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Former Washington State University quarterback Luke Falk (’17 Soc. Sci.) was the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week six times, started in 40 games, and set a WSU record with 27 wins. In 2017, his final season with Coug football, Falk won the Burlsworth Trophy, awarded to the nation’s top former walk-on.

Falk shares the secrets to his college-ball success in his new book, The Mind Strength Playbook: Master Your Mind. Elevate Your Game. (2025, Maison Vero). It’s a self-development guide that underscores the need for athletes to train not only their bodies but their minds. But the lessons from Falk translate to anyone.

“Mind strength is the ability to master your inner world so you can handle anything the outside world throws at you,” Falk says. “It’s not about perfection. It’s a tool in your toolbelt.”

Falk talks to Washington State Magazine editor Larry Clark about the book, Coach Mike Leach, Coug football, and lessons that everyone can use to succeed no matter what the world throws at you.

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Coach Luke Falk’s Mind Strength

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December 2025 was a wild month for weather across Washington.

An atmospheric river dumped historic amounts of rainfall on northwest Washington in early December, leading to flooding, landslides, and power outages.

A few days later, a windstorm swept across eastern Washington. Gusts of 83 miles per hour were recorded in Pullman, accompanied by an unusual winter thunderstorm.

In this episode, Josh Ward and Jon Contezac discuss significant weather events of 2025. They are field meteorologists for Washington State University’s AgWeatherNet.

The past year was the third hottest on record for the planet. It was the fourth hottest on record for the United States. However, damage costs from extreme weather events were lower than previous years.

The year started with fires that razed 58-square miles around Los Angeles. Thirty-one people were killed and more than 16,000 structures burned during the January fires. Tornados killed 43 people in the central United States last year.

In the Pacific Northwest, the Bear Gulch Fire in Olympic National Park burned from July to November. Meanwhile, an unusually warm fall and early winter has hampered the region’s snowpack accrual.

AgWeatherNet at Washington State University

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When Gary Chastagner was a kid in the 1950s, his parents typically displayed their Christmas tree for about a week. The tree went up on December 24—often after he went to bed—and came down after New Year’s Day.

Now, consumers want fresh-cut trees that can be displayed for weeks without losing their needles. Chastagner, a professor emeritus of plant pathology at Washington State University, has spent more than 40 years helping Northwest Christmas tree growers improve their product. For his work, Chastagner earned the nickname “Dr. Christmas Tree.”

In this episode, Chastagner talks about working on solutions to Swiss needle cast disease in Douglas fir and visiting tree lots in the Southwest to improve the hydration of displayed trees. He’s also visited other countries to scout out new Christmas tree varieties.

Chastagner was honored with a lifetime achievement award from the National Christmas Tree Association in 2018.

He retired in April 2025 from the WSU Research and Extension Center in Puyallup, where he also worked on ornamental flower bulb, cut flower, and nursery stock research.

The Dr. Gary Chastagner Endowed Chair in Plant Pathology has been created and is raising money to continue research with the Christmas tree and horticultural industries.

Read more

Northwest growers test new tree varieties as droughts threaten Christmas crop (NWPB, Dec. 2, 2025)

Oh, Christmas trees! (Washington State Magazine, Winter 2022)

Talkin’ around the Christmas tree: Stories, history and tips (Washington State Magazine, Winter 2022)

Ask Mr. Christmas Tree (Washington State Magazine, Winter 2013)

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