Remember that November plane crash in Commencement Bay? (It was the one where the owner of Farrelli's saved the two people who crashed.)

The Puyallup Herald has a recap story of the incident, complete with quotes from both sides.

We've just been added to the blogroll at FeedTacoma. For those checking this blog out for the first time, I hope y'all keep coming back. For a quick primer of who I am and what I do, check out this previous post.

And if this is your first time here, go ahead and check out some of my older stuff. I've delineated it by city/town and, for Tacoma, by neighborhood.

The first of two lion statues was reinstalled today after months of repairs at iconic Wright Park, the latest and most visible sign of the $4 million project to return prominence to the area that used to be a center of the city’s social life.

“This is a big step,” said Kristi Evans, a project manager with Metro Parks. “It’s more than just a couple of statues.”

Crews will reinstall four statues – two lions and two maidens – this week and next. The statues, sculpted from poured sandstone slurry, needed repairs to patch major cracks.

They remained in a heated storage container in the park; the cracks were filled in, and each statue will receive one or two coats of fresh paint. Lights will be installed on the statues’ bases.

The statues have long resonated with Tacoma residents and visitors, said Melissa McGinnis, a historian with Metro Parks.

“If you look at historic photographs throughout the years,” she said, “everybody took their pictures at Wright Park in front of the statues.”

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Watch the installation of a lion statue at Wright Park and listen to Metro Parks' Nancy Johnson talk about it below:

Drew Ebersole was hired last week as the executive director of the Metro Parks Foundation, which oversees capital projects. I chatted with him earlier today about Phase 2 of the renovation of Wright Park, which will include a playground and "sprayground" for children.

Listen to him give a quick synopsis of it here.

Crosscut has a look at Tacoma’s art scene here.

The city is apparently hoping the condo crowd downtown keeps the art revival thriving. Here's what Amy McBride, arts administrator for the city, asks: "What's the tipping point? Will the people who move into those condos buy artwork?"

First stop this morning: Wright Park, where crews are reinstalling the lions and maiden statues as part of a $4 million. Photographer Russ Carmack will also be there (and, knowing Russ, he has probably been there since dawn), so there will be some outstanding photos. I’ll let you know how things are going as the day progresses.

Also, check out my story on robotic surgery in today’s paper here.

Here's the video of the robotic surgery again: