Would the FIRST BLACK PRESIDENT win a second term? Would you discover that your mom was reading FIFTY SHADES OF GREY? Would people ever shut up about "GANGNAM STYLE"? Man, 2012 was weird, but for all of its weirdness, it was also kinda fun.
HIGH WATER MARK
About 15,000 years ago, at the end of the last ice age, just as humans inched their way into North America from Asia, some of the biggest FLOODS in Earth's history took place, washing over the Northwest from present-day Missoula and into the Pacific Ocean. This happened over and over, every 50-100 years for about 5,000 years, molding the region we know and love. Nicholas Deshais dives deep into the natural history of the Inland Northwest in our April 12 cover story "How the Inland Northwest was Shaped by Earth's Greatest Floods."
SLEEK AS HELL
Here at the Inlander, we went through yet another REDESIGN to give you a print product very similar to what you're looking at now. Many of the individual details are hardly noticeable, but taken as a whole, they make a cleaner, less cluttered and more modern looking newspaper. Part of the redesign was to make room for more news and food coverage, increased online integration and more events. Our first edition of the new look came out on Feb. 16.
BEARDOS AND POLITICS
BEARDS were a sensation for so many in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis (maybe we were trying to keep our faces warm without turning up the heat in the winter?), and by 2012, there were some pretty hefty ones parading through the streets. In an "On the Street" segment in June, we asked five men about their grooming practices.
And who could forget the 2012 ELECTION? Election fever had struck. Hard. We talked about the governor's race between Rob McKenna and Jay Inslee, the GOP's fate in Washington state and we even endorsed Barack Obama for a second term.
THE PEOPLE WE MET
In our first issue of 2012, we met BEN KLEIN an Elvis impersonator, or maybe his relationship to the King goes deeper than mere impersonations. We also met guitar builder MARCUS DANIELS, the owner of MD Custom Guitars, in his Cheney woodshop, and the "REAL MIKE LEACH" in our college football preview.
