Pierce County United Communities

TNT article - TACOMA: 21-year-old man shot in shoulder in drive-by on South Tyler Street

2006-08-26T08:30:00.000-07:00

TACOMA: 21-year-old man shot in shoulder in drive-by on South Tyler Street

THE NEWS TRIBUNE
Last updated: August 26th, 2006 06:30 AM (PDT)

A 21-year-old man was wounded late Thursday in a drive-by shooting in South Tacoma, Tacoma police said Friday.

The man’s wounds were not considered life-threatening and he was being treated at a local hospital, said police spokesman Mark Fulghum.

The man told officers he had picked up a friend in the 3700 block of South Tyler Street just before midnight and, when the two got into the man’s car, they heard two gunshots. One bullet hit the man in the shoulder, and the other went through the kitchen of the friend’s house.

No one else was injured.

The man told officers he didn’t know who would be shooting at him or why. He couldn’t give a description of the gunman. No arrests have been made.

A suspect vehicle was described as a light-colored Ford Explorer, Fulghum said.

Stacey Mulick, The News Tribune

TNT article - Call 211 to get the 411 on services

2006-08-14T11:10:00.001-07:00

Call 211 to get the 411 on services

United Way sets up one-stop line for links to jobs, food, child care, shelter

AARON CORVIN; The News Tribune
Last updated: August 14th, 2006 06:27 AM (PDT)

Trying to find medical or financial assistance or help with job training can be difficult when you have to comb through the phone book looking for the right number and social service agency.

It just got easier. Pierce County residents can dial 211 to get information about a range of services, including health, employment and child care resources.

“Now there is one simple, easy-to-remember number for anyone to obtain needed human services information,” said Rick Allen, president of United Way of Pierce County.

The United Way’s 211 service, which underwent testing in July, is staffed by volunteers, work-study students and full-time employees at the nonprofit’s downtown Tacoma office.

It will operate weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The nonprofit estimates the 211 program will serve 55,000 to 60,000 people a year in Pierce County.

The service will provide access to numerous resources, including:

• Food banks, shelters, clothing closets, and rent and utility assistance.

• Health insurance programs.

• Child care and after-school programs.

• Financial assistance and job training.

Spearheaded by United Way of America and the Alliance of Information and Referral Systems, the 211 service is available in many areas nationwide. Regionally, 211 launched in King and Snohomish counties earlier this year.

TNT article - Troubled East Side gets its groove on

2006-08-14T11:10:00.000-07:00

Troubled East Side gets its groove on

JASON HAGEY; The News Tribune
Last updated: August 14th, 2006 06:30 AM (PDT)

A crowd gathered. A booming bass line rippled across the green play field. And Rodney Raccoon busted loose.

The furry mascot moved with grace, bouncing his giant head to the hip-hop beat alongside Rhubarb, the Tacoma Rainiers mascot.

He had more moves than Bekins, more style than Vogue.

Rhubarb wasn’t too shabby either, at one point grabbing an ankle and letting fly with his own brand of get-down.

It was too much for Daevante Alexander. The 3-year-old started hopping too, as fast as he could, but not quite in place. With each jump, he inched closer to the middle of the makeshift dance floor until his uncle, Delton Alexander, reached out and reeled him in.

“It’s pretty cool to have a bunch of people together,” said Alexander, one of hundreds who came Saturday to the Portland Avenue Park for the annual Latino Health Fair and Back to School Carnival. “It feels really positive.”

The event had a little bit of everything, from health information to a three-on-three basketball tournament to silly games and face painting. It was sponsored by World Vision, the Boys & Girls Clubs, Tacoma record label Way Out Records and the Multicultural Allies Network of Pierce County.

Organizers gave out more than 800 backpacks loaded with school supplies.

Hector Lasso from the Sea Mar Health Clinic even managed to persuade 17 people to step on a scale in public to see how much they weigh.

Health workers then offered to calculate their body mass index and dispense advice on how to shed the pounds.

“It’s great,” said Jamie Clark, a nearby resident who came to the park with her husband and five children.

Delton Alexander’s brother, rapper Darius Alexander, took to the stage after the dancing mascots. He used his time to promote a positive message – much needed during a year when gang violence is increasing throughout Tacoma, particularly on the East Side.

“This is amazing, just seeing how everyone in the community came out,” Darius Alexander said afterward.

The Rev. Ron Vignec, pastor of Salishan/Eastside Lutheran Mission, agreed.

“This is what I’ve been working for for 20 years,” Vignec said as he surveyed a crowd of children laughing and playing. “It’s that slow community-building, that network of hope going on even in the midst of a network of despair.

“For me,” Vignec said, “it’s a moment of pure grace to see this.”

TNT - Traffic Q&A: Save the rage and let the guy go by

2006-08-14T11:09:00.000-07:00

Traffic Q&A: Save the rage and let the guy go by

The News Tribune
Last updated: August 14th, 2006 06:27 AM (PDT)

Question: Janie Purcell of Spanaway asks: If a driver and one or more passengers are in a car-pool lane and going the speed limit and another car pool approaches from behind and wants to go faster, is the driver of the first car-pool required to move to the right to let the other one pass?

Answer: No, the driver is not required to move over, though the State Patrol says it’s not a bad idea.

While drivers are expected to use the left lane for passing, there is no such law regarding car-pool lanes, said Alice Fiman, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Transportation.

As a reminder, Fiman said, “the legal maximum speed one can go in any lane is the posted speed limit for that stretch of highway.”

Added Washington State Trooper William Ashcraft: “The (car-pool) lane is considered its own lane, separate of the other lanes and the ‘Keep Right Except to Pass’ does not apply to the (car-pool) lane.”

However, Ashcraft said, the State Patrol encourages moving to the right because a driver moving under the speed limit in the left lane or in a car-pool lane “has got to be our No. 1 cause of road rage out there.”

So, “let the guy go by and we’ll try to catch the speeders,” Ashcraft said.

Got a question about traffic congestion, construction, spending or other transportation issues? Send it to traffic@thenewstribune.com. Include your name, hometown and daytime telephone number. We’ll answer as many as we can.

TNT article - She gave and gave until she could give no more

2006-08-13T14:15:00.000-07:00

She gave and gave until she could give no more

JAMIE LEE; For The News Tribune
Last updated: August 13th, 2006 01:41 AM (PDT)

Judy Phillips needed more than 24 hours in her day.

Juggling volunteer time at the Purdy women’s prison, the American Cancer Society, Habitat for Humanity and Nativity House, the Tacoma resident kept busy spreading her appreciation for life.

“She liked being active,” said husband Harry Phillips. “She was a doer, and people had a lot of respect for her leadership positions.”

But late last month, her weakened heart could no longer give.

Her death at age 59 came as a surprise to so many who had seen her survive so much.

“She just returned from a trip a few days before, and when I saw her the day before, she was happy and laughing,” said fellow volunteer and friend Dave Rosholm.

“But less than 12 hours after, she was gone.”

In fact, the night before her death, she received an award from the American Cancer Society for being the top fundraiser for the 2006 Relay For Life.

Phillips didn’t want anyone to know about it, even though it was a high honor, her husband said.

“When she came back home, Judy hid the award because she was embarrassed about it,” he said. “But that’s just a tribute to her humility.”

She spent 15 years as a librarian at St. Charles Borromeo School. During those latter years she fought cancer three times.

But she never let the disease define her life; instead, she used it as a driving force. She served on the local Relay for Life committee for five years.

“As with every cancer survivor, she learned not to worry so much about little things,” Rosholm said. “She saw the big stones as opposed to the pebbles, and that helped her stay focused.”

She became co-chairperson of the committee in 2005 and led dinner programs as well as organized the relay itself.

“She was very passionate about the cause of survivorship,” Rosholm said. “She believed that survivors all had a responsibility to be involved in instilling hope for other survivors, too.”

Phillips also never abandoned her librarian’s spirit. She was involved in Baby Read at the Washington Corrections Center for Women, a program designed to teach locked-up mothers how to read to their children.

It was all about making personal connections, said Harry Phillips.

“She always wanted to get these women placed better in the community, especially because they didn’t have family to help,” he said. “These prisoners were in tough spots.”

Before one inmate was released, Phillips wanted to print out 15 copies of the song “It’s Time To Go.” The idea was to have her fellow inmates bid farewell in music.

That night, she printed only 12 copies because she ran out of paper. The morning after she died July 27, her husband turned on the computer and finished the job.

It seemed like a premonition of sorts, he said, that it was really her time to go.

She had reached the point that she had already given so much to her causes and to her family, including two daughters, a son, a grandson and seven brothers.

As her husband put it, “She left a legacy through many unconnected circles.”

TNT article - UWT faces millions in cleanup

2006-08-13T14:09:00.000-07:00

UWT faces millions in cleanup

Toxic chemicals pollute groundwater under campus

SUSAN GORDON; The News Tribune
Last updated: August 13th, 2006 06:15 AM (PDT)

University of Washington decision makers predicted a challenge when they chose a blighted Tacoma neighborhood for the site of a new campus in 1990.

The decrepit 19th-century brick-and-stone warehouses at the heart of the historic site cried out for the reverent restoration that has turned the school into a showpiece.

But the plumes of toxic chemicals that taint the groundwater beneath much of the 15-acre, 2,300-student campus were not expected. University officials only recently have begun to account for the high price of what experts predict will be a complicated underground cleanup.

There’s no risk to the health of people in the area. But plumes of contaminated groundwater appear to be drifting toward the Foss Waterway and Commencement Bay. And taxpayers are likely to be on the hook for the bill.

Efforts to rid the UW Tacoma site of hazardous contaminants could cost more than $6.4 million, according to preliminary estimates compiled by university officials last spring. Spending so far exceeds $1.5 million.

“I know nobody would have projected what we are dealing with now. I don’t think anybody anticipated it,” said Karen VanDusen, the university’s director of environmental health and safety.

State Department of Ecology officials don’t blame UW for the contamination, but a 1997 agreement obligates the university to clean it up.

Some of the chemicals can be traced to past enterprises on or near the site. But the origin of others is a mystery and will be the focus of a $100,000 investigation scheduled to begin within the next couple of months, university officials said.

Over the past several years, contractors working for the university have drilled 50 test wells around UW Tacoma to get a handle on the problem, VanDusen said.

In 2002, a university consultant mapped seven plumes of contaminated groundwater beneath the campus. Tests found dangerous solvents and petroleum products below ground.

The contaminated groundwater could take years to reach the Foss Waterway and Commencement Bay, said Dave Lundstrom, the university’s manager of environmental programs.

“We’re primarily trying to find the source of it to determine who is responsible and what needs to be done,” he said. “It’s not a short-term concern, but it is a concern, and that’s why we’re investigating and want to clean it up.”

SEARCHING FOR SOURCES

The cleanup obligation adds to the development costs of the campus, which someday could expand to 46 acres, mostly uphill. So far, land acquisition and construction costs at UW Tacoma total more than $150 million.

The current UW budget includes $1.9 million to deal with contaminated soils, VanDusen said.

The state Department of Ecology has agreed to provide $60,000 toward the upcoming $100,000 investigation. University contractors will sink as many as six test wells into the ground near the intersection of South Market Street and South Jefferson Avenue. The goal is to identify the origin of a large plume of highly concentrated solvents previously detected in groundwater under a university parking lot.

“We need to resolve the source of these plumes to get to the cleanup plan,” said Leon Wilhelm, an Ecology Department environmental engineer.

At one point, a university consultant suggested that old city sewer lines might have leaked the solvent. But Tacoma officials dispute that.

“The city believes there are other much more likely sources,” said John O’Loughlin, an environmental scientist employed by the city. Several now-defunct businesses uphill from the UW campus used solvents to clean parts, he said.

Whether state officials will seek to recover the cost of cleanup from other parties is unclear. “We’ve tried to see if that’s possible. At this point there doesn’t seem to be any valid party out there,” VanDusen said.

SOME CLEANUP SET TO START

In the meantime, the university is about to begin treating underground contamination near the Pacific Gateway Plaza entrance to the campus, across Pacific Avenue from the Washington State History Museum.

Shaub-Ellison, a tire retailer and vehicle repair outfit, did business on the site before the garage was torn down to make way for the campus. Under the plaza, petroleum products contaminate the groundwater. Oil probably leaked from the garage floor, lube pit and underground storage tanks, Ecology Department officials said.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency has granted the university about $200,000 to help pay for the Shaub-Ellison cleanup. The total estimated cost is nearly $980,000, VanDusen said.

The plan is to inject air into the ground to stimulate the growth of microorganisms that will break down the petroleum, Wilhelm said.

Milt Tremblay, UW Tacoma facilities director, said the Shaub-Ellison cleanup won’t disrupt campus activities. “All you will see above ground is a compressor,” he said. Workers will install the device in a flower bed. It will be insulated to reduce noise, he said.

UW TACOMA OBLIGATED TO CLEAN IT UP

In 1982, long before UW broke ground on the Tacoma campus, federal and state regulators targeted one parcel for cleanup. And university officials were aware of the problem when they chose to locate the campus where it stands today.

They knew the Cragle parcel, in the 1900 block of South C Street, was contaminated with various hazardous wastes and used oil. Two waste-handlers doing business there illegally discharged wastewater and abandoned other dangerous chemicals on the site, Ecology Department officials said.

In 1997, university officials formally agreed to clean up Cragle, along with most of the rest of the current campus, VanDusen said.

Workers began testing the soils in 1993. They removed underground tanks, dug up hundreds of truckloads of contaminated soil and treated it.

But as it turned out, groundwater uphill from the Cragle parcel also is contaminated.

“Some of it is originating elsewhere,” VanDusen said. “It’s important for us to determine so we can stop it from coming on to our property,” she said.

“The cleanup is costly. It really is. It is not an insignificant undertaking. But it ends up being a benefit to everybody,” VanDusen said.

READERS COMMENTS:

A big waste of time and - Submitted by ratujack on August 13, 2006 - 6:29am.

A big waste of time and money. The environmental zealots go beyond reason.

It would be interesting to - Submitted by thegor on August 13, 2006 - 8:09am.

It would be interesting to know how much contaminating material was found in these test wells. The TNT should have provided this information in this article.

TNT article - Earlier scrutiny of suspect revealed

2006-08-12T11:41:00.000-07:00

Earlier scrutiny of suspect revealed

ADAM LYNN; The News Tribune
Last updated: August 12th, 2006 01:21 AM (PDT)

A retired Tacoma police officer charged last week with child-sex crimes underwent a mental evaluation in 1980 after allegations surfaced that he publicly displayed a sex toy while working in uniform at the Daffodil Parade, The News Tribune has learned.

Then-Police Chief W.W. Perrett requested the evaluation of Lee William Giles Jr. on April 9, 1980, according to city Human Resource records released to the newspaper as part of a public records request.

“The crisis necessitating psychological evaluation occurred on March 29 during the Daffodil Parade,” Perrett wrote in a memorandum to the city’s personnel director, Richard Sokolowski, who approved the evaluation.

Perrett did not elaborate on the crisis.

But two former police supervisors told The News Tribune on Friday that Perrett requested the evaluation after Giles displayed a sex toy along the parade route.

Retired Assistant Police Chief Jim Knutsen said a woman who attended the parade with her prepubescent daughter complained that Giles approached them, motioned to a penis-shaped object dangling out of his pant leg and made a joke.

“The part that I remember most is the complaint came from a mother,” said Knutsen, a lieutenant in the Internal Affairs unit at the time.

Knutsen said he investigated the complaint, concluded the incident occurred and recommended that Giles be disciplined severely, possibly even fired.

“I thought the fact that he did that to some young child is not something he could be forgiven for,” Knutsen said.

Retired Police Chief Richard Amundsen, who was an assistant chief in 1980, told the newspaper Friday that he heard a different story.

“It was brought to my attention after the investigation began that he had a dildo he was playing around with down at the intersection of 24th and Pacific,” Amundsen said. “He was playing it like a harmonica. Everybody knew about it after the complaint was made.”

Giles was assigned to direct traffic at that intersection on parade day, Amundsen said.

The newspaper could not determine the outcome of Giles’ mental evaluation. The personnel records make no mention of the outcome and contain no notations of disciplinary action arising from the incident. The records note that a document dated April 15, 1980, remains confidential.

Giles, 61 and a North End grandfather, pleaded not guilty Aug. 3 to three counts of first-degree child rape, three counts of second-degree child rape and one count each of sexual exploitation of a minor and possession of child pornography.

Detectives and prosecutors say Giles has admitted to sexually abusing the underage relative of his longtime girlfriend. Detectives also are investigating allegations that Giles and the woman, Maureen Wear, sexually abused two young girls to whom Giles is related.

Some of the abuse was videotaped, according to court documents.

Giles is being held in the Kitsap County Jail. Wear, who also is charged with sex crimes in the case, is being held in the Pierce County Jail.

Giles’ lawyer, Michael Schwartz, said Friday that he had not heard of the 1980 allegations against his client but called them “rather old.”

“I doubt they’ll have any bearing on the current case,” he said.

For years, Giles held a high-profile position in the department, hosting radio and television shows and directing the department’s “Harvey the Talking Motorcycle” program. In that position, Giles would ride his police motorcycle to schools to talk to kids about safety.

Then-Chief Perrett wrote in his 1980 memo that Giles’ conduct became a “minor concern” after he took over the “Harvey” program in 1975 and deteriorated until 1980, when the chief recommended the mental health evaluation.

Giles exhibited “clown/buffoon-like behavior” that concerned the police brass, Perrett wrote. “Examples within recent recall include his wearing a small Christmas tree attached to his motorcycle helmet during the Christmas season, the carrying of a large plastic fish in his pocket and displaying it spontaneously, and his walking around the station with a large imitation bird on his shoulder.” Giles’ marriage was falling apart at the time, the chief wrote.

“We have information that his personal family problems are extensive, that he is living away from the home, although supporting the family and living off extra money he has earned,” Perrett wrote.

Perrett said in the memo that the Police Department had made an appointment for Giles with clinical psychologist Steven Sutherland.

Sutherland is the same psychologist who in 1981 recommended that the city not hire David Brame as a police officer. Brame, who was hired anyway and went on to become chief, fatally shot his wife and himself in 2003. Staff writer Stacey Mulick contributed to this report.

Adam Lynn: 253-597-8644

adam.lynn@thenewstribune.com

READERS COMMENTS:

Whoops. The old guard - Submitted by Regfool2 on August 12, 2006 - 4:52am.

Whoops. The old guard dropped the ball again. So how many of the Giles/Brame mentality are still left at TPD? Might be worth it to look at the rest of their cronies...

call for a investigation again !! - Submitted by patty123 on August 12, 2006 - 7:25am.

WE NEED NOT TO HAVE SICK COPS WORKING FOR OUR CITY BUT ONES THAT WILL DO THE JOB!!ITS OUR TAXES THAT PAY THEIR WAGES...NOW THEY NEED TO PUT A STOP TO THE CRAP THATS GOING ON ON THE STREETS OF THIS TOWN AND FAST!! AND PEOPLE PUT OUR TAXES WHERE WE NEED THEM MORE COPS AND BETTER SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS AT GRADE SCHOOL LEAVEL BECUSE WHEN THEY GET OLDER THEY DONT WANT TO LEARN!!

TNT article - TACOMA: Free fair today on Portland Avenue will center on preventing gangs

2006-08-12T11:38:00.000-07:00

TACOMA: Free fair today on Portland Avenue will center on preventing gangs

THE NEWS TRIBUNE
Last updated: August 12th, 2006 01:21 AM (PDT)

Local Boys & Girls clubs and other organizations will host a diversity fair in Tacoma today to raise awareness about gangs and how they affect the community.

The “WayOut FunDay” will start at noon at the Portland Avenue Community Center, 3512 Portland Ave. The five-hour event is free to the public.

Staff members from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Puget Sound will have a booth providing information about a gang prevention program. The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department will host a Latino Health Fair, and World Vision will give away back-to-school supplies.

The event also will include live entertainment, a three-on-three basketball tournament and mascots from local schools, sports teams and other community organizations.

A $2,500 grant from The Allstate Foundation is paying for the event.

Stacey Mulick, The News Tribune

TNT article - Police seek help finding killer in blue sedan

2006-08-12T11:37:00.000-07:00

Police seek help finding killer in blue sedan

STACEY MULICK; The News Tribune
Last updated: August 12th, 2006 01:20 AM (PDT)

Tacoma police are asking the public for help finding the man who fatally shot a 21-year-old man Monday near a South End elementary school.

The shooting happened about 3:15 p.m. after Jeffery Mario Norris-Romine and another man had parked their car in the 9000 block of South Alaska Street, just west of Helen B. Stafford Elementary School, police said.

Another car parked down the block and a man with a gun got out and fired several shots at Norris-Romine, police reported. The gunman then drove away.

The gunman’s vehicle was described as a mid-1990s to 2000 blue sedan with chrome rims.

It might be a Chevrolet Impala or Caprice, police said. Before the shooting, the car might have been in the area of South 96th and Hosmer streets, police said.

Stacey Mulick: 253-597-8268

stacey.mulick@thenewstribune.com

crime stoppers

Tacoma-Pierce County Crime Stoppers is offering up to $1,000 for information leading to arrests and charges filed in the case cited above. Callers remain anonymous. Crime Stoppers is at 253-591-5959.

TNT article - Man who fatally shot friend gets 27 years

2006-08-12T11:36:00.000-07:00

Man who fatally shot friend gets 27 years

The News Tribune
Last updated: August 12th, 2006 01:21 AM (PDT)

Mychal Tyrell Owens never said why he shot his friend, Terrance Bobo, five times in April 2004.

He also never said he was sorry.

At the 24-year-old man’s sentencing hearing Friday, Owens told Pierce County Superior Court Judge Vicki Hogan he could not ease Bobo’s family’s pain.

“There’s nothing I can really say to make it right,” he said.

But he asked Hogan to give him a shorter sentence than the 27 years deputy prosecutor Pat Hammond said he deserved.

“I’m just here to ask that you leave a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel for the man I am to become,” Owens said.

Hogan gave him the longest sentence she could: 27 years and one month in prison.

Owens pleaded guilty July 19 in the middle of his trial to one count of the second-degree murder in Bobo’s death. It was a qualified plea – called a Newton plea – in which he maintained his innocence but said he knew he’d likely be found guilty in the trial.

Prosecutors had charged him with first-degree murder and opened the case against him July 13.

They still were calling witnesses when he decided to plead guilty.

Bobo, 17, died April 23, 2004, after a short argument with his friend Hogan in Tacoma’s Hilltop neighborhood.

Hammond said Owens deserved the longest possible sentence under the law because he committed a senseless act and had never taken responsibility for it.

“This was a very brutal, deliberate killing,” Hammond told the judge.

Owens fired the first shot at close range, to the back of Bobo’s head, Hammond said.

As Bobo was on the ground, Owens shot him four more times, he said. No one knew why the men had argued.

Bobo’s parents asked the judge to give Owens a long sentence, but offered some kindness to their son’s convicted killer.

“I came here today with a lot of hate in my heart,” Lyndon Bobo said. “But to be a man, I have to forgive you, and I have.”

He told Owens to take advantage of education in prison.

