By C.R. Roberts
The News Tribune

Only once a year – every year – Nancy LeMay opens the gates of her Parkland home to those who truly believe in Harold LeMay’s dream and who appreciate his obsession to collect.

The LeMay Museum is open year-around at the former Marymount Academy in Spanaway, and progress continues toward a newer, greater museum near downtown Tacoma.

Only one day in 365 can the public see the broadest extent of the late Harold LeMay’s collection.

The public came on Saturday, so many and so wet in the morning rain that volunteers opened the gates early.

Affectionately known as “the home,” the LeMay compound contains all manner of things related to a life long lost along the American road.

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For years, school officials have been lamenting the state's underfunding of transportation.

Without adequate funding from the state, they say, districts must devote more and more of their local levy dollars to get kids to school.

One of their loudest charges: the state doesn't reimburse districts for transporting students whose homes or daycares lie outside a one-mile radius from school. And instead of calculating the actual route mileage, the distance is measured as a direct line from school to home or daycare. Or, in the colloquial, "as the crow flies."

Actually, says Allan Jones with the state Superintendent of Public Instruction, the state does provide some money to bus kids within the one-mile radius. But not much.

Jones, director of pupil transportation, says the state gives districts some funding based on the total number of kids in kindergarten through through fifth grade within the one-mile radius.

The original intent was to help districts defray the cost of transporting youngsters who faced hazardous walking conditions, even though they lived close to school.

But it's a lower rate than what the state funds for students living outside the one-mile minimum. And the districts don't have to have hazardous walking conditions to get the money. They don't even have to use the money to transport kids within that radius.

Here's how Jones explains it, and the "crow flies" business in an e-mail to The News Tribune.

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Maybe not the landfill, but where ever contractors working on the Park Plaza South project put their old concrete and rebar.

The Tacoma Daily Index has this item about demolition of the hillclimb between Pacific Avenue and Commerce Street. At the lower right is evidence of the entry to the Escalade, Tacoma's famous moving sidewalks that were meant to ease travel up and down the hills of the shopping district. And we had the name before Cadillac did.

Here are some pix from the TNT morgue showing the excitement surrounding the opening. And yes, those do look like mink coats.

And this one from the Northwest Room of the Tacoma Public Library.

As near as I can tell, the final archaelogical evidence of the system is beneath Park Plaza North, the stairway tunnel that leads from the Commerce Street bus stops to Pacific near 10th Street.

Army 1st Sgt. Jose Crisostomo was a hero, an inspiration and a buddy, according to his grandchildren.

During a crowded and tear-filled mass today at Our Lady Queen of Heaven in Spanaway, they described how he loved them and encouraged them to live better lives, even more so than his.

Now, the soldier who died Aug. 18 in Afghanistan, less than two weeks before his 60th birthday, is their angel.

Tricia Crisostomo-Meyers, his daughter, said her father wanted to reenlist in the Army in 2008.

"When dad told us he wanted to go back to active Army service, I thought he was nuts,"she said, adding Crisostomo signed up for another year after his first tour was over.

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It felt somber the minute I heard the cadence music coming from where the memorial to Army 1st. Sgt. Jose Crisostomo was parked.

Today marks the memorial for the 59-year-old Spanaway man who was killed last week in Afghanistan. The viewing and Mass took place at Our Lady Queen of Heaven Church.

Driving up, the church's exterior was lined with Patriot Guard Riders holding American flags. Parked near the church entrance was a Chevy pickup truck, the back of which served as a makeshift memorial to Crisostomo, who was a leader in the local Chamorro community.

If featured the ceremonial boots, rifle, helmet and dog tags, also known as a soldier's cross. The bed was lined with greenery and Guam flags, a testament to the Chamorro heritage of "Sinbad," as friends and family called him.

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Five years after Gig Harbor residents voted to preserve Eddon Boat, the property is ready for its grand opening.

The city announced today that the former boatyard will open Sept. 30 with a few pilot programs related to Gig Harbor’s maritime culture and history.

To anyone who’s followed the boatyard’s progress over the years, the grand opening marks a long-awaited milestone.
The boatyard is a living piece of Gig Harbor’s history. Records show boat-building on the property dates to 1920, when it opened as Anderson & Sons Boat Yard.

