Treva Lind

An AED – or automated external defibrillator – is a medical device to restore a normal heart rhythm if someone goes into cardiac arrest. The lifesaving devices – and CPR – recently gained a nationwide spotlight when an AED was used for Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin, 24, who collapsed on the field Jan. 2 after a tackle and went into cardiac arrest. Health experts in Spokane say it's key for people to know where AEDs are and about how easy the machine are to use, because seconds matter in cardiac emergencies.

MultiCare Health Systems deployed four robots, each called Moxi, at Deaconess on Thursday as errand-runners for the hospital's nurses. The "nurse robots" do basic chores normally handled by those employees, such as picking up and delivering lab samples, PPE supplies and medicines. Such simple tasks fill up about 45 to 75 minutes of a nurse's shift and take away from patient care, said Jennifer Graham, chief nurse executive.

Gonzaga University School of Law won't participate this year in the U.S. News and World Report's annual ranking of law schools, a decision that will continue under current metrics, the program's dean Jacob Rooksby said Wednesday.

Spokane developer Dick Vandervert had a habit of planning the big picture for a project by writing overall details down on a single sheet of a yellow legal notepad. His one-page outlines gave rise to many prominent commercial spaces – among them the Lincoln Heights Shopping Center redevelopment that drew Trader Joe's, Wandermere Business Park, Hampton Inn Spokane Airport, the Hilton Garden Inn Spokane Airport, and recent West Plains commercial development. Today, Vandervert Developments' portfolio of office buildings, retail centers, hotels and land totals more than 2 million square feet of leasable space. Vandervert, 78, died Jan. 4 in Spokane. He was in the hospital for a bad appendix, then had septic shock and heart failure.

A Kootenai Health cardiac nurse, Windy Manzardo first noticed that she had irregular heart palpitations. At work, she hooked herself up to a telemetry monitor. She and coworkers saw "ugly ventricular tachycardia," a heart rhythm problem caused by irregular electrical signals in the heart's lower chambers. She went straight to the ER, but more problems unfolded. It took six months until diagnosis of cardiac sarcoidosis, a rare inflammatory disease. She's showing signs of heart failure. Manzardo is now on a waiting list for heart transplant surgery in Spokane.

Veterans needing acute psychiatric services can get that care again at the Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center, which reopened its 12-bed inpatient unit Tuesday after a more than two-year remodel. Paid for by Veteran Health Administration, the $3.5 million project includes upgrades such as reinforced security windows and room designs following national standards to prevent self-harm, harm to others and suicide attempts that might occur in facilities.

Cyrus, a black lab-heeler mix, sat contently near a wheelchair at Prestige's Sullivan Park Care Center. He arrived Jan. 3, staying until someone took him home within two days. He's senior dog No. 13 saved by a resident-run program and partnership with SpokAnimal C.A.R.E., called Hearts and Paws. The residents foster one senior dog at a time for several days, or a few weeks, until adoption.

Violinist Abigail “Abi” Stephens, 17, considers it a blessing that she took up her instrument 12 years ago. Today, she performs in youth symphony and professionally. Around Thanksgiving, Stephens set out to help more students have access to music education. Throughout December, she requested donated instruments on social media and contacted people with regional Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace listings that had musical instruments for sale, asking it they'd be willing to donate their instruments instead to the Music Conservatory of Coeur d'Alene, a nonprofit organization that promotes music education. On Dec. 29, Stephens delivered 16 donated instruments to the music conservatory, for its students as low-cost rentals.

From newer diabetes medicines to unexplained "atypical" forms of the disease, University of Washington expert Dr. Irl Hirsch said he plans to cover a lot of ground in a free webinar at 6 p.m. Tuesday. Hirsch is a researcher, diabetes treatment doctor and teaching chair at the UW School of Medicine. The free online session is for the Next Generation Medicine lecture, by the UW-GU Health Partnership, with registration at bit.ly/nextgenmeddiabetes.

A national selection narrows to 40 players for Team USA in the Junior Roller Derby Association World Cup 2023, scheduled in France this summer. That U.S. roster recently named two local teens who compete in Spokane on the Pixies Roller Derby team. Gracie Goodnature, 15, of Hayden and Brisa Aragon-Ocampo, 16, of Spokane Valley got word of their selection in November. They practice at Roller Valley.

Friends of former KREM journalist Dawn Picken describe a gifted writer, advocate and one who could build community around her – whether in Spokane or with a new life abroad after the 2010 death of husband Sean Stanelun. Picken, 52, died December 26 in New Zealand after battling a rare genetic liver condition. She and her two children had moved there about 11 years ago. Survivors include daughter Fiona, 18 and son Finley, 17. At KREM from 2000-2008 as reporter and anchor, she had continued to work as a journalist and writer in New Zealand.