“When you come out, be a positive person,” he said. “Don’t be a menace to society.”

Cherri Willingham said the day before her son died, Owens and Bobo were at her house.

“Terrance talked about helping you,” she said, tearfully.

“I hope and I pray that you find peace. I hope the good that is in you comes out and touches somebody. And I hope that you never get out” of prison.

Karen Hucks: 253-597-8660

karen.hucks@thenewstribune.com

TNT article - Man shot in his own driveway

2006-08-12T11:35:00.000-07:00

Man shot in his own driveway

Police say Parkland resident critically hurt after asking teens to move

ADAM LYNN; The News Tribune
Last updated: August 12th, 2006 01:21 AM (PDT)

A Parkland man who asked two teenagers to move out of his driveway Friday was critically injured when one of the boys pulled out a gun and shot him, Pierce County sheriff’s deputies reported.

The 32-year-old victim was at Tacoma General Hospital fighting for his life late Friday, sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said. The man’s name was not released.

Deputies arrested two 17-year-old boys in connection with the shooting, he said. They were expected to be booked into either the Pierce County Jail or the Remann Hall juvenile detention center on suspicion of multiple felonies.

A 17-year-old girl also was arrested on suspicion of rendering criminal assistance and tampering with evidence, Troyer said.

He called the case “totally senseless.”

“The victim is unarmed and standing in his own driveway. He didn’t even know these kids,” Troyer said. “This guy is a victim in the truest sense of the word.”

The incident occurred about 2:20 p.m. in the 1800 block of 116th Street East.

Troyer said the man and his wife were pulling into their driveway when they encountered the boys. The man stepped out of the car to say something to the teenagers, who were blocking the driveway, Troyer said.

The boys apparently took offense and one of them threatened to shoot the man, he said.

The victim, who is hard of hearing, again either told or asked the teenagers to move, Troyer said. That’s when one of them opened fire with a handgun. The victim was hit multiple times, he said.

Deputies responded within minutes and found two teenage boys behind a house changing their clothes, Troyer said. Deputies also identified the girl, who they believe was helping the boys.

They arrested the three and recovered a gun believed to have been used in the shooting, Troyer said. Staff writer Stacey Mulick contributed to this report.

Adam Lynn: 253-597-8644

adam.lynn@thenewstribune.com

READERS COMMENTS:

Once again...WELCOME TO - Submitted by Dcr628 on August 12, 2006 - 3:47am.

Once again...WELCOME TO TACOMA!

Until we as a society, dump the tired, politically correct, dumbed down, take care of the downtrodden, and start swinging some paddles on these kids, and locking them up when they need it, and MOST of all, see some parents RAISING their kids so none of that is necessary, then we are only going to start seeing more of this.

It wasnt THAT many decades ago that I waas a kid, here in Tacoma. EVERY, not just one or two, EVERY kid I knew was, for instance, involved in Boy or Girl Scouts( Yes I know, so un-PC today!). Parents gave a damn, Teachers gave a damn. Neighbors gave a damn, Even the local grocery man cared!

My question....What the heck happened??

What the heck happened?? - Submitted by finalfantasylvr on August 12, 2006 - 9:17am.

Cable TV as a pacifier happened ...

The kids were given - Submitted by Regfool2 on August 12, 2006 - 4:44am.

The kids were given "rights". The grownups lost theirs. The bleeding hearts were given power. The folks who believed in accountability lost theirs.

Maps Submitted by chriswillhe on August 12, 2006 - 5:26am.

Parkland is not in the City of Tacoma. We have enough trouble here without getting blamed for Parkland's woes as well.

Parkland is the UGA for - Submitted by UnitedPierceCou... on August 12, 2006 - 10:20am.

Parkland is the UGA for Tacoma (Urban Growth Area) - it exsists BECAUSE of Tacoma.

Innocent man shot in driveway - Submitted by razzledazzle on August 12, 2006 - 6:54am.

Something is so seriously wrong here. A man can't pull into his own driveway without being shot and CRITICALLY injured? The house he pays for and the driveway he pays for and these little bastards do what? Unbelieveable. Just when I think people have sunk to an all time low with their actions and lack of morals something like this happens. Oh, and, weep, weep, they're 17 so maybe they won't be treated like adults. These YOUNG MEN and the YOUNG WOMAN need to do some prison time, not county jail time and certainly not juvie center time.

Who's raising kids who would do such a thing, who defy authority, who aren't taught to do the right thing. Who raises kids who want to shoot someone and who have no common courtesy? Do you know where your kids are? Do they have weapons? Well, find out.
Prayers to this man and his family.

why are these kids doing this???? - Submitted by patty123 on August 12, 2006 - 7:11am.

ONE WOULD HAVE TO ASK THEMSELFS WHY??? what is making our kids act out like this" is it what is on tv,music,or maybe its all the the crap combined!! also they have taken god out of our schools"years ago we use to learn about god in the schools!!and parents have given up because their rights have been taken away you cant do a dam thing or the kids cry abuse!! If i did any thing wrong my dad or mom would beat my ass!!! parents you need to start searching your kids if you think they are up to no good and their bedrooms!!! look now if parents don't start to do something your little boys and girls are going to be locked up or worse DEAD!!!I go though my kids crap all the time so I know whats up!!! If you don't" how would you know if they have guns or are using drugs? I have no problem doing this it may save a kid or keep them from drugs!!

   Also don't forget - Pierce - Submitted by UnitedPierceCou... on August 12, 2006 - 10:26am.

   Also don't forget - Pierce County is not a youth-friendly county. The uncities are the worst.

   Also don't forget, Pierce County is ranked #1 in the state for violent crime. The kids are living what they're learning. See http://www.co.pierce.wa.us/pc/abtus/ourorg/pa/cwwhat2.htm for some frightening information.

Oh I am sure they will be - Submitted by redneck64 on August 12, 2006 - 8:22am.

Oh I am sure they will be tried as juveniles. They need to be euthanized immediately. All 3 of these worthless scum bags. But the good old state if Washington will coddle them, I am sure they have had a bad life with awful parents, this seems to be an excuse. Execute them and throw them out in the woods, buzzards got to eat same as worms. They are not human and should not be treated as such..

17 year olds - Submitted by HappyHeathen on August 12, 2006 - 8:31am.

Hopefully tried as adults.

TNT article - Why so little enforcement of laws against littering?

2006-08-11T21:04:00.000-07:00

RICHARD M. DENSMORE; Spanaway
Last updated: August 8th, 2006 01:27 AM (PDT)

How long must we continue to tolerate the indiscriminate placement of signs along the roads and on power poles?

Despite efforts by individuals to eliminate the eyesores, the housing developments are thumbing their nose at the public and creating this despicable appearance on our roads.

Is there no one with the responsibility or time to enforce our laws regarding littering Pierce County highways with trash? Should they not be subject to the $101 fine?

READERS COMMENTS:

The cities within Pierce - Submitted by UnitedPierceCou... on August 11, 2006 - 6:31pm.

The cities within Pierce County and the County itself all have sign regulations (laws), and those with Community Plans have additional regulations (laws). My community is one of them – the Parkland/Spanaway/Midland Community Plan.

However those in charge of enforcing the laws do not enforce them.

I've asked why - I've asked just about everyone why, including the County Council, Code Enforcement, Public Works, Tacoma Public Utilities, the Sheriff Department and others, and no one has answered my question - why is Title 18b not being enforced?

I submitted a multi-page document to Code Enforcement containing information on over 40 signs within a mere 2.61 miles of roads in my community. I included photos of the signs, parcel numbers/addresses of where the signs are located, contact information on the offenders, etc. Code Enforcement would not/could not use the document – but instead required that I file each sign complaint individually - sign-by-sign AND include whether or not each sign is located on private property or right-of-way (R.O.W.). Huh? I’m not in the business to know where the dividing line between private property and R.O.W. (which often differs street per street and quite often even address to address), and even if I were, I couldn’t understand why I would be required to figure that out – after all, if I had been reporting another type of crime, would I be required to determine if it happened on private property or on County right-of-way? I think not.

When I asked Code Enforcement how they suggested I obtain this information, they said that I could contact Public Works and ask them. I reminded Code Enforcement that there were over 30 signs documented in my complaint-bundle (and hundreds of others not in my bundle), and that I couldn’t imagine Public Works having the time or manpower to dedicate to this. I was told that because signs in R.O.W are under the jurisdiction of Public Works, yet those on private property are under the jurisdiction of Planning & Land Services Code Enforcement, that I would have to submit the individual sign complaints to the proper authority before they could be entered into the SRS system.

I decided to present the problem to the County Council (June 8^th meeting in Midland). I provided the Council with the multi-page document and my 3-minute-limit of testimony which included my concern over what I saw/see to be $19,000 of lost revenue due to the lack of enforcement (via fines) on just these few signs on these few miles of road. I later wrote to my councilmember (CC-ing the other six) to tell them that 1 – I should not have to bear the burden of determining the R.O.W. vs. private property to get the complaints in to SRS; 2 – that I was not willing to put my safety at risk by measuring from line to sign on busy roadways; and 3 – I was not willing to risk the wrath of the property owners who are being monetarily compensated for allowing the signs on their property.

Yes – the big wooden signs you see advertising housing developments are “paid advertisements”. The developer’s representative locate property owners/renters willing to strike a deal – generally $50 a month or $400 one-time compensation to allow them to plant the signs on their property. The developer’s representatives fail to inform the property owner/renter that the sign, once visible to the general public, is a violation of Pierce County code (Title 18b) – therefore UNLAWFUL.

The response - they realize it’s a problem and they are looking in to a solution.

Here’s a solution- considering that ignorance of the law is no excuse for or pardon from breaking the law, three or more parties could be held accountable as law-breakers: the one who paid someone else to perpetrate the crime (the developer), the one(s) who physically planted the sign; the one who is accepting compensation in exchange for displaying the sign, and the property owner if different from who is one receiving the compensation. Fining even one of the parties would generate a wealth of revenue for the county coffer – times that by 3 or 4 in the event each offending party is fined and man-oh-man, our county would be rolling in dough.

I think they’re making it out to be harder than it is for a variety of reasons – I mean, it would be a pretty easy job to manage, I know, after all, I finally succeeded in getting 11 of the signs on the 2.61 miles of road in my community entered into the complaint system – thanks much to Public Works who decided they’d get rid of me faster if they agreed to my request of driving me from sign to sign to do the measuring as to make the determination of whether the signs were on private property or R.O.W.. Armed with that information I broke apart my complaint bundle into 11 individual complaints and sent 6 to Public Works and 5 to Code Enforcement (and of course all 11 to the councilmembers). Total time spent - about 60 hours of one-woman-power (not including researching Title 18b). Deducting the time I spent testifying or talking to councilmembers, the time I spent explaining to officials that I shouldn’t have to bear the burden of further research to make my complaint and deduct the time I spent corresponding with other communities about the issue, it drops to about 50 hours. Not bad no matter how you look at it – a payoff of a potential $19,000 or more on violations on just 2.61 miles of road tells me that a sign-buster program could pay for itself easily PLUS put bazillions of bucks into the county coffer.

Here’s the idea. There’s a sign, there's a name/number on the sign - take a picture, write a ticket, mail the ticket, collect the fine money or issue a bench warrant if ignored. I know, the jail has no room for the even-worse law-breakers, surely there's no room for violators of Title 18b. Maybe that’s why Pierce County doesn’t enforce Title 18b – oh and then there’s the little issue of the money the county collects from these offenders by way of home-building fees and taxes which amounts to a LOT more money and blind eyes to the law-breaking as not to upset the law-breaking revenue-generating development industry. I know, it’s more complicated than that, but it’s certainly manageable and no doubt profitable.

After Title 18b was enforce for a while through this program, and word got out, the program could very well become obsolete as less and less people would dare even try to violate Title 18b – especially those in the business of knowing Pierce County Code – the Master Builder’s Association and the housing developers. It might not solve the problem with garage sale signs, but hey.

So called "A" boards are - Submitted by EllidaK on August 8, 2006 - 1:03am.

So called "A" boards are illegal. But they are everywhere! In the shopping area by Value Village off South 19th and James Street there is an A Board in the handicapped unloading space. The "Flags A Flying" A board has been on the sidewalk on South 38th and Warner for months. The City of Tacoma is taking no steps to enforce the law. Why not?

"the city of tacoma is - Submitted by erkhvd on August 8, 2006 - 7:52am.

"the city of tacoma is taking no steps to enforce the law" well if you lived in a condo downtown
or the north end you would get results on the sign prob. its the tacoma way.

and to the city claiming they dont have the manpower or cash to enforce the law, use the 101$ fine to hire a few undocumented workes (or better yet, americans on welfare) and pick up the sign, call the number on it and set up a metting for them to pay their fine. how hard is that? pick up 2-3 signs
a day and the fines would pay for the program.

what about political signs? why do we not make the politions pick them up? the loser of the race should have to do it. after all they just found out they have free time when the voters tell them their
not good enough to do the job.

Signs - Submitted by kakesius on August 8, 2006 - 5:06am.

Signs posted on City Right-of-Way and on utility poles ARE against city code. The city does not have the money or manpower to remove all this garbage or to enforce the fines for doing so. Therfore it is up to us as members of this great city to help out. If just one household from each block would make a weekly outing to remove all these signs from their neighborhood, the city would look so much cleaner. Our family has been doing this for about a year now and it really does make a difference. Come on everyone, take ownership of your block and get rid of a few signs!

Touche' kakesius!!! Rather - Submitted by Dcr628 on August 8, 2006 - 10:10am.

Touche' kakesius!!! Rather than bitching and whining about this that and people who spell names with small case letters!! Ha!!

I see YOU and yours and handling the problem! Great job, THANK YOU!

Frankly 'kakesius' statement illustrates EXACTLY what is wrong with this "society" we live in. WE are so eager to let the government "fix" our problem rather than do it ourselves.

This is off topic a bit, but it reminds me of the recent burning of the Lewis and Clark settlement near Astoria. The Government was planning on a HUGE rebuild...everything to code of course at huge cost.....The Lewis and Clark party of course did not have such a cumbersome fix...they just cut down trees and built it....point is, leave the government out of it, and a hand full of loggers could have made an EXACT replica in hours where it took the original party days!

Signs - Submitted by mattersnot1 on August 8, 2006 - 12:07pm.

Be careful about removing signs from the public right away. In 2004, our State Supreme Court ruled, in the case of City of Seattle v Mighty Movers, Inc, that the public right away is a public forum and the posting of signs there is legal, but no signs may be posted on utility poles.

Political signs must be removed within 10 days after the election or they're fair game for anyone who wants them. Some people reverse the signs and use them for garage sales. Speaking of garage sales, I wish people would take their signs down once their sale is over.

OMG The City Is Too Busy Building The Taj Mahal Cirty Hall ! - Submitted by SherryKay2004 on August 11, 2006 - 12:55pm.

OMG the City Government is far too busy building their new Taj Mahal City Hall, then to worry about enforce sign codes and handing out a few tickets and the
Cops are all too busy wanting to drive their take home cop cars all over town, and the rest of the local and county government is too busy building new fancy
golf courses to be bothered with signs,my dear people it's that simple! And that is probably all gang related some how as well and don't you dare ask
for that wonderful one Police Sargeant and Six Police Officers to go deal with signs for God'sake! Good Heavens do some of you actually expect this losers you
got running your local and county government to actually enforce a law?

TNT article - No more work release in Pierce County

2006-08-11T21:01:00.000-07:00

THE NEWS TRIBUNE
Last updated: August 9th, 2006 01:21 AM (PDT)

From a state corrections chief looking to site new work-release centers, these were lovely words:

“All communities have obligation to accommodate effective transitional offender programs such as work release. It’s not fair to place that burden more heavily on one community than another.”

So said Harold Clarke last week when he announced the Department of Corrections’ search for more “transitional housing” for Washington’s ex-convicts. Assuming Clarke means what he says, this marks a turnaround in the state government’s philosophy of releasing prisoners.

All too often, the old philosophy seemed to be: Dump them in Pierce County.

We exaggerate only slightly. How else to explain the fact that Pierce County has, by far, more state-sited accommodations per capita for ex-cons and other undesirables than any other county in the state? Looking only at halfway houses for adults, Pierce County has three, while King County – with well over twice the population – has a mere four. Snohomish County – which has almost as large a population as Pierce County – has zero, none at all.

But that’s just the start of it. Pierce County also hosts two major state prisons on McNeil Island and at Purdy, plus Western State Hospital with its large ward for the criminally insane, the McNeil Island Special Commitment Center for sexual psychopaths and the McNeil Island work release center for “graduates” of the Special Commitment Center. Not to mention prerelease centers, halfway houses for juvenile offenders and a large array of support services for ex-cons and their families.

Because ex-cons often settle in communities near where they did their time – and often reoffend – the concentration of so many criminal facilities in Pierce County has driven up the crime rates and greatly burdened local law enforcement agencies and social services.

It’s been a relief, then, to see a gradual shift in attitudes in Olympia. Five years ago, Pierce County legislators succeeded in persuading their fellow lawmakers to force the Department of Social and Health Services to begin spreading McNeil Island sex predators around the state, not just releasing them in the South Sound.

Clarke’s statement last Wednesday suggests that state officials may be starting to understand that Pierce County has more than its share of ordinary criminals as well. But watch what they do, not what they say.

We’ll know for sure that they get it when the next round of proposed halfway house locations is out – and includes no addresses in Pierce County.

TNT article - Unfair picture painted of downtown hip-hop club

2006-08-11T16:18:00.000-07:00

DEANNA NEIDLINGER
Last updated: July 16th, 2006 01:36 AM (PDT)

Re: “Stop violence, officials plead” (TNT, 7-11).

On behalf of Club Friday, Tacoma’s hip-hop club serving at-risk youth ages 16 to 20, I want to express heartfelt condolences to the family of Rhaczio Simms, who was killed on Pacific Avenue early on the morning of July 8, as well as Tiffany Walker, a patron of Club Friday who was wounded in the same incident.

This tragedy has brought to light the senselessness of gang violence and the need for everyone concerned – youth, community members, police, church leaders, business owners and city officials – to work together in providing young people alternatives to gang membership.

It also is important for those concerned to be aware of some potentially misleading information from the front-page article Tuesday.

First and foremost, a photo caption stated that “Brick City, on Pacific Avenue and Ninth Street in Tacoma, was the center of violence Friday night.”

This statement, quite simply, is wrong. The shooting death occurred in front of the tavern down the block from the entrance to Club Friday, which is located in the building referred to as “Brick City.”

In fact, upon hearing the gunshots early Saturday morning, our eight security personnel immediately began protecting the 100 or so youth inside the club, praying with them and securing the facility.

Second, the article noted that court documents charging the accused gunman indicate that he was among the gang members who had been inside Club Friday “wearing their colors and flashing gang signs.”

This also is wrong. Neither the deceased nor the accused has ever been inside Club Friday, according to the database we maintain, and eyewitnesses. Our security policy requires that anyone attending the club register the first time they attend.

Club Friday has and will continue to enforce strict procedures prohibiting gang-related clothing, paraphernalia and behavior. Anyone exhibiting such behavior, such as gang signs, is evicted from the facility immediately and forbidden to return. Not for a week. Not for a month, but permanently.

We at Club Friday have earned the trust and respect of many Tacoma business owners and administrators of nonprofit organizations and government agencies, such as Goodwill Industries, the Pierce County Health Department and the Tacoma Police Department.

Much of that trust and respect has been founded on a recognition that Club Friday – unlike other facilities – offers young people who embrace hip-hop music and dance a safe, secure and healthy alternative to gang affiliation.

We fill an important niche in Tacoma and are proud of the progress we have made in helping prevent many young people from being lured into gang membership.

Deanna Neidlinger is the director of Club Friday in Tacoma.

TNT article - Transportation projects must support economic well-being

2006-08-11T16:17:00.000-07:00

STATE SEN. JIM KASTAMA
Last updated: July 25th, 2006 01:21 AM (PDT)

Some people might not want to hear this, but the day has arrived when we can no longer afford to build roads simply to ease commutes or improve aesthetics.

With state resources increasingly limited and competition from other nations growing, our transportation spending must focus on projects that provide access to major employers, move freight and create meaningful jobs. Otherwise we’ll just wind up with more traffic jams while we watch top employers and career opportunities move overseas.

The threat from overseas cannot be overstated. Popular movies have taught us to think of many eastern countries as lands of bicycles and ox carts – countries insulated from technology and progress. As I have witnessed myself on a trade mission to Asia last year, that is far from true, and we cling to those outdated stereotypes at our economic peril.

For example, China, which recently reported a record monthly trade surplus of $14.5 billion with almost 20 years of near double-digit economic growth, is determined to become the global leader in both quality and production.

To remain competitive, we need to change the way we approach transportation. The Regional Transportation Investment District (RTID), for instance, recently requested that the Washington State Department of Transportation revise a number of longstanding road projects in Pierce County to be placed before the voters in 2007.

RTID officials would like WSDOT to take hundreds of millions of dollars from some major highways serving prime industrial areas, such as Highway 167, and use them instead to widen roads that lead to bedroom communities, such as the Orting Valley.

The RTID plan for Highway 167 calls for merely one lane in each direction from Tacoma to Puyallup, with no access at Interstate 5. In other words, it would be a barely functional highway.

As one of the original authors of the act that created the RTID, I can appreciate efforts to assist people in eastern Pierce County – but not at the economic expense of the entire region.

As we’ve learned the hard way with East Meridian on the South Hill, widening congested roads doesn’t necessarily alleviate traffic. Instead, it often attracts even more development and traffic and leads to a worse situation than we had in the first place, with overcrowded schools and inadequate police response times.

That’s clearly the wrong direction. Instead, I suggest a renewed focus on roads that derive sustained economic benefits, such as those that feed the Port of Tacoma and the Frederickson area, the largest industrialized zoned area in Western Washington. Once these highways are constructed, and the backbone of our economy established, then – and only then – do I suggest using precious state dollars elsewhere.

Let’s wake up to this realization and spend our transportation dollars accordingly.

State Sen. Jim Kastama, D-Puyallup, is a member of the Senate Transportation Committee and accompanied the governor on a trade mission to Japan and China in 2005. He represents the cities of Puyallup, Milton, portions of Fife and Edgewood, and the communities of Midland and Summit/South Hill.

Originally published: July 25th, 2006 01:00 AM (PDT)

TNT article - Commercialism glorifies gang life

2006-08-11T16:15:00.000-07:00

MACKENZIE ALLEN
Last updated: July 28th, 2006 01:41 AM (PDT)

As a former Los Angeles sheriff’s deputy and now retired from the King County Sheriff’s Office, I’ve dealt with hundreds upon hundreds of gangsters – some hard core, some peripheral and some “busters” or wannabes.

Recent articles articulate many of the root causes of gang membership: absent, ineffective or destructive parents, generations-old social disadvantages, endemic hopelessness and despair.

There is a big “however” to be considered. Today’s gang members are often from “mainstream” or even privileged homes. All too frequently, gang membership today provides more than a surrogate family. It provides a cachet, a glamour not present in “non-thug” society.

