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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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.

All Stories

A&E >  Music

Alanis Morissette’s ‘Jagged Little Pill’ turns 25

A quarter-century ago Friday, Canadian pop singer/songwriter Alanis Morissette released her third album which veered away sharply from her previous outings, more into grunge and angst-rock. It would go on to sell 33 million copies in the U.S., win five Grammy Awards and define a generation of independent female musicians.
A&E >  Movies

The 50 best-selling movies of all time, adjusted for inflation

Are you missing movies yet? So far this year, we should have been enjoying “Mulan,” the 007 flick “No Time to Die”and “Black Widow” with Scarlett Johansson and we should be getting ready to go see “Wonder Woman 1984” with Gal Gadot. Instead, we’re all binge-watching TV and wishing microwave popcorn was as good as theater popcorn.
News >  Further Review

The career of cartoonist Stephan Pastis

Stephan Pastis chucked a nine-year career practicing law in California to draw a pun-filled comic strip starring a pig, a rat and a goat and, more recently, to launch a series of successful “illustrated middle-grade” children’s books. Here’s a look at the master of daily comic strip puns:

News >  Further Review

Key moments in the struggle for civil rights

Change doesn’t come without sweat and tears. And all too often, change comes incredibly slowly and only after people bind together – or march together or sit together or boycott together – to show they support that change.
News >  Crime/Public Safety

A week of protests across the country

The horrific death of a Black man in police custody in Minneapolis ­– and the slow rate at which the wheels of justice seemed to turn afterward – ignited a firestorm of protests around the country this weekend. Here’s a look at some of the major happenings:
A&E >  TV

The birth of cable news

Once upon a time, you could watch TV news in the mornings (think NBC’s “Today” show), in the evenings and maybe again at night. The rest of the time, you relied on radio or newspapers. All that changed 40 years ago today with “the 24-hour news cycle” brought on by the creation of CNN.
A&E >  Music

53 essential No. 1 disco hits

Forty years ago Sunday, “Funkytown” by Lipps Inc. hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, becoming the final big hit of the disco era. Here’s a look at 53 essential No. 1 disco hits to help you remember how to shake, shake, shake your booty.
News >  Further Review

1940: The evacuation from Dunkirk

Eighty years ago today, Britain began an enormous rush to pull its troops out of France. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill feared this would become known as the greatest military disaster Britain had ever seen. Instead, it would be one of its most heroic moments.
A&E >  Movies

Weird movie coincidences

In the drama business, sometimes art imitates life. Often that’s intentional (think biopics and historical dramas). Sometimes, it’s not. But even more strangely, sometimes LIFE imitates ART. Now, THAT can be an opportunity to get awfully freaked out.
News >  Further Review

Eruption of Mount St. Helen’s

At 8:32 a.m. on May 18, 1980, all the rumblings, the trembling, the minor earthquakes, the bulges in the mountain and the occasional venting of steam led to an enormous eruption that generated the thermal energy equal to 26 megatons of TNT, hurled ash 15 miles into the air, killed 57 people and caused more than $1 billion in damage.
A&E >  Books

‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’ turns 120

Playwright, chicken farmer and children’s book author L. Frank Baum published “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” 120 years ago Sunday. The book would sell out its first run of 10,000 copies in eight months and go on to sell a total of 3 million copies before it fell into the public domain in 1956.
News >  Further Review

The history of constitutional amendments

In the 231 years and two months that the U.S. Constitution has been operating, congress and the various states have updated that constitution 27 times. Here’s a closer look at our constitutional amendments – plus a few that didn’t pass.
News >  Health

The end of smallpox

Forty years ago today, the World Health Organization declared smallpox eradicated from the face of the Earth.
News >  Further Review

NFL coach Don Shula’s legendary career

Don Shula – who died Monday at age 90 – won more games than any other NFL coach and was the only NFL coach who led a team to a perfect Super Bowl-winning season. Shula had just two losing seasons over 33 seasons as coach of the Baltimore Colts and the Miami Dolphins. Here’s a look at Shula’s remarkable career:
News >  Further Review

Nurses, the unsung heroes of today’s coronaviral world

Nurses – surely the unsung heroes of today’s coronaviral world – come in all varieties. They have different levels of training, different specialties and different acronyms to describe their profession. One thing they all have in common: They aim to make life a little better for patients and their families.
News >  Further Review

Smokey Bear was found 70 years ago

When the U.S. Forest Service needed a symbol to draw the nation’s attention to the danger of wildfires, Uncle Sam just wouldn’t do. Bambi, despite his success in a popular Disney movie, wouldn’t do either. Only Smokey Bear – a little bear cub who was found after a forest fire 70 years ago Saturday – could do the job.