Jeanette White

Pregnancies are on the rise among Spokane County girls from 15 to 17 years old, but fewer older teenagers are getting pregnant. Of girls who do become pregnant, far fewer are having abortions than in the past. "More kids are choosing to keep their children," said Melinda Harmon, the state's teen pregnancy prevention coordinator.

Beating the odds. Nghia Nguyen comforts his 4-month-old son, Ryan, in their Vancouver, Wash., home on Monday. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review

1. Jill Bunn and Angela Baird, at left, argue with Carrie Thompson and Amy Allen about abortion in front of Planned Parenthood on Friday. Bunn and Baird were picketing the building. Photo by Sandra Bancroft-Billings/The Spokesman-Review 2. Flip Benham

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Tammy Callihan holds her son, Jamie. A mixup with a medical helicopter sent the boy to one hospital while she believed he would be at another. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review

Ryan Nguyen was moved from Spokane to Portland's Legacy Emanuel Children's Hospital in December. File/The Oregonian

Accused killers don't generally draw a lot of public sympathy, but the Spokane woman who admitted to suffocating her disabled daughter this week may be an exception. Even juries and judges tend to shy away from guilty verdicts and harsh punishments in so-called mercy killing cases.

After the initial tragedy of a disabling head injury like Erin Rockstrom's, friends generally rush to lavish help and support on family members. As the days grind by and the victim languishes, the attention and help taper away, leaving family members alone, depressed and frustrated. In the Rockstrom case, the teen's grandmother stopped visiting because she couldn't bear to see what a bullet had done to the once vivacious girl.

While Planned Parenthood affiliates across the nation grapple with the question of whether to expand into primary care, Spokane's just did it. The local branch is the first in Washington to offer more than reproductive care - a dramatic change for an organization known for its gynecological and abortion services.

Charles Wetmore of the Cremation Society of Washington demonstrates a lift that helps place bodies in the 18-ton furnace where it takes between two and three hours at 2,200 degrees to complete the cremation. Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review

A Spokane family plans to file a lawsuit today against an ice cream maker linked to a nationwide salmonella outbreak, saying the illness caused their daughter's kidney failure. Courteney Burrill, 14, an East Valley Junior High School student, ended up having a kidney transplant and hasn't been able to return to school since September, said Mike McMahon, the family's attorney.

The best weapon is courtesy, says patrolman Barbara Byington, who serves domestic violence protection orders. Photo by Sandra Bancroft-Billings/The Spokesman-Review

Civil protection orders require the person to avoid contact with the victim, including contacts by mail or telephone. Such orders also can assign temporary custody of the family's children and require a suspected abuser to begin counseling or treatment. About two weeks after a temporary order is granted, a judge decides whether to continue the order for one year.

(Tina Ayotte Pictured at left ) Photo by Sandra Bancroft-Billings/The Spokesman-Review

A 4-year-old Idaho boy with chickenpox has contracted the flesh-destroying bacteria that hospitalized nine other children in Seattle during the past year.

Dr. David Oakes views an X-ray showing a defective pacemaker lead that he removed from a patient Tuesday. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review

Spokane's two largest hospitals say they can save lives by teaming up to treat the area's most seriously injured people. Their unusual plan, however, has some of the nation's trauma experts shaking their heads in frustration. At stake are the lives of people who are shot, stabbed, burned, or otherwise severely injured.

Major David Earl and his hyperbaric dive team have taken high-pressure oxygen therapy to new levels of success. Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review

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A sick baby Spokane doctors predicted would die may be released from Emanuel Children's Hospital in Portland as early as this week, said his kidney specialist. Ten-week-old Ryan Nguyen has made dramatic improvement since being transferred from Sacred Heart Medical Center three weeks ago, said Dr. Randall Jenkins.