I would submit that our extreme infatuation with “things,” the insatiable commercial nature of our culture, has not only contributed to the problem but has dramatically promoted it.

Every dollar we spend or allow our children to spend on gang-style clothing, jewelry, cars, etc.; every dollar spent on violence-oriented or misogynistic rap recordings; every concert of that ilk attended; every mannerism, slang phrase, gesture or hairstyle adopted by non-gang society enforces the sad perception that this is where young people need to be to gain acceptance among their peers.

This has nothing to do with ethnicity. All races, ethnicities, cultures and backgrounds are well represented. Gang membership, especially around here, is pretty much an equal opportunity phenomenon.

I’ve had many youngsters say to me: “But I’m no gangster. This is just my look. I can wear whatever I want, can’t I?”

Yes, you can. This is America. But understand that how you present yourself to the world is how it will react to you. If I walked down the street wearing a white robe with a cross on it, my head covered in a pointed hood, how might I expect people to react?

If there is anything reliably true about our country, it is that money talks. If you want to do something safe and nonconfrontational to help with the problem, boycott any manufacturer or store that sells anything – and I mean anything – that glorifies the gang lifestyle. And tell the management what you’re doing. I guarantee if enough people did that, you’d see this stuff disappear from the shelves.

On a more immediate note, we all must support the efforts of our police agencies. Theirs is a difficult and politically dicey task. Not only must we understand that, but the mayor and City Council must be prepared to back the police administration in its suppression efforts.

Remember, lack of education doesn’t imply stupidity. Many criminals are cunning and know how to play the game – how to deflect attention from themselves by placing it on law enforcement. They (or their parents) might say: “They’re just picking on me because I’m ___” (fill in the blank with white, black, Asian, American Indian, short, tall, fat, skinny).

When the complaints come in, as they will, the politicians must have the backbone to stand behind the city’s cops. This is a long-term, complex battle, but the front lines are staffed by our police.

MacKenzie Allen lives in Tacoma.

READERS COMMENTS:

TNT article - Suspected meth dealer arrested

2006-08-11T16:08:00.000-07:00

HEATHER WOODWARD; The Olympian
Last updated: August 11th, 2006 01:41 AM (PDT)

A man described as possibly the biggest methamphetamine dealer in the South Sound is behind bars after marshals tracked him down in Oregon.

Alden Michael Yale, 33, is accused of smuggling between 20 and 60 pounds of meth into the region each week, possibly from Mexico, according to records filed Wednesday in Thurston County Superior Court.

Yale – who owns his Thurston County home, plus another in Pierce County – used his drug earnings to buy as many as 17 vehicles, establish a trust fund for his son, bolster his retirement account and pay his mortgage, court records say.

He faces a charge of leading organized crime – a class A felony that stems from 23 other criminal counts that involve illegal drugs, money laundering, threatening witnesses and more, court records show.

Yale, who has at least one prior felony theft conviction, is suspected of leading a group of several dealers who were used to hide and sell drugs, court records say.

“The sheer quantity of it is pretty impressive,” said Dominique Jinhong, a Thurston County deputy prosecuting attorney, referring to the suspected meth smuggling. “That’s a ton.”

Search warrants at Yale’s Lovely Lane home in the Johnson Point area and other suspected drug-stash homes in the South Sound have uncovered hundreds of thousands of dollars believed to be proceeds from meth sales, Jinhong said.

“He’s been operating for years,” Jinhong said, describing multiple prior investigations into Yale as unsuccessful. “He’s always insulated himself. So it’s been really hard to get into his organization and, finally, we found a weak link.”

Seven others have been arrested in connection with Yale’s case, including his soon-to-be ex-wife, Shannon Yale, whom court records list as a co-conspirator who could face money laundering charges.

The U.S. Marshals Office caught up with Yale on Tuesday in Washington County, Ore., west of Portland.

Using a confidential source, marshals found Yale alone and unarmed in a public parking lot, investigators said. He briefly attempted to flee before marshals surrounded and arrested him.

READERS COMMENTS:

one would think this is a large operation!!! - Submitted by patty123 on August 11, 2006 - 7:12am.

I dont beleive that this guy thats 33yrs old had all that he did and no one in his family wondered what he did for a living?? this is only one out of many that are doing this!! strike a point for the good guys they did well!!!

No kidding patty - Submitted by HappyHeathen on August 11, 2006 - 7:19am.

I wonder what percent of crime is committed by people hooked on meth. While we are worried about terrorists I submit that people making and selling this horrific drug are a much worse problem. Home grown terrorists at the highest level.

Jackpot! - Submitted by bummed1 on August 11, 2006 - 12:16pm.

Sounds like there is a jackpot in seized assets that the police should take and use against the fight against illegal drugs.

Outsourcing - Submitted by wmscott on August 11, 2006 - 12:32pm.

While I applaud the legislatures attempt to control the sale of precursor chemicals of meth, it has had the unintended effect of allowing the Mexican Cartels to flood our state with cheap and very pure Meth. Far too much of the crime we suffer under in this area can be directly attributed to the use and abuse of Meth. Of course we can count on the ruling party to do everything possible to treat the problem without sending anyone to prison lest we have to pay more prison space. It is comforting that we top the list for spending per inmate in the US. (not)

TNT article - Further child-sex charges emerge

2006-08-11T16:04:00.001-07:00

ADAM LYNN; The News Tribune
Last updated: August 5th, 2006 01:26 AM (PDT)

A retired Tacoma police officer charged with child rape also is under investigation on suspicion of videotaping the sexual abuse of two young female relatives, authorities said Friday.

Pierce County deputy prosecutor John Hillman said Lee William Giles Jr., 61, likely will be charged with abusing the girls in the coming weeks.

One of the girls was about 8 and the other 3 or 4 when Giles and his girlfriend – Maureen Elizabeth Wear – abused them sexually and videotaped it, detectives said in court documents released Friday.

Prosecutors on Friday charged the 46-year-old Wear – a former civilian employee of the Tacoma Police Department – with one count of first-degree child rape, two counts of second-degree child rape, two counts of first-degree child molestation, two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of possessing child pornography.

Hillman declined to say what charges Giles will face in connection with the girls or when charges might be filed.

“The police are actively investigating this case,” he said. “When their investigation is completed, we’ll decide what further charges to bring.”

Hillman also declined to state the relationship between Giles and the girls, but Tacoma police spokesman Mark Fulghum said they are related to Giles.

Giles already is charged with eight sex crimes after police say he admitted to raping a boy – a relative of Wear’s – for several years in the 1990s and 2000s. Some of the crimes occurred while Giles was still on the force, detectives said.

Giles had denied abusing anyone other than the boy. But investigators laid out the new allegations in the court documents charging Wear with abusing the girls and raping her young relative.

The News Tribune is not being more specific about the relationships between Giles, Wear and the children to protect the identities of the girls, now 16 and 12, and the boy, now 18 and living in Eastern Washington.

Wear appeared in Superior Court shackled at the waist and ankles and wearing a padded smock for inmates on suicide watch.

Jail spokesman Ed Troyer said Wear was taken to the hospital Thursday after she claimed to have swallowed several pills before her arrest. She was treated and released.

girlfriend pleads not guilty

Wear whispered with her court-appointed attorney but said little that was audible during her appearance before Judge Katherine Stolz. Pleas of not guilty were entered on her behalf. Stolz ordered her jailed in lieu of $500,000 bail.

An older couple and a woman who appeared to be in her 30s – thought to be friends or relatives of Wear’s – attended the hearing. After the arraignment, news reporters asked them if they had anything to say on Wear’s behalf.

“Define heartbreak,” the older woman said before she and the others quickly left the County-City Building in downtown Tacoma.

In a statement released Friday, Giles’ family said they were “shocked and horrified” by his arrest.

“Everyone involved expresses deep concern for the well being of all the victims involved, including law enforcement officials affected by this matter. Family members remain confident the judicial system will prevail.”

The family declined to say any more or to answer questions.

The charging documents filed Friday detail the allegations against Wear and Giles.

One videotape seized from Giles’ home shows the boy, “clearly under the age of 12,” fondling Wear while Giles encourages him, the court records state.

Another video shows Wear dressing the girls up in adult clothing and rubbing lotion on them “in a sexual manner clearly intended for the camera,” according to the documents. At one point the younger girl, wearing potty-training underwear, is seen crying, the court records state.

Giles also is seen on the video positioning the younger girl in a sexual pose, according to the documents.

link to david brame case

Wear admitted to detectives under questioning that she “probably” made the boy fondle her and told them how she and Giles know the girls and where the video was shot, the charging papers say.

Beginning in 1997, Wear worked in the office of the Police Department’s crime-free housing program. She was fired in 1999 and later filed an Internal Affairs complaint and began preparing a wrongful termination lawsuit.

Later questioned as part of the investigation of the late Tacoma Police Chief David Brame, Wear told investigators that her former supervisor told her pornography had been discovered on her work computer.

The supervisor added that such information could be made public if she pursued a lawsuit against the department, she said.

Wear said she hadn’t downloaded such material, according to investigative records compiled during the Brame investigation.

Brame fatally shot his wife and then himself in 2003.

Adam Lynn: 253-597-8644

adam.lynn@thenewstribune.com
Staff writers Stacey Mulick and Sean Robinson contributed to this report.

READERS COMMENTS:

giles secret - Submitted by robbierotty on August 7, 2006 - 8:34am.

if giles is this twisted,there are probably more victims.how far did this manipulation of a childs trust really go?as a kid growing up in the north end ,every kid knew of him from harvey the motorcycle.what about michella welch and jennifer bastian ?he was trusted by everyone he swore to protect but ecspecialy CHILDREN ,i would have trusted him.i hope they are taking a real close look at him.they raided his proctor st home???thats the same street that puget park is on (michella welch) how about the ruston area home where he also lived which was a short distance from pt defiance park (jennifer bastian)..how twisted is he really?i was friends with jennifer ,knowing her , i couldnt figure out how someone could get that close to hurt her ,but someone like him yes i could see .he might have a horrible secret , he could be very bad, very dark and i hope they get him.

I teach my kids to never - Submitted by cloud on August 6, 2006 - 3:28am.

I teach my kids to never feel safe with people. Not just officers - but officers included. A quick Google News search of RECENT news besides ours:
========================================
FORMER BOISE COP GETS 10 YEARS FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT KBCI, ID - Jul 18, 2006
... The girl was sexually molested after a police department ride-a-long with the officer. ... after apologizing to the victim...
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WOODBRIDGE COP TAKES STAND IN MOLESTATION TRIAL - Woodbridge Sentinel, USA - Jul 18, 2006
NEW BRUNSWICK - A suspended veteran Woodbridge police officer earlier this week denied molesting his stepson
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FORMER FULTON OFFICER FREE ON APPEALS BOND - Columbia Daily Tribune, MO - Jul 12, 2006
A former Fulton police officer acquitted in May of sex-related charges stemming from ... acquitted him on six counts of first-degree child molestation and three ...
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BRIEFS: EX-OFFICER CONVICTED OF RAPE, RELATED CHARGES - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, PA - Jul 18, 2006
A former city police officer has been convicted of raping and molesting an 11-year-old ... He also faces a second trial in October on charges that he molested a 4 ...
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EX-OFFICER DRAWS 10-YEAR TERM FOR SEX ABUSE OF RELATIVES - AZ Central.com, AZ - Jul 14, 2006
SCOTTSDALE - A former Scottsdale police officer was sentenced to 10 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to child molestation charges. ...
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FORMER PITTSBURGH POLICE OFFICER CONVICTED OF RAPING GIRL - Pittsburgh Channel.com, PA - Jul 19, 2006
... A jury convicted a former Pittsburgh police officer on Monday ... a 15-year veteran of the city police, who was ... a second trial in October on charges he molested a 4 ...
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RETIRED LAFAYETTE POLICE OFFICER GOING TO PRISON - KATC, LA - Jul 18, 2006
... A retired Lafayette police officer has been sentenced to six years in prison without parole on sexual battery charges stemming from the molestation of girls. ...
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WOODBRIDGE COP'S BAIL REVOKED AFTER CONVICTION - Woodbridge Sentinel, USA - Jul 25, 2006
... Fourth, his position as a Woodbridge police officer is irrelevant to the case," he said. ... Would you go back to the house of the man who sexually molested you?
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LAPD OFFICER ACQUITTED IN MOLESTATION CASE - Los Angeles Times, CA - Jul 15, 2006
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FORMER POLICE OFFICER SENTENCED IN CHILD MOLESTATION CASE - KVOA.com, AZ - Jul 14, 2006

Responsibility for your actions - Submitted by Damon41 on August 5, 2006 - 2:44pm.

Not all TPD personnel are like this one, but they need to do a better job of psych testing, if there is any doubt during the psych board then don't hire the person, not matter how good of friends that you may be with them. Brame didn't pass his psych evaluation and look what it has cost the TAXPAYERS not the department. Police are supposed to be authority figures and role models, this person after he is found guilty needs to be punished.

Lee G promised - Submitted by chriswillhe on August 5, 2006 - 11:10am.

When LG was hired by TPD many many years ago, he promised that he was not a monster, who would prey upon those who were hiring him for protection and service, no doubt, he knew then that he was a monster, as one does not learn to be a child rapist, it is who you are. LG fooled the the City and people of Tacoma, just as Brame did, just as others do who fool their families and friend to get money or favors everyday in every walk of life. You will find these child rapist in every job and area of this country, the difference is, Police Officers promise us that they are not monsters,so when we learn they lied about being a monster it's hard to take. The hiring process in 1969, would not have found LG was a POS. The process today is better, but monsters, just like life will find away to grow.

LG is the worst of the worst and hell will burn hot for him, but please lets not label every police officer as a LG type, they are putting LG away just like any other criminal and are happy to do it.

Oooooo - ScrunchPunch's idea - Submitted by Regfool2 on August 5, 2006 - 9:56am.

Oooooo - ScrunchPunch's idea of giving his pension to the victims is AWESOME - I love it! Now that would be some justice. How 'bout selling their house (since they won't be needing it any more) and setting up a fund to cover counseling for other pedophile vicitms?

As for trusting TPD officers in a professional capacity, I do. As far as off the job - well, I'm sure there are jerks, just as there are in any other institution or large group. One has to be discerning and get to know someone's character before one blindly trusts. Frankly one of my best friends is a cop and has more integrity than a lot of the "Christians" I know. It's a matter of looking deeper than the labels.

No death for either of them. - Submitted by ScrunchPunch on August 5, 2006 - 7:49am.

Why let them take the easy way out? Wouldn't it cause them more pain to live each day knowing their friends, family, co-workers and community members know what demented, low-life sub human beings they are? Death would be too easy for them. Let them suffer each and every day in jail. Let them sit in front of the television and see themselves and the damage they have done. Nobody did this to them. They did this to themselves and their victims. It's time kids stop suffering at the hands of sex crazed low life scumbag creatures. Finally, the end has come for these two pedophiles. They won't be able to hurt another kid. I say they should have thought about taking those pills just before they thought of putting a hand on a child. They wouldn't be in this predicament, and the children would be spared.
As for Giles 30 years on the department~ this heinous crime negates that entire stint. Those years mean nothing and he should be stripped of his pension. Better yet~Give it to the children he hurt, they can use it for counseling. Every dime he earns in prison should be allotted to the children for their expenses associated with being victimized by both of them! These two are a disgrace to their family, friends, coworkers, community and the human race.

Child Abuse - Submitted by tammytown on August 5, 2006 - 7:36am.

This is a very sad thing!!!

I do hope people understand that this is one bad apple not the hole bag.
We as parents need to teach are kids that all people can be that one bad apple no matter what
proffesion they are in male/female,relative, Pastor,Teacher,Doctor ,a close family friend ect,.
Then if by chance they do run into that bad apple they can have the courage to say NO and tell someone elt's they trust.
We as a Society put some proffessions on a pedistal so when someone falls off we seemed to be more crushed.
I hope All can find peace!!!

We don't put them on a pedestal - Submitted by ScrunchPunch on August 5, 2006 - 8:00am.

They are supposed to be above reproach, as any police dept hiring unit will tell you. That is a natural expectation that goes with the territory. Police Officers are expected NOT to bring discredit upon themselves or their department. That too, is part of the hiring process. Giles is one really bad apple who hid the rotten part down to the core, but alas, his rotten core has surfaced, now he doesn't want to face the repercussions after being caught. Giles knows if you do the crime, you have to do the time. I say let him live his days out in the Pierce County jail, he is no better than any other criminal housed there. To those jailers who are tasked with watching him as suicide prevention....please watch him like a hawk! Don't let him weasel his way out that easy, nor her for that matter.

sad. - Submitted by erkhvd on August 5, 2006 - 6:22am.

why do they have her in that padded jacket? they should let her kill herself. that after all is all they deserve.

They are cowards. - Submitted by ScrunchPunch on August 5, 2006 - 8:03am.

They are too weak to face the music. Let them live.
Let them face their peers in ALL THEIR SHAME!

Cops - Submitted by paulandsoon on August 5, 2006 - 5:21am.

Society teaches children to always trust a cop. I will be teaching my grandchildren just the opposite. Especially, since we live in Tacoma.

Cops - Submitted by lastlap4 on August 5, 2006 - 9:01am.

If you really believe you need to teach your grandchildren not to trust the TPD then I feel
sorry for you and hope that you will never need them (TPD) in an emergency. People are people no
matter what they do for a living and by and large we have a good police force here in Tacoma!!

Cops - Submitted by finalfantasylvr on August 5, 2006 - 8:42am.

I disagree... teach them to trust the TPD, but also teach them to TELL anyone and everyone when they have been touched inappropriately, or being made to touch, no matter who is doing it.

Do what you think you must - Submitted by down_under on August 5, 2006 - 8:05am.

Do what you think you must but be assured the good men and women of the TPD are thoroughly disgusted by this sordid mess

TNT article - Lawyer seeks return of jailed abuse suspect

2006-08-11T16:04:00.000-07:00

KAREN HUCKS; The News Tribune
Last updated: August 11th, 2006 01:41 AM (PDT)

The lawyer for retired Tacoma police officer Lee William Giles wants his client brought back to the Pierce County Jail.

Giles is charged with child rape, exploiting a child and possession of child pornography. Authorities moved him to Kitsap County Jail on Aug. 4, because they were worried about his safety.

But Michael Schwartz said he needs better access to his high-profile client, and noted that there haven’t been any threats against Giles.

“He’s facing life in prison, and there are already issues that need to be dealt with in Pierce County, including reviewing the evidence as well as his alleged confession,” Schwartz said.

In a motion filed Thursday, Schwartz says the Sixth and 14th amendments to the U.S. Constitution guarantee defendants right to counsel and that the Pierce County Jail’s “arbitrary decision” to move him to Kitsap County denies him those rights.

Kitsap County doesn’t allow jailhouse visitors on weekends, so the only time Schwartz can see Giles is between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. Monday through Friday. Schwartz said he drove an hour and 20 minutes to get to the jail Monday, then had to wait 40 minutes before authorities let him in. The lawyer got back to his office at 9:45 p.m.

If Giles would be unsafe in the Pierce jail, “that’s what segregation is for,” Schwartz said.

Giles, 61, spent 30 years with the Tacoma police. He was part of the TV program “Behind the Shield,” did radio spots for the nonprofit Tacoma-Pierce County Crime Stoppers, and was assigned to “Harvey, the Talking Motorcycle,” a police program in elementary schools.

Last week, charging documents say, he admitted that he had had sex with a boy, had stolen child pornography from crime scenes and “likes little boys.”

Pierce County sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said that to keep the ex-officer safe, Giles would have to be in a cell for 23 hours a day, and then alone in a common area for the one hour a day he was outside his cell.

“We’re not saying that we can’t keep him safe, but it’s going to be a miserable existence,” Troyer said.

People accused of sex crimes against children generally aren’t safe in the jail’s general population, he said. But inmates often don’t know what charges other inmates are facing.

“He’s such a high-profile guy and everybody knows what he’s accused of,” Troyer said. “It’s not like he could hide. They know his face, they know his voice.”

Prosecutors handling the case couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday.

Troyer said jail staff will comply with whatever a judge decides.

Karen Hucks: 253-597-8660
karen.hucks@thenewstribune.com

READERS COMMENTS:

Lee Giles - Submitted by kevink on August 11, 2006 - 7:18am.

I think he should be put into General Population. I would like to see him react when someone takes advantage of him. He is a sick man who needs to be locked up and found guilty of all charges. along with his girlfriend. I am so sick of the Tacoma Police Department. Everytime i turn around there is something else going on with them. They are starting to get a bad rap from the David Brame case to now this one, and the somehow it's linked???? My god what is going to come out next?

Why all the worry over - Submitted by mab on August 11, 2006 - 8:16am.

Why all the worry over keeping him safe and protecting him? He wasn't worried about the safety and welfare of the little children he was raping and worse all these years. He of all people knew what would happen had he gotten caught. He took the chance at the cost of the lives of the kids.....so send him to the general population in the jail...he knew what was coming....and I hope he gets it!!!!!!!!! The only problem is he will probably like it.

Why all the worry over - Submitted by mab on August 11, 2006 - 8:18am.

They should put him in the - Submitted by jamyjam on August 11, 2006 - 10:38am.

They should put him in the general population and let him get what he gets. He made the decision to rape these boys and take this child pornography. For god sake he is a police officer that knows better. They don't save any other rapist from being harmed while in jail so why is he so special? Because he was a faulty police officer? I don't think so~!

Let the inmates have him - Submitted by BAM_056 on August 11, 2006 - 11:51am.

Let the inmates have him ..If it were any other Joe-Schmoe.He'd been thrown in General population ..ASAP ..I agree with all of ya..Let'em have'em..I don't know about the rest
, but it seems way dirtier, knowing this man was supposed to "Serve & Protect" and wore the uniform of a police officer for 30 yrs..Sick no matter what , but he interacted
with the Tacoma community children..

Perve-Central - Submitted by bummed1 on August 11, 2006 - 12:11pm.

So what if Giles gets roughed up - there's a reason that people rough up perverts who prey on kids. They are sick and are hated for what they do to innocent kids - Giles had NO RESPECT FOR THOSE KIDS' INNOCENCE, so why should anyone have respect for him? Methinks he should have thought of the consequences before he committed those horrible crimes. What is it cops say? Don't do the crime, if you can't do the time?

The Didler - Submitted by Damon41 on August 11, 2006 - 2:40pm.

He needs to be let loose in the general population and be stalked by others, kinda like he stalked them kids...

TNT article - If practice is banned, then ban it for everyone

2006-08-11T15:57:00.002-07:00

BILL HANSON; University Place
Last updated: August 9th, 2006 01:21 AM (PDT)

Re: “Anti-panhandlers take over corner” (TNT, 7-30).

Panhandling is not an indicator of a solid and active economy providing employment and services to all. It is an indicator of societal needs, an unpleasant reminder of failure within that system.

But, as the rules would be applied, they must be applied equally. That would include a ban on firefighters panhandling, especially in groups and wandering through lines of stopped traffic, saying “fill the boot.”

If panhandling is banned, it must be banned for all.

READERS COMMENTS:

Yes! Please give the - Submitted by wildcelticrose on August 9, 2006 - 5:01am.

