Amanda Sullender

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News >  Health

Spokane and Washington state face high and rising cases of syphilis from heterosexual activity

UPDATED: Thu., Nov. 2, 2023

Cases of syphilis in Spokane County and statewide are at historic highs and are rising, driven by a surge in cases among those who engage in heterosexual sex.

News

SNL comedian Colin Jost postpones November performance in Spokane to June 2024

UPDATED: Tue., Oct. 31, 2023

“Saturday Night Live” comedian Colin Jost was set to perform stand-up comedy Thursday at Spokane’s Fox Theater. That performance has been canceled and rescheduled for June 20.

News >  Health

Devour or ration? Dietitian offers parents advice on letting kids eat their Halloween hauls

Tue., Oct. 31, 2023

After the kids wrap up an exciting night of trick-or-treating, parents have to come to a decision: What to do with all that candy?

News >  Military

Newly appointed VA Deputy Secretary Tanya Bradsher tours Mann-Grandstaff amid computer system ‘reset’

UPDATED: Mon., Oct. 30, 2023

Newly appointed Veterans Affairs Deputy Secretary Tanya Bradsher toured Spokane’s Mann-Grandstaff VA hospital Monday, hearing concerns from clinicians and veterans affected by a computer system that has hobbled veterans’ health care.

News >  Health

Washington Kaiser Permanente workers call off strike after reaching tentative contract agreement

UPDATED: Mon., Oct. 30, 2023

Healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente and its Washington state workers have reached a tentative contract just days before a scheduled strike of workers statewide.

News >  Health

New technology developed at WSU will help doctors grow cancer-fighting white blood cells

UPDATED: Thu., Nov. 2, 2023

Washington State University chemical engineers have created new technology with the potential to treat cancer faster and cheaper than before.

News >  Health

Spokane Regional Health District opens new clinic for opioid treatment

UPDATED: Wed., Nov. 1, 2023

The Spokane Regional Health District has opened a new facility to house its opioid addiction services – expanding treatment as more and more Spokane residents experience addiction to opioids like heroin, fentanyl and prescription drugs.

News >  Health

Starting next year, you might be able to take your flu vaccine at home through your nose

Sat., Oct. 28, 2023

Right as flu season begins, pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca announced it’s seeking FDA approval for a nasal spray flu vaccine that could be administered by yourself from the comfort of your home.

News >  Health

With the cold weather comes illness season. Here’s what you need to know about four of them expected in Spokane

UPDATED: Sun., Oct. 29, 2023

As co-workers are coughing and sneezing, as high school kids are exhausted and achy, as little kids have runnier noses than usual, here’s what to keep an eye out for in the coming weeks besides more snow flurries.

A&E >  Stage

Lake City Playhouse puts on ‘Matilda the Musical,’ its first production since flood damaged theater

UPDATED: Wed., Oct. 25, 2023

As Lake City Playhouse was gearing up to reopen after the COVID-19 pandemic, the Coeur d’Alene theater was hit with a devastating flood. Two years later, the local theater community is raising money to save the iconic performance space while putting on a musical.

A&E >  Northwest Passages

‘There is no excuse for the number of people we have on dialysis’: Northwest Passages event imagines a world without kidney disease

UPDATED: Mon., Oct. 23, 2023

Four panelists at Monday night’s Northwest Passages book series began to imagine a world without dialysis while discussing Tom Mueller’s “How to Make a Killing.”

A&E >  Stage

Downtown milk bottle will be new home for Spokane improv theater

UPDATED: Thu., Oct. 19, 2023

An unusual downtown building will get new life, thanks to a growing Spokane improv theater.

News >  Local Government

Spokane Regional Health District announce four finalists for Administrative Officer leadership position

UPDATED: Fri., Oct. 20, 2023

Four finalists have been chosen in the search for the next administrator of the Spokane Regional Health District.