Over the years, it grew, changed ownership and names. When the idea of developing the property into something else was floated in 2004, voters stepped in and passed a $3.5 million bond to save it.

But refurbishing the boatyard wasn’t easy, as contamination from years of boat-building slowed its rebirth. After months of working with the state, cleaning the property and restoring its buildings, it’s ready for business.

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Tim Appelo writes about the role Alan Liddle played in bringing attention to – and beginning the movement to save – Tacoma's architectural heritage.

Titled "He Came, He Saw, He Saved – What would Tacoma look like if Alan Liddle had never existed."

The magazine is available at coffee shops and restaurants.

The Oakbrook Golf & Country Club wants to change the zoning for 2 acres of its course, a sign the Lakewood club may want to sell land to generate money.

A staff report from Lakewood Senior Planner Deborah Johnson states the 42-year-old course is confronted with “financial viability issues,” and is looking to secure its future without raising fees for its 450 members.

The plan by the country club’s board calls for converting portions of its course into residential lots, up to 10, in the course’s fourth and fifth additions that could be developed into homes.
Kara Brevet, the country club’s manager, said the proposal to convert open space into residential lots is more of a fallback option for Oakbrook.

“This is something so that we have option,” she said. “It’s not something that’s going to happen tomorrow. It’s something should we need it.”

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The community activists who are redefining Tacoma will have a chance to get together and brush up their skills Saturday.

The City-Wide Fall Neighborhood Conference runs from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Aug. 29 at the Tacoma Campus of Evergreen State College, 1210 Sixth Avenue.

The Neighborhood Councils and Community Council of Tacoma are sponsoring the event, which aims to support the work that so many formal and informal groups have done to fight crime and blight. Thanks to their hard work, Tacoma is a nicer place to live.

Bill Garl, president of the Community Councils of Tacoma, will welcome the crowd, and Marion Weed will give the history of the community council program.

Elton Gatewood, of the City of Tacoma Neighborhood Council Office will give a quick course on "Grant and Proposal Writing Made Simple, and Mary Morrison will give advice on how to conduct a successful meeting. Allyson Griffith will share strategies on outreach and recruitment.

Lunch will be complimentary, followed by a presentation by City Manager Eric Anderson.

The conference is free of charge and open to all. For information, contact Gatewood at (253) 591-5229, or egatewoo@cityoftacoma.org.

Monday's joint meeting between the Lakewood City Council and Port of Tacoma Commission didn't feature any fireworks, just discussion about what a consultant's plan would do to an isolated neighborhood.

The two sides commissioned a study last year into the possibility of turning Woodbrook — a peninsula of land east of Interstate 5 - into a business park.

As I reported in my story Sunday, the study stated that one of the biggest challenges to redeveloping the area is the approximately 500 homes and 1,500 mostly low-income residents that are there now.

Both the City Council and the Port Commission said that complicates the problem. When the port developed Fredrickson in the mid-1980's, the people there were more than willing to sell their land, officials said.

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I was hoping it was a Cristo art installation. But no, the plastic wrap around the Hylebos Bridge on the NE Tacoma side of the Tideflats is part of a bridge rehabilitation project that got under way this month.

The plastic keeps stuff that comes off during sandblasting from getting into the waterway. Once the first span (actually called a bascule leaf) is cleaned, the second span will get wrapped.

The bridge hasn't worked since 2001 and was left in the uplifted position to allow ships to use the channel. That, however, hasn't helped cars and trucks much.

Using $15 million from the federal government and the Port of Tacoma, the city has contracted with Quigg Bros. Construction to fix it. That will restore a second route out of the peninsula (in addition to Taylor Way, something that is not only convenient but necessary in an emergency.

The work will be finished by the end of 2011.

Tacoma Community House's gymolition celebration was a big hit Friday, as compared to a big whomp with a bulldozer this week. The gym's being demolished this week, and TCH leaders are working with neighbors to think of how best to use the space.

About 40 people showed up to bid the non-profit's old gym a fond farewell, and to tell stories of the things they learned and the fun they had there. Among the guests were two of the mighty Shrimps, the TCH basketball team that played in the 1950s. Tom Mustin, who coached the team, and Karl Washington, helped put names to seven of the 10 boys in the team picture.