Yes! Please give the firefighters "the boot" They worsen already difficult traffic at bad intersections during rush house and create distraction and safety hazards. I'm sure their charity is a worthy one. There are a lot of other, equally worthy charities out there. That doesn't give anyone right right to panhandle in the street.

By chance Mizzz LisaRose, - Submitted by Dcr628 on August 9, 2006 - 5:50am.

By chance Mizzz LisaRose, does this include the antiwar, anti everything signwaving protesters who stand on buzy street corners, or are THEY protected somehow under free speech laws! ?????

Personally, I like seeing - Submitted by Regfool2 on August 9, 2006 - 8:17am.

Personally, I like seeing the firefighters out there, but then hey, I appreciate firefighters and cops. On that day when I encounter slow traffic and see the firemen, I look in the backseat at the healthy child who is NOT in a wheelchair; who can walk w/o canes and braces and I'm more than ready to roll down the window and hand the guys money in gratitude. A lifetime of blessings means once a year I can afford to be a bit late to whereever I'm going.

I too like - Submitted by bertah on August 11, 2006 - 7:41am.

seeing firefighters...fully uniformed, partially uniformed...it's all good. Filling the boot is a great way to raise money for their charities.

I like boots and Free speach - Submitted by jcathall on August 9, 2006 - 3:17pm.

I say keep the firefighters and the boot, this is a time honored tradtion in my family and my kids love it as much as I do. Sign wavers, whatever they are waving for, are not panhandling. They are not asking for anything, nor are the guy's with the sandwich boards who are advertizing mattress sales.
Panhandling are the guys who can stand up on the corner all day and ask for money (some of them being rather belligerant if you don't give) -- I don't. There's a ton of social services available in this community and no reason for it.

I am not suprised that the Fireman's boot came up. I am suprised that the sign waving would come under Fire. That definatly should be protected as free speach as long as they are on the sidewalk and not blocking traffic - whether I agree with their waving or not.

Panhandling - Submitted by kakesius on August 9, 2006 - 5:33pm.

Panhandling (in the majority of cases) is an indication of a group of people who don't want to work. Not of a failure of the system. Why should it be up to "the system" in other words "the government" to provide employment to anyone? If you really want to work, then go get a job! There are more help wanted signs and job openings in this area than at any time in the past that I can remember. As far as "the system" providing services, well, the fact that this area has SO MANY services for people is one of the reason that we have so many panhandlers and transients. Ask those standing on the corners. They will tell you they are from other areas of the country and came here because "you guys have so many programs for the homeless". We do have a solid and active economy for those that want to be solid and active participants.

Yep - Submitted by HappyHeathen on August 9, 2006 - 5:49pm.

Nobody slips through the cracks, there is no mental illness and everyone is physically able to swing a hammer. Emotional and physical trauma is dealt with in a rational way because, well, it is the right thing to do. Imagine no beggars in this world. How would we judge our own success without them?

Yep Yep - Submitted by kakesius on August 9, 2006 - 7:26pm.

Notice the "(in the majority of cases)"about panhandlers not wanting to help themselves or work. Of course there are those who have mental or physical impairments and really do need help. That is exactly why your dollars should be given to charities, agencies and organizations that will help them. Not to the panhandlers/scammers/drug and alcohol addicts that destroy neighborhoods.

Ha! Panhandlers are lazy - Submitted by Dcr628 on August 9, 2006 - 7:40pm.

Ha! Panhandlers are lazy like foxes, all the way to the bank, due to the warm fuzzy fools who give to these characters thinking they are doing them a favor.

Read a article awhile back that indicated these "homeless" park fairly decent cars out of sight, while they drag in upwards of twenty bucks an hour TAX FREE! Take a look at the "rags" some of these "downtrodden" are wearing, sheesh some dress better than I do!

Knew a small business owner once who offered a job to one of these guys at 6 bucks an hour. He was laughed in his face! "Why should I come and work for you for that little bit!!!!"

Much of the panhandling problem would go away if: 1. So many well meaning but ignorant fools would stop giving away cash.
and 2. If some people would gather up enough self respect to not want to be seen begging....some folks care more about something for nothing, than what they show themselves as!

Gasp! So the truth comes - Submitted by Dcr628 on August 11, 2006 - 7:54am.

Gasp! So the truth comes out 'bertah" Its YOU on the prowl for halfnekkid Firefighters!!!

TNT article - Horrifying charges against a man of the law

2006-08-11T15:57:00.001-07:00

THE NEWS TRIBUNE
Last updated: August 5th, 2006 01:26 AM (PDT)

Society, thank heaven, still has a healthy capacity for shock and outrage when it comes to the sexual abuse of children.

Shock especially, in the case of a retired Tacoma police officer, Lee William Giles, who with his girlfriend has been charged with multiple counts of child rape.

Giles, 61, and 46-year-old Maureen Elizabeth Wear have been convicted of nothing at this point, but the crimes they’ve been accused of are unspeakable.

According to the charging documents, the two Tacomans preyed sexually on a young, developmentally disabled boy, a relative of Wear’s. She has also been charged with molesting two small girls. Police say they’ve confiscated home-produced porn videos showing the defendants with the children. More charges may follow.

At least some of the crimes Giles is accused of occurred while he was still serving as a police officer.

And not just any officer, but one of the most visible representatives of the Tacoma Police Department. Giles appeared on TV Tacoma’s “Behind the Shield” series and was a regular with Crime Stoppers and the Law Enforcement Youth Camp. He had visited elementary schools as part of the “Harvey, the Talking Motorcycle” outreach program. He has also been host of the radio show “Crime Time.”

If the charges are true, this is much the equivalent of sexual predation by a teacher, priest or minister – an unconscionable abuse of a position of authority and public trust. When the abuser is a seeming pillar of the community, it is especially hard for a young victim to effectively resist or seek help.

Children who are sexually exploited by any adult can suffer incalculable and lifelong psychological damage. Many endure depression, nightmares, rage, emotional breakdowns and failures in school. Some turn to drugs and alcohol and wind up as addicts. As adults, victims are far more prone to joblessness, homelessness and difficulties with relationships.

May justice be done in this horrifying case.

READERS COMMENTS:

Turnabout Is Fair Play! - Submitted by Bassetlady on August 6, 2006 - 6:37am.

If I am following this correctly, the policeman was raping this poor child with the help of it's mother, while he was still a full time police officer. I know that crimes AGAINST police officers have a higher sentencing guidline than crimes against us ordinary folks. Does this mean that his crime will now be treated like a special case? You know, like when you assault a police officer you are in much MORE trouble than if you assault any other meer mortal? How does this work when we need 'protecting' from the protected?

Horiffic - Submitted by HappyHeathen on August 5, 2006 - 7:22pm.

Horrific at any level. Besides the obvious wrongness of this, I cannot imagine anyone thinking this sort of think would go unnoticed. Didn't they for one instance think that they would be caught? Are they that arrogant? There has to be some disconnect here. Truly madness.

As horrifying as the charges are, - Submitted by ScrunchPunch on August 5, 2006 - 10:11am.

they are no more horrifying than Giles and Wear as humans. Hell, wild animals don't do this to their young. These two people are horrifying all by themselves and do greatly pose a threat to all children. They are now shamed in the face of the public and can't bear to go on anymore~~now that the spotlight is shined on them like cockroaches. They can now only wish they were dead~~but only because they got caught, not for what dirty deeds they did.

Okay. Here's justice. Once - Submitted by Regfool2 on August 5, 2006 - 9:42am.

Okay. Here's justice. Once convicted turn 'em both loose in the general prison population. Let's let 'em see what it's like to be vulnerable and helpless. Oh...wait...they have rights...unlike those poor kids...my only comfort is I believe God is taking notes....

TNT article - Jury convicts three of murder

2006-08-11T15:57:00.000-07:00

Guilty verdicts in possible gang-related shooting on Tacoma waterfront

KAREN HUCKS AND STACEY MULICK; The News Tribune
Last updated: August 8th, 2006 01:27 AM (PDT)

A Pierce County jury has convicted three men in what prosecutors called the gang-related murder of 19-year-old Faalata “Black” Fola in 2004.

After deliberating for two days, the 12 men and women Friday afternoon found Benjamin Salofi Asaeli – who shot Fola – guilty of first-degree murder by acting with an extreme indifference to human life. They also convicted him of second-degree felony murder based on an assault.

The jury couldn’t decide whether Asaeli committed premeditated murder. But he was convicted of possessing a stolen firearm and first-degree assault against another passenger in the car Fola was in.

They found Darius Asafo Vaielua and Eroni Joseph Williams guilty of second-degree felony murder, meaning they killed someone in the course of trying to assault someone.

Jurors acquitted the men of first-degree murder and intentional second-degree murder. Jurors did not add a five-year firearm sentencing enhancement to the conviction, despite that the crime was committed with a gun.

Fola, a Tukwila man with apparent ties to a Seattle gang, was shot seven times as he sat in his girlfriend’s car in a parking lot near South Fourth and Dock streets on Oct. 30, 2004. He died later on an operating table.

Deputy prosecutor Grant Blinn told jurors Asaeli, Vaielua and Williams sat in a bar earlier that morning and then went to the waterfront to “settle a score” with Fola. Fola apparently had been firing a handgun at the waterfront a week earlier, but it wasn’t clear if he was shooting in the air or at a car.

Someone called Fola’s house after that and told Fola’s sister to tell him he was “marked.”

Vaielua and Williams were members of a gang, Blinn said, while Asaeli was friends with some of its members.

Blinn said Vaielua asked Fola’s cousin where he could be found and when Williams approached Fola and told him he wanted to fight, Asaeli opened fire.

Asaeli testified that Fola had pulled a gun first. Defense attorneys for Williams and Vaielua argued that there was no gang and no plan to kill Fola.

Superior Court Judge Katherine Stolz will sentence Asaeli August 25. He is facing between 39 years, four months and 49 years in prison.

She will sentence Williams and Vaielua on Sept. 22.

Williams, who has previous convictions for second-degree robbery, will face life in prison without the possibility of release under the state’s “Three Strikes You’re Out” law aimed at repeat offenders.

Karen Hucks: 253-597-8660 - karen.hucks@thenewstribune.com
Stacey Mulick: 253-597-8268 - stacey.mulick@thenewstribune.com

TNT article - TACOMA: Young man shot on street in South End dies from injuries

2006-08-11T15:21:00.000-07:00

THE NEWS TRIBUNE
Last updated: August 11th, 2006 06:50 AM (PDT)

A 21-year-old Tacoma man shot in the head near a South End elementary school this week has died, the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office reported Thursday.

Jeffrey Mario Norris-Romine died Tuesday after he was shot about 3:15 p.m. Monday just west of Helen B. Stafford Elementary School near South 90th and Alaska streets.

A man who lives near where the shooting occurred said a blue sedan carrying two men raced away after the incident. The man rushed to help Norris-Romine, who had gotten out of a car to talk with the men in the blue car, he said.

Tacoma police detective Chris Taylor said Thursday that investigators were following up on leads but had not yet identified any suspects.

Paul Sand, The News Tribune

TNT article - Work-release plan could skip Pierce County

2006-08-10T20:54:00.000-07:00

JOSEPH TURNER; The News Tribune
Last updated: August 6th, 2006 01:52 AM (PDT)

State prison officials want to open more work-release centers around the state to take some of the pressure off an overtaxed prison system and to ease the transition of ex-convicts into local communities.

Harold Clarke, secretary of the state Department of Corrections, announced last week that his staff will begin searching for potential sites in communities where centers don’t exist. He did not elaborate on the communities or sites.

The prison system has 16 work-release facilities, including three in Pierce County. Progress House, RAP House and Lincoln Park all are inside the Tacoma city limits, although prison officials are trying to move Progress House and its 75 inmates to Lakewood.

Pierce County Prosecutor Gerry Horne, a critic of the state work-release program, said it’s too early to tell if building such facilities in other counties will help Pierce County because prison officials have not said whether any of the new ones would be located in the county.

Horne has long complained that Pierce County gets far more than its share of ex-convicts. Clarke addressed that concern, at least in part.

“All communities have an obligation to accommodate effective transitional offender programs such as work release,” Clarke said. “It is not fair to place that burden more heavily on one community than another.”

Clarke announced his plan Wednesday after meeting with officials from Tacoma, Lakewood and Pierce County.

Inmates are allowed to spend the final six months of their sentences at less-confining work-release facilities if they have good behavior in prison and can find a job in a community, said prison spokesman Gary Larson. Inmates are allowed to travel to their jobs and return to the center after work.

Clarke said he is a big believer in work-release programs because he thinks they give inmates a better chance of avoiding a life of crime if they have jobs and are more closely supervised.

Horne countered that his study of Progress House inmates showed they are more likely to commit more crimes than prison inmates who are released directly to the community.

Horne wants the prison system to radically change its work-release program or get rid of it.

The prison system has more inmates than it can handle.

It oversees 17,900 inmates, but nearly 1,000 of them are housed in rented cells out of state because there isn’t enough room for them in Washington prisons.

And even when the state finishes enlarging a prison in Eastern Washington in two years, it will be full virtually the day it opens.

Work-release centers would give the prison system more places to house inmates in-state and would be cheaper to operate. It costs about $26,000 a year to house an inmate in prison.

It costs $21,000 to house an inmate in work release, partly because inmates must pay $13 a day for room and board.

Nearly 500 prison inmates are eligible for the work-release program, but there’s no room for them.

Clarke plans to ask Gov. Chris Gregoire and the Legislature for more money in the 2007-09 state budget. He has not yet indicated how much.

There are four work-release centers in King County, two in Spokane and one each in Thurston, Kitsap, Clark, Whatcom, Franklin, Yakima and Benton counties. There are none in Snohomish, Mason and Lewis counties.

Clarke said the state prison system releases about 9,200 inmates each year. Only one-third of them are released under community supervision, he said.

State officials estimate that Washington’s prison population will exceed 22,000 within 10 years.

It could be years before any more work-release facilities open, and other communities are likely to resist them, Horne said.

The state Growth Management Act, however, says cities and counties cannot ban essential state facilities – that includes prisons work-release centers – and must set up a process for the state to obtain the necessary permits to build them.

Joseph Turner: 253-597-8436

joe.turner@thenewstribune.com

READERS COMMENT

Pink jumpsuits

Submitted by drakaba on August 6, 2006 - 9:20am.

and big rocks into little rocks......when jail stops being a flippin' country club and starts being an undesirable place to be, this problem will fix itself. We need to fix our permissable society that tries to blur the line between right and wrong.

JUST a question

Submitted by elk1934 on August 6, 2006 - 8:34am.

Here we go again. How many of the convicts are illegal immigrants that should be deported on their release?

now whos going to pay??

Submitted by patty123 on August 6, 2006 - 8:04am.

do you really think this is going to help??? soon as these guys get out they hook back up with their buddys!!! we need their familys to step in and take these guys inn..hell the the work release is flawed" and so is the prison system!! whats wrong with their familys they created this person!!! but again the tax payers are the ones getting raped by the system YOU KNOW THE PEOPLE WHO WORK FOR A LIVING OR THE MEN WHO ARE PROVIDEING FOR THEIR WIFES @ KIDS!!HELLO!!!!!!!! HERE IS A CONCEPT LAY OFF US MIDDLE CLASS PEOPLE AND LET THE PEOPLE WITH THE MILLONS BE TAXED FOR THIS SHIT!!

Sex offenders register in TACOMA, Puyallup area

2006-08-02T23:34:00.000-07:00

Sex offenders register in TACOMA, Puyallup area

The News Tribune
Last updated: August 2nd, 2006 01:25 AM (PDT)

By Stacey Mulick The following convicted sex offenders recently registered to live in Pierce County.

Each is categorized as a Level 3 sex offender, one considered most likely to commit similar crimes. None is wanted by law enforcement officers at this time.

All convicted sex offenders registered to live in Tacoma and Pierce County are listed on the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department’s Web site at www.piercesheriff.org.

Leroy E. Buck Jr.
Age: 49.
Description: 5 feet 11, 160 pounds, brown hair and blue eyes.
Where registered: 15600 block of 116th Street East in the Puyallup area.

Criminal history: Convicted of second-degree child molestation in 1996 in King County after he sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl during a gathering in Auburn. He was convicted in 1985 in King County for attempted second-degree rape.

Sex offender treatment: No information listed.

Other information: Has convictions for second-degree burglary, driving while intoxicated, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and failure to register as a sex offender.

For more information: Call Pierce County sheriff’s detectives at 253-798-2971.

Mark A. Davis
Age: 39.
Description: 5 feet 11, 150 pounds, black hair and brown eyes.
Where registered: Transient in Tacoma.

Criminal history: Convicted in 1995 in Pierce County of attempted indecent liberties with forcible compulsion after he sexually assaulted a 32-year-old woman. He was convicted in 2001 of failing to register as a sex offender in Pierce County.

Sex offender treatment: Did not participate in treatment while incarcerated.

Other information: Must report weekly to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department until he finds a permanent home.

For more information: Call Tacoma detectives at 253-591-5937.

William T. Andrews
Age: 23.
Description: 6 feet 2, 174 pounds, brown hair and blue eyes.
Where registered: 2500 block of South Fawcett Avenue in Tacoma.

Criminal history: Convicted in Pierce County of three counts of third-degree assault with sexual motivation after he sexually assaulted a 10-year-old girl.

Sex offender treatment: Did not participate in the treatment program while incarcerated.

For more information: Call Tacoma detectives at 253-591-5937.

TNT article - Asarco hit with massive claim

2006-08-02T10:54:00.000-07:00

Feds seek $1.3 billion for cleanup at 31 sites

LES BLUMENTHAL; The News Tribune
Last updated: August 2nd, 2006 06:42 AM (PDT)

WASHINGTON – The federal government has filed up to $1.3 billion in environmental cleanup claims against Asarco, the mining and smelting company that sought bankruptcy protection last year.

The federal claims represent only a portion of what Asarco could owe its creditors, including at least $500 million in asbestos exposure-related claims and hundreds of millions of dollars to states. Washington state filed a claim last week seeking up to $600 million.

Tuesday marked the deadline for filing the claims with a Connecticut-based claims administrator appointed by a federal bankruptcy judge in Corpus Christi, Texas, who is handling the Asarco case.

The federal claims involve 31 Superfund and other sites in 14 states.

“We were expecting a big number,” said Jack Kinzie, a Dallas lawyer who represents Asarco.

The federal government claims are unsecured. With the Superfund essentially depleted, federal taxpayers might end up paying for the Asarco cleanups.

In a 55-page filing called a supplemental proof of claim, the U.S. Justice Department acknowledged that Asarco might not be liable for all the cleanup costs. Other companies might be responsible for a portion of costs at some sites, and some cleanups are entangled in litigation.

But the Justice Department also said Asarco’s bill for the cleanups could grow.

“This supplemental proof of claim reflects certain known liabilities of Asarco to the United States,” federal lawyers said. “The United States reserves the right to amend this supplemental proof of claim to assert subsequently discovered liabilities.”

Asarco and other creditors can challenge the claims. A final ruling by the judge is not expected until well into 2007 at the earliest.

Earlier estimates pegged Asarco cleanup costs at roughly $1 billion at 94 sites in 21 states, including the company’s former copper smelter on the border of Tacoma and Ruston. But the new estimates, which took months to assemble, were much more detailed.

The environmental claims were among the largest ever filed by the Justice Department in a bankruptcy case, said Cynthia Magnuson, a department spokeswoman.

Asarco filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last August, six years after it was bought by Grupo Mexico S.A. de C.V., owned by one of Mexico’s richest families.

Since the bankruptcy, lawyers representing asbestos claimants have alleged in court documents that Grupo Mexico “systematically cannibalized” Asarco of its most valuable assets, particularly two of the world’s best copper mines, high in the Andes in Peru.

The Justice Department initially sought to block the transfer of the Peruvian mines to a Grupo Mexico subsidiary. But after Grupo Mexico agreed to create a $100 million environmental trust fund, federal lawyers acquiesced.

About half of the trust fund has been spent cleaning up Asarco sites. Justice Department lawyers say the remaining money in the trust fund should not become part of the bankruptcy proceedings.

The lawyers representing the asbestos claimants have asked the Texas bankruptcy judge and a New York judge in a separate case for permission to drag Grupo Mexico and its deep pockets into the Asarco proceedings. Grupo Mexico is also named in the New York case and has been served with a summons and a complaint. The Department of Justice has yet to decide if it will also go after Grupo Mexico.

Asbestos lawyers have another month to file claims for their clients. Earlier court documents estimated there were 85,000 such claims worth about $500 million.

Fifteen or sixteen states were also considering claims, though Washington’s was expected to be among the three or four largest.

Among the federal claims, the largest seeks up to $505 million for a mining district in northern Idaho. The claim involving Asarco’s former Tacoma-area smelter was $54 million – though with the sale of some of the property to a developer, the cost could be closer to $45 million.

But the Tacoma-area smelter site was also among those listed as having additional “potential” environmental liabilities.

ASARCO’S TAINTED LEGACY

Here is a breakdown of the federal government’s environmental claims against Asarco. The federal Superfund sites are in bold.

Site	Location	Claim amount
1. Bunker Hill	Coeur d’Alene Basin, Idaho	$505.5 million
2. Omaha Lead Smelter	Omaha, Neb.	$261.4 million
3. Tar Creek	Ottawa County, Okla.	$154.5 million
4. California Gulch	Leadville, Colo.	$60 million
5. Commencement Bay	Tacoma and Ruston	$54 million
6. Taylor Springs	Montgomery County, Ill.	$38.2 million
7. Madison County	Madison County, Mo.	$35.9 million
8. Upper Blackfoot/Mike Horse Mine	Helena, Mont.	$35 million
9. Jasper County	Jasper County, Mo.	$32.6 million
10. El Paso County	Texas	$26.4 million
11. Big River Mine	St. Francois County, Mo.	$20 million
12. Azurite Mine	Whatcom County	$15.2 million
13. Globe	Colorado	$14.1 million
14. East Helena	East Helena, Mont.	$9.6 million
15. Golinsky Mine	Redding, Calif.	$8.8 million
16. Jack Waite Mine	Prichard, Idaho	$8.4 million
17. Federal Mine	St. Francois County, Mo.	$8 million
18. Cherokee County	Kansas	$8 million
19. Circle Smelting	Beckemeyer, Ill.	$8 million
20. Newton County	Newton County, Mo.	$3.5 million
21. Hayden	Winkelman, Ariz.	$3.4 million
22. Vasquez Blvd.	Denver	$3.4 million
23. Iron Mountain Mine	Superior, Mont.	$1.6 million
24. Stephenson Bennett Mine	Dona Ana County, N.M.	$791,000
25. Richardson Flat	Summit County, Utah	$607,000
26. Combination Mine	Phillipsburg, Mont.	$542,000
27. Flux Mine	Patagonia, Ariz.	$261,000
28. Black Pine Mine	Phillipsburg, Mont.	$188,000
29. Murray Smelter	Utah	$125,000 (per year)
30. Federated Metals	Houston	Undetermined
31. Encycle	Corpus Christi, Texas	Undetermined

Les Blumenthal: 202-383-0008

lblumenthal@mcclatchydc.com

Originally published: August 2nd, 2006 01:00 AM (PDT)

TNT article - Man shot in back while walking on Hilltop street

2006-08-02T09:53:00.000-07:00

THE NEWS TRIBUNE
Last updated: August 1st, 2006 01:20 AM (PDT)

A 25-year-old Tacoma man was shot and injured on the Hilltop early Monday while walking home from the store, Tacoma police reported.

