Amanda Sullender

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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.

News >  Health

Free COVID tests are back amid national uptick in the virus

UPDATED: Tue., Sept. 26, 2023

Following a national uptick in COVID-19 transmission and hospitalization, free coronavirus tests are once again available through the federal government.

Sports >  WSU football

‘We want to control our own fate’: WSU, Oregon State show unity before weekend matchup, plan future of Pac-12

UPDATED: Thu., Sept. 21, 2023

Ahead of a weekend showdown on the football field, Washington State and Oregon State universities are coming together to reassure their fans the future of the Pac-12 is in safe hands – even as it totters on the brink of extinction.

A&E >  Stage

‘Tina’ gets the music very right, even as it glosses over Tina Turner’s story

UPDATED: Wed., Sept. 20, 2023

Propelled by an at-times uncanny tour de force performance at its center, “Tina – The Tina Turner Musical” got people to their feet while chronicling the life of the Queen of Rock ’n’ Roll – even if the frenetic pace of the story prevented greater insight into her motivations.

News >  Higher education

Some Northwest colleges bounce back from pandemic enrollment slump, while others are still seeing fewer freshmen

Wed., Sept. 20, 2023

Hannah Hollenbeck, a freshman at Eastern Washington University from the Tri-Cities, met her roommate, Sarah Hamilton, only a few days ago.

News >  Health

New COVID vaccines may be a ‘few weeks’ from becoming common in Washington, the state Department of Health says

UPDATED: Tue., Sept. 19, 2023

Formulated to target emerging variants, newly approved COVID-19 vaccines may still be a “couple weeks” from becoming widely available in Spokane and the rest of Washington, according to the state Department of Health.

News >  K-12 education

Candidates to replace longtime incumbent on Mead School Board differ on funding, diversity issues

UPDATED: Wed., Oct. 4, 2023

Mead School District voters have a choice in November to either elect a progressive focused on inclusion of students of all backgrounds or a conservative concerned that state-required diversity standards may harm the academic performance of students.

Sports >  WSU football

Pac-12 turmoil: Who is Gary Libey, the small-town judge overseeing a court case with national significance?

UPDATED: Mon., Sept. 11, 2023

Just down the road from Washington State University’s Pullman campus, Whitman County Superior Judge Gary Libey has found himself at the center of a massive battle over the survival of the Pac-12 Conference – with national implications for the sports world.

Sports >  WSU football

Judge grants temporary restraining order in favor of Washington State, OSU against Pac-12

UPDATED: Mon., Sept. 11, 2023

COLFAX – Washington State and Oregon State universities won a court action Monday granting a temporary restraining order to prevent the Pac-12 Conference from meeting as a board until further ruling.

News >  K-12 education

Mead School Board incumbent casts himself as candidate of change, challenger critical of political element on board

UPDATED: Wed., Oct. 4, 2023

Known for authoring a controversial proposal to ban critical race theory from Mead’s curriculum, school board member Michael Cannon is running for a second term, saying he’ll defend parental rights. He faces an engineer who hopes to make Mead’s school board less political.

News >  Health

Spokane Mama provides support to moms experiencing postpartum depression

UPDATED: Fri., Sept. 8, 2023

Waking up her husband with their newborn in hand, Erin Skoog saw herself as entirely incompetent and incapable of taking care of their son. But as soon as the baby was placed in the arms of her sleepy spouse, she felt the “shame of it all come crashing down.” Then she tried to take her child back.

News >  Health

FDA approves oral medication treating postpartum depression

UPDATED: Fri., Sept. 8, 2023

A new drug treating postpartum depression was approved earlier this month by the Food and Drug Administration – possibly filling a gap in care, depending on the drug’s accessibility to the general public.

News >  Health

Spokane health district encourages vaccination against annual respiratory illness as COVID shot targeting new variants likely to be approved this month

UPDATED: Thu., Sept. 7, 2023

As an updated COVID vaccine is likely to become available in the next few weeks, those preparing for the fall and winter respiratory virus season can get their new vaccine the same time as their annual flu shot.

News >  Crime/Public Safety

Will they be made whole? Fire cleanup full of complications as federal aid remains far off

Sun., Sept. 3, 2023

Driving through the remains of Medical Lake, State Farm insurance agent Clyde Gillespie has spent his time since fire engulfed much of his town personally handing out checks to nearly 100 homeowners covered by State Farm.

News >  Health

‘You can save a life’: Spokane Regional Health District encourages inclusion of Narcan in your first aid kit

UPDATED: Thu., Aug. 31, 2023

Amid a spike in Spokane drug overdoses in recent years, the Spokane Regional Health District spent Thursday afternoon distributing Narcan in a park and teaching members of the public to administer it properly.

News >  Health

Rabid bat bites cat in Spokane County

UPDATED: Tue., Aug. 29, 2023

A bat with rabies attacked a pet cat in Spokane County last week – the first known rabies case in the county this year.