Denise Risley

by Heather Caro on Oct 29, 2009

By Heather Caro

Photos by Gordon King

The bustling ICU is alive with alarms, blaring lights and myriad staff rushing to perform their own tasks when Denise Risley, 30, an intensive care nurse at Yakima Regional Medical and Cardiac Center, keys her pass code into the locking doors.  Standing a slight 5 foot 2 inches tall with copper highlights and dark-rimmed glasses, Risley calmly navigates the chaos to a kitchenette, an oversized bundle wrapped in surgical drapes balanced in her hands.

Thanksgiving in Wine Country

by Heather Caro on Oct 27, 2009

If ever there was a holiday built upon tradition, it is Thanksgiving. For generations, family and friends have gathered annually to give thanks for their collective blessings. Each year, a grand meal is painstakingly planned, then labored over in kitchens across the country. Finally, after many hours, a table is set and loved ones dine together on a feast of flavors, which is claimed to be unsurpassed by any meal prepared in family memory. And then they watch football.