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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Daily Briefing

THURSDAY, MAY 22, 2008

Hello to our other alien visitors

... The newsroom of WMBB of Panama City, Florida was watching the webcast this morning. Here's the rundown of thin slices and kudos.FROM APPEALS COURT: 'Don't ask' challenge reinstated: Court calls for scrutiny of military policy on gays. This story was packaged with the nurses…

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TUESDAY, MAY 20, 2008

Editors' picks from today

• Then & Now with Dick Olsen: Former Rogers track, football star is now a pastor in Las Vegas. ("The way his son is dressed reminds me of the Barats & Bereta Mother's Day video," said deputy city editor Dan Hansen)Now: Deb, Dick and sons…

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MONDAY, MAY 19, 2008

S-R's 125th birthday

The big deal today is the open house for The Spokesman-Review's 125th birthday, complete with a cake shaped like the building. Top photo: Production systems manager Mike Hollingworth takes a photo of the culinary artists responsible for the cake. Next to the balloons is publisher…

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FRIDAY, MAY 16, 2008

THURSDAY, MAY 15, 2008

Kudos, and the best of News Flash

Dog lover Kat Biggs fights for stray cats: Dropping a cat off at the animal shelter is essentially a death sentence these days. Mandatory holding periods for unlicensed stray cats are being repealed across the Inland Northwest as authorities contend with worsening feline overpopulation problems.•…

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TUESDAY, MAY 13, 2008

FRIDAY, MAY 9, 2008

Happy Friday, and now for notes...

ON A SAW: Sawmill's final notes resonate: Workers plan for future as end of era on Coeur d'Alene's waterfront draws near. deputy city editor Dan Hansen said the story's lead paragraphs were utter poetry. ON GREEN AND CLEAN: Perhaps not so poetic, the funeral industry…

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THURSDAY, MAY 8, 2008

Notes on a photo, odd news, and thin slices

Talk loudly into the microphones, senior innovation editor Carla Savalli said, because editor Steve Smith was tuning in via webcast. In other news:A dead person appears in an Associated Press photo on page A8 to go with today's cyclone coverage from the newswire, a small…

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TUESDAY, MAY 6, 2008

MONDAY, MAY 5, 2008

Highlights from the weekend

BLOOMSDAY: Beautiful day for Bloomies: It was a routine Bloomsday though, editors said - and nothing disastrous. For more Bloomsday coverage, click here. HERO: Cheney native killed in Iraq on third tourHAGAHOUSE: Duane Hagadone building lavish home, elevated on stone pillars with a creek flowing…

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THURSDAY, MAY 1, 2008

Video buffet, a news capsule, keyworded thin slices

Saving Salish, a disappearing Native American language, produced by Rajah Bose, photographerThe multimedia department gets more video projects coming out of Voice stories than from city news - "So many of the Voice stories are human interest stories," notes managing editor Gary Graham. Rajah Bose…

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TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 2008

A few thick slices

• 97-year-old takes it in strides: Kennewick walker ready for seventh Bloomsday. With people living longer, should Bloomsday split their "90 and over" category? Photo director Larry Reisnouer, among others, thinks it may be a good idea - While there are exceptions, there must be…

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FRIDAY, APRIL 25, 2008

A casual, bad-jokes Friday morning

Here are some of the coolness slices from today's Spokesman-Review: • 300 sick in norovirus outbreak: Was the headline too panic-inducing? some editors wondered. There have been more developments on this story in fact, because North Idaho folks added more than 200 people to the…

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THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 2008

Ah... animals.

This photo was printed kind of bluish on the front page of the Northwest section, photo director Larry Reisnouer said, but here we are, a lovely elephant: Libby, a 38-year-old female Asian elephant, gets a washdown from handler Ben Hutchinson on Wednesday. The Shrine Circus…

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TUESDAY, APRIL 22, 2008

FRIDAY, APRIL 18, 2008

Handling news stories about bomb threats

After much discussion, editors agreed that yesterday's bomb threat at Eastern Washington University made two things clear: Online and radio coverage are timely deliveries to report breaking news as it happens, but for something that is only relevant news while it is still happening, editors…

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THURSDAY, APRIL 17, 2008

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 16, 2008

MONDAY, APRIL 14, 2008


THURSDAY, APRIL 10, 2008

TUESDAY, APRIL 8, 2008

MONDAY, APRIL 7, 2008

Calling in your Letter to the Editor?

Editors and reporters get a lot of interesting voice mail from readers. What if The Spokesman-Review could use these voice mails in podcasts (or now, on the radio?)? This may include complaint calls and rants, readers leaving unusual story ideas (to put it mildly)... The…

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FRIDAY, APRIL 4, 2008

A somber anniversary

It's not often that we run a weekday front page consisting of just two story packages. But editors this morning seemed to agree that it worked. The packages in question involved the Our kids: Our business project and the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King…

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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2, 2008

Color and commentary

Daily Briefing begs your pardon for this late (and inadequate post) and promises to do better tomorrow.Editor Steve Smith liked the colorful selection of photos this morning and predicted no shortage of pinwheels to come in the next few weeks. (He may have a quota…

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Each weekday morning and afternoon, the newsroom staff meets to discuss the coverage plan. This blog covers editors' discussions, upcoming coverage and miscellaneous newsroom news.