Word on the street

Our team of reporter/bloggers is always on the lookout for interesting people, places and news. Got a story idea or news tip? Send us an e-mail.

Contributors:

Kathleen Merryman is a local news columnist for The News Tribune, where she's worked for a quarter of a century. Amazing, considering she is only 32. You're likely to find her fighting crime, righting wrongs or judging pies. You're less likely to find her in the newsroom. Call her at 253-597-8677 or e-mail her.

General assignment reporter Mike Archbold is a veteran Puget Sound journalist and a veteran veteran. He's ready to respond to your news tip. Call him at 253-597-8692 or e-mail him.

Brent Champaco is a communities reporter for The News Tribune, where he has worked since 2005. He covers areas west of Interstate 5, including Lakewood, and writes diversity stories. A native of the South Kitsap area, he has worked for newspapers in Eastern Washington, Idaho and the Bay Area. Call him at 253-597-8653 or e-mail him. You can also check out his Twitter page.

Steve Maynard is a communities reporter and religion reporter for The News Tribune. He covers Federal Way, Fife and Milton. He also has been the paper's religion reporter since joining The News Tribune in 1987. Maynard has reported for daily newspapers since 1979, previously in Walla Walla and Houston. Call him at 253-597-8647 or e-mail him.

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Here's what's happening around Tacoma, Pierce County and South Puget Sound today..
Monday, March 9th, 2009
Posted by Kathleen Merryman @ 04:39:54 pm

Tacoma Public Utilities will be disposing of nine lots it no longer needs for substations.

According to state law and the city charter, they have to be sold if they're no longer playing the electricity game. The question is, should they be sold to private parties, or to a government agency that will preserve them as public lands.

Morgan Alexander has been harnessing the power of the gardening community to preserve some of the suitable lots as pocket parks or community gardens.

Who knows? Some of them might work as solar demonstration projects, combining solar panels with rows of beets and peas. If the panels feed into the grid, that might make it possible to preserve them as TPU property, and uncomplicate the process?

Alexander is making progress. Already, he is on the agenda for the Metro Parks Board meeting Monday, March 9 at 6pm, Metro headquarters: 4702 S 19th St.

Here's the list of surplus properties:

Adams, 1920 Adams St. N.

Centennial, 543 N. Stadium Way.

Downing, 1801 N. Orchard St.

Fairmont, 4924 N. 31st St.

Junett, 3008 N. 16th St.

Ruston, 5001 N. Visscher St.

Parkland, 101 127th St. E.

Warner, 3404 S. 45th St.

Lincoln Park, 1009 South 35th Street.

Posted by Melissa Santos @ 02:46:38 pm

At the urging of avid BMX racers, Pierce County Parks and Recreation is working to reopen the Riverside Park in Sumner, which has been closed since January's flooding.

Pierce County parks officials originally said they may not reopen the park due to the routine flooding it has endured in recent years.

"It's difficult for us to go back in and dump money into something that keeps getting flooded every 18 months," parks superintendent Kent Baskett said.

But Baskett said Monday that the department has working on an inexpensive plan to reopen the park.

Department officials are holding a meeting to update park users about the plan tonight at 6 p.m.

The meeting will be held at the Pierce County Parks and Recreation Headquarters, located at the Lakewood Community Center at 9112 Lakewood Drive Southwest.

=> Read more!

Categories: Sumner