City of Tacoma officials announced a thought on holding community discussions about the future of development, particularly on the tideflats, in the wake of rising concerns regarding the now-dead plans for a natural gas-to-methanol plant.
They wanted the permit process to play out in a neutral and unbiased way first and then talk about future plans later. Of course, Mayor Marilyn Strickland had already recorded a pro-methanol plant video, but is just a factoid left to history, especially since the plant later pulled the plug on the whole idea.
But as those plans died, city leaders called for a time of self-reflection that would involve community members, business leaders and other stakeholders to plot a collaborative vision of economic development when it comes at a cost of the region’s natural resources. Then nothing happened.
Citizens, still hot under the collar over the whole affair formed, Save Tacoma Water to float the novel idea that the residents of Tacoma have a say in the use of their water and air. Still nothing official happened. No community meetings. No talks. No consensus building. Nothing.
City and port leaders simply thought the effort would fizzle and die. It didn’t. Save Tacoma Water gathered thousands of signatures in a matter of months, verified one initiative for the November ballot and likely submitted enough valid signatures to call for another vote next year. Rather than actually hold those talks everyone was promised, or even meet with Save Tacoma Water organizers to hear them out, the port hopped on a lawsuit to stop them cold.
True, a judge sided with the port and the region’s business groups by halting those initiatives last week with a decision that the initiatives overreached their legal authority. Save Tacoma Water is now setting its sights on mounting a statewide effort regardless of how people think of the rationale behind such a sweeping campaign that would call for broad reaching authority of the voting-age proletariat to determine the future uses of their natural resources.
City, port and business groups have talked among themselves. Water watchers met and talked among themselves. Yet no one talked to each other.
To their credit, the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber and the Economic Development Board of Tacoma-Pierce County separately called for more discussion in an effort to gain understanding and commonality from the array of views about the region’s future.
The area has precious natural resources that should have strong stewards protecting them. But the region also needs well-paying jobs that will most likely involve the use of those resources. Both diehard environmentalist and all-in business boosters understand that. There would be no harm in at least talking about the dueling visions so the community can find some semblance of commonality, or at least understanding about the trade offs. But yet nothing has happened other than lawsuits and protests and name calling about “misinformed” gaggle of rabble-rousers causing a stink when they dare to challenge the “authority” their elected officials have over them.
Certainly the cost of a few cups of joe for a good-old-fashion coffee talk would be less expensive to taxpayers than the legal bills this ongoing battle of silence has already cost.

One of Tacoma's most popular soul and blues acts, the Randy Oxford Band, has been pretty scarce this year, as Oxford has focused on out-of-town work. But this summer he is ready to showcase a brand new project, called Randy Oxford's All-Star Slam, which will headline Jazzbones on July 16.
The show will start at 8 p.m., and tickets are available now with prices ranging from $15 to $20; www.jazzbones.com for further details. Recently, Oxford gave us a better idea of what to expect.
Tacoma Weekly: Tell me about this new project that's coming up.
Oxford: I'm doing a show all summer long that's called Randy Oxford's All-Star Slam, and I'm featuring many of the top players from the Pacific Northwest. We're flying in soul-blues artist, Wee Willie Walker, from Minneapolis. He's kind of a soul-blues legend who's making a comeback. He's in his '70s now, but he was quite active in the '60s and '70s. I met him on the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise last October, and he told me he's never been up to Washington. So I'm able to fly him in to do three shows with us, and one of those will be at Jazzbones on July 16.
TW: So what's the concept?
Oxford: I've always featured multiple vocalists at my shows, which I like to do with the Randy Oxford Band. This time I'm focusing mostly on band leaders who have their own projects, and I'm putting them all together onstage for these shows. It's been going over quite well. We tried it out in Canada – up in Alberta, a couple months ago - and we did a few shows in Seattle.
TW: Who else are you working with aside from Wee Willie?
Oxford: We've got CD Woodbury who's got his own band. For the other shows I'm bring in Aury Moore who's kind of known in the rock world. She's got the Aury Moore Band, and they're kind of known in the rock n' roll band around the Northwest. But she's got a jazz, blues and gospel background, so I'm kind of showcasing that side of her for the blues-jazz crowd this summer. So it'll be kind of a debut for her in front of that kind of crowd.
TW: What about the other personnel for these shows?
Oxford: Let's see, I've got Aury's fiance, Eddie Mondoza. He's a drummer, and he sings as well. CD Woodbury is the guitarist, and he signs, as well. And I've got another guitarist, Willy Straub. I've always had two guitarists in my bands. He's a guitarist and vocalist as well. Patrick McDanel is a real popular bass player. He used to play with the Red Hot Blues Sisters, and he's kind of got his own project going on now.
TW: Is this the lineup for your band right now? And do you consider this an incarnation of the Randy Oxford Band?
Oxford: It's gonna be my lineup through September, then we'll see where my band goes after that. I'm just kind of getting a feel for how this All-Star Slam plays out. As far as the regular Randy Oxford Band, that's kind of up in the air as far as who I'll keep for that.
TW: What happens in September?
Oxford: I'm heading out to Las Vegas. I'm part of the Bender Brass Horn sections for the Big Blues Bender in Las Vegas. That's four nights of rhythm & blues with dozens of national acts coming in. I'll be part of the house horn section for that. Then I'm heading out for two more Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruises down in the Caribbean as a jam host and a performer – not with my band, but as a solo artist.
TW: So it sounds like this summer will be fans' last chance to see you for a little while.
Oxford: Yeah, until 2017. I'm kind of movin' around a little bit, mixing it up. It's rare that we actually play in Tacoma; just once every three or four months – or five months even.

While we’re still in the middle of summer, a quick glance at the calendar is all it takes to get local football fans blood pumping. In less than two months, Tacoma’s high school football players will again lace-up the cleats, don the pads and helmets and take to the gridiron for yet another season. Every new season brings with it several question marks for each team, however, the question marks tend to go on and on when long-standing leagues disappear and new ones take their place.

Tacoma has long been the home of Narrows League athletics, with all of the city teams either playing in the 3A or 4A version. Of course, prior to the addition of the 4A classification to the Washington school system, all six of the city’s schools faced each other in league play for decades.

Following the recent reclassification session by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA), the landscape of Tacoma football will be looking more different than ever.

Firstly, the 3A and 4A Narrows Leagues are no more. They have been put up on the shelf, never to return again; unless another round of WIAA reclassifications turns things upside down again sometime down the road. From the ashes of the 3A Narrows, a familiar name will be returning to the Tacoma area. For decades, the Pierce County League was home to some of the strongest 2A athletic programs in the state. The advent of the 4A classification spelled doom for the Pierce County League and one of the state’s most historical leagues was suddenly no more.

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When teams take to the football fields in early September, the Pierce County League will have found new life again, as the 3A league for the Tacoma area. Following the WIAA reclassification, Stadium High School moved down to 3A where they will regularly face their crosstown rivals again. Lincoln, Mt. Tahoma and Wilson will be joined some exciting schools that should make the new Pierce County League much more local to Tacoma than the previous 3A Narrows. The additions of Bethel, Bonney Lake, Lakes and Spanaway Lake will mean pretty much every athletic event within the league will be within a 30-minute drive for Tacoma sports fans. This is a far cry from the long trips south and out to the Kitsap Peninsula for years.

One name missing from the Tacoma school mix is Henry Foss High School. Due to a drop in enrollment, the Falcons will be facing a new slate of foes in the 2A South Puget Sound League’s Mountain Division. While some Foss fans have been less than ecstatic about the move, the Falcons will have immediate rivals in Franklin Pierce, Washington and Fife. The rest of the Mountain Division is made up of Evergreen, Foster, Lindbergh and White River.

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With the 4A Narrows League gone, the Bellarmine Prep Lions needed to find themselves a new home and landed among many familiar foes in the 4A South Puget Sound League’s South Division. The nine-school league already has the makings of a powerhouse conference. Joining Bellarmine from the 4A Narrows will be Olympia and South Kitsap. Rounding out the league are Curtis, Emerald Ridge, Graham-Kapowsin, Puyallup, Rogers and Sumner.

