Paul Turner

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Opinion >  Column

Paul Turner: Moving on means looking back at decades spent documenting Spokane

Sun., Sept. 15, 2019

From early 1988 until just a few years ago, I saved every S-R section to which I had contributed. Chronicle sections, too. I wanted a record of my work. Then, sometime in the last few weeks, it came to me. Newsprint makes excellent packing material.

Opinion >  Column

Paul Turner: A trip to the ER spurs memories of hockey and childhood friendships

Tue., Sept. 10, 2019

It’s funny what goes through your mind when waiting to be seen in the emergency room.

Opinion >  Column

Paul Turner: GU back on gridiron? Lots of questions

Sun., Sept. 8, 2019

If Gonzaga University still played football would young catechism students be confused about the origins of the “Hail Mary” pass?

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Opinion >  Column

Paul Turner: Backyard apple tree proves a formidable foe as fall nears

Tue., Sept. 3, 2019

Our backyard apple tree is messing with my mind.

Opinion >  Column

Paul Turner: Lake monster ‘Inny’ denies eating boaters amid concerns about ingesting sunscreen

Sun., Sept. 1, 2019

I secured a brief interview with Inny, our local aquatic leviathan. You won’t believe what she had to say.

Opinion >  Column

Paul Turner: My missed opportunity for inherited wealth is a missed opportunity for a better Spokane

Tue., Aug. 27, 2019

If I had piles of trust fund dough, how could I bend Spokane to my will?

News >  The Slice

The Slice: Spokane’s swell, and we finally know it

UPDATED: Sun., Aug. 25, 2019

When I started writing The Slice in August of 1992, Spokane had a thinner skin. At least that’s the way it seems. Back then, even the mildest form of subjective truth-telling about the Lilac City’s shortcomings evoked wounded cries of “Spokane bashing.”

Opinion >  Column

Paul Turner: Heading back to school? Take it from me, it could always be worse

Sun., Aug. 25, 2019

Want to make a great first impression in high school? We have a coliform for that.

News >  Spokane

The Paul Turner: Ohio State University’s trademark efforts are ridiculous

Tue., Aug. 20, 2019

Quite a few years ago, I got fed up with the national news media referring to Washington as “Washington state” in contexts where there could be zero chance of confusing it with the District of Columbia.

Opinion >  Column

Paul Turner: Spokane, for some, is near perfect

Sun., Aug. 18, 2019

We all know people who like to grouse about Spokane.

Opinion >  Column

Paul Turner: Rooting against a football team can make anyone a fan

Tue., Aug. 13, 2019

So before the S-R sports section rolls out its always excellent preseason previews, here’s my brief guide to selecting a college team to root against.

Opinion >  Column

Paul Turner: Well, back in Spokane …

Sun., Aug. 11, 2019

We’ve all encountered people who move here and talk incessantly about how great it was back where they came from. A little of that is OK, understandable even. Eventually that can get old though.

Opinion >  Column

Selling our house has become an emotional endeavor

Tue., Aug. 6, 2019

Selling a house in Spokane this summer is like being a pretty girl.

Opinion >  Column

Paul Turner: Real estate flyers bring up a plethora of questions

Sun., Aug. 4, 2019

The art of critiquing real estate flyers.

Opinion >  Column

Paul Turner: It may be hard to explain to your cousin that Washington has dry weather and Republicans

UPDATED: Tue., July 30, 2019

For Spokane residents, summer vacation trips to visit relatives in distant red states can involve trying to explain the two Washingtons. There is the Washington that people far from here think they know. Then there’s the Washington in which we actually abide.

News >  Spokane

Green one day, bloodshot the next: July ushers in backyard tomato season

Sun., July 28, 2019

For the rookie gardener, it’s a revelation. The discovery that one of your tomatoes has transitioned overnight from green to red can be astonishing.

A&E

The Slice: It was the summer of ’71, those were the best days of their lives

Sun., July 28, 2019

It wasn’t Woodstock. It wasn’t even Woodstock West. But for those in the Inland Northwest, the Universal Life Church Picnic at Farragut State Park on Lake Pend Oreille had much the same appeal.

Opinion >  Column

Maybe you should skip the T-shirt from latest vacation

Tue., July 23, 2019

There are two kinds of people in Spokane: travelers and homebodies.

Opinion >  Column

Paul Turner: Finding the ‘Miracle Spot’ downtown

Sun., July 21, 2019

It’s my belief that at least some of those who offer themselves as experts on our urban core – even if they profess to stay away – don’t admit the real reason they supposedly steer clear of downtown Spokane.

Opinion >  Column

Paul Turner: ‘Get off my lawn!’ no longer a good slogan for Spokane

Tue., July 16, 2019

If we ever were a “Get off my lawn!” town, we aren’t now. Well, at least we’re moving away from that.

Opinion >  Column

Paul Turner: Yearning for peace and solitude

Sun., July 14, 2019

You know how some people hereabouts flee perceived social ills by moving way out to the country? Sure. Well, what if they relocate to the boonies only to discover that some of the exact same characters they are trying to get away from are already out there?

Opinion >  Column

Paul Turner: So you moved here. Your first impression?

Sun., July 7, 2019

For those who weren’t born here, this time of year is the setting for many stories that begin “The first time I saw Spokane …” That’s because a fair number of people came through town in the course of summer travels long before moving here years later.

News >  Spokane

Paul Turner: Moon landing brought wonder and … relief

Tue., July 2, 2019

Fifty years ago Americans trained their eyes on the moon and hoped for a safe landing.

News >  Spokane

Paul Turner: What do the party poopers do on Hoopfest weekend?

UPDATED: Sun., June 30, 2019

So do we need to have some sort of special gathering just for these abstainers? “No, Thanks-fest”? Perhaps not. That might be missing the point of their decision to opt out.

Opinion >  Column

Paul Turner: Let’s say you wake up and discover no one has heard of Hoopfest. What would you do?

Tue., June 25, 2019

What if you woke up one day in a version of Spokane where there are no events calling themselves this or that “fest,” and no one has thought of the idea of rewarding participants with T-shirts.