Adrian Rogers

Life jackets are allowed at the triathlon planned Sept. 8 in Coeur d’Alene, as are training wheels. You can even bring your mom or dad onto the course with you. The Kootenai Health Triathlon for Kids is all about “being rewarded for being active, whether you’re first or fifth or 12th,” said Paula Taylor, a co-director of the event.

A workshop that starts Thursday aims to help people’s bodies move better – starting with their brains. The Alexander technique operates on the principle that people develop physical habits that inhibit their movement or coordination or cause pain, said William Conable, of Cheney, who will lead the workshop along with other instructors.

A life jacket can save a life – but it can be expensive, too. In hopes of getting more families to play safer on the water, a partnership between the local health district and a sporting-goods retailer aims to lessen that cost.

Biologist Margaret O’Connell was collecting amphibians one hot day, up on the sloughs of the Little Pend Oreille River, when she got an itch. It was the first spell of 90-degree-plus weather that year. It was lucky she wasn’t swimming, just wading, she said. The red, burning bumps of swimmer’s itch were painful enough on her lower extremities.

“Ultrarunners take off at sunrise and continue through sunset, moonrise, and another sunrise, sunset, and moonrise. Sometimes we stumble from exhaustion and double over with pain, while other times we effortlessly float over rocky trails and hammer up a 3,000-foot climb after accessing an unknown source of strength. We run with bruised bones and scraped skin. It’s a hard, simple calculus: Run until you can’t run anymore. Then run some more. Find a new source of energy and will. Then run even faster.” Then, soon after this passage in Scott Jurek’s new book, appears a recipe for Rice Balls.

When you cut meat, eggs and dairy from your diet, you’re cutting easy sources of complete protein. But there’s plenty of protein to be found in the plant world, said Elizabeth Abbey, a registered dietitian in Spokane. You just have to know where to look and how to eat foods in the right combinations to get what you need.

The morning after Fourth of July in Deer Park – one of few spots in Spokane County that still allows personal fireworks – is a “pretty impressive sight,” said Michael Moran, who drives in for work from his home out of town. After an explosive night, crews are at work early cleaning up fireworks debris from empty lots.

For many pregnant women, bumping up their flossing routine – much less scheduling their first dental visit in years – may fall last on their to-do lists. But for dentists and doctors, the connections between mothers’ oral health and the health of their babies – before and after they’re born – are vitally important.

No matter the route of treatment, braces are never cheap – which is why many adults missed out as kids. Depending on the type of hardware, who’s installing it and the complexity of the case, a full set of braces typically costs anywhere from $4,000 to $10,000 in Spokane.

Despite her efforts as a “clean freak, for sure” – daily scrubbings of her apartment, tea tree oil on the walls – Lois Spicer, 48, has been hospitalized twice with pneumonia this year. So the waiting room at a medical clinic – populated by fellow patients and their attendant pathogens – could be a danger zone for the Spokane woman, whose chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, makes her prone to infections.

When it comes to shingles, other people’s horror stories are sometimes the best preventive medicine. Sufferers – most often people 50 and older – use terms like “excruciating” and “debilitating” and “fire” to describe the blistery skin rash. Some go blind, the rash having invaded their eyes. And while the symptoms fade within weeks for some, others live with the pain until they die, the touch of a shirt against their skin agonizing.

Horses are born survivors. That may be why they’re born teachers, too. Horses are particularly suited for therapy and educational work, said Patricia Pendry, an assistant professor of human development at Washington State University in Pullman who’s working on a study of how horses can help teach children.