News >  Health

Hospitals sue state to prevent new rules requiring charity care coverage for out-of-state residents

UPDATED: Mon., Oct. 16, 2023

The Washington State Hospital Association filed suit Monday against the state Department of Health over a proposed rule allowing out-of-state patients to receive charity care, claiming such a policy would make medical care harder to access and more expensive for Washington residents.

A&E >  Northwest Passages

Northwest Passages event on ‘How to Make a Killing’ to explore the controversy behind the for-profit dialysis industry

Sun., Oct. 15, 2023

After being diagnosed with Lupus at 15, Andrew Storfer has had “40 years to prepare” for dialysis. But it was still a shock when he began the process of manually removing the toxins from his body earlier this year at age 53.

News >  Features

‘I feel like a pumpkin’: Spate of Spokane couples get married on spooky October Friday the 13th

UPDATED: Fri., Oct. 13, 2023

Before going to the courthouse to get married Friday, Megan and Alex Bartunek got a set of matching tattoos: a little headstone telling the world “YOU+ME.”

News >  Health

WA Kaiser Permanente workers to strike Nov. 1 if local agreement is not reached

UPDATED: Fri., Oct. 13, 2023

Despite a tentative agreement being reached in a national Kaiser Permanente contract, Washington state employees of the health care giant have approved a weeklong strike should a deal on their local contract not be reached by the end of the month. Union President Jane Hopkins of SEIU Healthcare 1199 Northwest said striking is a last resort but an action the union – with 3,000 members statewide – is willing to take.

News >  Features

Get married on October’s Friday the 13th? Why not, say these Spokane couples

UPDATED: Thu., Oct. 12, 2023

Friday the 13th isn’t the first day one might think of for a wedding. But it is going to be a lucky day for Emily Simpson and Juan Tapia.

A&E >  Stage

Stage Left’s ‘Minimum Wage’ explores working fast food in thrilling new play by local playwright

UPDATED: Wed., Oct. 11, 2023

Walking into Stage Left’s Theatre’s world premiere of “Minimum Wage,” you will be hit by the smell of fries in a vat of oil – immediately transporting you to the job you had or have in fast food.

News

Spokane authors decry ‘egregious theft’ of their work allegedly by OpenAI, other AI companies

UPDATED: Mon., Oct. 9, 2023

Upon the release of ChatGPT nearly a year ago, Montana-based author Jamie Ford asked the generative AI to write him the opening page of a novel in the style of Agatha Christie. Then in the style of Pat Conroy. Then in the style of Jamie Ford.

News >  K-12 education

Rogers High ‘Walk of Fame’ inductees include Pac-12 judge, Broadway actress

UPDATED: Sat., Oct. 7, 2023

Rogers High School inducted three alumni into their “Walk of Fame” during the school’s homecoming convocation Friday morning – including a small-town judge at the center of a legal case deciding the fate of the Pac-12 conference.

News >  Health

‘Being gay shouldn’t keep you from donating blood’: Local blood banks implement new policy following FDA decision allowing gay men to donate

Tue., Oct. 3, 2023

Because he is gay, Grant Ogren has not been allowed to donate blood in 30 years.

News >  K-12 education

Longtime Mead school board incumbent faces first challenge in 25 years; candidates differ on funding and many other issues

UPDATED: Wed., Oct. 4, 2023

In his 25 years on the Mead School Board, Denny Denholm has never faced an opponent. This November, he faces Alan Nolan in a referendum on his long years of service.

A&E >  Stage

Spokane, Stage Left to host 2025 Kaleidoscope community theater festival

Thu., Sept. 28, 2023

Fresh off a national win for its production of “Pass Over,” Stage Left Theatre has been selected to host the statewide Kaleidoscope Theatre Festival in early 2025.

News >  Health

Kaiser Permanente workers across Washington preparing for possible November strike

UPDATED: Wed., Sept. 27, 2023

Kaiser Permanente healthcare workers in Washington are preparing for a possible November strike with an authorization vote.