Here's the roster to go with the picture.

Front row, from left: Unknown, Daave Kvamme, George Loretta, Steve Mustin and Rudy Webster.

Back row, from left: Karl Washington, Unknown, Harry Walker (No.12), Unknown, and Tom Mustin.

Tom Mustin said that was his first coaching experience in a lifetime of coaching. He earned national fame as a youth boxing coach and took a team to the Olympics.

Bethel High School grads stick together, Marba Cowan says, especially when one of them's in trouble.

Cowan and Jan Scott are helping to organize a fund-raiser for fellow alum Tom Mires, who is fighting cancer.

It's a free-form kind of benefit, part garage sale, part auction, part concert, all of it aimed at helping out Mires' family.

The friends have collected an impressive variety of items, including a cord of wood and a supply of breast self-examination pads. Most of the donations will go into a garage sale Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 22 and 23, at Uncle Sam's Bar and Grill at 160th Street and Pacific Avenue.

The best of the goods, including the wood, will be sold in a silent auction Saturday at Uncle Sam's.

Sunday at 2 p.m., Bikers Fighting Cancer will sponsor several bands in a benefit concert at Uncle Sam's.

I've been getting some calls from folks wondering about the increased activity around the University-Union Club. That's the white mansion just up the street from the old Elks Lodge that most-recently housed David's On Broadway restaurant. (OK, Winfields was the most-recent but it wasn't open long enough for most to notice).

The grounds are being cleaned up, the old Winfield's sign was removed and a fabric sign advertising the now-closed David's was hung on the water side.

So I asked Aleta Benedicto,the agent marketing the building, if there was some news.

Not yet, she said.

"There is a very interested party but no written offer yet. Just doing some clean-up around the property," she wrote.

Drivers heading to Seattle this weekend, including fans going to the Seahawks game on Saturday night, should plan for backups on Interstate 5, the Washington State Department of Transportation advises.

A lane and a ramp in downtown Seattle will be closed almost all day Saturday and half of Sunday.

On Saturday WSDOT is expecting southbound delays of up to 60 minutes through downtown and delays of up to 20 minutes on Sunday.

The I-5 express lanes will be open southbound all day and that means northbound drivers heading into Seattle on Saturday afternoon and evening should expect backups up to mid-Boeing Field.

WSDOT advises that anyone coming to Seattle from Tacoma and south King County should take Highway 99, Highway 509 or Airport Way to avoid delays.

Anjel and Rico Hernandez are two of the activity starved Tillicum youth who received a 3,000-square-foot gift this month.

After three years of planning and renovations, Tacoma Area Youth For Christ opened its center in the geographically isolated Lakewood neighborhood, across the northern gates of Fort Lewis.

(To the right is a picture taken by Dan Livingston, the new center's director, of what the building looked like two years ago)

To longtime residents who remember what the Tillicum Youth and Family Center building used to be, its makeover might require a double-take. The Tacoma organization that helps youth live a positive life through God renovated an abandoned bar and turned adjacent duplexes into housing for staff.

It opened for the first time last week for one day. It’s open two days this week, and officials hope it will be open five days a week when school year starts.

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NW Furniture Bank has been a success story for its donors and its recipients.

Founders Bill and Joelene Lemke took the simple idea of food banks, and transferred them to furniture. Working with loaned warehouse space, they collected furniture from dealers with slightly damaged sofas, manufacturers with too many book shelves and ordinary people looking for a good home for the old dining set. Agencies referred needy clients to the warehouse where, for $50, they can furnish a household.

NW Furniture Bank outgrew the loaned space and now rents a warehouse that was formerly a carpet store at 2650 E. Bay Street. The team was given a truck to use for pick-ups and deliveries. And the inventory, including surplus from IKEA, keeps on coming.

But some donations don't quite fit the main program. People moving into modest apartments might not need high-end vanities, extra-large entertainment centers and serious office furniture. Those items and expensive antiques can do the most good if they're translated into money for rent and gas for the truck.

Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., you can do some of that translating at NW Furniture Bank's "New and Like New" Furniture Sale.

