COVER STORY  Fire and water. Earth and wind. For ancient Greeks, and the Buddhists before them, these basic elements provided a foundation for contemplating the world. In this special section, we invite you to take a look at how these simple, time-honored concepts can help you in your quest to create a healthier home. Read More>>

COVER STORY  Spokane has a lot of things worth bragging about. There’s Riverfront Park. There’s Bloomsday. There’s Hoopfest. And according to Mike LaScuola, environmental health specialist for the Spokane Regional Health District, there’s the water that’s streaming out of your kitchen faucet. Read More>>

COVER STORY  I live in a modest, two-bedroom house, which I share with two roommates, two cats, two dogs and a guinea pig. So it goes without saying: We use a lot of air fresheners.
The current weapon of choice is Febreze (in Thai Dragon Fruit). We chose it for the smell, obviously. The ingredients weren’t even an afterthought. Read More>>

COVER STORY  Changing the battery in a smoke detector when you set your clock back isn’t enough. Protecting your home from fire now requires more than pushing the test button to hear the reassuring high-pitched squeal that it works. You need to know how it works.
“The most important issue is what [smoke detectors] are made of,” says Jan Doherty, the Spokane Fire Department’s Public Information Officer. Read More>>

COVER STORY  As mountains crumble to the seas, so too is Mother Nature at work to retrieve your home and return it to the earth. Her impressive list of accomplices includes the formidable force of gravity, the seeping, but potent, power of water, the fiery might of electricity and the permeating poison of an invisible gas. Add to that the forces of humans — attempting to remodel, embellish and otherwise alter their code-built homes — and it’s clear there is potential for problems. But with a little knowledge and attention to maintenance, you can stave off all those forces, ensuring your home will continue to provide safe shelter for many years. Read More>>

COVER STORY  As a family care physician, Dr. John McCarthy will, over the course of visits during your life, tell you a few words you don’t want to hear.
You probably shouldn’t go tanning. You’re overweight. You should eat vegetables, exercise more. Oh, and you should take these pills every six hours. Read More>>

COVER STORY  For patients, it’s a common complaint: You wait in the waiting room, you wait in the doctor’s office and, when the doctor finally arrives, it’s a five-minute visit and she’s gone. Read More>>

COVER STORY  Lauri Costello, a family practice physician in Spokane, was already frustrated with the world of medicine. She was irked by the red tape and bureaucracy and dealing with insurance companies. Then a patient — a woman who’d had a stroke — sued her practice. Thanks to a gag clause, she says she can’t get into the details. Read More>>

COVER STORY  Primary-care physician Donald Condon had served Medicare patients for more than 30 years in Spokane. But last September, he decided to “opt out” of Medicare. All his Medicare patients — about 800 of them — had to find new doctors. Read More>>

COVER STORY  Most people think doctors have it all — great careers, busy offices, money for vacations and cars. But here’s a surprising fact: After 10 years in practice, 17 percent of general internists will have left their field, according to findings from the American Board of Physicians and the American Board of Internal Medicine. Read More>>