Virginia de Leon

The church became their world. After traveling nearly 1,300 miles and leaving everything they knew back in Minnesota, Clarie Kuball's family found a refuge at Trinity Lutheran Church.

As the possibility of violence looms over this weekend's election in Iraq, native Iraqis in Spokane fear for the relatives they've left behind. Wafa'a Assi called her 70-year-old mother in Baghdad this week and begged her to stay at home. With insurgents expected to target voters on election day, she urged her brother and six sisters in Iraq to remain cautious a they wait in line at the polls.

Ski and sled hills throughout the region sprang to life Saturday as long-awaited winter storms finally put the winter back into sports. Drivers, meanwhile, struggled with slick, snowy streets all around the region.

WASHINGTON – When Bishop William Skylstad of Spokane was elected president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops this week, his margin of victory was unusually close. Members of this group, which consists of the nation's Catholic hierarchy, traditionally cast their ballots for the vice president, a position that Skylstad, 70, has filled for the past three years. Although none of the nine other candidates vying for the leadership came close to beating Skylstad, Spokane's bishop won on the first ballot with only 52 percent of the vote.