Kevin Cavanagh with Pierce County Information Technology points out that the link we published in the printed paper for the weather tracker system left off one symbol.

The correct link is http://www.co.pierce.wa.us/PC/

If you can't bring it up, click here.

On the left side, it's titled "How hot is it?"

It's pretty cool. According to the site, "Eleven weather stations around the county record temperature, wind speed, relative humidity and more. Data is updated every 15 minutes."

The Point Defiance Zoo just announced that Beethoven, the zoo's remaining beluga whale, will be leaving after the recent death of Qannik.

Here's the press release:

TACOMA – Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium’s beluga whale Beethoven will return to his home at Sea World in San Antonio, Texas to participate in a cooperative whale breeding program, zoo officials announced today.

A date for Beethoven’s relocation has not been determined but could be as early as April 29, according to zoo officials. With no whales available to replace Beethoven in the short-term, zoo staff are making plans to move California sea lions into the vacated whale pool during the summer months.

=> Read more!

First it was dead raccoons, now someone has apparently shot and killed a fox at Point Defiance park. Here's the release from MetroParks:

Fox killed by wildlife assault at Point Defiance Park

Walkers in Point Defiance reported to Parks staff this morning that a fox which appeared to have been shot with a pellet gun was found across from Camp Six. The Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) responded conducting an onsite investigation of the scene and removing the animal for a determination as to the cause of death.

In early February, staff and park visitors encountered dead raccoons which were victimized by similar attacks along Point Defiance’s Five Mile Drive.

=> Read more!

Qannik showed more small signs of improvement today, officials with the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium said. He's less dehydrated, his white blood cell count is approaching normal and his kidney function is better.

"But he's not out of the woods yet," said curator Karen Goodrowe Beck. The 8-year-old beluga whale, who has been suffering from an unknown kind of infection, was less playful today than he was yesterday.

See Qannik when he was feeling his oats:

Ruston Mayor Bob Everding resigned Monday, a day before residents apparently voted down a measure that would transfer the town’s executive power to an administrator.

Entering Wednesday evening, 91 people had voted against the change. Sixty-six voted for it.

Ruston has 452 active voters, according to the Piece County auditor’s office.

“This shows that not everyone agrees with the way the council wants to go,” said Karen Pickett, a vocal opponent of the proposition. “The council still has a fairly strong base, but clearly not everyone agrees with all the changes they propose.”

Proponents of the switch said the job responsibilities of the mayor have become too much to handle for one person. Opponents were wary of adding another layer of bureaucracy, the cost involved and losing an elected official who is responsive to citizens.

Now it appears the town needs a new mayor.

Everding e-mailed his resignation letter to some members of council ahead of its Monday meeting. Councilman Jim Hedrick, who said he read a copy of the letter e-mailed to Councilwoman Jane Hunt, said Everding said he would serve through Sunday and would help the council find a replacement.

Everding didn’t return a voicemail Wednesday.

The council has the task of appointing a new mayor, provided the change-of-government measure ultimately fails, Councilman Jim Hedrick said.

“The only thing officially we have done is appoint Councilman (Bradley) Huson as mayor pro tem,” Hedrick said.

Everding served on the council until Jan. 19, when he resigned amid growing frustration over in-fighting between the members of the council and Mayor Michael Transue.

Transue resigned on June 2, saying the atmosphere at council meetings was growing increasingly tense. The council unanimously appointed Everding to the vacancy two days later.

Everding wasn’t showing any obvious displeasure with his position, Hedrick said.

“This is completely out of the blue,” he said.

As Ruston voters mull a decision to change the town’s form of government from mayor-council to council-manager, I decided to ask one of the men most recently in the executive post.

Michael Transue was Ruston's mayor from 2005 until his resignation in June. He says the mayor’s job is too much for a part-time person right now, but he doesn’t believe a permanent switch in government format is the answer.

“It’s too much for a part-time person right now. It’s too much, unless you had the right retired person with the right schedule, managerial experience, project management experience – that sort of thing – but that sort of person doesn’t exist in Ruston right now.”

Transue said he proposed the town hire an administrator who would work with the mayor and the council to guide Ruston through all its changes.

