A court battle over open records and the company that operates the Northwest Detention Center has been avoided.

The GEO Group, which has operated the 1,030-bed Northwest Detention Center since 2004, filed a petition in Pierce County Superior Court last week to block the release of several documents requested through public-disclosure laws.

Here’s what happened:

Tim Smith of the Bill of Rights Defense League filed the request to obtain tax records from The GEO Group. He said he filed the records to “better understand the operations of the facility and current efforts to expand its operations.” The detention center will expand by 545 beds. The $40 million project should be completed by September 2009.

=> Read more!

It’s official: I Corps is heading to Iraq next year to take on day-to-day operations.

And the unit that runs Fort Lewis will have two familiar brigades under its command.

The Department of Defense announced the major units in its next rotation Tuesday, and joining I Corps will be the 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division and the 5th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division – both based at Fort Lewis. The announcement likely caught few people by surprise on post, where personnel have expected this decision.

A firm timetable hasn’t been set, but I Corps is expected to arrive in the winter. The two Stryker brigades will arrive during by summer; a more exact time or location hasn’t been determined because it’s not certain which units they will replace, I Corps spokeswoman Maj. Kathy Turner said.

With smaller units also expected to deploy, as many as 10,000 Fort Lewis personnel will be serving in Iraq next year, Turner said.

This will be I Corps’ first combat deployment since the Korean War. 3rd Brigade will make its third trip to Iraq, and this will be the first time 5th Brigade sees combat.

=> Read more!

You have to love Jenny Severns’ style.

She’s sent a challenge to Tacoma’s Hilltop volunteer groups, via Hilltop Action Coalition’s massive e-mail list.

“Read this now! Throw Down on Hilltop!” she wrote to HAC Director of Community Initiatives Jeanie Peterson.

“I’m putting up $100 to go to the neighborhood organization that signs up the most voters. They can be former voters that changed addresses, names, made good on their felonies or are just signing up to make sure. I don’t care. They just have to do more than leave registration forms around. They have to stand there and fill them out and make sure they get mailed in by October 4th... I have three so far,” Severns wrote.”

“HAC office has lots of voter registration forms,” Peterson shot back. “Just stop in and pick up a bundle.”

The office, at 1224 South I Street, is open during weekday business hours.

Expect lots of competition for Severns’ crisp $100 bill.

“Omega Psi Phi and the Deltas are hosting a voter’s registration at Al Davies Boys & Girls Club this Sat., Oct, 4th, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.,” Toni Whitehead e-mailed Peterson. Whitehead is program director of the club at 1620 S. 17th St.

That’s the American spirit in action:

Register.

Vote.

No excuses. No puny 30 percent turnouts.

I'm back from vacation and figuring out what I'll work on this week. But for tomorrow, I've got something on the Northwest Detention Center coming down the pipeline.

Never mind that homeless encampments are illegal in Tacoma, and with good reason. They are unsafe and unhealthy – and that’s for the people who live in them. For neighbors, they’re biohazard and crime magnets.

When the city of Tacoma outlawed them, it was in conjunction with Housing First programs aimed at getting encampment residents into housing with the support of social services.

The switch did not work for everyone. Some people had felonies and couldn’t find housing. Some got into housing but lost it. So police and public works crews have kept busy shutting down and cleaning up the illegal camps.

That’s what was going on this morning at one of the freeway bridges on 34th Street two blocks east of Pacific Avenue.

Tacoma Police Community Liaison officer Bert Hayes had heard complaints about a man living under the bridge east of Stanley & Seafort’s restaurant. Hayes visited with the man and told him he had to leave. Then he posted No Trespassing signs to underline the point. Monday he came to make sure the man had left.

He hadn’t.

“I show up at 7:30 a.m., and they’re still snug as a bug,” Hayes said of the man and a woman who also was there.
Hayes told them to clear his stuff out or lose it. The man took what he wanted – a fold-up cot and a few bags – and left about a dump truck’s worth of junk for the community service work crew Hayes had called.

They hauled the garbage out while the man walked over to Pacific Avenue to buy a cup of coffee and call his sister.

“He asked me why I was doing this to him when he was down on his luck,” Hayes said. “I asked him, ‘Why are you trespassing and costing the taxpayers thousands of dollars?’”

In part, the guy could trespass because a request for a fence to block access to the underpass had, as Hayes said, “fallen through the cracks.”

That was an expensive oversight, considering the landfill bill and the work time for Hayes, the Community Based Services team that called in the dump truck, and the community service crew supervised by Paul Nielsen.

“They’re constantly cleaning up encampments,” Hayes said of the court-ordered crew.

The homeless man and his sister talked nearby. Their mother had said she’d pick her son up, and they were waiting for her.

He’d tried to get into a Housing First program, he said, but could not, in part because he has felonies on his record. He takes jobs through a casual labor company. He’s weary of a system he believes profits from keeping him working for minimum wage.

Despite that, his sister was happy to hear about Project Homeless Connect, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 15 at the Tacoma Dome Exhibition Hall. The one-day event will give people who are homeless a one-stop opportunity to meet with medical and social services providers.

“We’ll be there,” she said, and looked at her brother.

Better there than sleeping under a bridge.

Better for him.

Better for all of us.

So how often do you get the chance to raise $1,235 for charity and make the lawyers back slowly away from you when you show up for jury duty?

Eleanor Cozart pulled it off Wednesday.

Cozart, a member of Tacoma Sunrise Rotary, showed up for the early a.m. meeting geared up to promote the club's annual auction, with its "Knights of the Rotarian Round Table" theme. She was wearing a midnight blue velvet gown with white satin accents in the Medieval style.

She gave her pep talk for the Oct. 4 auction at the Sharon McGavick Student Center and Conference Facility at Clover Park Technical College. She was ready to step down and duck out to change into her jury duty clothes.

That's when a rascally Rotarian called out that she should show up at the City-County building as Guinevere.

"Raise enough money, and I will," she shot back.

That's the thing about Rotarians. They're always plumbing their pockets to pay for their service projects. Sunrise's list includes housing for homeless moms and their children, scholarships, and programs at Lincoln High and Stewart Middle School.

$235 in dress-incentives came in from the floor, followed by $1,000.

That added up to "enough."

Superior Court Judge Rosanne Buckner, who's also a member of Sunrise Rotary, snapped a shot of Cozart waiting patiently in the jury pool with a good book.

Boonie wasn’t quite sure how to react. At first, he just looked at the plastic contraption attached to his leg. And when he wanted to walk away he limped off on three legs.

After all, it takes a while to adjust to a new prosthetic – especially if you’re a goat.

The 3-year-old, white-and-brown animal received a plastic device Wednesday that will substitute as his new hoof almost three months after it was amputated. But Boonie needed a bit of coaxing to use it.

“Come on Boonie,” his owner, Marna Peterson of Edgewood, told him. “It’s your new foot, Boonie!”

After a few minutes, he began walking gingerly on the device and resting against it. And that had Peterson, who owns five goats, beaming.

Boonie’s stump – the vets amputated just above his front right hoof – fits into a brace and is secured with Velcro. At the bottom of the device is a plastic semi-circle with rubber, tire-like tread.

His veterinarian, Dr. Krystal Grant of Tahoma Veterinary Hospital outside Spanaway, believes he is the third or fourth goat to receive a prosthetic leg.

A rope and a taste for blackberries led to the loss of Boonie’s leg on July 3.

=> Read more!

Visitors to Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium can drop by and check out some new arrivals: a litter of meerkats. (Meerkittens? No, they are called pups.)

Meerkat mom Amelia gave birth Sept. 6, but the four tiny youngsters have been in seclusion until recently, according to a zoo press release. No names yet. (They are so small that zookeepers can't tell their genders yet.)