The full 4A SPSL schedule has yet to be released, however, the Sept. 9 non-league matchup between Lakes and Bellarmine is a game to jot down on the calendar immediately. A week prior, Lincoln will travel north to West Seattle Stadium to face state powerhouse O’Dea on Sept. 2. The Abes will follow that tough matchup a week later as they host Auburn Mountainview at Lincoln Bowl on Sept. 9. Pierce County League play will begin on Sept. 16 as Mt. Tahoma hosts Bonney Lake, Lincoln hosts Bethel, Lakes hosts Wilson and Stadium hosts Spanaway Lake.

Foss will open their season with a non-league matchup with Wilson at Mt. Tahoma Stadium on Sept. 2. Franklin Pierce will pay a visit to the Falcons to open up 2A SPSL play on Sept. 9 at Mt. Tahoma Stadium. Foss will then visit Fife on Sept. 16.

With our recurring Weekly Rewind feature, our staff photographers capture some of the biggest community happenings that you may have missed. This week, Bill Bungard visited Angle Lake where Maurice the Fish Records celebrated the Fourth of July with a showcase of artists on their roster. 

Few people more involved in the city of Tacoma have lived in it longer than Dennis Flannigan.
For 75 years, Flannigan attended school, became a civil rights advocate, worked as janitor – then, for the governor – became a member of the Pierce County Council, and served four terms in the Washington legislature.
He and wife Ilsa raised two children in a marriage of 44 years that lasted until her death in 2009.
“When Ilsa died, I was coming up on my 70th year, and I decided I had to do new things,” Flannigan said. “So I tried standup comedy.”
The audience reception was polite laughter mixed with dead silence. Flannigan shrugged. In a lifetime of trying to come up with solutions to problems, he had failed before. He remembers the failures – and the successes.
Appointed to the county council in 1988, Flannigan was instrumental in bringing police, business owners and every day citizens together to create ‘Safe Streets,’ to fight crime and gang violence. The program was later hailed by President Bill Clinton as the best community mobilization program in the country.
“We took a situation that seemed hopeless and brought hope to it,” Flannigan said.
Once in the legislature, the lifetime Democrat fought for the Murray Morgan Bridge restoration, the University of Washington Tacoma, the Chinese Reconciliation project and the McCarver Park renovation.
None of that seemed likely in 1964, when the University of Puget Sound took a long look at junior Flannigan – and suspended him.
“I started an underground newspaper, ‘The Brail,’ and we opposed the war in Vietnam, discussed civil rights issues,” Flannigan said. “I’d kind of stopped going to classes, and President Franklin Thompson brought me in, talked to me and suspended me. About 25 years later, I’m emceeing a night in his honor, and I mentioned my suspension.
“From the back of the room, Dr. Thompson yells out, ‘and I’d do it again today!’”
Flannigan still laughs at the story. The suspension changed his life.
“In 1960, I tried to talk a friend into going to Mississippi with me to help register black voters, but he thought I was crazy and I didn’t have the courage to go alone,” Flannigan said. “When I was suspended in ’64, I took a bus to Ohio for a week of training to join the Freedom Riders in Mississippi.”
During that week, three Freedom Riders were murdered near Philadelphia, Miss. in an ambush set up by a county deputy sheriff who was also a Ku Klux Klan member.
“We were all young and that news scared the hell out of us,” Flannigan said. “But of all of us in training, all but one still went to Mississippi the next week.”
There, Flannigan was named communications manager for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee with civil rights activist Stokely Carmichael his boss. The son of a Norwegian mother and Irish father, Flannigan was a white kid from Tacoma who returned home in 1965 a changed man.
“I was comfortable with people of any color, any race, any belief,” Flannigan said. “I found I could talk to everyone, on all sides of an issue. I even found myself becoming a confidante to people on each side.”
Now all he had to do was find a job.

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“When I got married in ’65, I was making $1.98 an hour as a janitor,” Flannigan said. “That was OK. In Mississippi, I saw families who lived on $300 a year.”
A friend suggested he apply at the Hilltop Housing and Relocation office, and Flannigan was hired as assistant director with a staff of nine. His job was to find housing for low-income families. As it turned out, he was so good at it that a year later, Gov. Dan Evans created a program to bring minorities into the State Department of Public Welfare – and hired Flannigan to run it.
The effort was so successful that he was asked to teach at Western Washington University in social sciences, which was awkward because Flannigan had never graduated from UPS.
Alone after Ilsa died, Flannigan found himself reconnecting a year later with Jayasri Ghosh.
“I’d hired her like 30 years before, to be executive director of a gifted children program,” Flannigan said. “She married, and Ilsa and I would see her and her husband at social events. We were all friendly.”
Ghosh became a widow 13 years ago, and Flannigan was a widower for six years when the two married. The most difficult aspect of their new life? Jayasri lives and works in Seattle.
Flannigan sold his home of 38 years last month, packed it up and moved north. Not without thought.
“This town treated me so well. I had so many relationships, so many friendships here. This was home for me emotionally, intellectually. It embraced me,” he said. “I'll always come back to Tacoma for my friends here.”
How often?
“Two or three times a week,” Flannigan said, and winked.

A tribute show for Jonathan Williams – a Tacoma musician widely known as “Black Jon” – will be held on Sunday, July 17, at the Acme Grub Cage, 1310 Tacoma Ave. S. Williams most likely died on June 13, according to the Pierce County Medical Examiner. A cause of death is still pending, but friends say he recently sought treatment for an ongoing heart condition. He was 34.
In recent years, Williams was a member Tacoma band North Slope, but he also collaborated with other local acts. John Walker, The Fun Police and Ten Miles of Bad Road will perform in his honor on July 17, and there will be a silent auction with proceeds going toward expenses related to his death. Updates and other details can be found on the event Facebook page here.

Have you looked into your recycling bin lately? Did you see there, in all that discarded cardboard and paper, a treasure trove of color, fonts and images? If not, you may begin to after a viewing of the art of Michael Albert, whose show is currently on display at the Handforth Gallery (which is housed in the main branch of Tacoma Public Library).
Albert uses cereal boxes and other packaging to create colorful, energetic, wild works of art. He cuts the cardboard packaging into small units and reassembles them in the manner of a mosaic. Humorously, Albert calls this work “cerealism,” and describes is as a mix of Pablo Picasso’s cubistic deconstructions and Andy Warhol’s pop art sensibility. Albert started to work in collage in 1996 when he found that he was unwilling to get rid of a Frosted Flakes box. Instead he chopped it up and made the first of his collages with it.
Based in the New York City area, Albert has created hundreds of his cereal box collages. Many of these are made into posters. The Handforth Gallery’s show is mostly of these posters, augmented by a few original works. Albert is currently making a grand tour of the west coast, showing his work in schools and libraries and putting on a series of workshops that coincide with the shows. In Tacoma, Albert will be conducting three workshops. On July 29 there is an 11 a.m. workshop at the Wheelock branch of the library and a 3 p.m. workshop at the Moore branch. A workshop in the library’s main branch is scheduled for July 30 at 10:30 a.m.

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Many of the pieces co-opt the garish, fancy fonts of product packaging to spell out things like the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States, the Gettysburg Address or the Pledge of Allegiance. The jarring effect of these venerated, national documents written out in whacky lettering is humorous and magical, somehow shedding new light on the old, familiar verbiage. Albert also uses the technique to spell out song lyrics, like those of “I Am the Walrus” by the Beatles. In one collage, Albert uses numbers to follow Pi for 777 digits (a task that took four years of work). Other works, like “Woodstock,” focus mainly on the cartoon characters that advertisers use as a means to brand their sugary products.

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Albert is less effective when he attempts to arrange fragments of color to depict flowers in a traditional mosaic mode. Likewise, the collages made with chopped up photographs – like “Empire State Building” – are nowhere near as fascinating as his dense, brilliant accretions of little parts of recognizable, consumerist packaging.
The Handforth Gallery is inside the main branch of the Tacoma Public Library at 1102 Tacoma Ave. S. The show runs through July 30. For further information visit http://www.tacomalibrary.org/handforth-gallery.

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On Sunday, thousands of locals flocked over to Sixth Avenue for Tacoma's biggest block party, Art on the Ave. As usual, a who's who of local rock, pop and hip-hop performers thrilled on multiple stages. Here's some of the fun you may have missed, as captured by Tacoma Weekly photographer Bill Bungard. 

