Tacoma City Council has a long tradition of thinking big when it comes to sparking economic development but lately the council has been straying from that tradition in ways that could result in a big lost opportunity for the city and surrounding areas.

The council is primed to endorse the Link light rail expansion route that would run tracks from the Theater District station on Commerce up a looped hill around Stadium Way to Martin Luther King Jr. Way and 19th Street. The route would provide rail service from the Tacoma Dome to the “Medical Mile” anchored by MultiCare Health Systems and Franciscan Health System’s St. Joseph Hospital. Granted, this route has some merit since it would get rail service up the hillside, therefore providing a “backbone” for other expansions in the decades to come.

Yes, economic development along the route will come but the trouble with this route is that much, if not all, of that development will come anyway. The route runs through the Hilltop community, which has made large strides since the troubled 1980s and 1990s. Those days are gone and Hilltop is on the move to a bright future, so not running a rail link from downtown to the neighborhood won’t change that. In fact, residents of the area wanting better connection to downtown might actually suck neighbor retail dollars out of the community because the Link would broaden their shopping options.

At best, the MLK line would simply shuffle Hilltop spending to downtown and downtown dollars to the Hilltop. No new spending would be created. Tourists and their money won’t be drawn to the City of Destiny by faster access between Hilltop and downtown. The trouble with the MLK route is that a better option is out there, making the route not taken the MLK option’s biggest liability.

The proposed Portland Avenue route would link the Theater District and downtown to large patches of undeveloped, yet commercially zoned, land along Portland Avenue, which is another neighborhood that is prime for growth. Routing the Link expansion to Portland Avenue would tie in the city’s Salishan planned community and development hubs. It would also help solve several lingering parking issues downtown – running a light rail line to Portland Avenue would provide parking for Tacoma Dome concerts and events as well as conferences and presentations at the Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center, both “economic development” projects that have fallen on hard times because of their lack of access to parking and hotel spaces. The Portland Avenue route would feature abundant parking at the Emerald Queen Casino, which has already stated its willingness to allow for event parking. The recent news that the Puyallup Tribe is set to break ground on what will be a $200 million complex, which will be a regional draw that could feed into Tacoma’s downtown.

The Portland Avenue route connects low income and minority communities to downtown, it provides parking to Dome and convention activities. It is under the projected $150 million budget, and it opens up large swaths of land awaiting a spark for redevelopment. Acres of high density and commercially zoned land, with quick access to the Tideflats and I-5, are found in the city. They are along the Portland route. Running a line along this strip could transform the city. The Portland route would also provide a basis for future expansion to eventually connect Tacoma to SeaTac International Airport with a tie-in to the Federal Way to SeaTac Sounder line.

For a city that talks about “regionalism” and “connections,” it is odd that it would back a route that really does none of that at the cost of a route not taken that would.

When the Ngov family opened Café Indochine in Federal Way in 1995, the beautifully decorated restaurant quickly became the go-to destination for those looking for quality Thai food served in a fresh, unique atmosphere. When the family expanded into the emerging downtown Tacoma neighborhood in 2003, its strong, loyal customer base made sure friends and family were aware of this new gem of a restaurant. Today, customers still travel from all over to experience Indochine.

Specializing in Pan-Asian cuisine, Indochine’s menu goes beyond the traditional Thai food to also include dishes inspired by Chinese, Indian, Japanese and Vietnamese food.

A variety of dining options are available as well, ranging from 60-person banquet rooms to quaint tables lining the room’s vast reflecting pond.

Owner/manager Russel Brunton attributes much of Indochine’s success to the family atmosphere of the restaurant. His brother-in-law, Yu Nanakornphanom, remains the restaurant’s executive chef. Some of his favorite dishes are also fan favorites, such as the Yin Yang Ahi (fresh ahi tuna rubbed in hot ancho chili paste encrusted with white and black sesame and cooled by cucumbers in wasabi aioli dressing ($25.95) and The Black Sea (Spanish paella with Black Thai rice and coconut milk, clams, fresh fish, shrimp, calamari and scallops tossed with sweet shallots in kala masala ($25.95).

Manager Kayla Schroader has worked at Indochine for more than three years, and says customers appreciate the family atmosphere created by the ownership team. “What [owner] Ly [Ngov] brought here from her experience and culture is her hard work ethic,” she said. “She puts so much of herself into this restaurant and customers can see that.”

