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 Thursday's print edition.
Metro Parks commissioners better be prepared to deliver since they are keeping hope alive for Titlow Pool fans.
Titlow Pool will live to be fought over another day.
That was the word from Metro Parks commissioners this week as they announced a compromise aimed at ending the long-running feud over the West End pool’s fate.
The deal goes like this: The parks district gives Titlow a reprieve, advocates of a play pool the green light and swim teams a bone.
The strategy is at once a welcome end to the parks board’s dithering over how to spend money from a 2005 bond measure and an ominous sign that more dithering over Titlow’s fate could lie ahead.
This editorial will appear in Thursday's print edition.
Firm deadline a good idea for Lakewood initiatives
The City Council and the Pierce County auditor have strict deadlines; initiative supporters should, too.
Lakewood has already seen what happens by not having firm deadlines for turning in initiative petitions: Its very first experience with a citizens initiative was a huge, last-minute pain in the neck.
The fact-checking didn't end with the campaigns. FactCheck.org is still on the case, offering this critique of President Obama's SOTU-like speech:
He said "we import more oil today than ever before." That's untrue. Imports peaked in 2005 and are substantially lower today.
He claimed his mortgage aid plan would help "responsible" buyers but not those who borrowed beyond their means. But even prominent defenders of the program including Fed Chairman Bernanke and FDIC chief Bair concede foolish borrowers will be aided, too.
He said the high cost of health care "causes a bankruptcy in America every 30 seconds." That's at least double the true figure.
He flubbed two facts about American history. The U.S. did not invent the automobile, and the transcontinental railroad was not completed until years after the Civil War, not during it.
He claimed that his stimulus plan "prevented the layoffs" of 57 police officers in Minneapolis. In fact, it's far more complicated than that, and other factors are also helping to save police jobs.
In his response to President Obama's speech Tuesday, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal struck a sour note by dissing on the $140 million in stimulus package money for, as he put it, "something called 'volcano monitoring.'"
For those of us who live in the shadow of what's been called the nation's most dangerous volcano, monitoring isn't just a line item in a big funding deal, it's a potential life-saver. Volcano monitoring could mean the difference between life and death for thousands of local residents.
Hey, we don't begrudge the money spent on Louisiana to prevent another hurricane-related catastrophe.
Here's an article outlining what that "volcano monitoring" is all about.
Metro Parks commissioners better be prepared to deliver since they've decided to keep hope alive for Titlow pool fans.
Lakewood's proposal to set some deadlines for citizen initiatives is perfectly reasonable, but perhaps a less confusing way to go would be to tie the city's deadlines to the state's.
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 watched President Obama's speech last night and thought he set the right tone: no pussyfooting around the fact that the economy is in dire straits, but voicing optimism that we have it within ourselves to set things right.
Maybe he touched on too many topics, though (including curing cancer, if I'm not mistaken). I think he should have focused on the economy and the war, but as David Broder writes in his column that runs Thursday:
"Buoyed for now by his victories over Hillary Clinton and John McCain, by his soaring approval scores and by a Republican opposition whose incoherence was demonstrated by the reply from Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Obama is clearly of a mind to strike while the iron is hot."
Here's what editorial writers at other newspapers had to say about Obama's speech.
