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.
U.S. Rep. Adam Smith is treading where some fellow Democrats unwisely fear to go.
Smith, the seven-term congressman from Tacoma, is not backing down from holding town hall meetings despite the threat of more angry and rowdy protesters.
Some might accuse Smith of being a glutton for punishment. His last town hall meeting in July attracted a crowd of 250 and included shouting, heckling and personal attacks.
That’s par for the course this summer, as many Democrats and some Republicans return to their districts to find the hometown crowd whipped into a frenzy.
We're writing an editorial commending Adam Smith and other congressmen who have held health care town hall meetings despite the threat of disruptions. On issues of great public importance, especially when misinformation runs rampant, elected representatives can help further the public discourse by allowing voters to vent and get answers to their questions. Protesters determined to shout down politicians and their fellow citizens should be shown the door, but the majority of people showing up at these meetings are there because they have honest-to-goodness concerns and fears. Elected officials engender civility by treating such citizens with respect and expecting the same in return.
We're also looking into reader concern over the bike lanes on North 21st in Tacoma. We’ve had several letters to the editor claiming that the bikes lanes are not needed and that the city’s priorities are skewed. We’re looking into the extent of public outreach the city did before installing the lanes.
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.
Former Army intelligence whistleblower Christopher Pyle – whose revelations about the military spying on civilians sparked congressional inquiries in the 1970s – spoke to Democracy Now! a few days ago about the Fort Lewis case.
I think the significance is less that the Army is monitoring civilian political activity than that there is a network, a nationwide network, of fusion centers, these state police intelligence units, these municipal police intelligence units, that bring together the services of the military, of police, and even private corporations to share information about alleged terrorist groups in cities throughout the country. I was fascinated by the story of the Air Force officer from New Jersey making an inquiry to the police in the state of Washington about this group. This is an enormous network. It’s funded by the Homeland Security Department. Police departments get a great deal of money to set up these intelligence units. And they monitor, largely, lawful political activity, in violation of the First Amendment and, when the military is involved, in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act.
Washington state has its own fusion center. In July, outgoing Tacoma City Hall reporter Ian Demsky raised concerns about the Homeland Security activities of the Tacoma police, revealed in public records released to a local opponent of the Northwest Detention Center.