Indochine has a number of new developments in the works to cater more closely to the students at nearby University of Washington-Tacoma, such as convenient lunch options such as sandwiches and other affordable, convenient items. Indochine’s regular menu includes a number of options that cater to customers with special dietary restrictions, such as gluten-free dishes and healthier options.

“We have some big ideas coming up that we’re very excited about,” Schroader said.

Indochine is now open for lunch and dinner Tuesdays through Sundays. For more information and to view the menu online, visit http://www.indochinedowntown.com. Indochine is located at 1924 Pacific Ave.

Sporting a young starting lineup, Wilson girls water polo coach John Orlando saw the need to continue to get his first group extensive experience at Stadium. His team responded, as senior Pearl Kahle and freshman Karli Stevenson scored three goals apiece to lead the Rams to a 7-4 win over the Tigers on April 18.

“I didn’t sub any players,” said Orlando, who also serves as the executive director of Tacoma Water Polo Club. “I left all six of my girls in the whole time. We’re starting three freshmen right now. They need the game experience, so we decided just to work on things.”

Kahle started the scoring midway through the first quarter, getting the Rams on the board with a point-blank shot into the right netting. Stevenson followed two minutes later with a goal on a breakaway to make it 2-0. But the Tigers held tough, as sophomore keeper Chloe Brick had four key saves in the first quarter to keep them in it. Senior Rachel Clark then got Stadium on the board with a long-range goal with 22 seconds left in the opening period.

The Tigers’ Nicole Soriano tied it a minute into the second quarter, sending a shot off Wilson keeper Lindsey Norden and in.

“I always tell them if you don’t take shots you can’t score,” said Stadium head coach Virginia Larson. “It’s a really even distribution with our girls. Everybody tries to take shots, not just one girl.”

But Stevenson responded less than a minute later, regaining the lead for Wilson with a goal from the left side, sending it past Brick and into the right netting. Norden came up big late in the first half for the Rams, saving shots by Soriano and Maddie Lackman, while Clark also had a shot go off the post.

Kahle added her second goal four minutes into the third quarter, and Stevenson followed 40 seconds later with her third tally off a nice pass from Norden to make it 5-2. Stadium’s Megan Winje cut it to 5-3 with a goal with 5:40 left in the final quarter, but Kahle answered with her final goal just over a minute later, and freshman Kelsey Viehmann scored with 2:49 left to give the Rams some breathing room at 7-3. The Tigers created late pressure, and Amber Longrie struck for a goal with just over a minute remaining, but Stadium was unable to close the gap any further.

The win put Wilson at 8-3 overall and 7-2 in league play, which was good for second place. Were they to stay in that position, they would sew up a spot at the state tournament, which takes place on May 15-18 at Rogers High School, Lakes High School and Curtis High School.

Danny Bonaduce decides to tell the tranny hooker story tonight.

The 53-year-old former child actor turned reality TV star and Seattle disc jockey is onstage at Tacoma Comedy Club, and the incident is already familiar to many that have kept up with his tabloid-worthy antics over the years.

Bonaduce was arrested in 1991 for assaulting and robbing a transvestite prostitute, after leading Phoenix police on a high-speed chase. It is the type of episode that might come up during a parole hearing or a Narcotics Anonymous meeting. But he dresses his sordid memory up with enough quirky detail and self-deprecating humor to cash it in for laughs.

“There’s a kind of transvestite that isn’t trying to trick anybody,” he said, in a gravelly voice that is all too familiar to morning listeners to KZOK-FM (102.5). “I look over and ‘she’ has a five o’clock shadow. I’m not startled. I’m bummed. I was hoping for something else.”

Bonaduce has been hosting the first Sunday of each month at Tacoma Comedy Club. He does not so much write jokes as revisit wild exploits – the drug arrests, the brawls – that have made it harder and harder to believe he once played lovable Danny Partridge.

Backstage with his wife, Amy, Bonaduce is polite and personable, belying the reputation he has developed – thanks, largely, to VH1's “Breaking Bonaduce” – as a half-cocked wing-nut. But there are dark, disturbing memories just under the surface, still shaping his worldview. As our interview begins, he recalls a time, after the luster of starring in “The Partridge Family” had faded, that he found himself lost and desperate on the streets of Los Angeles.

Bonaduce: I had no possessions, and no money, and no way to get money. I was as poor as you could get. It’s weird. I’ve done very, very, very well for myself in the last 20 years. But you can’t wash the taste of homelessness out of your mouth.

