A team of experienced reporters keep you updated on what's happening in political arenas at the city, county, state and federal levels. From presidential campaign visits to who's running for city council, we've got it covered.
Contributors
Peter Callaghan is a local columnist. He’s covered the
statehouse and state politics since 1981. Before joining The News
Tribune in 1985, the Stadium High grad worked for newspapers in Everett
and Lewiston, Idaho, and for The Associated Press in Olympia and
Seattle. Email
Peter
Joe Turner has covered state government and transportation
issues since 1990. Since the Bellarmine grad’s arrival in the newsroom
in 1978, he’s covered police, suburban cities, Tacoma City Hall,
Federal Way City Hall and the Pierce and King county governments. Email Joe
David Wickert covers Pierce County government. Before coming to
The News Tribune in 1998, he covered local government for newspapers in
Illinois, Virginia and Tennessee. Email David
Ian Demsky is a general assignment reporter who specializes in
database-driven reporting. He's been at the News Tribune since 2007 and has
previously worked in Nashville, Tenn. and Portland, Ore. When he's not at
work, he enjoys hiking and science fiction. Email Ian
Les Blumenthal has been covering Washington, D.C. for The News
Tribune since 1990, focusing on issues and politicians involving the
state. Before joining The News Tribune, he spent 13 years working for
The Associated Press in Seattle, Illinois and Washington, D.C. Email Les
John Henrikson is a local news editor who oversees political coverage. He's worked as a journalist in the
Northwest for 19 years, supervising coverage and reporting on local and
state government, the environment and growth. Email John
• Adam Wilson (The Olympian)
• Politics Northwest (Seattle Times)
• Sound Politics
• Horse's Ass
• Richard Roesler's Eye on Olympia (Spokesman Review)
• P-I's Strange Bedfellows (Seattle PI)
• Crosscut
• Statewide School Employee Pay
• City of Tacoma Employee Pay
• Pierce County Employee Pay
• King County Employee Pay
• Metro Parks Employee Pay
• City of Lakewood Employee Pay
• City of Puyallup Employee Pay
• Pierce Transit Employee Pay
• How your lawmaker voted: WashingtonVotes.org
- All
- Attorney General (151)
- Auditor (44)
- Campaign news (1111)
- Congress (218)
- Education (79)
- Environment (23)
- Federal Government (22)
- Funny stuff (65)
- Governor (679)
- Health Care (6)
- Initiatives and Referenda (166)
- Insurance Commissioner (26)
- Journalism (34)
- King County (156)
- Lands Commissioner (41)
- Legislature (1133)
- Lobbying (34)
- Lt. Governor (36)
- Media (4)
- Open Government (43)
- Pierce County (581)
- President (481)
- Inauguration (25)
- Stimulus (16)
- Public Safety (47)
- Ruston (12)
- Schools Superintendent (69)
- Seattle (58)
- Secretary of State (90)
- State budget (399)
- State government (983)
- Suburbs (53)
- Supreme Court (43)
- Tacoma (450)
- Taxes (185)
- Transit (127)
- Transportation (126)
- Treasurer (31)
- Voting (274)
- Washington State Patrol (5)
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| << < | Current | > >> | ||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
| 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
| 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
| 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | |||
- September 2009 (6)
- August 2009 (105)
- July 2009 (74)
- June 2009 (138)
- May 2009 (164)
- April 2009 (273)
- March 2009 (202)
- February 2009 (148)
- January 2009 (182)
- December 2008 (158)
- November 2008 (240)
- October 2008 (175)
- More...
XML Feeds- Guest Users: 380
State Sen. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, was chosen to be chairman of the Senate Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee.
Maybe that puts him in a better position to keep an eye on the University of Washington Tacoma when it comes to budget and campus development.
That workforce development is a new component of the committee. It appears to be tailored to him. In real life, Kilmer is an economic development guy.
“During these tough economic times, maintaining access to higher education and helping workers get the skills they need will be more important than ever,” Kilmer said in a news release. “In the coming years, more and more people will look to our institutions of higher education – our community and technical colleges, our four-year universities, our private and career schools, our apprenticeship programs — to get the skills and credentials they need.”
By the way, it appears Sen. Craig Pridemore, D-Vancouver, paid a price for making a few not-discreet-enough calls about possibly replacing Sen. Margarita Prentice as chair of the Ways and Means Committee. Prentice is still chair of the committee, but Pridemore no longer is vice chairman. That job went to Rodney Tom, D-Medina.
I'm taking some journalistic license here because, not only was Dick Ferguson spokesman for Pierce County government for the past 20 years, he also was my first boss at The News Tribune in the summer of 1977.
I was a reporter intern from the UW and Fergie was my supposed to keep an eye on me. And his did. I wrote 2 stories every week about the Kodak Snap Shot contest for an interminable 12 weeks. And I got to just the amateur photography submitted to us.
Anyway, Richard Ferguson, who spent almost 25 years as a reporter and editor at The News Tribune (he started in February 1964 and left in December 1988), and another 20 year working for the county, is retiring.
His formal job title at Pierce County is media and community relations manager for the executive branch of government.
His co-workers are throwing a retirment party for him on Monday, Dec. 15.
Fergie told me he plans a third career: He's going to spend his retirement trying to track down the person or persons who chopped down (almost) the only tree on that golf course.
And I believe him.
Flashback: In a 1983 photo, Billy Graham, center, chatted with religion editor Richard Ferguson, left, media aide Don Bailey and staffer Jan Gildenhar during visit to The News Tribune.