The man was being treated at Tacoma General Hospital. His injuries were not considered life-threatening, police spokesman Mark Fulghum said,

The man was walking in the 1000 block of South 20th Street shortly after 12:20 a.m. when he was confronted by a group of young men. One pulled out a chrome-plated gun, which the victim thought was fake, Fulghum said.

The victim was shot in the back. A witness heard several gunshots and saw four young men running away from the scene, then called police.

Detectives were investigating. No arrests have been reported.

Stacey Mulick, The News Tribune

Originally published: August 1st, 2006 01:00 AM (PDT)

READERS COMMENTS:

Whoa

Submitted by HappyHeathen on August 1, 2006 - 6:00pm.

That is profound. Seems like those firefighters need to be cross trained.

Per day and on duty at any given time?

Submitted by citylies on August 1, 2006 - 5:52pm.

74 fire fighters, 22 cops, 74 fire fighters, 22 cops, 74 fire fighters, 22 cops, 74 fire fighters, 22 cops, 74 fire fighters, 22 cops, 74 fire fighters, 22 cops, 74 fire fighters, 22 cops, 74 fire fighters, 22 cops, 74 fire fighters, 22 cops, 74 fire fighters, 22 cops, 74 fire fighters, 22 cops, 74 fire fighters, 22 cops, 74 fire fighters, 22 cops, 74 fire fighters, 22 cops, 74 fire fighters, 22 cops, 74 fire fighters, 22 cops, 74 fire fighters, 22 cops, 74 fire fighters, 22 cops, 74 fire fighters, 22 cops, 74 fire fighters, 22 cops, 74 fire fighters, 22 cops, 74 fire fighters, 22 cops, 74 fire fighters, 22 cops, 74 fire fighters, 22 cops, 74 fire fighters, 22 cops, 74 fire fighters, 22 cops, 74 fire fighters, 22 cops, 74 fire fighters, 22 cops, 74 fire fighters, 22 cops, 74 fire fighters, 22 cops, 74 fire fighters, 22 cops, 74 fire fighters, 22 cops, 74 fire fighters, 22 cops, 74 fire fighters, 22 cops, 74 fire fighters, 22 cops, 74 fire fighters, 22 cops, 74 fire fighters, 22 cops, 74 fire fighters, 22 cops, 74 fire fighters, 22 cops, 74 fire fighters, 22 cops, 74 fire fighters, 22 cops, 74 fire fighters, 22 cops, 74 fire fighters, 22 cops, 74 fire fighters, 22 cops, 74 fire fighters, 22 cops. Fires per day= less than one. Calls for police per day 1,500+ HHHHHHHHHMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Doing the math

Submitted by citylies on August 1, 2006 - 5:47pm.

442 fire fighters, 330 cops, 442 fire fighters, 330 cops,442 fire fighters, 330 cops,442 fire fighters, 330 cops,442 fire fighters, 330 cops,442 fire fighters, 330 cops,442 fire fighters, 330 cops,442 fire fighters, 330 cops,442 fire fighters, 330 cops,442 fire fighters, 330 cops,442 fire fighters, 330 cops,442 fire fighters, 330 cops,442 fire fighters, 330 cops,442 fire fighters, 330 cops,442 fire fighters, 330 cops,442 fire fighters, 330 cops,442 fire fighters, 330 cops,442 fire fighters, 330 cops,442 fire fighters, 330 cops,442 fire fighters, 330 cops,442 fire fighters, 330 cops,442 fire fighters, 330 cops,442 fire fighters, 330 cops,442 fire fighters, 330 cops,442 fire fighters, 330 cops,442 fire fighters, 330 cops,442 fire fighters, 330 cops,442 fire fighters, 330 cops,442 fire fighters, 330 cops,442 fire fighters, 330 cops,442 fire fighters, 330 cops,442 fire fighters, 330 cops,442 fire fighters, 330 cops,442 fire fighters, 330 cops,442 fire fighters, 330 cops,442 fire fighters, 330 cops,442 fire fighters, 330 cops,442 fire fighters, 330 cops,442 fire fighters, 330 cops,442 fire fighters, 330 cops,442 fire fighters, 330 cops,442 fire fighters, 330 cops,442 fire fighters, 330 cops,442 fire fighters, 330 cops,442 fire fighters, 330 cops,442 fire fighters, 330 cops,442 fire fighters, 330 cops,442 fire fighters, 330 cops...............HHHHHHHMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

A SERIOUS Problem

Submitted by bummed1 on August 1, 2006 - 5:11pm.

You have a SERIOUS problem Mr. Tacoma City Manager and Mr. Mayor, that you both best get a handle on pronto. That problem is both of substance and perception due to the gang/gun violence that is spiraling out-of-control. Welcome to Tacoma: the Wild, Wild, Wild, Wild, Wild Wild West Mr. Anderson - let's see what your leadership skills are. It's time to clean this wretched city up! WWRD? (aka Rudy Giuliani)

TNT article - Marchers send a message to gangs: ‘We won’t let you win’

2006-08-02T09:52:00.000-07:00

Marchers send a message to gangs: ‘We won’t let you win’

PAUL SAND; The News Tribune
Last updated: August 2nd, 2006 06:19 AM (PDT)

Moldavia Mapuatuli and his cousin Tala Lelei were walking to football practice Tuesday afternoon on Tacoma’s East Side when something caught their eye and compelled them to change their plans.

It was a group of about 40 people, mostly teens, making signs and preparing for a two-mile march from McKinley Playfield to the Portland Avenue Community Center to promote peace and call for an end to violence on the East Side.

“We’ve got friends and family in gangs, and we want it to stop,” said Lelei, 16, as he and Mapuatuli, 18, walked down East McKinley Avenue, carrying signs that read “Shoot Hoops Not People!!!”

The march, which culminated in a block party at the community center, was part of National Night Out, an annual event when people try to connect with their neighbors, foster a sense of community and talk about crime prevention techniques.

More than 150 neighborhood block parties were held Tuesday night in Pierce County, said Priscilla Lisicich, executive director of Safe Streets, the organization that sponsored the East Side youth march. The march was the most visible of the local National Night Out events but certainly not the largest: At least two parties in Spanaway and Tacoma expected about 200 people each, she said.

Rico Leslie, an ex-gang member turned youth counselor who calls himself Brother Rico, marched with the group down McKinley Avenue, across East 38th Street and to East Portland Avenue, leading them in chants of “Increase the peace!” and “No more violence!”

The march sent a message to people on the East Side that they should get involved in the community and meet the people they live next to, Leslie said. It also sends a message to gang members, he said.

“If we make a stand like this on a regular basis, we’ll let them know: We won’t let you win,” Leslie said.

In a brief rally before the 30-person group marched toward the community center, Leslie told the crowd to not be discouraged by their size.

“We may have a small turnout, but what matters is that people came out,” he said.

Nina Anderson and her daughter, Dontea, donned the event’s signature green T-shirts and joined the small but vocal crowd, which drew cheers and honks from drivers on the march route.

“I think it tells (people) that we, as a community, are concerned about our streets,” Anderson said.

Kendra Lopez, who lives in South Tacoma and is a member of the Youth Leading Change group, which helped organize the march, said she hoped the event showed people on the East Side that others areas of the city want to help.

“Even though we don’t live here, we want to stop violence,” said Lopez, 16.

Originally published: August 2nd, 2006 01:00 AM (PDT)

READERS COMMENTS:

Gangs Aren't Elected Officials

Submitted by anthonw on August 2, 2006 - 8:29am.

Rallies and marches may work fine for catching the attention of our elected leaders, but gangs aren't really looking for your vote. I would agrue, therefore, that such rallies do very little to curb the violence. But, maybe these rallies aren't actually aimed at the gangs, but rather at local officials who for years now have spent money improving the buildings in downtown, but ignoring the problems in surrounding neighborhoods that actually have contributed to the need for such rallies.

Maybe it is time these people stopped marching in their own neighborhoods and started marching on city hall, demanding more be done to clean up crime in Tacoma. I propose the following signs:

1. Build communities not museums
2. End crime not park maintenance (or library hours, etc.)
3. Patrol the streets before you fix them?
4. Save lives not domes

Why is it that this made

Submitted by ButtMudd on August 2, 2006 - 7:41am.

Why is it that this made front page AFTER the fact. Maybe there would have been a bigger turnout had people known about it. Seems to me somebody dropped the ball on reporting this.

TNT article - Man shot in back while walking on Hilltop street

2006-08-02T09:50:00.000-07:00

Man shot in back while walking on Hilltop street

THE NEWS TRIBUNE
Last updated: August 1st, 2006 01:20 AM (PDT)

A 25-year-old Tacoma man was shot and injured on the Hilltop early Monday while walking home from the store, Tacoma police reported.

The man was being treated at Tacoma General Hospital. His injuries were not considered life-threatening, police spokesman Mark Fulghum said,

The victim was shot in the back. A witness heard several gunshots and saw four young men running away from the scene, then called police.

Detectives were investigating. No arrests have been reported.

Stacey Mulick, The News Tribune

Originally published: August 1st, 2006 01:00 AM (PDT)

Whoa

Submitted by HappyHeathen on August 1, 2006 - 6:00pm.

That is profound. Seems like those firefighters need to be cross trained.

Per day and on duty at any given time?

Submitted by citylies on August 1, 2006 - 5:52pm.

Doing the math

Submitted by citylies on August 1, 2006 - 5:47pm.

A SERIOUS Problem

Submitted by bummed1 on August 1, 2006 - 5:11pm.

TNT article - Man faces murder charge after bullet hits friend

2006-08-02T09:48:00.000-07:00

KAREN HUCKS; The News Tribune
Last updated: August 1st, 2006 01:21 AM (PDT)

Pierce County prosecutors say Aquarius Tyree Walker was trying to protect his friend when he shot into a crowd of people fighting outside a Lakewood tavern early Saturday. Instead, he shot Tavarrus Moss in the head and killed him, court papers say.
Chief criminal deputy prosecutor Jerry Costello charged Walker, 22, with first-degree murder in the death of 24-year-old Moss, who died Sunday. The documents state that, with an extreme indifference to human life, Walker engaged in conduct that created a grave risk of death.

He also is charged with two counts of first-degree assault and one count of first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.

Walker pleaded not guilty to the counts Monday in Superior Court. Judge Vicki Hogan granted Costello’s request to hold Walker in Pierce County Jail in lieu of $1 million bail.

An attorney assigned to him for the day reserved arguments on bail until Walker has a permanent attorney.

In court, Walker answered “Yes, ma’am,” in a low, gruff voice when the judge asked him to confirm his name.

As corrections officers led him away after the hearing, Walker waved to a group of people sitting in the fifth-floor courtroom. Several women hugged and cried after the hearing. No one in the group was willing to talk to The News Tribune.

Lakewood police say the shooting occurred about 1:45 a.m. Saturday in a parking lot in the 6000 block of Mount Tacoma Drive, after an argument in a nearby bar. Charging papers give this account:

Walker was at the tavern with known Lakewood gang members Tavarrus Moss and his 27-year-old brother, Henri Moss, when they had a confrontation with members of a rival gang. Costello said Walker denies being in a gang, and his affiliation is unclear.

The rival gang members were thrown out of the tavern. When Walker and his group came into the parking lot, people taunted Henri Moss because some members of the same gang evidently had beat him up last year, prosecutors said.

Henri Moss fought with at least two of the rival gang members and Tavarrus Moss joined the fight.

Walker – watching the fight– went to his car and grabbed a handgun. A witness saw him activate a laser sight on the gun and train it on the group that was fighting. Walker then fired into the group, court papers say.

Costello says Walker shot Tavarrus Moss in the head, Henri Moss in the leg and one of his rivals, Rooney Key, 25, in the arm.

A police officer, who had stopped a suspected drunken driver nearby, heard the gunshots and saw the shooter jump over a fence. A police dog tracked the man’s scent and found him hiding in the cab of a parked pickup truck.

The gun believed used in the shooting was found under a pile of tires, authorities say.

Costello said Walker initially told detectives he didn’t shoot anyone, but later said he shot into the crowd to protect his friend. That makes him no less liable for Moss’ death, Costello said.

“I don’t have any reason to believe he was trying to shoot his own friend,” Costello said. “I have to believe he was hoping to shoot the people they were fighting with.”

Karen Hucks: 253-597-8660

karen.hucks@thenewstribune.com

READERS COMMENTS:

Another person not thinking before they acted
Submitted by Damon41 on August 1, 2006 - 5:05pm.
Just another fine example of a person who
A. Didn't think before he acted.
B. Has no right to have access to a firearm, wonder if they did a background on him.
C. Not very smart.
D. ALL of the above.

Gangs
Submitted by bummed1 on August 1, 2006 - 10:38am.
Gangs are a blight on our society - they are nothing more or less than domestic terrorists, and should be treated like terrorists.

FYI - Definition for blight: Something that impairs growth, withers hopes and ambitions, or impedes progress and prosperity.

Headline I would like to see.............
Submitted by HappyHeathen on August 1, 2006 - 8:37am.
"NRA TODAY ISSUES WARNING TO NOT DRINK AND GUN"

Like that is going to happen.

“I don’t have any reason
Submitted by Regfool2 on August 1, 2006 - 7:58am.
“I don’t have any reason to believe he was trying to shoot his own friend,” Costello said. “I have to believe he was hoping to shoot the people they were fighting with.”

Either way, this guy is NOT an asset to society. Lock him up for life.

Reply

TNT article - Private road in dispute at landfill

2006-08-01T02:40:00.000-07:00

EIJIRO KAWADA; The News Tribune
July 22nd, 2006

A private gravel road runs through the Pierce County landfill in Graham, its end out of sight as drivers turn onto it from Highway 161.

After about a mile, the road runs out amid some 35 homes of the Woodbrook Estates Homeowners Association, hidden behind the landfill.

Woodbrook residents hope the dead-end road doesn’t symbolize their own path as they wage a property rights battle – a fight that might be headed to court.

LRI, the company that owns the unpopular landfill, wants to relocate Woodbrook Road so it can expand its operations southward.

Residents want to be compensated for their loss. Pierce County, at the urging of LRI, has threatened to condemn the road if homeowners can’t reach an agreement with LRI.

“We own the property,” said Andy Bales, president of the homeowners association. “This is all about (County Executive John Ladenburg) and the county threatening to take private property and transfer the ownership to a large private corporation.”

County officials said it’s in the interest of Pierce County residents to use eminent domain, if necessary, to take over the road.

“They asked for $15 million,” said Ron Klein, Ladenburg’s spokesman. “That cost would have to be shared by our ratepayers. Rather than being blackmailed by that, we’d use eminent domain.”

As Woodbrook residents see it, however, the case is not just about a road and money. Bales said that if the county succeeds here, it could also condemn their homes if LRI ever wanted to expand the landfill eastward.

John Rodgers, LRI’s district manager, said the company has no plans for such an expansion.

At full capacity, the landfill can take Pierce County’s garbage for the next 20 years with about 865,000 tons deposited there annually. It is the final resting place for most common garbage from homes and businesses in the county.

The Woodbrook conflict sheds light on an issue that will be on county ballots this fall.

A proposal calls for amending the county charter to prohibit taking private property for private economic development. The county would be able to do so only for public use.

The Woodbrook homeowners lobbied the Charter Review Commission to get this on the ballot.

Also in November, Washington voters are likely to see Initiative 933, which would require state and local governments to compensate private landowners for regulations that reduce the value of private property.

For now, Woodbrook residents are prepared to go to court if necessary.

“We don’t care what happens in court,” Bales said. “We just are not going to let them do this.”

Large rural parcels

The Woodbrook neighborhood consists of 5- and 10-acre parcels tucked behind the landfill. Some houses are visible to neighbors. Others are hidden behind trees. Several have barns and horses.

The home association was formed in 1978 to maintain the private road, long before the landfill was built in 1996. LRI renewed its permit earlier this year to operate for another 10 years. .

The homes used to be surrounded by woods. Now, when the wind blows from the southwest, a stench hangs over the homes, Bales said. During the summer, the odor is of rotting garbage, and during the winter it changes to that of methane gas, which is worse.

“But, honestly, (the landfill) is here, and none of us have a delusion that it’s going to go away,” Bales said. “We are trying to make the best of it.”

LRI first approached homeowners in the summer of 2002 with a proposal to build an alternate road along the landfill’s southern boundary.

Negotiations lasted about two years.

“They didn’t want to give us anything,” said Roy Humiston, a Woodbrook resident since 1978. “And we almost went for it because we didn’t know what it was worth,” Bales said.

Negotiations ended in August 2003, after residents asked for compensation. They declined to tell The News Tribune how much they wanted, but Ladenburg spokesman Klein said it was $15 million.

According to a Feb. 15, 2005 memorandum by LRI’s attorneys to their clients, total capacity at the landfill would drop by about 7 million cubic yards, or 24 percent, without Woodbrook Road.

“The prospect of a county condemnation action should be a very large motivator for Woodbrook to come back to the table with a reasonable position,” the memo said.

According to documents, LRI then approached Ladenburg asking the county to use its condemnation powers over Woodbrook Road.

Initial response not favorable

The initial response from Steve Wamback, the county’s solid-waste administrator, wasn’t favorable to LRI. He sent a March 31, 2005, e-mail to his boss, public works director Brian Ziegler.

“It’s difficult to find the right words, but my gut tells me that it is wrong to assist LRI in cleaning up their permitting and land acquisition mess,” Wamback wrote.

That summer, Wamback sought legal advice from Pete Philley, a Pierce County deputy prosecutor. Wamback had his answer the next month.

In an Aug. 1 memo to Ziegler, Wamback said the legal analysis concluded that the county “more than likely” has authority to condemn the privately owned road.

Ladenburg sent a letter to Woodbrook residents last September, saying: “I must also make clear that if reasonable agreement appears unobtainable, I will not hesitate to commence proceedings to condemn Woodbrook Road.”

That step might be necessary, Ladenburg wrote, “to protect the citizens of Pierce county from rate increases and loss of landfill capacity.”

Mickey Gendler, a land-use lawyer from Seattle representing Woodbrook residents, called the move unconstitutional.

The state constitution states: “Private property shall not be taken for private use, except for private ways of necessity, and for drains, flumes, or ditches on or across the lands of others for agricultural, domestic, or sanitary purposes.”

Gendler said it’s clear the county can’t take the road for a landfill.

“We shouldn’t need to go to court for the county to realize this is the wrong thing to do,” he said.

Klein, Ladenburg’s spokesman, said county officials disagree.

“We may have to find that out in court,” Klein said of the constitutionality question. “They knew all along that we’d have to expand the landfill,” he added.

LRI joins neighborhood association

Meanwhile, LRI has bought some properties in Woodbrook and become a member of the neighborhood association. LRI requested a meeting with the association’s board in April and got it last month.

“They said they were going to come up with an offer,” Bales said. “And they told us that they want to be a good neighbor, if you can believe that.”

The residents know they are dealing with agencies that are big and powerful, but they say they will not back down.

“If LRI and the county aren’t prepared to do the right thing, they’d better not underestimate us,” Gendler said.

Eijiro Kawada: 253-597-8633
eijiro.kawada@thenewstribune.com

TNT article - TACOMA: Man shot in chest on Hilltop, but no motive or witnesses

2006-07-30T21:41:00.000-07:00

THE NEWS TRIBUNE
Last updated: July 26th, 2006 01:21 AM (PDT)

thenewstribune.com

Posted online: 10:17 a.m. Tuesday

A 29-year-old man was shot in the chest in Tacoma’s Hilltop neighborhood late Monday but couldn’t tell police who shot him or why.

The man’s injuries were not considered life-threatening, Tacoma police spokesman Mark Fulghum said Tuesday. The man was being treated at Madigan Army Medical Center.

He told officers he was walking down the street near South 21st Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way when he was shot just before midnight, Fulghum said. A passer-by saw the man collapse, and ran to a nearby home and asked a resident to call police.

The victim provided no description of the gunman or of any vehicle. He didn’t know why someone would shoot him, Fulghum said.

There were no witnesses to the incident, and officers found no shell casings in the area.

Drugs were found on the man, but it was not known whether they had anything to do with the shooting, Fulghum said.

Stacey Mulick, The News Tribune

TNT article - TACOMA: Young men treated at hospital after drive-by on East McKinley

2006-07-29T09:43:00.000-07:00

TACOMA: Young men treated at hospital after drive-by on East McKinley

THE NEWS TRIBUNE
Last updated: July 28th, 2006 01:41 AM (PDT)

Two young men suffered minor injuries Thursday afternoon when a passenger in a car fired several shots at them, Tacoma police reported.

No arrests were reported in the drive-by shooting. The victims, ages 17 and 20, were treated at St. Joseph Medical Center, said police spokesman Mark Fulghum.

The shooting occurred in the 6100 block of East McKinley Avenue shortly before 2 p.m.

The victims told officers they were walking down the street, minding their own business, when the car approached them. A passenger leaned out the window and fired several shots at the victims, Fulghum said.

One victim was hit in the arm; the other in the leg, Fulghum said.

The victims were not able to provide descriptions of the gunman or the vehicle. Witnesses gave conflicting reports of the type of vehicle the gunman was in, Fulghum said.

It was unknown whether the shootings were gang-related, but one officer reported the victims did not have known ties to gangs, Fulghum said.

Stacey Mulick, The News Tribune

TNT article - TACOMA: Car passenger fires on two men, hitting one of them in the elbow

2006-07-29T09:40:00.000-07:00

THE NEWS TRIBUNE
Last updated: July 29th, 2006 01:25 AM (PDT)

A passenger in a car shot at two teenage men walking down an East Side street Thursday night.

One of the two, an 18-year-old, was shot in the elbow and was treated at St. Joseph Medical Center for his injuries, Tacoma police spokesman Mark Fulghum said.

The two men were walking near East 34th Street and McKinley Avenue about 8:45 p.m. when a black Honda pulled up. The passenger rolled down the window and pulled out a gun, Fulghum said.

The two men started to run and the passenger fired, wounding the 18-year-old man. His 19-year-old companion was not hurt, Fulghum said.

The two told officers they didn’t recognize the car or the gunman and didn’t know why someone would shoot at them.

It was unclear whether the shooting was related to a drive-by shooting in the 6100 block of East McKinley Avenue earlier Thursday when two young men, ages 17 and 21, were struck by bullets fired from a passing car. One was hit in the leg, the other in the arm.

No arrests have been reported in either case.

TNT article - Leaders ask Cantwell for help with gangs

2006-07-22T08:52:00.000-07:00

SEAN COCKERHAM; The News Tribune
Last updated: July 22nd, 2006 06:08 AM (PDT)

U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell tells South Sound officials she will work to get their communities more federal cash to fight gangs. The resurgence of Tacoma’s gang violence follows federal cuts to programs meant to stop the killing, local leaders told U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., on Friday.

