Treva Lind

A new three-bedroom home in north Spokane will help a family impacted by ALS, thanks to Matt's Place Foundation.

Linda Rodgers, from outside Bridger, Montana, was healthy into her 70s until two years ago, when she had zero energy. She had leukemia and got a life-saving bone marrow transplant via a donor match. Turns out, her perfect match wasn’t far. Spencer Jacobs, a GU law school student, signed up as a GU undergraduate when Be the Match group was on campus. The two met for the first time April 23 at home of Rodgers’ close friend, Carla Dvoracek, of Coeur d’ Alene.

Spokane Symphony music will lead off a little softer this Friday evening. Lights in the auditorium won't go abruptly to dark, but rather stay low. In the lobby, audience members can check out weighted blankets or weighted vests along with fidget toys. Ushers will expect some movement in the aisles. Such steps are among approaches in the symphony's first "sensory-friendly family concert" 5:30 p.m. Friday at the Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox designed for people on the autism spectrum. The sensory-friendly performance is the first of two free family concerts that evening. The subsequent 7 p.m concert doesn't have the sensory-friendly approaches but still music geared to children.

Kevin Hines doesn't shy away from talking about Sept. 25, 2000, when at age 19 he attempted to end his life by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge. Thousands have done the same. Most have died. He's one of a few who survived the 220-foot fall, although it shattered vertebrae. Today, Hines works to help others survive and often tells others about a powerful, overwhelming feeling the moment he jumped. "Instant regret," said Hines, 41, who will share messages of survival at a "Let's Talk Suicide," an all-day conference Monday in Spokane. The Prevent Suicide Spokane Coalition is hosting the $75 seminar at Gonzaga University's Hemmingson Center.

Communications studies professor Linda Seppa-Seppa-Salisbury hasn't missed a Spokane Community College graduation in 46 years at the school. That's because, in many years of teaching, she also wants to show she cares about her students. Seppa-Salisbury knows her students' stories, and that many overcame obstacles ranging from cultural differences to being low-income or leaving behind gang life. Seppa-Salisbury also knows something about overcoming. She was born with a congenital amputation, and her left hand was not fully formed.

Next up with a New York TEDx Talk, Liberty Lake artist Sindhu Surapaneni juggles nonprofits, art, dance, school – all at age 14. Sindhu was scheduled to fly to New York this past Friday to deliver, “The Art of Rewriting Your Story: Sharpening Your Mindset" for the TEDx group. Through her art sold, she’s donated about $20,000 to charities benefiting homeless and low-income, plus teaches art to children and does Bollywood dancing around studies at Selkirk Middle School.

Lois Yearous was a bedside nurse for 19 years in Spokane and now works for MultiCare in professional development for nurses. Natasha Yearous recalls her mom going to nursing school in Oregon when she was a child and she “helped” her mom with studies. It sparked something in her. Today, she as a nurse in MultiCare’s Pulse Heart Institute for cardiac care, and she said her mom has been a steady mentor in her career. They'll celebrate Mother's Day with family as well as a close bond as caregivers.

When Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center housekeeping employee, Edna "Patty" Hernandez didn't show up for a shift April 2, 2019, her boss Ed Kelly was worried. Hernandez always arrived early. After Sacred Heart staff requested a police welfare check, Kelly later heard the crushing news from police: Hernandez was found dead April 3 in her apartment – killed by her boyfriend. Joseph Scheel, 28, was later sentenced to 20 years for her stabbing death. In the aftermath of grief, Hernandez's coworkers shared their concerns about whether they could have helped her. It eventually inspired the creation of a new business toolkit and training program for Spokane-area employers and coworkers to recognize the signs of domestic violence. The training program was launched Tuesday by the Spokane Regional Domestic Violence Coalition and Providence Health Care to access online, with in-person training or a combination of those two.

Celebrity dancer Derek Hough stepped out Monday to share life lessons about staying positive, then he got in the groove on a gym floor alongside 250 Spokane students. Using his "Dancing With the Stars" flair, Hugh taught them a dance in less than 10 minutes, following his talk at North Central High School. He led basic moves, including some salsa steps from the bleachers so the group could see, but it didn't take long for the crowd to pick up the steps – and energy – as Hough played music off his smartphone.

Teacher Shawn Tolley wants to connect with music in a culturally accurate way, including for many of his Stevens Elementary School students whose families came to Spokane from various countries. Within that diversity, the school has more than 30 Marshallese students, he said, a reflection of Spokane County's Marshallese population of about 5,000 residents. Tolley set a goal to travel to the Marshall Islands to learn more about its music, language and culture. COVID mixed up plans a bit, but Tolley got grants to travel first to Oahu and Guam this past summer, and then to the Marshall Islands April 1-10.

Many U.S. families can trace ancestors who first arrived in America atto Ellis Island, where more than 12 million immigrants came through between 1892 and 1924. Now through July 31, the Spokane Valley Heritage Museum offers a new exhibit, “The Immigrant Experience: Ellis Island ‘The Huddled Masses.’ ” It also includes details on some Spokane Valley settlers who immigrated to the U.S. from Italy, Greece, Ireland and Germany.

