Recent stories by John

• Readers explain how dogs have enriched their lives

  May 20, 2013 in Features on Page C1 When we’re young they curl up to guard our cribs. As we learn to walk, they herd us away from trouble. They run alongside our bikes and tirelessly chase the … 2

• Washington insurance exchange to cut health care costs

  May 15, 2013 in City on Page A1 Washington’s consumers got their first, preliminary look at the cost of “Obamacare” on Tuesday. And the news, for many consumers, was good: Health insurance next year will cover more and … 67

• New wave of doctors focuses on healthier living

  April 22, 2013 in Features, Health on Page C1 Americans spend boatloads of money on medical care – roughly twice as much, per capita, as other industrialized democracies. And what do they get in return? Shorter lives and poorer … 2

• Fewer small companies offer health insurance

  April 11, 2013 in City, Health on Page A1 Between 1999 and 2011, health insurance coverage doubled in cost, and a growing share of the nation’s workers no longer could obtain it from their employers. The lack of health … 24

• Premera warns about rates

  March 22, 2013 in City, Health on Page A1 Premera Blue Cross, the largest health insurer in Eastern Washington, has toned down earlier warnings of “staggering” rate increases that it had blamed on federal health care reform, but still … 47

• Expansion gets bipartisan support

  March 15, 2013 in City on Page A1 Sometime this spring, the Washington Legislature has to enact a two-year budget that will address “Obamacare,” the federal government’s health care reform law. When it does, will partisan wrangling tie … 10

• Health care reform a global constant

  March 15, 2013 in City on Page A10 Historically, health care expansion has a record of winning public support. In England, conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher dismantled several nationalized sectors of the economy, returning them to private enterprise. … 4

• Goal of lower costs remains big uncertainty

  March 14, 2013 in City on Page A1 Where can Americans find help with health insurance coverage? And P.S. – what’s it going to cost? 24

• For health care’s drive to reform, cost curve looms ahead

  March 13, 2013 in City, Health on Page A1 After Congress created Medicare in 1965, the program grew and changed. But since the ’60s, when courtly senators still referred to one another as “gentlemen,” the spirit in Congress has … 38

• State’s new online insurance exchange will carry coverage

  March 12, 2013 in City, Health on Page A1 From the outside, you’d never guess what’s going on in the nondescript old building across Capitol Way from the Starbucks in downtown Olympia. Within those painted concrete slabs, an agency … 16

• Health care reform result of lawmakers, public workers, Seattle boy

  March 11, 2013 in City, Health on Page A1 If “Obamacare” deserves a face, it’s not Barack’s. It’s a young Seattle boy named Marcelas Owens, whose mother, like thousands of Americans every year, died of a treatable disease. 31

• Reverse migration: Spokane residents like their winters just fine

  March 11, 2013 in Features on Page C1 When fog hangs low in the pines and winter’s old snow melts sullenly on the potholed streets, Brooks Sackett feels no urge to fly south. The snowbird’s siren song – … 2

• Large dose of reform: Washington embraces Affordable Care Act

  March 10, 2013 in City on Page A1 Health care, American-style, is about to undergo the biggest change since the enactment of Medicare 48 years ago. In quiet office buildings far from the glare of television cameras, officials … 79

• Career Transitions helps older adults catch up with technology

  February 25, 2013 in Features on Page C1 Mitzi Judd felt burned out after a long career in hair design, so she began working at golf courses. But at a golf course in Spokane’s climate, she said with …

• Soul of the season

  November 30, 2012 in Features on Page C1 Four-part harmony. Remember it? A generation or two ago, before “American Idol,” before synthesized ringtones, before home stereo systems with their woofers and tweeters and iPod docks, music was not … 2

• John Webster: The Old Party isn’t so Grand anymore

  November 3, 2012 in Opinion on Page B4 I used to be a Republican. Voted for them. Wrote nice things about them and their policies. When I was a kid, I even doorbelled for them. Never again. 73

• Prosperity Is Still Here For The Earning

  March 29, 1998 in City on Page B6 North of the border, layoffs. South of the border, sweatshops. Is that the best the global economy can do? No, it’s not, says the saga of Spokane-based Key Tronic Corp., …

• Let City Be Helper, Not Our Overseer Cut The Sanctions Trust Property Owners And Seek Cooperation

  March 27, 1998 in City on Page B6 Spokane’s street trees are an asset, exactly comparable to lovely homes and well-manicured lawns. Which is to say, these assets are privately owned, the result of individual pride, initiative, work …

• Moynihan Scheme Workable, Sensible

  March 23, 1998 in Nation/World on Page A10 First Bill Clinton, then Sen. Bob Kerrey, then Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Three prominent Democrats have touched the fabled “third rail” of American politics - Social Security reform. Instead of …

• Convention Center Upgrade Is Essential

  March 22, 1998 in City on Page B6 Spokane’s Arena wasn’t built in a day. It took a decade of advocacy, legislation, setbacks, revisions and several public votes before civic leaders devised a funding plan that met with …

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Recent photos by John