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Summers around Tacoma bring out the best of the City of Destiny. Sure, the sun is out, as everywhere in North America this time of year, but few places do the season the way Tacoma does.
First off, every weekend brings a festival somewhere in the city, whether it’s a waterfront party like this week’s Maritime Fest (that also makes the 10th anniversary of the completion of the major cleanup effort of the Foss Waterway), or Music and Art in Wright Park on Aug. 13, or neighborhood festivals like the Hilltop Street Fair on Aug. 27.
And, of course, as a mid-sized city in the shadow of a larger and more popular sibling, Tacoma is scrappy. Tacomans will saddle up to strangers in line in a coffee shop just to joke and talk about the weather until their double-shot, sugar-free, fat-free, free-range mocha concoction is ready. But we also get less polite, for good reason, when those same stranger trash talk our fair city. Sure, we can do that among ourselves. That’s all in good fun as we continue to strive to be better than we were the day before. But we don’t take kindly to outsiders poking fun without even the courtesy of knowing how to properly pronounce Cheney Stadium, or Pantages, let alone know that the residents of the City of Destiny are called TacoMANS not TacomIANS. Visitors should know that pronouncing local words correctly might just land them a pint of Tacoma Brewing Co.’s Broken Window IPA, while a mean-spirited linguistic slight could end with an open tab at closing time.
Then there is the fact that many – albeit not all – local developers have found creative and attractive ways to give new life to the city’s stock of remaining historic buildings, and often even include historical accents to modern facilities to best fit Tacoma’s belief that history and heritage matter, even if that heritage and history isn’t personally connected to us.
Tacomans aren’t a pretentious people. We enjoy a good brunch every now and then, but that meal could just as well involve bowls of cereal on the back porch listening to Sea Weed on vinyl disks, as it could lobster tails and shrimp cocktail as violin strings vibrate in some restaurant corner. Tacomans like what they like and make no excuses or boasts either way.
As the political season heats up and the bubbling battle about the tradeoffs between economic development and environmental stewardship continue to drag on, we should not forget that we all love this city in which we all have roles in its crafting.
Tacoma, and Tacomans, remember that you are beautiful.

While the first-place Tacoma Rainiers (49-40) took a well-deserved rest during the Triple-A All-Star break, the Tacoma Weekly caught up with Rainiers’ president Aaron Artman. Tacoma’s young executive has been at the helm during an impressive renaissance period over at Cheney Stadium and we thought it was high time that we pick his brain a little bit.
TW: Aaron, first off, how about introducing yourself to our readers and let us know a bit about where you grew up and went to school.
AA: I grew up in Gresham, Oregon, and then attended the University of Oregon with a degree in journalism and political science.
TW: Obviously you're a sports guy. Tell us what sports you were into growing up and what kind of impact they had on you on and off the field.
AA: Basketball was my first love, and my main sport growing up. It gave me a great outlet for my competiveness, and taught me about having your teammates’ backs, and them having yours.  And how good it felt to win, and how bad it felt to lose, and I don’t think that has ever left. It also helped me realize that I better figure out how to do something else, as the NBA wasn’t in my cards, despite how many Game 7 winners I shot in my driveway as a kid.
TW: If you told your 16 year old self that you would be president of the Tacoma Rainiers someday, what would the response probably be?
AA: Not a chance. I thought I’d have your job. I was always going to be a writer.

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TW: When did you begin with the Rainiers? What were you doing beforehand that perhaps gave you a leg up getting into this position?
AA: I started in June of 2007. Prior to that, I was with Microsoft for almost two years, but was in sports every year since 1999 except for the quick foray into technology.  I learned from some of the best hard driving, high standard, sports operators.  I took pieces of everything I learned from them and put them into place here in Tacoma.
TW: Was there a point during your early days with the Rainiers where you were asking yourself "what have I gotten myself into?"
AA: In the first couple of years, I had a few of those days. I don’t think people, nowadays, realize how close this city was to losing Triple-A baseball, and how hard everybody worked to keep it here.  I took this job having never set foot in Cheney Stadium. I did that on purpose, because I had heard how run down it was, and it may have swayed me in another direction. But we made the best of it, tried to create some good products that fans would love, and kept fighting to create the best ballpark atmosphere in the NW, and I think we all have that same mindset right now.  We haven’t arrived yet, but it’s better than it’s ever been.
TW: Obviously the remodel of Cheney Stadium has to rank very high on the list, but clue us in on some of the other steps forward by the organization that have made you proud.

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AA: Growing from a staff of seven or eight to 34 full time employees. These are good jobs, and when our people leave, they typically don’t leave for a lateral position. You have to be doing well enough to justify it, business wise, and I don’t think I’m the easiest person to work for. But it’s a great feeling to have a proving ground for young people, often fresh out of college, and watch them go for it.
TW: If you were to talk to someone in high school or college about what it is that they can do to prepare them for a job like yours, what would be some of the big points?
AA: That’s a tough one, because I didn’t follow the traditional sports path. I was more of a creative type, who then became a business person somewhere along the way. I think the thing that was instilled in me, by my mom mainly, was to always figure out a way to do something you wanted to do as a career, regardless of how young you were. She was great at saying, “Why not?”. So I worked as a writer in high school and college.  Those were my summer jobs and college jobs, because I wanted to be a writer.  Then I was a Creative Director, because I wanted to run ad campaigns for teams.  It just kind of evolved, but I never thought “I’m too young to do this.” The best advice I’d give young people is to have really high standards for yourself, and then go after it. Be relentless about it.  People want to mentor young people. That’s part of our culture now, at the Rainiers. We put people in leadership positions, before they think they are ready, on purpose.

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TW: It's clear that you’re not just an employee of the Rainiers, but also a fan of your team. It's got to be painful sometimes to see a player move up to the Seattle Mariners, or be traded away, knowing that there's a pretty good chance that you won't be seeing them play at Cheney again. Got a few of those players?
AA: I honestly don’t. These guys work their tails off to hit the Big Leagues. I’m pumped for them whenever they make it. The toughest emotion I feel is when they get sent back down. While it may be good for us, it’s tough on them and their families.
TW: Attendance this season has been impressive. It looks like there's a decent chance of the club making a run at the all-time Cheney record. There's got to be several factors contributing to this increase of support from the fans. What are you seeing?
AA: It’s one of those things that is still a work in progress, but people love the R, and they love the ballpark. I think there’s a generation of fans – largely in their 20s and 30s, who never experienced the old Cheney Stadium in its glory days. So they completely got out of the habit of coming to Cheney.  Now they are back, in droves, with their kids. I think our entertainment has improved. The food is better. This place is more local than it’s ever been, from food to beer to staff to ownership. And our ownership is incredible. It’s a group that cares deeply about the experience, the service and the ‘feel’ of coming to a Rainiers game.
Beyond what we do, this place should be a catalyst for Tacoma. It should be a source of pride, and should elevate our city. As attendance grows, and I don’t think we’re at the peak, whether we break the all-time record or not, it feels good for us – sure. But I think it feels good for the city, like we are all a part of something. But we also keep growing the number of sales people we have, and they do an amazing job of selling tickets. These guys make 100 phone calls a day, and 20 face to face appointments a week. It’s old school. Get a territory, pick up the phone, and go meet people, and as that team grows, and gets better, attendance grows as well.
TW: One of my favorite things about a game at Cheney is the fun atmosphere. With the addition of the playground, the whiffle ball diamond, it really seems as though the club has decided to double down on the "family friendly" environment. How has the response been, and have you got any other similar tidbits planned in the future?

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AA: The playground is our happy place. People love it. It was Brad Cheney’s idea, and he was right on.  And another local company, Korsmo Construction, built a great product, on time and on budget. Within the park, we’d love to build another deck, perhaps in right field, although the lack of land out there is a challenge. We are also discussing creating a new fan area, with unique food, on the Terrace Level of the Party Deck, that any fan can go enjoy, regardless of ticket type.
TW: The 2017 Triple-A All-Star Game is coming to Tacoma next July. Some fans are unaware that this could pretty much be a once in a lifetime sort of decision for the folks at Cheney Stadium, with 31 other Triple-A stadiums in the mix. It's obviously going to have some sort of positive impact on Tacoma, don't you think?
AA: I think so. Tacoma deserves this game. Our fans have earned it. It should be great for restaurants and hotels, and it’s a celebration for our region. We get to show this city off to the entire country, on national TV, and to all of our brethren in baseball.
TW: The Rainiers have been on top of the division since Opening Day. It's got to add a bit of a spring to your step, coming into the office while running a first-place team. There's still a ton of baseball to be played, but can you picture what Cheney would look like in the playoffs?
AA: In years past, the playoffs didn’t draw well. And that’s kind of the norm in Triple-A baseball. I think we’d draw well this year, and in future years, because there’s a much deeper connection between the team, stadium and organization than there has ever been.
TW: One thing we've noticed about the organization is the number of young men and women you have running the operation. Was there a real push for a "youth movement" within the club, or is it just how it played out?
AA: Part of it is the nature of sports, and part of it is our culture. We have better luck getting somebody fresh out of college, and teaching them how we want to do things, than hiring from other sports teams. It didn’t start that way, but it’s the way it worked out. We also hire, or grow, people into roles that they’ve never done before. Our senior staff has done a really good job of finding people who would be very good at whatever they decided to do in life, and then we are blessed enough that they chose to do it for us.
TW: Let's get back to Tacoma for a minute. If you're going out for a nice dinner, where's it going to be? If you're picking up something tasty and quick, what's your call?