“They become more and more adventurous every day,” said senior staff biologist Jennifer Donovan. “And they’re growing so quickly that frequent visitors notice their changes.”

The mob of meerkats has been a popular addition to the zoo's new Animal Avenue area since going on display over the summer. One of the 10 arrivals, Kingsley, died earlier this month.

Will Hirsh attended the public meetings. He talked to city and parks officials. He was certain he had secured a promise not to cut some century-old trees in Tacoma’s South Park.

But he awoke Wednesday to a scene he describes as shocking and deeply upsetting: the sight of Metro Parks Tacoma work crews cutting down three trees as part of the construction of the Water Ditch Trail.

“I saw them swarm in this morning, very early, with a huge crew and cut down the same trees that they promised me would be saved,” he said. “It’s irreversible damage. It’ll take 120 years to repair. It’s unbelievable.”

But Metro Parks’ arborist had signed off on the tree-cutting as part of a necessary renovation to accommodate the South Tacoma-to-downtown urban trail. And a city engineer with whom Hirsh had been speaking said their promise was more of a conversation that might have had both sides agreeing to different things.

“There was no written agreement,” said Michael Ahearn of the city’s Building and Land Use Division. “He called me and we talked. It was a little confusing on the phone talking about what trees we’re going to be removed. I tried to explain which ones would be removed. I think there was a gap in communication.”

=> Read more!

A National Geographic photographer is coming to Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium next weekend to tech kids photography.

Don't know if you're a Natty G fan like myself, but this would be a cool opportunity if you're 3-8 years old. Kids borrow a digital camera as Whidbey Island-based Kevin Horan teaches them how to shoot photos. The kids then practice on animals at the zoo.

Click below to read the press release and find ways to sign up.

=> Read more!

I’ve got a story about a court-watch program at the Northwest Detention Center in the works. And this afternoon, I’ll be dealing with a three-legged goat.

The Tacoma Tall Ships Organization folks appeared before a Tacoma city council committee to discuss their economic impact statement.

Earlier this month, organizers released a study showing a $19.2 million impact. And that played well with the members of the economic development committee.

Councilman Rick Talbert seemed particularly impressed with the infrastructure improvements the festival brought to the Thea Foss Waterway. And, he added, "what isn't measurable is the positive impact for Tacoma and Pierce County from people who visited here."

Tacoma/Pierce County Habitat for Humanity opens its applications for new homes twice a year, and the next round of informational meetings begins in October.

Habitat opens doors to home ownership to low-income families who are living in a situation that does not meet their needs. They must be willing and able to accept the responsibilities of home ownership - and to help build their own house. And they must have lived in Pierce County for a year.

The families don't need spotless credit histories, but they must show that they pay key bills on time. And they must be able to spend 30 percent of their income on housing. When they are done, they will buy their home at cost with a 0 percent interest rate.
They'll also have to spend 500 hours helping to build it, and the homes of other Habitat families.

All the homes are green, right down to the heating systems which are among the most efficient being built in the county.

Habitat requires applicants to come to one of four information meetings set for Oct. 6 through Oct. 28. People who need help understanding English will have to bring their own interpreter.

Here are the dates, times and places:

Mon., Oct. 6, 6 p.m., Salishan Family Services Center, 1728 East 44th St., Tacoma.

Mon., Oct. 13, 6 p.m., Peace Lutheran Church, 214 E. Pioneer Way, Puyallup.

Sat., Oct. 25, 10 a.m., Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, 10333 Bridgeport Way S.W., Lakewood.

Tues., Oct. 28, 6 p.m., Catholic Community Services, 1323 Yakima Ave., Tacoma.

Need more information? Call (253) 627-5626 or log on to www.tpc-habitat.org.

A board member of the Tacoma Tall Ships Organization will head a resource action committee that will raise funds to pay down the deficit from July’s festival and collect donations toward the 2011 event. Already, one anonymous donor has stepped forward with a $100,000 pledge.

Mike McLeod, a commercial real estate developer, will work full-time for the nonprofit organization over the next two months, board members said Tuesday. Tall Ships ran a $500,000 deficit on a $2.5 million budget.

Thirty-five creditors – mostly smaller companies and individuals – have been paid, with 63 still outstanding, board co-chairman Stan Selden said. The organization still owes about $450,000, $50,000 less than the initial deficit organizers announced last month. The nonprofit has received additional payments and bills since then, Selden said.

McLeod was five weeks into a three-month vacation when he decided to return to Tacoma and work to pay down the deficit.

“Bottom line is I couldn’t relax,” he said. “I wasn’t comfortable. We cut the trip short by about a month to come back and work on it.”

McLeod will approach sponsors from this year’s event and ask them to sign up early for 2011. One such deal he’s proposing to sponsors is a four-year commitment: help toward the deficit this year, money toward organizational operations in 2009-10 and donations toward the event in 2011.

The nonprofit has already received one large gift: An anonymous woman gave $100,000 earmarked for The Pollard Group, the Tacoma printing firm.

=> Read more!

I'll be talking to board members of the Tacoma Tall Ships Organization this morning about their financial status. And I'll be at the meeting of the Tacoma city council's economic development committee. They'll be discussing the fair's economic impact.

Safe Streets is taking registration for its neighborhood patrol academy. It's open to anyone who wants to help start or sustain a patrol group in their neighborhood.

Participants learn how to safely combat crime in their neighborhoods. Training lasts three sessions -- Oct. 9, 16 and 23 -- from 7-9 p.m.

Previous academies (read about one here) were held at the Tacoma Police Department headquarters building, but this will be at the Salishan Family Investment Center at 1724 E. 44th St.

To register, e-mail David Cantlin at choo_choo_dave@yahoo.com, call 253-272-6824 or visit safest.org.

Safe Streets is hosting a meth forum this week at Pacific Lutheran University. A release promises "in-depth discussion on meth trends including drug trafficking, meth-related crime, and teen use," and it sounds a chance to get all your meth-related questions answered.

(And if you can't make it, watch a few episodes of A&E's "Intervention." Spooky.)

WHAT: Meth Forum
WHERE: Xavier Hall, 12108 C Street South, Tacoma
WHEN: 6-8 p.m. Thursday

A major shakeup could be coming to the Puyallup Tribe of Indians’ government.

Tribal members have collected more than 700 signatures on a petition that could force a recall vote of two councilmen affiliated with a group critical of longtime leaders. If the signatures are certified, David Bean and James Miles could be voted off of the seven-person council.

It would be the first recall vote in 20 years, former councilwoman Sylvia Miller said. The tribal council oversees all business of the tribe, one of Pierce County's largest employers.

“They’ve divided our tribe,” she said, “and we want our tribe back.”

But Miles and Bean say the recall attempt is the tribe’s old guard trying to reclaim lost political power and challenge their critics to produce documents backing up allegations.

About 40 recall supporters met on the banks of the Puyallup River in Tacoma’s Tideflats to announce the success of the signature-gathering process. They needed 691 signatures and had 702 as of Saturday afternoon.

“They’re a cultural embarrassment,” tribal member Marian Smith said. “They’re not living the way we were raised to behave. That’s the worst part. They’re dishonoring our traditions and our culture. They’re arrogant.”

=> Read more!

I'm heading to the Puyallup Tribe of Indians headquarters for a press release. Details upcoming.

So do you want to Nick Lachey get the Byung-Hyun Kim treatment on the mound at Cheney Stadium?

Or do you want to see a trio of newspaper hacks swing for the fences and fall to the dirt?

Either way, it's for a good cause.

Lachey is heading to Tacoma this weekend to headline a celebrity softball game at Cheney on Sunday. It's one event during an entire weekend of fundraising for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Tacoma General Hospital.

