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.
Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/tntopinion.
- All
- Editorial cartoons (285)
- Editorial outtakes (325)
- Election (121)
- How we work (191)
- Taking notice (1871)
- What's coming (989)
- Who's visiting (124)
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| << < | Current | > >> | ||||
| 1 | 2 | |||||
| 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
| 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 |
| 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
| 31 | ||||||
- August 2009 (86)
- July 2009 (91)
- June 2009 (94)
- May 2009 (80)
- April 2009 (91)
- March 2009 (99)
- February 2009 (90)
- January 2009 (125)
- December 2008 (111)
- November 2008 (89)
- October 2008 (111)
- September 2008 (87)
- More...
Good news: We're skinnier than Minnesotans, Great Plainsians and Alaskans. Bad news: The whole country's getting fatter.
But why are folks in that other Washington skinnier than us?
Washington, D.C. August 19, 2008 – Washington was named the 32nd most obese state in America according to the fifth annual F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies Are Failing in America, 2008
report from the Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). The state’s adult obesity rate is 24.5 percent, an increase for the third year in a row.
Nationally, adult obesity rates rose in 37 states in the past year. Rates rose for a second consecutive year in 24 states and for a third consecutive year in 19 states. No state saw a decrease. Though many promising policies have emerged to promote physical activity and good nutrition in communities, the report concludes that they are not being adopted or implemented at levels needed to turn around this health crisis. ...
College presidents are fooling themselves if they think lowering the drinking age will end binge drinking on campuses. The big problem with with 18-year-old drinking is the combination of inexperienced drivers and alcohol.
Georgia on our mind: Russia’s pretext for attacking Georgia – including the “destruction” of Ossetia’s capital – looks like the “Polish aggression” Hitler cited as justification for invading Poland. And when is Russia going to actually, as opposed to verbally, withdraw?
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.
Here's an interesting perspective on the Olympics and why so many Chinese fans seem to be rooting for the Americans.

By Francesco Sisci
Special to The Washington Post
BEIJING — The Olympic Games aren’t just a show for me; they’re a family affair, and one that’s turning out quite differently from what I’d expected. I’m Italian, but I’ve lived in China for about 20 years. My wife is Chinese — and very patriotic — and my two daughters grew up here. When they were small they knew that they were half-Italian, but when a Beijing taxi driver recently asked Maria, the younger one, “How do you say Italian in Italian?,” she whispered to me in Chinese: “Dad, how do I say it in Italian?”
So you can imagine my state of mind before these games. I thought we all had to be very patriotic — that is, pro-China.
But when my mother announced before the games that she hoped that China would win the most medals, my wife, Luoyan, looked at me as if my mother had said something inappropriate. “Well,” she replied, “I hope that China comes in second and America will be first.”
She’s not alone. There’s a sizable undercurrent of hope here that the United States will top the medal rankings.