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AA: With four kids, and a fifth on the way, there isn’t a ton of time for nice dinners, and you should see the bill with this hungry crew. Pacific Grill. Asado. Primo Grill. El Gaucho. For something tasty and quick, we default to Sammy’s Pizza, and we walk down to the Spar, or hit the Hub. I think the Harvester has our family breakfast menu memorized. Most of our meals this time of year are grilled at home, or at Cheney.  Red Hot and Hank’s are probably my most common spots, but that’s usually with friends, customers or co-workers.
TW: Aside from having one of the coolest jobs in town, what are some of your favorite things about Tacoma?
AA: It’s a neighborhood city.  You can walk, or take a quick drive, and be someplace that most of this country would think only exists in a vacation. The water. The parks. The mountains. Tacoma has a growing group of people, who deeply believe in how great it is, and how great it can become.  There’s a real alignment, across all classes, in doing what’s good for Tacoma. Plus it’s beautiful and it’s livable.  How many West Coast cities can you walk into a bar or restaurant, and have a completely different cross section of people, and nobody cares. It’s not homogenous. Longshoremen are sitting next to doctors.  Tattoo artists break bread with financial planners. I’ve never had a more diverse group of people I consider friends, in any city, and I’ve lived in a lot of major cities all over the country. There’s something really cool about that.
It’s a scene-less city. Nobody cares what you do for a living, what your tax bracket is, what you wear or what you look like. If you dig Tacoma, and treat people well, that’s all that matters. That’s rare for a city, of any size, anywhere and it’s so cool. I haven’t lived any place like that before. There’s always some hierarchy or ‘scene’. This place doesn’t have that.

It’s been another stellar season for the Puyallup Nation Kings football team. The defending Western Washington Football Alliance (WWFA) champions seem to have hit their stride at the right time this season and are looking primed for a strong playoff run. With one game left on the regular season schedule, the Kings can finish the year a perfect 8-0 if they can take care of business against the Snohomish Vikings on Saturday, July 16 at Chief Leschi Stadium at 6 p.m.

With a host of new faces to begin the season, the Kings worked through a couple of preseason games to get a better idea of where their new talent needed to be. After beginning the regular season with a 36-14 win over their fierce rival, the Pierce County Bengals (4-3) the Kings headed north to face the Bellingham Bulldogs, one of the new additions to the now-expanded WWFA. It was a hard-fought game, but in the end, the host Bulldogs couldn’t match the physical play of the Kings and Puyallup headed back home with a 38-23 victory.

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Since that road victory, the Kings have given up just 10 points over the next five contests. Throughout their seven-game run, Puyallup has outscored their opponents by a margin of 335 to 47. Puyallup’s toughest game of the season came on the road against the Wenatchee Rams, as the Kings eked out a hard-nosed 18-10 win. To date, it is the only blemish on the Rams (5-1) schedule.

After their defeat of the Rams, the Kings have been untouchable, and brutal. Puyallup hung a 62-0 pounding on the road against the Arlington Grizzlies (2-5) on June 18. One week later, it would be a rematch of the 2015 WWFA championship game against the Puget Sound Outlaws at home. Unlike last season’s close matchup, the Kings faced an Outlaws (1-6) team that has struggled all season. The result was a 31-0 Kings win. Following a week off for the Fourth of July, Puyallup returned to the field to host the Washington Cavaliers (1-6) on Saturday, July 9.

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It would prove to be the most lopsided victory in the four-year history of the Puyallup Nation Kings. The Cavaliers have been a “Jekyll and Hyde” team all season. One week they have been able to put a solid team to the test, only to be blown away the following week. If there was going to be any bouncing back from their previous week’s 73-16 loss against the Bulldogs, they picked the wrong opponent on the road against Puyallup. Powered by a lockdown defense and a record-breaking day by their quarterback Adam Kruse, the Kings would crush the Cavaliers 92-0, with a running clock throughout the second half. Kruse would pass for 625 yards, completing 17 out of 22 pass attempts for 10 touchdowns. The Cavaliers were unable to intercept a single pass from Kruse.

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When the regular season ends, the top four teams from each division advance to play a cross-division game. If the season were to end today, the first-place Kings would host the Cowlitz Cobras (3-4), the opposite division’s fourth place team. The Pierce County Bengals sit in second place in the first division and are assured of a postseason berth. The Bengals wrap up their regular season at home against the Wenatchee Rams on Saturday, July 16. Kickoff at Sunset Stadium in Sumner is at 6 p.m. A victory would assure a first-round home game for the Bengals.

The Kings will host a playoff game on Saturday, July 23 at 6 p.m. The WWFA semifinals will take place the following weekend, with the finals shaping up for Saturday, August 6.

When the WWFA season ended last year, the eight-team league dropped one team and added another seven to expand to 14 teams, divided between two seven-team divisions. Puyallup is currently at the top of Division II, while the Renton Ravens (5-1) sit atop the other.

Tacoma Musical Playhouse (TMP) is bringing the 22nd season of its main stage shows to a close with a well-crafted production of “Mary Poppins,” the musical story of the magical English nanny. “We’ve saved the best for last,” asserted John Douglas Rake, TMP’s managing artistic director who also directed and choreographed this production.
In the starring role of Mary Poppins, Caelan Creaser is practically perfect in every way. The iconic nanny, blown in by the East wind with her parrot umbrella and magic carpetbag, is fully manifested through the magic of Creaser’s ability as an actress and through a flawless vocal performance of the many well-known songs that originated in the 1964 Disney musical. It is largely through Creaser’s performance that the audience is taken into the magical realm that Mary Poppins brings into being by her mere presence. It is uncanny to behold a fictional character made flesh and blood in so convincing a way. Creaser is Mary Poppins.
Harry Turpin is right there with Creaser with a pitch perfect performance as Bert, the chimney sweep/jack-of-all-trades who is something of a magical ally of Mary Poppins herself. With a rich voice that is matched by his skills as an actor and dancer (at one point we find him tap dancing upside down on the ceiling), Turpin adds to the overall success of the show.
Summer Mays, who had a starring role in “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” earlier in the season, plays Jane Banks, the eldest child of the Banks family with whom Mary Poppins is employed. Mays has a knack for lighting up the stage and holds her own alongside the likes of Creaser and Turpin. (The role of Jane is shared with Amelia Stiles in alternating performances of the show.)

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Stalwart performances are dialed in by Ian Bartlett (as little brother Michael Banks – obsessed with flying kites), Jonathan Bill (as George, the stern patriarch of the Banks family) and Carrie Sleeper-Bowers (as Winnifred Banks, the mother of the family).
Much comic relief is provided by the antics of Stacie Hart, as the cynical house maid and Jake Atwood as the household servant. Diane Lee Bozzo performs a poignant and lyrical version of the Bird Woman.
The ensemble cast, through song and dance numbers, brings the audience to emotional crescendos at various points in the story line. “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” which builds up to a fever pitch, was a special hit with the audience. “Step in Time,” a tap dancing extravaganza performed by the ensemble dressed as chimney sweeps, even got a mini standing ovation (as opposed to the full-blown standing-O that took place at the end of the show).
The songs for the musical version of Mary Poppins were mostly penned by Richard and Robert Sherman for the 1964 Disney film starring Julie Andrews (Oscar winner for best actress that year) and Dick Van Dyke. In 2004, the original songs were augmented with more material and a stage version of the show was brought into being by Cameron Mackintosh. This version of Mary Poppins ran on Broadway from 2006 through 2013.
The character of Mary Poppins, who first appeared in the 1934 book by P.L. Travers, is enigmatic. She is somewhat vain and stern, yet good-natured and caring. It is not quite clear whether she is a supernatural being or simply a human being that is so self-assured that magic comes as a consequence. She says things like “Anything can happen if you let it,” and “Anything is possible if we just get out of our own way.” She is invoked by a mere wish on the part of the children when they make a list of their ideal nanny. When the gruff father tosses the wish list into the fireplace, he unwittingly sends it up the chimney into Mary Poppins’ realm. (The chimney as a portal to the upper world is a big theme in the story – a feature shared with the mythology of Santa Claus, another legendary friend of children.)

