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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Courts reporter Adam Lynn writes that appellate judges have issued a decision in the Charles Ray Walters case.
Walters is the bad-boy-made-good who ran down Michael James Coon in a Tacoma hospital parking lot in 1988 and has lately been maneuvering to use a state Supreme Court decision voiding the state's felony murder law to wipe his record clean.
From our May editorial:
(Walters) wants the Court of Appeals to preserve the order vacating his conviction and throw out only the reinstatement of charges. He wants absolution for a crime that he readily admits he committed.
That is asking too much. Justice requires an official reckoning. Without a conviction on the books, there is none.
The Court of Appeals decision should make neither side of the controversy happy. The prosecution can't secure its conviction of Walters by forcing him back into court, but neither can Walters get off scot-free.
Sounds like perfect justice for an imperfect case.
I'd gotten far down the path of life before running into the question: Who owns the rain?
You'd think some phenomena of nature would be exempt from mundane property laws. But rain isn't one of them.
As it turns out, the State of Washington holds title to the April showers. That's what the creators of 21 Acres – an experimental farm in Woodinville – found out when they decided to irrigate dozens of garden plots with rainwater rather than paying for city water.
Without a permit from the Department of Ecology, that's illegal. So, technically, is using a barrel beneath a downspout to collect water from the gutter.
This is disillusioning. There's the whole idea that the rain belongs to the government. And there's the dismal thought that – even in Western Washington – the drizzle is scarce enough that someone might make a fuss about watering gardens with what falls on your property.
If we were talking Yakima County, it would be one thing. But this is the land of mildew, pineapple expresses, 60-day spells of damp cruddy skies, and cold, wet Junes.
I'm afraid to ask: Who owns the clouds? The wind? The birds? The magma? The northern lights?
The editorial board visited today with Joy Gomez-Gonzalez, the new director of Centro Latino, and former director Alfonso Montoya. It was mostly a getting-to-know-you meeting, as Gomez-Gonzalez is still settling into the job she assumed on July 1. She has a lot of plans for the nonprofit organization, and you might get to meet her this weekend at Ethnic Fest in Wright Park at the Centro Latino booth.
One tidbit the two told us about is one that tall ships fans should find interesting. The tall ship, La Gloria Colombiana, will be on the Foss Waterway Aug. 2-6 as part of the 6th Annual United Latino Festival 2008. The ship’s visit is sponsored by the Pierce County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Foss Waterway Seaport and Tall Ships Tacoma.
La Gloria is a barque based in Cartagena, Colombia. At 75.9 meters long, it is slightly smaller than the Eagle (89.9 meters), the biggest of the 2008 Tall Ships participants. It was built in 1968 as a training vessel for the Colombian navy, and Gomez-Gonzalez says this will be the first visit to the United States for many of the sailors. The ship participated in the 1976 tall ships parade in New York marking the nation's bicentennial.
1. To boost recruitment and retention figures that had sagged under the weight of the Iraq War, the military responded by lowering its educational, age and moral standards. That last one is creating the most blowback for the Army.
2. Tacoma school officials might be looking at recess backwards. Instead of detracting from classroom time, it can make that time more productive – if it’s done right. Research by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation shows that structured recess led by a trained adult can make children more productive and less disruptive when they go back into the classroom.
About our editorials:
If you have comments or questions about these topics, please email them to patrick.ocallahan@thenewstribune.com. Editorials represent the consensus view of The News Tribune's editorial board.
Want to sit in on a daily ed board meeting? Email cheryl.tucker@thenewstribune.com to make an appointment.
