Mark Briggs, our Web site editor, and Aaron Ritchey, our news programmer, may have come up with a way to return movie times to page 2 of SoundLife Monday through Thursday.

We dropped the movie times for area theaters because we wanted more space for articles and because several theater chains made it hard to get the data from them.

But when readers complained Briggs, Ritchey, Norma Martin (our features editor) and Mary Anderson (the calendars editor) began trying to find a way to restore the listings.

The potential solution arose when we started looking at movie listings we get for our Web site through a different service.

It may take a few weeks, but we think that Aaron can capture the HTML data on theaters and showtimes that we publish on the Web, and convert that to text that can be published in the newspaper.

We'll keep you posted.

In a column about race and politics (here) columnist Leonard Pitts said that, in the West Virginia primary, Hillary Clinton beat Barack Obama "like a red-headed stepchild," attributing the phrase to his father.

Here's what Ralph H. Holland, a TNT reader, said in an e-mail to Pitts:

Dear Mr. Pitts,

I started to read your article as printed in todays (May 26, 2008) Tacoma News Tribune and was at first startled and then flabbergasted at your totally insulting and insensitive use of the phrase " beaten like a red-headed stepchild" !! As a former, now gray and balding, red-headed stepchild it is a insult akin to those which you would find offensive, let alone find uttered in "polite" company.

You should be both ashamed and apologetic to use such a phrase in this age of tolerance.

As a matter of course, and to attune yourself to the insensitivity of this phrase, I would suggest that you read about the Bataan "Death March" of WW II and the treatment of American POW's with red hair.

I would like to assume that your apology will appear in a forthcoming column and look forward to the same.

Leonard Pitts later responded to Mr. Holland, saying:

Please accept my apologies. I had no idea the expression scraped such a raw place. I stand enlightened and I won't use it again.
Yours Truly,
Leonard Pitts, Jr.

Reader Naceem Navidi writes:

I find it astonishing that you would allow your editors, reporters and writers to use the seriously out-dated term "American Indian" versus "Native American".

We don't see headlines saying Barack Obama attended a "colored" or "Negro"
church, for example. American Indian was considered old and even insulting as far back as the 80's.

A change would help the News Tribune seem more modern and in touch. Thank you.

Here's my response:

As you can see here:

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/aihmterms.html

and here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_American_name_controversy

there is still a lot of dispute over both these terms. The US government and the AP stylebook, which governs how newspapers and most news organizations use language, use American Indian over Native American.

A lot of tribes prefer Indian. Russell Means, for instance, who no one would call a sissy as a native-rights or Indian-rights advocate, hates the term Native American and would much rather be called Indian.

I don't think this issue is as settled as all of us might like, but I certainly don't think American Indian is derogatory or out of date.

What do you think?

After our Sunday paper -- and it's return to a Tacoma News Tribune flag -- reader Alex Griffin wrote the reader rep:

I have two questions. First, why doesn’t the News Tribune have Tacoma in its title? The paper is one of the city’s greatest advocates and it’s ridiculous for a newspaper not to have its city’s name in the title. Secondly, what would it take to get Tacoma put back in the News Tribune?

Here's my answer:

The decision to take Tacoma out of the name was made before my time, so I can’t answer why definitively. But I think it was the right choice and I can talk about that.

Like many papers in the last part of the 20th Century, the TNT was a paper that started in one central city, but – with suburbanization and sprawl – came to represent a much larger and more diverse area. It made sense to call it the Tacoma News Tribune when it served primarily Tacoma. Today Tacoma represents about 25 percent of our market and the same proportion of our circulation. So, for three-fourths of our readers, a Tacoma-centric paper isn’t what they’re looking for.

I believe that part of the reason for the change was that Bill Honeysett, the publisher at the time, recognized before most people that what had been the Tacoma area was becoming something much larger – the South Sound. It was distinct from the Seattle market, but also distinct from what had been though of as “greater Tacoma,” Tacoma, Fircrest, and the unincorporated communities that were growing up contiguous to Tacoma (Spanaway, Parkland, UP, Lakewood).

