Jerry Montgomery is holding a pair of boots with a story. They're made for firefighters (he's the Boeing Fire Department chaplain) and retail for about $450. They're tough to find outside of the East Coast, but Montgomery has had the boots delivered to his house. Twice.

I'll have more on this story in the next day or two, but here's a quick summary: The boots' manufacturer sent him a free pair as part of a testing program. He never received them. He saw a pair on eBay and purchased them. When he called the manufacturer again, someone asked him what he thought of his free pair. He said he never got it.

But, it turns out, the serial number of the pair he bought off eBay matched the serial number that was sent to his Lakewood home (and were apparently stolen).

In other words, he purchased a pair of boots he already owned.

More coming this week.

Have you or someone you know had to deal with this apparent scam?

Here's an e-mail from a reader:

I'm writing to you about my total frustration with some outfit that has been calling me off and on for more than two years. Recently, they have upped the anti and are calling every day for the last two months. I would hope that you might write some article about this outfit because I think they have recently stepped up their approach and it is taking a scary turn with the last call of the series which I think they are using to frighten the unwary into doing something foolish. I would like to see some articles that warn others of what is going on. They may be targeting senior citizens and single women. Also, is there anyway to get these people to stop? Is there an office in the state that can go after them? Who should I report this too?

Click below to read the rest of the letter:

=> Read more!

A reader who lives near Tacoma Fire Department’s station on South Alaska Street called The News Tribune to say he’s noticed trucks responding to blazes flash their lights and blow their sirens more often than they used to. Sirens wail in the middle of the night with no cars on the road, he said.

Trucks are indeed using their lights and sirens more often, assistant fire chief Dale Vaughn said, but it’s not a new procedure. The department is following the rules already on the books.

“The individual companies have, over time and in deference to the people in the neighborhood, chose not to run their sirens and the neighborhood all the time,” he said. “The chief reminded everyone about three months ago that it is a (Washington Administrative Code) requirement that we’re supposed to run with all of our warning devices anytime we’re running to an emergency anywhere in the city other than the freeway.”

That’s because the Washington State Patrol has given the fire department a special dispensation from using lights and sirens on highways.

There’s no deeper meaning to the Chief Ron Stephens’ clarification of the rules, Vaughn said.

“Some people are looking at it as a change,” he said. “It’s not a change. It’s just a reminder of our policy which is required by law.”

Comments are still coming in about Friday’s story detailing Tacoma resident G.W. Mayo’s experiences at a sailor at Pearl Harbor.

One reader believes we downgraded the heroism of the USS Nevada and its crew that day. Here is an excerpt from his e-mail to The News Tribune:

… the gaffe which really offended me was the comment on the Nevada being beached on order. At no place in this article was it stated that the Nevada got underway. Of course she had to be moving in order to require beaching. In reality, the attempted sortie of the Nevada that morning was one of the outstanding events of that terrible day. As the Navy historical extract above makes plain, the Nevada was the only US battleship which was able to get underway on the morning of the attack. She did so in response to the order given by the fleet commander “All ships sortie.” On the same morning when the crew of the Arizona was immolated, that means burned, the crew of the Nevada made a heroic attempt to the leave the harbor with her ensign streaming at the stern. Historical accounts are explicit in pointing out the elation she caused among the sailors and marines who saw her attempt to exit the harbor and attempt to carry the fight to the enemy. That she was then the focus point of the second wave of Japanese attackers and had to be beached to guarantee egress and ingress from Pearl Harbor was simply another unfortunate occurrence of that terrible day. In my view, your article completely missed the opportunity to let the readers know that the Nevada (BB 36) beached herself on order at the end of a heroic attempt to exit Pearl Harbor.

As I responded, the Trib is the newspaper business, not the book biz. We have finite amount of space, and I opted to tell more of Mayo's story than that of the Nevada. We second-guess here all the time to try to make the paper better, so I'd like to hear (from e-mail or comments) about whether you thought the Nevada received its due given the focus and length of the article.

Click below to read an excerpt from a Navy history Web site:

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StopCrimeOnTacomaAve, the YouTube channel that posts what appears to be illegal activity in the neighborhood near downtown Tacoma, is apparently back.

The plug was pulled earlier because of intimidation against one of the channel's operators. I'll try to contact that person about it today.

Until then, enjoy the new video:

(Thanks for the tip, Erik.)

I was in Olympia yesterday, checking out the Capitol and wandering around the area. I came across the Washington State Vietnam Veterans Memorial. It's basically a smaller replica of the Vietnam Wall in Washington, D.C.

Like other memorials, there were American flags and flowers to honor those who died serving our country. But there was also another kind of tribute I have yet to see at a war memorial.

Wanna know what it was? Click below:

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Remember Nichole Marie Blackwell? Yeah, neither do most people. But you probably remember what the 28-year-old woman did. She's the one who pleaded guilty to encouraging Craigslist readers to come pillage her aunt's Tacoma house in May.

The New York Times Magazine resurrected the story over the weekend -- and in a way you might not expect.

Here's the last line of the story:

And all those shamed employees and crazy neighbors and jilted lovers everywhere owe a debt of gratitude to Ms. Blackwell for giving this revenge fantasy life.

Prometa, the controversial addiction-treatment regimen, was the subject of a “60 Minutes” piece last night. And that meant Tacoma received some big attention.

Correspondent Scott Pelley visited Pierce County and talked with former methamphetamine addicts who swear by the stuff. The weekly program also touched on the county’s Prometa program and how controversy stung some public officials.

Word on the Street special correspondent Liz Shaw and I were watching and came to come conclusions about the light cast from the report. She’s much more eloquent than I am, so I’ll quote her: “It made Prometa look like a miracle cure, the guy running Prometa look slimy, the Tacomans look like hillbillies and the County Council look shady.”

Did you see it? Any thoughts?

A link to the story (with a link to the video) is here. The story is worth your 14 minutes – as is the comment section on the story’s page. Lots of personal anecdotes in there.

(And bonus points if you can tell me what scene in which you can spot Tribbers Dave Zeeck, Karen Peterson, Randy McCarthy and Dave Wickert.)

Still cranking away on stories about deep-brain stimulation surgery for Parkinson’s disease patients and Pierce County’s Medical Reserve Corps. Hopefully office stuff won’t take too long and I can be up to the usual – looking for more good stories.