive violence. Now, officers are being armed with their own cameras.
The Spokane Civic Theatre is only halfway through its season – yet next season is already nailed down.
The editorial pages of newspapers around the state and the public at large have been deeply passionate in their outrage at seeing so many law enforcement officers gunned down in such a short period of time. The public wants answers and action while the media have, with their outrage, been calling for cautious deliberation.
It was really thoughtful of former Vice President Dick Cheney to step forward and offer constructive criticism about the speed with which President Barack Obama publicly responded to the failed airliner attack.
The deer most people see during deer season are most likely lashed to vehicles, headed for butcher shops. The stories nonhunters hear are often those of successful hunters eager to recount the details of their hunt.
Snowshoes are not just for transportation anymore. Snowshoeing has become a sport of its own. It's easy to see why. Modern snowshoes are lightweight, comfortable and easy to walk in. Almost anyone can snowshoe, and the gear gives people the mobility to get outdoors in winter, enjoy the scenery and get some exercise.
The biggest run of spring chinook salmon – almost a half million – since before construction of Bonneville Dam is forecast to enter the Columbia River in 2010.
COPENHAGEN, Denmark – An ax-wielding Somali man with suspected al-Qaida links was charged Saturday with two counts of attempted murder after breaking into the home of a Danish artist whose Prophet Muhammad cartoon outraged the Muslim world three years ago.
WASHINGTON – As the war on terrorism turns toward the al-Qaida threat from Yemen, U.S. intelligence officials say that the country's strategic location, lawlessness and instability may make it an even more problematic battleground than Pakistan or Afghanistan.
OSLO, Norway – Aker University Hospital is a dingy place to heal. The floors are streaked and scratched. A light layer of dust coats the blood pressure monitors. A faint stench of urine and bleach wafts from a pile of soiled bedsheets dropped in a corner.
Jeanette Trapani, quake survivor
San Francisco – Jeanette Scola Trapani, one of the oldest survivors of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire, has died at age 107.
The green paint is peeling from the eaves of the Adaptive Snow Sports Chalet, worn by the weather on Mount Spokane.
OLYMPIA – After spending more than 40 years working in child-welfare agencies on the East Coast and in the Midwest, Denise Revels Robinson has taken the helm of the state Children's Administration.
Hardy Sauter, in his second season as head coach of the Spokane Chiefs, has been named to the Central Hockey League's All-Decade second team.
CHICAGO – They were Harry Stuhldreher, Jim Crowley, Don Miller and Elmer Layden, but you probably know them as Notre Dame's Four Horsemen of the 1920s.
SEATTLE – Larry Burris talks more like an addict than a fan. He just can't quit the Mariners.
HELENA – Montana food banks reported a much higher demand for services in 2009, as the recession continued.
LAKE FOREST, Calif. – Evangelical pastor Rick Warren's plea for donations to fill a $900,000 deficit at his Southern California megachurch brought in $2.4 million, Warren announced to cheers during a sermon at the church on Saturday.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Alex Tejada kicked the ball through the uprights, turned around and ran toward the opposite end of the field. His Arkansas teammates chased him all the way to the end zone amid a wild scene of celebration and relief.
Drew Brees will get some rest in the New Orleans Saints' regular-season finale at Carolina, likely keeping his NFL-record completion percentage intact.
After capturing Olympic bronze in 1998 and silver in 2002, Mark Grimmette and Brian Martin showed up at the Olympics four years ago ready to complete the medal ascent.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – The arrival of the Olympic Games is throwing Vancouver off its routine – and no one seems to mind.
ZAGREB, Croatia – With her arm in a brace and a sluggish course waiting, Lindsey Vonn will try to bolster her lead in the overall standings in a World Cup slalom today.
PORTLAND – The illness his son suffered after eating peanut butter crackers tainted with salmonella turned a Portland police officer into an activist for food safety.
YAKIMA – When Manuela Cortez rang in the new year, it was with a rare distinction: She rang in a new century at the same time. Cortez's family gathered at her side Friday – New Year's Day – in celebration of her 100th birthday.
Seattle – Police at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport shuttled people away from the southernmost passenger screening area Friday night after a man claiming to have a gun barricaded himself inside a restroom.
Fort Worth, Texas – The Federal Aviation Administration is increasing oversight of American Airlines after three mishaps during landings last month.
BRIGHTON, Colo. – A nurse who was allegedly kidnapped by her ex-fiance and escaped three days later at a Wyoming hotel was home safe with family Saturday, but she remained traumatized by the ordeal and has not yet spoken with family about it, her mother said.
