At the end of the episode Baird, Stone, Cassandra, and Jones are celebrating with beers but Jenkins is having a coffee. This is because John Larroquette who plays Jenkins is a recovering alcoholic. He has been sober since February 6, 1982.
The team faces a choice between a safe door and one with certain death behind it. John Larroquette (Jenkins) faced a similar situation in The 10th Kingdom (2000) miniseries.
The article in The Seattle Echo about "17 Mayfield High Students..." is simply the first two paragraphs repeating themselves over and over. Another article "Families of 17 Mayfield High Students..." also consists of repeated lines.
In the opening scene, Jones, Stone, and Baird can't remember what happened. Jones remembers pizza. Stone remembers garlic bread. Baird says, sarcastically, "Mystery solved. We were ambushed by an Olive Garden." Olive Garden doesn't serve pizza or garlic bread.