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."

The Tapps Island Association advised all of its water customers Friday to boil their drinking water after samples showed the presence of coliform bacteria.

Trace amounts of E.coli bacteria were detected in the water system on Tuesday, according to the association’s Web site. Retesting on Friday showed that coliform was present but did not disclose any trace of E.coli.

The association supplies treated well water to about 535 homes on the island and 10 homes off the island, said Don Lisko, interim general manager.

The association’s customers should use treated bottled water, or boil any water that might be consumed. That includes water for drinking, brushing teeth, dishwashing, preparing food, and making ice. Water should be brought to a rolling boil for one minute, and then be allowed to cool before use.

The Tapps Island Association is working closely with the Washington State Department of Health’s Office of Drinking Water to find the source of contamination and fix the problem, according to a Department of Health news release.

The water system at Lake Tapps is separate from but near the Bonney Lake water system.

Disinfecting the Tapps Island water system may be required. The boil-water advisory is in effect until further notice, the health department said Friday.

The association’s Web site warned the bacteria can make people sick and are a particular concern for those with weakened immune systems.

No illnesses related to the Tapps Island drinking water have been reported. The association is inspecting all of its water facilities to find the source of contamination.

Lisko said chlorine is being applied to the entire water system today and will be flushed out Sunday.

“Any time you have a situation like this you take it seriously,” Lisko said. “I’m hoping by Monday or Tuesday we’ll be back to normal.”

Notices of the boil-water advisory were hand-delivered to all of the system’s customers Friday night, Lisko said.

For more information, visit www.tapps-island.org or call Lisko at 253-266-2053.

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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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

Think the the folks in Bonney Lake are the only ones battling (shock! outrage!) bikini espresso stands?

Apparently some people in Snohomish County equally have way too much time on their hands.

Dana Fugere leaned against a rake in the waning moments of Parks Appreciation Day in Bonney Lake. Fugere, the parks crew leader for the eastern Pierce County city, was taking shelter against the snow flurries that pelted the participants throughout Saturday’s events.

“It’s been going on like this all day,” he said. “But we had a pretty good turnout and got a lot done.”

About 40 people took part in the activities, which included raking a new layer of bark on the ground, dedicating the area behind Bonney Lake Elementary School as Viking Park and installing two green, metal picnic tables.

A Cub Scout pack also planted trees, and a crew of volunteers helped spruce up the area near the sign welcoming drivers to the city.

Parks Appreciation Day encompasses Earth Day, Arbor Day and other environment-related holidays, said volunteer Lillian McGinnis, who helped others spread the bark.

“It’s all about the volunteers on a day like this,” Fugere said.

City leaders also handed out several awards for volunteerism. Fred Jacobsen, who serves on the city’s park board, won the second-annual Robert Ceola Memorial Arbor Day Award.

Minutes later, though, Jacobsen was back at work helping to construct the picnic tables.

“The weather wasn’t perfect,” laughed Jacobsen, wearing a soaked blue raincoat, “but we’re out here to help make a difference.”