MEXICO CITY – Mexican police have captured alleged drug lord Carlos Beltran Leyva, just two weeks after his even more powerful brother was killed in a shootout with troops – back-to-back victories in President Felipe Calderon's drug war.
SEATTLE – So many things to which the University of Washington men's basketball team held dear came crashing down on Saturday afternoon.
CURLEW, Wash. – The rubble still smoldered more than week after a devastating fire destroyed an apartment building here, killing a grandmother and two toddlers and leaving the children's mother fighting for her life in a Seattle hospital.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Connecticut Huskies made a statement in the Southeastern Conference's backyard, while Steve Spurrier and South Carolina left embarrassed by what the coach described as a "sad, sad effort."
TORONTO – Mike Ford played the best game of his career in just two quarters.Ford ran for a career-high 207 yards and scored one touchdown, B.J. Daniels threw two scoring passes to A.J. Love, and South Florida beat Northern Illinois 27-3 in Saturday's International Bowl.
ARLINGTON, Texas – Before having to figure out life without Dexter McCluster in the backfield, Mississippi coach Houston Nutt was going use the speedy back as much as possible.
Men's College Basketball: Ashton Gibbs scored 24 points and Jermaine Dixon added 21 to lead Pittsburgh to an 82-72 victory Saturday over No. 5 Syracuse at Syracuse, N.Y. The loss was the Orange's fourth straight at home to the Panthers (12-2, 2-0 Big East) and dropped the number of major unbeaten teams to four.
Apologized Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl apologized on Saturday to fans and fellow coach Pat Summitt for the arrests of four members of the 14th-ranked men's basketball team. Senior forward Tyler Smith, sophomore guard Cameron Tatum, junior center Brian Williams and junior point guard Melvin Goins are facing misdemeanor drug, gun and alcohol charges. Knoxville, Tenn., police arrested the four Friday after stopping the car they were in for speeding.
Shah Hasan Khel, Pakistan – Tribal elders in a Pakistani village where a suicide car bomber killed nearly 100 people insisted Saturday that residents will keep defying the Taliban, even as the bloodshed laid bare the risks facing the citizens' militias that make up a key piece of Pakistan's arsenal against extremism.
BEIJING – Workers in northern China dug diversion channels and used floating dams and solidifying agents to stem a diesel fuel leak from flowing into the Yellow River, the water source for millions of Chinese.
HONOLULU – Mac Hopson scored a season-high 24 points to lead Idaho past Hawaii 59-52 late Saturday night.
HONOLULU – Mac Hopson scored a season-high 24 points to lead Idaho past Hawaii 59-52 late Saturday night.
Dear Annie: For the five years I have been married to "Joe," I have had the dubious privilege of enduring frequent, spur-of-the-moment overnight visits from his best friend of 40 years. Joe says "Derek" comes two or three times a week because he is too drunk to drive home. Derek is a married man with a family.
The world of vampires just got a whole lot uglier. And it's about time. Undead creatures look so pretty on "Vampire Diaries" and "True Blood." But the new gothic series "Demons" (10 p.m., tonight, BBC America) sets the record straight. They're hideous.
The world of vampires just got a whole lot uglier. And it's about time. Undead creatures look so pretty on "Vampire Diaries" and "True Blood." But the new gothic series "Demons" (10 p.m., tonight, BBC America) sets the record straight. They're hideous.
How will you measure success in 2010?You want to make more money? Get a promotion? Retire?
NEW YORK – The stock market closed out a remarkable 2009 with a loss as investors bet the improving economy will lead the government to pull back on its stimulus measures. But stocks still managed their best year since 2003 as they recovered from the financial crisis and recession.
Earl the cat made it very clear it was time for his walk. He's afraid of our other cat and has hired us, his staff, as a protection detail. The walk usually goes down through our field to a favorite sand pile or a wander through the pines. Anywhere that is of interest to him, we go. Yes, I know we are nuts.
Here's a quick quiz: What Spokane Valley high school has sent a graduate each of the past three seasons to start at Washington State University this season?
SPOKANE VALLEY – The city of Spokane Valley Public Works Department will host an open house to discuss 2010 Sullivan Road improvements, from 4 to 7 p.m. on Jan. 21 at the Valley Assembly of God Church, 15618 E. Broadway Ave.
A longtime Spokane restaurateur is breathing new life into a familiar Liberty Lake building.Newman Lake resident Alicia Dodd opened Barlows Family Restaurant in the vacant building that first opened in 2005 with Caffé Liberte and later Stilos Seafood and Steakhouse, which closed in mid-2008.
Q: Five people at Victoria's Espresso and Gourmet Coffee House, 517 N. Pines Road, were asked: "What will you remember the most about 2009?"
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