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 Wednesday's print edition.
There is no such thing as free parking in downtown Tacoma, even now.
Shoppers and commuters might not have to plug a meter – or swipe their debit card at an electronic kiosk – but they are paying all the same.
For the occasional visitor to downtown, the price is a couple of more trips around the block because spots don’t open up as often as they might if parkers had to pay.
For downtown workers, it’s the hassle of trying to stay a step ahead of the meter maids and the frustration of not having better options because demand doesn’t exist for them.
For employers, the cost is lower productivity, higher startup costs and lost business opportunities.
Quantifying those costs is tricky, so they tend to be overlooked or discounted.
This editorial will appear in tomorrow's print edition.
We’re not sure which is the more discouraging thought: that some believe Congress has hidden “death panels” in a health reform bill – or that they know it hasn’t but are still insisting it has.
It’s definitely discouraging that Sarah Palin – who conceivably could have been vice president today but for last fall’s economic crisis – was speaking from either ignorance or dishonesty last week when she ignited the whole controversy.
This death panel business deserves to quickly fade from cable TV’s nightly shoutfests. Not only is there no such provision in the House legislation, as Palin and others have charged, but the Senate has jettisoned the language that’s been wildly misconstrued as an invitation to euthanize the elderly and disabled.
For the record, the idea was to encourage and fund end-of-life counseling for the terminally ill. Such consultations – which already happen all the time, everywhere – can help the dying and their families make deliberate decisions about palliative vs. aggressive care and other issues that arise when death approaches. Health care policy ought to be encouraging these decisions.
An eight-foot-long boa's on the loose in Lake Tapps, and it ain't made out of feathers.
So says Pierce County Auditor Jan Shabro, who came by yesterday as part of her election campaign.
Under an odd arrangement, the county’s chief elections officer happens to also be the county’s chief dogcatcher. Shabro oversees five animal-control officers and dispatchers.
Shabro – an animal lover – says she likes that part of the job. She talked about getting a good deal on a trailer to transport abused horses, the officers' rescue of starving cattle and their dealings with animal “hoarders” – including a woman who kept 83 cats.
Then there are the exotics: monkeys, an alligator, “a few tigers.”
“My staff was after a runaway emu at one point. You need two people. They’re very dangerous."
We're not sure which is the more discouraging thought: that some believe Congress has embedded "death panels" in health reform legislation – or that they know Congress hasn't but are still insisting it has.
Going to paid parking in Tacoma makes good business sense.
If you have comments or questions about these topics, please email them to patrick.ocallahan@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.
