Top FāVS News and Commentary of 2020

Top FāVS News and Commentary of 2020

By Tracy Simmons

The year 2020 has been one we won’t forget, no matter how hard we try. FāVS reporters and columnists have covered the pandemic, and its effects, but have also written other noteworthy pieces this year.

These are the posts that generated the most traffic over the past 12 months.

Top 10 News Stories

1. 20 years after Y2K, preppers ready for societal collapse by Tracy Simmons
2. Unitarian Universalist congregation in Spokane fractured over pastor’s approach by Tracy Simmons
3. COVID-19: List of House of Worship Closings in Spokane Area
4. Voices: #Black Lives Matter in Spokane by Cassy Benefield
5. The Rev. Bill Ellis, former dean at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Spokane, dies at age 66 by Tracy Simmons
6. #DoBetterYoungLife Encourages Popular Youth Ministry To Rethink LGBT Stance by Ginger Monroe
7. Black Clergy Say ‘We Are Beyond Talk. We Want Action’ at Count Us In: Beyond Words Spokane Event by Cassy Benefield
8. In the Days Before the Presidential Election, Some Spokane Ministers Encourage Crossing the Line Between Faith and Politics by Tara Roberts
9. Finding Blessings in a Pandemic: Holy Temple COGIC sees opportunity to grow, learn by Riley Utley
10. FāVS Forward Podcast: Pastor Joe Wittwer “When Life Gives You Lemons” by Tracy Simmons

Top 10 Opinion Columns

1. POEM: Covid 19 Reveals the Web Unseen by Christi Ortiz
2. Heaven Lies Beneath the Feet Of Your Mother by Maimoona Harrington
3. Ask A Muslim: Does Everything Happen for a Reason? by Naghmana Ahmed-Sherazi
4. Ask A Jew: Star of David Mask by Hyphen Parent
5. Election Day Blues by Steven A. Smith
6. The shameful editorial by Steven A. Smith
7. Ask A Buddhist: Are evil spirits real? by Ven. Tenzin Tsepal
8. Anti-Maskers in Moscow Try to “Bless Business” by Not Wearing Masks. They Failed. by Andy Pope
9. We’ve heard you outside Planned Parenthood. Now will you listen to me? by Andy CastroLang
10. Dear President-Elect Biden: Heal the country. Pardon Trump by Skyler Oberst

These stories all cost us money to produce. There’s still time to become a SpokaneFāVS member and support our work, or make an end-of-year tax deductible donation!

Tracy Simmons

Tracy Simmons is an award-winning journalist specializing in religion reporting and digital entrepreneurship. In her approximate 20 years on the religion beat, Simmons has tucked a notepad in her pocket and found some of her favorite stories aboard cargo ships in New Jersey, on a police chase in Albuquerque, in dusty Texas church bell towers, on the streets of New York and in tent cities in Haiti. Simmons has worked as a multimedia journalist for newspapers across New Mexico, Texas, Connecticut and Washington. She is the executive director of SpokaneFāVS.com, a digital journalism start-up covering religion news and commentary in Spokane, Washington. She also writes for The Spokesman-Review and national publications. She is a Scholarly Assistant Professor of Journalism at Washington State University.