"All proceeds will help support NWFB with operating expenses," Bill Lemke said.

The furniture bank is next to the Soccer center at the Bay Street exits 134 and 135 of of Interstate 5.

To learn more, and get better directions, visit the Web site at nwfurniturebank.org.

The City of Gig Harbor announced today that it’s eliminating six positions to help close a $1.9 million gap in next year’s budget.

The announcement comes less than a year after the city announced it would cut 10 positions and took other measures to cut costs. That included employee furloughs, cutting some $400,000 in administrative costs and allowing almost no employee overtime.

“We’ve looked under every rock,” City Administrator Rob Karlinsey said. “There’s no where left to cut.”

The eliminated positions include the public works director, community development assistants in engineering and building, a builder inspector and a vacant full-time police officer position.

Karlinsey said the cash-strapped city of 7,100 is suffering from a shortage of tax dollars.

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Tacoma Community House is tearing down its old gym, but not before a celebration of the venerable building's history.

TCH will host a "Gymolition" gathering Friday, Aug. 21, from noon to 1 p.m., at the site, 1314 South L South. They've invited anyone who's ever played basketball, bowled, danced, played shuffleboard, repaired computers, served a meal in the gym to share their memories of it.

Preparing for the event, Hana Kato and Candis Carbone found photos of boys in the tumbling class and two TCH basketball teams, The TCH Shrimps.

None of the pictures have names on them, and Kato and Carbone would like to remedy that. Take a look, and if you're in one of the photos, or know one of the boys, please let us know in the comments, and call Kato at 383-3951.

I'm writing a more complete column for Wednesday's paper, and would be happy to hear from you if you have a good story about the gym.

Before you read further, check the post one item down. It's about the big box of better-than-flamingo-pink teddy bears that arrived by mail from Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla.

The box was addressed to general assignment reporter Mike Archbold, who was off last week. Aside from the bears, the only thing in it was a card explaining Bears From Behind Bars' mission to comfort traumatized children and lonely seniors. Calling or e-mailing the six men who made the bears wasn't possible.

Mike was puzzled by the fact that the men had sent the bears to him. We all wondered why they all had "Baron" on their right feet.

We thought it best to get those bears out into the field, cuddling and comforting, so we invited Word on the Street readers to apply for them. Happily, no one has yet done so, so we won't be breaking hearts now that we know the full story.

Packed at the back of Mike's mail slot was a letter from Gus Turner, one of the six men who made and sent the bears.

"Your article, "Roy Family Loses Its Heart," touched us deeply. Laura Baron was a fantastic person. The world was a better place because of her being," he wrote.

Laura Baron died last spring after a long fight with cancer. She and her husband had adopted disabled children from all over the world, and created a loving, successful family.

"We've made teddy bears for all 14 children, and two larger bears for papa Chris. The box of bears is on its way to you at the Tribune. Thank you for writing the article. Thank you for sharing Laura's goodness with us. Mucho mahalo. Gus Turner and the BFBB Project."

That explains the "Baron" on each teddy foot. Mike will take care of getting the bears to their intended destination.

We can all thank them for giving us a glimpse of a worthwhile project going on behind Walla Walla's walls.

UPDATE: City Administrator Rob Karlinsey said crews have determined that it's safe to drink city water.

Gig Harbor City Councilman Derek Young sent me this e-mail over the weekend about the city's prompt response to a water main break.

The incident occurred late Friday, along Harborview Drive at Novak Street, near the heart of downtown Gig Harbor.

Water spilled onto the street and into some homes. Crews cleaned up over the weekend, and the city will test water today to see if it's OK to drink.

(This map shows approximately where the water main broke)

Here's what Young wrote:

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Sixteen teddy bears, two large koalas and 14 small classic types, have gotten out of prison and come to town, looking to do some good.

They're Bears from Behind Bars, made by six inmates at Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla, and they arrived by mail at The News Tribune with an explanation and a request.

Their story was typed onto the back of their laminated logo, a happy teddy leaning out of a cell window.

