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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This editorial will appear in tomorrow's printed edition.
The clamshell backlash finally nears victory
Whose bright idea was it to encase consumer goods
in impregnable plastic oysters?
Somehow, the logic of American retailing demanded 10 years ago that many consumer products be sealed in impregnable plastic armor.
Result: the “clamshell” or “oyster” packages that protect everything from computer mice to MP3 players from the people who bought them.
Typically made of nonrecyclable PVC and welded with epoxy, these transparent packages are simply impossible to open with bare hands. Probably no creature on earth – shark, crocodile, snapping turtle – could rip through the things.
This editorial will appear in Wednesday's print edition:
State finances are tight, but skipping the next round of performance audits is not the way to cut costs.
Just about everything in state government is sporting a bull’s eye these days as the governor and state lawmakers come to terms with a $5 billion – and growing – budget shortfall.
Nevertheless, it is surprising to see one item among those nominated for the chopping block: the performance audits authorized by Initiative 900.
Perhaps that’s a sign of just how desperate the state’s predicament is. We can see no other reason for suggesting the state auditor stop doing the reviews that help build cost-effective state programs.
Washington Supreme Court Justice Richard Sanders is known for speaking his mind and defending his right to do so. But it seems the Tacoma native will neither deny nor admit allegations that he was heckling Attorney General Michael Mukasey at last week's Federalist Society dinner before Mukasey collapsed.
The Wall Street Journal has the story here. Adam Wilson from our sister paper in Olympia followed up with the justice, who had this to say when asked if he was the heckler:
"As to that, I don't have any comment. But I wasn't there when he collapsed. I heard it on television the next morning, I was very sorry to hear it."
Hmmm. That doesn't sound like Sanders we know. For better or worse, he's an unapologetic guy. Here's what he told The News Tribune in 1996 about facing charges of unethical conduct stemming from a one-minute speech he made at an anti-abortion rally.
"The government is putting me on trial because I gave a speech, and that offends my notion of a free society. I stand on my right to speak, and I stand on the truth of what I actually said."
Either Sanders is the heckler, or he is trying to protect the person who was – that second unidentified person that WSJ writer James Taranto mentions in his post.
UPDATE: It's the former. I don't know why he didn't just fess up from the beginning instead of turning this into a whodunit.
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — State Supreme Court Justice Richard Sanders says he was speaking his conscience when he stood up and yelled “tyrant!” at U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey last week.
Brian Sonntag's performance audits have hit the state's "do not buy" list. The solution isn't to cut the audits, but to ensure agencies heed the money-saving recommendations.
Somehow, the logic of American retailing demanded 10 years ago that many consumer products be sealed in impregnable plastic armor. The good news is, the anti-clamshell movement has been making gains. (This was held yesterday to make room for today’s editorial on economic plans.)
If you have comments or questions about these topics, please email them to kim.bradford@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.
I've enjoyed the plummeting gas prices as much as the next person. I did a lot of driving on a recent vacation in Florida, and it was nice not to spend a lot of money filling up the rental.
But now the price has fallen so far so fast that it's kind of scary. When I drove to work Monday, the price per gallon at the Arco station was $1.86. Nine hours later it had dropped a full 10 cents per gallon, to $1.76.
I'm not complaining, just confused. The price never rose quite that fast. Anybody have an explanation?
UPDATE: Oil prices continued to fall in trading today, and gas prices have fallen to their lowest price since 2004. Here's the latest:
