Batter up! This is the Inland Journal podcast from Spokane Public Radio. I’m Doug Nadvornick. Thursday, April 1 is opening day for Major League Baseball. The minor league season will begin, for some, on May 4. For many minor league teams, moving forward will be a different experience because of fundamental changes made in the system during the off-season ..read more

Today on Inland Journal, the coronavirus and rare diseases. Later, we’ll talk with a Spokane woman who has a daughter with what is considered a rare disease and her passion to help other families who have their struggles with rare diseases. But first, we learned Wednesday that, any day now, the federal Department of Health and Human Services will send five people with the coronavirus to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center. Those people have tested positive for what is now known as COVED-19, or the 2019 coronavirus ..read more

Today on Inland Journal, we wade into the world of sports with two stories, one a visit to Cheney, where the U.S. Curling Association is holding its 2020 national championship. And correspondent Tom Banse tells us about the potential expansion of sports betting in Washington. We’ll also talk with Eastern Washington Democratic congressional candidate Chris Armitage. But first, pregnant women and marijuana ..read more

Today on Inland Journal and the Inland Journal podcast, we celebrate 40 years of Spokane Public Radio programming with 1994 documentary, A Tom Foley Retrospective ..read more

Today on the Inland Journal podcast, the first in an occasional series we call “Suds and Spirits” or “Craft for a Cause.” We’ll tell stories about craft brewing and distilling in the Inland Northwest. In this first program, we learn about how craft brewers around the country are donating to research to find a cure for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, ALS, Lou Gehrig’s Disease. The project is called Ales for ALS ..read more

Today on Inland Journal and the Inland Journal podcast, a Spokane man has created a book based on his father’s letters home as a soldier fighting World War II in Europe. “When my father was drafted in the Army, he made a promise to his folks that he would write whenever he could and he kept his promise, based upon all these letters. This is just a smidgeon of what he wrote because this is just to his folks and the siblings that were still under roof there ..read more

Today on Inland Journal and the Inland Journal podcast, WSU researchers say people of color and who live in low-income neighborhoods are more likely to die prematurely than those who live in more affluent places. “Some of it we can attribute to things like housing quality. We know that housing, we don’t think of that as a health intervention, but actually having poor quality housing is one of the biggest risk factors to developing all kinds of long-term chronic disease conditions ..read more

Wildfire prevention will be a prominent part of the Washington legislature’s agenda in 2020. Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz is proposing the state create a new Wildfire Prevention and Preparedness Account. “Every year, on average, we’re spending about $153 million just to respond to fires," Franz said. "The fact is we will not be able to change the trajectory we’re on of increasing wildfires throughout our state and the increasing cost of wildfires unless we start getting at the front end of the problem.” She is proposing a surcharge on property and casualty insurance premiums ..read more

Today on the Inland Journal podcast, we’ll spend a few minutes with two Spokane doctors who have been very involved with the care of Covid patients. Drs. Dan Getz and Ben Arthurs briefed reporters on Wednesday about the situations in their respective hospitals when it comes to treating people who are battling the coronavirus. Getz is the chief medical officer at Providence Sacred Heart. Dr. Ben Arthurs is a pulmonologist and intensivist for MultiCare ..read more

Today on Inland Journal, two stories from Spokane’s medical schools. The University of Washington and Gonzaga are teaching the next generation of doctors about how to become leaders. “We hear from our community partners when we work in the clinical setting that doctors don’t have the leadership skills necessary for the roles that they’re foisted into. That’s been recognized more and more by clinical health systems, but even more so recently, there’s been a call from big organizations, the Institute of Medicine, from the accrediting body for residency programs, and others who have said leadersh ..read more