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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

EndNotes archive for Aug. 2012

THURSDAY, AUG. 30, 2012

Insurers predict that in-car monitoring will encourage safer driving or, at a minimum, reduced driving, which could lead to fewer crashes and insurance claims. (Associated Press)

When do we park - for good?

Do we ever reach an age when we are too old to drive? Too slow in our reflexes? Tragedy can result. An elderly friend of mine made decisions for herself when she thought she may pose a bit of a threat: she reduced the radius…

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Picture perfect sadness

As our family reunion winds up, we spent last night gathered around looking through a suitcase of photos my widowed sister brought with her when she moved to the Inland Northwest several months ago. There were many shots of my now deceased brother-in-law, a challenging…

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WEDNESDAY, AUG. 29, 2012

A 2009 Murano sits at a Nissan dealership in the south Denver suburb of Englewood, Colo. Associated Press photos (Associated Press photos / The Spokesman-Review)

Love affair...over

Some relationships end due to drifting while others come to a crashing halt. Ours ended due to both… I had to stop abruptly and sighed. Then I glanced into my rearview mirror and saw the F-150 truck coming at me. . I had a death…

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SATURDAY, AUG. 25, 2012

Sabbatical and reunions

I am taking a four-month sabbatical from my newspaper job for an adventure I will likely blog here as it gets going. The day I left the newsroom I was asked to clean off my fairly messy desk because another writer will sit in the…

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WEDNESDAY, AUG. 22, 2012

Maria Jose Cristerna poses for pictures during a press conference at a tattoo shop in Bogota, Colombia, Friday, June 3, 2011. The Mexican tattoo artist said she started to cover her body in tattoos, piercings, titanium implants and dental fangs to re-invent herself as a vampire, her reaction after suffering domestic violence. Cristerna is in Colombia to attend a tattooing international convention. (William Martinez / Associated Press)

Another reason I'm glad not to have a tattoo 

Some tattoo-less 50-something friends and I were chatting recently that we were happy the tattoo craze bypassed boomer women of our generation, because we'd be worried how saggy the tattoos might look as we got older. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report, released…

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MONDAY, AUG. 20, 2012

Trend alert: "Friends with Benefits"

No, it's not the friends with benefits trend I'm taking about here. That's so 20s and 30s (as in people in that generation.) The trend I'm talking about is the father character in the 2011 movie of the same name which I watched this weekend…

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FRIDAY, AUG. 17, 2012

Hospice of Spokane is celebrating its 35th anniversary this fall. Four of the people in from the earliest days included from left, Barb Savage, Marj Humphrey, along with Barb and Johnny Cox. (Dan Pelle / The Spokesman-Review)

We're dying at home more and more

The National Institutes of Health sent out a report yesterday that detailed some snapshots of life of older Americans. The one that caught my eye, of course, was this announcement: The percentage of older people who received hospice care in the last 30 days of…

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THURSDAY, AUG. 16, 2012

Naomi Judd will appear in Spokane next May.  (Associated Press)

Hepatitis C: Will you get the test?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sent out this notice today: "CDC now recommends that all U.S. baby boomers get a one-time test for the hepatitis C virus. Data show that 1 in 30 baby boomers has been infected with hepatitis C and this…

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WEDNESDAY, AUG. 15, 2012

Present day: The view of Spokane’s Middle Falls shows the change over the 120-plus years since white settlers began using the waterway to produce the energy to mill grain, saw lumber and produce electricity. (Jesse Tinsley)

Spokane welcomes weather refugees

Been wondering if the dry, wildfire, tornado weather of the past few months in other places in the United States (though some wildfires are mighty close to us this week) will prompt people in say, Oklahoma or Texas, to relocate to Spokane or Coeur d'Alene…

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TUESDAY, AUG. 14, 2012

Matt McCain, of the Air National Guard, planted a tree in Afghanistan as part of the Susie Forest, an effort by Spokane woman Nancy MacKerrow.
Photo courtesy of Matt McCain.

The Susie Forest now grows in Afghanistan

The Susie Forest, a Spokane-based initiative, has taken root in Afghanistan. Nancy MacKerrow is the Spokane woman whose daughter, Susie Stephens, was killed in 2002 when she was hit by a bus in St. Louis. Susie was an activist for the rights of pedestrians and…

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MONDAY, AUG. 13, 2012


Flowers in the colors of the rainbow make a lively display.Special to 
 (Megan Cooley Special to / The Spokesman-Review)

Gifts that remain

We loved her in Seattle. She was friendly, kind and interviewed anyone with ease and grace – the same virtues that carried her through her endless battle with benign brain tumors. Kathi Goertzen died today. And her absence will leave the broadcast community awash in…

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SUNDAY, AUG. 12, 2012

Meryl Streep as Kay Soames, left, and Tommy Lee Jones as Arnold Soames in a scene from “Hope Springs.”