"Washington State Penitentiary's Teddy Bear Project is a diverse gathering of prisoners who've come together to help ease loneliness and inspire love and compassion (The things we need most to learn.) through Teddy Bears. We are associated with www.goodbearsoftheworld.org. Like GBW, it is the goal of BEARS FROM BEHIND BARS to put the comfort of teddy bears in the arms of traumatized children and our lonely elders. We've chosen to make a difference with the two things we have in surplus: time and energy."

Six men signed the card with their name and inmate number: Gus Turner, Dean Roesgen, Kenneth Agtuca, Lars Snow, Bryan Wade, and R. Delgado.

I'd have liked to call them to verify the spellings on their names, and to ask why each bear has "Baron" written on the leather pad of his right foot. The two koalas also have "BFFB" on their left feet. Best Friend Forever Bear?

These are well-made bears, and far too bright to spend much time in a newsroom. So we're sending them out to do the job their makers intended.

If your non-profit or first responder group can get them to children or seniors who can use a hot pink hug, log on with your request. Please say where you operate and what you do. If you're the lucky teddy winner we'll let you know this week.

Pierce County is looking for help from the public as it prepares to update and expand its flood management plan for its major rivers.

“We really want this to be a good plan that addresses flood issues in a comprehensive and coordinated way,” Lorin Reinelt, project manager for Pierce County Public Works and Utilities, said in a press release Monday.

“We invite people to share their opinions through the online survey, to be part of the advisory committee, or to send us their comments. We have already seen a strong interest in working together on this.”

The plan Web site offers surveys and opportunities for the public's input on such issues as floodplain development regulations, levee maintenance, gravel removal, fish habitat, emergency response and public education.

The existing plan. written in 1991, is out of date and includes only the Puyallup River system. The new plan will include more rivers and reflect current issues, policies and priorities for managing river flooding.

River flooding affects everyone, and all Pierce County households, even those in incorporated cities, will soon receive a postcard with information about the flood plan update and how get involved.

The updated plan, according to the county, will address the range of resource and policy issues facing local jurisdictions, resource managers, tribes, property owners and businesses.

"The goal is to reduce the risk to life and property from river flooding and channel migration," Pierce County Executive Pat McCarthy said in the press release announcing the plan update. "It requires striking a balance among cost-effective flood hazard management, available funding, compatible human uses, economic sustainability, and improved fish and wildlife habitat in flood-prone areas."

Several Twitter posts are floating around soliciting participation in a Monday Aug. 17 moveon.org rally at the office of The News Tribune in Tacoma.

The moveon.org post post says "Join us at the office of the Tacoma News Tribune to deliver personal Letters to the Editor about the need for a REAL Public Health Insurance Option."

I wrote a few days ago about a mounted giraffe that's causing a stir in Lakewood.

Here's a picture of the fella that TNT photographer Dean Keopfler shot today:

Here's the caption: Motorists slowed to a crawl and onlookers gawked on Bridgeport Way in Lakewood Friday as a scene oddly reminiscent of a famed WWII photograph played out. Taxidermist Roger Hamel, right. of Northwest Taxidermy Training was nearing completion of a giraffe for client Paul Wieser, left, and needed help to stand up the nearly 20 ft. tall trophy. As employee Kathy Whaley helped Hamel with the rope Erik Bergren, center, pushed the giraffe to perpendicular. Work on the stand to emulate the environment of Namibia will finish the work.

As part of the First Thursday Art Walk, the Tacoma Historical Society will offer free walking tours of downtown August 20. It is an extension fo the society's current exhibit called "From Ruins to Renaissance – The Architecture of Downtown Tacoma."

Details of the event are here.

OK, it's not quite a safari, but something exotic and really tall is catching the eyes of drivers on Bridgeport Way Southwest in Lakewood.

A giraffe — that's right, a giraffe — is greeting people who pass by Northwest Taxidermy Training. It's been there about a week. The owner mounted the beast for a Parkland man who shot it last year in Africa.

Here's a snippet of my story that's scheduled to run this week:

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Just got this e-mail from Laureen Lund, spokeswoman for the City of Gig Harbor, about the city's decision to require employee furloughs the rest of the year.

The cuts come months after the city enacted 10 layoffs earlier this year. The city is anticipating a $1.9 million shortfall in its budget next year.

The furloughs will affect 76 employees, and all staff will lose hours except police officers and wastewater treatment plant workers.