“The council has the authority right now to hire a town administrator. And they have the authority to do it in the fashion that puts every check and balance into a consultant contract that they want. They could do that today. My view is that they should have done that months ago when I proposed it.”

“I put out a (request for proposal) and said, ‘What do you think? What do you think?’ No response. So I tweak it here, tweak it there. I put out an RFP. And then they say, ‘Whoops, just kidding.’

How is that a good way of doing business? If we had (hired an administrator) 18 months ago or whenever I proposed it, we’d be much better off today.”

The question seems simple: Is running Ruston a full-time job?

A ballot measure this month hopes to answer that.

Voters will decide Aug. 19 on a proposal that could change the town’s government. If approved, the council would hire a town manager, who would oversee daily operations.

The mayor, the town’s executive under its current system, would be a member of the five-member council under the proposed changes.

Proponents say a part-time mayor doesn’t have enough free time to properly run the city. Opponents say it’s too costly and a departure from the town’s history.

=> Read more!

I just had a quick conversation with Ruston Councilman Dan Albertson, who is a proponent of changing to a town manager format of government. He called it “the best move we can make right now.”

The job is too much for a part-timer, he said.

“It’s everything from the development of Point Ruston to lease negotiations at the school building to supervision of employees to the multiple legal actions we’re involved with. I don’t think you can ask someone to do that for virtually nothing. They either won’t be able to devote enough time to it, or they’re going to be so grossly underpaid for the effort that they put into it that it’s unreasonable to expect them to do it.”

Sherri Forch chaired the committee to provide the Yes statement in the voter’s guide to change Ruston’s form of government.

Her argument is that, with the future of Ruston at a crossroads, the job is simply too much for one person:

“I’d like to be on the record that I supported (former mayor) Michael Transue. I wrote the (town) newsletter as a volunteer. Volunteering is alive and well down here. … But it’s the mayor’s newsletter and it has to have his approval, so I would write it and it would be two or three days before I could get to it. My point is that a citizen mayor, with a career with two teenage daughters, has to go to soccer games and chaperone school dances – in other words, he’s got a life. A citizen mayor with a life just doesn’t have the time, the energy.”

“I don’t think it’s fair to ask a citizen to be a mayor. There’s too much responsibility. With all the development going on, we need someone that’s involved 9-to-5.”

She added that a full-time administrator might not be needed 10 or 20 years in the future after developments like Point Ruston are finished. But with so much changing in the community, she said, the town needs someone full-time.

It’s not reasonable to ask a citizen to do this anymore. It’s too specialized. There’s too much too knowledge. You need a consultant for this, a consultant for that. You need an attorney to protect the mayor from missteps. The regulations are so complicated, you need a professional.

=> Read more!

Karen Pickett is heading the No campaign to change Ruston’s form of government. Pickett, who runs the Ruston Home blog, has been one of the most vocal critics of the current town council.

She wants to keep the current form of government, in which the mayor acts as the town’s executive and the council as its legislative body, to a town manager format. Her desires stem from checks and balances and tradition.

Some of this, for me, is based on intangibles. But when talking to folks and getting input and going over this, one of my biggest concerns is that, being a small town, small factions can take elected seats and not be responsive to all the constituents. It’s part of the nature of small towns. Having elected seats is important, and losing one of those representative seats is a wrong move. We need to keep our town as responsive to the voters as we can.

=> Read more!

Intelligent Travel, National Geographic's sustainable travel blog, swing through Tacoma and Ruston. Featured are the Museum of Glass and Don's Market

I love covering Ruston politics. It’s always a good source of entertainment – and the occasional story.

Here are three things that didn’t make today's article about last night’s special session:

■ Former Councilwoman Karen Pickett, who runs the Ruston Home blog, was passing around photocopies explaining the state’s open-meetings act. The portion explaining the ban on communicating about official business outside of official meetings was highlighted. “I’m just handing it out,” she said.

■ Councilman Wayne Stebner arrived 20 minutes early and cracked jokes – many aimed at himself – while waiting for the meeting to begin.

■ Councilman Bradley Huson, like always, came dressed for the occasion. Hit suit came complete with a pocket square and a flower pinned to his lapel.