This blog is designed to give readers a glimpse of our editorial-page operation and how we make our decisions. We’ll let you know who we’re meeting with, what they’re telling us, what events and issues we’re looking at. We’ll also pass on information and observations that may not make our print editions. In addition to the editorial board members who post on this blog, the board includes Publisher David Zeeck, Executive Editor Karen Peterson and Managing Editor Dale Phelps.
Editorial board bloggers
Editorial page editor Patrick O’Callahan oversees the online and printed opinion sections of The News Tribune. He came to The News Tribune in 1987 and has worked at Washington newspapers since 1979. E-mail him at patrick.ocallahan@thenewstribune.com
Editorial writer Cheryl Tucker, in addition to writing commentary, manages the daily production of the editorial and op-ed pages and edits letters to the editor. She began her journalism career in 1974 at a Virginia newspaper and came to The News Tribune in 1978. E-mail her at cheryl.tucker@thenewstribune.com.
Editorial writer Kim Bradford manages the online opinion section of The News Tribune and writes commentary. She joined The News Tribune in 2005 after working 11 years at newspapers in Washington and Maryland. E-mail her at kim.bradford@thenewstribune.com.
Guest bloggers
Editor emeritus David Seago retired from The News Tribune in 2008 after 41 years at The News Tribune. E-mail him at sds99@harbornet.com.
Richard Davis’ column on state politics frequently runs in the print edition of The News Tribune. He was president of the Washington Research Council, a statewide think tank, from 1986 through 2006. Currently, as a principal with The Simeon Partnership, Inc. he coordinates the activities of the Washington Alliance for a Competitive Economy, a business coalition founded by the Research Council, the Association of Washington Business and the Washington Roundtable.
Karen Irwin of University Place, a mother of four, has been a frequent contributor to The News Tribune's print editions. She has also written for Seattle's Child, Puget Sound Parent, the Tacoma Weekly, the Fayetteville Observer Times and the political blog Right Meets Left. She graduated from California Lutheran University with a degree in English literature and is currently working toward a history degree.
Michael Allen, professor of history at the University of Washington Tacoma, was born and raised in Ellensburg. He served with the U.S. Marines in Vietnam from 1969-70. He has written five books, including the prize-winning "Patriot's History of the United States: From Columbus' Great Discovery to the War on Terror," "Rodeo Cowboys in the North American Imagination" and "Western Rivermen, 1763-1861: Ohio and Mississippi Boatmen and the Myth of the Alligator Horse." Allen lives in Tacoma and Ellensburg and has three children.
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Backers of an $18 billion Roads & Transit measure on the November ballot are crying foul over opposition campaign ads that hit the airwaves last week.
The Yes on Roads and Transit campaign sent letters to KIRO Radio and Fisher Communications complaining the ads are so misleading they should be pulled off the air. Such ads, deputy campaign manager Jon Scholes said, “represent the worst in American politics.”
Complaint highlights:
1. The ads say Proposition 1 will cost $157 billion over 50 years; they also say the taxes “actually will last forever.”
Backers say the Sound Transit portion will cost $10.8 billion; with interest and other costs, it would total $38 billion over 20 years. The roads portion would cost about $7 billion in 2006 dollars; with debt, the total would be $14.17 billion, to be paid off no later than 2037. Backers say opponents are including Sound Transit taxes voters approved in 1996 in their figures.
2. Ads say the average household would pay almost $2,000 a year in taxes if the measure passes. Backers say it would cost $230 a year.
3. Ads say Proposition 1 would double the local sales tax. Backers say it would increase the sales tax by .006. To double it would require rising the sales tax by .020.
The Seattle Times reports that the ads were placed by a group called NoToProp1.Org, funded entirely so far by Mark Baerwalt of Seattle, a longtime Sound Transit foe.