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Here's part of my story on the Aboubakr property in Washington's oldest town:

A proposal to develop a controversial piece of land in Steilacoom is facing another fight with residents who want to maintain the town’s character.

The opposition insists a plan to build 12 homes overlooking Puget Sound would create traffic, harm the neighborhood’s ecosystem and eliminate the “Tunnel of Trees” — a scenic strip that has become synonymous with Washington’s oldest town.

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Residents at the Waverly Farms and Villas and Cherry Creek Apartments are through complaining about the gang-bangers who’ve been messing with what should be a safe and pleasant summer.

With the help of Safe Streets’ Darren Pen, they’ve organized.

Tonight, they’re inaugurating the push with their first National Night Out.
Their complexes are among several east of Interstate 5 and north of South 96th Street, and they have a unique problem. Though most of their neighborhood is in Tacoma, they also have an orphan slice of Lakewood, across the freeway from the rest of the city.

Their management is responsible, responsive and tight with the police, but that’s not the case in all the complexes. Some allow gang members to live and do business in the neighborhood.

Residents have had armed thugs bust into their apartments. They’ve had taggers dueling with spray-paint on their fences. And you don’t want to know what’s been going on in the greenbelt.

Now that they’ve organized, Tacoma Police Community Liaison Officer Dan Hensley is looking into their complaints of slow police response. He’s given them resource lists of all the numbers to call, and coached them on how best to report a crime.

Jim Borah of the Neighborhood Councils is helping them with information on how to get traffic circles and speed bumps.

The core group invited the neighbors, including residents of the Woodmark Apartments, or a Safe Streets meeting two weeks ago.

“This whole neighborhood is so unsavory, it’s just pathetic,” said a Woodmark resident. “We had a shoot-out up here today at 3 p.m.”

They had another last Thursday.

This National Night Out Party is serious business. Lives depend on it.

In a quiet neighborhood in University Place, residents rallied to Laura-Elizabeth Boyle and Kayce Burdge’s cause with blankets for homeless people.
Boyle, who will be a senior at Bellarmine Prep, and Burdge, who will be a senior at Wilson High School are working toward their Gold Awards, the highest honor in the Girl Scouts.

When they read that Catholic Community Services was taking over and refurbishing what is now The Tacoma Avenue Shelter, they had their project. They contacted shelter director Jim Anderson and asked where they could fit into the work.

Anderson had plans to convert an old garage into a space where volunteers could serve dinner to shelter guests.

Perfect, said the girls.

They started gathering donations of materials, notably the paint and primer given by the Center Street Home Depot.

They spent their summer weekends pressure washing the interior, priming, then painting the walls. They pulled weeds in outdoor parking area, and they prettied up the whole site. Together, they spent 130 hours and transformed a grim space into a welcoming one.

But wait, they told each other. There’s more.

As they learned about the people who need the shelter, they began collecting blankets and bedding for them. They saw National Night Out as a prime chance for a blanket drive.

They organized the event for their cul-de-sac, spamming dorways with flyers, buying burgers and dogs for 200, and inviting their neighbors to bring side dishes, salads, drinks - and new and gently-used blankets.
Their goal: 45 blankets and sheet sets, and warmth for that many people.
They aren’t done yet.

Once back at school, they’ll launch drives for toiletries, games and other necessities.

“From this experience we have borth grasped a deeper understanding of what life on the streets is like, and how we can give back to those who are less fortunate,” they said in a note they wrote together,

The only public access point to Lakewood's fourth-largest lake could close for two weeks in September.

The city says the boat ramp at Lake Louise needs a stronger foundation. Every year, it spends $3,000 to $6,000 to pour crushed rock to shore up the ramp. Every year, part of that rock washes away.

The ramp, which was installed when Lake Louise belonged to Pierce County, was closed for four days last month as crews applied the temporary fixes.

Now, Lakewood says the boat ramp needs a permanent fix so it's safe enough for the hundreds of boaters who use it every year.The Lakewood City Council is scheduled to vote tonight on a $105,000 plan to protect Lake Louise from flooding. Included in that funding is $16,000 for improvements to the boat ramp, such as installing new pilings and using concrete instead of crushed rock.

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