This week's reader representative, Marce Edwards, has already taken eight calls questioning whether our headline over the Obama speech story: "A HISTORIC DAY" was correct.

By our style, it is. From the Associated Press Stylebook: "Use the article a before consonant sounds... Use the article an before vowel sounds."

So it would be "a historic day," but "an honorable man."

We do understand that many people grew up learning "an historic" as proper style.

• Kids need recess, Tacoma Superintendent Art Jarvis says. And starting next week, they're going to get it, even if it means a longer school day.

• The Tacoma City Association of Colored Women Club planned a get-together to watch Barack Obama's historic acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention.

• The requirements were tightened, and to no one's surprise, many more state schools failed to meet federally mandated student testing goals.

We had a lively discussion at the morning story meeting about whether we're underplaying the Democratic National Convention. We've had it on the front page every day, but other papers - including the Seattle dailies - have been blowing it out.

Deputy editor and political junkie Dale Phelps thinks we aren't giving it enough prominence. "It's the World Series of politics," he says. (Dale's also the sports editor). Online editor Mark Briggs notes that the subject is not generating much traffic on our Web site or even national Web sites. We wonder what readers expect from us. If they watch a speech on TV, do they expect a next-day "game" story with highlights? Do they want more analysis? Do they look to their print newspaper to chronicle history in a way that TV or online can't?

If you'd like to pipe in, comment below.

Also, look for blow out coverage of Obama's speech in tomorrow's newspaper.

• A man arrested by Lakewood police on suspicion of impersonating a police officer had a full load of police equipment with him when he was stopped. Investigators wonder just how far he may have carried his act.

• One last battle is playing out in Fife between the forces of agriculture and development. Development is certain to when, it's just a matter of how long it will take.

• The City of Tacoma spent nearly $292,000 on expenses related to this summer's Tall Ships Festival – slightly less than the city budgeted.

We all marveled at the performance of our team in reporting and presenting the annual WASL test scores. Our ace education reporter Debby Abe brought her experienced eye to the stories. Meanwhile reporter David Wickert and page designer Carmen Dybdahl worked to download, sort and present all the local school scores. Other reporters - Mike Archbold, Brent Champaco and Kris Sherman - contributed to the package with district-by-district analysis.

We dedicate a lot of effort and space to the test score announcement - more than most other news organizations. We are curious in hearing from readers about whether they use the newsprint charts and/or if they would rather have an online tool to look up and compare schools.

• The Pierce County Council voted Tuesday on a proposed 25-year extension of its agreement with LRI, a waste disposal company that runs the Graham landfill.

• Washington, your test results are in and there's good news and bad news. The test at issue is the much-debated WASL student learning exam.

• The crews and copters of the 4th Squadron, 6th Air Cavalry are returning to Fort Lewis after a lengthy tour flying missions in northern Iraq.

During our morning meeting, editors discussed whether we should have spotlighted the Michelle Obama speech from the Democratic convention, rather than the Ted Kennedy tribute. (Either way, we should have had a photo of Mrs. Obama out on the front.)

What do you think, readers?

To preempt a question we get every four years: Yes, we realize we are heavy on the Democratic Party coverage this week during their convention. And, yes, we plan to give Republicans the same treatment next week.

It was nice to wake up this morning to the fresh headline "Obama and Biden: That's the ticket." Most of us newsies went home last night figuring that the front page would have gone to press without word of Barack Obama's veep choice. Unfortunately, the paper would have been outdated by the time people picked it off the driveway. We had a plan in place to point people toward thenewstribune.com for the latest.

But our design and copy desk stayed alert through the evening for developments. Front page designer Carmen Dybdahl tweaked the layout several times as veep contenders were eliminated. Finally, about 10:15 p.m. our time, The Associated Press confirmed it was Joe Biden. So the crew - including Dybdahl, wire editor Janice Smith, copy editor Rick Arthur and copy desk chief Jim Kresse - went to work remaking the page. Meanwhile, local editor Matt Misterek posted the story online and sent out a breaking news email alert. The last page was sent to prepress about 11:15 p.m., according to copy editor Bruce Drysdale, who did the newsroom’s late check Friday night.

So, we lucked out a little with the timing - but the team took full advantage of the break to put out the best newspaper possible. We're lucky to have such pros.

As is our habit, the editors spent part of our morning meeting talking about how we did yesterday and what we can do better today.

Some discussion about whether we underplayed ice cave rescue story online and in print. We did put up an online update yesterday afternoon, but it got little traffic online. Probably could have played story more prominently in print and put some of our staff resources into it yesterday. We remain a Pierce County focused newsroom, but we shouldn't hesitate to jump in on a compelling regional story.

Glad we nailed the story on Tall Ships festival deficit. We have more questions about how this happened and what happens next. We're planning a followup for online today and in tomorrow's paper. Let us know what questions you'd like answered.

On the cover of today's newspaper is a message inviting readers to sign up for Breaking News Alerts from The News Tribune so you can be "among the first to know" who will be tapped as running mates for Obama and McCain. What about all those people who already signed up for Obama's email or text alert for the same information?

I know several people locally who are signed up - including one who I'm certain is NOT voting for the Illinois senator in November - and it will be interesting to see whether they know the news before the news business knows the news.

Like most newsrooms on "Veepwatch" today, we're anxiously anticipating the announcement (so we know what will be leading our web site and newspaper). But instead of expecting the wires to break the news, we're expecting an individual in the room to receive a text or email from the Obama campaign with the news. If that happens, then any news consumer who signed up for the alert will truly be the first to know.