There is nothing scarier, nothing scarier, than an abandoned building in the middle of the night. On those ghost shows [he knocks on a nearby table.] “What was that? Did you hear that? Goodness gracious.” I always want to get up and go, “You want me to show you something scary? Let me take you to an abandoned building on Yucca, in Hollywood. And when you hear (knocks) it’s alive, and it wants something from you.” That is scary. 

Tacoma Weekly: When was that?  

Bonaduce: Between 19 and 24. Man, I’m tellin’ you, when they take your house and you’ve got nowhere to be, I’ve got no reason to have a recollection of exactly when that was.  Actually, that’s in my book (“Random Acts of Badness,” Hyperion, 2002) and they really wanted more specifics. I said, “I can’t help you. I don’t know where I was or when.”

TW: What stands out most from that time period?

Bonaduce: From homelessness? Fear. It’s really, really scary. There’s no bond or anything weird like that, or whatever you see in the movies. There’s just people that want what you have in your shopping cart more than you want what you have in your shopping cart.

I don’t think I’ve said this before. I got to be, actually, a dangerous human being around that time. ... Plus, I was recognizable. I was ashamed of myself. But the people that were in the abandoned buildings with me and stuff like that, they could just schitz out. They could be crazy. Actually, 70 percent of the time they were screaming at a woman, “I’ll kill you. I’ll murder you. I’ll cut your throat.” There was no chick there. They were frightening. So everything about homelessness was scary.  

TW: From the period you were describing, what was the turning point that brought you back?

Bonaduce: Um, employment. Money. … A place to be every single day, and people in suits and ties that told me, “I’ve never seen anything like you.” They were proud of me. 

I work hard, man – even when I don’t have to. I work people to death. That’s how I got where I am. I worked until people dropped. I’m not that funny or that talented. At a comedy club, that’s probably a bad thing to say, “I’m not that funny.” But on the radio, you know, there’s people better than I am, and I beat them all. It’s ‘cause I don’t sleep. I was gonna say, “I don’t sleep.” And (to his wife) how long has it been since I’ve eaten? 

Amy Bonaduce: About a week. 

Bonaduce: Yeah, sometimes I just decide, “What are you made of? Don’t eat for a week.”

TW: For about the past year and a half you have been in Seattle. How did you end up there?

Bonaduce: CBS (Radio) asked me. Nothing fascinating. What’s fascinating to me, anyway, is how much I like it. I have full-blown back piece of the skyline – a tattoo on my back – of Seattle.

TW: When did you get that?

Bonaduce: The last sitting was yesterday – no, day before yesterday.

TW: You have done radio for a while. What stands out about this market and the fans versus Philly or other places you have worked?  

Bonaduce: I was born in Philly. They always say you meet the same people on the way up as you meet on the way down. I really can’t tell you and feel safe about my friends in Philadelphia if I tell you the difference between Seattle and Philadelphia.

Let’s just say … people in Seattle are really, really smart. They make a lot of money. They read a lot of books. They know how to do really interesting things on computers. ... They don’t have a lot of man caves and over 35-year-olds [tries to think of a video game console.] If I say Atari, she’s gonna laugh at me again, ‘cause that’s old. I asked to borrow her Walkman. What was it?

Amy: He calls the computer a typewriter. 

Bonaduce: I’m a thousand years old. Blow me! (To interviewer.) Not you. Although, you are adorable. 

TW: No, thank you. 

Bonaduce: But what was the thing when we were livin’ together? 

Amy: You meant iPod, and you said Walkman. 

Bonaduce: I asked to borrow her Walkman, and she laughed at me like I was a thousand years old. That’s still a viable thing. People have them. They do! Somebody somewhere in an antique store has a Walkman. Leave me be. 

TW: What is next? Do you have new projects coming up that you want to tell your fans about?

Bonaduce: I can't tell you what it is, 'cause every “I” isn't dotted, every “T” isn't crossed. But I've sold a 10-episode series that shoots in Tacoma.

TW: Really? What’s it called?

Bonaduce: I can’t, ‘cause until the cameras are rolling and the checks are clearing it could fall apart. It’s show business, man. But they love it. Just tell ‘em I sold a 10-episode show that shoots in Tacoma. I can’t (say more.) It’s not a reality show. But it’s all real. It’s not scripted. (But) that stuff can fall apart on ya. 