But, really, enough about Nick. I'm sure you're really coming out to watch your three TNT staffers hard at work: Ryan "I'm one of three people from Montana who knows what a baseball is" Divish, Doug "I'm gonna play in a sweater vest" Pacey and yours truly -- Scott "I played an entire season of Little League and got one hit" Fontaine.

First pitch is at 10:30 a.m. General admission tickets are $15.

And remember: It's for the kids.

Click below to read the press release.

=> Read more!

As seen on a menu in Tacoma:

The utility workers arrived on Harleys, in pickup trucks and in cars. They cracked jokes with each other as they cleared dead trees from a campsite.

And after a day volunteering as part of the United Way’s Day of Caring, the trails at the Camp St. Albans outside Belfair are safer for the hundreds of Girl Scouts who use the camp each year.

“We’re out here to help,” supervisor Al Lehtimaki said, “but we also have a pretty good time.”

More than 1,100 Day of Caring volunteers from Pierce County – including almost 500 from the Tacoma School of the Arts – were expected to participate at different sites around the region Friday. Other jobs included landscaping, painting buildings and helping serve meals at a food bank.

The Tacoma Public Utilities workers visit the 414-acre Camp St. Albans between Belfair and Allyn each year. Previous projects included building bleachers around a firepit and creating trails through the woods to get to the site.

=> Read more!

If you’re interested in the various United Way Day of Caring project sites around the region, here they are:

L’Arche Tahoma Hope
Project Address: 12303 36th Ave East, Tacoma
Project: landscaping
Start time: 9 a.m.
Volunteers: State Farm Insurance
Number of Volunteer: 20

Boys & Girls Club - Gonyea Branch
Project Address: 5136 North 26th Street, Tacoma
Project: fall clean up - landscaping, painting, organizing, window washing, etc.; painting
Start time: 9 a.m.
Volunteers: Russell, Weyerhaeuser & Target
Number of Volunteer: 35

Point Defiance Park – Rose Garden & Five-Mile Drive
Project Address: 5400 North Shirley, Tacoma
Project: flower bed/rose garden maintenance; trail clean-up
Start time: 9 a.m.
Volunteers: School of the Arts & Johnson, Stone & Pagano, P.S.
Number of Volunteer: 35

Girl Scouts - Pacific Peaks Council
Address: Camp St. Albans, E 251 Lake Devereaux Rd, Belfair
Project: splitting & hauling wood; building benches
Volunteers: Tacoma Public Utilities
Number of Volunteer: 28

Helping Hand House
Address: 20915 120th St, Bonney Lake, WA 98390
Project: Remove all tagged trees/plants in yard, clean gutters, prune bushes, mow grass, edge lawn, pull weeds
Volunteers: Bank of America
Number of Volunteers: 14

I’ll be in Belfair this morning to cover the United Way’s Day of Caring. More than 1,100 volunteers – including 500 from Tacoma School of the Arts – will complete service projects throughout the area today. I'll cover volunteers from Tacoma Public Utilities splitting and hauling wood and building benches at the Girl Scout camp.

I’ve received several e-mails – the discussion started with downtown resident Laura Hanan – about the clock in the Old City Hall. It’s been stuck at 3:15ish for a while now.

It’s becoming more of a talker. Here’s an excerpt fro Hanan’s e-mail:

"The City has spoken recently of the drive to inaugurate this area as downtown Tacoma's Financial District. In the financial world, time is of the essence; time is money. What is the fiscal metaphor for a city's financial district where one of the most prominent structures is a large broken clock?

"It is not just the big business players that make this an important area. The sum of prominent broken parts like the clock add up and reflect how much a city really cares about itself and the face if puts forth to its residents and visitors."

Old City Hall LLC, a subsidiary of The Stratford Co., owns the building. I’ve got a message in with their PR department ot find out if there are any plans to fix it. I’ll let you know when I find out.

Some residents of Tacoma's East Side are apparently unhappy with the amount of litter -- and the frequency of the cleanup -- on the Highway 7 spur off Interstate 705.

Here's an excerpt from an e-mail I received:

I am really bothered by the comment that the roadway is dirty again in a couple of weeks after clean up - that is like me saying why should I vacuum when there will be dog hair back on the carpet the next day. If I treated my home the way that Highway 7 extension gets treated I would be knee deep in dog hair (as the Highway 7 extension is practically knee deep in garbage.)

I drive I-90 over Mercer Island about once a week and notice that it is always squeaky clean - I think we are dealing with a double standard when it comes to getting the Highway 7 extension (THE PORTAL TO OUR NEIGHBORHOOD) picked up.

So I ask you: Do you live on the East Side? If the level of trash along the highway acceptable? If not, what should be done? And by whom?

I'm juggling reporting for several bigger stories today, but I'm gonna be heading out to look for some off-beat stories. Got any ideas? Shoot me an e-mail.

Dick Richards stood on the gymnasium floor. Behind him poster-sized photos hung: one of an astronaut, one of a space shuttle. A large painting of the mission insignia of the ill-fated space shuttle Challenger mission covered a wall.

Richards, a former NASA astronaut, often uses the thrill of space exploration to encourage students to study math and science. And perhaps there was no better place to spread his message than Auburn’s Dick Scobee Elementary School, named after his friend who died when the Challenger exploded on Jan. 28, 1986.

“When I found out there was a school named after Dick,” he said, “I made sure I put that at the top of my list. And before I’ll leave, I’m going to make sure that I get my picture in front of the sign.”

Scobee, a Cle Elum native who grew up in Auburn, was spacecraft commander on the Challenger. Richards trained with Scobee in the 1980s and was informally selected to be on the shuttle’s crew before being selected as the pilot on the Columbia for a mission in August 1989 -- the first of his four shuttle flights.

Richards, now 62 and living in Houston, is attending the Association of Space Explorers' 11th Planetary Congress this week in Seattle. The organization, started in 1985 to foster dialogue between astronauts and cosmonauts on opposite sides of the Cold War and open to anyone who has traveled to space, meets about every year so its members can discuss their experiences.

=> Read more!

Sure, cities around the state are hosting American heroes today. But only one, Port Orchard, can boast the honor of hosting the only Mongolian in space.

Jügderdemidiin Gürragchaa -- or, for my legions of Mongolian speakers, Жүгдэрдэмидийн Гүррагчаа -- will be at Orchard Heights Elementary School this evening. According to his Wikipedia page, Gürragchaa is an aerospace engineer, a major general in the Mongolian Air Force and the defense minister from 2000-04. He was selected through the Intercosmos program and spent almost eight days in orbit in 1978. In 1981, he received the Hero of the Soviet Union award.

And Wikipedia (sorry for not having better sources, but my Russian is rusty) also has this interesting bit of trivia:

After Mongolia removed the Communist-era ban on clan names in 1997, and unable to identify his original clan heritage, Gürragchaa chose the clan name Sansar - Mongolian for "cosmos."

Neat.

I'm going to be at Dick Scobee Elementary School in Auburn this morning to Dick Richards, a former NASA astronaut who will be talking to students in Auburn today. He's one of dozens of astronauts and cosmonauts in Seattle for the Association of Space Explorers' "planetary congress."

(A bit of background: The school is named after Scobee, an Cle Elum native who grew up in Auburn. He was spacecraft commander astronaut on the ill-fated Challenger mission.)

The public meeting about Chabad of Pierce County’s zoning application with Tacoma has been moved. It’s now at 5:30 p.m. Thursday in Room 708 in the Tacoma Municipal Building at 747 Market St.

The Orthodox Jewish group wishes to build a synagogue at 2146 N. Mildred St., but several of its neighbors have complained the proposed size of the building is too large.

