Scott Fontaine covers Fort Lewis, McChord Air Force Base, the Washington National Guard and the veteran community. Fontaine has worked at The News Tribune since 2006. E-mail along story suggestions and tips to scott.fontaine@thenewstribune.com
Or, if you prefer, you can send mail to The News Tribune, PO Box 11000, Tacoma 98411.
Also contributing:
Matt Misterek is the communities and military team leader at The News Tribune and has supervised local military coverage since 2003.
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USA Today has an article on the building boom around military installations, and how planners are aiming for "smarter" growth.
Fort Lewis is the article's focus on how to do it right. If you regularly keep tabs on Lewis' growth, there's not a ton new. But it's always helpful to read what a reporter with a fresh set of eyes wrote.
From the story:
Fort Lewis, a post south of Tacoma, Wash., is touted as a model of the new philosophy. The active-duty population was 18,000 five years ago. It's now 30,000 and is expected to top 32,000 by 2012, says Col. Cynthia Murphy, garrison commander.
Fort Lewis stretches across 86,000 acres, much of it used for training missions. About 30% of families live in the 3,800 homes there — most built after World War II. Another 290 homes will be built next year and up to 2,000 more over time.
The military doesn't want to touch land used for training, which it views as vital. That means overhauling the base's old development plan. About 600 people met in workshops — "from junior soldiers to the most senior leadership to families of deployed soldiers … single soldiers, retirees," Murphy says.

