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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| << < | > >> | |||||
| 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 | ||||||
- 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- preserve
- CustomScoop
- roz1947
- Guest Users: 384
Set wonk alert to condition three throughout the system.
Tacoma is holding a workshop and walking tour Thursday afternoon as it puts together some Complete Streets Design Guidelines. The public is invited to attend and participate.
In English: Tacoma is trying to make city streets appealing to more than just drivers. That means putting in sidewalks, bike lanes, turn lanes and so forth. (Think Bridgeport Way in University Place -- which is listed as an example on www.completestreets.org, the online HQ for the national movement.)
The improvements also include "green" features, such as trees (natch!) and rain gardens to capture and use storm water, said City of Tacoma planner Elliott Barnett.
Why are the principles behind complete streets a big deal? What good to they do besides getting urban planners' pheromones pumping?
According to the organization's Web site, the benefits are myriad:
* There's an economic benefit to property values and to shops from increased pedestrian traffic.
* The streets are safer for walkers and bikers.
* More walking and biking makes people healthier.
* It can ease traffic congestion -- "In Portland, Oregon, a complete streets approach has resulted in a 74 percent increase in bicycle commuting in the 1990s."
* Decreased car traffic means better air quality.
* And Complete Streets will bring about world peace.
(Ok, I made that last one up.)
Barnett puts it this way: just as mixed-use planning aims to make private property development more "livable," the Complete Streets approach does the same thing for public rights of way. So it's natural to apply it first in Tacoma's mixed use centers.
Everything you've ever wanted to know about Complete Streets in Tacoma can be found on the city Planning Department's Web site.
Here's the schedule for Thursday's events:
Meet at the Tacoma Municipal Building –
747 Market Street, Room 248, Tacoma2:00 to 2:30 Introductions & Overview
2:30 to 4:00 Walking Tour
4:00 to 5:00 Workshop (Room 248)
(Photo: illustration from Oregon Department of Transportation, posted at CompleteStreets.org)
