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 Friday's print edition.
The feds do it and so do many states, so why shouldn’t Washington also use DNA evidence to catch serial criminals sooner?
Anthony Casper Dias has become the poster boy for expanded DNA testing – for good reason.
On July 31, 2005, Dias hit a State Patrol cruiser and fled the scene. He was arrested and charged with felony hit and run. Dias posted bail and was released to await trial.
A month later, Dias raped a Fircrest woman in her bedroom.
Had authorities collected a DNA sample when Dias was arrested for slamming into a police cruiser, they would have had their man.
Instead, Dias went on to rape seven more women and girls in Tacoma, Federal Way and Des Moines. News of his spree – in which he entered homes and held the residents hostage for hours – left countless others in fear.
This editorial will appear in Friday's print edition.
Washington’s congressional delegation is taking another run at removing the financial penalty for treating Medicare patients.
Round three in the fight to get Washington doctors fair pay for attending to the state’s elderly.
On Thursday, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray and Rep. Adam Smith introduced – for the third time – the MediFair Act. We hope it proves the charm.
For far too long, doctors in this state and others have been penalized for being too efficient.
Yes, you read that right. Washington’s Medicare reimbursement rates are some of the lowest in the nation because this state has been a leader in cutting the costs of hospitalization and surgery.
When people hit hard times, there is – in theory – a safety net to catch them. What happens when the safety net itself hits hard times?
We're finding out. Community Health Care, a nonprofit organization, is a big part of the net in Pierce County. It provides medical care on a sliding scale to tens of thousands of Pierce County residents who couldn't otherwise afford it.
Now – faced with falling revenue – it's shutting down its Sumner Family Medical Clinic, one of 12 medical and dental centers it operates. It's also moving to cut 29 positions.
The cuts are driven by an expected $1.3 million loss to the organization's $30 million annual operating budget, says CEO David Flentge. If something like Gov. Chris Gregoire's budget proposal gets through the Legislature, the loss could reach $3 million.
Flentge says the squeeze is coming from several directions.
Vice-President Cheney is at it again.
Trying to scare us with his crystal ball. Tuesday in Politico, Cheney said there was a “high probability” of a terrorist attack.
To borrow a phrase frequently employed by my fourth grade son “no duh!”
We swung a bat at the hornet’s nest that was Iraq and thought we could create order from the end of our guns. We turned our attention away from Afghanistan, and worst of all, we reacted fast and alone. We made a unilateral mess, and though Britain tagged along, the damage is ours.
Did we embolden the enemy and create new ones? In the words of one former V.P. hopeful, “you betcha!”
Why did we swing at the hornet’s nest?
We did so because Dick Cheney scared us.
