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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Leave it to Tacoma to provide yet another cautionary tale.
Seems our very own “Galloping Gertie,” as locals knew her, makes the best analogy for an economy on the brink of disaster.
In his New York Times column today, David Brooks compares the current global economic crisis to the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, the old one, circa 1940, the one that snapped and crashed.
Brooks described the disaster this way: "oscillations built on one another until the whole thing was freakishly alive."
Brooks uses poor ol’ Gertie to illustrate the critical nature of the economy, mostly speaking to his fellow conservatives who are reacting to the stimulus package Foghorn Leghorn style "Ah, just wait here a minute see, that there 1,400-page stimulus plan hasn’t even been read in its entirety, it’s full of pork and stuff we don’t like.”
For Sunday: Gov. Chris Gregoire, in her state of the state address last month, challenged lawmakers looking to fill a then-$6 billion budget hole to “put our sacred cows out to pasture forever.”
It got us wondering what those sacred cows might be, and who would be willing to name them. Earlier this month, we invited current and former state officials, policy analysts and interest group representatives to suggest what lawmakers would do if they’re really serious about leveraging the economic crisis to make hard choices. (For a sneak peek, see our opinion site.)
For Monday: Tacoma and Puyallup school districts are asking voters to help them improve, expand and construct new schools. We weigh in on the March 10 ballot measures.
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.
