Cindy Hval

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News >  Spokane

Urban Nirvana offers ‘tea experience’ in downtown Spokane

UPDATED: Wed., March 15, 2017

Savannah Breeden, 30, and Thomas Kilborn, 32, opened Urban Nirvana want everybody to enjoy tea at their new shop.

Opinion >  Column

Front Porch: Doing something to help children, for Summer’s sake

Wed., March 8, 2017

Cindy Hval became a Court Appointed Special Advocate, fulfilling a pledge she’d made 10 years ago when 4-year-old Summer Phelps died after being abused by her father and stepmother.

News >  Family

Love Stories: Spokane couple’s bond spans decades and continents

UPDATED: Wed., March 1, 2017

After that first meeting, Evelyn Anderton called her friend and said, “Gayle, that’s my husband. I don’t know how, but he’s going to be my husband.”

Opinion >  Column

Front Porch: With February almost over, forecast calls for good health

Wed., Feb. 22, 2017

This past month of endless precipitation was echoed by a round of illness and injury for me. It’s worth noting that I only get sick once a year – always in February. I tolerate my yearly cold as a minor disruption and a gentle reminder to slow down a bit.

News >  Voices

Ex-addict preaches the salvation of intense physical training at his Spokane gym

UPDATED: Wed., Feb. 15, 2017

K.Jay Davis’ journey from couch surfing in crack houses in North Carolina to certified personal trainer specializing in triathlons and nutrition for endurance sports began with a visit to a church service in January 2008.

News >  Spokane

Erika and Mark Simonds: Faced with a ‘slow-mover,’ she popped the question

Tue., Feb. 14, 2017

Like many young professionals in Spokane, Erika and Mark Simonds knew each other and moved in the same social circles long before their first date. When Mark heard of a job opening in his building, he recommended Erika for the position.

News >  Spokane

Lerria and Tony Schuh: A traumatic brain injury was not as strong as their love

Tue., Feb. 14, 2017

Sometimes a new hairstyle can make a big difference. It did for Tony Schuh. He met his future wife, Lerria, at Carroll College in Helena, Montana.

News >  Spokane

Wayne and Faith Washington: The big man on campus married the beauty queen (who also was an Air Force medic)

Tue., Feb. 14, 2017

She first saw him on the basketball court at Eastern Washington University in 1975. Faith Farrington of Indianapolis was a medic newly stationed at Fairchild. “There wasn’t a lot of diversity here,” she said. “It wasn’t what I was used to.”

A&E >  Art

Spokane artist uses recycled materials to bring ancient animals to life

UPDATED: Wed., Feb. 8, 2017

Creatures are coming out of the walls at the MAC to great visitors to the “Titans of the Ice Age” exhibit.

Opinion >  Column

Front Porch: Super Bowl provides a few valuable lessons

UPDATED: Wed., Feb. 8, 2017

Like most Seahawks fans we rooted hard for the Atlanta Falcons during the Super Bowl on Sunday. Birds of a feather flocking together, united in Tom Brady disdain. Well, we all know how that turned out.

News >  Voices

Love Stories: Love grew in farm country

UPDATED: Wed., Feb. 1, 2017

It seems Ken and Veva Jean Hames were meant to be together. They met at Rosalia High School and quickly became an item, though Ken isn’t exactly sure how that happened.

News >  Voices

Catering to manly tastes

UPDATED: Wed., Feb. 1, 2017

Kingsley & Scout, a men’s boutique that opened in December on North Monroe, offers a variety of local clothing brands, men’s accessories and hand-painted signs.

Opinion >  Column

Front Porch: Something’s lost with the end of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus

UPDATED: Wed., Jan. 25, 2017

The circus was never about the animals for me. It was about magic, make believe and those daring young men on the flying trapeze. Once upon a time it really was “The Greatest Show on Earth.”

News >  Voices

Love Story: 42 years and counting for Spokane couple who fell in love in Africa

Wed., Jan. 18, 2017

Though Nate and Pris Thompson “officially” met in Rwanda, their paths had crossed 13 years earlier when they both attended a high school/ junior college in Wessington Springs, South Dakota.

Opinion >  Column

Front Porch: Snowpocalypse perfect weather for soup, stew

Wed., Jan. 11, 2017

The one good thing about Snowmageddon is that it’s perfect soup and stew weather.

News >  Voices

Ira Amstadter receives Leadership Spokane Alumni Lifetime Achievement Award

UPDATED: Wed., Jan. 11, 2017

Elephant trainer in Chicago. Peace Corps volunteer in Zaire.

News >  Voices

Auto shop owner prizes education for employees, community

Wed., Jan. 4, 2017

Ken Wanless, owner of Downtown Auto Specialists, won a $20,000 Working Forward Small Business Award from Synchrony Financial. With it he’ll pay for training for his employees, and set up a scholarship fun for military members to pursue skilled trades after leaving the service.

News >  Voices

Plant-lovers grow a business

Wed., Dec. 21, 2016

The newest shop in Saranac Commons offers a bright burst of color in the midst of dreary winter white. Parrish & Grove Botanicals, owned by Amanda Parrish, 30, and Chelsea Updegrove, 27, opened Nov. 19.

Opinion >  Column

Front Porch: Live vs. fake tree debate extended another year

Wed., Dec. 14, 2016

Dazzled, I gazed at the 7-foot pine trimmed with glittering lights that switched from colored to white with the flip of a switch.

News >  Voices

Ask Santa to spill his secrets

Wed., Dec. 7, 2016

Kids of all ages can have a hot breakfast and pose for a photo with Santa in one of his spare sleighs. If breakfast isn’t your thing, other opportunities to whisper Christmas wishes are scheduled – and even furry friends can get into the act.

News >  Spokane

And then there was one: Ray Garland is last of local Pearl Harbor survivors’ group

Sun., Dec. 4, 2016

Ray Garland, 94, is the last living military veteran on the membership roster of the Lilac City Chapter of Pearl Harbor Survivors. At one time the chapter had 125 active members from all over the Inland Empire.

News >  Spokane

Charles Boyer, Pearl Harbor survivor from Spokane Valley, remembered as cheerful and gentle

Sun., Dec. 4, 2016

The Patriot Guard Riders stood silently, their flags held aloft as a light rain fell at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Spokane Valley. They’d come to honor Charles Boyer, 95, who died April 15. As a 21-year-old sailor stationed at Naval Air Station Kaneohe, Boyer had earned membership into an exclusive club: the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association.

News >  Spokane

Civilian account: A witness to Pearl Harbor at the age of 10

Sun., Dec. 4, 2016

Like most Americans, Nancy Harlocker’s world changed on Dec. 7, 1941. A 10-year-old living an idyllic island childhood on Oahu, Harlocker woke to the sound of her father yelling, “We’re at war!” She and her 14-year-old brother looked up to see a Japanese Zero flying overhead.

News >  Spokane

Keeping my promise: A personal Pearl Harbor reflection

Sun., Dec. 4, 2016

Cindy Hval, who wrote “War Bonds: Love Stories From the Greatest Generation,” visited Pearl Harbor in March. She explored places she had learned about in nine years of interviewing Pearl Harbor survivors.

News >  Spokane

Ray Daves, a sailor at Pearl Harbor, never forgot the smell of death

Sun., Dec. 4, 2016

The smell. That’s the one thing Pearl Harbor survivor Ray Daves can never forget. The one thing movies aren’t able to capture. The smell of burning oil and the stench of charred human flesh. Sixty-six years ago, Daves was a 21-year-old sailor, stationed at Pacific Fleet headquarters in Pearl Harbor.