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 Friday's print edition.
As gas prices rise, the Volt’s looking good
The juxtaposition was striking.
“Filling ‘er up suddenly costly,” was the headline at the top of a Business page article Wednesday about how gas prices had increased 11 cents in the past week.
Just below it was this headline: “Triple-digit mileage?” The article was about the introduction of General Motors spiffy-looking new Chevrolet Volt, an electric car available next year that GM says could get a whopping 230 miles per gallon in city driving.
Admittedly, it’s hard to gauge the mileage of a vehicle that runs on electricity, with a gasoline engine only kicking in if the charge is depleted. Its “mpg” would be calculated using a formula that converts kilowatt hours into a gasoline equivalency.
This editorial will appear in Friday's print edition.
The federal government has finally relented in its dispute with Washington over Hanford cleanup deadlines. Now if only the feds had a plan for where to send the site’s high-level radioactive waste.
Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced the new agreement Tuesday during his first visit to the Hanford nuclear reservation in Eastern Washington. In exchange for getting more time to treat some of the site’s nastiest wastes, the Justice Department conceded its fight to undercut the state’s enforcement power.
Washington ends up with what it wanted all along – plus a nice extra.
Even consumers who have already traded in their clunkers for more fuel-efficient models have to be thinking the electric-powered Volt – which GM claims could get the equivalent of 230 mpg – is looking pretty good with gas prices inching closer to $3 per gallon. But there's a catch. It’s that $40,000 price tag.
Washingtonians have long known that Hanford cleanup will take longer than originally expected. A new agreement between the state and feds validates those delays in exchange for giving the state more power to enforce the revised deadlines. All in all, the state drove a good bargain – but it can only do so much. The question of where to send Hanford's waste still looms.
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.