At the movies

We went to the movies the other night – “Hope Springs” – and noticed the security measures now in place (post-Colorado movie massacre): cops patrolling the parking lot as the evening sky grew dark and the “may I see the inside of your purse, ma’am,…

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THURSDAY, AUG. 9, 2012

Saying goodbye to a place

My friend Leah sent me a link to a blog called The Grey Tree. The blogger and her family will leave their community to relocate to another community, an event that happens a lot in August as people settle in to their new home before…

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TUESDAY, AUG. 7, 2012

The Way He Was...Marvin Hamlisch 

Marvin Hamlisch, died suddenly on Monday in Los Angeles. His music provided the backdrop for Boomers’ - and others’ - lives over the last four decades. Accepted to Juilliard School at age 7, he was a music genius as well as an engaging personality. Barbra…

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aegis of Bellevue memory care 
tony wadden   (Photo Wadden / The Spokesman-Review)

Work for the ages

In my story today, I wrote about the memory care unit at Aegis of Bellevue which has incorporated cutting edge innovations to help its Alzheimer's residents. The unit features several work stations where residents can "return" to the work they once did. People with dementia…

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MONDAY, AUG. 6, 2012

Hospice of Spokane is celebrating its 35th anniversary this fall. Four of the people in from the earliest days included from left, Barb Savage, Marj Humphrey, along with Barb and Johnny Cox. (Dan Pelle / The Spokesman-Review)

Hospice: The survivors

The Hospice movement has radically changed the way we help dying people. Until my interview a week ago with the founders of Hospice of Spokane, I didn't realize how new the movement really is in the United States. Hospice of Spokane was among the first…

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SATURDAY, AUG. 4, 2012

Washington state governor Chris Gregoire has declared Highway 27 from Tekoa to Rockford a Scenic Byway. This picture was taken south of Fairfield, looking north. (J. Bart Rayniak)

Never can say good-bye

Sometimes all it takes to reclaim an old hobby is an obvious sign from the universe. Don Arndt of Spokane had exactly that on Friday when his old motorcycle – 37 years old – returned to his life. Arndt reported the bike stolen in 1975.…

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FRIDAY, AUG. 3, 2012

Smiley face for Becky Nappi blog
llustrator Harvey Ball, of Worcester, Mass., who created the smiley face, the bright yellow happy face that has become a worldwide symbol of good cheer, poses Monday, July 6, 1998 in Worcester, Mass. Ball is upset that French entrepreneur Franklin Loufrani registered the trademark in 1971 and now holds the trademark in much of the world. Ball, 76, created the symbol in 1963 as part of an in-house happiness campaign for an insurance company. (AP Photo/Paul Connors) (Paul Connors / Associated Press)

The death of meaning

Our friend Dave Killen, a lifelong teacher, has this saying at the end of his emails: If every day is a great day, is any day a good day? Language inflation is the death of meaning, understanding and community. Agree? (AP file photo of illustrator…

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THURSDAY, AUG. 2, 2012

In this photo provided by the Wilbur Register, crop circles are shown in a wheat field owned by Greg and Cindy Geib near Wilbur, Wash. Crop circles have been a worldwide phenomenon for decades, and this is not the first one in Lincoln County. (Associated Press)

Apocalypse Now? 

Two days ago, while driving home from work and listening to an NPR report on starvation in Africa, I realized that if we were living in a horror movie -- one where the world falls apart in a short period of time -- July 31…

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WEDNESDAY, AUG. 1, 2012

FILE - In this Jan. 10, 2009 file photo released by the Florida Keys News Bureau, author and essayist Gore Vidal delivers the keynote presentation during the first session of the 27th annual Key West Literary Seminar in Key West, Fla. Vidal died Tuesday, July 31, 2012, at his home in Los Angeles. He was 86. (Carol Tedesco / Florida Keys News Bureau)

Gore Vidal…dies at age 86

Perhaps no one else of our time lived a more “did it my way” existence than Gore Vidal. Vidal was an author, playwright, activist and celebrity who died in Los Angeles on Tuesday. “His works included hundreds of essays, the best-selling novels "Lincoln" and "Myra…

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Spokesman-Review features writer Rebecca Nappi, along with writer Catherine Johnston of Olympia, Wash., discuss here issues facing aging boomers, seniors and those experiencing serious illness, dying, death and other forms of loss.



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