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Mary Poppins arrives as the little family is reaching an emotional crossroads from which they’ll either emerge as a happy, close-knit human family or as a cold, dysfunctional and lost group of individuals. (News of the emotional weather of the family is shared between the Admiral – played by Erik Furuheim – and Bert.) Mary Poppins arrives as the fulfillment of a wish by the children and helps restore balance to the family.
Mary Poppins’ secret to authentic living is mostly a matter of one’s perspective. A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. Any job can be made into a game if you find what is fun about it. Viewing family life upside down, in which the children sometimes have to help the parents, has its advantages. Mary Poppins is about finding the balance between the head and the heart.
The image of Mary Poppins in her long coat, clutching her carpetbag and floating through the sky with her umbrella, is one of the most familiar motifs in the popular culture of the last century. TMP creates that iconic scene so well that it’ll give you goose bumps and send chills down your spine. TMP has indeed saved the best for last. The 22nd season closes with a success.
“Mary Poppins” runs through July 31. Performances are Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. For information visit tmp.org or call (253) 565-6867.

Once Racheal Balles decided to return to college to seek a Bachelor’s degree in environmental science, she spent much of the first quarter in tears.
“It was hard. I was working, going to school, trying to be a good mom to my daughter,” Balles said. “I was a single mom, I was 32 and it had been a long time since I’d been in high school. I was taking tough classes. I’d come home and cry.”
Balles was unconsciously typifying the kind of student that the Lea Armstrong Social and Community Organization was trying to award a scholarship to.
Since 2003, the organization has awarded more than 160 scholarships – funded by Tacoma businesswoman Lea Armstrong – to single parents with children at home, pursuing higher education in Pierce County. At $1,500 per scholarship, the money won’t pay for everything.
Nor was it designed to.
“There aren’t many scholarships for single parents, and most scholarships require a high grade point average,” Armstrong said. “Single parents can have trouble meeting those requirements, because most of them are working while going to school.

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“Our scholarships aren’t just for buying books. The money is for whatever that single parent needs. It might be a down payment on a car, it might be taking their child out to McDonald’s after a tough week. We just want them to know they weren’t forgotten.”
Upon returning to school at the University of Washington-Tacoma, Balles had sought out every grant, scholarship and student aid program she could find. There wasn’t much help.
“Most scholarships were aimed a graduating high school students,” Balles said. “There just wasn’t much out there for me.”
She heard about a website – Washboard.org – that listed available scholarships, including the LASCO offering. Balles applied online and was one of the 12 students given $1,500 in 2012.
“Not only that, but I was eligible to reapply the next year,” Balles said. “And they even contacted me to remind me to do it. I got scholarships in 2012, 2013 and 2014, and graduated in 2015.”
The LASCO board of trustees, with Armstrong as chairperson, has one major frustration in awarding scholarships. “The challenge has been to get word out and let applicants find us,” board member Diane Lachel said. “Last year, not all scholarships were awarded – we simply didn’t have enough applicants.”
This year, the deadline to apply for a LASCO scholarship is July 29 – and there still aren’t enough single parents applying to fill all the award slots. The simplest way to get information about the scholarship is to call the Greater Tacoma Community Foundation, which has partnered with LASCO, at (253) 272-8099.
Students have been awarded scholarships and, since 2003, attended a diverse group of schools – Bates Technical College, Clover Park Technical College, Pacific Lutheran University, Pierce College, Tacoma Community College, Evergreen State College/Tacoma, University of Puget Sound and University of Washington-Tacoma.
Before graduating in 2015, Balles had attended Bates and UW-T, and the $4,500 in scholarships she got from LASCO meant a great deal to her.
“It made a huge difference in my life,” said Balles, 35. “I used part of it to get a car when I needed one, and it lessened my debt. It took me five years to finish school, and of the $100,000 that cost, I only owe $30,000 because of grants, scholarships and no-interest loans. That’s a very fair deal.”
When she graduated, Balles had a fulltime job waiting at Specialty Products in Lakewood. As a quality control technician, Balles earns a salary that has allowed her to begin repaying a loan and, as of three months ago, put a down payment on a home.
It’s the first house she and 11-year-old daughter Eriaunna have lived in.
“I’d like to go back for a Masters degree, but not yet,” Balles said. “I was working and going to school so long that I was exhausted when I graduated. My daughter gave up a lot of time with me so I could do this. Now, I want to spend time being a mom again.
“I’ve told friends about the single-parent scholarship. It’s easy to apply for, and you can use the money for anything that helps you stay in school. In my situation, every little bit added up – and it helped me get through school, which changed my life.”

OPIOID USE UP IN PIERCE COUNTY

The opioid epidemic ravaging communities across the country has hit Pierce County. A new report Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department commissioned shows the scope of the problem here.
The Health Department’s Treatment Services program offers people in recovery a medically based approach to deal with their addiction. Use of opioids (heroin and prescription painkillers like oxycodone) can lead to negative consequences – such as overdoses, medical and mental health impacts, and crime – that put a social and financial burden on a community.
“People from all walks of life experience a transformation while in our program,” said Christina Abby, manager of the Health Department’s Treatment Services program. “They learn to manage their addiction and become productive professionals, students, and parents,” Abby said.
Researchers at the University of Washington’s Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute (ADAI) produced the report. Highlights of findings for Pierce County show increases in:
· Death Rate– 704 people died from opioid overdoses between 2005-2014 (52 deaths in 2005, 68 in 2014).
· First-Time Admissions for Treatment – 3,424 people sought treatment for opioid addiction between 2002-2015 (129 in 2002, 438 in 2015).
· Police Evidence Testing Positive for Opioids– 1,042 cases between 2002-2015 (63 in 2002, 91 in 2015).
Trends for Pierce County are similar to those in King County and across the state.
“A majority of heroin users surveyed in Pierce County in 2015 said they were initially hooked on opioid medications then turned to heroin, a cheaper more readily available method to achieve a high similar to opioid medications,” said Caleb Banta-Green, senior research scientist at the University of Washington’s ADAI. “With this report, we want to give the public a clear picture of the epidemic in Pierce County so everyone can work together to save lives,” Banta-Green said.
According to Banta-Green, medical research supports medically based treatment programs, such as the one at the Health Department that uses methadone to help support recovery.
To view the preliminary report, go to: tpchd.org/OpioidTrends. Expect to see the full report later this summer.
How to Keep Children Away from Opioid Medications?
Parents who keep prescription opioid medications in their medicine cabinets offer children easy access to the dangerous and potentially deadly drugs. Banta-Green encourages adults with opioid medications:
· Talk to their health care provider about whether they need opioid medications; if so, for how long.
· Store opioid medications at home in secure locations.
· Remove opioid medications from the home as soon as they no longer need them.

