The Slice: It does have a certain sweetness

According to several Slice readers, last week’s baby name of the week was Belladonna Almond Rocha-Opperman.

Good luck, kid.

OK, let’s move on.

•Pet naming strategies: In recognition of their Big Sky roots, the members of Jerry Sheehan’s family name their pets after Montana towns.

Nan Livingston’s family goes with the names of mountains or mountain chains.

Joyce Mann and Lois Hill told about people naming dogs after brands of vacuum cleaners.

And Gladys Walston had three cats over the years. She named them all Bing.

•Another report about trash: A Slice reader who farms several stretches along highways near Ritzville said drinkers of light beer seem to be the worst litterers.

Marv McCain, who lives a few miles outside Pullman, sees mostly cheap-brand cans. Teens top his list of suspects.

And cyclist Tim Kenagy wishes those lost souls hurling bottles out windows could at least heave their empties past the bike lane.

•Slice answers: Suggestions about keeping jelly-fingers youngsters from turning remote controls into sticky messes included wrapping them (the remotes) in clear plastic, storing them out of reach, hiding an “adults only” remote, and keeping the children occupied with activities that do not involve on/off buttons.

Then there was this.

“The problem with our remote at home is not the children’s sticky fingers,” wrote Aimee Morris. “Luna, our giant Flemish rabbit, has chewed off three or four of the buttons, so you have to guess which button is which.”

•If wishes were bicycles: So I was watching this panel discussion on transportation issues on Spokane’s cable channel 5 the other night. The focus was on biking, pedestrian-friendly urban design, et cetera.

These were all good people, doing good work.

But a caller to the program asked, essentially, “What gives?” regarding the reservoir of hostility toward cyclists and walkers that exists here.

Oh, this will be good, I thought.

But the panel never really got its teeth into the issue. Maybe those folks are too used to talking to like-minded individuals.

Too bad. Advocates of alternatives to automobiles can’t be truly effective until they understand that there is a significant segment of Spokane society that believes, well, “You can pull me out of my polluting, gas-hog vehicle after you pry my cold, dead fingers from the steering wheel.”

Close your eyes to that and you’re not seeing the whole picture.

•Today’s Slice question: Where was your most memorable coyote sighting?