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 Tuesday's print edition.
No mission of local government matters more than ensuring the education of the next generation, yet school boards, as a rule, don’t usually attract vigorous election races.
This year, Tacoma is the exception.
It’s easy, perhaps too easy, to attribute the crowded field for Tacoma School Board position 2 to the Charlie Milligan factor.
The ousted schools superintendent’s abrasive management style and dismissive attitude toward community groups left the district bruised and adrift by the time he was sent on his way with a $418,000 settlement after only a year on the job.
The debacle certainly makes incumbent Connie Rickman, who was board president during the tulmultuous time, vulnerable. But it alone doesn’t explain why so many candidates are jumping at a chance to be on the board.
The state’s second largest school district has long struggled with the issues confounding many a district: widespread poverty, high dropout rates and the “achievement gap” between white and Asian students, on the one hand, and black and Latino students on the other.
I feel like I’ve almost worn my fingertips off over the last 20 years writing arguments for building a light rail line in the Puget Sound region.
So I couldn’t turn down Sound Transit’s invitation to a sneak-preview ride on Central Link, the first 14 miles of what will become a much larger system. Mid-afternoon at Westlake Station (in Seattle’s downtown bus tunnel), I crowded into the cars along with a throng of media and political poobahs, including Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels and U.S. Sen. Patty Murray.
The ride was silky smooth. You watch the Mariners and Seahawks stadiums roll by, then the concrete jungle of industrial south Seattle. There were “Oohs” and “Aahs” going into the Beacon Hill tunnel. (This was a crowd eager to be impressed.) Then down the Rainier Valley and out to Tukwila Station, where we got out and milled around on the platform somewhat excitedly before heading back.
I found myself encouraged, not so much about Sound Transit as about my country. Like the new Narrows bridge that opened two years ago, Central Link is unexpected evidence that America can still build something big.
We endorse two candidates for Tacoma School Board, Position 2. The seat is currently held by Connie Rickman, who is facing five challengers for re-election.
The editorial will be posted here at 8 tonight.
