Roberta Simonson

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News >  K-12 education

Deer Park School District asking voter approval of $62 million bond and $11 million levy

UPDATED: Wed., Jan. 17, 2024

Deer Park is growing, and its schools are feeling it.

News >  Weather

Light snowfall, strong winds and falling temperatures expected to continue through the week

UPDATED: Mon., Jan. 8, 2024

With Christmas and New Year’s over, winter weather has arrived in the Pacific Northwest.

Sports >  Golf

Spokane’s Peter Condon helps form national competition for autistic golfers

UPDATED: Fri., Jan. 5, 2024

Peter Condon was golfing before he was old enough to go to school.

News >  Weather

Winter weather is coming – at least for a little while

UPDATED: Wed., Jan. 3, 2024

Spokane is about to get its first taste of real winter weather this season.

News >  Spokane

Bureau organizers worried, but optimistic, as Christmas fund falls short of goal: ‘I don’t want anything to happen to this precious program’

Mon., Jan. 1, 2024

Almost 1,000 people donated to the Spokesman-Review Christmas Fund this year, including national and global donors. Still, the fund fell about $60,000 short of its $600,000 goal.

News >  Spokane

Here’s how Spokane celebrated the New Year at different points in History

UPDATED: Fri., Dec. 29, 2023

Today, New Year’s often means fireworks, parties or just a relaxing night with family to watch the ball drop on TV.

News >  Spokane

Christmas Fund needs a final flourish to reach goal supporting Christmas Bureau

Mon., Dec. 25, 2023

With the 2023 Christmas Bureau over, having helped move than 25,000 people, volunteers now have a few weeks’ break to celebrate the holidays with their families before preparations begin for next year.

News >  Spokane

The Spokesman-Review Christmas Fund receives donations from all over

Sun., Dec. 24, 2023

The Spokesman-Review Christmas Fund has received donations from all over the region. Even the world.

News >  Spokane

With the 2023 Christmas Bureau complete, it’s time to assess what went well and what needs improvement

Fri., Dec. 22, 2023

The 2023 Christmas Bureau is over. Thanks to many volunteers, donors and other supporters, 13,123 local children will wake up to a new gift and book under the tree and 7,924 households will have food on the table for Christmas dinner with a little boost from bureau grocery vouchers.

News >  Spokane

Christmas Bureau volunteer JoNell Edlin left a lasting impression

Thu., Dec. 21, 2023

Many volunteers at the Christmas Bureau come back year after year. Several have been volunteering for more than a decade.

News >  Spokane

NAPA’s Freya location donated 1,000 model truck kits to the Christmas Bureau when they were needed most

Wed., Dec. 20, 2023

The Christmas Bureau received about 6,500 stuffed animals from the Teddy Bear Toss and hundreds of hand-crafted toy trucks from local wood workers this year. But the bureau served over 25,000 people, and during the past few days it was starting to run low.

News >  Spokane

Help from the community makes live music possible at the Christmas Bureau

UPDATED: Mon., Dec. 18, 2023

The Christmas Bureau started featuring live music more than a decade ago. Now, it’s a key part of the experience.

News >  Spokane

Longtime volunteers also carefully plan the Christmas Bureau’s layout

Mon., Dec. 18, 2023

Walking through the Christmas Bureau as a volunteer is a seamless experience. Several large indoor spaces are cleanly divided into space for the line, the toy room, the book area, restock, bagging and the volunteer breakroom.

News >  Spokane

‘A real tough balancing act’: Inflation a Grinch for the Christmas Bureau

Sun., Dec. 17, 2023

In 2022, a year of rising prices after the COVID-19 pandemic meant increased expenses for the Christmas Bureau and increased need in the community, so bureau organizers raised the fundraising goal from $535,000, where it sat since 2019, to $600,000.

News >  Spokane

The Christmas Bureau helped over 25,000 people in 2023: ‘What a wonderful year’

Fri., Dec. 15, 2023

The Christmas Bureau served 25,777 people this holiday season, helping families across the Inland Northwest give toys, books, pajamas and teddy bears to children.

News >  Spokane

The Christmas Bureau helps a young mother provide for her son and siblings: ‘They thought of everything’

Wed., Dec. 13, 2023

Paige Savage works full-time, but she came to the Christmas Bureau on her day off with her mother and her 2-year-old son, Ryder.

News >  Spokane

Night shifts allow more to visit the Christmas Bureau: ‘Spokane is so great at helping families’

UPDATED: Wed., Dec. 13, 2023

Wednesday was the second of two night shifts at the Christmas Bureau this year. Like Monday’s night shift, it was a success.

News >  Spokane

Talk about holiday cheer: Gonzaga Prep’s ‘pup’ squad helps out at Christmas Bureau’s night shift

UPDATED: Mon., Dec. 11, 2023

The Christmas Bureau would normally be closing for the day by the time most students get out of class. But Monday was a night shift at the bureau, so Gonzaga Prep’s cheer team left right after school to volunteer.

News >  Spokane

‘They sound like angels’: Community choir sings at the Christmas Bureau

UPDATED: Sun., Dec. 10, 2023

All wearing festive red, eight members of Spokane’s Good News Company Choir sang at the Christmas Bureau on Thursday, offering entertainment to hundreds waiting in line.

News >  Spokane

‘Everyone deserves to be happy’: Christmas Bureau recipient wants to give back

Sun., Dec. 10, 2023

It was Stephanie Gonzales’ first time coming to the Christmas Bureau. She was there to pick out a Christmas gift for her 11-year-old daughter, Baylee: – either a guitar or something crafty.

News >  Spokane

‘Hard not to get emotional’: The Christmas Bureau serves thousands on its first day

UPDATED: Thu., Dec. 7, 2023

On its first day of the season, the Christmas Bureau served 1,517 adults and 2,235 children. People started lining up in the rain hours before the bureau’s 10 a.m. opening Thursday.

News >  Spokane

The Christmas Bureau opens today: ‘There’s plenty for everyone’

Thu., Dec. 7, 2023

Dozens of volunteers gathered at the Christmas Bureau on Wednesday for orientation, readying themselves for the thousand or so people expected to come out for the bureau’s opening day.

News >  Spokane

‘Like Santa Claus coming’: Volunteers prepare for the Christmas Bureau to open Thursday

Wed., Dec. 6, 2023

On opening day, the Christmas Bureau will look bright and inviting. Now it looks like Santa’s workshop, with hundreds of elves preparing every piece of the bureau so that it all clicks together when it opens Thursday.

News >  Spokane

Teddy bears, pajamas – and at least one plush chicken wing – arrive for sorting at the Christmas Bureau

Tue., Dec. 5, 2023

Volunteers at the Christmas Bureau had a busy day Monday, and it started with a Penske truckload of teddy bears. The 6,569 stuffed animals were dropped off by the Spokane Chiefs after the Teddy Bear Toss hockey game on Saturday.

News >  Spokane

The Cheney Chipsters chip in at the Christmas Bureau with handcrafted wooden toys

UPDATED: Mon., Dec. 4, 2023

A handful of Cheney woodworkers, who happen to be “all past 75,” meet for a few hours every Tuesday and Thursday to craft little toy trucks for children. They call themselves the Cheney Chipsters.