Arborist Rob Lloyd delivered a mixed report on the Chambers Bay Golf Course Douglas fir today.

According to the report, the iconic tree – attacked with an ax earlier this week – has an 18-inch-long wound that cuts about 8 inches deep. Lloyd recommends placing two steel straps over the damaged area and filling the wound with an epoxy putty. The work will be done Saturday.

But the tree has other issues that may determine whether it survives, according to Lloyd.

“If this tree were in good condition I do not believe it would have much difficulty in overcoming this injury, however, the tree has already been stressed for some time,” Lloyd wrote.

He noted the tree “is yellowing, and has a stressed cone crop typically symbolic of decline of root tissue. The composition of the soil is mostly sand, with no organic content.”

His advice: a plant-care program including mulching, fertilizing and minor reduction in the fill materials near the base of the tree.

To download the four-page report, click here.

County Councilman and executive candidate Shawn Bunney will ask Pierce County to develop an “economic stimulus package” to boost the local economy.

In an announcement released this afternoon, Bunney said he will ask the county Office of Economic Development to study whether unspecified “front-loaded fees and charges” can be collected later or be amortized over time.

Bunney billed the proposal as a way to counter the real estate slump that has led to the county’s multi-million dollar budget shortfall.

“Bringing new jobs to Pierce County and making it easier for companies to do business are two keys to reversing that trend,” Bunney said.

Read the full announcement below.

Pierce County Councilmember Shawn Bunney will submit a resolution next week targeted at stimulating economic growth in the local economy.

“My resolution focuses on keeping Pierce County families working,”
Bunney (District 1) said.

=> Read more!

The board of the Martin Luther King Housing Development Association voted last night to notify the City of Tacoma that it intends to get out of the business of running a homeless shelter.

Kevin Phelps, the former Tacoma City Councilman and current MLKHDA board member, said the organization wants to focus on its core mission of developing housing for at-risk and low-income individuals.

The decision is not solely related to the apparent failure of a pair of grant applications. A citizen's commission recommended not awarding the federal block grants, but the City Council will make the final decision.

"We were very concerned that we would be perceived as our oganization was holding the city hostage," Phelps said. "We understand the process." He added, "At this point, we really feel the money is not going to be coming."

=> Read more!

Frank Chopp's people just sent this out. See earlier posting on Rep. Geoff Simpson, one of Chopp's 63 caucus members, for the time being.

Statement from Speaker Frank Chopp

I met with Representative Simpson yesterday afternoon. He understands the gravity of the situation, and he has decided that he will take leave of his position as chair of the House Committee on Local Government pending resolution of the charges he faces. We both believe this is the best course of action for all involved.

The Pierce County Auditor’s Office this fall will launch a $250,000 campaign to educate voters about the new ranked-choice voting system. But you can see the first fruits of that campaign by downloading a copy of this new brochure.

Under ranked-choice voting (a/k/a “instant-runoff voting”), there will be no August primary for most county offices. Instead, voters will rank candidates for county offices in order of preference at the general election.

If no candidate wins a majority of first-place votes, the candidate with the least votes will be eliminated, and the second choice of that candidate’s supporters will be counted. The process of elimination continues until two candidates remain, and the remaining candidate with the most votes wins.

The new brochure explains the new system and includes instructions for voters. For more information on ranked-choice voting from the auditor’s office, click here.

Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor will kick off his first election campaign on May 15. So far, he has no opposition. See details of his campaign event below.

You are cordially invited to Sheriff Paul Pastor’s campaign kickoff! This will be a spirited event on Thursday May 15th from 5 – 7pm at the Landmark Convention Center in downtown Tacoma, featuring a special musical guest and brief regards from Washington State Auditor Brian Sonntag and from Pierce County Council Chair Terry Lee. We hope you can make it out to support the Pierce County Sheriff and help us create additional awareness about his campaign.

=> Read more!

UPDATE: House Speaker Frank Chopp weighs in on Simpson situation:

Statement from Speaker Frank Chopp

I met with Representative Simpson yesterday afternoon. He understands the gravity of the situation, and he has decided that he will take leave of his position as chair of the House Committee on Local Government pending resolution of the charges he faces. We both believe this is the best course of action for all involved.

State Rep. Geoff Simpson, who has been charged with four-degree assault earlier this week for allegedly assaulting his ex-wife, sent out a news release today. He says he's taking a leave of absence from his committee, but not stepping down from the Legislature.

Read on:

Friday, May 2, 2008
Statement from Representative Geoff Simpson (LD 47)

Serving as chair of the House Local Government Committee is an important and time consuming responsibility. Today, I have decided to take leave of my position as Chair of the Committee until my legal issues are resolved.As always, I intend to remain accessible and responsive to my constituents while I focus on the unfortunate personal matters that have arisen.

As I have stated, I remain confident I will be exonerated of these unwarranted charges once the facts are revealed. At such time, I plan to resume my leadership duties as chairman of the committee.

My apologies to Alex Hays of the Mainstream Republicans. I got this announcement a couple weeks ago and just forgot to post it. So those of you who are relying on this notice won't get the reduced rate for rooms. Sorry.

The moderate middle of the GOP is meeting on May 16-18 at The Inn at Gig Harbor. Time was, Mainstream meant "Republicans who are pro-choice." Not sure what it means now. Alex?

We'll be tackling the biggest issues of the day:
Gay Rights
Global Warming
Immigration

Here's the rest:

=> Read more!

I'm guessing that the toll for solo drivers who want to get into the carpool lanes on Saturday will be only 50 cents all day, but to tell the truth, I don't drive that far north on 167 on weekends.

So I don't know how congested the highway gets between Auburn and Renton on Saturdays.

Anyway, after being postponed a week, the lanes finally are opening.

Here's the official word:

=> Read more!

The San Francisco Chronicle published a story about dogs and cats, similar to the one we ran in March.

Their article focused on the trend toward giving animals more human-sounding names -- Max, Lucy, Samantha and Charlie instead of Fluffy, Rover or Fido.

Like our piece, the Chronicle article included a list of the most popular names, and a searchable database. Tacoma's database is here.

Turns out there is a remarkable similarity in the Top 10 lists. Buddy and Max are the most popular dog names in Tacoma and San Francisco, and six of Tacoma's Top 10 names also are in San Francisco's Top 10 (Buddy, Max, Molly, Lucy, Bailey, and Daisy).

Eight of Tacoma's Top 10 cat names also score in San Francisco's Top 10 (Tigger, Smokey, Max, Shadow, Tiger, Kitty, Missy and Lucy.)

=> Read more!