The city has seen a 43 percent cut over the past six years in several criminal justice grants, said John Briehl, director of the city’s human rights department. That includes cuts to grant programs meant to build community groups, train police and provide domestic violence services.

“I know there is a correlation,” Briehl told the senator. “We’ve seen some things come back that we were successful in suppressing.”

Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor added that federal help was part of how Tacoma turned itself around from its notorious gang violence problem of the late 1980s and early 1990s.

“The problem is we’re seeing a remake of the movie,” Pastor said. “And it’s not a pretty remake.”

Cantwell called the meeting after a recent eruption of gang violence in Tacoma. People from law enforcement, local government, social service agencies and other groups gathered at Salishan’s Family Investment Center on East 44th Street.

Cantwell, a member of the minority party in the Senate, said the stories from the Tacoma meeting will help her effort to get federal dollars. She said Congress is starting work on appropriations bills.

“We’ll go back to battle for those and we’ll see what we can do,” she said.

Representatives from Puyallup told Cantwell there are gang members in their city as well.

Puyallup Police Chief Robin James said that includes the MS-13 gang, originally from El Salvador; the Bandidos motorcycle gang; and a group of Juggalos, followers of the Insane Clown Posse rap-metal band. He said there hasn’t been any violent crime but he expects problems will come.

Several people at the meeting complained about federal grants that last only a year or so, hardly enough time to get staff hired and trained.

“What we’re looking for is consistency in funding to make sure we are able to build off it,” said Tacoma City Councilman Rick Talbert.

The Tacoma City Council voted at an emergency meeting earlier this month to give almost $500,000 to police for an expanded gang-prevention effort. But Talbert said that’s just a “short-term stopgap.”

Lawrence Stone, a former East Side gang member who runs an outreach program for at-risk youth, told Cantwell there’s a lack of understanding about the culture of the streets.

“If you fly in here and don’t have an interpreter, that money will always get wasted,” he said. “I’m that interpreter.”

Edwina Magrum, chairwoman of the East Side Community Action Team, said there’s a desperate need to build a sense of community in troubled areas. She said slum properties must be dealt with and businesses are needed to put young people to work on the East Side. She said government programs can help.

“The idea is to work government out of a job,” she said.

Sean Cockerham: 253-597-8603

sean.cockerham@thenewstribune.com

READERS COMMENT:

Our County Government better get off the pot and keep up with Tacoma City in this fight against gangs or all that will happen is the "problems" will continue to be pushed from the city into unincorporated Pierce County where we are down to .67 deputies per 1,000 citizens - yes, you read right. It's shameful isn't it that in the out-of-city areas of Pierce County we have only about 1/3 the law enforcement power as the city folk. How in the hell is the Sheriff's Department supposed to manage what's coming their way when they haven't been able to manage the problem thus far? It’s only going to get worse.

Mr. Ladenburg, our County Executive who has repeatedly said that "nothing is broken in Pierce County" has got to be certifiably nuts - or blind - oh wait, maybe he's just too busy with building his golf course to notice our county's brokenness.

I can't get this picture out of my mind - it's the picture of Nero playing fiddle while Rome burned, however it's Ladenburg playing golf while Pierce County burns.

Ladenburg needs to go, and perhaps so does the man he handpicked to hold the position of Sheriff. After all, how innovative might a sheriff be able to be when gagged by his employer. The sheriff is quickly losing the trust of the people - Ladenburg lost it a looong time ago.

TNT article - Fire safety rules for developers get another look

2006-07-07T11:57:00.000-07:00

AARON CORVIN; The News Tribune
Last updated: July 7th, 2006 01:36 AM (PDT)

The Pierce County Council will revisit an emergency ordinance it approved five months ago to tighten controls on densely packed housing developments that some fire officials say are unsafe.

Councilman Calvin Goings, D-Puyallup, is proposing to renew the temporary ordinance the council unanimously adopted Feb. 7. The ordinance, which expires Aug. 6, requires developers who want to build under the rules of what planners call “planned development districts” to use fire-resistant construction materials and ensure that roads don’t impede emergency vehicles.

The Master Builders Association of Pierce County is urging the council to let the ordinance expire, partly because the organization says the restrictions are inflating the price of housing.

In a June 26 letter to Council Chairman Shawn Bunney, R-Lake Tapps, association President Todd Lord said the ordinance has “resulted in limiting the number of new building lots under review, and will result in a further acceleration of housing price inflation due to a more significant lot shortage in the near future.”

Goings’ measure would extend the emergency ordinance up to six months. It also would retain the 19-member task force the council charged with fixing problems with the planned development alternative.

“I trust our local fire chiefs, and when fire department officials tell me we have a threat to life and property, I take that seriously,” said Goings, whose measure is expected to be heard by the council July 25.

Lord, a member of the task force, said the builders association supports maintaining the task force and working on the issue “for as long as it may take to achieve needed improvements to the (planned development district) process.”

But the council needs to refocus the task force, Lord said, because the panel has struggled to agree on its objectives.

The task force should focus on reducing the number of projects submitted under the planned development option, Lord said, including by eliminating conflicts in the county’s land-use code that have forced developers to use the option.

Catherine Rudolph, government affairs director for the Tacoma-Pierce County Association of Realtors, is a member of the task force. She declined to take a position on whether the council should remove the emergency ordinance.

Instead, she said the central issue is finding a way to fix problems with the county’s land-use code that make it difficult for developers to meet the call of Washington’s Growth Management Act: increasing housing density.

Road standards also need to be fixed, Rudolph said, and the task force has talented people capable of improving the development process.

“The important thing is for everybody to stay at the table,” she said.

Local fire officials and resident activists say they want to keep the task force going, too. But they also say the council should maintain the emergency ordinance.

“The fire service, in the absence of any controls over what’s creating the emergency in the first place, would object to the lifting of such an ordinance that we have in place now,” said Gary Franz, deputy fire chief for Graham Fire and Rescue and a member of the task force.

Eric Ellison, a task force member and chairman of the Frederickson Land Use Advisory Commission, said the ordinance keeps pressure on builders to resolve the problems “as quickly as possible.”

The measure introduced by Councilman Goings would continue the temporary controls adopted by the council in February. Those controls, contained in an ordinance that declared a need to immediately preserve public health and safety, require developers who want to build under the rules of planned development districts to comply with the county’s “small-lot” design standards.

Among other things, the small-lot standards require developers to use fire-resistant construction materials, install sprinkler systems and ensure that roads or on-street parking don’t block emergency vehicles. They also are required to avoid drab paint colors on homes.

The emergency ordinance also established a task force of fire safety officials, developers, citizens, architects and county road and planning officials to recommend long-term fixes to the rules for planned development districts.

The council approved the ordinance in response to complaints from some fire safety officials and residents who said the planned development option had led to unsafe neighborhoods in some cases. Instead of producing higher-quality housing developments as intended, they said, the planned development rules have created skinny roads that impede firetrucks, made houses vulnerable to fire by packing them too close together and left neighborhoods without charm and privacy.

Pierce County has allowed developers to use the option since the early 1970s.

From January 1999 to August 2005, the county took in 305 applications for residential subdivisions. Of those, 75 came in under the planned development district option. Developers have used the option most frequently in the unincorporated areas of Frederickson, South Hill and Spanaway.

WHAT: The Pierce County Council is scheduled to take up its emergency ordinance concerning planned development districts.

WHEN: 3 p.m. July 25

WHERE: County-City Building, Room 1045, 930 Tacoma Ave. S., Tacoma

Call THE COUNCIL: 253-798-7777

TNT article - Such potential, such hope, such disappointment

2006-06-30T18:18:00.000-07:00

PETER CALLAGHAN; THE NEWS TRIBUNE
Last updated: June 25th, 2006 01:36 AM (PDT)

I wouldn’t be so disappointed in the Pierce County Charter Review Commission if I hadn’t had such high expectations for it.

What could be better than a group of mostly regular folk elected by fellow voters to review and suggest changes to the rule book for county government? Voters, not the politicians, would decide to adopt them.

Long meetings held in relative obscurity were a burden for the 21 commissioners. But it would be worth it.

Or not.

Unless they add proposed charter amendments before Friday – something that isn’t expected – the commissioners will send nine changes to the ballot in November. Among them are a few good ideas, at least one bad idea and a handful of tepid changes that wouldn’t make much difference at all.

None of the broader themes that marked the early discussions of the commissioners will be represented.

They talked, for instance, about rebalancing the power structure between a weak County Council and a strong county executive. This has been a concern almost from the beginning. In the early 1980s a group called Friends of the Charter said the council needed to assert itself more with the first executive, Booth Gardner.

Some charter amendments are supposed to strengthen the council. None is weighty enough to tip the balance.

Another theme was to open up government. Open meetings and open records are the law of the state, but they’re not defended in the charter. No changes to open-government requirements will be on the ballot.

Finally, there was hope that county elections could be opened up – giving more candidates a chance and forcing incumbents to work a bit harder for re-election.

The current charter, for example, puts county elections in even-numbered years in competition with higher-profile elections for president, governor, Congress and the Legislature. Candidates fight a losing battle for attention and contributions. Too often, name familiarity is the deciding factor, something incumbents have and challengers lack.

Term limits themselves have made it unlikely that incumbents seeking their second and final term get a vigorous challenge. Better to wait until the seat is open four years later than swim upstream against a system that favors incumbents.

And the lack of a limit on total years served has led to a revolving door through which incumbents can serve eight years on the council and then eight years in one of the countywide offices like auditor or assessor-treasurer and then return to the council.

Changing all this was talked about but not resolved. A plan for instant runoff voting will appear on the ballot, but its backers have yet to show how it would address any of the problems facing county government.

Two proposals would give voters a bit more say on issues important to them. The commissioners agreed to support a reduction in the number of signatures needed to place initiatives and referendums on the ballot. Another would expand the use of performance audits.

But considering what could have been, these are tame reforms – hardly enough to make voters feel their government will become more responsive and more efficient.

Which leaves the one bad idea that easily cleared the commission. While electing the sheriff is appealing on the surface, it’s what led to the creation of the charter 25 years ago. A corrupt sheriff caught up in an arson-for-hire scam remained in office for 21/2 months after being indicted.

The stench from that scandal led to the election of the first charter commission. The easiest decision then was to appoint the sheriff – to turn a political office into a professional one.

If the rest of the proposed amendments weren’t so watery, this change might be tolerable. But when it is the dominant result, it only highlights the fact that a real opportunity for reform has been missed.

Peter Callaghan: 253-597-8657

peter.callaghan@thenewstribune.com

TNT Article - Fort Steilacoom unsafe at night, police caution

2006-06-27T05:43:00.000-07:00

STACEY MULICK; The News Tribune
Last updated: June 27th, 2006 01:21 AM (PDT)

Lakewood police are warning residents to stay out of Fort Steilacoom Park at night after 23 people were victimized in three attacks last week.

The people – who told police they didn’t know their attackers – were beaten with sticks, threatened with a machete or robbed of their cell phones, wallets or shoes during incidents after the park closed Tuesday and Wednesday, police Lt. Dave Guttu said.

“People should be aware that they are really putting themselves in danger in the park after dark,” he said.

No arrests have been reported but investigators suspect the same attackers – a group of seven to eight men in their teens to early 20s – might be behind the incidents. Guttu said detectives have leads they are following.

The attackers told their victims they were Juggalos, devoted fans of the Detroit rap group Insane Clown Posse.

“We haven’t confirmed that but that’s what they are claiming,” Guttu said.

Police say they are aware of local youths who claim to be part of the Juggalo subculture but have seen no violence from them.

“Apparently, they are escalating in violence,” Guttu said.

In the incidents, the attackers approached a group of people in the park and stole their wallets and cell phones. One attacker used a machete to intimidate the victims, Guttu said. They beat up at least three people using sticks and took the shoes of some victims.

The incidents occurred after midnight, long after the dusk closing time of the park.

“All the victims were in the park outside the posted rules,” Guttu said.

More than a dozen uniformed and plainclothes officers have conducted three operations in the park since the attacks. The officers have made contacts with visitors. They have written tickets for those who were in the park after hours (a $500 fine) and for possession of marijuana.

Stacey Mulick: 253-597-8268

stacey.mulick@thenewstribune.com

TNT article - PIERCE COUNTY: Proposal for more time to decide on appointments moves forward

2006-06-27T05:37:00.000-07:00

THE NEWS TRIBUNE
Published: June 27th, 2006 01:00 AM

Pierce County voters would choose whether to give County Council members more time to confirm or reject appointments by the executive under a proposal that received preliminary approval Monday.

The council’s Rules and Operations Committee voted 2-0 to send a proposal to voters on the Nov. 7 ballot that would increase to 60 days the period the council has to decide the executive’s appointments to boards and commissions.

Councilman Calvin Goings, D-Puyallup, said the current 30-day limit isn’t enough to adequately examine the qualifications of appointees and to provide opportunities for public input.

The proposal would change the 1980 home-rule charter, which defines the structure and functions of Pierce County government. Voters in November will consider nine other changes to the charter that were approved last week by the 21-member Charter Review Commission.

The council’s three-member Rules and Operations Committee is expected to discuss other proposals July 10.

Aaron Corvin, The News Tribune

TNT article - Lakewood explores work-release sites

2006-06-27T05:30:00.000-07:00

Lakewood explores work-release sites

ANGIE LEVENTIS; The News Tribune
Last updated: June 27th, 2006 01:21 AM (PDT)

Lakewood is looking at two commercial strips as possible sites for an unwanted prison work-release center – and other programs like it – to keep them away from residential neighborhoods and places frequented by children.

The proposal would allow Progress House at one of about five possible locations on South Tacoma Way and Pacific Highway Southwest, two of Lakewood’s higher-crime business districts.

The state still would have to go through an extensive public process before setting up this or similar programs anywhere inside city limits.

Under the proposal, work-release facilities would be prohibited from residential neighborhoods such as the campus of Western State Hospital. That’s where the state originally intended to put the 75-bed facility after moving it from the grounds of Tacoma’s Remann Hall.

Neighbors in Lakewood, Steilacoom and University Place feared the program could bring harm to Steilacoom High School students, children playing at Fort Steilacoom Park and patients at the mental hospital.

Foes of Progress House love the new idea.

“Zoning authority, as any police power, must be exercised for the preservation of public health, safety and welfare,” said Jennifer Martinez, of the group Keep Lakewood and Steilacoom Safe. “Allowing Progress House residence on Western State Hospital would be a grave disservice to our community by putting us in harm’s way.”

But residents and business owners in parts of the city that would be left open to work release say they’re concerned. Lisa Ikeda, president of the Pacific Neighborhood Association, said she’s worried it might hurt her neighborhood. But she wants to wait and learn more at a public hearing scheduled for Wednesday.

Community development Director Dave Bugher said it’s better to limit where work-release programs can go than open the entire city to them. He reasons that the state Department of Corrections could already legally move Progress House to Pacific Highway or South Tacoma.

The new zoning proposal is part of a package of rules controlling where work release would be permitted. They also require more communication with the state.

The city’s Planning Advisory Board is discussing the rules and is expected to make a decision next month. The draft then goes to the City Council, most likely by the end of the summer.

Some of this may sound similar to the city’s 2003 attempt to zone strip clubs and adult bookstores near South Tacoma Way. The predominantly Korean-American neighborhood protested that move, and the city eventually created several zones for sex businesses dispersed throughout the city.

No new adult businesses have opened in Lakewood since.

Planning board member Seung Han said there are some differences between the two zoning scenarios. In the case of the original adult entertainment zone, the city would have opened a much larger commercial area to any number of adult businesses the free market would allow.

Work release, however, involves just one program for now and only a few potential sites distributed in two parts of the city. This zoning change would also come with a set of stringent conditions, perhaps pushing the state to look outside Lakewood.

“The Korean community, as far as I know, is in the same boat as the rest of Lakewood,” Han said. “Western State Hospital is not an appropriate place for work release.”

The city has temporarily banned new work-release programs since February 2005. That ban was recently struck down by the Central Puget Sound Growth Hearings Board. Lakewood has appealed.

The state Department of Corrections has been looking at other sites in Pierce County since April, but has come up with no alternatives to Western State. A final site was supposed to have been picked last week.

Anne Fiala of the corrections department said she has seen Lakewood’s new zoning proposal but had no comment at this time.

“What the city is asking for is not unreasonable,” Bugher said. “We’re not telling the state they can’t come. We’re telling them you have to be a good neighbor.”

What: Public hearing on new work release rules

When: Wednesday, 6:30 p.m.

Where: Lakewood City Hall, 6000 Main St. S.W. What Lakewood is considering

Some proposed work-release rules:

• No work-release facilities within 1,000 feet of day care centers, parks or schools. Two work-release programs cannot be within 1,000 feet of one another.

• A work-release operator must draft a compatibility study analyzing impacts on neighbors.

• The operator must meet with the public prior to settling in Lakewood and must provide annual reports on the success of the program, as well as recidivism rates.

• The operator must be accountable for escapees, increases in crime or drain on the city’s budget due to the program.

• All essential public facilities (schools, hospitals, corrections programs etc.) must have an updated master plan that shows what uses are already there and what new ones might be coming.

• New public projects or tenants are subject to a public hearing and a hearing examiner ruling. (This does not include small renovations or some school projects, such as portable classrooms.)

Originally published: June 27th, 2006 01:00 AM (PDT)

TNT article - Council meetings now more accessible

2006-06-26T10:41:00.000-07:00

AARON CORVIN; The News Tribune
Last updated: June 26th, 2006 06:34 AM (PDT)

For years, members of the Pierce County Council have held a weekly meeting to talk about office supplies, vacations and other “administration” issues.

The seven politicians and their staff met over lunch at the Tacoma Club, the well-appointed business and social club on the 16th floor of the Wells Fargo Building. Unlike most of their other meetings, no agenda was posted in advance for the public to see, there was no audio recording and the written minutes of the meeting were skimpy at best.

In fact, council members had to get a chair for a News Tribune reporter on two occasions because they weren’t expecting anyone from the public.

However, it’s clear they talked about more than pencils and paperclips. Topics in recent months included the county’s mental health system and proposals to change the county’s 1980 home-rule charter.

Last month, council members decided to move the meeting to their offices at the County-City Building. They also began posting the agendas and tape-recording the meetings. The changes came as The News Tribune asked questions about the practice, though county officials said no single factor prompted the shift.

Even so, council members defended the old way, saying the meeting was always posted on their weekly schedule, the public was always welcome and that other public officials use the Tacoma Club for meetings.

Council Chairman Shawn Bunney, R-Lake Tapps, said the council doesn’t use the meetings, formally known as the Council Administration Study Session, to decide legislative matters.

“We do sometimes talk about the calendering and logistics of important issues,” he said, “but this certainly is not at the heart of huge decisions that impact people’s lives beyond just the operation of our county government.”

Michele Earl-Hubbard, a First Amendment lawyer and president of the Washington Coalition for Open Government, disagreed. She said the lack of audio recordings and detailed minutes made it nearly impossible for taxpayers who were unable to attend the meetings to find out what council members said. Having an open meeting at a private club where you have to grab chairs for the public doesn’t put out the welcome sign, either, Earl-Hubbard said.

And since no agenda was ever posted, why would taxpayers go, anyway?

“They’re saying you can come, but they’re making it very difficult for you to come because you have no place to sit,” Earl-Hubbard said. “Any time they’re doing things that make it more difficult for the public, it raises a red flag.”

No one is certain when the council began holding the administration study sessions at the Tacoma Club, where one lunch menu included seafood Cobb salad and a top sirloin sandwich. Tom Weber, a council staff member, said a former council administrator and council leaders held similar meetings beginning sometime in mid-1998.

The News Tribune reviewed the council’s bills between January and April and found that the lunch meetings, which can last two hours, cost taxpayers $3,328. That’s an average of $832 per month.

Council members say the meetings help them learn about staff issues and allow them to efficiently address mundane office details.

Councilman Calvin Goings, D-Puyallup, said 90 percent of the council’s meetings are held in the council’s chambers, where it always invites and collects public input. In his six years on the council, Goings said, he’s never seen more than one person show up for one of the council’s administration meetings.

“I don’t think the public sees the need to participate in a study session where we talk about who’s going to cover the receptionist’s lunch break,” Goings said.

Chairman Bunney said: “It’s a slow news day if this is really important to folks. We consciously work to make sure we follow the rules.”

To be sure, council members do talk about things as banal as making sure the office coffee pot is filled. But the council’s summaries of the meetings, which only outline topics discussed and not who said what, as well as observations by News Tribune reporters, show council members also talk about serious matters.

In January, council members talked about the repercussions of their decision to oust one of Executive John Ladenburg’s deputies from the health board and to force the executive to serve on the board.

In March, council members talked to Ladenburg about a draft ordinance to create a board governing the county’s mental health system.

In May, council members discussed proposals by the Charter Review Commission, the elected panel reviewing the county’s 1980 home-rule charter.

Councilman Goings emphasized that council members have never voted on any issues during the administration study sessions.

Susan Long, attorney for the council, said the move to the council’s offices saves time. And she acknowledged that it makes the meeting more accessible to the public by having it where most of the council’s other meetings are held.

As for the decision to begin tape-recording the meetings, Long said, “We do record other meetings, and since we are here and made the decision to be here, it’s easy to tape.”

At last week’s meeting, council members and staffers munched on Round Table Pizza in the conference room at the council offices. The pizza, along with salad and soda pop, cost $102. Council members talked about the contents of a news release they planned to send out about their budget priorities and about being more aggressive in obtaining grants.

OPEN MEETINGS LAW for state

Washington’s open meetings law requires government agencies to be open and public. Citizens aren’t required to meet any conditions to attend the meetings of a governing body. The law defines a “meeting” as meetings at which action is taken. It defines “action” as the transaction of official business by a governing body, including but not limited to collection of public testimony, deliberations, discussions, reviews and final actions. How to get involved

The Pierce County Council has moved its weekly administrative meeting from the Tacoma Club to council offices.

What: Council Administration Study Session
When: Noon Tuesdays
Where: Council Conference Room 1, 10th floor of the County-City Building, 930 Tacoma Ave. S., Tacoma
Agenda: Go to www. piercecountywa.org, select “County Council” and click on the link for “Council Meetings and Minutes.”
Contact them: 253-798-7777

Aaron Corvin: 253-552-7058
aaron.corvin@thenewstribune.com

TNT article - Too few deputies stymies arrests

2006-06-25T21:07:00.000-07:00

STACEY MULICK; The News Tribune

Nearly half the time when people show up at Pierce County District Court with outstanding arrest warrants, no deputy is available to take them into custody after staff members call the Sheriff’s Department.

“That’s very problematic, it seems to us, because the person is there in front of us,” Presiding Judge Jim Heller said recently. “We are right here in the heart of the criminal justice bailiwick.”

The arrest warrants often are for misdemeanor cases such as domestic violence, drunken driving and other lower-level crimes. They are issued when offenders fail to show up for court hearings or violate their probation.

