Deborah Caldwell-Stone spoke to Whitworth audience about public libraries under siege and the threat to the First Amendment’s right to intellectual freedom, which is key to democracy.

The Peace & Justice Action League of Spokane (PJALS) is holding its 14th annual action conference Sept. 28 – 30. The conference is designed to help activists “sharpen skills, deepen analysis and strengthen relationships.”

“Closing a church doesn’t seem right,” Sheryl Kinder-Pyle told the nearly 100 people who gathered for the final service at East Valley Presbyterian Church on May 21. “It doesn’t sit right. It should go on, and it doesn’t.”

The “New Story Spokane Festival” runs May 19 – 20 at GU’s Hemmingson Center (702 E. Desmet Ave.) The two-day festival — which is set up as a sort of “banquet” for participants to consume information on these ideas — will feature speakers and breakout sessions on a variety of topics that include sustainable agriculture, ecological restoration, green building, resource efficiency, social equity, cultural preservation and much more.

The Presbytery of the Inland Northwest’s (PIN) “Building Towards Reconciliation” campaign is more than just raising money to repair six churches on the Nez Perce Reservation in north-central Idaho — churches that are the oldest in the presbytery and among the oldest in the state.

“Judaism and Trans Identity” provided attending community members a chance for deeper insights into the controversy over transgender identity in the U.S. — a controversy that has sparked a record number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills across the country.