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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Top Two may have been
Tuesday's big winner
The returns left some Democrats hoping for help from on high from Barack Obama.
All the surviving candidates are happy with their percentages. All of them did better than expected, and all of their opponents did worse than expected. All of them have the momentum going into the fall.
Tuesday's primary is being spun every which way by partisans using it to project victories in November and keep the campaign cash rolling in.
The returns may or may not say something about the general election – depending on the offices involved, the candidates on the ballot and other factors. But let's take this primary at its face value: a snapshot of how politically engaged Washingtonians voted a few months before the final event.
Start with the governor's race.
What lessons to take from the top two election? Rossi and Gregoire will probably be close again, despite all her advantages as incumbent. No great anti-WASL groundswell evident in the SPI race. The primary seems not to have produced an undue number of D vs. D or R vs. R races, but the smaller parties – especially Libertarians – are going to be shut out of the electoral process like never before in this state. But voters seem happier now that they can dance all around the ballot again.
The mug-tossing Peninsula fire commissioner appears to be it again. But instead of bashing opponents with tableware, Allen Yanity is using verbal harassment to intimidate the daughter-in-law of fellow commissioner and nemesis Jim Bosch, according to an independent investigator. This guy needs to be recalled; a harassment victim could sue the district (i.e., the taxpayers) for damages. Without a recall, this could go until 2012.
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.