(18 and over event) - 8 p.m. May 5 - $10

Tacoma Comedy Club

(253) 282-7203

http://www.tacomacomedyclub.com

After winning three of their previous five matches, Bellarmine Prep had quickly jumped back into the playoff conversation in the Narrows 4A. But the young Lions hit a speed bump against first-place Central Kitsap on April 23, surrendering two late goals in the first half and falling 4-1 at home to the Cougars.

“We made way too many defensive errors that ended up in goals,” said Bellarmine head coach Joe Waters. “We’ve got to get better at that.”

The Lions held the Cougars scoreless through 20 minutes, but Central Kitsap’s Kurt Koemmpel got his squad on the board on a low shot past Bellarmine keeper Jacob Hillyer in the 21st minute. But junior Drew Barker answered two minutes later for the Lions, driving a shot into the right side from 20 yards out to tie it up. Eric Musica nearly gave the Lions the lead in the 27th minute with a nice header off Barker’s cross, but Cougars keeper Lorenzo Alvarenga leaped in the air to save it. Koemmpel then regained the lead for the Cougars in the 30th minute by driving a ball into the right netting off a tough angle from the left side. The Cougars’ Alex Moon made it 3-1 six minutes later by tapping in a cross that bounced around in the box, and the Lions were unable to clear. Koemmpel then collected the hat trick by finishing a nice pass from Cameron Watson 10 minutes into the second half, putting the game out of reach.

The Lions still had several chances to dent the scoreboard again, as Shane Hallahan sent a nice pass to Musica in the 59th minute, but Alvarenga deflected the shot. Bellarmine captain Connor Thompson flashed some nifty moves in the 71st minute, crossing up three Central Kitsap defenders on the edge of the box, but Alvarenga was again up to the challenge and blocked his shot out of play.

The loss left the Lions in fifth place in the Narrows 4A standings, trailing South Kitsap by just three points in the quest for a playoff berth.

“You have to learn from it and move on,” Waters said. “Our goal is to try and make the playoffs. We knew it was going to be difficult. The teams we’re playing against are all good teams, they’ve all got experienced players. We’ll just keep battling on and trying to get things right.”

We love lettuce. And carrots. And found objects. And Tagro. So we're combining them all in a workplace garden. The space beyond our back door was unpleasant. We're changing that with a raised bed garden made out of discarded wooden boxes, a junked cupboard and an old newspaper rack that has new life as a mini greenhouse. The heavy work is done, so tomorrow we plant, then pretty it up with playchips. We hope to be eating healthy, and taking fresh veg to food banks this summer. What should we plant?

On Saturday, April 27, more than 250 local Comcast employees, their families and friends will “make change happen” as they volunteer to improve the outside of HopeSparks Family Services’ main building as part of the company’s 12th Annual Comcast Cares Day. This day is Comcast and NBC Universal’s signature day of service and the nation’s largest single-day corporate volunteer effort. Between 9 a.m .and noon the volunteers will be completing the following activities for HopeSparks:

Paint the building exterior

Pull weeds, rake, clean up the grounds

Lay sod to make empty lot more useful and attractive

Pull big shrubs in front of building

Organize HopesCloset, a boutique for HopeSparks clients in need of essential items

Organize their own clothing drive to benefit HopesCloset and receive the items

HopeSparks served over 4,500 children and families in 2012. Comcast's efforts would go toward supporting their mission of strengthening families. “We are so grateful to Comcast and their team for making sure the outside of our building looks just as great as the inside,” said David Duea, president/CEO of HopeSparks. “HopeSparks and Comcast share a common goal – an ongoing commitment to Tacoma. Our relationship is an excellent example of how public-private partnerships can make a difference. Thanks to Comcast’s continued support, we are able to beautify our agency for the children and families we serve."

This year, Comcast expects more than 70,000 Comcast volunteers to participate in over 600 projects across the country. Comcast also expects to achieve another important milestone of 3 million volunteer hours and half a million volunteers since Comcast Cares Day started in 2001.

“We’re so honored to partner with HopeSparks to work together to improve our community during our 12th Comcast Cares Day,” said Teresa O’Keefe, Comcast senior director for customer care and manager of Comcast’s Fife call center, where the approximately 250 employees will be coming from. “The hard work of the volunteers who will be donating their time to help make such a big difference in the lives of others is inspiring, and I am thankful to all of our participants who are helping to make the day a success.”