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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Social welfare wonks (I happen to be one) may be interested in the following descriptions of individuals on GAU.
Government Assistance Unemployable is in the cross-hairs of state budget writers. The program provides $339 in cash per month, food stamps and medical insurance to an average monthly caseload of about 33,000 people.
Typically, these are people who don't quite qualify for federal disability, sometimes because their impairments aren't severe enough, permanent enough or well-documented enough. Yet they are unable to support themselves, in the judgment of state welfare agencies.
The profiles below come from a social worker at a community health care clinic. These are some of the more mediagenic recipients. A study of the GAU population done a few years ago found that 32 percent had drug and alcohol problems and 30 percent had been arrested at least once in 2003 and 2004.
1. I have been seeing an African American male, age 52 since 9/7/08. This man has been in prison for over 30 years.He is a barber by trade and cut hair while in prison. When patient first started coming to see me, he could not sit with his back toward a window or the door.
He could not sit still and was constantly looking around all of the time. This patient had trust issues and would never look me in the eye. Now, he has reduced his stress level by moving into his own apartment and taking almost daily walks in the park that is very close to his apartment.
