A beloved Washington State University-themed quilt has returned back into a family's fold. Made for her parents by Carol McCabe Adams from T-shirts of WSU family-attended events for decades, the quilt was a 2012 Christmas present she gave to Wes and Dolly McCabe of Spokane, longtime Cougar fans and donors.

I'm not the leader of a bar band, but I take requests. A loyal reader, Beverly Gibb, emailed a suggestion: "Could you write about you and your family dealing with the Black Lives Matter movement? I know it is an extremely sensitive and difficult topic. I just would like to see how families are having this discussion."

While Spokane’s annual rally and march honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. won’t be happening, thanks to the pandemic, there’s still plenty to do to honor his life and legacy. The Rev. Happy Watkins, paraphrasing one of King’s sermons, called on each person to be “a drum major for peace, a drum major for justice, a drum major for righteousness.”

When you take a whiff of stinky cheese, that smell is coming from one of its very important ingredients: microorganisms. Microorganisms are so small, you’d need a microscope to see them, but sometimes they give off a big stink. To find out more about stinky cheese, I talked to my friend Minto Michael. Michael is a professor of dairy science at WSU.

The Ditto home, which I lovingly refer to as our “fake farmhouse,” sits atop a small hill out in the Saltese Flats, aka Tornado Alley, of the Spokane Valley. When forecasts call for “strong winds,” those of us out here translate it to mean, “Hang on to your hats, folks, this is going to get interesting.”

These days, it feels like we could all use a little extra love. Young artists, help spread the love by sharing your artwork with us. The Spokesman-Review’s coloring contest is open to children ages 12 and younger. Entries will be judged by a panel of newspaper staffers who will choose winners in three divisions: ages 4 and younger, ages 5 to 8 and ages 9 to 12.

ROME – Only a few living souls are inside the Colosseum these days: a team of security guards, some maintenance workers and a family of hedgehogs who live in the bowels and have grown bolder without so many people around. In normal times, the Colosseum would be teeming with visitors – 3,000 at any minute, 7.5 million in a year.

Tourists usually pack into Washington’s museums in the days leading up to inauguration, cooing over the first ladies’ gowns at the National Museum of American History or lining up to see the new president’s portrait at the National Portrait Gallery. While most museums remain closed for the foreseeable future, there are virtual exhibitions.

When it comes to artwork, sometimes thinking outside the box can be the best solution. Gone are the days of solely traditional prints or canvases; in are the days of creativity, including innovative DIY projects. Looking for ways to spark up your walls?

Times of economic and political turmoil have the predictable effect of turning people to the garden plot principally to generate food but also to remain grounded in uncertain periods. This response was seen during both world wars, the Depression and in the immediate aftermath of the Great Recession of the late 2000s. 

Q. Tim, she who must be obeyed has informed me that the two flat-screen TVs in the unopened boxes must be installed in days. One television will end up on our bedroom wall, and the other is to go over a living room fireplace. There’s a huge window there.

Just because multitasking seems to be working out, it doesn’t mean anything is getting done faster or better. 

If you want your home design to feel cohesive and intentional, it can be helpful to hone in on a specific design style as a guide for your decor choices. Learning a bit about each style will help you decide which one is for you.

It's no secret that school and daycare closures due to COVID-19 have stressed families to the max. Parents worry about the lack of socialization opportunities for young children, and fear it may impact kindergarten readiness.

The holidays, such as they were, are behind us, and it’s time to start getting organized for winter garden events and seed planting.

When her vision first declined, Spokane resident Trayci Ballin shrugged it off as a sign of aging. She'd noticed a minor change in June 2019 after having 20/20 vision for about 14 years after Lasik surgery. At an eye exam, she was told her sight still was sharp to pass a vision exam for her driver's license.

High winds buffeting the area Wednesday caused a tree to fall onto Coeur d'Alene's oldest church, resulting in apparent roof and structural damage, according to the Museum of North Idaho.

If you are having a difficult time getting a good night’s sleep, you are not alone. The increased stress and disruption of routines over the past 12 months have had a serious impact on sleep quality for many of us. Poor sleep leads to fatigue and can harm a person’s mental health, which affects our ability to cope with life’s ups and downs.

The dropping temperatures, different types of precipitation, shorter days, strong winds, frozen, sparkly ground and icicles are all part of the winter season. But what causes winter to happen? The answer is found in outer space.