The flooded-out tractor still needs a few more repairs, so we're not heading down to southwestern Washington today. We plan on going tomorrow.

Until then, I had Tom Ecker explain what his shop did to have to repair the tractors that were rescued out of the muck after the December 2007 floods.

For years, Emmy Trotter had a prime view of dozens of cars backed up in front of her house in Tacoma’s North End, courtesy of a four-way stop at the intersection of North 26th and Orchard streets.

Student dropoff and pickup at Mont Downing Elementary School usually caused traffic crunches in the morning and afternoon. Sometimes it wasn’t worth the effort to attempt a left turn. So when the City of Tacoma installed a traffic light at the intersection last month, she was delighted.

“I love it because it keeps better control of the traffic in the neighborhood,” she said. “My husband requested a light for this intersection 30 years ago.”

But not all were as enthusiastic when the light was installed.

Neighbors and parents of students who attend the school were worried the light could increase traffic speed in the neighborhood. Principal Susan Goerger said she’s worried drivers might run a red light or make a quick left turn and not see children. Tacoma School District officials also raised concerns about it, a city traffic engineer said.

But two crossing guards who worked Thursday, the first day back from winter break, praised the change.

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I talked to Kurtis Kingsolver, a traffic engineer with the City of Tacoma, about the traffic light at North 26th Street and Orchard.

Here's what he had to say:

"This started a long time ago, probably eight or 10 years ago. When we look at signals, we have what we call signal warrants. There are nine different warrants. When you meet those warrants, it warrants a signal. That doesn’t mean we have money for it; it just means we have a signal warranted at that location. It’s been that way for many years.

"We discussed this with the school district, with the principal and with the crossing guards. The problem is that over the year, the school district cycles their principals around and it’s very likely the principal today wasn’t the one we talked to three years ago. Same thing with crossing guards – they kind of come and go as their kids move on to different schools.

"It was a real concern at the time by the school district and the crossing guard. When you have a four-way stop, it’s a good control, but people get irritated. And they start juking and jiving for position, and the crossing guard was continually in close calls. And so we moved forward with the signal, but it took several years to get it funded. We could have installed this seven, eight, nine years ago. But it took that long to get a grant for the funding. All of our signals are grant-funded, and this one was no exception."

Pierce County’s method of dealing with teenage criminals is winning praise from a Tennessean columnist.

After explaining systems in Missouri and Washington, here's what Dwight Lewis had to say:

Let's go, Tennessee: Let's get on the ball and come up with some similar reforms when it comes to our juvenile justice system instead of locking up more of our youngsters. Yes, those who commit serious crimes cannot be babied, but let's try to get to them before they commit such crimes.

Got a full slate today. I'm first heading to the corner of North 26th Street and Orchard to talk to more folks about the new traffic light.

After that, photographer Lui Kit Wong and I are heading to southwestern Washington to follow a man who fixes farm equipment destroyed by the December floods for free.