The top local stories on Page One of Thursday's News Tribune:

• The opening celebration for the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge will take place July 15, and the bridge – along with its tollbooths – will open to traffic later that night or early the next morning.

• The fundraising deadline for the LeMay Automobile Museum is just over two months away, and although rich in prospects, the effort remains several million dollars short of its goal.

• Three more Fort Lewis soldiers have been killed in Iraq, the Department of Defense announced Wednesday.

• Pierce County has a deal it's offering domestic violence suspects who've been ignoring court dates and arrest warrants: you've got two weeks to come in and set a new date to avoid arrest.

The top local stories from Page One of Wednesday’s News Tribune:

• Fort Lewis is going to stop holding individual memorial ceremonies for soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a memo by acting post commander Brig. Gen. William Troy.

• The Pierce County executive says he has the support of enough members of the County Council to block a vote on a transportation funding package.

• It’s climbing season again, and as hikers suit up to tackle Mount Rainier, a Fort Lewis-based Army Reserve unit is training to save some of them.

Editors got together this morning and talked about what they liked in about the papers from Saturday through today. Here are highlights:

Air pollution: Just looking at that huge graphic on the front page today made us wheeze. Reporter Susan Gordon and graphic artists Fred Matamoros and Amanda Raymond did a great job of showing the latest research on the Tacoma area's winter air pollution problem. We had a technical issue getting it to the Web site this morning.

On Monday, we liked the tasteful Memorial Day remembrance on the front page. Also, we were touched by Kathleen Merryman's column about the man who buys an ad six times a year to tell people how much he loved his wife. We've all seen the ad and wondered what the story was behind it.

For Sunday and Monday, there was a lot of praise for Alex Otto's enterprising reporting about the use of physical restraints and drugs on patients at Western State Hospital. He spent months collecting and analyzing the data. Stay tuned for updates in the coming weeks and months.

Prep sports: We saluted all the folks who spent the weekend covering prep sports tournaments. There was a ton of coverage.

In features, our favorites included the summer events calendar - a lot of work goes into that reader-friendly fixture - and the feature on a Puyallup man's experience building an in-ground swimming pool.

NBA draft camp: We may get something more on the Sonics' search for a new GM.

Fife museum: Yes, there is a historical museum in Fife. We'll tell you all about it and the upcoming exhibit.

Strykers: We fear more bad news for Fort Lewis after word today of eight deaths Monday in Diyala Province. We'll let you know if we hear anything, first at thenewstribune.com, then in the paper.

Springfest: This is the big weekend for high school sports state finals. We're covering it from all angles.

PC Parks: We held this story yesterday for breaking news, but we plan to bring you a story tomorrow about East Pierce County getting a number of new county parks.

Craig: The woman who placed an ad on Craig's List inviting people to come by her aunt's and take anything they wanted is in court today. We'll be there, too.

The top local stories on the front page of Friday's News Tribune:

• Three more soldiers from a Fort Lewis-based Stryker brigade have been killed in action in Iraq, the Army has announced.

• The Army tells a local tribe that it has no interest in selling the Fort Lewis golf course for development.

• Carol Milgard, one of Tacoma's leading philanthropists, has died.

• The son of Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, was among more than 20 people indicted Thursday in a casino cheating scheme.

Mike Sando won the Eppy Award for Best Media-Affiliated Sports Blog again today (he won the same award last year, too). The award, sponsored by Editor & Publisher magazine, is open to news organizations of all sizes, including web sites and magazines (think ESPN.com and Sports Illustrated).

"That's great news," Sando said today. "It's a great honor and it says a lot about all the support I get from others (at the TNT) whose names don't appear on the award."

See the full list of winners here.

Congratulations, Mike!

See previous coverage of Sando's award-winning blog at Online in the South Sound.

From a weekly e-newsletter by David Pogue of The New York Times.

Pogue writes:

The first step to solving a problem is recognizing that you have one.

