More wet dog fur

There are a lot of newsroom stories about the Wet Dog Fur Open annual staff golf tournament, some of which involve journalists consuming alcohol, running around with clubs and driving golf carts near water hazards. One year, the story goes, someone set a ball washer on fire.

Here’s that reader letter, which Inlander staffer and former S-R guy Kevin Taylor described as “strong, cogent, concise.” Special thanks to KT for sending it along. The writer remained anonymous.

Dear sir;
I just moved to your town.
I am a pro sports fan.
Your paper sucks wet dog fur.

Other slices and news capsules

• Tomatoes disappearing from menus, store shelves
• Spokane sets weather record with snow so late in the year
• Racetrack cost estimates disputed: County told its $500,000 repair forecast is far short with previous coverage and digital document

• Man faces charges of aiding shoplifter : He says he mistakenly interfered with security

Scott E. Hughes, 33, was in the parking lot of the Broadway Avenue Wal-Mart with his wife and 4-year-old daughter about 2:20 p.m. when he spotted what he thought was a woman being attacked by a man and woman, said Doug Phelps, Hughes’ lawyer. Instead, it was two Wal-Mart loss prevention officers, James Biehl, 20, and an unidentified female, trying to take a suspected shoplifter back into the store. Read more…

• A brilliant John Blanchette column: WSU’s Layman goes the distance by not going distances

…training a distance runner without any actual distance running. Will the Nobel committee take notice? Will Scientific American hold next month’s cover?… The guinea pig in this case is Anna Layman, a wispy Cougars freshman from Spokane who runs today in the preliminaries of the 800 meters at the NCAA Track and Field Championships in Des Moines, Iowa. Read more…