PARTNERSHIP CHANGE ADDRESSES INCREASING NEED AT FOOD BANKS

Hungry neighbors in need throughout Pierce County will receive more than 50,000 pounds of food as a result from the Pierce County Hunger Walk.
Emergency Food Network reports that 34 percent of households are low-income in Pierce County. In 2015, food banks and meal sites responded to 1.4 million visits from residents in need and more than 50 percent of people seeking assistance were working families with children as well as seniors. Each day, 10,000 citizens in the United Sates turn 65 and the number of people seeking food assistance in the age group will continue to grow. Through partnership with 70 food programs in Pierce County, Emergency Food Network provides a much needed safety net for these families and individuals in need.
This year’s Pierce County Hunger Walk marks a transition year where Associated Ministries will “pass the torch” to Emergency Food Network as the new host of this annual walk and run.
The two organizations have a long history of partnership starting with the inception of Emergency Food Network in 1982. Associated Ministries recognized a great need in the community to resource emergency food. Originally designed to meet a temporary need caused by the economic recession of the 1980’s, the Emergency Food Network program was created by Associated Ministries in partnership with other hunger relief efforts in the area. The need in the community continued to grow, so in response, Emergency Food Network became its own independent 501c3 non-profit organization.
“Emergency Food Network has been involved with the Hunger Walk since the very beginning,” said Helen McGovern-Pilant, Executive Director of Emergency Food Network. “This annual event contributes to the more than 16 million pounds of food we give out each year. We are excited to take the reins and strengthen our work through the continued success of the Pierce County Hunger Walk.”
The annual 10K/5K run and walk draws nearly a thousand participants each year who come together to combat hunger in Pierce County by walking, running, and fundraising - all while having a great time. Associated Ministries and Emergency Food Network have teamed up to co-host this year’s event on Oct. 2 at Fort Steilacoom Park as the transition begins.
“This is a timely and important transition,” says Mike Yoder, Executive Director of Associated Ministries. “It will allow Associated Ministries to remain focused on raising funds and awareness for homelessness and housing, and Emergency Food Network on food security. In a sense we are ‘right-sizing’ the Hunger Walk, enabling it to live where it makes the most sense.”
In 2017, the transition will be complete with Emergency Food Network taking on the event in its entirety.
“The goal is to bring together all 70 hunger relief programs served by Emergency Food Network for a united voice to help our neighbors in need,” said McGovern-Pilant.
For more information about the Pierce County Hunger Walk, please visit www.associatedministries.org/hungerwalk.

COME AND CELEBRATE THE THEA FOSS WATERWAY

The City of Tacoma is celebrating the 10-year anniversary of a historically significant cleanup effort on the Thea Foss Waterway. The cleanup and continuing work has been the topic of events being held throughout the year and is culminating with a Critical Mass Paddle & Row event starting at 11 a.m. on Sunday July 17, at Waterway Park (2104 E. D St.). This paddle parade will lead down the waterway and end at the Tacoma Maritime Fest (705 Dock St.) for a special City led presentation taking place on the main stage from noon-12:30 p.m.
This main stage presentation will honor the past, present and future of the Thea Foss and includes remarks from former Tacoma Mayor Bill Baarsma, Deputy Mayor Ryan Mello and Executive Director of the Tacoma South Sound Sports Commission Dean Burke.
“Our citizens have proven time and time again that protecting our natural resources is a high priority,” said Deputy Mayor Ryan Mello. “We are thrilled to celebrate this milestone of ten years since the Foss Waterway cleanup, and today Thea Foss has become a hot spot for residents to live, work, and play.”
Commencement Bay, including the Thea Foss Waterway, was deemed one of the most polluted sites in the nation in 1983. The City, in collaboration with dedicated community partners, cleaned up contamination caused by more than a century of environmentally insensitive practices, and restored marine habitats around the Thea Foss and other areas of Commencement Bay. Thanks to this cleanup effort, today residents can live, work, paddle and play on this key community resource.
Residents are encouraged to attend this celebration and rediscover this gem of the waterfront corridor. For additional information, visit cityoftacoma.org/FossWaterway or contact the Center for Urban Waters at (253) 591-5588.

PUBLIC INVITED TO OPEN HOUSE FOR CONSERVATORY RESTORATION

The planning to restore and expand the historic W.W. Seymour Botanical Conservatory benefited from a great deal of public input. Join Metro Parks staff at an open house from 6-7:30 p.m. July 21 at Metro Parks Tacoma Headquarters, 4702 S. 19th St., and see the latest version of plans.

PUBLIC INVITED TO MEETING ON PRAIRIE LINE TRAIL PROJECT

The City of Tacoma is holding a community meeting regarding the Prairie Line Trail Historic Interpretation Project on Thursday, July 21, from 5:30-7 p.m. at the Washington State History Museum (1911 Pacific Ave.) during the Third Thursday Art Walk. The public is invited to come meet the project team, share what the Prairie Line Trail means to them, and participate in discussions about the project. Free refreshments will be available. Input on the project can also be provided by completing a brief survey.
This project will draw on historic resources and community input to develop an interpretive strategy recognizing the significance and diverse history of the corridor. In addition, the effort will include early implementation of that strategy through the design and installation of five to seven interpretive features. The intent is to make the corridor’s history accessible and engaging to a broad audience through innovative interpretive approaches including public art, electronic media and onsite signage or markers.
“The Prairie Line Trail is an incredible opportunity to embrace and share the historic and community significance of this unique public space,” said Associate Planner Elliott Barnett.

DEADLINE EXTENDED FOR SOUTH SOUND ARTISTS

The Third Annual Lakewood ArtsFest, held in conjunction with Lakewood Asian Film Fest, will take place July 30, 31 and Aug. 1 at the Lakewood Elks Club, 6313 75th St. W. in Lakewood. Two and three-dimensional artists from the South Sound area are invited to enter the art show. Photography is included in the ArtsFest. Deadline for entry has been extended until July 21. For further details and to receive a prospectus, please email Shirley Petersen at speteren2011@comcast.net or peteandshirleyp@msn.com or call (253) 582-8883 to receive all necessary info and answer any questions that you may have.

POKER RUN TO HELP FEED THE HUNGRY

Local bikers will help feed the hungry by participating in a Poker Run to benefit Emergency Food Network on July 17.
The South Sound Vintage Motorcycle Enthusiasts (VME) is hosting the event which is open to all motorcyclists whether they are VME members or not. The entry fee is $10, all of which will be donated to Emergency Food Network.
Community events like this play an important role in helping meet the needs of hungry Pierce County neighbors. Every dollar makes a difference. Emergency Food Network is able to distribute $12 worth of food for every $1 raised. Last year, they provided more than 16 million pounds of food to 70 food banks throughout Pierce County accommodating 1.4 million visits from Pierce County residents in need.
The Poker Run starts at the Emergency Food Network Distribution Center (3318 92nd St. S., Lakewood 98499) with riders leaving between 10-11:30 a.m. The run ends at Emergency Food Network’s Mother Earth Farm (15208 102nd St. E., Puyallup 98374). Riders will stop at multiple locations along the way to collect cards to add to their poker hand. The person with the best poker hand at the end of the run wins. Prizes and awards will be presented at 4 p.m. at the farm.
For more information or to register contact Rolf Gabbe at (253) 770-3749.

CANCER SURVIVORSHIP CONFERENCE COMING IN AUGUST

The annual Pierce County Cancer Survivorship Conference will be held at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma on Wednesday, Aug. 10. The conference is free and open to all people affected by cancer as patients, family members and caregivers. The event is designed to allow survivors and caregivers to connect and learn more about all aspects of the cancer journey.
Fifteen-year-old Dylan Walsh, a 13-year Burkett Lymphoma survivor, will provide the keynote presentation. Other topics at the conference focus on the physical, mental and spiritual aspects of the cancer journey.
CHI Franciscan Health is a major sponsor of the conference. Other sponsors include – the American Cancer Society, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, MultiCare Health System and the University of Puget Sound. Dozens of other community organizations and cancer advocates provide assistance to keep the conference free to the public.
The Pierce County Cancer Survivorship Conference is the largest educational and inspirational gathering of cancer survivors in the community. The conference will take place from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The event is free, but registration is required. To register, visit www.pccancersurvivorship.org or call (253) 207-5151.

Puget Sound Energy wants its proposed liquefied natural gas plant to be run by a wholly owned shell company as a way to sell the gas on the unregulated market, while also storing it under regulated utility terms.
Critics fear the proposal puts customers at risk of subsidizing the facility through higher utility rates. The UTC and two utility consumer organizations, Industrial Customers of Northwest Utilities and Northwest Industrial Gas Users, voiced their opposition for that very reason. More opinions are likely as the plan plays out.
It’s a seemingly complex financial structure that is raising questions with the state’s Utilities and Transportation Commission, which is tasked with making sense of it while overseeing the emerging industry rather than just critics. The scheme adds to the roster of legal and safety questions surrounding the planned facility.
Permits are in the works for an 8 million gallon facility on the Hylebos Waterway  that would manufacture liquefied natural gas that the privately owned utility company would then sell to container ships and other commercial transportation customers seeking lower-emission fuels. Only Totem Ocean Trailer Express has signed on so far. The facility would also store gas that the utility could tap into during unusual weather conditions.
Plans for the facility have raised concerns in local environmental circles with worries about the proximity the plant would have to downtown and residential areas if an accident occurred.
Information about the plant’s safety and disaster plans are part of a Freedom of Information Act request that PSE is fighting. A judge ruled that the records should be disclosed, but the utility has appealed the decision. PSE filings state that any mishap would be contained within the 500-foot fence around the facility, and poses no threat to surrounding businesses or residents. A hearing on the disclosure is set for January.
The Puyallup Tribe is also challenging the environmental review of the proposal, citing concerns about the potential release of contaminated soil into the salmon-bearing waters during its construction. That issue is also working its way through the legal process.
And now PSE will be facing a hearing later this month regarding the request to form a shell company. And it’s this issue that makes an already complicated plan downright convoluted.