That's what I keep telling myself, anyway, to avoid becoming depressed by Maplight.org.

It's a new Web site with a very simple mission: to correlate lawmakers' voting records with the money they've accepted from special-interest groups.

All of this is public information. All of it has been available for decades. Other sites, including OpenSecrets.org, expose who's giving how much to whom. But nobody has ever revealed the relationship between money given and votes cast to quite such a startling effect.

If you click the "Video Tour" button on the home page, you'll see a six-minute video that illustrates the point. You find out that on H.R.5684, the U. S.-Oman Free Trade Agreement, special interests in favor of this bill (including pharmaceutical companies and aircraft makers) gave each senator an average of $244,000. Lobbyists opposed to the bill (such as anti-poverty groups and consumer groups) coughed up only $38,000 per senator.

Surprise! The bill passed.

=> Read more!

On page 2 of Wednesday’s Sound Life under “Today’s Pick”, we featured the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium as a good place to visit. We also suggested that it would be worth the time to ride the Paul Titus Antique Carousel. We inserted in this little calendar item a photograph of an antique carousel at Point Defiance. We do this to give the calendar item a visual identity. An eagle-eyed reader pointed out to us that the carousel in our picture was not the Paul Titus Antique Carousel. In fact, the carousel in our picture was of another antique carousel at the Taste of Tacoma. In our haste to put the page together, we picked the wrong carousel image from our archives of hundreds of carousel photographs.

Now that we've wrapped up Dancing with the Stars and American Idol, we can move on to more lofty news stories.

Today, we're working on:

Portfire: A storage facility in the Tacoma tideflats caught fire this morning. It doesn't appear to be a big fire, but workers nearby have been asked to stay away.

PC Parks: Pierce County announces plans for a handful of new parks, mainly in the eastern parts of the county. We'll tell you where they are and what they should include.

Mateo: Mariner Julio Mateo speaks at a press conference this afternoon, presumably about allegations of spouse abuse. We'll be there and update you online and in tomorrow's paper.

The top local stories from Page One of Wednesday's News Tribune:

• University of Washington Tacoma professor Tom Carlson didn’t know much about how often old people fall down until last year, and he didn’t even like to think about bones breaking. But he’s a geographer and an expert on mapping, and if his research could help people fall less often, he liked that.

• A new state law that takes effect next month that aims will put more kids in booster seats. The law says kids must sit in booster seats in the back seat until age 8 or until they're 4-foot-nine.

Thursday, May 17, 2007

A1: The West Nile virus story was very interesting. Golf course story was a good pick given our military community. The crab was good teaser art. We should have had something about Blake Lewis and American Idol in the A section if not a teaser on A1. Centerpiece on cop boxing was reporter Stacey Mulick's second of the week. Way to go.

B1: Great photos from our sister paper (the Olympian) from the DuPont train derailment. Some thought the photos would have made a better A1 package than the boxing cops.

Sports: Nice to see more high school sports again.

Business: Good story form on the centerpiece-it's easy on the readers. Janet Jensen photos were nice too.

Soundlife: Great innovation and hustle by page designer Carmen Dybdahl to use school kid art for the story. Well done.

The top local stories on Page One of Thursday's News Tribune:

• The Nisqually Tribe has its eyes onb 514 acres of land near DuPont that includes the Fort Lewis golf course. The tribe isn't saying what it would do with the land beyond developing it, but the Nisqually chairwoman says it wouldn't build a casino there.

• Prosecutors have filed charges in the Craigslist caper. They say a woman posted the fake invitation to trash her aunt's house because she was angry at her for evicting her mother, who had been living in the house.

• More than 20 law officers from King, Pierce and Thurston counties will mix it up in the boxing ring next month in a fund-raising event for children's charities.

The many former students of the Business Computer Technical Institue may have read with interest news of the $9 million settlement of a class action lawsuit brought by former students of the Gig Harbor-based schools. Students' long history of complaints against BCTI and the inaction of regulators were documented in reporter Dave Wickert's investigation last year.

