Apparently I Take Baby Photos

The six-month-old niece came to Eastern Washington for a visit this weekend. Her mom and I took her out to Manito Park for some photo funsies and we found funsies. 

Not only did Izzy, short for Izabelle, have her diaper changed in the park, she tried to eat flowers and sat in the dirt. We had a whale of a time. 

What does it even mean to have a whale of a time?

In other news, the photos are online at Flickr, but I’ve put together a little slideshow to embed on here. I’m feeling good about this portrait work and hopefully as Izabelle gets older I can continue to take more photos of her through out her life. 

At least I know I’ll always have a guinea pig for new methods of photography other than my cats. 

“I don’t suppose I could hitch a ride?” I asked our news photog and reporter as they searched the neighborhood behind our television station for the alleged stabbing. I got comfy on what I believe was a seat. Hello, Friday.

North Spokane | KXLY

When police call your newsroom asking if you have security cameras pointing at an apartment complex behind your station, you know something is up.

We arrived to the scene of an alleged stabbing in the area of 400 West Sinto around 4:15 p.m. where a woman attempted to blame the McGill killer for harming the victim. She told police a black man ran up to the victim and stabbed him in the chest.

When something is so close, it’s difficult to stay put and not do anything. We didn’t know where this incident was so we left in a group that kept getting bigger. At first my entourage was just our 10 p.m. anchor. And then it was a pair of techies.

Thankfully our news team drove by and I tagged along to the area of West Sinto where I was able to shoot this photo gallery. That’s also how I learned the vehicle wheel fence is a few blocks up the road. Good to know.

More of the photos I took on Friday are available at the story or on my Flickr. 

Spokane | KXLY:

The day started in the office of On the Edge CEO Deke Cloyd’s hip SoDo district office, nestled above boutiques in downtown Spokane. It’s filled with an array of tchotchkes to keep your mind busy. You walk in and you just know this guy is going to be cool.

What is it about photographers and their offices? They collect such an array of “stuff”. Long forgotten props, make-shift light bouncers, failed attempts at product photographer…

Reporter Colleen O’Brien and I visited On the Edge studios in downtown Spokane. Deke Cloyd’s office fits the photographer modus operandi. It’s strangely like a secret headquarters for a vigilante group which makes sense for his comic book’s story line of super heroes on a distant world.

Cloyd bought the space a few years ago after Cyrus O’Leary Pies occupied the space. His audio booth he uses to record sound for his comic is in the old pie fridge. It was not as cold as I thought it was going to be.

Post Falls | KXLY

The piglets of Cable Creek Farm had their first peek of the world Wednesday morning. The farm welcomed over a dozen young ones to a life of pastures neighboring a llama, a milk cow and two hyper dogs.

We stopped by the farm to find Beth Tysdal, owner, sporting her Carhartt work clothes, fussing with two litters of piglets from two new mothers.

The sad fact of farming. These piggies will be bacon one day. They’re cute though. 

As I walked with Tysdal to the farm house to meet the piglet getting bottle-fed, she told me some of them didn’t make it. One was still born. Two others died at birth. One was stepped on by the mother, killing it. 

I asked, “Did you bury them?”

She responded, “No… We just threw them away.”

Life is tough on a farm.  

On that sad note, let’s talk about something positive. The Cable Creek Farm just got a milk cow which has come in handy for feeding some of the piglets who can’t seem to get the opportunity to nurse by their mothers.

Downtown Spokane | KXLY

Paul has yet to win a state caucus, always placing in second or third, but he believes he’s still in a good race right now. 

“We believe we’re doing a very good job even in the states that we don’t come out on top on the popular votes,” Paul said. “In other states we’re going to do well for the delegate vote and that’s what really counts for a campaign like this.”

If Paul does not make the primary later this year, he says he does not have any intention to run as an independent. 

What’s it like covering a presidential rally? If you’re a photographer, you can either join the members of the press on the risers in the back. You better hope you have the right zoom lens for that. 

You can also camp out up front just under the podium. Your legs will fall asleep and you will sweat like a pig with the lights beaming down on you.