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Here’s how it would work:
PSE is owned by an Australian investment conglomerate called the Macquarie Group, which bought the utility in 2008. As part of the regulatory approval for the purchase, the state’s utility commission required the company to create what are known in financial jargon as “ring fencings” that would protect PSE’s utility customers from financial risk borne from business activities under the new ownership.
PSE now wants the utility commission to waive two of these “ring-fencing” provisions so that it could create a shell company called Puget LNG to run the proposed facility. PSE, a regulated utility provider with about 2 million customers, would build the $275 million facility under the idea that it is needed for the few days a year when weather spikes cause jumps in demand. Those spikes would roughly make up about 7 percent of the facility’s use. The sale of the remaining 93 percent of the site’s capacity would then be sold to other customers. TOTE is expected to purchase about 46 percent, with the remaining 47 percent projected to be trucked to other customers or otherwise delivered to yet-determined container ships on the tideflats. Operations could start in 2019 and have an annual production capacity of 87 million gallons, according to records. The 7-percent “peak shaving” side of the facility would be state regulated, while the remaining 93 percent of the LNG production could be sold through private contracts at higher prices.
“They don’t want any of that to be regulated by the UTC,” said Senior Research Associate Tarika Powell at Sightline Institute, an environmental think tank that specializes in utility and regulatory issues. “The problem is that utility customers could be on the hook financially if the unregulated business fails. That is pretty dangerous. The UTC has a duty to protect customers.”
PSE’s utility customers would first be at financial risk if the shell company struggles to find other customers for the liquefied natural gas, but then not benefit from lower utility rates when there are profits from those private sales. Those would go to investors, not ratepayers.
“In both proposals, utility customers would not benefit at all,” Powell said.

So far the UTC has denied the waivers, citing that PSE is requesting to do something it specifically pledge in 2007 to never do when it sought approval of the ownership change.
“Puget Energy seeks to operate and own a business other than PSE,” UTC filings stated that were obtained through a public-disclosure request by Sightline. “The company’s second request is an attempt at risk mitigation and recognition that the project as currently conceived provides services to rate payers that would likely be more costly if the company were to build a facility that solely served the need of the regulated activities. Staff wants to make clear that while it cannot issue its support at this time for the company’s plan, it is not per se opposed to an LNG facility at the Port of Tacoma. There may very well be broad merit to the plans offered by the company; however, the company’s proposals invoke novel and complex questions of law and policy.”
UTC staffers want a fuller and broader discussion of the financial framework PSE has in mind. But those efforts have so far not gained approval during the two months of negotiations. The issue is set for a status hearing on July 29.
At the end of the day, however, PSE might get the waivers approved since state law regarding regulatory authority are largely silent on the relatively new, and booming, LNG industry when it comes to natural gas as a fuel for trucks and container ships.
“PSE’s proposal to the UTC was a very complex proposal that presented unique regulatory questions because LNG as transportation fuel is quite new to the U.S.,” Powell stated. “Washington administrative law does not yet address LNG bunkering and most federal laws don’t either. This shell company concept is an attempt to circumvent those regulatory issues by setting up a legal entity not subject to UTC’s regulatory authority. … If PSE must charge regulated rates on all the LNG they sell, they’ll have trouble making up the money they’ve invested in the facility and utility customers would be at risk of having to pay for those losses. In this proposal, utility customers would receive no benefits from the non-regulated sales.”

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Granted, the question of a private company’s financial plans is more than a bit esoteric, but the discussions of the plan could have wide reaching ramifications. Little of the current financial structure of the planned facility was mentioned in the environmental review process, for example. Neither were the details about its incident response scenarios that are part of the legal challenge set for a decision in early 2017, or the concerns by the Puyallup Tribe regarding runoff from the former Superfund cleanup site.
All of these open questions are fueling calls for the city to begin another round of environmental reviews to address questions left unanswered or update information concerning potential impacts as details about the proposed plant change in the dynamic market for liquefied natural gas that has arose in recent years as transportation companies face tougher emission standards to shift the industry away from diesel engines.

PSE has stated that they LNG would be trucked from the site to its customers, something critics fear would further congest the already log-jammed trucking corridors on the tideflats and lead to the use of rail cars.

“The rail line is right there,” said John Carlton, a member of the grassroots environmental watch group Redline. “But really trucks are the big concern.”
The environmental review states that moving LNG by rail is currently not allowed but also mentions the maintenance of a rail spur on the 30-acre property. The location has a pier, but PSE has stated barging is currently not being considered because of cleanup and regulatory requirements. That leaves trucks as a yes and rail as a future option.
“I think it's definitely in play if a buyer wants it shipped that way,” Powell said. “It would add another monster to the oil train nightmare we already have. The lack of details on whether rail shipments are on the table is one of the problems I have with the facility's plans. There's nothing to prevent that from happening and yet the public has not had an opportunity to give input because it's not clear in the plans that LNG by rail is indeed on the table. It is.”
PSE did not respond to attempts for interview by press time.

BIG HAT BRUNCH

Tacoma's Pride celebration will wrap up with its annual Big Hat Brunch from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, July 16, at the Oasis Youth Center, 2215 Pacific Ave. Put on your biggest, floppiest hat and get ready to chow down. The cost is $65 with proceeds benefiting Oasis, Pierce County's only drop-in resource and support center dedicated to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and questioning youth. Learn more by calling (253) 671-2838 or visiting www.oasisyouthcenter.org.

ATOMIC COMICON

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Celebrate comics and geek culture at a two-day comic book convention, called Atomic Comicon, takes over multiple floors of Tacoma Public Library's downtown branch. There will be something for everyone at this epic event to enjoy: cosplay, a photo booth, gaming, artist appearances, a Lego display and build Zone, workshops, speakers and other interactive fun. The fun goes from 1 to 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, July 15 and 16. Call Sara Holloway at (253) 292-2001 or email sholloway@tacomalibrary.org to register and receive email updates on speakers, panels and other details.

PARTY LIKE IT'S 1899

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Children will be racing for saltwater taffy fired from the candy cannon during Family Fun Night from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, July 15, at Point Defiance's Fort Nisqually Living History Museum. Several cannon firings will punctuate an evening of 19th century fun with the Fort’s re-enactors. Families are invited to bring a picnic dinner and join in scavenger hunts, games, contests and dancing of the mid-1800s. Lemonade and ice cream will also be available while supplies last. For more information, call (253) 591-5339 or visit www.fortnisqually.org.

SOUNDS AT SUNSET

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Check out the latest installment of the Sounds at Sunset concert series when The Coats play Meridian Habitat Park, 14422 Meridian Ave. E., in Puyallup. This free series will feature a variety of local bands on Friday evenings. Also coming up are The Not Its (kid rock, July 22) and The Olson Brothers Band (country, rock, July 29). The series is co-sponsored by the Pierce County Arts Commission and Sonic Drive-In. Learn more at www.piercecountywa.org.

ALZHEIMER'S SUPPORT

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Caring for someone with memory loss? Do you need information and support? Alzheimer’s Association family caregiver support groups, such at the one that will meet at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Tacoma - provide a consistent and caring place for people to learn, share and gain emotional support from others who are also on a unique journey of providing care to a person with memory loss. Participation is free. For further details, call (253) 584-3267.