Dave's BCTI series was recently recognized by the American Association of University Professors with an honorable mention in its Iris Molotsky Award for Excellence in higher education reporting.

"The judges thought his series was very well written, extremely in-depth, and the imagery was quite compelling. The series is not only timely, but covered a crucial issue that not only impacts on the unfortunate students, but the nation as a whole," according to AAUP spokeman Robin K. Burns.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

A1: All local, newsy front page. Deep reporting on the state budget story. The lists were really interesting, especially with the type styling. The bold really helped organize it. Overall solid design of A1 with many live elements hitting the desk late.

We didn't have any space for it, but pointing out that we had local on the Falwell obit would have been nice.

B1: Sen. Oke obit was well-written. The lede of the Cecil David story really explained the situation well.

Business: N/C

Sports: "Fine" is the theme for local papers. The Times, P-I and TNT all used the word in their respective Mariners headlines. All-Area features highlight local prep athletes. Glad we write them.

Soundlife: N/C

The top local stories from Page One of Wednesday's News Tribune:

• Gov. Chris Gregoire travels to Lakewood to sign the "fair share" bill that sponsors believe will keep Pierce County from getting more than its fair share of recently released prison inmates.

• Friends, family members and comrades gather at Fort Lewis to say goodbye to six soldiers killed in action in Iraq.

• The Port of Tacoma wants a number of land parcels on the east side of the Blair Waterway for future cargo terminals, and if needed, will use its powers of eminent domain to get them.

What we're covering today:

Memorial: Fort Lewis holds a memorial service this afternoon for the six soldiers killed last week in the Stryker explosion.

State bud: The governor signs the state budget today and we'll run a list of projects and programs that matter to Pierce County.

Prison: The governor also will sign bills that will make Pierce County less of a dumping ground for the state Department of Corrections. They've been a long time coming.

Oke: Longtime state Sen. Bob Oke has died. The Peninsula politician was instrumental in getting a second Tacoma Narrows bridge.

School elections: Puyallup, Federal Way and Sumner school districts all have bond elections today. Come to our website tonight and read tomorrow's paper for the latest results.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

A1: Important news locally about the Stryker unit moving to Diyala. Story on GREAT program by Stacey Mulick was interesting and the photo was sweet.

B1: We could have done more with the B2 story on the parking lot melee. It was written well, but it also had compelling elements that could have been expanded into a more complete story. Glad we got out to the Spanaway Junior High School opening. We liked how the story was written through the eyes of the students.

Business: N/C

Sports: We liked the story on the short long driver. It was different and a nice surprise for the sports front.

Soundlife: More great local arts coverage.

Saturday, May 12, 2007

A1: BCTI settlement was an excellent follow to our reporting on the case. Reporters and editors worked hard Friday night to get that one in the paper. Check out the previous reporting we did on BCTI: Big debt, broken dreams.

Reporter Steve Maynard did some great digging on the Federal Way teacher that’s keeping us ahead of the school administration on this story.

B1: “Rot in prison” headline was a little over the top for the story about the man getting a 30-plus year prison sentence.

Sports: Following a Friday morning tip that PGA golfer Michael Putnam was at the Chambers Bay Golf Course, we scrambled to make a great centerpiece. Thanks to those that hustled on it, the score box was a nice touch.

Business: The D Street overpass made a great “What's That?" feature. Do maps help with features like this? Let us know.

Soundlife: One editor thought the design was confusing with the different kids fo wallpapers featured. Hard to tell what's wallpaper and what is page design.

Sunday, May 13, 2007

A1: “Bumbling Bennett” teaser went further than the story did.

"After the Flood" centerpiece story was well done. There were so many parts, it could have used better organization or maybe an “inventory” for readers to keep it straight.
Glad we came back on it with people-centric stories that readers can really relate to.

UP center story gave readers a lot of insight into the development. The 3-D graphic really helped, though our color blind editors mentioned that the colors were difficult to read.

