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...
XML Feeds- CustomScoop
- preserve
- MrSinister
- benramm
- Guest Users: 440
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin – teacher's daughter, oil worker's wife – in the supermarket aisle (with baby, right).
Whatever else Palin adds to the GOP ticket, it's a good bet she knows how many houses she owns.
Saturday: Sen. John McCain's choice of the almost unknown Sarah Palin as his running mate is an audacious dice throw in an unpredictable presidential election.
Sunday: Beyond telling readers where its stories come from, The News Tribune pushes to keep itself open in many other ways. Our goal is to make our operations as transparent as possible. This has long been an important value at The News Tribune; we emphasize it as part of our year-long commemoration of the newspaper's 125th anniversary.
Monday: Someone like Joseph Edward Duncan presents the toughest of all cases for opponents of capital punishment and for those who'd like to oppose it – if it weren't for killers like him.
Tuesday: Initiative 297 is finally dead, and with it, any delusions that this state can veto federal plans to dump nuclear waste. Thank goodness for that. Washington’s got far nastier stuff headed out than the government was originally planning to send in.
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.
Based merely on conversations happening around the water cooler here and what I'm reading in comments sections around the Web, I'm wondering if there isn't a gender gap on the Sarah Palin pick.
Many men seem to think her pick by McCain was a masterful move while many women say they are insulted that McCain believes he can get their vote by picking anyone in a skirt, no matter how inexperienced.
Pollsters undoubtedly will tell us soon whether I'm right.
Nothing has moved yet from our regular opinionators regarding John McCain's choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for his running mate. But I spotted this, in which former White House counsel Nanette Everson makes the case for why picking Palin was a good move for McCain.
By Nanette Everson
Let’s face it. John McCain’s a loner with a stern, “it’s-a-dangerous-world” message and fairly cold eyes. He isn’t charismatic. And no one can accuse him of being a sunny guy. In fact, he’s better known for his short, hot temper.
So how’s McCain going to overcome America’s infatuation with Barack Obama — a man who has bewitched voters with his smile, enchanted youth with the novelty of his candidacy, and lured war-weary Americans with his message of “change” and promises of free, universal everything?
The answer is clear. McCain needs Alaska’s Gov. Sarah Palin, who will connect with voters as an authentic American folk hero. First, as a governor she passes the competence test. American voters have shown again and again they will vote governors into the White House. There’s Clinton. Carter. Bush the Younger. Reagan.
So why not Palin, a heartbeat away from the aged McCain?
We got a letter this week from Bill Mitchell of Anacortes plugging efforts to save the Enchantress, a shipwrecked tugboat in Fidalgo Bay just east of Anacortes. Since it's from out of our circulation area – and much longer than our 250-word limit – it won't run in our printed edition. But given the number of boaters around here who go up to the San Juan Islands, I thought I'd post some of it on our blog.
Mitchell, chairman of the Save Our Shipwreck organization, will be at Olympia Harbor Days Saturday and Sunday selling "tug mugs" for $10 to support SOS efforts. Look for him at Percival Landing in a three-wheel cart with a big blue Enchantress banner.
Mitchell writes:
The Enchantress sits in 7 to 14 feet of water, covered in a crust of barnacles and marine life, home to a family of otters and perch for a pair of nesting bald eagles. (Look closely and you can see them in the photo.)
The state Department of Ecology deems her a hazard to the bay on trumped-up and unsubstantiated charges, while turning a blind eye to more pressing problems.
