Stefanie Pettit

All Stories

News >  Spokane

Front Porch: Saying goodbye to beloved pets

Thu., Oct. 17, 2019

Anyone who has loved and lost a dog will understand …

News >  Spokane

Front Porch: Scrapbook brings flood of newsroom memories

Thu., Oct. 3, 2019

I was just a pup in 1968 when I joined the staff at The Spokesman-Review. I was fresh from Florida, a bride of one year and someone who had only been west of the Mississippi River (coming to Spokane) once in my life.

Opinion >  Column

Front Porch: Traveling not just fun, but good for mental health, too

Wed., Sept. 18, 2019

I have not climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, had a zipline adventure in New Zealand or gone to Mardi Gras – but I did visit a friend in California recently, and I feel as invigorated and peppy as if I had done any of the more exciting things that travel brochures advertise.

News >  Spokane

Front Porch: A big deal, no-big-deal wedding

Fri., Sept. 6, 2019

My son Sam is married.

News >  Spokane

Front Porch: Searching for what ails medical profession

Thu., Aug. 22, 2019

Two weeks ago I asked a question here: Where have all my doctors gone? And I talked about feeling abandoned at the growing loss of the medical care providers – doctors largely in their 50s – in whom I have placed trust. Today, it’s about them.

News >  Spokane

Front Porch: Doctor turnover shakes patient confidence in care

Thu., Aug. 8, 2019

Where have all my doctors gone?

News >  Spokane

Front Porch: He was so loyal, relentless, giving

Thu., July 25, 2019

My friend Tony Bamonte is dead, and I am sad – sad for the loss to his wife, Suzanne; to the law enforcement community, which he cared about deeply to the eclectic group of people who are interested in the region’s history; and to the myriad people who knew him as their friend.

News >  Spokane

Front Porch: Standing on own two feet but less confidently

Thu., July 11, 2019

Where did my legs go?

News >  Spokane

Front Porch: Happy birthday, Miss Chicken

Thu., June 27, 2019

Miss Chicken is 10 years old.

News >  Spokane

Front Porch: Gaining a son-in-law, and a new title

Thu., June 13, 2019

It won’t be long now before I become a mother-in-law.

News >  Education

Acknowledging help he’s received, Mica Peak’s Bol Pennington aims to give back

UPDATED: Thu., June 6, 2019

Bol Pennington is a “one-in-million person,” says student support official Star Chavez.

News >  Education

Medical Lake Endeavors’ senior Kylie Smith is ‘living my real life,’ after ups and downs

UPDATED: Thu., June 6, 2019

Kylie Smith was born in Spokane 18 years ago to a drug-addicted mother, so her first few weeks of life were difficult. It didn’t get much better for some time.

News >  Education

Cheney High scholar Sam Fix plays soccer with a vengeance

UPDATED: Thu., June 6, 2019

Sometimes Cheney High School’s Sam Fix is Clark Kent and sometimes he’s Superman.

News >  Spokane

Front Porch: Waging battle with deer – for dahlias this year

Thu., May 23, 2019

I have discovered dahlias, Dianthus and Salvia. Of the three, last year I could not have told you what two of them were.

News >  Spokane

Front Porch: Spring can have its frailties, too

Thu., May 9, 2019

This has been the strangest spring.

News >  Spokane

Front Porch: Puppy love through thick and thin

Thu., April 25, 2019

What do you do when you get a new puppy and things just don’t work out as wonderfully as you’d hoped?

News >  Spokane

Front Porch: Peers, doctors help with ailments of aging

Thu., April 11, 2019

When I was younger, I, too, used to kind of sigh and do an internal eye roll when I’d hear a group of older people sit around and discuss their latest ailments. Now that I am one of those older people, I kind of get it.

News >  Spokane

Front Porch: Columnist is so used to recliner heaven

Thu., March 28, 2019

I don’t know how people can live in any kind of acceptable comfort without a recliner.

News >  Spokane

Front Porch: Husband upgrades to smartphone

Thu., March 14, 2019

Nothing can cause rising terror more – for a sweet technology troglodyte – than learning that your old flip phone has become obsolete and will no longer be supported by your carrier.

News >  Spokane

Front Porch: As lover of words, she’s a logophile

Thu., Feb. 28, 2019

I’ve been spending a fair bit of time in this space focusing on what’s happening with the use and misuse of words and what’s going on with the English language in general. Probably time to move on.

News >  Spokane

Front Porch: Managing frozen middle digit for the birds

Thu., Feb. 14, 2019

This is about my wounded finger.

Opinion >  Column

Front Porch: No longer lone wolf on vocal fry

Thu., Jan. 31, 2019

Comic strip creator Garry Trudeau’s takes “Doonesbury” takes umbrage at vocal fry in Sunday’s strip. Vindication, Stefanie Pettit writes.

Opinion >  Column

Front Porch: January is a good month to start ‘spring cleaning’

Thu., Jan. 17, 2019

So here I am in mid-January doing my version of spring cleaning.

Opinion >  Column

Front Porch: Words ‘toxic,’ ‘justice’ seemed to define 2018

Thu., Jan. 3, 2019

I like to start out every new year focusing on something I enjoy a lot – words. Not my usual curmudgeonly grammar rant – I’ll save that for later – but rather the Words of the Year, as chosen by national and international lexographers.

Opinion >  Column

Front Porch: Making eye contact connects generations

Thu., Dec. 20, 2018

Like so many of us, I find myself feeling sentimental and reflective at this time of year. More than the Christmas lights and carols, visits with friends and relatives and exchanging gifts, I am thinking of Christmases past, loved ones no longer here and changing times and traditions.