More people are going paperless and throwing out their checkbooks in favor of debit cards and credit cards. Don't be too rash. Keeping the checks around could come in handy some days.

For instance, checks are helpful if you're trying to pay a city of Spokane parking ticket.

As one colleague recently discovered, paying such tickets by plastic costs $5.95 in online convenience fees. And since you can't mail in cash or pay with credit at the Spokane County paying station, the only option for the checkless is to walk the cash over, buy and mail in a money order or bite the bullet and pay the online fee.

That fee is charged by the company Official Payments Corp., which processes online ticket payments for Spokane District Court.

Spokane County District Court Administrator Ron Miles said the fee is the result of two conflicting laws.

The first prohibits the court itself from passing on credit card surcharges to the public. The second prohibits the court from gifting fees like those charged by credit card companies to the public.

So if the court can't charge or forgive those fees, the only option is the online payment company. "Official Payment Corps is the only game in town," said Miles.

And, he adds, "The ultimate remedy is for them to not get a ticket."