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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A conservative Republican reader recently asked why (to him at least) we seem to tilt to the left in our choices of columns and political cartoons.
The gist of my answer:
What we’re trying to do on our opinion pages is provide a broad and representative range of perspectives. My goal is a selection of columnists and cartoons that would thoroughly confuse anyone trying to identify a liberal or conservative bias. In other words, even-handed selection. We’re going to be especially conscious of this during the election season.
Our roster of domestic-affairs political columnists consists of five conservatives (Charles Krauthammer, George Will, William Kristol, Kathleen Parker and David Brooks) and six liberals (Paul Krugman, Maureen Dowd, Bob Herbert, Ellen Goodman, Leonard Pitts and Eugene Robinson). (I hope I'm not leaving anyone out.)
We also run David Broder, whom I view as a reporter-analyst who has no obvious partisan or ideological agenda (he was one of the few commentators who panned Obama’s speech last week, for example).
I did a review of who we printed. From July 1 through today, we ran 39 pieces from our liberal and 31 pieces from our conservative columnists. Yes, that's a lean. It wasn't intentional and may have been influenced by the vacations columnists take in the summer. As I said, we'll be watching ourselves closely during this sensitive political season.
With the primary election out of the way, we've moved on to interviewing candidates for the hottest races of the year: the ones for Pierce County government.
Don't laugh. Pierce County may be the largest jurisdiction to attempt ranked choice voting. The races here – especially the runoffs for Pierce County executive, assessor-treasurer and Councilman Calvin Goings' seat – will be closely watched by RCV fans and foes across the country.
Jan Shabro, former Pierce County councilwoman and state representative, was the first county candidate we've had a chance to grill about how RCV shapes campaign strategy. She's running for assessor-treasurer in a six-way race.
Shabro clearly is not fond of this new form of voting. She said nearly every voter she's run across can't remember voting for the RCV charter amendment. She surmises that it was all a reaction to the defunct pick-a-party primary. "They would vote for anything that was different, and this was anything."
I was driving on Bridgeport Way over the weekend and spotted this espresso drive-thru – Annette's Grind – across from St. Clare Hospital. Given the number of "bikini barista" places that have sprung up in Lakewood recently, the owner apparently thought explanatory signage was necessary.
The owner isn't named Annette – it's Victor Edwards, who bears a strong resemblance to actor Don Cheadle. The stand is named after his late mother.
Although one of his female employees usually is working at the stand, Edwards was making drinks on Labor Day. He says several customers have remarked that they're glad he's not wearing a bikini. "I wouldn't want to see me in a bikini either!"
Annette's Grind is not far from Bikini Bottom Espresso on Bridgeport Way. The two stands were doing about the same amount of business on Monday. One thing Edwards offers that's a little different is that customers get a free drink after buying only four. And he offers Altoids along with a drink for dealing with coffee breath.
