Some of these have been actual names of the S-R features section in fairly recent history. Some have not. Can you spot the impostors?

A) Empire Life. B) Living Life. C) Spokane Style. D) IN Life. E) Empire of the Sun. F) Today. G) Women 'n' More. H) Hootenanny. I) Shindig. J) Akimbo. K) It's Come to This. L) Groove Thing.

What did you think of how the SR played the GU No. 1 thing?

A) Just right.. B) Overkill. It's just sports. C) Totally appropriate. It's a big, big deal. D) To have done less would have suggested the paper is wedded to a dated model of what is A1 news. E) To have done less would have suggested that the paper simply is out of touch with the community. F) I'm OK with it, just so long as the night desk would have been willing to rip up that planned front page if something big had happened early Monday night. G) It was OK with me. But what if GU does something in the tournament? Planning to take 100 percent of A1? H) Totally right call. There will never be another first time being No. 1. I) A bit boosterish for my tastes, but I know a case could be made for it. J) I think it's a treat for the paper's readers. Maybe it will goose rack sales for one day, but I suspect those are a tiny portion of your overall circulation. K) Those who disapprove can always write angry letters to the editor. L) Give me a break. We all haven't drunk the “Zags” Kool-Aid, you know. M) It was an appropriate salute for a good-news Spokane milestone many years in the making. N) Other.    

Top recent outdoors-related stories in The Spokesman-Review include:

First U.S. team to summit Everest reunites

Field Reports: Biologists to present basics for Priest Lake fisheries plan

Roskelley takes lesson from Frieh on smash-and-grab climbing

Spokane Fly Fishing School teaches lasting lessons

Out & About: Record fall chinook run forecast for Hanford Reach

 Idaho researchers tap citizen scientists to survey rare creatures

Lawmakers back trail improvements in River of No Return Wilderness

Landers: Record bids help all bighorn hunters

Warehouse Sports in Spokane, Cda to close March 10

Study finds hummingbirds migrating earlier

Hunting and Fishing Report for the Inland Northwest

Earlier this week, that expression was the beginning of a headline on the S-R's front page.

Nothing wrong with that. Made sense and was perfectly clear.

But I wonder how many readers thought of The Onion when they saw that.

www.tcritic.com

A subscriber to the S-R's print edition was fooling around with her smart phone and typed in “spokesman.”

The program she was using asked her if she meant “spiderman.”

www.sacomics.blogspot.com

In case you wondered.  Last week's dramatic events involving a chase of a felon who shot two Spokane deputies was a big deal with area online news companies.

We asked how much those events affected the companies' news sites.

Here's what we learned, based on self-reported numbers. (We don't subscribe to the tracker sites that can scoop recent data, for a fairly high fee.)

KXLY.com reported an 83 percent spike in unique visitors for that Tuesday, compared with other Tuesday.

KHQ.com (also owned by the same company that owns The Spokesman-Review) reported a 9 percent total spike in unique visitors, over the Tuesday site average.

Spokesman.com reported a 12 percent hike in unique visitors above the Tuesday daily average.

KREM did not respond to an invitation to provide numbers.

“Thought you might like my way of telling what day of the week it is,” wrote Slice reader Tim Gaines. “I retired two and a half years ago at age 53 (yes, I planned it right). After a while I started to lose track of what day it was until I started using the newspaper as a guide. Not the dates printed on the paper but the paper itself.”

Here's his system.

Sunday: Needs a wheelbarrow to bring it in. (Well, at certain times of year anyway.)

Monday: Paper seems to consist of about four pages.

Tuesday: No advertising inserts.

Wednesday: Grocery store advertising inserts.

Thursday: Hardware store advertising inserts.

Friday: (Gaines suggested I invite readers to weigh in on this one.)

Saturday: “I know it's Saturday because my still-working wife is still in the house when I get out of bed.”

A man suspected of slamming a pickup truck into another car in downtown Spokane this morning fled the scene and drove down a narrow sidewalk before abandoning the vehicle and walking away, security camera footage shows.

The fleeing driver was caught on cameras operated by Cowles Co., which owns The Spokesman-Review. The man drove down a sidewalk along Sprague Avenue within inches of the Chronicle Building, which is owned by Cowles.

Police are investigating the incident, which happened around 10:30 a.m., and have towed the truck, said Spokane Police Officer Teresa Fuller. Police also contacted the registered owner of the vehicle, Fuller said. She was not aware of any arrests yet.

A woman in the car that was hit at the intersection of Sprague Avenue and Lincoln Street was injured, said Fuller, who did not have further details.

If you have even the slightest interest in the S-R's handling of this, you will definitely want to check out Shawn Vestal's column tomorrow.

UPDATED FEB. 1, 1:30 p.m.:  

The two sides have ended the contract impasse and have signed a new retransmission contract. See more recent posts on Office Hours for details.

