Doug Clark

The heat. I thought I was hallucinating from the dog days of summer. Oops. Can’t use that metaphor anymore.

An 88-year-old Spokane Valley resident wanted to “pass the torch” regarding some magic compost recipe he uses to make his flower and vegetable gardens magnificent year after year. Yeah. I get a lot of weird phone calls.

Is your summer a box-office bonanza like “Ant Man”? Or does it blow chunks like Adam Sandler in, well, name an Adam Sandler movie.

The primary votes were counted Tuesday night and, just as expected, Spokane Mayor David Condon Sharbroiled his opponent. To recap the math …

I drove a half-hour northeast from Spokane the other day, headed for one of the area’s best-kept secrets. Another 3 miles of country road led me to a red metal building that has nothing at all to do with the surrounding farms, tractors or livestock.

In today’s episode of Dealing With Annoying Wildlife, we will learn how Amy Mitchell got rid of the stowaway marmot who set up a bachelor pad under the hood of her 2010 Toyota RAV4. So grab a notebook and a pen. You’ll probably want to jot down the following marmot removal implements the registered nurse used, lest this horror happen to you.

So a socially consumed Tacoman (pronounced Taco Man) wants Spokane Public Schools to dump the Wilson out of Wilson Elementary because its namesake, the 28th president, was a diehard racist. How dumb am I?

Everybody’s had a “Hit it Big” fantasy now and then, as in … • Nailing the Lottery for more than Saudi Arabia’s annual harem budget.

One October night during her 2014 campaign for Spokane County treasurer, Amy Biviano began to feel the telltale sensations of a seizure coming on. The timing couldn’t have sucked more.

Don’t thank me, but I’d like to warn all of you Washingtonians about the unparalleled disaster facing the state. And no, I don’t mean that recent prediction concerning a huge Northwest earthquake. You know, the one where a federal emergency geek claimed that, when it occurs, “everything west of Interstate 5 will be toast.”

PASADENA, Calif. – Just like a ballgame, the Baseball Reliquary began its 17th annual “Shrine of the Eternals” induction ceremony Sunday at the Pasadena Central Library with the National Anthem. Unlike any ballgame I’ve ever seen, however, this version of “The Star-Spangled Banner” was, as Reliquary executive director Terry Cannon promised, “One for the Ages!”

Talked to an American hero the other day. West Point grad. Two master’s degrees, one in aerospace engineering, the other in international relations.

When Tom Keefe turned 14, his father, Tom Sr., gave him a book that changed his life. No, it wasn’t the Bible.

Some dubbed it “Treenado.” To others it was “Treemageddon.” Whatever it’s called, the crazy high-velocity winds that tore through the forests east of Colville late in day on June 29 amounted to 15 minutes or so of sheer duck and cover terror. Big trees – tamaracks and pines – toppled over, their massive dirt-crusted roots torn out of the ground.

I received a vitriolic voice mail message when I last brought that name up in a column. “Otto Zehm,” the caller scoffed. “Nobody cares about Otto Zehm anymore.”

VINTAGE AUDIO GEAR. Paying cash.

"I ’m not intimidated by old history, I know Spokane is willing to embrace a good strong mayor for the future of Spokane for a second term.” – A confident pre-election 2011 Mayor Mary Verner discussing her chances of breaking Spokane’s Curse of the One-Term Mayor. We’re officially a tad more than a month away from Spokane’s Aug. 4 primary election and an excellent question has arrived by email from Paul Baxter, a civic-minded and loyal reader.

Hear ye. Hear ye. By the powers of the rickety Clark soapbox, I hereby declare today – June 23, Year of Our Lord 2015 – to be Al French Day.

Head fuzzy? Can’t seem to focus? Forget where you left the kids or your pot stash? Yes. I know. And I’m here to help.

When ace-percussionist Daniel Cox forgot to bring his drumsticks on the last day of Spokane Street Music Week, he didn’t panic. He instead set up his drum kit on the sidewalk near Starbucks and began to think. Hmm …

So here we are, less than a year away from the 10th anniversary of that March day when a citizen died because he went into a convenience store for some diet soda and a Snickers bar. And one of the only real positives that came out of Otto Zehm’s ultimately fatal encounter with an abusive Spokane cop – the Office of Police Ombudsman Commission – is now awash in scandal.

Rachel Dolezal has resigned her NAACP presidency. Aw, say it ain’t so.

She goes to bed and wakes up obsessing about the same thing: Zombies.