From education reporter Kris Sherman:

You can see the TV-shy Tacoma School Board on the Internet now, thanks to Chris Van Vechten and friends at the Melon Online Web site.

He sent me an e-mail this morning, referencing a story I wrote recently on the School Board nixing the idea of televising their meetings. (The Tacoma City Council and lots of other local electeds appear on the tube when they meet.)

"After reading your article, my friends and I decided to take action," Van Vechten wrote to me today. Attached was a link to The Melon, which carries the headline "Ripe! Tacoma School Board Meeting 8/28/08.”

In the smaller print, the posters go on to say: “And so begins The Melon's video coverage of the Tacoma School Board. This week features discussions about the No Child Left Behind Act, the state of the Tacoma Education Association, a visit from Robert Hill and Rep. Troy Kelly, a generous donation of backpacks by Bank of America and more.”

=> Read more!

Clearing out the in-box, so here are some upcoming political events in the area, in order of appearance:

Dino Rossi: The Republican gubernatorial candidate will make two stops in Gig Harbor on Friday, Sept. 12, according to a news release from his campaign. He's scheduled to attend the 7:30 a.m. Rotary meeting at Cottesmore Retirement Center, 2909 14th Ave. NW, and then he plans an 11 a.m. tour of the Gig Harbor History Museum, 4218 Harborview Dr.

Talking about Obama: Paul Zachary, a Canadian-American writer and former public relations manager for the United Nations, will speak in Tacoma as part of a nationwide tour promoting Barack Obama. The event will be held at 6 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 14 at Round Table Pizza, 7921 S Hosmer St, Tacoma.
Contact the hosts at 253-507-9460 or piercecovets@gmail.com to RSVP.

Pierce County Votes: Republicans will provide free barbecue at an event marking the opening of a get-out-the-vote effort. The event, to be held at 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 16, will be at the campaign's new office at 10107 S. Tacoma Way, Ste. E-6, Lakewood. Called "Pierce County Votes," the campaign will be run by Caleb Heimlich, who's staying involved in politics after losing a bid in the August primary for the 25th District state House seat held by Democratic Rep. Dawn Morrell. The get-out-the-vote campaign's office hours will be 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 4 to 8 p.m. on Sundays. Contact calebheimlich@gmail.com to RSVP or to learn more.

25th District Republican Club: Dr. Patricia O'Halloran, a Tacoma physician representing the Coalition Against Assisted Suicide, will discuss the ramifications of Initiation 1000 at the club's Sept. 16 meeting. The meeting will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. at the City of Puyallup Library. The meeting is open to the public. For more information, contact Bob Neilson at 253-845-0038 or rhneilson@earthlink.net.

What a difference 11 miles makes.

That’s the distance between Tacoma and Parkland, the sites of the most recent public forms for Pierce County executive candidates.

The forums – one last week at the University of Puget Sound and the other last night at the Central Pierce Fire and Rescue – were identical in some respects. Candidates Shawn Bunney, Calvin Goings, Mike Lonergan and Pat McCarthy gave pretty much the same speeches at each event. And the format was the same – candidates took turns answering identical questions.

So what was so different? The audiences and the questions they asked.

At UPS, at a forum sponsored by the City Club of Tacoma, a roomful of suits and ties asked about health care, transportation, veterans’ benefits and other big-picture issues.

Last night, at a forum sponsored by the Parkland Community Association, no one wore a tie. And the questions were more parochial, but also closer to the hearts of people in unincorporated Pierce County: Will you build a park where I can run safely? What are your top law enforcement priorities? Why are my storm water runoff fees so high?

Next up for the executive candidates: another constituency. The Tacoma-Pierce County Affordable Housing Consortium will host a forum at 4 p.m. Wednesday at the Korean Women’s Association Community Services Center, 125 E. 96th St., Tacoma.

I wrote a story last week about how the Catholic Church is taking its opposition campaign to the parishes, raising money for the Coalition Against Assisted Suicide and preaching about what the church considers the "evils" of Initiative 1000.

Suicide goes against the teachings of the church.

One of my Olympia Press Corps colleagues forwarded these handouts to me. They're from the Sunday mass at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Tacoma this past Sunday. I'm told the sermon dealt with "assisted suicide," too.

click here

Numbers have always fascinated me. I guess that's why my bosses have me covering the state budget.

Anyway, when the state Office of Financial Management puts out its population report, I love to peruse it and save it on my desktop for future reference.

For instance, I didn't realize until today that the population in Pierce County topped 800,000 for the first time this past April 1. The official estimate is 805,400.

Today's report was a look at the same April 1 population numbers by gender. It's no surprise there are more women than men in Pierce County. About 3,000 more, in fact. Women live longer than men.

But it doesn't start out that way. Women give birth to more boys that girls. And boys (men) continue to outnumber girls (women) until we reach the group that's 45-49 years of age. That's the first time women outnumber men, at least in Pierce County this year.

Last month, I wrote a story about an impending spike in public school enrollment because the cohort of 5- to 17-year-olds will be growing larger in a few years. That's when state demographer Theresa Lowe reminded me about the birth rate favoring males.

Take a gander for yourself. Here is a link to the Pierce County population estimates for 2008 by gender.

Fans of political attack man Floyd Brown's latest assault, "Obama Unmasked," can pick up a signed copy of the book Sunday during a "victory party" at the Pierce County Victory Office in Puyallup.

Brown, a University Place political consultant, gained attention for the Willie Horton ad that helped derail Michael Dukakis' 1988 presidential bid.

Last year, Brown was gearing up to defeat Hillary Clinton. Now he's working to sink Obama.

Jane Milhans, chairwoman of the John McCain Pierce County campaign, said Brown offered to sign books at the "victory party" this weekend. Books will be available for purchase for $15.

The party runs from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at 11713 101st Ave. E, Puyallup.

It's a "victory party" because it's a party at the "victory office," Milhans said.

The "victory office" is the name of the McCain campaign office in Pierce County. Milhans said she hopes the party will raise awareness about the campaign office, and maybe help recruit new volunteers.

This is the first time since Ronald Reagan that a Republican presidential candidate has had an office in Pierce County, Milhans said.

"We are real excited the RNC (Republican National Committee) and McCain folks put an office in Pierce County," she said.