B1. Loved the story on the Mexican rodeo. You & Me was fun series of shorts on expectant mothers.

Sports: McGrath column was terrific. People were excited about it.

Business: Voelpel column had an interesting type treatment on the “anecdote” that was confusing for some. Otherwise, really interesting column. Stortini’s restaurant is West End, not North End. Error on our end.

Soundlife: Debbie Cafazzo’s Mothers Day story was excellent. Very well written and great photos from recently retired photographer Bruce Kellman.

Monday, May 14, 2007

A1: Reporter Scott Fontaine did a nice job on the marathon centerpiece, finding some interesting people to write about. Turned into a long, busy day for Drew, who had nice photos in print and online. Check out the gallery. Did you run?

Stryker story was a great pick for our paper. What more can we do from here? It’s a story best reported from Iraq, but it’s a big one for us.

We wanted a better story ladder with the flood story referring back to Sunday’s piece.

B1: Glad we had the Lakewood man story off the wire. Were there too many street stories on one page? We could have moved one forward or back a day.

Soundlife: Mothers-to-be yoga class story needed a sourcing than just the class instructor.

Span junior: We're at Spanaway Junior High this morning as the improved school opens ahead of schedule.

Foss Hotel: We're expecting an update on the waterfront hotel project.

Cop shot: We expect closing arguments today in the case of a Puyallup police officer shot in the South Hill Mall parking lot.

Felix: We expect him to pitch tomorrow.

Tomorrow's front page - at this point - will include:

Cellphone: The governor signed the bill today that outlaws holding a cell phone while you're driving, but you've got a year before the law takes effect.

Lewis soldier: A Special Forces soldier from Fort Lewis has been killed in Iraq.

UP Town: University Place today unveiled its most recent plans for a retail-civic-residential development that will form its town center.

Today we did something new for The News Tribune. We published three different versions of our GO cover.

Photo Editor Jeremy Harrison came up with the idea. It reflects the fact we visited three different clubs for our on-the-scene fashion story. Our production and press people here at the TNT were crucial in making the three covers happen.

We're already getting positive reader reaction to our triple covers and the inside story. Besides being good work this package does what we try to do a lot of here at the paper: get real people on our pages.

It also reflects the enthusiasm of my co-workers. This story is something I've been wanting to do for a long time and when I pitched the idea to Jeremy he embraced it. So did photographer Drew Perine who spent hours preparing for it, making arrangements and shooting in some tight spots. Reporter Niki Sullivan brought out each person's personality with her interviews. Designer Elysia Smith worked late in to the night Wednesday to make sure all three covers and the inside package sung. David Montesino, Assistant Managing Editor/Visual, arranged for the extra color pages inside GO.

You'll see more alternative content in future GO's. While concerts, movies and restaurants will remain our main courses we want to surprise, entertain and inform you in unexpected ways.

A1

John Henrikson: Liked the offbeat, reader-generated centerpiece on the group taking updated photos of Tacoma.

Mark Briggs: Liked the GO billboard.

JH: Best headline in the paper was on A8 - "This story was edited right here in Tacoma!" - on story about outsourcing to India of local news coverage.

B1

Jeremy Harrison: Liked the "spit" headline on the story about the Supreme Court allowing police to use DNA from a murder suspect's saliva. "Got me into a story I might not have read."

Sports:

Several: Photo treatment on column about Joe Torre didn't work. Inserting his old baseball card in another photo was confusing. "Good elements, they just weren't put together in a way that worked."

Business

Marce Edwards: Liked the headline on the centerpiece story about airlines trying to upgrade facilities for their passengers.

SoundLife

No comments.

GO

Several: Great centerpiece idea on photos of local clubbers. "Execution was awesome." Lot of enthusiasm from the writer, photographer and others in making the idea work.

From time to time The News Tribune editors play hookey. That is, we take field trips to various community institutions like Fort Lewis, Western State, Salishan, etc.