• Folks living in the 1700 block of Tacoma's South 87th Street have a new neighbor. He's John Henry Mathers, 56, and he's only the second convicted sex offender awarded his freedom since the Special Commitment Center opened on McNeil Island in 1990. Mathers, 56, has completed his treatment program and received an unconditional release.

• The Tacoma Planning Commission is moving forward on a wide-ranging series of zoning changes intended to increase densities in areas around the city. The proposed changes have some neighborhoods worried.

• National Guardsmen from all over the state begin to ship out to Fort McCoy in Wisconsin for additional training. From there, it's on to the war zone in Iraq.

• It's election day in Washington and we'll have complete results, both online and in Wednesday's paper editions of The News Tribune.

• The U.S. Army isn't afraid of a little water. Army reservists were hard at work Tuesday removing hundreds of old tires from the waters off Saltwater State Park.

• People who live near the Tacoma Narrows bridges have been making a lot of noise about the roar of traffic over the bridges. Now, relief is on the way – a three-month project to build noise barriers begins Sept. 8.

• The mystery of the abandoned car in Wapato Lake has been solved. The car's owner says the car was stolen several years ago from Pacific Lutheran University, then apparently driven into the lake.

• Hot enough for you? If not, it should be even warmer today, weather experts warn.

• The name of Lee Giles is back in the news again. The former Tacoma police officer is being sued, along with the City of Tacoma and Pierce County, by a woman who was sexually abused as a child. The suit revolves around videotapes of the abuse that were found in Giles' home.

• Pacific Police Chief John Calkins has pleaded not guilty to charges of driving while intoxicated and returned to work.

• If you've been taking the bus to save money otherwise spent on gas, be aware that fares may soon be going up. The Pierce Transit board is considering increases, including a 25-cent boost in the basic fare.

Like students, parents and teachers, the education team at The News Tribune is getting ready to go back to school. We're in the reporting stages of our annual package that usually comes out Labor Day weekend. Here's what we're working on:

• A story about school calendars/schedules. We get frequent complaints from parents about the hodge-podge of late-start, early-release, in-service days and other school schedule quirks. With several school districts unveiling new schedules, we thought it would be a good time to take a hard look at reasons for and effects of the school calendar. School districts say out-of-classroom time is more important than ever for training and planning to improve school and teacher performance. But how does it affect families' schedules and student performance? If you'd like to share how the school calendar affects your life, contact reporter Kris Sherman.

• A district-by-district roundup of new policies, schedules, schools opening, etc.

• The annual statistical dump of WASL test scores and our attempt to make sense of it. This is due out the last week of August or the first week of September. It takes a lot of work on our part to assemble pages of results from 200 or so schools in our readership area. We've discussed whether we should just refer readers online for information about their school's performance. But we think the ink-on-paper charts are easier to scan and compare than the online presentation from the state, which offers greater depth and graphics.

If you have other ideas, drop me an e-mail.

• East Pierce Fire Chief Dan Packer answered his last call Thursday as a long string of police and fire vehicles carried his body to a memorial service in Federal Way.


• After Waste Connections Inc. completes its acquisition of Tacoma's Harold LeMay Enterprises, the California company will have a virtual monopoly on garbage collection in Pierce County outside of Tacoma.


• Testimony continued Thursday in Barbara Corey's lawsuit against Pierce County, which the fired former assistant prosecutor spending much of the day on the witness stand.

Among the top local stories in Wednesday's News Tribune:

• Doubts about whether anti-gambling forces in Lakewood would have enough influence to bring an a ban on mini-casinos to a public vote have been erased after more than 4,000 valid signatures were collected on anit-gambling petitions.

• In Tacoma and elsewhere, Tuesday was National Night Out and crime-fighting activitists and others were out in full force.

• More than a thousand jobs at Weyerhaeuser's Federal Way headquarters will disappear, victims of the national economic slowdown.

Beth Stone of Tacoma wrote to complain that we haven't written about the 6th Congressional District race (Norm Dicks' seat) in the news section yet.

I encourage the News Tribune to cover the 6th Congressional district race. The voters deserve to know what each of the candidates stand for.

To my knowledge, the News Tribune has mentioned the names of the 6th District challengers twice in the past two months – on June 8, on the listing of filers, and in the July 25, endorsement of the incumbent.

If the News Tribune has the privilege of telling us how to vote, shouldn’t it also assume the responsibility of informing us about the candidates’ views?

She goes on to tout the merits of one of the challengers.

I thought I'd share this with a broader audience since other readers might be wondering the same thing. Here's my reply to her:

Your concern about our congressional coverage got forwarded to me (I’m the news editor in charge of local political coverage). You’re right that not much has appeared in print yet. But that’s not to say we haven’t been busy.

We have four congressional districts in our circulation area (plus 11 legislative districts, the governor, the Supreme Court and county races). We can’t do it all, and we definitely can’t do it all right this minute. A reporter is working on a roundup of the races in the four congressional districts that will probably run this weekend.

Secondly, we just published our online voter guide over the weekend (it’ll stay there through the primary). Here’s a link.

Check out the 6th District page. It’s a lot of information – too much for us to get in the print edition before the primary. So we’ll refer readers to the online guide as often as possible.

Here is why it’s online only: After Filing Week in July June, we send questionnaires to more than 130 candidates. It takes two months to prepare the questionnaires, send them out and collect and publish the responses. It's an incredible amount of work. Until a couple of years ago, we just saved all of the responses for the 32-page guide we publish in October for the general election because of the amount of work involved in organizing and publishing it. But we managed to streamline and automate some of the work (thanks to Web programmer Aaron Ritchey), so now I can get it done right around the first of August, just in time for the primary. We figure online only is better than not at all.

Is it enough? No, of course not. It’ll never be enough. I just wanted you to know there’s a lot more going on than you can see.