Kaitlin Gillespie

Don’t tell Lisa Hagel or her son Cody that table tennis isn’t a real sport. The hundreds of dollars they’ve invested in supplies, endless travel across the country and thousands of hours of training speak for themselves. Cody’s paddle alone cost more than $500 – there’s a science to the right combination of wooden core, rubber and glue, said Lisa Hagel, manager of Spokane Table Tennis.

The owners of Spokes Mobile Canning have a shutdown hangover. Earlier this year, Abbie Speer and Amanda Mead discovered a gap in Spokane’s craft brew scene: They couldn’t find enough local beer in grocery stores.

Phil Sanders cycled slowly around the Under the Freeway Skate Park, warming up before flipping a couple 360’s off the graffiti-covered steps. It’s a good day for Sanders. He only likes to unicycle at the park “when it’s feeling less sketchy,” he said.

Thom Caraway thrives in a place many Spokanites would avoid: the dilapidated streets of the West Central neighborhood. He’s drawn to the crime, the drug problems, the failing 150-year-old houses and the sound of what he calls the “Ghetto Bird,” the police helicopter circling overhead.

The fresh dusting of snow on Eastern Washington’s and North Idaho’s mountain peaks can only mean one thing: Ski season is around the corner. It’s not much, but the few inches local ski lodges have seen in early October are a promising sign of the season to come.

With the announcement of a $5 million donation from the Jordan D. Schnitzer Family Foundation, Washington State University will begin public fundraising efforts to bring a new art museum to the Pullman campus. “I’m very touched and honored that I was able to help lead the charge for the new museum,” Schnitzer said.

The third-grader with bright eyes and a big smile looked small before a room full of homeless men, but her stature is deceptive – the little girl’s heart is bigger than most grown-ups’. About 30 men fixed their eyes on 8-year-old Gianna Zangar as she led them in prayer at Truth Ministries Spokane.

It’s been almost 10 years since Dan Stockwell sat in Kitsap County Jail, waiting to be sentenced to life without parole on charges of child molestation. Now, he’s a gardener at Airway Heights Corrections Center, harvesting vegetables and drawing up landscape plans for a garden just a few yards from his cell.

A team of local law enforcement officers put down their badges and picked up their gloves for a few hours Saturday to participate in America’s pastime. The Iron Pigs took on the Red Sox on Saturday at a mostly empty Avista Stadium. Despite a cold breeze and a steady drizzle, the two Inland Northwest Men’s Baseball League teams took to the field for an exhibition doubleheaderheaderThe Iron Pigs are made up mostly of Spokane County Sheriff’s Office members, with other team members from Spokane Valley Fire, active-duty military and Washington State Patrol troopers.

A close friend of a Spokane Valley woman found dead in a field Thursday said just a day before her death, she’d made plans to turn her life around and stop using drugs. The Spokane County medical examiner’s office identified the woman as Jamie L. Kieffer, 50. She was found around 8:22 a.m. Thursday near Fourth Avenue and Custer Road. The medical examiner said drugs were in Kieffer’s system and may have contributed to her death, but further tests are underway.

The Spokane County Medical Examiner's office has identified a woman found dead in a field in Spokane Valley Thursday.

A straitjacket. A flaming rope. A 1,200-pound steel trap. Jay Owenhouse faced all three in River Park Square on Saturday as he unsuccessfully attempted to break the world record for escaping a six-buckle straitjacket while hanging upside down. The illusionist said the record, originally set by legendary escape artist Harry Houdini, is 90 seconds.

A small group of brave souls gathered at Coeur d’Alene City Beach on Saturday morning, ignoring choppy waters and a cold wind to paddleboard one more time before summer’s end. The Coeur d’Alene Chamber of Commerce hosted its first Coeur d’SUP (stand-up paddleboard) races. Bad conditions and late planning made for a small turnout, event coordinator Diane Higdem said.

A straitjacket. A flaming rope. A 1,200-pound steel trap. Jay Owenhouse faced all three Saturday as he attempted to break the world record for escaping a six-buckle straitjacket while hanging upside down in River Park Square. Owenhouse said the record, originally set by legendary escape artist Harry Houdini, is 90 seconds.