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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Washington's Democratic leaders are still making like they're serious about their preposterous legal challenge to Dino Rossi's "prefers GOP" designation on the November ballot.
They're suing Secretary of State Sam Reed for putting that label on the ballot. Two problems: The state's Top Two election law forbids Reed from interfering with a candidate's description of his party affiliation. And the lawsuit – if any judge took it seriously – would make a shambles of the election. Inevitably, some members of the military and other Washingtonians abroad would wind up unable to vote.
Here's a statement state Democratic Chairman Dwight Pelz released today:
Dino Rossi and the Republicans are cynically manipulating the men and women serving our nation overseas, using them as a smokescreen to justify their deceptive scheme to hide the fact Rossi is a Republican on the November ballot.
Our legal challenge to their deceptive practices does not and will never involve the challenging of any military ballot that has been mailed or returned. Rossi and the Republicans are simply lying – the motion we have filed is over the millions of ballots that have yet to be printed or mailed, and has nothing to do with the handful of military ballots that may have been sent at this point.
But the smokescreen here is the lawsuit itself. To take the partisan cast out of this, here's this morning's assessment of its possible consequences from Pierce County's Democratic auditor, Pat McCarthy, and her election manager, Lori Augino.
Have you been paying attention to the financial news? Then try this news quiz:
Which government responded to a sharp market decline last week by "buying stock in listed state-controlled companies -- one of the boldest interventions in years by a government that had been trying to reduce its role in the market."
John McCain and Barack Obama both did the right thing Thursday when they stepped away from their campaigns to jointly confer with President Bush about a gigantic federal buyout of distressed assets. It's essential that the remedy to this crisis wear a bipartisan face.
Young people are signing up like crazy to become registered voters. The question is, will they follow through and actually vote? They didn't do well in their first test – the state's August primary.
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.
A cheer went up at my house this morning when I spotted "Sidewalks might cost residents." It's about time.
I'm sorry if you are one of the folks getting hauled before the hearing examiner today to fix your sidewalks. I know times are tough and fixing the walkways in front of your house rank pretty low on the list of priorities when you're just trying to pay the mortgage. But the problem is that patching sidewalks has ranked too low on too many Tacomans' to-do lists for too long.
It's easy to check out your voting history – since 2005, at least. Just go to the MyVote page on the Secretary of State's Web site.
You'll be asked to fill in your name and date of birth. When the next page comes up, click on "My Voting History." You can also check the history of anyone else, as long as you know their birth date.
That page also links you to the voter's pamphlet and contact information for local officials.
