Steve Christilaw

The days set aside for the state’s track and field championship meets, sometimes referred to as Memorial Day Weekend, came and went, passing with a few melancholy sighs over what might have been. Athletically, at least.

Saying a final goodbye to a loved one is never easy. In the best of times, planning a ceremony to formalize that farewell is a time of raw emotion flooded with memories. Navigating the task during a pandemic can feel as if you’re trying to build a sandcastle with a pair of chopsticks. Long-held plans and final wishes go unfollowed due to emergency regulations to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The sport tailor-made for social distancing is once again available to Washington state residents. In fact, it’s so suited to social distancing you can almost consider it antisocial distancing.

Craig Whitney laughs. “This is the longest I’ve ever been away from West Valley,” he says.

There have been warnings during nonstop coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic: The food supply is under threat.

Governor Jay Inslee’s order to shut down nonessential businesses meant the Spokane Valley’s HUB Sports Center was going to take a big economic hit.

Sometimes the most difficult part of solving a problem is simply asking for help.