Wednesday we took tours of Tacoma's two art museums: The Museum of Glass and Tacoma Art Museum.

Some editors are frequent visitors to the museums. For others it was their first time there.

At MOG Julie Pisto, the director of marketing & communications, showed us through the galleries and the hotshop. Pisto walked us through the art of Jim Campbell who uses LEDs, photography and lights to define time and perception. If you haven't been down to see it: go. It's a fascinating show.

MOG recently shortened its name and narrowed its focus back to just glass. They're getting ready for their fifth anniversary this summer.

Over at TAM Director Stephanie Stebich gave us a tour of the Frida Kahlo exhibit. Kahlo's work isn't on display. It's photographs of her and some recent Frida inspired work by Northwest artists.

TAM is gearing up for its newest show, "Sparkle Then Fade," which opens May 17. The work, from different artists, uses reflected light in various forms.

Some of us will be making return trips to both museums very soon.

The top local stories from the front page of Friday's News Tribune:

• Pierce County's cross-base highway may be stripped from a regional roads package and replaced with other South Pierce road improvements.

The move would provide quicker relief of traffic congestion in the Frederickson area than the current plan and would postpone a showdown with environmental groups.

• Tacoma School Board members will meet soon to discuss Superintendent Charlie Milligan's evaluation and put it in writing.

Board member Kurt Miller said he thinks the board needs to "look really hard at Milligan's leadership" given the results of a recent teacher survey and comments by principals about their problems with the superintendent.

• Stryker Brigade troops still at Fort Lewis are preparing to say goodbye to the six soldiers killed in Iraq Sunday – and show their support for family members of the fallen soldiers.

• A group of South Sound photographers are fanning out around downtown Tacoma, building a "then and now" collection that uses archive photos from 1979. Their work shows in great detail how much the city has transformed. 

A1

Hunter George: Appreciated that staff writer Craig Hill did the story about the Scott Pierson trail. Went well with the package in Adventure.

Mark Briggs: It was a good story.

HG: Liked the Sanjaya vs. Apolo box; met our goal of having fun sometimes in the paper.

John Henrikson: Was there any opposition to having Sanjaya's visit as the centerpiece?

Matt Misterek: Good photos and big turnout settled the matter.

B1

MM: Was OK with the story about the local man being acquitted of animal cruelty charges being on page B2, where the charging story appeared.

JH: Good that we ran the story about a potential conflict of interest of a Tacoma School Board member. Gets the matter on the record.

HG: Lots of reporting went into the story. More examples of potential problem were left out for space reasons.

Sports

No comments

Business

Jeremy Harrison: Error in photo caption - identifications of two people in the photo were reversed. Correction made online with photo.

MB: Centerpiece was a different kind of business story. Funs story with colorful photo.

SoundLife

MM: Great centerpiece package.

John Henrikson: Very useful. Will it be available online for awhile?

Norma Martin: Yes.

A1

Hunter George: It was the appropriate call to switch centerpiece ideas and go with the Styker soldiers update.

David Zeeck: Liked the photo with the centerpiece - it has a you-are-there quality.

Matt Misterek: Thanks to Jonathan Nesvig, who monitors the news services, for spotting the Stryker photo. Also, thanks to staff writer Paul Sand for landing the companion story on the wounded soldier who missed the Stryker attack.

DZ: Thanks to KIRO, our television news partner, for the help in getting to the wounded soldier.

Randy McCarthy: Front page story should have alerted readers to the companion story inside.

MM: The centerpiece was a good example of how to make use of blog info. Staff writer Mike Gilbert was covering the subject online throughout the day and used his reporting in the print story.

DZ: The story on falling television viewership was fascinating.

MM: The story about the lobbying chefs was a new look at a classic Northwest issue.

B1

Marce Edwards: Liked the math story. Well written and made her appreciate that a person really does need math.

Sports

Dale Phelps: Thanks to the photo staff for juggling conflicting demands and freeing up a photographer to shoot the soccer game.

