Erica Curless

There is great debate about whether Initiative 1501 on Washington’s Nov. 8 ballot actually protects seniors or is just another spat in the ongoing fight between a caregivers union and a conservative think tank that dislikes unions.

Two Spokane boomers and 1962 Holy Names Academy classmates who write to stay young have co-written their second novel about the post World War II era. Rita Gard Seedorf and Margaret Albi Verhoef recently released “Letters from a Wary Watcher: A Moira Edwards Mystery,” which is published by by Cozy Cat Press. The book is in local bookstores and the authors are booking local readings.

Idaho had the highest melanoma death rate nationally between 2001 and 2005, 26 percent higher than the national average with about 40 Idahoans dying of melanoma every year, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s skin cancer state statistics. The latest statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (www.cdc.gov/cancer/ skin/statistics/state.htm) show that in 2012, Idahoans developed melanoma at a rate of 26.9 per 100,000 each year.