At the meeting, the city will provide information about the proposal and listen to feedback from the public. This is not a formal public hearing, and no decision will be made at the meeting.

The Association of Space Explorers is in Seattle for its 21st Planetary Congress. And tomorrow, astronauts and cosmonauts will be visiting school districts around the area to talk about science with kids.

We’re working on getting a full list of who’s going where. But here’s what we know so far:

Pierce
● Belgian astronaut Dirk Frimout will visit Tacoma MESA, Jason Lee Middle School, Stewart Middle School and Sheridan Elementary School in Tacoma
● Russian cosmonaut Alexander Poleshchuk will visit Pioneer Middle School in DuPont and Saltar's Point Elementary School and Steilacoom High School.
● Hungarian cosmonaut Bertalan Farkas will visit Sumner's Emerald Hills and Daffodil Valley elementary schools and Sumner High School.
● NASA astronaut John Blaha will visit Todd Beamer High School in Federal Way. Also, Khazakhstani cosmonaut Talgat Musabayev will visit Federal Way High School.
● NASA astronaut Vance Brand will visit Neely-O'Brien Elementary School in Kent.
● NASA astronaut Dick Richards will visit Chinook, Washington and Dick Scobee Elementary schools in Auburn.
● NASA astronaut Charlie Walker will visit Aviation High School and Midway Elementary School in Des Moines.
● NASA astronaut Tom Henricks will visit Peter G. Schmidt Elementary School in Tumwater and East Olympia Elementary School.
● NASA astronaut Millie Hughes-Fulford will visit Mountain View Middle School in Bremerton and Orchard Heights Elementary School in Port Orchard. Mongolian cosmonaut Jugderdemidyn Gurragchaa will also visit Orchard Heights.

(Any school PIOs out there want to e-mail me so I can add more to the list?)

We’re going to have a reporter (me) and a photographer at one of the visits tomorrow, but I’m not sure where yet. But I can promise I won’t use lame turns of phrase like, “This astronaut’s visit was out of this world!”

Talking immigration with nonprofits in the morning, and then I'm going to continue some reporting on Tacoma Fire Chaplain Wilby Casey (hilarious guy with plenty of good stories).

Few places in Tacoma are more ideal to play host to a meeting about the neighborhood revitalization than Neighborhood Coffee House & Espresso.

Its building is a former single-family house built in 1926 on McKinley Hill in Tacoma. It fell into disrepair over the decades, and the city eventually shuttered the derelict building. When an investor purchased it, he discovered rooms jammed with dirty mattresses, half-eaten food, syringes and crack pipes.

Now it's a laid-back coffee shop serving a neighborhood shrugging off its reputation of crime and reinvesting in itself. So perhaps it shouldn’t be a shock that about 25 people crammed into the largest room of the Craftsman-style home to talk to County Councilman Tim Farrell, Cross-District Business Association Chairman Marty Campbell and county council candidate Carolyn Merrival to discuss issues like economic revitalization, improvements to infrastructure, the prevention of sprawl, conservation of open space and stimulating business growth.

The meeting felt like a neighborhood discussion, with Farrell and Campbell nominally moderating. And much of it focused on the varying visions of the future of Pierce County.

“When you talk development,” Farrell said, “you need to think 10-20 years out. Try to look long-term for where you want to go.”

=> Read more!

Connor Rataezyk’s feet didn’t reach the ground as he sat in the captain’s chair. He stared in amazement at the board of knobs and switches as a wide smile grew across his face.

“It’s really cool!” the 7-year-old exclaimed after a chance to tour the Commencement, the Tacoma Fire Department’s newly refurbished fireboat.

Connor’s grandparents were impressed too. Jerry and Sandi Rataezyk were among hundreds at the Commencement Bay Maritime Fest on the Thea Foss Waterway in Tacoma. They toured the dozens of boats – mostly tugs and other working vessels – moored along floats near Dock Street. The steady drumbeat from nearby dragon boats thumped through the air and mixed with the chattering of families touring the ships and viewing what rows of vendors were selling. In the distance, an Army landing craft ferried festivalgoers past the waterfront.

“We think this is a great way to spend the day,” Sandi Rataezyk said. “It lets everyone know what’s going on on the waterfront. It shows what we can do.”

“Most people have no idea,” Jerry added.

=> Read more!

We're heading out to the Maritime Fest -- and the East Side -- today.

The Tall Ships Tacoma 2008 festival generated $19.2 million in economic impact, according to a study conducted by an outside company and released by event officials Friday.

And of the roughly 300,000 people attended this year’s event about 48,000 visitors came from more than 50 miles away. On average, they stayed 2.6 days and spent $88.09 per person per day.

Stan Selden, the co-chairman of the Tacoma Tall Ships Organization, hailed the report as good news several weeks after the nonprofit announced it ran the festival at a $500,000 deficit.

“It’s a very, very positive plus for all the efforts we all put into it,” he said. “It’s the rest of the story.”

The festival drew fewer visitors than organizers had hoped in part because of the constant threat of rain. Selden also believes the economy played a factor in how much people spent at the event.

=> Read more!

As part of my reporting on today's synagogue story, I read the dozens of letters that residents and others have written the city. Among the letters is one from Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor.

In it, Pastor doesn't just voice his support to the project. Dude gets downright biblical:

The prophet Jeremiah, during the Babylonian exile of the people of Israel, encouraged the people to "look after the peace and well-being of the city" because, in that way, they would find peace and well-being. Today, the City of Tacoma has an opportunity to look after the well-being of the Chabad community by helping them through the process of permitting a new synagogue. In doing so, the City would benefit the well-being of the entire community.

Deep.

We're going to be meeting with some folks from the Tacoma Tall Ships Organization today to discuss the economic impact July's event had on Pierce County.

Eugene Wilce Jr. brought sad news to The News Tribune Wednesday. He was placing his father's obituary.

If you read our obituary pages, you surely have seen the memorials the senior Wilce placed for his late wife, Mitsuko, on her birthday, their anniversary, holidays and the date of her death. Each of them was a love note to the woman he nicknamed Kimiko, accompanied by one of the hundreds of photos he took of her after he met her in post-World War II Japan. Here is a column I wrote about it last year.

Today, the younger Mr. Wilce sent me an e-mail alerting me to the death of his father, whom I'd interviewed about the memorials. It was a lovely tribute, and he agreed to let us share it with you:

=> Read more!

A reader e-mailed after noticing the columns at the East I Street entrance to McKinley Park on Tacoma’s East Side were missing. The columns are believed to date back to the Works Progress Administration of the Great Depression. “They were (are) pieces of history from Tacoma’s past that should be preserved,” he wrote.

Kristi Evans, the project manager for the $1.665 million improvement to the park, said they were removed Tuesday. And here’s a further explanation:

“At the existing entry, there were two pillars made of rock,” she said. “We’re assuming they were from the WPA. They weren’t historical, they’re not registered, they’re not listed. They were already falling apart; we had already fixed them once. To fix the park – to do what was designed and what was approved – we needed to bring the walkway up. And those pillars needed to removed.

“In the plan, we said we would remove the pillars, pull them apart. And the rocks in those pillars are going to be re-used in a new sign in that same area. That’s what we’re doing.”

The pillars were about five feet tall and were essentially concrete with rocks stuck to them, Evans said. If you’re interested, two similar pillars still stand on the downhill side of the park.

One of Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium’s 10 meerkats has died.

Kingsley died last night or early this morning in the zoo’s health-care facility.

The meerkats arrived at Point Defiance from a facility in South Africa earlier this spring. Zookeepers don’t know Kingsley’s age, spokeswoman Sheelah Medved said.

“The loss of any animal here at the Zoo is always difficult,” deputy director John Houck said in a release.

Staff veterinarians will perform an autopsy, and results should be available in a few weeks.