Business

MM: We've had several columnists giving their takes on Chambers Bay golf course. Is that the way to handle it?

HG: So far the stories have given addition coverage that fleshed out the beat reporter's stories.

DZ: It's OK to look at Chambers Bay from different angles but we need to keep an eye on who's doing what so we coordinate our coverage so we don't duplicate information.

SoundLife

MM: Centerpiece on making your own sodas was perfectly timed with the return of warm weather. It was a fun thing for families to do. The package contained lots of information. "It had it all."

Sanjaya: He's coming home to Federal Way today. We'll catch up with him signing autographs this afternoon at the Commons.

Stryker: We're still awaiting the official announcement of the names of the soldiers killed over the weekend in Iraq.

Urban trails: We tell you about 10 urban trails around Tacoma and feature the new Scott Pearson trail along Highway 16.

And the editors will exit the newsroom midday today for a field trip to the Museum of Glass and Tacoma Art Museum. We venture out from time to time to learn more about important places in our community.

The top local stories on the front page of Wednesday's News Tribune.

• A Tacoma car salesman has been ordered to pay $2.5 million to a woman who said the man and two colleagues raped her after she bought a car from them.

• Details are emerging about the attack that killed six members of a Fort Lewis-based Stryker unit, along with an attached Russian photographer.

• Chefs from around the country warned Congress Tuesday that wild salmon could disappear from their menus unless action is taken to preserve and enhance wild fish runs.

A recent Top Ten list by David Letterman was "Top Ten Signs Your Newspaper is in Trouble" ("Late Show," CBS, 4/30).

10) "Covers all the news that happens within one block of the office."

9) "Today's exclusive: 'Nixon Dead!'"

8) "Reporter sent to jail for refusing to divulge a source...Oh, and he also killed a dude."

7) "All horoscopes: 'Now would be a good time to get out of the
newspaper business."

6) "Paper's motto: 'Suck It'"

5) "Every 'hot gossip' item is about Jack Klugman."

4) "Managing editor and guy who wheels around breakfast? Same guy."

3) "Under 'weather,' it just reads 'yes.'"

2) "Instead of 'Garfield,' has a comic strip called 'Garfunkel.'"

1) "You endorsed Dennis Kucinich."

A1

Hunter George: All the stories are local.
John Henrikson: A timestamp for when the steelhead story was sent to our Web site was sent to the layout desk but not used for some reason.
Karen Peterson to the presentation editor: Can we have too many timestamps on a page?
David Montesino: No.
KP: Good photography on the page.
JH: Who buys stolen copper?
Matt Misterek: There's a new state law covering aimed at deterring businesses from buying potentially stolen copper.
JH: We should check to see if the new law is making a difference.
Mark Briggs: Confused by the use of the word "ever" in the headline on the story about the six Stryker members deaths, saying it was the worst Styker attack ever.
HG: Was confused given that more local soldiers were killed in a chow hall bombing in 2004.
MM: The distinction is that this was the worst loss of like for a Stryker unit, not a Fort Lewis unit.
MB: I eventually figured that out but shouldn't have had to.

B1

HG: Liked the story about the racquet club.
MB: Good to read about a new business he'd never heard of.
KP: Liked he breakout box with the story.

Sports

MM: Pretty big treatment for the countdown to Barry Bonds setting the new home run record. Earlier versions of the graphic were smaller. We should be consistent.

Business:

JH: All newlyweds should read the centerpiece story.

SoundLife

HG: Was confused about the location of the companion story to the centerpiece.
KP: Wanted info on the clothing shop.

The Sunday story about strained relations between Tacoma schools Superintendent Charlie Milligan and the district's principals took more reporting time and effort than usual.

Education reporter Debby Abe had been hearing from sources for months that principals had concerns about Milligan's administration. They complained of intimidation and lack of two-way communication. Abe doggedly pursued sources, but found most were unwilling to go on the record with their stories and opinions. A few weeks ago, she wrote up a draft story based mostly on unnamed sources.