Goodwill in Tacoma is enrolling students for late summer and fall sessions of their popular Computer & Office Skills job training, free to those who are unemployed.
Starting dates are July 18, Aug. 22, Sept. 26 and Oct. 31. Currently about 30 seats remain as classes fill up fast for this Washington State certified program that also works to place graduates into initial jobs.
At the Milgard Work Opportunity Center (714 S. 27th St.), students learn the computer skills most commonly used in the workplace and those valued by employers. Courses include keyboarding, Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook. Upon successful completion of the coursework students can type professional business letters, create and modify charts and attach files to emails among other necessary office skills.
“Our classes are equivalent to Word and Excel 101 at the community college level,” says Aaron Tran, Computer & Office Skills Program Coordinator.
Those with a sensory disability or mobility impairment can be accommodated. Both voice recognition software and screen magnification are available and the Computer Lab houses adaptive workstations.
Besides learning basic computer skills, students also spend time honing their office etiquette. They practice good customer service, phone manners, learn how to set appointments, how to manage their time and how to control emotions in the workplace.
Upon successful completion of Computer & Office Skills, students spend three weeks in an internship. Two of Goodwill’s partners that offer these internships are Bates Technical College and Comprehensive Life Resources, both in Tacoma. 
Even before students participate in their internship, instructors send them job leads. A staff person also helps them create a resume and another leads them in mock interviews so they know how to respond in an actual interview.
The only requirements for signing up for Computer & Office Skills are that students be 18 years of age or older, have a high school diploma or a GED and read at an 8th grade level. In some cases, Tran may approve attendance for students who are simultaneously working on getting their GED. There’s no charge for the classes or the textbooks.
All classes are held for three hours, from 9 a.m. to 12 noon, at the Goodwill’s Milgard Work Opportunity Center (second floor), 714 S. 27th in Tacoma. For more information or to sign up, please contact: Aaron Tran at (253) 573-6564 or via email at aaront@goodwillwa.org. Ongoing course information is also available under the “job training” tab on Goodwill’s website –www.goodwillwa.org.

Tacoma City Council has voted in an 8-1 decision to enact a citywide ban on the sale of single-use plastic bags starting next summer. The ban also includes a per-bag charge of at least five cents for paper bags as a way to prompt shoppers to bring their own ways of carrying out their purchases and cut down on the litter created by discharged bags that find their ways into bushes and waterways. Businesses will keep the fee to offset the cost difference between plastic and paper bags.
Only Councilmember Joe Lonergan voted no after proposing an alternative that would allow the use of plastic bags and charge for both paper or plastic to raise money for city programs to promote the reuse, reduction and recycling of items that would otherwise be discarded. He supported the overall concept of reducing litter on the streets and trash bound for landfills, but believed the ban as approved set a bad precedent because it established a fee that the city didn't ultimately collect since the per-bag charge would simply be kept by the retailer. 
Talk about adopting a plastic bag ban started in 2012 and has worked its way to the council ever since. More than a dozen other cities and counties in the state have similar bans.
City staff will now start an educational outreach to shoppers and business owners on how the bag ban will be managed once it is enacted a year from now. More information is available at the City of Tacoma's website or visit http://tinyurl.com/gpa32qy.

Stuffed inside a file cabinet in my home office is a collection of running journals dating back to the spring of 1986. That’s right: I’ve been jotting down the details of my daily running habit for three decades. When I first started keeping track of every mile and every workout, Ronald Reagan was POTUS, Chernobyl was melting down and Mike Tyson had just become the youngest heavyweight champion in boxing history.
I’ve never totaled the mileage (I’ll leave that for the day when I can no longer run), but I’ve always kept a journal of my workouts. You should, too. Whether you swim every morning, cyclo-cross competitively or simply visit the gym three times a week, you stand to gain from keeping track of all that sweating you do.
Sure, there are those free spirits and artistic types who can’t be confined by a daily schedule, much less a record of what they’ve actually accomplished. But the rest of us benefit from recording our fitness activity.
The main benefit? Clarity. Maybe you’re curious about how often you went for a ride this time last year. Maybe you’re worried about overtraining and can’t recall exactly how many workouts you’ve logged over the last few weeks. Maybe you want to know if you’re improving or losing a step. The answer is in your workout journal.
If you’ve been overdoing it, your workout journal will read more like a sick journal. Pulled hamstring. Sinus infection. Mental health day. Your log will be littered with quick explanations—or exhaustively detailed descriptions if you’re the gabby type—of exactly why you haven’t been working out.
But if you’ve managed to push it without going over the edge, you’ll have at your fingertips a meticulously kept history of everything you’re doing right—and wrong. Indeed, if you have to skip a week of training every time you do such-and-such workout or total so many hours at the gym, you know where your maximum training threshold lies. So long as you’re capable of learning from your mistakes, you can avoid making them a second time by simply reviewing your own cautionary tale, a well-documented foray into the consequences of excess.
The opposite is also true. If you’re suddenly deadlifting more than you ever have or hiking farther with less effort, grab your training journal and study it. The secrets to your success are hidden in those pages.
So what, exactly, does a guy or gal record in said journal? Start with the facts. The day and date of the workout (time of day might be important, too, if you perform differently depending on when you exercise). The nature of the workout. Maybe you just worked on cardio. Or maybe you focused on anaerobic activity. Number or reps, amount of weight, the time it took you for each rep or the workout as a whole—everything is fair game.
Be sure to leave room for more subjective info. Maybe you felt awful. Or great. Maybe you had a lot on your mind and couldn’t focus (or maybe you were so mad about something you had the greatest workout of your life).
Listen to your body, and take note. Did you feel a twinge in your calf? Do you feel a cold coming on? Are you feeling burned out? Anything that nags at you is worth reporting. On the other hand, if it was just another day at spin class, you don’t need to wax poetic on your workout’s uneventfulness.
Back in college, when I was running cross country and track and field at Western Washington University, I kept my watch on my nightstand. When I woke up in the morning, the first thing I did was log my resting heart rate. If it was in the low 40s, I knew I was entering a peak period of performance (ideally just in time for the district meet). If it was 50 or over, I knew I was likely tired, overtraining or coming down with something.
If you’re a wrestler or bodybuilder, you’ll probably want to keep track of your weight. Regardless of how you stay in shape or what you’re training for, there’s likely a small detail like your weight or resting heart rate that can tell you as much about your fitness level as the rest of the info in your training log. The important thing is to write it down. The information will be there for you when you need it. And you can add it all up when you’re in the nursing home.

Matt Kite is an avid hiker and master runner in Tacoma. Check out 3 Minute Hikes, his hiking channel on YouTube, and find his column here on the third Friday of each month.

Today Prosecutor Mark Lindquist charged Jose Jonael Ayala Reyes, 24, on July 11 with murder in the first degree for the stabbing of Samuel Cruces Vasquez in April of this year. Bail was set at $2,000,000 at the arraignment.
“Our gang unit has successfully reduced gang violence, and we are continuing to vigorously prosecute gang crimes,” said Lindquist. “Gang violence in Pierce County leads nowhere but prison.”
According to reports, on April 28, 2016 at about 11:19 p.m., Tacoma Police Department patrol officers were dispatched to 7850 S. Trafton St. and found Samuel Cruces Vasquez lying in the road. Vasquez’s car was up against another car nearby with the engine still running. Officers found a large amount of blood in the vehicle and a large amount of blood on the cement leading from Vasquez’s vehicle to where he was lying in the road. Officers also found a butterfly type knife on the ground next to Vasquez’s vehicle.
Vasquez was taken to Tacoma General Hospital where he was pronounced dead. The Pierce County Medical Examiner found numerous stab wounds on his body. She determined the cause of death to be multiple stab wounds and blunt force trauma. It appeared that Vasquez may have been run over while he was in the road.
Police reviewed surveillance footage taken from a nearby business. The surveillance footage shows Vasquez’s car stop in the street and one person approach the driver’s side of the vehicle from the rear, opening the rear driver’s side door. It shows another person lean over the front passenger seat and strike the driver of the vehicle before the vehicle drives forward out of the camera view.
Officers also reviewed Vasquez’s telephone records. They determined that a telephone number used by Ayala Reyes had been in constant contact Vasquez prior to the stabbing.
Officers located a black shoe wedged between the front passenger door and the door frame of Vasquez’s car, as well as a blue glove turned inside out with blood on it. When police interviewed Ayala Reyes after the stabbing, he identified the shoe and the knife located at the scene as his. He stated that he stabbed Vasquez in the leg, but denied stabbing him anywhere else. Ayala Reyes stated he had done it to enter into the MS-13 gang.
Ayala Reyes verified El Salvador as his country of origin, and the consul will be notified.
Charges are only allegations and a person is presumed innocent unless he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.