Here’s a novel idea for students who have a community service requirement at school: Get it done now.

Emergency Food Network has the perfect opportunity coming up in two shifts on Saturday, Sept. 20.

It’s called the Repack, and trust me, it’s more fun than it sounds.

The idea came from the Gray’s Harbor Pacific County Food Distribution Center, which was getting big donations of frozen veggies. By big, I mean giant boxes filled with loose ears of corn, squash, carrots even french fries.

They designed a stainless steel table around which volunteers can stand and pack the corn into plastic bags that can be given out to food bank clients.

EFN had a table built, and one Saturday a month it calls in faithful volunteers to sort corn, or whatever else is going.

I’ve done it a couple of times and had a blast. Sorters get competitive, speed-wise. We get to wear silly gloves and hairnets. We learn the latest in plastic bag-sealing technology. We meet people we might not encounter outside the EFN warehouse at 3318 92nd St. S. in Lakewood.

But wait, there’s more. The food bank serves lunch in between shifts.

So, how to play?

You have to be at least 16 years old, and you have to call (253) 584-1040 in advance to sign up. You can come as an individual, a club, a church group, an office crew, whatever.

There are two shifts, from 9 a.m. to noon and noon to 3 p.m. one Saturday a month. After Sept. 20, epacks are scheduled for Oct. 18, Nov. 15 and Dec. 20.

You’ll have fun, and a jump on that service requirement. Oh, yeah, and you’ll make it possible for hungry people in Pierce County to have a steady source of nutritious frozen veggies year-round.

Colin Sterr nervously stood before hundreds of firefighters, police officers, elected officials and citizens assembled on Ruston Way. He recounted his reaction to the events of Sept. 11 seven years ago, when he was Tacoma firefighter. He told the crowd about how the terrorist attacks still resonate on a daily basis with the Fire Department of New York, which he joined in 2006.

And with the the governor, mayor and fire chief seated to his right, the 29-year-old with curly orange hair captured the crowd’s attention.

“I am here today merely as a voice for my coworkers back in New York,” said Sterr, who works at a firehouse in the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn.

Sterr gave the final speech at an observance at the Tacoma Fallen Firefighters Memorial that included bagpipers playing “Amazing Grace” and “Danny Boy,” honor guards lowering the flags to half-staff and the ceremonial ringing of the bell. Firefighters from Pierce, King and Thurston counties filled the waterfront park to pay their respects.

“Sept. 11 is a day we Americans will forever associate with the courage and fearlessness of first responders,” Tacoma Fire Chief Ron Stephens said. “Today, as we honor the memories of those who lost their lives, we must also show appreciation to the firefighters, police officers and members of our armed forces. They put their lives in harm’s way when we are in need, not only when terrorists attack, but every day throughout our community, state and our great nation.”

=> Read more!

I'm going to be at the Firefighter's Memorial at 3301 Ruston Way this morning as Gov. Chris Gregoire and Mayor Bill Baarsma joins Tacoma Fire Department for a 9/11 ceremony.

Interesting as the Safe Streets Super Stars meeting always is, the best part comes later. That’s when the several hundred people in the room, from police to bankers, get together to talk about their progress and projects.

Darren Pen, one of Safe Streets’ star organizers, had great news for Gia Casto and Iola Brown. They’s just earned honors for the work they’ve done organizing residents and merchants along Pacific Avenue from 46th to 56th streets. Gia had mentioned that she’d like to extend north to 38th Street.

Bingo, said Darren.

He and volunteers from the Lincoln LAWGs have been working on the same aim. Walgreen’s managers have gotten involved, and their example has drawn in several other businesses. Walgreen’s at 38th and Pacific will host an organizing meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 11.

Everyone’s welcome to come and figure out how to fight the drug dealing and prostitution, and to put pressure on more businesses to step up to the effort.

Rabbi Zalman Heber looks at a garage and sees a synagogue.

His neighbors see a problem.

The proposed site for the new home of Chabad of Pierce County, an Orthodox Jewish organization, has sparked controversy in this quiet corner of Tacoma’s West End.

Proponents see the placement of the synagogue as vital to worship practices, but some neighbors worry about impact on traffic, views and property values.

The conflict has been slowly building since May, when an application for a conditional use permit was filed with a city. Since then, the West End Neighborhood Council executive board, acting on behalf of several neighbors concerned about the buildings’ dimensions, has written the city to express its opposition to parts of the synagogue’s variance application.

Heber, who moved to Tacoma in November 2003 to start a center that is part of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, visited every house within 400 feet of the site at 2146 N. Mildred St. in late June to tell neighbors what he was planning.

“I showed them the whole project,” he said. “I showed them the height. I showed them the aesthetics, the looks. I said, ‘As a neighbor, I want to show you this.’ And not one – I want to be on record about this – not one opposed the project.”

But about six weeks later, several neighbors told him they were worried about the changes to the neighborhood a synagogue would bring. Some letters sent to the city – and forwarded to Heber – were critical of the project. And on Aug. 20, the executive board of the neighborhood council met and drafted a letter to the city opposing the proposed dimensions of the building.

To Heber, the negative feedback came as a shock.

=> Read more!

State Rep. Dennis Flannigan received two standing ovations when he received the director's award during this morning's Safe Street breakfast at an East Side church. I posted these a few days ago, but here again are today's winners:

Gary & Barb Wellman, Norma Levingston (Outstanding Neighborhood Leaders)
Gary and Barb Wellman and Norma Levingston not only share leadership of the 117th & A Street Block Group, they also share family ties. After Levingston moved next door to her sister Barb and brother-in-law Gary in Parkland, she found herself troubled by her new surroundings. Prompted by her past experiences with a Safe Streets group at Salishan on the Eastside, Levingston suggested that the trio of retirees start a block group. Fed up with drive-by shootings, gang graffiti and meth labs, Barb and Gary didn’t hesitate. “We just really didn’t feel safe anymore,” said Barb.

The Wellmans and Levingston routinely go door-to-door, passing out flyers and talking about neighborhood crime. “I think they like feeling like they’re not alone,” said Levingston. They organize meetings featuring discussions with law enforcement, presentations on methamphetamine, and instruction in crime prevention. “The meetings give us a better opportunity to understand what we can do to improve our own safety,” said Gary. The regular interaction also enhances members’ connection to their neighborhood, the evidence being a recent National Night Out party that attracted over 150 neighbors. According to the three block leaders, another indication is simple, but telling—people have started leaving their window blinds open.

Reverend Freeman Rhoades (Outstanding Strategic Partner)
Reverend Freeman Rhoades has opened the doors of his church to Tacoma’s Eastside. A prominent leader in the faith community, he is guiding Bethlehem Baptist Church in reaching out to youth, people in need, and other vulnerable populations. Rhoades holds a significant place in Safe Streets’ history. In 1989, he and other religious leaders of Pierce County joined with the organization in issuing a proclamation against crime. Since then, his outreach activities have reflected the covenant he made to stand against drugs, gangs and violence.

Under Rhoades’ direction, the church’s extensive involvement in the community has made it a gathering place for the Eastside. The church operates a senior center for older church members and residents. Its wide-ranging youth program offers fun for children and teens in a safe environment, and various activities have included sports, teen late nights, and a summer reading program in partnership with Safe Streets’ Weed & Seed. Rhoades has also initiated services that support working families and low income people. There is a childcare center, a clothing bank, and a food bank. Earlier in 2008, Rhoades further expanded the church’s role in the community when he worked with Safe Streets to bring a town hall meeting on underage drinking to the Eastside.

