With the number of small and boutique breweries rising faster than the head on a stout porter, craft beermakers in Washington have opened the tap to new customers in an increasingly thirsty market. According to the Washington State Liquor Control Board (WSLCB), production almost doubled in terms of barrels per year at many breweries on the western side of the mountains over the past decade. For example, demand at Pike Brewing Company in Seattle jumped from 17,401 to almost 43

Shae has been a regular at the Spokane Shriners Hospital since she was a baby. It started with a one-week stint when she was 1 year old to address the scoliosis that was apparent in her spine. From then on, it was check-up appointments every six to 12 months—up until this visit, which could be as long as three months and a week. “I planned it to the day,” said Shae, now 14 years old. “It depends how fast my body stretches.” The top and bottom of her spine are straight, but th

If you’ve meandered through one of the many car shows of the Northwest, you’ve probably seen some pretty cool rides. It’s a great way to get up close to a piece of history. The common vehicles featured in most of these shows are mid ‘50s to late ‘70s American-made automobiles. Some shows have rules as to how old the car must be to be shown, what condition it is in or where it was made. While these shows can be a lot of fun, especially for those who grew up driving one of thes

When a person goes to college and gets a degree, they typically learn a great deal about their chosen field, hoping to find a good job, make a lot of money and live the perfect dream life. For one Spokane woman though, going from point A to point B has already happened in her 30-some years, but with a fascinating, and life-changing, twist. Kumiko Love, an accredited financial counselor and the creator of The Budget Mom, was raised on a farm in Chewelah, Washington, and lived

To brew beer you need four key ingredients: water, yeast, malt and hops. Clean water makes for a crisp beverage, and yeast is used to convert sugars into alcohol. Malt is where the color and flavor profile comes from, and hops add to the aroma and bitterness. A stroll down any grocery store aisle and you’ll find such a wide range of choices that it’s hard to fathom they all come from the same four basic ingredients. If you’ve tipped back a Bud Light, Goose Island IPA, Elysian

I had a conversation with a young woman a while ago who’d recently gotten married. She and I were talking about the new phase of life she was in, and I asked her what her biggest challenge was. She answered, “I guess I would have to say my own individualism, since I’m in a different phase of life and I’m newly married now. Sometimes I think about who I am and what I’m supposed to be doing ... I want to live passionately now, not just in the future.” We all have that longing t

The orange-striped ships with sailors from the US Coast Guard that patrol the waters of Washington, Oregon and Idaho are responsible for more than checking registrations and policing loud parties. District 13 of the Coast Guard has authority over commercial fishing regulations, enforcing environmental regulations and protecting inland waters. But their primary mission is to protect the Pacific coastline from attack from hostile forces from the border of California to the stra

Richard Kresser stood outside a café in Bend, Oregon, devastated. He cried as he spoke to his girlfriend over the phone. “The trip’s over,” he told her. His bicycle, and the 80 pounds of highly specialized gear that had been attached to it, was gone: stolen by a passerby in the less than 10 minutes he had been inside grabbing breakfast. It was early July of 2018 and Richard was nearly halfway through the Tour de Volcanoes—a human-powered, mostly self-supported challenge he dr

Off course and months behind schedule, Jacob Hendrickson continues to propel his custom-made row boat toward what he hopes will be a triumphant landfall in Australia. The former Air Force pilot began his marathon journey in July 2018 for what had been charted to be a 9,150-nautical mile journey from Neah Bay in the northwestern corner of Washington state to Perth on the west coast of Australia. He has admitted the schedule was an optimistic view of a daunting physical and men

Ideas are powerful. Something as simple as a passing thought can become something huge that impacts our daily lives, or something small impacting the people in our neighborhood. When the idea is something that could positively impact a community, others are usually quick to rally behind it. There are examples all over the Northwest of how an idea can bring together people from all backgrounds and walks of life to find common ground and to better their surroundings; two of whi

Upon graduating high school we all face the same challenging question: What do I want to do with my life? One path is to continue your education at a traditional four-year university, community college or technical school. Many enter the workforce in a wide range of jobs or family owned business. Still others feel the need to serve their country through military service. And a few simply set out to explore the world while they aren’t tied down to a career, marriage or family.

As a traveling veterinarian and a world traveler, Bruce Pedersen is accustomed to rugged terrain. He practices veterinary medicine in Watford City, North Dakota, and Butte, Montana, boom towns 550 miles and 150 years apart, and lives the rest of the time—“the goal is half the year”—in Sandpoint, Idaho, he said. He has also traveled to India a number of times, climbed to the base camp at Everest with his daughter and taken a humanitarian trip to Swaziland and South Africa. But

It was freezing outside. The chill in the air was biting, and the ocean roared as waves crashed on the long, sandy beach. A gentle breeze blew as the sea mist coated our faces. Though it was August, it was mid-winter in New Zealand. And my family and I, including a 5-month-old and a 2-year-old, were about to ditch our warm clothes for swimsuits. And dig in, literally, at Hot Water Beach hot springs. Hot Water Beach is on the East Coast of the Coromandel Peninsula on the North

My first impulse was to slug the doctor. Not because he had just diagnosed me with the chronic disease known as multiple sclerosis. It was his bedside manner and an apparent lack of compassion. My neurologist was probably being practical when he suggested that my wife and I stop on our way home to buy a cane and insisted that we purchase as much life insurance as possible “while I still could.” This could not be happening to me. Not now. I had just started to live my dream. S

Fifty years ago, I was an acne-faced teenager desperately trying to cling to the tail of the political unrest that had swept our nation. While most of my junior high classmates spent their after-school hours on ball fields, my days were filled with creating memorable catch phrases that could be painted on poster boards that I prepared for the next rally against social injustice or the bloody war in Vietnam. My lunch hours were filled with gatherings of like-minded young peopl

When Peter Mico started to feel the physical effects of a long career in the restaurant industry, he knew he had to make a change. With back issues from long hours of standing on concrete floors and pain from his days as an athlete, Peter was facing surgery and the uncertainty of what the future would bring. One day, over 20 years ago, Peter came across an instructional yoga DVD while shopping and decided to give it a try. Over time, he noticed a significant increase in his f

It’s back to school time. While for some students it can be an exciting time of reuniting with their friends, for others it can produce a great deal of anxiety. The reason? They have been victims of bullying in the past and returning to that environment can be scary and intimidating. For many in the older generation, we equate bullying with the mean kid on the playground who pushes others around. But for the younger generation, bullying takes on a whole new form. Social media

Rick Anderson is an avid re-user and recycler. When my brother and I were very young, I remember my dad taking us on walks to nearby construction sites where we would pick up soda and beer cans leftover from the workers. After a couple months we had several large trash bags full, which we loaded up and took to the recycling center. To my young amazement, we were given money for these old cans and our first lesson about the rewards of work were born as my dad split the earning

If you are a parent, you know you would do anything for your child. But imagine being told your entire life what you must eat, how you must dress—right down to which arm you put through your sleeve first—whom you will marry and what you name your children. Then, envision being separated from your children and living in isolation for months at a time. That is exactly what Rachel Jeffs endured until she and her five children were finally able to escape the Fundamentalist Church

It’s early—only 3am on a Saturday morning in July. It’s still dark and chilly outside, but volunteers are already gathering on Honeysuckle Beach. It’s race day! In just a few hours, hundreds of athletes will join on the edge of Hayden Lake to participate in the Hayden Triathlon. They will come with goggles, bikes, running shoes and an eagerness to test their training of the last several months. But the work of organizing and preparing for the Hayden Triathlon began long befor