Spokesman-Review columnist Doug Clark has a very distinctive method of chugging mints straight from the container, the kind with the flip top like a Zippo lighter.

Then he offers some.

Well, not if you've put lip germs on it, you big government nerd.

This was at an especially intense debate between Mayor Dennis Hession and City Councilwoman Mary Verner at the Bing Crosby Theater.

Clark chose a center seat with a great view.

He was writing sideways in a giant yellow pad with what looks like a NASA ballpoint anti-gravity pen, giving away punchlines as he wrote them. He seemed to be testing them on people around them to make sure they're funny before they go into the newspaper.

"That's the effect of gravity," he said about KXLY news anchor Richard Brown.

And oftentimes after a joke, Clark looks to see if you're laughing.

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