From our intrepid columnist Kathleen Merryman. That woman is always working:

So there I was, getting a great $4, 8 a.m. haircut at my favorite salon, Bates Technical College Cosmetology department on Yakima Avenue.

Outside, the merry red lights of the Bates fire engine were flashing in the window, and fire services students were holding out boots for random motorist money. It was the annual fund drive to make up holiday baskets for needy students.

Suddenly, a cadre of topless, tattooed firefighters strode into the salon, held out their boots and pledged a pushup for every dollar we gave them.

We dove for our purses and forked over $23.

They dropped and gave us 23.

I cannot recommend a Bates haircut heartily enough, especially on the first Friday in December.

One minor downside: When I bought a coffee in the cafe, cashier Kimberly Herring gave me a $5 roll of dimes in change.

“The firemen are here today,” she said. “I don’t have any dollars. The girls just cleaned me out.”

I've received some good feedback about today's G.W. Mayo story -- and a whole lot of negative responses.

All of the criticism (at least so far) concerns the headline and photo caption that refers to the former Navy seamen as a soldier. There's no reason to get into the inside baseball facts behind the error, but it's an error nonetheless. Jim Kresse, The News Tribune's editing team leader, tells me he's writing up a correction for tomorrow's paper.

I received an e-mail last week from a reader who said he's noticed Tacoma Fire Department trucks blast their sirens a lot more than ever before. He lives near a station, so he's not happy. The reader called the department and was told it's a new siren procedure. I'll talk to some folks at TFD and figure it out.