Inside the editorial page
Inside the editorial page

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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What's on the minds of Tacoma News Tribune editorial writers
Saturday, June 13th, 2009
Posted by Kim Bradford @ 06:44:06 pm

This editorial will appear in Sunday's print edition.

So Randy Dorn wants another delay in holding our children, their teachers and the state’s school districts accountable for learning.

The state schools superintendent is not the first nor will he be the last public official to call for pushing back high school graduation requirements. The math WASL and its underpinnings have proved about as popular with politicians as the prospects of closing state parks or letting sex offenders run loose.

That said, Dorn’s comments last week did provide a glimmer of hope for those of us who believe that a diploma should mean a student did more than warm a seat for four years.

=> Read more!

Categories: What's coming
Posted by Patrick O'Callahan @ 06:50:36 am

The timing is curious.

On Tuesday, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright – Barack Obama’s pastor not long ago – blames “them Jews” for keeping him away from the president. (Actually, comments like “them Jews” and “God damn America” may have more to do with his lack of photo ops with Obama.)

On Wednesday, a Jew-hating extremist shoots and kills a guard at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. The nation is outraged and the air waves are full of condemnations of anti-semitism.

On Thursday, Wright suddenly finds it a good idea to apologize “for the way I framed my comments.”

“I misspoke, and I sincerely meant no harm or ill will to the American Jewish community ...”

It seems the Rev. Wright can sound downright reasonable when circumstances warrant.

Categories: Taking notice