The Slice: The Slice: Gillooly in 2010? If only we were so lucky

I‘m not saying it will happen again.

But didn’t the whole Tonya and Nancy thing explode at a U.S. Figure Skating Championship leading up to a winter Olympics?

Of course, if you knew in advance that something like that whacking was going to happen here, you could sell tickets to the sort of sports fans not ordinarily drawn to skating events.

“Now hear this: I was reading about a California novelist who will be appearing at Auntie’s. I realized that I knew him.

Well, not really. I think we spoke a grand total of three or four times. Once it was about a package delivery he had been kind enough to accept for me while I was away. Or maybe it was the other way around.

In any case, 20 years ago, we lived in the same apartment building in downtown Spokane.

He seemed like a good guy. I couldn’t really say.

But I can tell you this. He had a great cat.

Jack was white with splashes of gray. A confident tough guy who didn’t go out of his way to prove it, he could be charming and friendly. And he had the best hearing I’ve ever witnessed.

I would stand at my open second-floor window overlooking a small courtyard that was this feline’s domain. And I would whisper, “Jack.”

He always looked up, no matter how softly I spoke.

I started giving him treats now and then. You know, a spoonful of ice cream or a piece of halibut.

But mostly our relationship was based on his incredible ears and our little game.

I swear, I eventually lowered my voice to virtual inaudibility. “Pssst, Jack.”

He still heard me. What a cat.

It’s not unusual to think of people we knew who moved away. But I wonder how many of us carry around memories of their pets.

“Distant disasters: Quite a few readers jumped on Saturday’s invitation to criticize Spokane TV news for occasionally including reports on nonlocal events in their broadcasts. “That’s why we have the national (network) news,” wrote Nancy Kiehn.

“I do not watch local news to see what is going on nationally,” wrote Kay Stoltz.

And so on.

“Motorcyle rider Gracie Smith’s reminder to Spokane’s drivers: “We cannot share a lane position with you and we cannot veer up onto the sidewalk to avoid danger.”

“Today’s Slice question: Long ago, when travel pennants were popular souvenirs acquired on road trips, one for Spokane proclaimed “Gateway to Grand Coulee Dam.”

What would a Spokane travel pennant say today?