The Slice: About half are feeling blue

We all know about people here who have enticed family members or friends to move to our area from other parts of the country.

But a Slice reader noted that sometimes there’s a catch.

It turns out that these recruited transplants don’t always vote the way their sponsors would like.

•Dog days: Early November is pretty grim when it comes to canine-related anniversaries.

On Nov. 3, 1957, Laika, the Soviet space dog, was blasted into orbit. There was never any plan for bringing her back alive.

And today is the anniversary of the 1940 Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse. The only fatality was a cocker spaniel named Tubby. Attempts to rescue the animal from a car abandoned on the doomed span failed.

Sad stuff, I know.

But let’s rally.

Tell The Slice why your pet is the best dog in the Inland Northwest. Send a picture, if you want. Explain why your pooch is a beloved member of your family.

This isn’t really a contest. I’m just in the mood to read a few happy stories about stellar animal companions.

•Holiday tradition: “I know some people might not get it, but it would not be Thanksgiving in our family without someone asking my husband Tony to skip across the room,” wrote Denise Masiello. “He skips like a lead balloon with short legs. His grown sons goad him into it every year and we all laugh.”

•Slice answer: One reader suggested that, for her, the Westerner’s version of Atticus Finch is Miss Kitty of “Gunsmoke.”

OK, I know what you’re thinking. Didn’t Miss Kitty run a business that probably sold more than whiskey?

Maybe. But so what? She was steadfast and loyal to her friends. If her résumé didn’t trouble Marshal Dillon, why should it bother us?

Did you think the Old West was populated by pimply guys named Richie and Potsie, who sat around talking about trying to get to second base with some cheerleader?

•Just wondering: Who holds the record for having told the most people that Lana Turner was born in Wallace, Idaho? (Doesn’t matter if 90 percent of those being told already knew that.)

•Slice answer: South Hill resident Caroline Cunningham said that when an annoying song gets stuck in her head, she summons up, say, something by Beethoven, and “poof” the offending tune is banished.

•Today’s Slice question: What observation commonly made by newcomers to our area most annoys longtime residents?