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The Slice: Bulldogs, Huskies and Lions, oh my!

Maybe it’s not high on the list of challenges facing the Spokane Public Schools.

But I find it troubling.

Did you know that among the district’s elementary schools there exists rampant mascot duplication?

Shocked? Well, I don’t blame you. I know I was.

And it’s not just an isolated case.

We have the Balboa Bulldogs and the Bemiss Bulldogs.

And we also have the Grant Huskies and the Hamblen Huskies.

But it doesn’t end there. Oh, no.

There are the Linwood Lions and the Logan Lions.

And the Finch Mustangs and the Madison Mustangs.

There might be more. But after spending a fair amount of time scrutinizing the schools’ Web pages, the graphic depictions of big cats and birds of prey start to blur together.

Plus, a couple of school secretaries all but threatened to get tough if I said anything unflattering about their schools. And you don’t mess with school secretaries if you’re smart.

But here’s my point: Our children deserve better. They deserve to have unique (at least within the district) school mascots.

OK, maybe some of these duplications reflect shared legacy nicknames from long-ago schools. But I suspect the real problem is a failure of imagination on the part of adults.

Surely we can meet a higher standard.

Slice answers: In the matter of rousing breakfast aromas, several people mentioned bacon and coffee. A couple of readers said “cinnamon.”

But for Theresa Halmai, her husband Tibor cooking up fried baloney is what does it. He makes it for their 9-year-old granddaughter Elizabeth.

Remember: Do not give out personal information, account numbers, et cetera to someone calling on the phone. Don’t believe it if a caller seems to know a bit about you and says he just wants to confirm a couple of things. Don’t believe it if he says he is calling from the Social Security office, the IRS or from your bank.

Today’s Slice question: On what Spokane area block do tree branches hanging out over the street create the most perfect canopy? (At least while the leaves are still on the trees.)

Write The Slice at P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. May The Slice Blog at www.spokesman.com be with you. A caller wondered how the Dillon Panthers are doing.

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