My late father-in-law enjoyed saying that he found it wise to tread carefully around my sweet-natured mother-in-law because her family tree included someone who shot a sheriff.

For the record, that long-ago lawman was a total crook. And he had just murdered a good and honest man who refused to knuckle under to an extortion scheme when the victim’s rifle-toting son (my mother-in-law’s relation) meted out some frontier justice on the spot.

But apparently my father-in-law wasn’t the only one to tell stories along those lines.

“The Dorr family of Dayton has lore from the 1880s that tells of two brothers, one of whom became a judge; the other became an outlaw,” wrote Slice reader Glen Jones. “The outlaw was captured, tried and hanged. The judge at the trial was the outlaw’s brother who also oversaw the execution.

“So take care in how you treat your brother.

“I married into the Dorr family so I was always careful about what I said and did.”

Slice answer: Rich Young said that if Spokane had been named “New” something or other, his wife, Sharon, thinks it should have been called “New People’s Republic.”

Hey, that is simple to pronounce. NPR would be an easy abbreviation to remember. And headline writers might have appreciated it.

As in, “NPR Voters Approve Mandatory Gun Ownership Measure.”

This about sums it up: Craig Heimbigner shared the following.

“Whenever it might come up that something was expensive or extravagant, MY dad would say, ‘You know what my Dad would say? It costs money to drink booze and ride the train.’

“Now I say it. So this is one ancient saying.”

I told Craig I might start using that line. And he suggested there would be royalties to pay because, well, it costs money to drink booze and ride the train.

Warm-up question: What’s the best way to note the birthday today of the late Wallace-born actress Lana Turner?

Today’s Slice question: What person in Spokane broadcast media has the most agreeable or most annoying voice?