While Debby did a thorough job of investigating, she and her editors weren't comfortable running the story. We sympathized with the sources, who were concerned they might face retaliation if they were identified. But we also felt it was unfair to Dr. Milligan to shield the critics. Even more fundamentally, we felt a responsibility to our readers to avoid unnamed sources whenever possible.

Debby went back and convinced three principals to go on the record with their concerns (which were backed up by several others we talked to but didn't name). She also found two principals who had good things to say about the superintendent. The story turned out much stronger and more detailed because we waited and did everything possible to get it on the record.

Fort Lewis deaths: We'll likely learn the names of the remaining Stryker soldiers killed over the weekend in Iraq. And we'll take a look at the losses at Fort Lewis throughout the war.

Salmon: This one sounded too good to pass up. Chefs are appearing before Congress today to support efforts to save the salmon they serve in their restaurants.

Math Fair: A local school is hosting a fair that is says will make math fun for middle schoolers. We gotta see that.

The top local stories on the front page of Tuesday's News Tribune:

• Fort Lewis is mourning the deaths of six soldiers killed when their Stryker armored vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in Iraq Sunday.

• Shellfish growers and waterfront-area residents are squaring off over geoduck farms in Pierce County waters. The County Council is considering new regulations on the controversial operations.

• Night games are out for a while at two fields at Tacoma's SERA Sports Complex after thieves ripped out hundreds of feet of copper wiring.

Steelhead: Puget Sound steelhead were listed as threatened today. We'll try to figure out what that means for waterfront homeowners, cleaning up the Sound and fishing.

Geoducks: The Pierce County Council takes up more shoreline regulations today with a hearing on geoduck farming around the Sound.

UP Rec: University Place has been strengthening its recreation programs for residents.

I spent this past week manning the Reader Rep desk, something each member of our staff takes a turn at once every year or so.

In addition to being a live person who can answer our readers' questions, Reader Rep duty offers an interesting glimpse into what matters to our readers.

Each day, the Reader Rep posts an internal blog that allows every member of our staff to keep up with reader comments and questions. We also get good story tips this way.

Some of this week's highlights included calls from:

- A woman who asked if she could mulch her vegetable garden with our paper. Our press manager said he can't guarantee it's safe, so we'd rather she recycle her papers.

- A man who pointed out a mistake we made in the National League West baseball standings in the Sports section.

- A request that we do a better job of telling readers about the Tour of Historic Homes in Tacoma.

- A man who wonders what that big building is going up across the street from his home on St. Helens.

- A woman who wanted to send a get-well card to her carrier, but didn't know how.

- A woman spitting mad because she thought we'd left Chevron out of our stock listings until we found it together in the paper.

I received about 30 calls a day and every one came with a new twist. While not all of the comments were positive, it's refreshing how our readers take ownership of this paper and how high their standards of us are.

Bridge: The lights are coming down from the new Tacoma Narrows bridge, but Kathleen Merryman writes that local agencies are close to finding the money to put decorative lights back up permanently.

Stryker: The final Stryker unit was stood up today at Fort Lewis.

Car tax: The governor signed a bill today allowing cities and counties to tack $20 to your vehicle registration to pay for road projects.

Prayer: The annual county prayer breakfast this morning drew hundreds.

The top local stories from the front page of Friday's News Tribune:

– A survey of members of the Tacoma Education Association shows some deep concerns with the management style of superintendent Charlie Milligan.

- The state may have to borrow much less than the $800 million anticipated to build the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge. But don't expect the toll to be any lower as a result.

– Sumner may no longer be the "Bulb Capital of the West," but that doesn't mean the city is ready to give up its historic sign proclaiming just that.

Here's a brief look at what was discussed at this morning's critique:

Highlight: The centerpiece story on the Business page regarding the state of the Elks building was judged as “very interesting” by most editors. The last time our photographers shot it was 2001 and it’s changed a lot. We liked the juxtaposition of the old and new photos and were glad we played photo large. It was a story that could have easily been on A1.

