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 12th, 2008
Posted by Patrick O'Callahan @ 05:14:34 pm

The Secretary of State's office has just certified eight presidential tickets for the November ballot, and a quarter of them are ... revolutionary communists.

These guys don't give up easy.

One pair of candidates hails from the Party of Socialism and Liberation, a Maoist (as far as I can figure out) splinter of the Workers World Party.

The Socialist Workers Party accounts for the other ticket. This is an old Trotskyite outfit and a big admirer of Fidel Castro.

Check their Web sites. You'd think it was 1938, not 2008. Even Russia and China have long since left them behind. They do get points for persistence.

Categories: Taking notice
Posted by Cheryl Tucker @ 02:58:06 pm

Hurricane Ike is already battering the Gulf Coast. And predictions are that the megastorm will cause enormous damage when it makes landfill late tonight or early Saturday in Texas.

It's very possible that Ike will come ashore at or near Galveston. Forecasters have warned residents of low-lying areas there of “certain death” if they ignore a mandatory-evacuation order.

This sounds frighteningly all too familiar to anyone who has read "Isaac's Storm," Erik Larson's riveting account of the devastating 1900 hurricane that destroyed Galveston and killed between 6,000 and 8,000 people. It is still the nation's deadliest natural disaster.

If you haven't read the book, I highly recommend it. If you do, I suspect you'll never try to "ride out" a hurricane. Larson, by the way, is a Seattle author who also wrote "The Devil in the White City" and "Thunderstruck."

For more photos of the Great Storm's aftermath in Galveston, click on More.

=> Read more!

Posted by Patrick O'Callahan @ 11:43:24 am

Sunday: The Republican governors PAC is buying pro-Rossi ads attacking Chris Gregoire for rejecting revenue-sharing from tribal gambling. But revenue sharing is a good idea only if you want government beholden to casinos.

Monday: The fact that only 2 percent of today’s medical students are interested in primary care bodes very ill for health care access in the future.

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.

Categories: What's coming