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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Gov. Chris Gregoire never misses a chance to remind voters that Washington has been rated the third best state for business by Forbes magazine.
That's nice, but here's a much bigger deal: Washington has been rated the top state for bicycling. (Yes, I spend a lot of time on two wheels.)
The honor was reported this week by the state Department of Transportation:
OLYMPIA – Citing our state’s bicycle policies, facilities and programs, the League of American Bicyclists has named Washington as the nation’s number one “Bicycle Friendly State.” This award, the first ever to be given to an entire state, was announced during the National Pro Bike – Pro Walk Conference in Seattle on Sept. 5 . . .
“We are fortunate to have strong partnerships between local and state agencies, bicycle groups and healthcare providers who are dedicated to increasing opportunities for bicycling while reducing bicycle injuries and deaths,” said Secretary of Transportation Paula Hammond. “In Washington, we’ve developed priorities and strategies to improve bicycle connections, increase statewide coordination, and make biking a viable commute option.”
The Bicycle Friendly State Program is a recognition program that ranks a state’s bike-friendliness and recognizes states that actively support bicycling as a way of addressing climate change, traffic congestion, obesity and high fuel prices. States are rated based on their encouragement of bicycling through legislation, policies and programs, education and encouragement, places to ride, and planning.
Here's reaction from leaders in Tacoma's cycling community.
Note: This will appear as a column on Sunday's oped page.
The ancient Romans had a legendary hero named Mucius Cordus. He had a grisly claim to fame.
He'd sneaked into the camp of an army besieging Rome and tried to kill the enemy king, who was worshipping at an altar. Instead, Cordus was caught. To demonstrate the Romans' contempt for pain, Cordus stuck his hand into a fire on the altar and held it there as it burned to a cinder. The king was impressed – and intimidated.
I can imagine John McCain doing something like that. In fact, he did do something like that when his communist captors in Hanoi offered to let him return to the United States.
Famously, he refused to leave before other prisoners of war who'd been held longer, thus voluntarily subjecting himself to more torture.
Not many American presidents – or senators, nominees, etc. – would have passed that test as young men. The ancient Romans or Spartans would have loved McCain. The question: Would a majority of Americans want a Mucius Cordus leading this country?
