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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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Cindy Hval

Cindy Hval

Current Position: freelancer

Cindy Hval is a freelance columnist and correspondent. Her "Front Porch" column appears on alternate Thursdays in the Voices section. Her articles appear in the Features section and throughout the newspaper. Visit her at www.cindyhval.com

Email
dchval@juno.com

All Stories

News >  Voices

Where the welcome mat is always out

A dining room at the Mirabeau Park Hotel buzzed with conversation during the monthly meeting of Spokane Compass Club. Women greeted each other like old friends – which many of them were, but newcomers were welcomed with the same warmth.
Cindy Hval
Opinion >  Column

Front Porch: Faux-friendly chit chat too intrusive

I’d like to go on record as being a friendly person. But, if one more stranger asks me “So, what are your plans for today?” my response may not be friendly. In fact, it may force me to permanently forfeit any future friendly awards.
News >  Voices

Key phrases for parents of boys

As my four sons grew I discovered what I really needed was a much more practical tool – a phrasebook to help me communicate clearly with the strange brotherhood of brotherhood.
News >  Voices

Out with the old, but not with everything

While in the basement trying to store my red and green tubs of Christmas décor, I stubbed my toe on the empty glass tank. That fish tank has occupied various spaces on the family room floor since Mable, our final fish, died in 2007.
News >  Spokane

Pearl Harbor witness: “It was so scary”

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!”
News >  Spokane

Priest shares his collection of more than 1,000 Nativity scenes

The Rev. Tom Connolly of St. Charles Parish in North Spokane launches the Christmas season each year by sharing what he has with Spokane. What he has is more than 1,000 Nativity scenes made of tapestry, concrete, nails and ceramics, collected from around the globe. The collection will be on display at the church’s gym today through Sunday.
News >  Features

Fasting, prayer changed women’s lives

In 2002, a Spokane-based public relations and media representative for the Salvation Army met the owner of a real estate company from California, while working on the Franklin Graham crusade. That chance meeting resulted in a lasting friendship and a recently released book, “Fast Friends: The Amazing Power of Friendship, Fasting and Prayer,” (Broadstreet, $14.99).
News >  Features

Phillips offers spiritual twist with ‘My Buddhist Christmas’

Phillips came to Buddhism later in life and wondered how his experience differed from that of his two kids, now 13 and 17. “When I started taking my kids to a Shin Buddhist temple in Spokane, I started to wonder how the conflicts of life might go for these kids, conflicts which can be even more of a challenge during the Christmas season.” So he wrote a novel about it.