By early Wednesday morning a number of Dish Network TV subscribers may be seeing nothing on the channel normally carrying KHQ.

A negotiation of a new multiyear contract between KHQ's parent company and Dish has stalled. The contract reportedly ends at midnight on Jan. 31. As happened with DirecTV and Fox affilliate KAYU exactly one year ago, the dispute over money could lead to a blackout for Dish subscribers just before Sunday's Super Bowl.

It would have no effect on cable subscribers, those using DirecTV or getting their signals over-the-air or from another cable service.

The contract covers retransmission fees paid by the satellite company to the affiliate station management.  Dish and KHQ's parent company — Cowles California Media Co., in this case — have not been able to agree on the annual fee oaid by Dish. The fee in large part is based on the number of subscribers Dish has within that station's market area.

Last year Fox carried the Super Bowl. This year it's NBC, and KHQ is the NBC affiliate in this market.

As happened during the KAYU blackout, area TV fans can prepare themselves by finding alternatives. Dish subscribers who have line rabbit-ears antennas might be able to pull the signal over the air.

But residents with spotty reception or none at all will have to figure out another option.

It's already under way.

I think this is the look they're going for. It's my understanding that white shirts and neckties will be optional.

www.shannonmcgarvey.com

And here's the guy in charge of the big cleanup that preceded the actual remodeling. We were approached about being in an episode of “Hoarders” but declined.

www.movingpictureblog.com

Though we're all charged with reporting for both online and print, this is where the actual Web team will be.

www.warrenhistorydesign.blogspot.com   

Good morning, Netizens…

It isn't everyday that you read a well-written piece about the Spokesman-Review and the Cowles family but if you read this morning's Huffington Post http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/in-spokane-spokesman-review_n_989576.html you can gain an insight into the history of the SR as seen through the eyes of Huffington Post.

William Stimson, a journalism professor at Eastern Washington University, is quoted as saying, “We can be somewhat prissy around here,” Professor Stimson said in an interview. “But we are very lucky to have this paper.”

In a day and age when most newspapers of size comparable to the Spokesman-Review are either shuttering their doors entirely or selling out to other conglomerates of one kind or another, there is hope the paper will stay in family hands long after the other papers are gone. That is because the Cowles have diversified their assets over the generations.

It should be noted that the topic of Cowles' college-age son's senior project in high school was The future of journalism. Another generation of Cowles stands at the doorway of change getting ready to assume the future roll of newspaper journalism.

Dave

The new North Face Store, which took over the River Park Square space held by Talbot's, will open on Friday Sept. 30.

The outdoor gear retailer has been working on its interior for the past two months. If there's going to be any sort of grand opening with special attractions, we'll put something here later to call attention to that.

Disclaimer: River Park Square is owned by the Cowles Co., which also owns and operates The Spokesman-Review.

A man suspected of stealing a truck with a newspaper carrier still inside remains in jail on $3,000 bond.

Adrian B. Garcia, 22, was arrested on suspicion of theft of a motor vehicle and unlawful imprisonment after Spokesman-Review carrier Jeremy Wavra and his wife, Leigh Wavra, reported the theft near West Garland Avenue and North Washington Street about 2:19 a.m. on Sunday.

Leigh Wavra was in the back of the1984 Chevrolet S-10 when Garcia allegedly stole it as Jeremy Wavra delivered newspapers.

Garcia slowed to about 5 mph to allowed to her to get out of the car, according to court documents. The truck was found abandoned and Garcia was arrested near North Whitehouse Street and West Walton Avenue. He appeared in Superior Court on Monday.

Talbots has not said if the women’s retail chain will open another Spokane store. It’s closing the 706 W. Main location in River Park Square, due to a lease termination. At this point, Talbots  officials have responded with silence to the question.

So, we now notice the company taking over Talbots’ site, at 706 W. Main, is Jos. A Bank Clothiers, Inc., the nationwide clothing retailer. It has its downtown Spokane storeabout one block west of River Park Square. City building permits show a remodeling permit for the Talbots building issued to Jos. A. Bank.

A conversation with some Bank workers produced this explanation — with the caveat that efforts to get confirmation from the company’s main office have not been successful:

For more than a year Jos. A. Bank has disliked being next door to the empty retail site on the corner of Main and Lincoln. The landlord of the Jos. A Bank store (at 811 W. Main) has tried to find a corner tenant without success. That landlord is a subsidiary of the Cowles Co., which publishes The Spokesman-Review.

So Bank Clothiers decided to make the move about two blocks away, in part to be closer to foot traffic, the workers said. It won’t hurt that the new Jos. A. Bank store is next to the soon-coming Apple retail store.

ADDITION: It’s notable that the two landlords — RPS, where Talbots is, and Centennial Properties, where Jos. A. Bank is — are ultimately one and the same company, the Cowles Co.

Jos. A. Bank’s real estate office won’t even need to change the mailing address where it sends the lease payments.