The problem is resources, say court and sheriff’s officials. The Sheriff’s Department’s court security unit has four deputies who handle outbursts, security and arrests in the 33 courtrooms in the County-City Building.

“This is just a staffing issue,” sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said. “We pick them up as we have manpower available.”

Between March and December 2005, court staff members called the Sheriff’s Department 223 times when people with warrants came to the courthouse to pay fines or check on cases. Deputies did not respond 100 times, said Chuck Ramey, District Court administrator.

Between January and April of this year, staff members asked for deputies 104 times, and they did not respond on 48 occasions.

Hearing from Heller on the matter, Pierce County Council members on June 15 authorized a study of how the Sheriff’s Department handles outstanding warrants.

“We should have a policy where we are arresting these people and making them pay their debt to society,” Council Chairman Shawn Bunney said. “We think it is an issue that needs to be addressed.”

The investigation should be done later this summer and in time for talks on the 2007 county budget.

The issue is not new, but Heller said it has become more significant in the past year.

District Court officials routinely see people come to the sixth floor of the County-City Building without being scheduled for a court hearing. They are paying fines, checking on court dates or turning themselves in on warrants they know about, Heller said.

Deputies not available

While checking on the request, court staff members can see whether the person has an outstanding warrant. Court officials call the Sheriff’s Department when the person has a domestic violence warrant with a bail amount of at least $1,000 cash or a $10,000 bond, or any other warrant of at least $2,500 cash bail or a $25,000 bond, Ramey said.

In a recent instance, court officials asked the Sheriff’s Department to take a man into custody June 5 because he had two outstanding domestic violence warrants after failing to appear in court for hearings on probation violations, Ramey said. The department said no deputies were available.

The problem appears confined to people who show up at the District Court service windows. When people with warrants are before judges in District or Superior Court, corrections officers or deputies usually are able to book them into jail.

“If they are coming in on summons arraignments, officers are standing right there in the courtroom,” said Superior Court Presiding Judge Stephanie Arend. “It is pretty rare where we don’t already have an officer already in the courtroom.”

‘Policing a small city’

The Sheriff’s Department’s four-member court security unit is one of the smaller units in the 374-member department. Dressed in blue uniforms, they cover Superior, District and Municipal courtrooms from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each weekday. Each afternoon, one deputy staffs the Superior Court domestic violence docket.

“They basically do a foot patrol beat in the County-City Building,” said Craig Adams, the sheriff’s legal adviser. “You are policing a small city.”

In addition to the warrant arrests, the unit handles fights and is used as a show of force for hearings with the potential for violence. It also monitors other hearings, such as heated divorces and evictions.

For example, extra deputies were on hand earlier this month at a murder trial in which several suspected gang members were in the audience, hoping to intimidate witnesses.

“Like everything, we have to respond on a priority basis,” Troyer said.

The unit does not escort prisoners inmates to and from Pierce County Jail for court hearings. That’s done by 27 corrections officers.

A court security deputy who arrests someone on an outstanding warrant can be out of commission for at least 30 to 45 minutes while booking the person into jail. Some days, that time cannot be spared, sheriff’s officials said.

“It depends on what trials are going on, what arraignments are going on, do we have fights going on and have to escort people to their cars?” Troyer said. “It’s a matter of eight major things going on and three people.”

Sheriff’s officials said it would be impractical to pull deputies off the street to pick up people with warrants at the County-City Building. “The closest patrol deputy from the field would be Spanaway,” Troyer said.

Sheriff Paul Pastor has requested two more deputies for the court security unit in his 2007 budget, at a cost of $237,740 the first year and $137,600 annually.

“The additional personnel will help; but will not solve this issue of coverage,” he wrote in a June 9 letter to County Executive John Ladenburg. “We are seeing steady increases in demands for service for this personnel.”

Stacey Mulick: 253-597-8268
stacey.mulick@thenewstribune.com

TNT article - Deputies shoot, kill man firing at them

2006-06-22T20:26:00.000-07:00

JOSEPH MONTES; The News Tribune

Three Pierce County deputies shot and killed an apparently despondent man who fired at them outside his South Hill home Wednesday evening, a sheriff’s spokesman said.

Police responded around 8 p.m. to an emergency call that the man had been firing gunshots near his home in the 2600 block of 134th Street Court East, spokesman Ed Troyer said.

The man, 54, was standing in the yard with a handgun when police arrived.

The man ignored demands to drop his gun and fired a shot into the air, Troyer said. He then made a comment about “going to war” and went into his home and grabbed a rifle with a scope.

He came back outside and fired two shots into the ground with the handgun, then shot at a deputy who was crouched behind the door of his patrol car, Troyer said.

“Other deputies shot back and fired at him at the same time,” Troyer said. “We fired only after he shot at us.”

The man went down after he was hit, and died at the scene, Troyer said. Police weren’t certain why the man was despondent but assumed it had something to do with family problems.

It was not known late Wednesday how many shots hit the man.

Officers on the scene have been put on paid administrative leave, Troyer said.

Joseph Montes: 253-552-7091

joseph.montes@thenewstribune.com

TNT article - Drug court tries new, untested treatment

2006-06-22T20:24:00.000-07:00

M. ALEXANDER OTTO; The News Tribune

Pierce County Drug Court is trying an experimental treatment for methamphetamine and cocaine addiction called Prometa, and so far, officials like what they see.

This spring, eight people addicted to cocaine and 32 addicted to meth underwent Prometa treatment, which consists of a several weeks of common prescription drugs plus dietary supplements and counseling, through the county’s drug court program.

After 60 days of treatment, almost all the addicts had no or only one relapse and no additional drug arrests, according to Terree Schmidt-Whelan of the Pierce County Alliance, a private drug treatment agency that provided the Prometa on behalf of the court.

The normal success rate in the county’s drug court program, which offers treatment instead of incarceration for appropriate defendants, is about 50 percent, Schmidt-Whelan said.

“We wanted to give this a try and see if it worked,” said Jack Hill, director of the county’s Department of Assigned Counsel. “We have been very gratified with our experience so far.”

No one is calling Prometa a miracle cure, only a possible help with recovery if early findings like those in Pierce County pan out in larger studies.

It is too early to tell, for example, if Prometa will keep people off drugs for good and if it will succeed with the broader group of methamphetamine and cocaine addicts, as opposed to the more motivated drug court defendants, who are looking to avoid jail time by completing treatment.

“I think it’s a long-shot, a million to one,” said Dr. John Mendelson, who treats addicts and conducts federally funded studies into addiction treatments at the California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco.

The problem, he said, is that the drugs used in Prometa have been on the market for a long time and have not proved effective in drug treatment.

Another addiction scientist, Dr. Herbert Kleber, a psychiatry professor and director of the substance abuse department at New York’s Columbia University, said more than 50 anti-addiction drugs showed promise in early projects like Pierce County’s. “None of them have been shown to work in double-blind, placebo-controlled trials,” he said.

Because of that lack of strong evidence, state insurance companies and state-funded health programs do not cover Prometa.

Los Angeles based Hythiam Inc., which owns the rights to the treatment regimen and licenses its use to clinics, is promoting Prometa.

Hythiam’s chief executive, Terren Peizer, who owns 35 percent of the company’s stock, said his company is developing clinical data that should persuade scientists and insurance company to start covering his treatment and thereby make his company profitable.

“I believe this will be a standard of the industry. I have no doubt about that – it helps people,” Peizer said.

Fairfax Hospital, a for-profit drug treatment center in Kirkland, is the only clinic in Washington that has a license so far. Cocaine and meth Prometa treatment there is $15,000. For alcoholism, it’s $12,000 to $13,000.

The hospitals says around 60 percent of its Prometa patients are clean at six months.

Pierce County officials heard about Hythiam at a conference. Desperate for something to help notoriously difficult-to-treat meth and cocaine users, they decided to give it a try.

Hythiam waived its licensing fee for the county, but the county still spent more than $40,000 on Prometa treatments, according to Schmidt-Whelan.

One patient, Paul Douglas, 49, a security guard in Tacoma, said he was startled at how Prometa reduced his craving for cocaine, a demon he has been fighting since 1987.

“I was about to give up hope,” he said Wednesday at a Seattle news conference describing the county’s experience with the drug. “Now, hope’s been restored,” he said.

The drugs used in Prometa treatment are nothing new, and if you bought them at a pharmacy, they would not be expensive. The main components are flumazenil, which is commonly used to reverse the effects of tranquilizers after colonoscopies and other medical procedures; the antihistamine hydroxyzine, which helps recovering addicts sleep; and gabapentin, traditionally used for nerve pain and to prevent seizures. Other drugs, like generic Prozac, might be used, too.

Protein drinks and vitamins, along with traditional counseling, are also part of the Prometa program.

The theory at Hythiam is that the drugs work on brain receptors to produce long-standing changes in drug craving and use.

What bothers Mendelson, of the California Pacific Medical Center, and others is that the treatment is being promoted aggressively – one billboard campaign features the late comic Chris Farley, who had chronic addiction problems – while evidence is still being gathered.

“It’s unethical,” Mendelson said. “I don’t mind them testing this unlikely combination, but the fact that they are charging people today for this up to $15,000 is outrageous.”

Peizer is well known in the financial world for his work with medical start-ups, as well as for being the protégé of junk-bond trader Michael Milken before Milken was convicted of securities fraud in 1990. Peizer testified for the state against Milken and said he was never accused of any wrongdoing.

M. Alexander Otto: 253-597-8616

alex.otto@thenewstribune.com

TNT article - Man dies in highway gunfire

2006-06-22T20:23:00.000-07:00

STACEY MULICK; The News Tribune
Last updated: June 22nd, 2006 06:58 AM (PDT)

A 19-year-old Tacoma man was killed in a gunfight on Highway 512 late Tuesday, and investigators suspect his death is related to other recent gang shootings in Tacoma.

A fatally wounded Jamie Bunta was able to get his car off the highway at Pacific Avenue, then rear-ended a car parked at a nearby nightclub and died, Pierce County sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said Wednesday.

“We are looking at the probability that it is gang-related,” he said. “We are working with Tacoma police on this because of the people that are involved.”

No arrests were reported or suspects identified Wednesday.

Investigators do not believe the shooting was random but were still looking at what might have sparked the deadly exchange of gunfire.

“We don’t know if there was an altercation between the two cars earlier, if this was a road-rage incident or if the guy was targeted,” Troyer said.

Bunta was westbound on Highway 512 shortly before midnight Tuesday when he exchanged gunfire with someone in another car, Troyer said.

“We don’t know who was shooting first,” he said.

Bunta left the highway and pulled into the parking lot of a nightclub in the 10700 block of Pacific Avenue South. The other car kept driving west on Highway 512. It was unknown where it headed, Troyer said.

After Bunta’s car crashed into another car at the club, a passenger ran from his car and disappeared. He has not been located, Troyer said.

“We don’t know who that is at this point,” he said.

Inside Bunta’s car, investigators found a gun that had recently been fired, Troyer said. Several shots had been fired into the side of Bunta’s car.

The Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled that Bunta died of gunshot wounds to the abdomen and chest.

The Sheriff’s Department asked anyone who witnessed the shooting to call investigators.

They were looking for a maroon or burgundy Bonneville Pontiac or similar vehicle, or a white sports car, Troyer said.

The other car might have several bullet holes in it, he added.

Tacoma’s East Side has experienced an upswing in gang-related shootings. Since December, the incidents have killed two men and seriously wounded another.

Stacey Mulick: 253-597-8268

stacey.mulick@thenewstribune.com

Reward offered

Tacoma-Pierce County Crime Stoppers is offering up to $1,000 for information leading to arrests and charges filed in this case. Callers remain anonymous. Reach Crime Stoppers at 253-591-5959.

Originally published: June 22nd, 2006 01:00 AM (PDT)

TNT article - Trouble lurks underground

2006-06-19T09:06:00.000-07:00

ROB TUCKER; The News Tribune

Joseph Crouchet and his family bought their three-bedroom house in Spanaway, a 28-year-old rambler with a big backyard for their kids. It was their first home.

Earlier this year, the septic drain field failed, sewage backed up into the house and Crouchet, his wife and three children couldn’t use their sinks or toilets until repairs were done.

The system had been inspected, as required, before the family moved in two years ago. No problems were detected. But after the failure, they paid $10,000 for a new drain field and other upgrades.

“What do you do? I’ve got three kids,” said Crouchet, 32. “I wish I would have known. We didn’t have to worry about it when we were renting.”

The Crouchet family’s situation is not unusual, but it’s serious. When a septic system fails, the home must be hooked up to municipal sewers, which can cost tens of thousands of dollars. If that’s not possible, wastewater can be stored in a holding tank that must be pumped out frequently. That’s also costly.

About 75,000 septic systems are in use in Pierce County homes, schools or other buildings. More than a quarter of the county’s 755,900 residents are on septic.

Last year, local health agents inspected 4,600 systems and found 700 that needed repair or had failed, said Steve Marek, public health manager for the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.

Major problem areas include the Gig Harbor peninsula, Fox Island, Midland and locations near Puyallup, health department records show.

As city dwellers move to suburbia in search of better schools, more land and quieter neighborhoods, many find themselves owners of septic systems for the first time – and they are unfamiliar with what lies underground.

Pierce County issued 3,760 new home permits last year in unincorporated areas, and 59 percent of those houses will be on septic systems. So far this year, of 1,321 new home permits issued, 68 percent are for homes on septic, according to county building officials.

Federal officials say about a quarter of American households have septic systems and that 10 to 20 percent are malfunctioning because of poor management, according to The Washington Post.

Factors that keep failures lower in Pierce County include a mandate that systems are inspected when a property is sold. The local health department sends a packet of septic information to property purchasers. And a provision implemented in the 1980s requires builders to designate a “reserve area” on a home lot that can be used as a second drain field in case the original fails.

New developments within urban growth areas are required to hook up to sewers, if possible.

Still, experts are concerned that too many homeowners don’t know enough and need to inform themselves before they create a health hazard or pay for costly repairs.

“It’s at least as important as a roof or furnace in a home,” said John Thomas, a local septic system adviser. “It’s often overlooked because it’s in the backyard, underground.”

People don’t care – until it breaks

A septic system can cost $3,000 to $25,000. People who use them might enjoy escaping a monthly sewer bill, but they need to perform regular maintenance to keep the system working. Pumping out the tank can cost $270 or more every two to five years.

Thomas advises local real estate agents and home inspectors and trains installers at Washington State University Puyallup. He said some people don’t give their systems the high priority they should, especially if the home is built on a waterfront or near a sensitive natural area.

Failures and malfunctions are due to aging systems, improper maintenance and wet, absorbent soils. Depending on location and maintenance, a properly maintained system can last 50 years or longer, Marek said.

Thomas said more than a third of all homes in the state are on septic. He said most people who purchase a new home with a septic system receive related paperwork as part of the sale. They know they have the system and have instructions on its use and maintenance.

“The issue is the second and third buyer,” he said. “There’s no paperwork left two to three years later. We zero in on educating them. It’s a huge job.”

In part that’s because local interest in learning about the systems and how to maintain them seems to be low at the moment. Thomas said his free, quarterly homeowner education sessions used to draw 30 to 40 people.

“Now we see very few people,” he said. “People have busier lives. It’s not a priority thing for people – until it breaks.”

Some people don’t know their tanks should be pumped at least every five years. Some aren’t aware they have a septic system until sewage pools show up in the lawn, signaling a failure. Some ignore preventive maintenance or make other mistakes.

‘There was a funny smell’

Bruce Mace said he spent about $1,600 to repair his damaged septic system in the Prairie Ridge area south of Bonney Lake. Two years after moving into a new home, sewage backed up in the plumbing.

He had a local company pump his concrete tank. The company said it had a broken part.

“It might have been our fault,” Mace said. “We felled a big tree on the system area.”

When crews began repairs, they found more problems, he said.

Don LeBlanc, on the other hand, received a costly Christmas surprise.

He and his wife bought a home south of Highway 410 near Bonney Lake last December. A few days after they moved in, “there was a funny smell,” he said. “I saw water bubbling up from the lawn.”

The drain field in his septic system had failed. It was only eight years old, he said. The system was inspected before he moved in, he said, but the problem wasn’t apparent.

He got a new drain field installed in another part of the lot for $10,000. And he hired a lawyer to try to recover some of his losses.

“Merry Christmas,” he said. “And I’m 10 grand poorer.”

More inspections possible

Some experts nationally favor more field inspections to ensure public health. They might be coming here soon.

In the Puget Sound region, there are 472,000 septic systems. Marine counties, including Pierce, have to comply with a new state law that says they must come up with a plan for regular inspections of systems along shorelines and in critical marine areas, Marek said.

Pierce County health officials already inspect some systems more often. They’re located mostly on the Key Peninsula shorelines and in critical marine areas. One reason is to prevent contamination to sensitive shellfish beds, Marek said.

If funding allowed, local health officials would like to more intensely inspect systems along Spanaway Lake, Ohop Lake and along fish-bearing Clarks Creek in the Puyallup area and South Prairie Creek, Marek said.

The health officials likely will add more inspections next year, based on risk analysis, if the health board approves.

County health officials inspect only systems that handle the effluent of nine homes or fewer. State health and state Department of Ecology officials inspect larger systems.

Septic frustration

Joseph Crouchet was frustrated with the septic system inspection before he moved his family into the Spanaway home they bought for $150,000 in 2004.

Crouchet said certified inspectors, paid for by the seller, checked only the tank. He wishes they would have dug deeper.

Health officials said a certified company inspects the septic tank and a health inspector checks original building drawings and the above-ground landscape to determine where the system is and whether it’s showing any signs of failure.

Crouchet, who said he’s in the construction business, dug up part of the old drain field and found that the collapsing pipes were of poor quality.

Having grown up in a home on a septic system, he knows how to be careful with them, he said.

Would he ever buy another home on septic? Yes, he said, but he’d spend $200 to $300 to hire a person who can run a camera into the system to “see what’s going on down there.”

How they work

When someone flushes a toilet in the city or in urban areas with sewers, the wastewater goes to a sewage treatment plant. But in areas without sewers, it’s not as simple as flushing and paying the monthly sewer bill.

Step 1: The bathroom wastewater is routed to a septic system next to the home. The waste, along with water from the laundry and sinks, runs into an underground tank, usually made of concrete or heavy plastic. The tank holds, on average, about 1,000 gallons locally.

Step 2: Solids are broken down by bacteria into sludge or gas. Lighter solids, like grease, rise and form a scum on top.

Step 3: As more wastewater comes in, it forces the liquids out of the tank into an adjacent drain field, a network of buried, perforated pipes in gravel-filled trenches.

Step 4: The liquids percolate into the soil, undergoing some cleaning through filtering before returning to the ground water. Eight tips for using septic systems

• Avoid excess water use. The soils under septic systems must absorb all water used in the home. Stagger laundry, wash only full loads and employ water-saving devices.

• Be careful when making landscaping changes. The system is buried just below the surface. Know where it is. Keep heavy equipment, livestock and traffic off the drain field or drain field replacement area. Too much weight can damage the system by compacting soils or damaging drain pipes.

• Don’t direct storm runoff to the system area.

• Don’t place concrete or plastic on the ground over the system. Grass is the best cover.

• Check the system once a year. Look in sloping areas for odors, wet spots or surfacing sewage.

• Pump out the tank every two to five years, depending on soil conditions and how many people live in the house.

• Avoid using a garbage disposal, which increases solids, requiring more frequent pumping.

• If you have problems, contact the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department at 253-798-4788 or consult www.wossa.org, a Washington On-Site Sewage Association site.

Rob Tucker: 253-597-8374
rob.tucker@thenewstribune.com

TNT Article - Charter changes now up to you

2006-06-18T09:34:00.000-07:00

Charter changes now up to you

AARON CORVIN; The News Tribune
Come November, Pierce County voters will decide a smorgasbord of proposals to remodel county government, including making the job of sheriff an elected position, adopting a different way to elect some county officials and bolstering property rights.

In a series of votes, the Charter Review Commission on Saturday decided to send nine of 15 possible changes to the county’s constitution to voters on the Nov. 7 ballot.

But the elected 21-member panel’s work isn’t done.

It delayed action on three other proposals, which differ in detail but share the same goal: making county officials more accountable to the public. The commission is expected to decide those proposals Thursday.

Accountability and public access to government are common themes throughout the proposals adopted by the commission Saturday, said Commissioner Grant Pelesky of Puyallup.

He said the commission “has done the work of being the eyes and ears of the general electorate.”

Voters elected the commission last November to direct a six-month review of the county’s 1980 home-rule charter, the county’s equivalent to a constitution. It’s a process the charter requires every 10 years.

The commission, a group including attorneys, businesspeople, former lawmakers, retirees, a homemaker, a doctor, a teacher and a farmer, has until June 30 to complete its work.

County residents like Rick Sorrels are watching what the panel does Thursday, when it decides the three delayed proposals.

Sorrels, a Key Peninsula resident, wants the commission to propose an independent oversight board that listens to citizens and investigates their complaints.

“The current system shuts the citizen out,” he said.

On Saturday, the commission tackled the 15 proposals that made it to a final vote. It adopted nine of them, including making sheriff an elected position rather than one appointed by the executive and confirmed by the County Council.

The question of an elected sheriff will go to voters with 27 years of history in tow: The 1978 arrest of Sheriff George Janovich on federal racketeering charges spurred the creation of the county’s 1980 home-rule charter, which eliminated an elected sheriff.

Commissioner Michael Venuto of University Place said the proposal would give voters more confidence in the sheriff and strengthen the sheriff’s ability to boost funding for public safety.

Commissioner Burt Talcott of Gig Harbor called the proposal “one of the worst,” saying it would make it more difficult to get rid of a bad sheriff.

The commission also adopted a proposal to use a different system for electing all county officials except for judges and the prosecuting attorney: instant runoff voting. Under that system, voters would cast ballots allowing them to rank all candidates for an office in their order of preference.

The commission took on property rights, too. It proposed adding an eminent domain section to the charter, prohibiting the county from taking private property for economic development. The county would be allowed to take private property only for public use.

Commissioner Geoff Hymans of Tacoma, an assistant attorney general and a sponsor of the eminent domain proposal, said it was legal, in part because the home-rule charter allows the county to go further than state law in protecting private property rights.

Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Denise Greer, one of two county prosecutors advising the commission, said the proposal “very likely” conflicts with state law, in part because it goes further in limiting the circumstances in which property may be taken for public use.

Aaron Corvin: 253-552-7058

aaron.corvin@thenewstribune.com Proposals at a glance

Approved for Nov. 7 ballot:

• Elect the sheriff.

• Enact instant runoff voting for most county elections.

• Reduce signatures needed to create a county law.

• Reduce signatures needed for a vote to repeal a county law.

• Expand performance audits.

• Require the executive to present the budget 25 days earlier.

• Require the executive to choose from candidates supplied by a council member for some appointments.

• Prohibit the executive from telling other elected officials how to operate.

• Prohibit the county from taking private property for economic development. NINE PROPOSALS GOING TO VOTERS

Approved for ballot

The Pierce County Charter Review Commission will send the following proposals to voters Nov. 7:

• Sheriff: Make the job elective, rather than appointed.