Lowlight: The A1 story on Sen. Maria Cantwell and gas-price gouging drew disdain from several editors. The story makes no specific allegation of price-gouging, meaning it probably didn’t warrant front-page treatment. Further, it doesn’t even define what is price-gouging? And it didn’t contain information on the record profits for oil companies, which may have provided more context.

Did it work for you? There was some active discussion around the Seattle sinkhole story that appeared on the bottom of the front page. A couple editors thought the story was too Seattle-centric for our readers, but didn’t dismiss the topical interest. They just wished it would have been written in a more regional fashion. Others at the table seemed OK with the story we had (which we pulled from the wire) since the topic has been quite a “talker.”

The top local stories from Page One of Friday's News Tribune:

– Four decades of neglect have not been kind to the monumental four-story Elks building in downtown Tacoma, nor have the transients who’ve stripped away its antique fixtures, pulled out its copper wiring and left the building’s ballrooms, auditoriums, club rooms and athletic facilities covered with grafitti.

– A brigade of 3,700 Fort Lewis-based soldiers have arrived in Baghdad, part of the Bush administration’s buildup. The soldiers are from the 4th Brigade, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team.

– About 40 fire inspectors, some from as far away as Nevada, are taking a noisy training course at the Tacoma Dome this week, familiarizing themselves with the safety issues involved in pyrotechnic displays.

Here is a quick look at some of the stories we're working on today:

- Pyrotechnics training: About forty fire inspectors, including locals and some from as far away as Nevada, are taking the pyrotechnics training course at the dome this week. The goal is get inspectors, who might not deal much in pyrotechnic displays, familiar with the kinds of pyro and their safety and code regulations.

- Gas prices: With some predicting gasoline prices could reach $4 a gallon by Memorial Day, Sen. Maria Cantwell will reintroduce legislation Wednesday that would outlaw price gouging in petroleum markets and set stiff fines and criminal penalties for those caught violating the law. Similar legislation sponsored by the Washington Democrat was defeated on the Senate floor by three votes in late 2005 and Cantwell said an informal vote count this time shows she likely has the votes to pass it.

- Fort Lewis tribute: Memorial service today at Fort Lewis for Pfc. Jeffrey A. Avery, 19, of Colorado Springs, Colo. The military policeman was killed in Iraq last week.

Editors gathered to discuss today's paper again this morning. Here's some of what was said:

Highlight: The Soundlife cover received much praise. One editor really liked the bagel story and the photos, but still doesn’t believe they’re that easy to make. Another liked the "how-to-ness" of the article. And someone else said "thank you" for the farmer’s market information.
Lowlight: One editor wished we would have put another subhead or something on the B section centerpiece that included a photo of workers on the Narrows Bridge and results from our Hot Button poll. It didn’t quite tie together.

Here are a few of the stories we're working on today.

- The lahar sirens are being tested in Orting, Puyallup, Sumner, Fife, Milton and unincorporated Pierce County today and we'll have a report about how the tests went. Look for it online around lunchtime and in the paper on Wednesday.

- Tacoma Community College has a system that will be of interest to other campuses in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings. It allows the school to alert students with an emergency message via email or text message to a cell phone in the event of an emergency.

- Reporter Sean Cockerham is heading to Seattle today to hear John Edwards speak to the AFL-CIO in the hopes of winning that organization's endorsement for the 2008 presidential election.

Highlight: Debby Abe’s A1 story on replacing soft drinks in vending machines at schools received much praise. Several editors were glad we had specifics and thought she did a good job of regionalizing the story. “It cuts a wide swath,” said one editor, referring to how many different districts were represented in the story.
Where does she find the time? Rosemary Ponnekanti earned praise for turning out lots of interesting stories, which is especially impressive since she’s a part-time reporter for the paper. See today's story.