Inside the editorial page
Inside the editorial page

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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What's on the minds of Tacoma News Tribune editorial writers
Friday, September 5th, 2008
Posted by Kim Bradford @ 10:45:57 am

More from editor emeritus Dave Seago:

What a difference having a passenger along makes in the morning commute on I-5.

That's old news, of course, to Pierce County's veteran road warriors. They know full well the advantages of using the HOV lanes to beat stop-and-go traffic.

But it was an eye-opener for me to drive from Tacoma to Redmond yesterday and today for a "Beyond Oil" conference at Microsoft headquarters. In working nearly 40 years for The News Tribune, I rarely had to brave the rush-hour commute to Seattle. But I got a full taste of it this week.

Yesterday I was a solo driver. The drive to Redmond took 90 minutes, largely due to the crawl through Renton and Bellevue on I-405. Luckily I allowed plenty of time. But this morning I carried a passenger, another conference participant from Tacoma. We sailed along in the HOV lanes, cruising to Redmond in only 55 minutes. What a deal.

I don't know how the state DOT's experiment with rush-hour tolling on "HOT lanes" on SR 167 in South King County is going. But I can see now how it's worth a few bucks to go solo in the HOV lanes when the traffic
is bad.

Much of the conference, organized by the Seattle-based Discovery Institute, focuses on electric cars and other alternate-fuel vehicles. But it occurs to me that even if we were to replace all our petro-fueled vehicles with clean and efficient vehicles, we'd still have clogged freeways. Traffic "management" – such as congestion pricing – still has to be part of our transportation solutions.

Categories: Taking notice