Julie Sullivan

Gary and Thea Dunn laugh about their adventures traveling worldwide. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review

Gary and Thea Dunn have given up their world travels - temporarily - to publish The Caretaker Gazette from Pullman while Thea teaches and earns a doctrate at WSU. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review

Phil Stack's desire to create something spiritually comforting for people facing their mortality led him to write and design his Soothing Gems cards. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review

Spirit Lake Santas, from left: Caroline Stanton, Joy Porter, Shirley James, Lee Stanton, Betty Corkery, Brad Pendleton, Terry Moore, Lloyd Wetmore, Nancy LoPresti, Patsy Kroetch and Leslie Marshall. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

Brian Prawdzik visits with fifth-grade classmates during a Christmas party at All Saints School this week. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review

It's the most wonderful time of the year. Except in all families it isn't. Expectations run too high and time too short. Families fall into patterns generations-old. Everyone is indoors because of the weather. Pour alcohol on it, bet some money on the football game, and the Christmas season can easily become the mean season. So how can families better navigate conflict in the holidays ahead? We asked Spokane clinical psychologist Laura Asbell and mental health counselor James O'Hare for some suggestions. (In families where violence is occurring, see the accompanying story.) First, expect some conflict at Christmas. For the same reasons that no one can believe a quiet, civil neighbor committed a crime, people can't believe that celebrating the warmest of holidays with people you love can be hurtful and divisive. But families should look at what happened last year and plan accordingly.

1. Jon Tuning and his wife, Marjorie, helped found United We Stand in Washington state abd campaign regularly for local Republicans. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review 2. A day before the November election, political activist Jon Tuning urges motorists to go vote from a traffic island at Francis and Maple.

Students from Spokane Falls Community College designed and created banners that will hang for the holidays along Wall Street in downtown Spokane. Pictured from left to right, back row, are Matt Reilly, Cindy Closson and Sarah Walczyk, front row, Shane McSpadden, Kelly Carlson, Connie Enburg and Tim Oberst. Not pictured are Liz Hudon, Derrick Record and Geoff Sherwood. Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review

Michelle Baker has gone from phone company consultant in California to patriot tabloid publisher in North Idaho. Photo by Kristy MacDonald/The Spokesman-Review

Richard Brown, publisher of the Patriots' Notebook, describes himself as a scared white male. Photo by Kristy MacDonald/The Spokesman-Review

1. Volunteer woodworkers crowd into Jack Eskeberg's workshop to assemble Christmas toys. Photos by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review 2. From his workshop to a deserving child: Jack Eskeberg holds a finished product. 3. Red Ahern gives his time so children can enjoy the season.

A game for a playful couple. Photo by Molly O'Hara/The Spokesman-Review

Great gifts, such as fragrances, come in small packages. Photo by Molly O'Hara/The Spokesman-Review

While multiple chemical sensitivity is disputed, the state of Washington knows exposure to chemicals can lead to illnesses and injuries. State-funded clinics in Seattle, Toppenish and Spokane now treat and research chemical-related illnesses. A new unit at the Department of Labor and Industries handles 2,200 claims filed a year by workers hurt by chemicals on the job.

Susan Banks doesn't feel comfortable in most surroundings, but she is at ease near her Cannon Hill Addition home. Below: Dawn Brozovsky says she can't go into about a third of Spokane's public buildings. Photo by Sandra Bancroft-Billings/The Spokesman-Review

The Margaret Sanger Award will be presented to Vivian Winston on Saturday at Planned Parenthood's Gala Dinner at the Crescent Court Ballroom. The award is named for the founder of the American Birth Control League, a network of family planning clinics that evolved into the Planned Parenthood Federation of America in 1942. Sanger was a maternity nurse in New York City's Lower East Side who witnessed firsthand the toll of unplanned pregnancies among poor families. At that time, birth control was considered obscene and dispensing it was punishable by a $5,500 fine and five years in prison.

1. Vivian Winston is legendary among charitable organizations for her work to benefit women and children in the Inland Northwest. Photo by Molly O'Hara/The Spokesman-Review 2. Winston works out of an office in her home, making phone calls and writing letters to support the causes she has dedicated so much of her life to.

Jackie Tomson will be returning to Spokane.

Chuck and Martha Tomson never gave up on their daughter Jackie when she started having trouble as a teen. Below, inset: Jackie in 1975. Photo by Sandra Bancroft-Billings/The Spokesman-Review

Bob Edwards

Most people relish showing visitors the view from Mount Spokane. Mary Breshears' family expects her to climb to it. Today, Breshears, 82, of Santa Rosa, Calif., will lace her sneakers - "I can't even call them tennis shoes" - and stride four miles to the summit.

Views of a heart patient: Above, Brian Prawdzik lies in bed at the hospital. Inset left, Brian with his Junior Bloomsday T-shirt this year, before the disease became apparent. At left, Brian with his parents Jan and Steve Prawdzik and sister Laura, 13. Photos courtesy of Prawdzik family

1. Denny Yasuhara, president of the Japanese American Citizens League, served in the occupation government in Japan and had a brother die serving in the 442nd. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review 2. Fred Shiosaki, above, was a member of the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the all-Japanese battalion that became the most decorated unit in U.S. Army history. At right, retired Col. Spady Koyama served in the Military Intelligence Service in the Pacific. After Japanese American veterans were denied entry into a Spokane VFW post, Koyama helped overturn the restriction.

FOR THE RECORD: Wednesday, July 12, 1995 CORRECTION: Bert Fraser was the chief of detention at Fort Missoula during World War II. His name was misspelled in Sunday's In-Life. 1. John Pelle, left, and Frank Guastella were detained during WWII for being Italian merchant marines and settles in this area after the war. Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review 2. The Italian musicians at the camp organized a band, an orchestra and a string quartet. The string quartet performed for the public in Missoula. Lower right, stone gates marked the entrance to Fort missoula. Photos courtesy of John Pelle 3. John Pelle, on the right, plays soccer, a favorite pastime at the camp. At least two internees went on to play professionally in Italy after the war.