The Slice: There’s another high-flier our fine city couldn’t keep

Earlier this week, a single yellow balloon got away from a multicolored cluster being handled by a guy outside a downtown auto dealership.

The helium-filled orb appeared to be headed for Moses Lake.

I wonder if it made it.

Soundtrack of their lives: Sharon Englehart, who lives over in Lind, Wash., hears about 30 trains a day. You get used to it, she said.

“Sitting on the patio, all conversation goes on hold until the train gets done whistling.”

Holly Bickford of Spokane Valley lives about a block from the main line. “(The horns) are so loud that I have to go close myself in the bathroom if I happen to be on the phone when a train rolls through.”

A baby-stroller model called “The Spokane” would come with …: “An ash tray.” – Bruce Slayman

“Massive off-road tires with hi-lift suspension.” – Gil Beyer

“Bluetooth.” – Joe Booth

Lucky seven: 1. After seeing Icelandic place names, Charles Brondos doesn’t want to hear anyone complain about having to pronounce Issaquah, Puyallup or Sequim.

2. Jana Dubes works for a law firm with offices in the Patsy Clark mansion. You wouldn’t be the first to tell her about having dinner there 20 years ago.

3. Robyn Benjamin, John Sayles and others aren’t buying the argument that it’s impractical for nose-clearing runners to use tissues or something like them.

4. Linda Higley, who lives near Cat Tales, is pleased that she occasionally hears the big felines roar.

5. Jane Kennedy suspects that the adaptive squirrel The Slice mentioned could learn to direct traffic at a four-way stop.

6. Debbie Jennings, who has white hair though only in her 50s, is not impressed with the observational powers of those who assume she is really, really old.

7. North Idaho’s Addie Neufeld welcomed back the first of her visiting hummingbird friends early this week.

Today’s Slice question: Do children of former Lilac princesses regard themselves as royalty?