The Slice: Only you can prevent forest fire stories

Some things get better.

About twenty years ago, local TV reporters covering forest fires would routinely note whether threatened homes were “expensive.”

That dimwitted practice seems to have gone up in smoke.

I presume, of course, that the Swell Paper commits no similar offenses. But I really wouldn’t know. I couldn’t read a story on a forest fire even if it meant I would be served a piece of Dutch apple pie after finishing.

Let’s move on.

“Gone but not forgotten: Robin Cunningham misses Beefy’s restaurant on North Division.

Charlie Lee mentioned Pizza Haven in Spokane Valley.

Ali DeLuna still remembers Espresso Delicioso on North Monroe.

Another reader said she misses Gertrude’s Black Forest Deli on South Perry.

To be continued.

“Return to sender: Phil Purcell in Rockford mailed me a sheet of paper covered with return-address stickers various organizations have sent him recently. I counted, and there are 49 different styles. Well, 50 if you include the one he used on the outside of the envelope.

“It says something good about Spokane: That you seldom hear people make a big deal about the fact that half a dozen Playboy “Playmate of the month” models were born here.

Maybe it’s only four or five. But it’s something like that. I’d research it, but I don’t really want my computer keeping a log of that particular inquiry.

“Buddy come home: There’s a little bridge that leads to the home of Mike and Bev Lacy, just north of Spokane. Not long ago, it had to be rebuilt. This meant that, during the project, the couple parked their cars next to a neighbor’s home. (A homemade pedestrian walkway allowed them to still get to their house.)

No big deal, right? Well, maybe for everyone except the couple’s elderly dog, Buddy.

Buddy noticed that the family cars were parked in a new spot and it confused the heck out of him. He clearly began to wonder if “home” was now over across the road. He started spending hours and hours over by the new parking location. He even slept by the vehicles at night.

Eventually the bridge project was completed and things returned to normal. And you have to assume that Buddy is glad his humans finally came to their senses.

“Slice answer: One reader said that she never answers the phone when Caller I.D. presents an acronym.

“Today’s Slice question: For better or worse, what local suburb comes closest to having the classic (some would say stereotypical) suburban vibe?