Thanks to an ancestry app, Marianne Bornhoft can claim the gift of Christmas cousins this year, closer than she could have imagined. For 16 years, she has employed the same housekeeper, Lyndia Danielson. After her mother's death on Oct. 18, Bornhoft felt a tug to look on 23andMe and saw Danielson's name, DNA-matched as a cousin. Neither of them knew. Bornhoft had a similar experience soon after her dad Ray Senn died in 2019, when she found Jennifer Hultquist, who also works in real estate. Another agent had said Hultquist and Bornhoft were likely cousins, but Bornhoft at first shrugged it off. She later texted Hultquist, who confirmed they're cousins.

Americans typically bring out their nutcracker dolls for Christmas, then pack them away. But it's a holiday wonderland all year long in the house of Hayden Lake resident C.J. Davis, who keeps her collection of about 2,800 nutcrackers on display in an upstairs room. There's a lot of history, and dusting, among those artifacts tucked neatly on shelves. 

Spokane's Riverfront Park gets the spotlight in a new children's book with a magical tale bringing to life the Looff Carrousel ponies along with the venue's many sculptures for one night of adventure. "Ponies in the Park" is a collaboration by author Mary Carpenter and illustrator Mary Pat Kanaley. The Spokane women won a 2021 Spokane Arts Grant Award and self-published the book. Part of the $10,000 grant will be used to distribute the book to Spokane County second-grade classes and elementary school libraries to help kids learn about local history and art in the downtown park.

Festive holiday decor fills the Paulsen Center's second-floor foyer as people stroll by its restaurant, offices or nearby skywalk. The downtown nook also plays host to an almost hidden treasure for a midday boost – live Christmas music. Each December, the space gains a piano and a player for about 10 days near the staircase, where visitors will find longtime Spokane musician Michelina Tyrie, 83. She's booked there to play holiday music for three hours during work days, ending this week.

Gary Girod can't pass a red kettle without placing at least a couple dollars inside. When the retired firefighter sees a Salvation Army volunteer with a bell, it also takes him back more than 60 years. That's when the charity showed up in the most unlikely of places, while stranded on a mountain.

Claretha Caldwell thought a pancreatic cancer diagnosis in 2020 was a death sentence, as a disease that quickly killed her uncle and has a low survival rate. Today, Caldwell can call herself a survivor after early detection, cancer treatments and surgery. Caldwell has since had clear scans indicating her pancreatic cancer is gone. This fall, her surgeon came to her 60th birthday party celebration.

This holiday season marks Christmas Tree Elegance's 40th year when it returns Tuesday through Dec. 11, still benefitting the symphony. Volunteers have prepped 500,000 raffle tickets – many in bundles of 25 – for a chance to win one of 15 trees with gifts or a Father Christmas sculpture, said Peggy Springer, a volunteer since 1987 and chair of ticket sales the past 20 years.

Providence and MultiCare hospitals have renewed their call for registered pet therapy volunteers, after animal-assisted programs were halted during the pandemic. Both hospital systems plan to expand therapy dog visits if enough people sign up. The volunteers must meet requirements of Pet Partners, which screens and registers therapy animal handlers and their pets to visit hospitals and other sites.

A new fitness trend called DrumFit challenges the brain and body, as members stay seated before a stability ball kept on a base. Each person beats on the balls using drumsticks fashioned from PVC piping. Fitness specialist Dawn Olson led a group at Touchmark on South Hill by announcing moves and some complex patterns, that ranged from forceful and fast to sideway moves across the ball. "You're using the drumming as patterning so it helps with cognition, memory and you're also using your body movement," Olson said. 

Sunset Hill commuters call her the running girl. Kendra Allen-Grant, 37, runs the route almost daily but her uphill climbs aren't just about exercise. It's more like a marathon. In October, Allen-Grant marked three years' sobriety following a long climb out of drug and alcohol addiction that escalated in 2016. By May 2017, she resigned as a Spokane County public defender. Since 2019, she's climbed back to routine and normalcy in her life.

One More Time is a Post Falls nonprofit that grants wishes to adults who face a limited time to live. Founder Tiffinay Vargas said the group has fulfilled bucket-list dreams for people as young as 25 and as old as 107. Those wishes range from simply a huckleberry milkshake and cruising to a 26-year-old mother with cancer who wanted a trip to Disneyland with her daughter, 5, and family. This group holds its Deck The Halls fundraiser Thursday at Garden Plaza in Post Falls.

At Second Harvest’s warehouse in Spokane last week, Eric Williams walked by areas with empty shelves that are normally filled with shelf-stable products.

Tricia Hughes worked five years to create a Spokane medical facility to provide care for drug-exposed newborns, and when possible, support and training for the mom or adult caregiver. Maddie's Place, a name inspired by Hughes' care of an adopted child, opened here Oct. 3 as one of four pediatric transitional care facilities in the U.S.