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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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Charles Apple

Charles Apple

Current Position: designer editor

Charles Apple joined The Spokesman-Review in 2019 as a design editor. He designs weekly Further Review pages that cover subjects such as the history of comics, William Shatner, Tiger Woods, autism spectrum disorder and even how to get your Spokesman-Review aboard the International Space Station. Apple has worked for papers across the nation, large and small. He is considered an informational graphics guru, winning countless international awards and his work consulting and training newsrooms around the world.

Email
charlesa@spokesman.com

Recent Front Pages

All Stories

News >  Further Review

The kinda sorta real Election Day

You remember Election Day, right? Six weeks ago tomorrow? Lots of political ads? Guys on TV, excitedly talking in front of giant U.S. maps? What if we told you that was just one Election Day for 2020 ... and that our next president is actually elected today?
News >  Further Review

Updating NASA’s plan to return to the moon

In early 2019, the White House directed NASA to put astronauts on the moon by 2024. That would require an enormous increase in the agency’s budget – and at a time when folks on Capitol Hill haven’t been favorable to more big-ticket items or more requests from the Donald Trump administration. Despite the apparent lack of funding, NASA on Wednesday named 18 astronauts – including Spokane’s Anne McClain – to its team of astronauts to fly its projected Artemis missions and has been moving forward on getting a real lunar landing vehicle built.
A&E >  Movies

Very special holiday TV specials

Forget trimming our trees or singing Christmas carols. Let’s admit what we really look forward to this time of year is watching the annual broadcasting of our favorite holiday TV specials.
A&E >  Music

The all-too-brief life of John Lennon

Forty years ago today – Dec. 8, 1980, John Lennon – former leader of The Beatles – was gunned down by a fan with mental issues in front of his apartment building near New York’s Central Park. Here’s a look at highlights of the post-Beatles career of Lennon:
News >  Further Review

Dec. 7, 1941: The ships at Pearl

Japan attacked the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, 79 years ago today. Several of the ships damaged or sunk that morning returned to service, thanks to heroic efforts by officers, sailors and repair contractors.
A&E >  Food

An expert’s guide to Chick-fil-A

A new fast-food joint opened Tuesday in Spokane: Southern-born, Southern-styled and Southern-run chicken sandwich restaurant Chick-fil-A opened its doors. What’s all the fuss about? Luckily, the writer and designer of your favorite Further Review pages – um, that’s me – is from the South.
A&E >  Food

The way the cookies crumble: America’s bestselling cookie brands

Cookies are thought to have been invented in Persia – what is now called Iran was one of the first countries to refine sugar – in the 7th century. Cooks began making small cakes, pastries and wafers. These spread to Europe with the Muslim invasion of Spain and then the Crusades.
News >  Further Review

Hot toys of 2020

It’s that time of year again, when parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, older brothers and sisters stand in long lines all in hopes of scoring a super-cool Christmas gift for those special little ones. In hopes of making your season just a little bit merry, here’s a quick guide to some of this year’s hottest toys:
News >  Further Review

The first Thanksgiving

As any schoolchild can tell you, the first Thanksgiving was celebrated after the Pilgrims’ first harvest in the New World in 1621. They served turkey and other favorites and invited their local Native American friends to join in their bounty. Or did they?
A&E >  Music

Elvis Presley, hit maker

Elvis Presley – the original “King of Rock ‘n’ Roll” – graduated from the regional Memphis-based Sun Records to a major recording contract with RCA Records in late 1955. He’d go on to sell 50.5 million 45 rpm records – and that’s not counting his many albums or tickets to the movies in which he starred. Here’s a look at Elvis’ success as a singles artist.
News >  Further Review

The mouse that roared: The evolution of Mickey Mouse

Mickey Mouse – who made his first appearance in Hollywood’s first comedy short film with sound – is one of the most iconic figures in entertainment history. Here’s a look at how Mickey was conceived and how he’s continued to evolve over 92 years.
A&E >  Movies

A Hughes success: ‘Home Alone’ turns 30

In the early 1980s, John Hughes began a new career as a comedy screenwriter. In addition to practically reinventing the genre of the teen comedy in the mid-1980s, Hughes would pen such classics as the “Vacation” series of movies, “Planes, Trains and Automobiles,” and a film that turns 30 today – “Home Alone” – that is still the highest-grossing comedy in movie history.
A&E >  Movies

The long history of Disney’s animated movies as ‘Fantasia’ turns 80

Eighty years ago this week, Walt Disney Productions released its third animated feature film, The symphonic music-themed “Fantasia.” Today it is regarded as a classic, selected for preservation in the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress. Here’s a look at “Fantasia” and the rich history of Disney’s animated movies.
News >  Further Review

With Honor: Facts and figures about veterans in the Pacific Northwest

Fighting in the Great War in Europe ended at the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918. Soon after, thousands of U.S. servicemen who had served in Europe began flooding back across the Atlantic. A day observing their service has grown into what we call Veterans Day – which we’ll celebrate Wednesday. Here’s a look at facts and figures about veterans in the Pacific Northwest:
News >  Business

The ‘dot-com’ crash of 2000

It didn’t take long after the World Wide Web entered our lives for Wall Street to discover the quick, profitable returns possible by investing in online ventures. “Dot-coms” were hot, hot, hot at the time. And web creators were only too happy to sell stock in their work.
A&E >  Movies

A look at Dolly Parton’s career

Country music legend Dolly Parton has a new Christmas album that debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard holiday album chart and a new book detailing her career as a songwriter. Here’s a look at Dolly’s life and times.
News >  Further Review

Your guide to Election Night

Electoral votes and swing states and poll numbers and turnout and absentee ballots ... it’s all so very much to take in every four years. One big thing to know: It’s quite possible we won’t know the winner on Election Night.
A&E >  Music

A look at Bing Crosby’s hit records

After growing up in Spokane and performing regularly at the Clemmer Theatre – now called the Bing Crosby Theater – Bing Crosby and his pal Al Rinker left Spokane in 1925 to try to make it big in Hollywood. By the end of 1930, Crosby’s path was clear: He set out to become a solo artist. History – and the record-buying public – would take it from there.
News >  Further Review

A dozen classic skits from “Saturday Night Live”

A week during the closing stages of a presidential election cycle just isn’t complete until we see what the wiseacres at NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” have to say. Even in its 46th season, “SNL” provides some of the most biting political satire you’ll find anywhere. Today is the 30th anniversary of a non-political skit – an audition for Chippendales dancers in which ... something ... doesn’t seem quite right. In honor of that, here are a dozen great moments from the history of “SNL.”
News >  Further Review

Oops! The story behind one of the biggest headline goofs ever

The picture above – which was taken 72 years and nine days ago – is more than just about an incorrect headline. While the Chicago Tribune was certainly at fault here, plenty of blame can also go to poor polling techniques, overconfident politicians and voters who, by golly, just didn’t vote the way they were expected to.
A&E >  Books

Spokane’s Jess Walter has it where it counts: On the bookshelf

Spokane native, journalist and award-winning novelist Jess Walter is publishing his seventh novel this month: “The Cold Millions.” This is in addition to a 2013 collection of short stories and his first book, a 1995 retelling of the Ruby Ridge incident, which Walter covered for The Spokesman-Review.
A&E >  Books

The old man and the novels: The life of Ernest Hemingway

Eighty years ago Wednesday, Ernest Hemingway’s novel, “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” was published. This was a haunting and tragic tale of a young American man serving as a volunteer, fighting fascists in the Spanish Civil War. America’s entry into World War II was still more than a year away.