The Bellingham Herald

• Group of injured soldiers ready for big race
  As chief physical therapist at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., Lt. Col. Kerrie Golden understands how empowering a finish line can be.
  On a daily basis the Mount Baker High School and Western Washington University graduate sees the confidence that comes from physical achievement while working with injured soldiers who have experienced traumatic injuries.
  On Sunday, May 24, at Whatcom County's annual Ski to Sea relay race, Golden's goal as captain of Missing Parts in Action - a team made up almost entirely of injured members of the U.S. military - will be to help her team cross another finish line and in doing so hopefully continue their mental and physical rehabilitation.
  

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• Memoir recalls 'starter homestead' near Maple Falls
  If you've ever dreamed of establishing your own "starter homestead," or turning your yard into a food-producing paradise, Susan Colleen Browne has written the book for you. A longtime local writer, editor and writing instructor, Browne has just released "Little Farm in the Foothills: A Boomer Couple's Search for the Slow Life."
  Susan, 54, and John, 60, each have two grown children. He retired eight years ago after a public safety career with Western Washington University; she is a 1993 graduate of Western's Huxley College of the Environment.
  

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• Porter makes 5,000-meter finals at nationals
  Western Washington University's Sarah Porter posted the top time in the semifinal heats of the women's 5,000 meters, highlighting Viking performances Friday in second-day action at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field National Championships in San Angelo, Tex.
  

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• Three Vikings have All-American seasons
  Three Western Washington University women athletes had All-America performances in final-day action at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field National Championships which ended Saturday, May 23, at San Angelo, Texas. The Vikings placed 17th in the women's team standings with 15 points.
  

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• Artist profile: Jen McQuaide
  Jen McQuaide, 39, performs in her fourth play at Bellingham Theatre Guild, in the role of Luce, a servant to one of the wives of identical twins Antipholus of Ephesus and Antipholus of Syracuse, in the guild's production of the musical comedy "The Boys from Syracuse."
  Question: What brought you and Mike to Bellingham from New Jersey?
  Answer: In 1988, Mike and I moved to the Northwest on a bit of a whim, about three months after I graduated high school. We moved to Bellingham less than a year later to go to college at Western Washington University. I graduated in 1994, majoring in liberal studies.

Seattle Times

• New books include volume by WWU professor
  "Uncommon Women: Gender and Representation in Nineteenth-Century U.S. Women's Writing" by Laura Laffrado (Ohio State University Press, $39.95). A professor of English at Western Washington University examines the work of Louisa May Alcott, Harriet Jacobs and other female writers of the era.

Sail World

• WWU women competing for national title
  At press time, with two races left to sail by A Division to complete a series of seven for each division, BC was leading the semi-finals with 61 points, followed by Old Dominion University (Norfolk, Va.) with 63, Dartmouth College (Hanover, N.H.) with 68, Connecticut College (New London, Conn.) with 75, and Georgetown University (Washington, D.C.) with 77. URI was in sixth place with 78 points. Only the top nine finishers at the end of day one will move on to race against the nine teams that had a bye for this round: College of Charleston (Charleston, S.C.), Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass.), St. Mary’s College (St. Mary’s City, Md.), Stanford University (Palo Alto, Calif.), Texas A&M Galveston (Galveston, Texas), University of Wisconsin (Madison, Wisc.), Western Washington University (Bellingham, Wash.), William Smith College (Geneva, N.Y.) and Yale University (New Haven, Conn.).