The paper’s new market stretched from South King County to North Thurston County, and out into exploding East Pierce County – Puyallup and South Hill, Bonney Lake, Graham, etc.

The paper’s choice was to stay Tacoma-centric and confine its ambitions and future to a smaller area, or to grow and expand as the population and residential geography of the area boomed. They made the right choice – to grow.

As did papers in Fort Lauderdale; Minneapolis; Santa Ana, Ca. (Orange County); Arlington Heights, Ill.; Newark and other rapidly growing metro areas, someone decided to drop the city from the paper's name to better identify with a larger, more diverse area whose identity and geographic boundaries were growing well beyond the old cities that were tightly grown around one urban center.

What it would take to change it is a publisher and company ownership that saw returning to the name Tacoma as both true geographically and advantageous from a business/marketing perspective. I don’t think either condition is likely.

Thanks for taking the time to write, and for the questions.

We get occasional e-mails asking about that case. here's the one I got Sunday from reader Bunnee Butterfield:

In February, a woman on a bicycle in Fircrest was involved in a hit-and-run accident. She was physically moved off the road and then the driver left her, unconscious and obviously hurt. There were some follow-up stories about the police identifying the make of the car and an attorney representing the owners of the car coming forward, but I never saw anything more - no identification of the driver, no indication of what kind of charges were filed, nothing about penalties for the driver and nothing about how the victim is doing. I read the paper pretty thoroughly every day and have even searched your website and googled the story a few times to see if I could find any additional information.

In other hit-and-run stories, there is usually a subsequent story which identifies the driver and at least indicates the charges being filed. If I were a conspiracy theorist (and maybe I am), I would suggest that since this case involved a young driver with wealthy parents (Mercedes, attorney), the whole incident was handled quietly and out of the public eye. Fine for the driver, I guess, but I would think the victim and the victim's family would be a little disturbed. And if privilege buys this kind of discretion, I guess I'm disturbed, too.

Do you have a policy on following up on stories such as this? Or does the amount of time elapsed mean decrease the value of reporting the outcome? I'm just curious about what is considered newsworthy and how long a "tail" that newsworthiness has.

Thanks for your time.

Here's the response, from reporter Stacey Mulick:

The Fircrest hit-and-run case is one that many readers are interested in. Adam and I hear from readers a couple of times a week it seems regarding updates in this case.

Adam (our courts reporter) and I check frequently (ie several times a week) to see if charges have been filed in this case. As of 8 a.m. this morning, no charges have been filed. It is The News Tribune’s policy to NOT name someone UNTIL they’ve been charged with a crime or at least make a preliminary appearance before a judge, who finds probable cause to hold that person on the allegations he/she is accused of.

Neither has happened in this case so far. Sheriff’s detectives have identified an 18-year-old woman they believe was driving the car that morning. They arrested her and administratively booked her into Pierce County Jail. She has retained an attorney and has NOT cooperated with the investigation.

A sheriff’s spokesman told me recently that detectives were waiting to complete forensic tests in this case before forwarding their entire case file to prosecutors for charges. They are handling it that way because the driver has been identified and once charges are filed, that starts a clock. If the tests are not done by the time the case goes to trial, that would be a bigger problem.

I’ve seen numerous vehicular crimes handled this way, particularly when the driver has been identified. It often takes weeks and sometimes months for charges to be filed in vehicular crimes incidents because of the testing that law enforcement wants completed. There is one prosecutor who handles vehicular crimes and she has quite a case load to review and try.

I will check again with the Sheriff’s Department today to see where the investigation is.

This is not a story that we are ignoring. We continue to make checks on it and will report when there is a new development in the case.

On occasion, we will write about this case on the Lights & Sirens crime blog.

From reader Jerry Filkins:

Hey David,
What happened to the survey on Bimbo’s Spaghetti Sauce?

When last heard from reporter C.R. Robert's asked readers what they wanted to see happen to the famed sauce. Here's C.R.'s answer to Mr. Filkins:

What comes next is up to David Bobo, executive director of the Greater Tacoma Convention & Trade Center, and the city. I was working with David and his chef, who both wanted to know what the public had in mind. The response was overwhelming, saying that people wanted to taste the sauce once again. The results have been forwarded, and I’m expecting some kind of a response from David soon. I’ll let everyone know once there’s a decision.

