Doug Clark

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Opinion >  Column

Doug Clark: Today’s real game is between the ears

Sun., Feb. 5, 2012

Happy Super Bull Sunday. This is the day when the dark forces of merchandising pull out all the stops to hypnotize us with images of hot chicks, prancing Clydesdales and talking babies.

Opinion >  Column

Doug Clark: Taking the high road would create a nice buzz

Thu., Feb. 2, 2012

This Year of the Dragon is starting out on a real high. Monday night, for example, our new so-called “conservative” Spokane City Council agreed unanimously that medical marijuana should be legal and available to those who need it.

News >  Spokane

Maybe police conduct problem was just fashion faux pas

Tue., Jan. 31, 2012

All this talk of installing costly body cameras on Spokane police might be premature. Reining in our cowboy cops could be as simple as putting them in less-threatening duds.

News >  Spokane

Clark: ‘Family feel’ marked Stewart’s hardware store

Sun., Jan. 29, 2012

Businesses thrive. Businesses die. And the circle of capitalism spins on.

Opinion >  Column

Doug Clark: Thompson’s ‘responsibility’ stance tests justice

Thu., Jan. 26, 2012

And now for the latest in legalized leg pulling. Ex-Spokane police Officer Karl Thompson Jr. has “accepted responsibility” for pounding Otto Zehm to pulp in 2006 and lying to investigators afterward to cover his slimy hide.

News >  Spokane

Thanks to a wealth of material, The Column remains robust

Tue., Jan. 24, 2012

Thank you. You may scooch your cheeks back into your chairs. I am happier than Ryan Seacrest with a new hand mirror to be able to once again deliver the State of the Column address.

News >  Spokane

Clark: Facebook user puts another nail in self-control coffin

Sun., Jan. 22, 2012

There’s a vital message to the planet contained in the story headlined: “Man hardly fazed by nail in his brain.”

News >  Spokane

Clark: Snow unearthed more than 1 maroon, if you catch my drift

Thu., Jan. 19, 2012

It’s been a long time since we’ve had any actual huffing-puffing blizzards like the storms that dumped on us this week. And a lot of you Spokane drivers have apparently lost your snow-navigating skills.

Opinion >  Column

Doug Clark: Mary, Mary, you’ve become quite contrary

Sun., Jan. 15, 2012

Listen up, gang. I’m looking for volunteers to make cookies, cupcakes and zucchini bread for our first (and hopefully last) Mary Verner Bake Sale. We need to raise $140,000. That’s a lot of scratch, I know.

Opinion >  Column

Doug Clark: What does it take to can a cop?

Thu., Jan. 12, 2012

I’m hotter than a car hood baking under a July sun over the rehiring of Travis Smith, that disgrace of a deputy who was rightly canned last year by Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich. Smith racked up three internal investigations in one year, which could be some sort of record.

News >  Spokane

Sullivan should just bask in her one-hit glory

Tue., Jan. 10, 2012

So the big recall petition against Spokane County Prosecuting Attorney Steve Tucker was booted out of court like an unwelcome party crasher. Boy, who could’ve seen that one coming?

News >  Spokane

Clark: Mark Elvis’ 77th with rockin’ show, King-size sandwich

Sun., Jan. 8, 2012

Today is Elvis’ 77th birthday, and I’m betting a lot of you out there haven’t given much thought to how to properly celebrate this rhinestone milestone. Fortunately, I’m here with a couple of King-size suggestions.

Opinion >  Column

Doug Clark: Hopefully, Condon won’t stop the insanity

Thu., Jan. 5, 2012

First real day on the job and Mayor David Condon makes noises about fulfilling his campaign promise to restore the public’s faith in the Spokane Police Department. Folks, I’m worried.

Opinion >  Column

Doug Clark: Let the Budnick Awards begin

Sun., Jan. 1, 2012

Please turn your heads and cough as we present the 24th running of the Budnick Awards. This is a much-anticipated event here at the old newspaper. It is the day we ring in the new year by revisiting the odd, the weird and the dubious news items from the past 12 months.

Opinion >  Column

Doug Clark: Martial arts instructor leads with his heart

Sun., Dec. 25, 2011

This Santa don’t need no stinking reindeer. Ditto the sleigh and woolly white beard.

News >  Spokane

Clark: Judge gets final word on twisted ‘creativity’

Thu., Dec. 22, 2011

So Kevin W. Harpham makes a remote controlled bomb, lacing the heavy internal projectiles with rat poison. Then he puts the thing in a backpack, which he deposits on a bench along the Unity March route last Martin Luther King Jr. Day in downtown Spokane.

News >  Spokane

As stupid criminals go, this one’s still got a lot to learn

Tue., Dec. 20, 2011

Kristopher K. Roybal has once again been booked into our Hoosegow Hotel. Hearing this, a couple of thoughts came to mind.

Opinion >  Column

Doug Clark: Head-Crackin Karl can hum his own theme song

Sun., Dec. 18, 2011

One thing has been missing in our ongoing coverage of the conviction of police officer Karl Thompson Jr. That’s right, a parody song.

News >  Spokane

Clark: Council’s last gasp evokes past pungent pranks

Thu., Dec. 15, 2011

I’d like to extend rare Clark kudos to lame-duck Spokane City Council members for adhering to that tried-and-true American tradition of screwing over the incoming political opponents. This sort of sour-grapesmanship dates back to our Founding Fathers, when President John Adams left the presidential bed short-sheeted for Thomas Jefferson.

News >  Spokane

Keil, 91, was a leader on, off the tennis court

Tue., Dec. 13, 2011

‘Your job,” my lovely wife, Sherry, once observed, “is a long series of field trips.” I couldn’t disagree.

Opinion >  Column

Doug Clark: Pint-size Bengals play hard for epic win

Sun., Dec. 11, 2011

We’ve all seen this sports movie before. It’s the one about the lovable nobodies, the underdogs from Palookaville who rise to glory despite all the odds.

News >  Spokane

Clark: Van-Tastic decision takes load off for Team Otto

Thu., Dec. 8, 2011

Everyone snap to attention. Please click your heels together as we offer an SPD-worthy salute to U.S. District Judge Fred Van Sickle.

News >  Spokane

Voters just aren’t Tuckered out yet

Tue., Dec. 6, 2011

Far be it from me to ever stand in the way of Steve Tucker’s political demise. As I’ve been harping for years, Spokane County’s prosecuting attorney is a punch line, not a prosecutor.

Opinion >  Column

Doug Clark: Business association guys lesser in name only

Sun., Dec. 4, 2011

Adhering to the Code of the Independent Columnist means I never join any organization, be it civic, social, political, fraternal or made up of shabby occupiers loitering on a downtown traffic island. That said, I made an exception the other day by accepting an honorary membership into the LHBA.

Opinion >  Column

Doug Clark: But what will Mayflower Mary put on her turkey?

Thu., Nov. 24, 2011

Gather round, gobblers. It’s time again for the Thanksgiving tradition that is even more ubiquitous than congealed gravy and indigestion. Welcome to the sixth installment of Ask Professor Pilgrim.