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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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."

Doris Jairala has been a faithful bus rider the past five years, taking the 53 route a few times a week to get to her housekeeping jobs.

Driving isn't an option for the 62-year-old University Place resident. She suffers from seizures and isn't allowed to get behind the wheel.

(To the left: Doris Jairala, of University Place, rides the Number 53 bus to her job as a housekeeper last month. The route will be eliminated in July as Pierce Transit reduces less-used routes such as hers. Joe Barrentine/The News Tribune)

So that means for her job, she hops on the bus to Lakewood, Steilacoom, UP and any other community in which her work takes her.

But she will be one of the thousands of riders who will have to find a new bus beginning July 12. Pierce Transit, squeezed by the economic downturn, opted to eliminate or reduce service on routes throughout the county that don't have a high ridership.

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She stands 6 feet high, school bell in hand and keeping a watchful eye on her students.

But the bronze statue of pioneering schoolteacher Chloe Clark doesn’t overlook an untouched prairie or a backdrop of Evergreen trees, scenes she might have seen when she first started teaching at Fort Nisqually (now DuPont) in 1840 at a mission school. She was the first school teacher to arrive in the South Sound, historians say.

(To the right is a picture of Chloe Clark. It isn't the bronze statue, but it gives an idea of what it looks like. Key Peninsula sculptor John Jewell produced the real one)

Instead, Clark's statue overlooks buildings and asphalt near the Bronze Works foundry in Tacoma. The group of history enthusiasts who raised $86,000 for the statue's creation is ecstatic that it's complete.

But they'll have to wait until 2010 for the statue's installation at Chloe Clark Elementary School in DuPont. The Steilacoom Historical School District must perform about $100,000 worth of landscape improvements, including clearing trees and readying the area for a pedestal for the statue.

"Are we disappointed? I think so," said Retired Army Maj. Gen. John Hemphill, chairman of the Chloe Clark Memorial Committee. "But it is a lot of work."

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Keith Beaton’s hands shifted from gauge to gauge today as he leaned inside the 12-ton monument to pre-World War II Dupont.

The 51-year-old Stryker mechanic played doctor, tapping the insides of the small, rusty locomotive used in the old DuPont Explosive Co. powder works.

“Fire in the hole!” he yelled. And with some turning and tweaking of a few switches, the locomotive rumbled, and a piece of the city’s history came to life.

After moving to DuPont in March, Beaton has worked almost daily to breath air into the antique train’s lungs.

The 1941 locomotive, which the Army delivered to the city two years ago, is now running. My former colleague, Rob Tucker, wrote about its homecoming.

Some parts still need tweaking, such as a whistle that’s more of a whisper among the engine noise. (Above is a video lifetime DuPont native Fred Foreman made of the narrow gauge train running on its own for the first time)

Still, it’s a far cry from when the machine came to the city two years ago. Beaton, along with Foreman, are working to restore it 100 percent.

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Steilacoom Historical School District spokeswoman Nancy Covert sent word of when the community can hear from the two finalists for interim school superintendent.

Community forums are scheduled at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday and Wednesday, at the Pioneer Middle School cafeteria, 511 Chambers St., Steilacoom.

Last Saturday, the Steilacoom Historical School board met with five semi-finalists before whittling the field down to two: Barry Gourley and Cathy Davidson.

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You might have caught this news update about Lakewood leading a $500,000 effort to improve Interstate traffic near Fort Lewis.

Given its proximity and relationship with the installation, the city is the ideal candidate to take the lead on the project. The Lakewood City Council started the process Monday night by approving $500,000 worth of studies to the corridor.

City officials say Fort Lewis is somewhat unique from other installations in that it’s located next to an urban area. I-5 gets nasty in the morning and afternoon when traffic from the post, along with McChord Air Force Base, floods nearby roads.

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Outside the new Pioneer Middle School in DuPont, a weather-aged bell sits atop a wooden stand.

But the bell – which called classes to order when Pioneer first opened in 1892 – and the name are about the only holdovers from Pioneer’s Steilacoom digs. A 106,000 square-foot, $34.6 million building opened for classes to its 650 students Thursday, and students and faculty alike were buzzing before the first day of school was half finished.

It’s obvious even before one steps into the building that it’s a vast upgrade: Bose speakers mounted to the walls play classical music and kid-friendly rock. Inside, the school seems open and inviting.

“When I came in, I said, ‘Wow, this is beautiful,’” eighth-grader Ashley Connors said. “I think the building is going to be nicer than our high school.”

Her classmate, Jazmyn Winegar, was impressed with the new second-floor library, which principal Kristi Webster calls “our tree of learning.” Eighth-grader Matt Stillings, was eager to see the new SMART Boards in action.

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Nick Miller had only 24 hours to spend with his family. His wife, Melissa, wanted to make the short stay memorable.

A Washington pizza restaurant helped make it unforgettable.

Nick and Melissa met when he was stationed at Fort Lewis from 2003-05. His unit from the Missouri National Guard was filling in for the 170th Military Police Company, which was in Iraq. She worked as a gate guard at the post. Some of their first dates were at the Farrelli’s Pizza restaurant in DuPont. The two liked the wood-fired pies and fell in love with each other.

The couple and their two kids live in Linneus, Mo., now. Nick’s unit is preparing to deploy to Kosovo. It trained during February and March at Camp Crowder outside Neosho, Mo., and the Guardsmen had 24 hours of leave before deploying on March 23 – Easter Sunday.

Melissa’s plan to make the short leave memorable began weeks before that. She called Farrelli’s in DuPont and asked if they shipped pizzas.

“I was more than willing to pay for the pizza and the shipping and all that,” she said. “I figured we’d be eating a $75 pizza. But I would do that for my husband.”

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We sent out an e-mail to our “news network” – the group of readers who like to receive e-mails from us asking for their help with stories – and ask about the high gas prices.

Click below to read a sampling.

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This was e-mailed to me (and left as a comment on this blog):

Given what is happening in our world today I would hope that you would be able to find more constuctive news to write about than the Town of Ruston. While you continue your quest for reading fodder you are truly hurting our town. The Town of Ruston is a great place to live and we really enjoy our neighborhood and our neighbors but you are casting a seriously negative light on our wonderful town.

The Mayor is a good man and the council members are all excellent people and very well qualified to do the jobs they were elected to do.
The council members and our Mayor are very similar people in more ways than your reporting portrays but more importantly, after this is all said and done, they will still be neighbors.

The only thing your reporting will do is contiue to pour salt in an open wound. It will continue to pit neighbor against neighbor and the way things are going - Ruston will wind up with its own Reality TV show.

So quit stirring the pot and let us work through our issues - which we will do. Quit stirring the pot so people interested in buying a new home won't be deterred from Ruston because of its political climate you have helped fuel.

We have a beautiful town, great neighbors, and tremendous future. Let us move forward having learned valuable lessons from the past and present.

Please go pick on another town for awhile - how about DuPont? I have heard they have issues or maybe Puyallup but how about leaving Ruston alone for awhile?

You heard the man, readers: Find me dirt on DuPont!