Emma Epperly

All Stories

News >  Washington

Difference Makers: Kiantha Duncan uses ‘superpower’ with people to build community bridges

UPDATED: Thu., Dec. 29, 2022

When Kiantha Duncan speaks, people listen.

News >  Washington

Difference Makers: Boris Borisov reminds refugees that ‘everybody has a role and everybody has dignity’

UPDATED: Tue., Dec. 27, 2022

Boris Borisov helped pull the Spokane Slavic community together in a grassroots effort to create a soft landing place for the thousands of Ukrainians who sought refuge in Spokane this year.

News >  Washington

Difference Makers: Once in the same situation, Anna Bondarenko aids Ukrainian refugees seeking new life in Spokane

Mon., Dec. 26, 2022

Anna Bondarenko is the assistant manager at the Thrive Center, a hotel run by the nonprofit Thrive International, where refugees, mostly Ukrainians, stay while transitioning to life in Spokane. 

News >  Crime/Public Safety

‘She was living the life that she deserved’: Maddie Mogen’s father braces for first Christmas without her

Sat., Dec. 24, 2022

It was a normal Sunday for Ben Mogen.

News >  Crime/Public Safety

University of Idaho professor sues TikTok psychic for making false claims about homicides

UPDATED: Fri., Dec. 23, 2022

A University of Idaho professor has sued a TikTok psychic for baselessly claiming the professor was involved in the killings of four students last month.

News >  Nation/World

After taking refuge in Spokane, family returns to Mariupol only to find destruction – not hope

Fri., Dec. 23, 2022

Each time Anna and Mykhailo Kurilova got a text from their friends in Mariupol, their hearts sank.

News >  Washington

With ‘joy in their eyes,’ Ukrainian refugee children get a surprise visit from Santa

Fri., Dec. 23, 2022

Santa sneaked through the front doors of the Thrive Center Thursday afternoon and settled next to a colorful Christmas tree.

News >  Crime/Public Safety

Attorneys make closing arguments in defamation lawsuit against Spokane County Sheriff’s Office

UPDATED: Fri., Dec. 23, 2022

Attorneys made closing arguments Thursday in a four-week civil trial over claims made by a former Spokane County sheriff’s deputy that Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich mischaracterized the results of an internal affairs investigation in a news conference following his firing.

News >  Pacific NW

Getting There: Betty Whiteout and other Eastern Washington snowplows bring safety messages to new generation on TikTok

Mon., Dec. 19, 2022

WSDOT began naming their tow plows in 2019. The innovative plow features a typical snow plow in front, but in the back, an attached trailer using a hydraulic system swings out up to a 65-degree angle to clear two lanes at once, explained Joe McHale with WSDOT.

News >  Education

More than a place to learn: SCC language program gets grant to expand capacity as Ukrainian refugees flock to Spokane

Sun., Dec. 18, 2022

Since arriving in the United States in June, Olha Hubarieva has struggled to feel understood.

News >  Crime/Public Safety

Investigators continue to sift through tips in Moscow homicide case

UPDATED: Fri., Dec. 16, 2022

Investigators continue to sift through tips related to the killings of four University of Idaho students last month.

News >  Crime/Public Safety

Police reflect on the ‘emotional highs and lows’ of month-old UI killings investigation

UPDATED: Tue., Dec. 13, 2022

Investigators took a moment Tuesday to reflect on the homicide investigation of four University of Idaho students were killed in an off-campus home one month ago.

News >  Pacific NW

Take 24-below-zero forecast with a grain of (road) salt

UPDATED: Tue., Dec. 13, 2022

People who swiped open their weather app Tuesday morning were met with a bone-chilling Spokane temperature outlook for late next week: 24 below zero.

News >  Crime/Public Safety

Investigators sort through tips as investigation into UI homicides drags on

UPDATED: Mon., Dec. 12, 2022

Police continue to sift through tips in the investigation of the brutal killings of four University of Idaho students last month.

News >  Crime/Public Safety

A month later, investigators and experts agree UI homicide case is far from cold

Sun., Dec. 11, 2022

Investigators work to fill in what happened in days prior to University of Idaho students’ deaths as deluge of tips flows in and families share doubts as time ticks on.

News >  Crime/Public Safety

‘People could be charged’: Social media rumors about Moscow case leading to doxxing, harassment

UPDATED: Fri., July 21, 2023

From the moment the Vandal Alert went out four weeks ago telling the University of Idaho community four students had been killed, rumors began swirling.

News >  Education

False report of shootings at Lewis and Clark sparks lockdowns at 3 Spokane high schools, Deaconess Hospital

UPDATED: Fri., Dec. 9, 2022

From staff reports

News >  Crime/Public Safety

Moscow police looking to speak with occupants of Hyundai Elantra seen on morning of attack near home where UI students killed

UPDATED: Wed., Dec. 7, 2022

Investigators are looking to speak with the occupants of a white 2011 to 2013 Hyundai Elantra seen near the house where four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death last month.

News >  Education

Numerica Credit Union designates EWU scholarship to memory of Sandy Williams

UPDATED: Wed., Dec. 7, 2022

A local credit union designated a scholarship at Eastern Washington University to honor Spokane civil rights activist Sandy Williams, the credit union announced this week.

News >  Crime/Public Safety

‘Gifts to this world’: Family, friends and surviving roommates remember UI students at Post Falls celebration of life

UPDATED: Fri., Dec. 2, 2022

Family, friends and the North Idaho community gathered Friday to remember the four University of Idaho students who were brutally killed last month.

News >  Crime/Public Safety

Investigators now say UI killings may not have been targeted; security boosted on campus amid planning for spring semester

Thu., Dec. 1, 2022

Investigators in Moscow, Idaho, are now walking back a key claim that the slayings of four University of Idaho students was a targeted attack.

News >  Washington

Neighbors vote in favor of Cannon Streetcar Historic District, leaving final say to city

UPDATED: Tue., Nov. 29, 2022

When Ian White began organizing to get the Cannon Streetcar Suburb designated as a historic district, he didn’t expect to find a group of new friends and feel a renewed sense of community.

News >  Washington

‘If you want to keep track of your friends, that’s how’: High school pals have exchanged the same Christmas card for 65 years

Mon., Nov. 28, 2022

Cassie Hill and Cindy Gannon met in high school in the early 1950s. Six years later, they began annually exchanging the same Christmas card. They turned 85 this year, and are still exchanging the card with handwritten messages. 

News >  Washington

‘We weren’t rich, but we had everything’: As a Ukrainian family adjusts to life in a Spokane hotel, a longing persists for the one left behind

UPDATED: Thu., Dec. 22, 2022

A small house nestled a few blocks from the sea with a workshop out back. Two young children running around, keeping their parents blissfully exhausted. Family nearby to help out in times of need and share in moments of joy. The Kurilovas had everything that mattered.

News >  Pacific NW

Ukrainians continue to pour into Spokane where large Slavic community welcomes them

UPDATED: Sat., Nov. 26, 2022

Slavic immigrants and refugees have landed in Spokane for decades, creating a vibrant community that is now welcoming Ukrainians as they flee the war in their homeland.