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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Krista Hunt Ausland came to Tacoma 18 years ago to attend college. I never met her. I wish I had.
Krista, a 1995 University of Puget Sound graduate, packed more selfless service to others in a mere 25 years of life than most of us do in a lifetime.
She died in a horrific 1997 bus accident in Bolivia, where she did volunteer work with impoverished village women. Her inspirational legacy lives on.
I heard Krista's story Sunday at a small fundraising event in Tacoma for the Krista Foundation, founded by her parents to honor her life and memory by promoting volunteer service by young Americans at home and abroad.
This editorial will appear in Tuesday's print edition.
Denying the right to vote to released felons based on income is fundamentally unfair – and a bureaucratic nightmare.
Buying the right to vote is so contrary to the idea of democracy that many Washingtonians would be surprised to find out that it’s happening in their state.
Current state law enforces a double standard in restoring the voting rights of felons who’ve been released from state supervision. The ones with means to pay their court fines in full can vote; the ones who can only afford to pay down their debts bit by bit may have to wait years before they are deemed worthy of helping elect a mayor or approve a school bond.
Such disparate treatment effectively makes the right to vote depend on the contents of a released felons’ wallet. The state Supreme Court has upheld the policy as constitutional, but constitutional doesn’t mean fair. There is a good reason why most other states have less onerous restrictions, and it’s because a person’s bankroll should not determine their access to such a fundamental right as voting.
Fortunately, the Legislature may be inclined to finally remove debt as a barrier to the ballot box.
For centuries before Capt. George Vancouver explored the inland waters of the Pacific Northwest, the Coast Salish people thrived and traded in the region. They loved the rivers, shores and mountains – and knew them by their Salishan names. It’s time to reconsider restoring Mount Rainier’s ancient name in honor of the region’s Native American heritage.
Secretary of State Sam Reed has added a compelling new reason to get rid of Washington's law that effectively denies the right to vote to poor felons: It bogs down his office's efforts to keep voting rolls current.
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.