Stay tuned . . .

PARADE magazine shares what they have coming for this Sunday:

My Last Lecture
By Randy Pausch
At many colleges, professors are asked to give a “last lecture.” Professor Randy Pausch learned that he had only a few months to live and decided to share with his students—and us—what matters in life.

Thoroughly Modern Mila
By Jeanne Wolf
For eight years, Mila Kunis played the sassy and self-absorbed Jackie on the hit TV series That ‘70s Show. She reveals how her role was won with a little white lie and talks about her latest film, Forgetting Sarah Marshall. The actress also continues to voice the character Meg on Family Guy.

Meet PARADE’s All-America High School Boys Basketball Team
By Michael O’Shea
Brandon Jennings “one of the top players ever,” from Mouth of Wilson, Va., has been named the 2008 Player of the Year on PARADE’s 52nd annual All-America High School Boys Basketball team. This year’s team includes players from 19 states, with Georgia leading the way with six.

In Step With: Tracy Ullman
By James Brady
Tracey Ullman is funny and audacious, and she has seven Emmy Awards to prove it. The quick-witted Brit launches a new series aimed at her fellow Americans called, Tracey Ullman’s State of the Union, on Showtime.

Reader Jim writes:

Dear Mr. Zeeck,

I must have missed something. I don't recall even seeing the name Jeremiah Wright in your newspaper. If your paper chose to ignore the relationship between the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Barack Obama could you please explain why? If Obama was running as a Republican would you consider it news?

Respectfully yours,

We ran the original Obama fires Wright story here. And had another more general story that mentioned him today. That one is here.

We've also run additional stories about Wright before the most recent controversy. And there have been others on the Web site that haven't appeared in the paper.

From Parade magazine (for Sunday, March 16th):

The Complicated Life of Jodie Foster
By Dotson Rader
Actress Jodie Foster talks about her childhood, reveals how her two boys are the center of her world and admits she’s still not sure where she’s headed in life.

Save Money On Taxes
By Lynn Brenner
The deadline for completing your tax return is right around the corner. We’ll explain how to avoid scams and know the rules to help you save money.

Save Great Things To Do
In Great American Cities
By Lynn Schnurnberger
If you’re taking time off with your family, make vacation time count. Check out the U.S. cities that offer everything from museums to music to maritime adventures. Best of all, they’re full of kid-friendly activities that keep parents entertained too!

In Step With: Laura Linney
By James Brady
Actress Laura Linney, who has been nominated for three Academy Awards, will star as Abigail in HBO’s new miniseries, John Adams. Linney explains how she’ll find time for her wedding during her busy filming schedule.

Brian Gawley of the Peninsula Daily News reports that the effort to require taping of closed-door executive sessions appears over for this session.

Gawley reports "Rep. Lynn Kessler . . . vowed to try again next year:"

Open-government advocates led by Attorney General Rob McKenna and Auditor Brian Sonntag sought the law, saying it would lead to better accountability.

"I talked to House Speaker Frank Chopp, and he said it looks like I don't have support on both sides of the aisle," Kessler said in a telephone interview. "But I'm going to bring it back again next year.

Full story here.

County- and city-government lobbyists appear to have won this round. Wonder why they fought so hard to defeat a bill that was easy and inexpensive to follow and only required them to prove -- in rare circumstances -- that they were just following the law?

Julie Muhlstein, Everett Herald columnist, says she won't be voting in a primary or participating in a party caucus. Column here.

She says: "In my line of work -- although as a columnist I have expressed views on many issues -- taking part in partisan activity risks raising questions about fairness."

Her editor leaves the decision for journalists to decide, but notes that participation is public and may harm the newspaper's credibility.

Our paper is more restrictive. Here's my Sunday column on the same topic.

Your thoughts?

Mark Briggs, our online editor, has worked with all our staffers who cover politics to create a new place to find the very best Web news content about Washington elections.

Check it out here.

It uses new technology developed by Scott Karp and his outfit, Pulish2.

Read more about it on Mark Briggs' blog.