Treva Lind

Teachers at The Oaks – A Classical Christian Academy get a visual aid to tell apart identical twins Trent and Neal Gray: Trent wears a blue uniform shirt and Neal wears white. The twins have attended the private Spokane Valley school since kindergarten, so most classmates can name them correctly, even when the brothers are in street clothes.

Kyra Pauley doesn’t remember much about spring break last year, only what to call the rare autoimmune disease that stole weeks of her life: acute necrotizing encephalitis. Pauley felt so sick in early April 2014, she couldn’t go to classes and missed softball practice at University High School.

Teachers at North Idaho Christian School frequently use one word to describe Jodi Johnson: joyful. Laughter arrives rapid-fire 10 minutes into a conversation with Johnson. She jokes about herself, with people around her and despite painful rheumatoid arthritis slowing her movements.

Cameron Conner spent most of his freshman year traveling the world. Six months of trekking with his parents took him to Peru, Spain, Nepal and Morocco.

On a recent warm, sunny day, Oliven Harris belted out a song from the movie “Frozen” in rehearsal for her job performing as an ice queen. It’s a skill still in high demand for Harris, 19, working as one of 11 employees who sing at events in costume as popular movie characters for the Spokane entertainment business Once Upon A Time Productions.

Karaage, a Japanese-style fried chicken, drew a gasp of approval from Ai Fujita, but an orange-colored mochi fell short. Fujita, a student at Spokane’s Mukogawa Fort Wright Institute, had joined a focus group last week to give feedback about campus meals. This spring, Mukogawa’s kitchen staff began adding more Japanese comfort foods into menus, alongside typical U.S. dishes.

Signs near the Newman Lake community warn motorists on Trent Avenue to slow as they approach Starr Road, but residents say the 45 mph zone is largely ignored by commuters. Residents also cite too many accidents and near misses as drivers cross the busy highway or turn, where Starr comes in from the north at a skewed angle compared to its route south. To call attention to traffic concerns, members of Tri-Community Grange organized a public meeting at the Grange hall in Newman Lake.

Tom of Warwick is a young boy destined to be a knight. For three Spokane-area boys portraying him in “Camelot,” the role means entering mythical King Arthur’s world on a stage. Selected by video audition, the young actors – Jameson Elton, 12; Brax Ziegler, 13; and Jordan Santiago, 13 – landed walk-on roles as Tom of Warwick in “Camelot,” a Best of Broadway national tour production opening today in Spokane.

Seven months ago, Natasha Zubritskaya was worried about leaving Trentwood Elementary School for East Valley Middle School. Now the 12-year-old has a 4.0 grade-point average, in part thanks to an after-school study club.

Cancer patient Jeff Hinz of Post Falls calls it a nuke, delivered by a new medical device that targets radiofrequency energy to heat and kill tumors in vertebrae, normally a tricky area for such precision. “My understanding is they ablate the tumor, nuke it,” said the 43-year-old Hinz, diagnosed fall 2013 with lung cancer that spread to bones. “With this procedure, you’re in and out in one day and walk out of the hospital. You’re a little sore for a day or two, but there’s no major incisions.”

By 3 p.m. Friday, Tri-Community Grange volunteers in Newman Lake had prepared close to 30 pounds of spaghetti noodles, 25 loaves of garlic bread and multiple homemade desserts. Grange members preparing the annual spaghetti feed fundraiser hoped it won’t be the last. Along with plates piled high, they handed out fliers last week with the message that the Grange hall is in danger of closing because of a lack of funds and enough people to lead activities.

A Spokane Valley business owner said a new restaurant going into the former Painted Hills Golf Course clubhouse will retain a golfing theme. Scott and Deanna Reckord, who own and operate the Sullivan Scoreboard, plan to open the Clubhouse at Painted Hills as a sports bar and pub in January. Scott Reckord said the leased property at 4403 S. Dishman-Mica will undergo a remodel and construction of a small addition, which will bring its size to about 2,500 square feet.

Hunter Graham regularly filled his backpack with food from his home before heading to classes at Lewis and Clark High School, but it wasn’t for lunch. He gave the food away to the homeless, mainly women. Just after his junior year, the 18-year-old who loved watersports died in a personal watercraft accident at Hayden Lake on Father’s Day 2009. His memorial service drew more than 1,000 people, and a fund set up by family friends in Hunter’s name grew to a substantial amount.

Four Seasons Physical Therapy has served patients for 30 years, and now in some cases is working with children of early patients. John McKinnon, 59, and Susan Taylor, 62, started the business in April 1984 with Jerry Johnson, who retired in January. The three of them had worked together as physical therapists at St. Luke’s before opening their private practice at 1111 W. Wellesley Ave.

Before her official start Monday, Katherine Morgan already had immersed herself in some homework as the new Greater Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce president and CEO. Morgan, 31, began giving input a few weeks ago on a chamber rebranding campaign that will update the organization’s website, logo and handouts next month. Once in the office this week, she filled her days mostly making rounds among the organization’s nearly 600 members.

In Spokane Valley’s Discovery Playground, 2-year-old Obadiah Mowery held tight to the seat handles of a new seesaw-like play feature on Friday as his mom, brother, and grandfather sat across to help rock him gently higher. The captivated toddler stayed on the We-saw long after his brother, 4-year-old Braeden, ventured off in search of other play options.

Words such as bling and selfie won points with Spokane players of Scrabble, but bromance drew some quizzical looks. So did hashtag. Scrabble fan Mernie Matthews, 72, has studied a long list of the more popular new words among 5,000 recently added to The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary, released Aug. 11 by Merriam-Webster. The fifth edition guidebook is the first update in nearly 10 years.

Volunteers are preparing a Spokane Valley home this month to fill a regional housing gap for teenage mothers, said Holly Haneke, director of GraceSon Housing Foundation. The nonprofit, which is renting the five-bedroom house, plans to open this fall with support and living quarters for three teenagers and their babies.

Volunteers are preparing a Spokane Valley home this month to fill a regional housing gap for teenage mothers, said Holly Haneke, director of GraceSon Housing Foundation. The nonprofit, which is renting the five-bedroom house, plans to open this fall with support and living quarters for three teenagers and their babies.

If victory is sweeter to those who have known defeat, try tasting the nectar after a nearly 10-year wait. Since 2005, members of the over-50 senior women’s softball team A-1 Auto have played winless in the city of Spokane’s Slow-Pitch Masters League in a men’s over-60 division.

An idea to link up a photo booth with social media gave birth to Photoboxx, a Spokane Valley business that sets up at events to give away prints of photos snapped by Instagram users. Just over a year ago, Michael Fisk and Devon Lind worked to build the technology behind a photo-printing station that Photoboxx now installs at public events, where people gathered for fun activities are prone to take photos with their cellphones. When Instagram users post their snapshots with a designated event hashtag, they get a free Polaroid-style photo that prints from the company’s booth.

Big Table, a Spokane nonprofit focused on helping restaurant and hotel employees, recently launched a new program that director Kevin Finch acknowledged probably raises a few eyebrows for its name, BS in a Bar, short for Bible Study in a Bar. However, the name often opens up conversations among people who want to talk about faith, Finch said.