Teens Empowered Against Meth (Outstanding Youth)
Teens Empowered Against Meth (TEAM) are a group of high school students with a purpose—to educate youth in the Gig Harbor-Key Peninsula community about methamphetamine. Their approach capitalizes on the reality that teens are more likely to listen to other teens. Members teach their peers about the inherent dangers of the drug. They also point out less obvious consequences, such as the negative impact on the community and—as several members have painfully testified—on the families of meth users.

Students spend several hours a week planning a presentation. Typically given to high school health classes, the presentations are a combination of PowerPoint, film and hands-on games like “Meth Jeopardy.” Recently, members have taken their material to a larger audience. Tailored content has been introduced to the middle school set, and TEAM drew one of the largest crowds at the 2008 Key Peninsula Livable Community Fair. The prevention community has taken notice: members were invited to give a workshop at the upcoming Washington State Prevention Summit that will help organizations develop youth-driven substance abuse education programs.

Pacific Avenue Business District (Outstanding Block Group or Coalition)
The movement to revitalize Pacific Avenue started at a National Night Out party. Iola Brown and Virginia Casto hit it off immediately, sharing a mutual desire to clean up the busy thoroughfare. Prostitutes, drug dealers, graffiti and litter had created an atmosphere of neglect. Knowing that such a transformation required an organized effort, they found a handful of business owners interested in improving a ten-block area of Pacific Avenue, from 46th to 56th Street. The fledgling coalition designated it the Pacific Avenue Business District, formed for the purpose of bringing new energy to the struggling area.

From the beginning, the group recognized the value of collaborating with its neighbors. “We decided our main focus was to bring businesses and community together,” said member Gerald Gibson. The coalition sponsored a contest for a district logo at a nearby school and organized a festival to show residents the diverse array of shops in their own backyard. One of the biggest undertakings is a beautification campaign. Donations and a South End Neighborhood Council grant written by members funded the installation of 60 large flower planters. The business-community connection is maintained with community cleanups, and a monthly newsletter hand delivered to 600 readers.

Safe Streets will also honor Representative Dennis Flannigan. Flannigan will receive the Director’s Award in recognition of his instrumental role as the initial founder of the organization in 1989.

I'm at the Safe Streets Superstars breakfast this morning, and then I'll be in Midland later today to follow up on the problems at East 72nd Street and Portland Avenue.

Also, I'll be posting an early version of my West End synagogue story shortly.

A Tacoma-based labor-staffing company has entered a partnership with federal immigration officials to ensure it doesn’t hire illegal workers.

TrueBlue Inc. – which employs more than 600,000 people, including about 300,000 new hires annually – joined the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Mutual Agreement between Government and Employers program, or IMAGE.

Tuesday’s announcement was the culmination of a yearlong process involving training and auditing of hiring practices, said Joanna Monroe, TrueBlue vice president and chief compliance officer.

“We set ourselves as a compliance leader in this industry,” she said, “so we want to be the first to reach out to government to become more compliant.”

=> Read more!

I sat down with Rabbi Zalman Heber of Chabad of Pierce County last week to discuss the plans for a synagogue in Tacoma’s West End. Heber lives in the house directly west of the site, upon which sits a five-car garage.

The synagogue plans have received some opposition from some of the neighbors. But Heber said it’s not unusual for a such a house of worship – the first traditional synagogue to be built in Pierce County – to be in a residential area because the traditional form of Judaism prohibits driving on the Sabbath.

The synagogue has an agreement with the city to use the parking lot at nearby Skyline Elementary School on the weekends and after 7:30 p.m. on weekdays.

“As far as conflicting with neighborhood traffic – which, understandably, is a big concern – it’s a non-issue,” he said. “We’re never doing things at the same hours as the school. And there’s adequate parking.

So neighbors shouldn’t have a concern about increased traffic. And ideally, it wouldn’t be a factor at all.

“Ideally, it should be empty,” he said. “Everyone should walk. If you ask for my endgoal, it should be empty. But realistically, there’s more than enough parking.”

=> Read more!

Just got off the phone with Mark Friedman, a retired lawyer who lives in Port Orchard. He’s a member of the Chabad of Pierce County congregation

He said he, his wife and 3-month-old child would like to move to Tacoma’s West End one day to be closer to the proposed site of a synagogue. But some neighbors are upset about the proposed size of the building. Friedman said that isn’t anything surprising.

"I think it’s a NIMBY thing – not in my backyard. The neighbors aren’t bad people, but no one wants change in their neighborhood. We all need power plants, but no one wants them close by. We all want electricity in our homes, but no one wants power lines by their house. It’s just change."

Some neighbors are concerned with more traffic jamming the streets. But the synagogue won’t be some sort of megachurch.

"It’s not going to be thousands of people driving in from all over the Northwest. It’s a local, small congregation. A lot of the people are within the neighborhood and walk. And there are a few others who have to drive, but you’re still talking small. On a typical Saturday morning, if we get 25 people, we’re doing well."

And no one in the congregation, he said, harbors any ill will against the neighbors who oppose the synagogue.

"I think something like this happens anytime anyone wants to build anything anywhere. It’s nothing sinister. It’s just human nature."

I'm going to continue reporting on the West End synagogue today, with the recap of my interview with the rabbi. I'm also writing this as I listen in to a conference call about Immigration and Customs Enforcement's IMAGE program.

From TNT reporter Mike Archbold:

The burn barrel outside the front gate of Boeing’s plant in Fredrickson was still smoldering Saturday afternoon as striking machinists waved picket signs at motorists passing by on Canyon Road.

“Fight for your rights,” yelled one man as he drove by.

Horns blared almost constantly, making conversation difficult. Another motorist pulled over and handed the strikers a bag of ice cream bars.

The nearby Caveman Coffee along with KISW Radio was supplying the picketers with coffee.

The mood was upbeat among the more than 20 machinists, some with their wives and children, who stood in the warm sun stood in the sun and smiled at their supporters.

It was only Day 1 and no one knew how long they would be out of work.

“I guess it’s all up to the company,” said Ken Ruether, 47, of Eatonville who has worked for Boeing for 23 years, 16 of them at Frederickson. “We’re hoping on the warmest September on record.

“We’re optimistic. We have every reason to believe the company will do the right thing.”

=> Read more!

Bob Howitz has been through six strikes in his 35 years with The Boeing Co., and the maintenance electronics technician from Auburn was on the line Saturday.

So how does this year’s strike compare?

“This is lovely as far as the weather goes,” said Howitz, holding a sign near Boeing’s Auburn plant. “I’m not getting rained on. It’s not 4 in the morning. That’s a plus.”
So how does he see this strike going?

“I’d give it a minimum of a month,” he said. “They’re pretty far apart, and I don’t see a recognition of, ‘Jesus, we screwed up.’ None of that is coming through anywhere, and it’ll be a while before any of that changes.”

Mike Wilson, a 56-year-old electronics calibration technician from Sumner, has a different take on it.

“It’ll last as long as Boeing wants it to last,” he said.

Allen van Houck’s shift at The Boeing Co.’s Renton plant ended promptly at midnight Saturday morning. One minute later, he and 27,000 other union Machinists went on strike.

And the 52-year-old team lead inspector from Renton isn’t sure when he’ll return to work.

“I was saddened. It really bothered me walking out like that,” he said. “The mood on the floor wasn’t happy with Boeing’s offer. I hope the executives don’t say this was a surprise. How could they not know?”

“Look, we don’t want to strike. We’d all rather be working.”

The strike follows the collapse of last-minute negotiations between the company and union representatives in Orlando, Fla. It halts all commercial airline production at the Renton and Everett assembly plants as well as parts production in Auburn and Frederickson.

The union rejected Boeing's latest contract offer Wednesday, but leaders agreed to hold off on striking by 48 hours while both sides met with a mediator. Talks were unsuccessful, and at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, workers throughout the Puget Sound region, Portland and Wichita, Kan., began picketing.

