Doug Clark

Barb Lee only looks like a sweet, little old white-haired lady. This is a woman who once chased down the hit-and-run driver who sideswiped her Ford at a Seattle intersection. She put the pedal to the metal and rammed his beater Chrysler off the road. "Stupid me, I walked up to his car, grabbed him by the shirt and dragged him out," she says, laughing. "You don't mess with Barbara."

1. Experiencing Lewis and Clark. Armed with a cannon that fires broccoli, the Hog Heaven Muzzleloaders head down the Clearwater for re-enactment of the famed expedition of Lewis and Clark. Photo by Sherry Clark/Special to The Spokesman-Review 2. Nearly authentic, modern-day pioneers pose for pictures at the Lewis and Clark Experience site in Clarkston, Wash.

Dave Peffer saw alcohol consume his career with the Spokane Police Department. Photo by Doug Clark/The Spokesman-Review

Bitch, I'm going to shoot you!" The vulgar threat echoes through her dreams. It haunts her waking hours. But angry words are a fraction of Norma Bratton's pain. Day and night, she sees the redhaired neighbor with wild eyes who uttered them. He stands in the small front yard outside his shabby beige home at Olympic and Freya. It is maybe 10 feet to the east of the smaller tan home of Norma's late mother.

Stosh Jackowski, 57, kneels in his field of organically grown strawberries at Tolstoy Farm. Photo by Darren Balch

Uncharacteristic sour notes are being sung by some St. John's Episcopal Cathedral parishioners after the abrupt, mysterious dismissal of their beloved organist. At few churches would the ouster of an organist matter to anyone outside the sanctuary doors. But the music scene at St. John's is on a level of excellence that sets it far above the ordinary. On a lofty perch inside the imposing gothic landmark on Spokane's South Hill sits a world-class pipe organ. For 20 years, it has been expertly played by one of the city's better known and highly regarded classical musicians.

Sojourner the robot continues its historic creep across the hardscrabble plains of Mars, analyzing rocks and minerals as it goes. Meanwhile, 125 million miles back on planet Earth, Thomas Budnick follows the contraption's exploits with the concern of a prospector fearing for his grubstake. "It's claim jumping is what it is," says Budnick, 50. "I was thinking of filing a lawsuit."

EWU president Mark Drummond leads the charge during halftime of a recent men's basketball game. File/The Spokesman-Review

FOR THE RECORD (July 15, 1997): Mall not for sale: The antique mall operating inside the historic Schade Brewery building is not for sale and continues to operate. A Doug Clark column Sunday said the antique mall was for sale. Gailya and Louis Bonzon face losing their huge investment in the Shade Brewery building on Trent unless they can find $1.5 million to renovate the structure's crumbling roof. Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review

Mars Camp cadets watch the first launch of their soda pop rockets under the supervision of Commander Dave Howe at Bryant Elementary on West Broadway. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review

Like so many Fourth of July weekend campers, I also enjoy quality time under the stars, gazing in awe at the majestic heavens. Has the night sky ever been so gin-clear? The moon, a pale orb, floats a few inches over the horizon. Look, there's the Big Dipper, suspended just above my head.

First came Bloomsday, the world's largest timed road race. That begat Hoopfest, the world's largest three-on-three street basketball tournament. Now Spokane is bracing itself for Slapshot - so far only the state's largest three-on-three street hockey fest.

1. Helen Paulsen stands on the patio of the Paulsen Building, looking east over Spokane at the sunrise. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review 2. The Paulsen penthouse is one of the prime pieces of real estate in Spokane. 3. Helen Paulsen works in the kitchen. A painting of her mother, the Countess Annette de Martinprey, hangs in the dining room. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review 4. What penthouse would be complete without a built-in bar?

1. Promise Sullivan, right, attempts to get a worm attached to a fishing hook so she can try her luck in Liberty Lake on Saturday. She was one of the nearly 100 kids attending Hamp's Camp. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review 2. James Hamp, director of Hamp's Camp, helps a small camper down the steps of the dining hall. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review

Chad Williams, left, stands with Hoopfest teammate David Marquardt at Comstock Park. Photo by Doug Clark/The Spokesman-Review

Dennis Bjerke, a member of the River City VW Club, with his '67 customized bug. Photo by Doug Clark/The Spokesman-Review

It's not easy deciding which enemy Connie Pangallo despises more: The brute who raped and murdered her only daughter, Tammie Jo Baril, nine years ago. Or insensitive U.S. Army bureaucrats who have made this grieving Coeur d'Alene woman's life a hell on Earth. The confessed killer, Lavante F. Pope, had a hearing last month in an attempt to reduce the life sentence he received for murdering Pfc. Baril and raping another soldier. Pope, also a private, and the two women were stationed at Ft. Clayton, Panama, at the time.

Julie Russell was a battered, vulnerable wreck the day Leo Freyer entered her life with his badge and his not-so candid camera. The Spokane Police corporal showed up at her North Side home alone. Other officers had already left after arresting Russell's husband for domestic assault. One of Freyer's duties as a corporal was to take evidence photographs of the ugly marks left on victims like Russell.

They call Karl Malone the "Mailman," but ol' Doug's the guy who delivers. At least when it comes to Katie and Erik Koeppens' six-month battle with the U.S. Postal Service over the belated delivery of five Seahawks tickets by Express Mail.

Ben Harris was 14 when his twin sons entered the world. His young girlfriend gave him an ultimatum: Take me and our babies or your gang-banger buddies. You can't have both. Ben chose his pals and was eventually shot in the side by a rival gang. He survived. A different girlfriend gave birth to his daughter a year later. They left, too. Just turned 18, Ben is out of prison. Again.

The Koeppens show their unused Seahawk tickets. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review

One of the legends of Northwest music, Joe Johansen, died last week. Photo courtesy of family

It was the typical teary-eyed crowd you expect to see at a graduation: parents, loved ones, friends, family members. ... They came to the Spokane Opera House on Friday night to watch Ferris High School's Class of '97 step into the future. Steve Kramer was there, too. File him under all of the above.

I am Tiger Woods. I am Tiger Woods. I am Tiger ... This is my mantra as I step to the tee, a 7-iron in my sweaty hands. Head down. Deep breath. Relaaax. Whoever hits a hole-in-one on this 169-yard par 3 wins a trip for two to Jamaica.