My Turn Theater, a Spokane nonprofit, is scheduled to perform "Beauty and the Beast Jr." in June at Gonzaga University's Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts Center. The theater group runs musical productions designed for special needs adults and teens. Each actor is matched with a nondisabled partner to do live stage performances. During shows, the volunteer "shadow actors" dress in dark clothing to support the cast of costumed performers, if hints are needed for a line or position. But most often, the reminders aren't needed, said Wendy Carroll, the theater's executive director and founder.

As a young child, Jocelyn Whitfield-Babcock watched Boomsday runners from her grandmother's land near Doomsday Hill. That 5-year-old Jocelyn decided one day she'd run that race. She always wanted the T-shirt, too. But her plan ended at 13, with diagnosis of polymyositis, a connective tissue disease that triggers inflammation and muscular tightening. It's thought to be an autoimmune disorder, and strenuous activity is difficult. This year, however, could be her year as she's trained gently using an elliptical, and registered for the virtual option to complete the race Tuesday. "I intend to complete the 7.46 mile journey in 2.5 hours on May 2 at the Salvation Army KROC Center," she said.

Spokane surgical oncologist Dr. Ryan Holbrook is called a pioneer in innovative cancer operations, a title that doesn't begin to describe how singular his approach began in 1995 – and then remained – under a self-imposed goal. Yes, Holbrook pioneered procedures regionally, including one called HIPEC as an approach combining surgery to remove abdominal cancer followed by warm chemotherapy. In Spokane, he also introduced sentinel lymph node biopsy and liver ablation for cancers. Holbrook, who retired from Cancer Care Northwest April 7, mainly specialized in surgeries for all cancers of the intestinal tract, particularly cancers of the liver and pancreas, as well as melanoma surgical treatment. 

Country music artists with No. 1 songs will string together multiple hits at a local venue this weekend, but it won’t be the Spokane Arena.

A year ago, Samantha "Sam" Williams got airlifted to MultiCare Deaconess Hospital at 24 weeks into her pregnancy. She had early signs of labor, but Williams never expected the cesarean-section birth that day of twins Lorenzo and Layla. Both had health struggles during months of care in the hospital's Neonatal Intensive Care but are now thriving. Near their 1-year-old birthday, Williams last week took them to visit the nurses who became like family during nearly five months of NICU care.

Melissa Bedford, an educator and former elementary school teacher, always loved to read and use imagination as a child. Today, she can meld all her many interests into a new job as Spark Central's new executive director.

Spokane mom Kimber Erickson wants to spread education on suicide prevention, including insight on the effect of depression in boys and young men and how their brains can be wired toward addictions and violent self-harm. After her 19-year-old son Kellen died in January 2020 by suicide, she and her husband Mike Erickson founded the KellenCares Foundation. On Saturday, the group will host an all-day seminar for parents, teachers and counselors at Summit Church on the South Hill. Along with break-out workshops for age groups, the event is scheduled to have speaker Dr. Michael Gurian, a Spokane family counselor and author of more than 30 books, including “Saving Our Sons."

On April 25, a new Spokane autism clinic is set to open with multidisciplinary specialists collaborating on diagnosis to help close a gap of an average wait time of 12 months for initial evaluations. A group ranging from a pediatrics expert to a psychologist will evaluate patients for autism spectrum disorder, starting by 18 months and up to age 18. Called the Autism and Neurodevelopmental Clinic, it's through a partnership between Range Community Clinic and Washington State University's Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, located in its WSU Health Sciences Building.

Distance, time and a hard-to-spell road name didn’t help the odds for Dave Lohman. At his farm near Oakesdale in November, he suddenly lost all feeling on the left side of his body while operating a tractor.

Actress Ellen Travolta and regional foster youth nonprofit Safety Net will host a 2 p.m. Sunday fundraiser featuring the film, "Short Term 12," in Coeur d'Alene. The 2013 movie that will be shown at Regal Theater at the Village at Riverstone depicts a foster-care group home for at-risk teenagers, where the character Grace is a young counselor trying to do her best for kids who often have been pulled from the worst kinds of home situations.

Local history buffs plan to serve parts of a 2,700-year-old meal: Nutty sheep's milk cheese, lentil-lamb stew, a Midas-touch brew. While it's all with fresh ingredients, experts believe King Midas of the Phrygians served this food for his father's funeral in modern-day Turkey. Open to any guest who registers, "The Feast of King Midas" is a May 6 anniversary event with dinner and lecture scheduled by the Spokane chapter of Archaeological Institute of America, which is marking 75 years since it launched here.

Growing up in Madagascar, Tongasoa Jefferson Julianot Rakotomalala had a dream by age 14 to get an education at a U.S. college. He lived in poverty in the town of Moramanga. None of his family finished high school or college, and they discouraged him.