About 20 union members and supporters held signs near the gate of the aerospace corporation’s largely empty Renton plant by mid-morning. Drivers – including a few in Boeing security cars – honked horns as they drove by. Picketers said the response from the community has been largely positive.

“It’s encouraging. Absolutely, it is,” said Renton’s Linda Herrmann, who works as a sealer. She and others said Boeing’s latest contract offer was rife with problems, and the most worrisome for many picketers were the outsourcing of jobs, retirement benefits and raising the minimum pay.

=> Read more!

Reporter Mike Archbold and I are heading out to several Boeing plants today to interview striking workers. Got any questions we should ask them?

They advertise that their Snowball is “better than a Blizzard.”

It’s tough to argue.

The stand inside the stadium titled "Soft Ice Cream - Root Beer Float" (I couldn't find its actual name written anywhere) sells its answer to Dairy Queen’s iconic treat. For $4.50, they mix a cup full of ice cream with crumbled candy. I opted for Butterfinger.

It tasted very similar to the DQ product, but the candy bar seemed like it was crumbled up even more finely. That all of the ice cream taste like Butterfinger. And that’s not a bad thing at all.

It was noticibly smoother and not nearly as thick as a Blizzard. I’m the last guy to crack on a Blizzard, but this seemed like an upgrade. And a great way to cool down and finish off a day of gorging on food.

Next stop: the gym. I knew I should have brought some ipecac with me.

Brian and I have been telling you where is good to eat. Well, allow me a second to let me tell you where not go buy a drink.

The Sausage Shack.

The price seemed reasonable (by fair standards): $3.25 for a 24-ounce Diet Coke. The kid with my cup fills it about halfway with ice and begins to pour the drink. He’s about three-fourths of the way finished when the woman at the register stops him and snaps at him. “You’re not doing it right,” she said. “You gotta fill it all the way with ice.”

She puts even more ice cubes in my drink, making my 24-ounce cup able to hold about 2 or 3 drops.

That ain’t customer service, and I sure ain’t gonna eat at the Sausage Shack ever again.

It was greasy. It was big. It had cheese.

The Cheesequake Burger was basically the perfect lunch.

Scott Oberstaller, a designer on our sports desk, once told me that the Earthquake Burger (and its American cheese-topped cousin, the Cheesequake) was larger than my head. That’s a big statement. I have a size 8 hatband, meaning Barry Bonds looks like a pinhead compared to me.

But bigger than my head the burger was not. Tasty it was. If you’re expecting restaurant-style lean ground sirloin, you’ll be upset. But if you know that thin, fatty meat favored by a lot of fair vendors, then realize it’s on par with that. It’s also no frills: the bun, the patty and some onions. Condiments are on a cart next to the red, white and blue stand.

But it’s its size that makes the Cheesequake ($9.95) stick out. It’s the size of a small plate. And it made me want to stretch out on one of the brown picnic tables next to the stand for a nap.

My neighbor raves about Krusty Pups, so I made the corndog stand my first stop after Brian and I arrived at the fair. There are a few places to get the treats, including a funky ‘50sish silver building.

My pup cost $4. For an extra $6, I could add fries and a drink. (I passed.)

The first bite revealed something I suspected before I bought it: the corn dog was more corn (batter) than dog. That that there’s anything wrong with that. I’m of the belief that a good crab cake has more cake than crab, and ditto for a corndog – especially when most hot dogs can be safely described as “slaughterhouse leavings.”

I didn’t mind that deep-fried batter outdid the dog. The batter was crunchy (krusty?) on the outside and sweet on the inside. The dog was unremarkable – think what’s served at a company barbecue – but the overall taste worked. It’s fair food, after all.

While Scott's at the Puyallup eating everything, I'll be there, too, trying to resist the demo meisters.

We can count on seeing some new labor-saving, dirt-busting cash-minting marvel every year at the fair. And we can count on our old faves, like the knives that can cut through a can, then slice a ripe tomato.

I can't resist that stuff. We have the fancy ladder, the salsa maker, the knives, the glasses cleaner, the bottomless jar of Quik'n'Brite, the matte-cutting system, an unsatisfactory mop and a laundry folding gadget that really is the best thing since sliced bread. Sliced bread, incidentally, made its debut in the Modern Living pavilion at the Puyallup.

So, do you have any suggestions for the best demo? Do you love/hate any of the products you bought at the fair?

Let me know, and I'll share some of your best and worst in Monday's column.

Reporter Brian Everstine and I are heading to the Puyallup Fair to gorge ourselves on the company dime. Photos and tips coming soon.

I will be meeting this morning with Rabbi Zalman Heber about his plans for a synagogue in Tacoma's West End neighborhood (see the previous few posts about the neighbors' reaction.)

And later, reporter Brian Everstine and I are heading to the Puyallup Fair to eat food and write about it. I'll have the market cornered on all things animal-based (mmmm, burgers and corn dogs) while Brian is writing from the vegetarian perspective (but we won't hold it against him). Any thoughts about what I should eat?

Pat Montgomery Anderson, a 64-year-old retiree, also isn’t a fan of the planned synagogue coming to her West End neighborhood. Parking and property values don’t seem to be as much of a concern for her as the changes in the character to the neighborhood.

“I think the building they’re planning on putting in is just not in keeping with the neighborhood,” she said. “I wish they would either keep it small or place it somewhere else where it doesn’t seem out of context.”

“This is supposed to be a residential neighborhood,” she continued later. “The school isn’t exactly a residence, but if we start letting in everything else that’s not really related to the neighborhood and isn’t a home, it’ll change the character.”

She’s worried the neighbors’ comments might be construed as anti-Semitic, but she wanted to reassure me that that wasn’t the case.

“I have some concern that this might be perceived as an anti-Jewish thing,” she said. “It’s not for me, and I haven’t heard anything like that from others.”

Safe Streets Campaign has released its annual list of Superstars, people and individuals who “exemplify the spirit of community.”

The Superstars will be feted at a breakfast next week at Bethlehem Baptist Church on Tacoma’s East Side.

Here’s part of a release from Safe Streets about this year’s winners. Congrats to everyone!

Gary & Barb Wellman, Norma Levingston (Outstanding Neighborhood Leaders)
Gary and Barb Wellman and Norma Levingston not only share leadership of the 117th & A Street Block Group, they also share family ties. After Levingston moved next door to her sister Barb and brother-in-law Gary in Parkland, she found herself troubled by her new surroundings. Prompted by her past experiences with a Safe Streets group at Salishan on the Eastside, Levingston suggested that the trio of retirees start a block group. Fed up with drive-by shootings, gang graffiti and meth labs, Barb and Gary didn’t hesitate. “We just really didn’t feel safe anymore,” said Barb.

The Wellmans and Levingston routinely go door-to-door, passing out flyers and talking about neighborhood crime. “I think they like feeling like they’re not alone,” said Levingston. They organize meetings featuring discussions with law enforcement, presentations on methamphetamine, and instruction in crime prevention. “The meetings give us a better opportunity to understand what we can do to improve our own safety,” said Gary. The regular interaction also enhances members’ connection to their neighborhood, the evidence being a recent National Night Out party that attracted over 150 neighbors. According to the three block leaders, another indication is simple, but telling—people have started leaving their window blinds open.

Reverend Freeman Rhoades (Outstanding Strategic Partner)
Reverend Freeman Rhoades has opened the doors of his church to Tacoma’s Eastside. A prominent leader in the faith community, he is guiding Bethlehem Baptist Church in reaching out to youth, people in need, and other vulnerable populations. Rhoades holds a significant place in Safe Streets’ history. In 1989, he and other religious leaders of Pierce County joined with the organization in issuing a proclamation against crime. Since then, his outreach activities have reflected the covenant he made to stand against drugs, gangs and violence.

