Enough people have called and e-mailed at me at this point regarding my reporting of a scuffle at Adam Smith's Aug. 25 town hall meeting that I'm convinced I got it wrong.

I had reported that a man holding a sign depicting President Obama with a Hitler mustache was taken to the ground by bystanders, who crumpled up the sign and threw it away.

That's what I thought I saw and a few witnesses said they saw, but at this point more than a handful of people have disputed that account. They all concur that the man with the sign wasn't touched, and that he actually pushed another man to the ground when the second man tried to take his sign. More people told me the same thing after I wrote a blog post Monday asking for additional information.

We'll be running a correction in tomorrow's paper.

Here's what happened: From several rows up, I saw someone pushed to the ground amid a swarm of people. I was sure the man who fell on the ground was the same man who was holding the sign, but I asked around to double-check. A few people who I questioned nearby said they saw the same think I did.

I didn't have a great view of the incident, as it turns out.

I wasn't the only one -- neither representatives from Adam Smith's office nor the Lakewood Police Department could confirm who pushed who in the midst of the crowd.

Our partners at KIRO-TV didn't have any video footage that could confirm it one way or another.

That's why it's taken so long for this correction to get in the paper. Barring a police statement or video footage, it was difficult for me to confirm what actually happened one way or the other. I didn't want to write an incorrect correction that I might later have to amend a second time.

At this point, so many people have given me an account of what happened that varies from my own that I believe a correction is needed. Look for it in Thursday's News Tribune.

It's been brought to my attention by two faithful News Tribune readers that I may have incorrectly reported the details of a brouhaha at Adam Smith's town hall meeting last week in Lakewood.

I reported that a man holding a sign depicting President Obama with a Hitler mustache was taken to the ground by bystanders, who crumpled up the sign and threw it away.

That's what I saw and a few witnesses said they saw. But two people now have called me to say it was actually the man with the Obama-Hitler sign that pushed another man to the ground -- not the other way around.

I'm trying to confirm what actually happened.

A spokesman from Adam Smith's office couldn't confirm it one way or another because he said Smith's staffers had a poor view of the scuffle, too. I scoured the Web briefly last Wednesday trying to find another account of the fight, but didn't find another news outlet that mentioned it. Today I'm starting my search anew.

I have our news partners at KIRO-TV in Seattle checking to see if they have any video feed of the incident that could clarify what happened once and for all. I'm planning to call the local police department and see what they know.

I'm wondering: was anyone there that could tell me what went down? I'm very interested if anyone has video or a picture that could help me write an accurate correction if it happened differently than I reported.

E-mail me at melissa.santos@thenewstribune.com.

Never say never. Two Washington congressmen who initially resisted holding health care town halls are appearing events tonight in the area.

6th District Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Belfair, will host a town hall at the Kitsap Conference Center in Bremerton from 7:30 to 9 p.m. tonight.

Meanwhile, 3rd District Rep. Brian Baird has moved tonight's town hall to a new location: Washington Center for the Performing Arts, 512 Washington St. SE in Olympia. It will run from 7 to 9 p.m.

Both men took heat from constituents for initially declining to hold such events. Baird criticized what he saw as a counter-productive tone of some of the discussion. "It's a lynch mob mentality out there," Baird said. "There is an ugliness to it."

=> Read more!

U.S. Rep. Adam Smith spoke to Tacoma Rotary 8 this noontime and deflected praise for how he handled two recent town hall meetings.

Unlike some of his congressional colleagues, Smith kept to his August recess town hall schedule even after some meetings elsewhere were disrupted by citizens angry about the health care reform issue.

Tuesday he spoke to and listened to 2,500 at Harry Lang Stadium in Lakewood.

Smith said it is a member of Congress's job to listen to constituents. And he said it was wrong for some members of Congress to ridicule and condemn those who were passionate – and sometimes rude – at these meetings.

"It doesn't do my profession any good to make fun of people," Smith said, specifically referencing a YouTube video in which U.S. Rep. Barney Frank asks a constituent "On what planet do you spend most of your time?"

"You have to take all comers," Smith said. "If you don't ... find something else to do for a living."

But the Tacoma Democrat acknowledges the level of feelings on the health care debate.

"When I was first elected, I did a town hall meeting in Lacey and one person showed up," he said. "We've gone from one to 2,500. Times have changed."

BY MELISSA SANTOS
The News Tribune

A town hall meeting held in Lakewood today by Rep. Adam Smith, D-Tacoma, attracted an estimated 2,500 people, with both supporters and opponents of government run-health care turning out in large numbers.

Most of the people who spoke at the Clover Park High School stadium asked questions critical of Democratic health-care reform proposals, though groups supporting a public health care option demonstrated in larger numbers near the stadium entrance before the event.

It was hard to tell if Smith attracted more boos or cheers when he announced, “I think a public option is good.”

=> Read more!

Reporter Brian Everstine phoned in a report from Lakewood, where Congressman Adam Smith's town hall is still going on. About 2,700 or so packed Harry Lang Stadium for the event. Brian saw one minor scuffle and no arrests. We'll have a report from him and reporter Melissa Santos up soon.