You’ll also meet new people you wouldn’t have otherwise. Like a photographer for Eastern Washington University’s Easterner or another freelance photographer for The New York Times out of Seattle. 

You’ll also meet some unexpected folks, a writer with the Capital Press. 

Animals seized from Hillyard home by SpokAnimal

North Spokane | KXLY

The wafting smell of animal hoarding was evident from a street outside a Hillyard home on Wednesday morning. SpokAnimal was on scene seizing animals on a warrant for animal cruelty and neglect. About 30 animals, cats and dogs, were found in the barely livable home at the 3200 block of East Crown.

“We’ve given her every opportunity to get rid of the animals and clean up, but we get phone calls from residents asking: “Aren’t you going to do something about those animals?”,” Meyer added. “We have to do something. It’s not for the residents, it’s for the animals. You don’t lock up eight cats in one small cage and not clean them.”

Beyond River City's Looking Glass, Finding Spokane

Tucked away in the Spokane Police Department, down a hallway, then another hallway, behind this door is Major Frank Scalise. Recently promoted, this is his new office. He just moved in so the only thing that identifies the room as his own is the name tag. You wouldn’t think that behind this door there’s more afoot. 

Major Frank Scalise is also known as Frank Zafiro, a crime novelist. He writes from home, but even that is disheveled. His family is in the process of moving. Sometimes he writes at the Shadle Library, finding a quiet corner to start the first pages of a new novel. 

Jack Green, longtime Gonzaga fan and resident of Antarctica

It’s 5:30 a.m. and Jack Green is getting ready for work. On his way to the aircraft runway he maintains, he might see a penguin. That’s because he works in Antarctica as an heavy equipment operator.

“There’s a lot of history down here. It’s fortunate to see that stuff a lot of people on the planet will never see. I feel fortunate to work here while some pay to see it on a cruise ship,” Green said.

Photo Gallery: Great Views of Spokane

Twenty stories above the core of downtown Spokane is an amazing view of the surrounding skyline. The Bank of America Financial Center is the tallest building in Spokane and some offices have the pleasure of seeing everything. On a bright and sunny day you can see all the way from Riverfront Park to Mt. Spokane.

The top two floors are taken up by Winston & Cashatt Lawyers. The receptionist, Sue Milliken, has a solid view of the Paulsen Building. She looks for “Old Glory” waving back to her at the top of the building, but on Wednesday morning Milliken noticed that it was missing.

“I usually use it as my wind indicator,” Milliken added.

On foggy days you can’t see anything. Cloud cover can sometimes obscure their great view even though they’re so high up.

While heading back down to the ground floor in the elevator, we ran into Spokane Valley firefighter, Jason LaJiness. He had just finished his morning run going up and down the flight of stairs. He’s not participating in the upcoming Scott Firefighter Stairclimb in Seattle’s Columbia Center later this year in March. Instead, he’s training just for moral support for his crew.

“Maybe I can back door my way in there if somebody backs out,” LaJiness said.

He added that the famous stairclimb was sold out by other firefighters in one hour and fifteen minutes. Many firefighters use the Spokane building as a training ground for the Seattle stairclimb. If you trek the building’s stairs four times, that would equal the 69 flights of stairs at the Columbia Center.

Photo Gallery: Rebuilding the Garland District

Rebuilding the Garland District’s Milk Bottle restaurant brought one surprise while construction crews were climbing through the top of the milk bottle. A recovered Santa Clause that survived the September fire. The blow-up bundle of holiday cheer was found at the top of the bottle just recently, but now it’s seen photographed on the ground.

Only half the restaurant burned during the September fire. The historic milk bottle survived though parts of the restaurant did not and Ferguson’s next door saw just as much damage. Now construction crews are trying to rehabilitate the two district icons for an April re-opening.

The ceiling you remember while enjoying hamburgers at Mary Lou’s Milk Bottle has been taken out. Crews had to replace the single steel beam going across - supporting the 33,000 pound milk bottle. In order to make today’s building code, all new steel framing is going in.

Now that the ceiling is removed - why not keep it open? Come spring you’ll see all the way up to the top with the original 1930s height with neon lights.

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