Under Rhoades’ direction, the church’s extensive involvement in the community has made it a gathering place for the Eastside. The church operates a senior center for older church members and residents. Its wide-ranging youth program offers fun for children and teens in a safe environment, and various activities have included sports, teen late nights, and a summer reading program in partnership with Safe Streets’ Weed & Seed. Rhoades has also initiated services that support working families and low income people. There is a childcare center, a clothing bank, and a food bank. Earlier in 2008, Rhoades further expanded the church’s role in the community when he worked with Safe Streets to bring a town hall meeting on underage drinking to the Eastside.

Teens Empowered Against Meth (Outstanding Youth)
Teens Empowered Against Meth (TEAM) are a group of high school students with a purpose—to educate youth in the Gig Harbor-Key Peninsula community about methamphetamine. Their approach capitalizes on the reality that teens are more likely to listen to other teens. Members teach their peers about the inherent dangers of the drug. They also point out less obvious consequences, such as the negative impact on the community and—as several members have painfully testified—on the families of meth users.

Students spend several hours a week planning a presentation. Typically given to high school health classes, the presentations are a combination of PowerPoint, film and hands-on games like “Meth Jeopardy.” Recently, members have taken their material to a larger audience. Tailored content has been introduced to the middle school set, and TEAM drew one of the largest crowds at the 2008 Key Peninsula Livable Community Fair. The prevention community has taken notice: members were invited to give a workshop at the upcoming Washington State Prevention Summit that will help organizations develop youth-driven substance abuse education programs.

Pacific Avenue Business District (Outstanding Block Group or Coalition)
The movement to revitalize Pacific Avenue started at a National Night Out party. Iola Brown and Virginia Casto hit it off immediately, sharing a mutual desire to clean up the busy thoroughfare. Prostitutes, drug dealers, graffiti and litter had created an atmosphere of neglect. Knowing that such a transformation required an organized effort, they found a handful of business owners interested in improving a ten-block area of Pacific Avenue, from 46th to 56th Street. The fledgling coalition designated it the Pacific Avenue Business District, formed for the purpose of bringing new energy to the struggling area.

From the beginning, the group recognized the value of collaborating with its neighbors. “We decided our main focus was to bring businesses and community together,” said member Gerald Gibson. The coalition sponsored a contest for a district logo at a nearby school and organized a festival to show residents the diverse array of shops in their own backyard. One of the biggest undertakings is a beautification campaign. Donations and a South End Neighborhood Council grant written by members funded the installation of 60 large flower planters. The business-community connection is maintained with community cleanups, and a monthly newsletter hand delivered to 600 readers.

Safe Streets will also honor Representative Dennis Flannigan. Flannigan will receive the Director’s Award in recognition of his instrumental role as the initial founder of the organization in 1989.

I just talked to Jennie Freeman, a retiree who lives next door to the site of the proposed synagogue at 2146 N. Mildred St. in Tacoma.

She said the rabbi told her in person about the planned changes. The building is currently a five-car garage made of brown wood – the previous owner collected antique cars – but the plans call for something larger. Freeman said she appreciated being told in person but isn’t sure she wants the building in its current plans to be erected.

“I couldn’t believe my ears,” she said. “You don’t expect a synagogue that big going in between two houses in a residential area.”

She has several problems with it.

“It could make property value go down,” she said. “There’s a problem with parking. He said they’re gonna park at the schools, but he’s got 125 members. How are they going to park 125 members over there? They’ll be up and down the street.”

And she’s not a fan of the long-term plans, either.

“I was told that when they open the synagogue, they want to buy my house and the house on the corner, tear them down and put in a parking lot,” she said. “But I’m not selling. Not unless the property is condemned. I think that’s getting presumptive on their part.”

I talked with Ginny Eberhardt, the chair of the West End Neighborhood Council. The organization’s executive board is opposing a permit that would allow a synagogue to move into a lot at 2146 N. Mildred St.

“A couple of us felt the building was out of proportion with the rest of the neighborhood,” she said. “Several of the neighbors came to us and asked for us help in trying to stop the size of the building – not the group, just the size of the building that was going in.

“We feel it’s just a huge building for a regular, residential lot.”

It seems tensions are unusually high because they’re dealing with a house of worship. But it’s just a matter of the building’s size, she said: “The size is the issue. There is no other issue for us. It’s just the size of a building going in on a residential lot.”

The plans for parking are an issue of concern, too.

“The building is so large for the size of the lot that they’re not putting in any parking. There’s absolutely no parking on that lot at all,” she said. “All of the parking that will be done will be at Skyline Elementary. And there’s some concern that a group of people have asked for parking 365 days a year at the school. They’ve asked for all weekends and every weekday after 7:30 p.m. When you build something and then rely on another building for your parking, it just doesn’t seem like the proper way of planning.”

I hear there's a dispute brewing in Tacoma's West End between neighbors and a planned house of worship. I'll make some calls and see what's up.

We've written a lot about potholes in Tacoma. What about Pierce County?

The county uses a rating system similar to the one Tacoma employs. Road superintendent Paul Marsh said each of the roughly 3,100 lane miles are rated every other year based on cracks, other deficiencies and ride quality.

A rating of 70 is the tipping point of treatment.

“We’re careful not to let our (roads) slip past 70, because it’s like letting your house siding get past the point where paint won’t help – then it lets in water and the wood will rot,” he said.

The county spends about $23 million each year on road maintenance. It staggers improvements so it’s suddenly not hit with a scenario in which every road deteriorates at the same rate and needs work at the same time.

“There’s a rotational effect where a certain percentage will always be in the fair category, some will be in the new, and a very small percentage of Pierce County stays in the lower areas,” he said. “Those are primarily like alleys, which will never be upgraded to a paved surface.”

Twelve neighborhood groups are staging an anti-crime march on Friday evening.

“The march has dual purposes: to send a message to criminals that residents are working together to eliminate illegal activity like drug dealing and prostitution, and to enhance people’s awareness of crime in both their own neighborhoods and the broader community,” said Safe Streets’ Moni Hoy.

Things should start about 5:30 p.m. and last about two hours.

All materials will be supplied by Safe Streets. Anyone is welcome to join.

Click below to see if there’s a march near you. Or if you’re anti-Google Maps, click on the link after the map to see a list and participating groups.

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This morning I'm going to talk to a piece of living history in Tacoma: Junior Ferrell, Ferrell, the 89-year-old shoeshine man at the Hotel Murano.

Pierce County citizens donated more than $100,000 to the Muscular Dystrophy Association through the Fill the Boot campaign during August – an increase of more than $30,000 over last year’s fundraising drive.

Firefighters stationed themselves at intersections and in parking lots across the county asked people to drop spare change into a fireproof boot during the nationwide fundraising campaign. Tacoma Fire Local 31 raised $41,641, the most in the county.

More than $32 million was raised nationally for MDA last year. Donations stay in the community and support people diagnosed with muscular dystrophy, a group of hereditary diseases of the muscles.

During a recent round of reporting on the East Side, I ran into an older woman who lamented what she called "Tacoma's disappearing Polish community."

One church, Saints Peter and Paul on Portland Avenue, still celebrates Mass in Polish. But there used to be more throughout the East Side and South Tacoma, she told me. And the Polish community center was sold to the Puyallup Tribe of Indians some years back.

So I've decided to look into this story this week. And I'll out the question to you: Did your ancestors come from Poland? Did your folks grow up in Tacoma speaking Polish? Is it just another community assimilating into the larger, English-speaking American mainstream?

I'm juggling around a few separate story ideas, but nothing concrete for today yet. If you know anything going on, lemme know.