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.
Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/tntopinion.
- All
- Editorial cartoons (285)
- Editorial outtakes (325)
- Election (121)
- How we work (191)
- Taking notice (1871)
- What's coming (989)
- Who's visiting (124)
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| << < | Current | > >> | ||||
| 1 | ||||||
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
| 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 |
| 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
| 30 | 31 | |||||
- August 2009 (86)
- July 2009 (91)
- June 2009 (94)
- May 2009 (80)
- April 2009 (91)
- March 2009 (99)
- February 2009 (90)
- January 2009 (125)
- December 2008 (111)
- November 2008 (89)
- October 2008 (111)
- September 2008 (87)
- More...
XML Feeds- benramm
- CustomScoop
- MrSinister
- Dirtdawg
- artman77
- Guest Users: 399
This editorial will appear in Thursday's print edition.
Puyallup’s anti-solicitation ordinance provides exceptions for an odd assortment of characters: newspaper couriers, lawn-care providers, farmers, kids selling holiday wreaths, the guy with the snow blower trying to capitalize on a rare Western Washington blizzard.
What’s missing from that list is a group that repeatedly has gone to court to protect its ability to go door-to-door, and that may be the Puyallup law’s fatal flaw.
Last night, Ben Schiendelman at seattletransitblog.com weighed in on the debate over how Sound Transit will build its Sounder tracks from Freighthouse Square through Tacoma’s Dome District and over Pacific Avenue.
His take: This fight has gone on long enough. Opponents have had their shot. Let's get on with building the ST's proposed berm to carry the tracks through the neighborhood.
So far, so good. We offered the same opinion last week.
But then Schiendelman derails by casting the opponents of the berm concept as transit foes with ulterior motives.
You may have heard that The News Tribune has joined to fight to get a court to unseal legal records in a lawsuit filed by Susan Hutchison, former TV news anchor and now candidate for King County executive.
This is primarily The Seattle Times' fight. The paper, whose 2006 investigation found many cases of improperly sealed court files in King County Superior Court, argues that Hutchison's case is yet another example of judges' deference to lawyers' requests to keep court records under wraps.
Hutchison worked at KIRO for 20 years before being replaced by a young Asian-American woman. Hutchison sued, alleging age and race discrimination. The parties settled and agreed not to discuss details. The court sealed 753 of the case's 859 pages of records.
While King County voters have the most at stake in this particular case, the fight affects access to court documents statewide. Judges are supposed to have a "compelling reason" before they agree to bar access to public records. Too often, secrecy is instead granted reflexively to help save someone's reputation or settle a case without due regard for the public.
A King County judge is scheduled to rule Friday on whether the records will be unsealed. A ruling in the Times' favor will send yet another message to judges across Washington to think twice before drawing the curtain over what happens in the courts.
