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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Remember the devastation caused at Mount Rainier National Park by the storms of 2006? The entire park was closed for weeks due to road damage, and the park's trail system has yet to fully recover.
Was this just a hint of things to come as the effects of climate change take hold?
That's a serious question for those of us who recreate in the Northwest's great national parks It's the subject of a timely public panel discussion set for 6 p.m. Sept. 3 at the University of Washington's Kane Hall. And you can read a Viewpoint on the subject on the op-ed page Thursday by Sean Smith, Northwest regional director of the National Parks Conservation Association.
From the Washington Parks and Forest Coalition:
The Washington Parks and Forest Coalition is hosting this panel discussion on global climate change and how it will affect our national parks, especially Olympic, Mount Rainier and North Cascades national parks . . .
Would you, like me, rather be waterboarded than fall victim to endless speechifying?
Below is the lineup for today's Democratic National Convention. You'd have to be one yellow-, yellow- yellow-dog Democrat to want to sit through all of this.
3:00 PM - 5:00 PM (LOCAL)
Call to Order
The Honorable Leticia Van de Putte
State Senator from Texas
Co-Chair, Democratic National Convention
Invocation
Archbishop Demetrios
Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in America
Presentation of Colors
Colorado Chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars
Franz Wedeman, Thomas Chesner, David Shuker, John Harrington
Pledge of Allegiance
Paul Bucha
Ridgefield, Connecticut recipient of the Medal of Honor for distinguished
service as a commanding officer in Vietnam
National Anthem
Robert Moore
Distinguished singer from South Dakota and elected council member of the
Rosebud Sioux Tribe
Presidential Nomination Process
TNT biz columnist Dan Voelpel has previously noted that a huge loss in hedge funds probably cost Russell Investments CEO Craig Ueland his job this summer.
But the Wall Street Journal Monday carried the most complete story I've yet seen on the magnitude of the company's hedge fund fiasco. Russell, known for stability, lost $4 billion when its hedge fund investments blew up.
Russell's parent company, Northwestern Mutual, didn't much like that. Bye-bye, Mr. Ueland.
Find it here on the public part of the Journal's Web site. (Oops. That's a paid site, so you'll only get the first three paragraphs of the WSJ story. Check out tomorrow's business page for the whole story.)
Here's part:
Russell traditionally has stuck to more prosaic areas such as running mutual funds or advising pensions and endowments on where to place investments. The firm's woes point to the perils of expanding beyond a core business into the more-lucrative but treacherous field of alternative investments, such as hedge funds.
The funds Russell is closing, which focused on institutional investors, are gradually returning principal to clients, although when all the money will be reimbursed is unclear. The funds of funds' assets shrank to less than $2 billion from $6 billion since last year.
The company is gradually reimbursing clients, mostly institutional investors, but when all will be repaid isn't clear.
A Russell employee told me Saturday that top brass is saying a decision on whether and where to relocate Russell's Tacoma headquarters will be made by the end of the year – regardless of whether a permanent new CEO has been named by then.
Before the Tacoma City Council moves ahead toward an $80 million renovation of the Murray Morgan, questions must be answered: Where does the additional money needed come from and what would it otherwise have been used for? Would a renovated bridge really last 75 years? And would any additional costs of maintaining an old bridge divert money from a public works budget that is already grossly inadequate for the city’s street repairs?
The performance of Clover Park School District’s schools is disappointing. What’s not disappointing is the passion of parents demanding change and the interest of the Lakewood City Council.
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.
Stop to think about the majestic catalpa tree that towers near the legendary Frisko Freeze drive-in on Tacoma's Division Avenue near Wright Park.
Wouldn't there be a hole in the world if it were gone?
That's why I commend Todd Matthews' piece on Exit 133. He reports that local tree lovers are promoting the idea of officially designating particularly notable and significant trees as "heritage trees," subject to public review before they may be cut down.
Check it out.
