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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Doug Clark

This individual is no longer an employee with The Spokesman-Review.

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News >  Spokane

Game Inventor Knows How To Use The Old Bean

Having a stranger call out of the blue and say you really need to try Bean-O can be rather off-putting. As I discovered over the weekend, Hank Gunning's Bean-O has nothing whatsoever to do with Beano - the enzyme that supposedly fights flatulence. Thank the Lord.
News >  Spokane

Burning Casts Shadow Over Summer’s End

What price do you put on the dazzling brilliance of a hot September day? What is the value of a deep blue sky? Or a glorious gust of air edged with the slight crisp bite of autumn? A plugged nickel if you're an opportunistic grass seed farmer. These greed-driven folks obviously don't give a damn about such aesthetic concerns.
News >  Spokane

Vote For Those With Joke Fodder

Yeah, yeah, everybody talks big about wanting responsible government. Baloney on that. The day people start electing sensible candidates is the day we newsmongers run out of juicy material. My worst nightmare is that the voting public suddenly comes to its senses in the Sept. 19 primary. That may sound selfish, but, hey, we've got papers to peddle.

News >  Spokane

Spam’s A Pop Icon Best Viewed From An Ironic Distance

Pink tender morsel, Glistening with salty gel. What the *#$% is it? - Internet Spam haiku entry Choking on my 20th forkload, I got a sudden taste of what life must be like on the O.J. Simpson jury. Misery, misery everywhere. Not a drop of justice in sight. O.J. jurors are lucky, though. They have only Judge Ito and a diet of gruesome double murder to digest.
News >  Spokane

Traditional Elephant Ears Focus Of Fuss

Ah, elephant ears - Spokane Interstate Fair's greasy, golden, chewy, cinnamony, hubcap-sized carbuncles of sweet slippery joy. Hard to believe any controversy could arise from high-fat dough gods that are gobbled with mucho gusto at our annual 10-day rite of gluttony and fun. Yet a hiccup of discontent percolates along Ulcer Gulch, that aromatic row of fair food vendors where every gastronomic excess is hawked:
News >  Spokane

Van Owner Turns Rodent Warrior

Building a better mousetrap has been the goal of every automaker since Henry Ford gave the world the Model A. But a Harrison, Idaho, resident claims his new $25,000 Honda Odyssey van is such a state-of-the-art mouse magnet, you'd think the contraption was made of cheese. Bob Powers is waging a weird battle with the Japanese auto giant. It's all over an invasion of mice that have turned his gleaming, champagne-gray van into a foul-smelling Mousemobile.
News >  Spokane

Gun Range Owners Aim High, Well

In today's segment of "Happiness is a Warm Gun," Commando Doug describes the sound of a Glock 9mm, semiautomatic: "BAH-ROOOM!!" Sorry, I don't want to get too technical. I wasn't even planning on squeezing any triggers when I wandered into the cavernous new "Safe Shooting" indoor range at 1200 N. Freya.
News >  Spokane

Unleashing A Challenge For Coroner

Lately, I've been trying to determine the intelligence of my dog, Elvis. I've always thought of my pet as a dim bulb - about on the brain cell par with a fern or Spokane County Coroner Dexter Amend. But an NBC "Dateline" segment on doggy IQ and recent events at the coroner's office have convinced me that I have sold Elvis way short.
News >  Spokane

Labor Of Love Met By Ugly Sabotage Effort

This spiffy new three-bedroom house comes with vinyl siding, oak kitchen cabinets and plenty of sweetheart curb appeal. Don't let the $79,950 price tag scare you. The benevolent folks behind this low-income housing project will toss in $23,000 in assorted grants to get a qualified, first-time homeowner in here. "It's a special situation when someone can get into a new home with so much community support," says Scott Maclay, the Windermere real estate salesman trying to sell the gray and white house at 519 S. Arthur.
News >  Spokane

Get A Piece Of ‘The Rock,’ Lore And All

Alcatraz once held what was scraped off the bottom of the country's crime barrel: hit men, kidnappers, stick-up artists and mobsters like Al "Scarface" Capone. But when it comes to telling lies, those villains who did hard time on the famous 12-acre chunk of rock in San Francisco Bay are punks compared with a Hollywood film crew. Frank Heaney knows the show biz crowd can twist the truth like no others.
News >  Spokane

Fiery Union: It Was Love At First Light

Every romance may generate a few sparks, sure, but this affair is one flame-broiled whopper. Todd Espeland and Allison Williams traveled 4,000 miles and four centuries back in time to show off their burning love. The road is long for this couple who eat fire for a living.
News >  Spokane

Shoeshine Meant Chance To Let His Character Rub Off

I hope James Jones died thinking of fresh worms and a fat bass pulling on the end of his line. That's not such an unhappy ending for an old shoeshine fisherman. James' frail heart gave out July 17, just three days after his 89th birthday. He had no social status, power or wealth, but was a beloved fixture in this city and will be greatly missed.
News >  Spokane

1st Step Club Takes Big Stride

Only fools don't lock the front door in this tough neighborhood. Only fools, perhaps, and Darold Johnson. Johnson makes a point of showing visitors the lockless front door of 1st Step - the clean and sober social club he founded a year ago to help the troubled East Central district.
News >  Spokane

Soul Patrol Strives To Be Heaven’s Angels

Anyone with an ounce of gray matter has sense enough to stay clear of the biker scene. That world is rife with dope deals, flash violence and menacing characters straddling two-wheeled rocket ships.
News >  Spokane

Teenage Love Hotter Than 4th Of July

Yeah, yeah, firecrackers start blazes and sometimes leave people with colorful nicknames like "Stubby" or "Three Fingers." You safe-andsane sissies no doubt feel smug about the ban on fireworks, which has sapped the snap and sizzle out of the Fourth of July in Spokane.
News >  Spokane

Data Meister To Pinpoint TV Weather

Do your achy-breaky joints tell you when rain is on the way? Does the amount of fuzz on a caterpillar tell you if we're in for a long winter? If you answer yes to either question, a Spokane market analyst wants to pit your unorthodox skills against so-called weather experts.
News >  Spokane

Gypsy Curse May Be Right On The Marks

I've had a bellyful of Jimmy Marks and his so-called Gypsy curse. The time is long overdue for this bellicose, selfappointed "senator" of Spokane's Gypsy community to yank the plug on his obnoxious and hateful behavior.