• Instant runoff voting: All county elections, except for prosecuting attorney and judges, would use instant runoffs. Voters would cast ballots allowing them to rank all candidates for an office in their order of preference. All votes would be counted in rounds until a majority winner is found. If there is no majority winner, then the candidate with the fewest No. 1 votes would be eliminated. All ballots then would be recounted using the highest-ranked candidates still in the race, meaning the second choices for some voters would be considered along with the first choices for everybody else. This process would continue until a candidate had a majority.

• Initiative: Reduce the number of signatures needed to put a measure on the ballot to change or create a county law. Voters would have to collect 8 percent – down from 10 percent – of the votes cast in the last election for executive.

• Referendum: Reduce the number of signatures needed to put a measure on the ballot to repeal a county law. Voters would have to collect 4 percent – down from 8 percent – of the votes cast in the last election for executive.

• Performance audits: Expand the county’s performance audit program to require the council to annually report the highlights of audits, make reports available to the public free of charge and to publicly discuss plans to respond to audits.

• Budget process: Require the executive to present the budget to the council at least 100 days – up from 75 – before the end of each year. Also, the executive would be required to present other plans, including capital improvements, to the council at least 100 days before the end of each year.

• Appointments: When making an appointment to a board or commission that requires representation from a specific council district, the executive must choose from a list of three candidates supplied by the council member who represents that district.

• Executive power: Prohibit the executive from telling other elected officials or their departments what to do with regard to staff supervision, staff assignments or normal daily operations.

• Eminent domain: Add an eminent domain section to the charter prohibiting the county from taking private property for economic development. The county would be allowed to take private property only for public use.

Still under consideration

The commission is expected to decide these proposals Friday:

• Citizens Oversight Board: The Citizens Oversight Board would replace the Ethics Commission and would have expanded duties, including investigating complaints of violations of the county’s ethics code and charter, as well as complaints about the conduct of county employees and elected officials. The panel would have seven members, five of them elected by voters and one each appointed by the seven-member County Council and the executive.

• County ombudsman: Proposed as an alternative to the Oversight Board, this idea would create the position of an ombudsman who would be elected by voters to oversee an office charged with listening to citizen issues and concerns, carrying out the ethics code, managing a Citizens Oversight Board and investigating citizen complaints.

• Public evaluation: Require the council, with the participation of the executive, to hold at least three public meetings every two years to collect comments on and to rate the performance of county departments and commissions. The council would decide changes based on recommendations from the executive. to get involved

WHAT: The Pierce County Charter Review Commission meets.

WHEN: 6:30 p.m. Thursday

WHERE: Pierce Transit, 3720 96th St., Lakewood

info: Julie King, commission clerk, 360-802-3708 or jkingpccrc @yahoo.com

TNT Alert - TACOMA: Summit on East Side gang violence will feature Homies Unidos group

2006-06-15T06:41:00.000-07:00

TACOMA: Summit on East Side gang violence will feature Homies Unidos group

THE NEWS TRIBUNE
Last updated: June 14th, 2006 01:22 AM (PDT)

A surge of community activism in response to gang violence on Tacoma’s troubled East Side continues to spawn gatherings aimed at curbing gang activity.

The latest comes from the local branch of Centro Latino. The organization will host a gang prevention summit from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday (June 17th) at Gault Middle School, 1115 E. Division Lane.

Participants include Safe Streets, the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department and the Tacoma and Lakewood police departments.

The summit, titled “Making the Community Safer for Our Children,” will feature presentations from the anti-gang group Homies Unidos, founded in San Salvador, El Salvador, in 1996 and now based in California. Presenters will include Magdeleno Rose-Avila, the group’s founder, and keynote speaker Alex Sanchez, program director and a former gang member.

For more information, call 253-572-7717.

Sean Robinson, The News Tribune

TNT - Opt out of credit come-on inflow

2006-06-11T10:05:00.000-07:00

Opt out of credit come-on inflow

THE NEWS TRIBUNE
Published: June 11th, 2006 01:00 AM

Ask the Fool: How can I stop getting all these credit card offers in the mail? – F.C., Toledo, Ohio

A: As part of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, credit reporting agencies are required to maintain an opt-out list of consumers who don’t want to receive pre-approved (or prescreened) offers. The four largest reporting agencies – Equifax, Experian, Trans-Union and Innovis – manage the list. You can add yourself to it at www.optoutprescreen.com or by calling 1-888-OPT-OUT. You can ask to be kept on the list for five years or forever, and it will at least reduce the number of offers you get in the mail, though it might not eliminate them entirely.

Signing up is free. You’ll have to provide your name, address, Social Security number and date of birth, because each credit report is tagged by your Social Security number, not your name. If you move, you should opt out again, to register your new address.

TNT article - Five Questions [about property tax]

2006-06-11T09:55:00.000-07:00

FIVE QUESTIONS

THE NEWS TRIBUNE
Last updated: June 11th, 2006 01:36 AM (PDT)

If my property value increases 22 percent, will my property tax bill go up 22 percent?

Not necessarily. Tax rates per $1,000 of assessed value won’t be set until December, after cities, counties, school districts and other agencies with taxing authority adopt their 2007 budgets. Once those decisions are made, the county assessor-treasurer totals the data, adds any voter-approved levies, divides that number by the property value in the district and produces a rate. Your final tax bill might include numerous separate rates.

Will state and local governments see a windfall in property tax revenues since property values have increased so dramatically?

No. Initiative 747, the Tim Eyman measure approved by voters in 2001, limits the growth in the amount governments can collect in property tax revenues to 1 percent a year. The 1 percent limit, coupled with growth in the assessed value of existing properties, has driven down Pierce County’s tax rate over the past several years.

So if I-747 limits the growth of property tax revenues, how come I pay more each year?

Your property value is based on sales of comparable properties.

I-747 has no bearing on the annual valuation of your property. It does not cap the value of your property.

I-747 also does not cap your total property tax. If the value of your property increases, state law requires that your property taxes follow suit. Moreover, I-747 applies to “regular” levies, such as the state general fund, the county general fund, and cities’ and towns’ general funds. It does not apply to levies approved by voters, such as school levies, rural library bonds, park district bonds or fire district levies.

Why are the government’s “official” valuations lower than what I see houses in my neighborhood selling for?

The data lags the market by a year. The county analyzed thousands of sales in 2005 to arrive at 2006 values.

What are my property taxes used for?

Here’s a breakdown of $1 in tax revenue: 38 cents to local schools, 20 cents to the state, 11 cents to cities and towns, 10 cents to the county, 9 cents to fire protection districts, 6 cents to roads, 2 cents to Pierce County Libraries, and a little over a penny each to the Port of Tacoma and Tacoma Metropolitan Parks. The remaining penny is split among four library, park and water districts.

Aaron Corvin, The News Tribune

TNT article - Don’t shoot the inspectors

2006-06-11T09:49:00.000-07:00

BARBARA CLEMENTS; The News Tribune
Last updated: June 11th, 2006 01:36 AM (PDT)

Pulling up to a new development in the Spanaway area, where “Free Fertilizer” signs in cow pastures snuggle up against posh new mini-mansions, Doug Nearhood picks his way across the rocks dumped in front of a shell of a home in the Winterwood development.

Nearhood aims a laser tape measure at the outside of the garage door and takes a reading. Ten feet.

Looking at the plans for the home he’s uploaded on his computer, the Pierce County residential assessor realizes something’s amiss. This third garage bay is not in the plans. Check.

He measures the porch: 10 feet. The length of the house: 36 feet. Check, check. At the end of the 30-minute inspection, Nearhood’s electronic notebook is filled with his green scribbles.

All this he will take back at the end of the day, about 10 homes later, to feed into a computer that will crunch out an assessment.

Nearhood is one of 21 residential home inspectors at the Pierce County Assessor’s Office who fan out each day to estimate the assessed value of 300,000 homes and properties in the county.

The result of their work during the last year will begin arriving in the mail this week.

The appraisals for new construction, including this home, will be mailed this fall for the 2007 tax year.

Whether the housing market is booming, as it has for the last five years, or beginning to slow – as it has for the past six months – Nearhood and his colleagues say the reaction they get from homeowners is predictable:

Oh no, it’s you again.

“We set the value, we don’t make taxes go up,” appraisal manager Sally Barnes says in answering another frequent complaint.

In her 26 years as an appraiser, Barnes says she’s seen homeowners come into the Pierce County Annex off South 35th Street and rip up their assessments or threaten to blow up the building. More often, the hostility toward taxes – and by association, the appraisers – takes the form of a “No government employees” sign in the front yard or a homeowner refusing to let Barnes’ staff on site.

Barnes says she advises her employees to just leave and estimate from the street. The appraisal might not be as accurate, but so be it, she says.

Nearhood’s supervisor, Mark Williams, adds that he advises appraisers not to peek through windows or shoot the laser measure through a window to get an estimate.

Homeowners also have misconceptions about what exactly bumps up the value of a home, Williams says.

A view is a definite plus. Having two bathrooms? Not so much.

More emphasis is given to the number of perks in a bathroom, such as separate sinks or a Jacuzzi tub.

Hardwood floors add value, but having a wetland on site doesn’t really tip the meter as much as it once did.

Looking at a jet about to land at McChord Air Force Base near the Spanaway home, Williams notes that airplane noise is considered in the final calculations.

Granite countertops are a plus, and in the case of the home Nearhood is assessing this day, so is the cherry molding stacked up on the garage floor, as well as the cherry cabinets.

When homeowners complain, Williams usually asks them if that amount is what they’d sell the house for.

“Usually they say no, they’d sell it for more,” Williams says as a construction worker shooes him out of the house so he can begin painting.

Originally published: June 11th, 2006 01:00 AM (PDT)

TNT notice - Meeting to address East Side crime prevention

2006-06-10T07:45:00.000-07:00

Meeting to address East Side crime prevention

The News Tribune
Last updated: June 10th, 2006 01:21 AM (PDT)

East Side Tacoma residents are invited to a town hall meeting Monday to discuss gang awareness and crime prevention.

The 6 p.m. meeting at Gault Middle School, 1115 E. Division Lane, is sponsored by the East Side Community Action Team and will feature speakers from the Tacoma Police Department and community organizations.

Police officials will lay out their plan for addressing gang violence on the East Side.

The approach includes a new gang unit, relaunching a tip line, more communication within the department and partnering with other community groups to address the root problems of the violence.

“Our pilot project is the East Side to see if this is the effective way of doing this,” Tacoma police Lt. Kathy McAlpine said of the plan, noting it could be installed anywhere in the city to address a persistent crime problem.

Other city departments and community groups such as Metro Parks, Centro Latino, Safe Streets, Project Save and churches have been invited to the town hall meeting to tell participants about their programs.

Tables will be set up for each group, said McAlpine, who supervises the Police Department’s Sector 4, which includes the East Side.

“Any citizen that comes in there, they can go right to the tables of their choice,” she said, “so parents understand they are not alone.”

The meeting is expected to last about two hours.

How to get involved

What: Tacoma police town hall meeting for East Side residents

When: 6-8 p.m. Monday

Where: Gault Middle School, 1115 E. Division Lane

TNT article - County Council beefs up its staff to equalize power

2006-06-05T09:59:00.000-07:00

County Council beefs up its staff to equalize power

The News Tribune
Last updated: June 5th, 2006 01:22 AM (PDT)

The Pierce County Council is raising its voice and getting nerdy about budgets.

Last week, it increased its staff from 22 to 24 by hiring a communications analyst and a budget analyst.

It’s part of the seven-member council’s “quest to become equal partners with the county executive,” said Councilman Dick Muri, R-Steilacoom.

Councilwoman Barbara Gelman, D-Tacoma, said the new hires help boost the council’s policymaking role and achieving a balance of power with the executive.

Added Councilman Roger Bush, R-Graham: “We don’t have 3,100 employees to research budgets.” Bush was referring to the 3,000-plus staff supervised by Executive John Ladenburg, the CEO of Pierce County government. Ladenburg, who also proposes annual budgets to the council, said he won’t second-guess the council’s hiring decisions.

“It’s up to them to decide what kind of staffing they need,” he said.

Ladenburg said a balance of power exists. The council – not the executive – approves the budget, he said, and the council raises red flags on his budget proposals when it wants to.

“When they felt I was too far out on the golf course they brought it to a halt,” he said. “They have the ability to do that, which is fine. That’s how government works.”

Last Tuesday, the council voted unanimously to hire the two new positions. Paul Bocchi, previously a finance manager for Merrill Lynch, joined the council’s staff last week as a budget/legislative analyst. He will receive an annual salary of $74,329.

Brad Chatfield, communications director for the Washington Public Utility Districts Association, will join the council’s office June 19 as a communications/legislative analyst. He will receive an annual salary of $68,013.

The council made room for the two new positions by delaying the hiring of a Superior Court commissioner and an ombudsman. That move generated a savings of $123,000, enough to cover the two new positions for the rest of this year.

Muri, who ousted Bocchi from the council in the September 2003 GOP primary, said he welcomes Bocchi to the council’s staff. He said Bocchi’s background in financial management and real estate will serve the council well as it decides the merits of the executive’s budget proposals.

Muri said one of the first projects Bocchi likely will examine is Ladenburg’s proposal to build a large government campus in downtown Tacoma. The campus would encompass new headquarters for county government as well as ground-floor retail and a public pavilion. It could cost as much as $105 million.

Councilman Terry Lee, R-Gig Harbor, said the addition of Chatfield as the council’s communications director will improve the public’s trust and confidence in local government. Council Chairman Shawn Bunney, R-Lake Tapps, said Chatfield will inform the public of the council’s activities and collect comments from the public.

With Chatfield on board, Muri said, the council will have what Ladenburg has had since he took office in 2001: a public relations director.

Muri said Ron Klein, who directs communications out of the executive’s office, “basically serves John Ladenburg. (We) have to go seek him out. It becomes too hard to do.”

Ladenburg said Klein does projects for other county officials and departments.

Klein said he’s done work for a few council members, including producing newsletters. But he said he “very rarely” receives requests from the council.

Aaron Corvin: 253-552-7058
aaron.corvin@thenewstribune.com

TNT Article - PARKLAND: Deputy uses patrol car to stop man waving handgun

2006-05-28T16:08:00.000-07:00

PARKLAND: Deputy uses patrol car to stop man waving handgun

THE NEWS TRIBUNE
A Pierce County sheriff’s deputy intentionally hit a 21-year-old Auburn man with his squad car near Parkland on Thursday after the man drove against traffic, wouldn’t stop and then pointed a gun at the deputy, a sheriff’s spokesman said.

The incident started near 112th Street East and Portland Avenue East about 2:10 p.m. when the patrol deputy tried to pull the man over after he drove on the wrong side of the road, spokesman Ed Troyer said.

The man did not stop until he crashed and rolled the car in the 12300 block of Sixth Avenue East, Troyer said.

He climbed out of the overturned car and waved around a handgun before he pointed the weapon at the deputy, Troyer said. The deputy then hit the man with his squad car. Medics took him to Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup, where he was under guard and in serious condition Thursday night, Troyer said.

Deputies had been looking for the man since Monday when he ran after a similar pursuit. In that case, he left behind a stolen car with an assault rifle inside, he said. Troyer said the man was driving a stolen car in Thursday’s incident.

“He’s just a little one-man crime spree,” he said.

The deputy, whose name was not released, will be placed on paid administrative leave. This is standard procedure when a deputy uses potentially deadly force.

Paul Sand, The News Tribune

TNT Article - Charter reviewers plan changes

2006-05-27T10:23:00.000-07:00

Charter reviewers plan changes

Attempts to make Pierce County more accountable pass first votes

AARON CORVIN; The News Tribune
Last updated: May 27th, 2006 01:21 AM (PDT)

The elected panel reviewing Pierce County government is proposing more changes to the home-rule charter that are intended to make the government more accountable to residents.

In a series of preliminary votes Thursday night, the Charter Review Commission proposed to:

• Create a citizen oversight board to investigate complaints of violations of the county’s ethics code and charter, as well as complaints about the conduct of county employees and elected officials.

• Require county leaders to give residents a chance every year to comment on the performance of county departments.

• Give the county auditor and assessor-treasurer more independence from the county executive.

The elected 21-member commission is conducting a six-month review of the 1980 home-rule charter – the county’s equivalent of a constitution. It’s a process the charter requires every 10 years.

The commission has until June 30 to wrap up its work. Final proposals will go to Pierce County voters on the Nov. 7 ballot.

The commission adopted the proposal for a citizen oversight board on a 9-8 vote, with two abstentions.

The board would replace the current Pierce County Ethics Commission, a five-member panel that investigates complaints of ethical violations by county employees. The new organization would have seven members, five of them elected by voters and one each appointed by the County Council and the executive.

Commissioner Jason Whalen, who voted against the proposal, said it would create another level of bureaucracy to perform a task that current elected officials should be performing.

Commissioner Beckie Summers, who voted for it, said citizen oversight boards aren’t new to government and this one would provide the transparency and accountability citizens want.

The commission also tentatively approved a measure to require the county executive and the council to convene a “County Operation Review Forum” each year to give residents a chance to comment on the performance of county departments.

The executive would submit a report with recommendations to the council for improving performance. The council would review the report and vote on the improvements.

The commission adopted the proposal on a 13-4 vote, with two abstentions. Commissioner Barbara Skinner, who abstained, said the executive has the authority to supervise departments, not the council.

Commissioner Dave Morell, who sponsored the proposal, said the council has the power to pass ordinances and budgets that affect county departments.

The third measure adopted Thursday seeks to make the auditor and the assessor-treasurer more independent. Specifically, it would prohibit the executive from having “administrative power over any other elected official or their department.”

Under the current charter, the elected positions of auditor and assessor-treasurer are under the executive branch of county government. Among other things, that means those positions are subject to personnel and budgeting policies set by the executive.

That would remain the case under the change proposed by the commission, according to deputy prosecutor Denise Greer. She said the proposal’s impact is unclear but that it is intended to prevent the elected executive from telling another elected official what to do.

The commission adopted the proposal on an 11-7 vote, with one abstention.

Commissioner Kelly Haughton asked what the proposal was trying to accomplish. Commissioner Gerry Gustafson, who submitted the proposal, said it enables those elected officials to fully run their departments.

How to get involved

The Charter Review Commission collects public comments during its weekly meetings.

When: 6:30 p.m. Thursdays

Where: Pierce Transit Training Center, 3720 96th St. S.W., Lakewood

More information: Julie King, commission clerk, 360-802-3708 or jkingpccrc@yahoo.com

Originally published: May 27th, 2006 01:00 AM (PDT)

TNT Article - Soil report trips up project

2006-05-27T07:04:00.000-07:00

Soil report trips up project

Condo owners learn development site contaminated with lead, arsenic

KRIS SHERMAN; The News Tribune
Last updated: May 27th, 2006 01:21 AM (PDT)

A group of angry Tacoma condominium owners claims former City Councilman Paul Miller and his partners hid knowledge of serious environmental issues on property they want to develop.

Residents of the Gold Creek condominiums say Miller’s development of 48 acres overlooking the Tacoma Narrows will send contaminated soils into the air and running off into streams and wetlands.

They believe Miller and his development partners intentionally kept information from city planners in order to move the project along and complete it more cheaply.

Miller says their allegations are not true.

“There’s no way we even have the ability to hide information, even if we wanted to hide it,” Miller said.

A copy of the soils report detailing contamination at the site was sent to the Washington Department of Ecology, Miller said. The issue also was raised during a Feb. 7 meeting between development representatives and city staff members, he added.

Tacoma land-use administrator Peter Katich says no one on his staff recalls such a meeting. And to his knowledge, the city still doesn’t have a copy of a Feb. 8 consultant’s report detailing contamination on Miller’s property from the Asarco Smelter Plume.

Katich says he doubts Miller or his partners intentionally misled anyone, but he acknowledges something “fell through the cracks.”

Based on what city officials knew at the time, they issued a DNS, or Determination of Nonsignificance, on March 28. The document essentially finds there are no serious environmental impacts associated with the proposed project.

Their approval was based in part on an environmental checklist completed for the site last August. The developers’ engineers answered “none known” to a question about environmental and health hazards on the property, according to city public works director Bill Pugh.

But after opponents of the development discovered a report of environmental contamination on the property, the city revoked the DNS. Its withdrawal triggers a new review.

Miller’s planned development lies on steeply wooded hillsides west of Narrows Drive and north of the Gold Creek condominium complex.

There are 170 units in the Gold Creek, Goldmont and Gold Pointe areas of the gated community.

Miller complains he’s being targeted by disgruntled condominium owners who fear the development will disrupt their serenity and views.

Condo residents say it’s the environment they’re worried about.

“He’s talking about clearcutting half of those trees,” condominium representative Ron Richardson said Thursday, standing in a backyard and sweeping his arm toward a verdant hillside plunging toward the Sound. Ripping up the landscape will release lead-and-arsenic particulates into the air and send a “toxic soup” into Puget Sound, he charged.

Miller plans to develop 62 lots for single-family luxury homes at the site. Thirty of the 48 acres will be set aside as permanently protected wetlands, buffers and open space, he said. He and partners also will do everything required to clean up the environmental damage to make the land habitable, he added.

The spat between Miller and the Gold Creek Umbrella Association, representing homeowners in all three areas of the gated complex, began over Miller’s claim to an easement to use their entrance road.

He says he has a long established right to the road. They disagree.

Now they’re fighting the easement battle in court. A hearing is scheduled in June.

If not for that squabble, the residents wouldn’t have opposed Miller’s development, said Zola Bear, president of the Gold Pointe Homeowners Association.

They uncovered the report on soils contamination during the discovery process for their lawsuit.

Now that they’re aware of the environmental concerns, the pitch of their battle has changed.

“Everybody who moved into these developments moved here because of the quality of life – the deer, the birds, the green,” Bear said.

They want the Cascade Land Conservancy or other such groups to try to buy the land from Miller and preserve it.

“He could have gotten away with it,” she said. “Now, we have information that just makes us go, ‘Oh, my God.’”

The city’s Katich doesn’t think there was an intent to “get away” with anything.

“I’ve been doing this a long time, and I just don’t see how the property owner would approach it that way,” he said. “I don’t see how he could benefit from this; it would eventually come to light.”

Kris Sherman: 253-597-8659

kris.sherman@thenewstribune.com

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TNT Article - Balance of power on mental health

2006-05-24T05:52:00.000-07:00

Balance of power on mental health

Pierce County Council chooses three members for system’s governing board

M. ALEXANDER OTTO; The News Tribune
Last updated: May 24th, 2006 01:20 AM (PDT)

With six of its 10 members selected, a governing board that will run the county’s mental health system is quickly taking shape.

The Pierce County Council on Tuesday chose members Barbara Gelman, Tim Farrell and Dick Muri to fill its three slots on the board.

Gelman chairs the council’s Public Safety and Human Services Committee, which deals with mental health issues, among others. Farrell and Muri are committee members.

Across the table will sit County Executive John Ladenburg and two people from his office: Chief of Staff Lyle Quasim and Budget and Finance Department Director Patrick Kenney.

Three public members are being sought. Candidates must live in Pierce County and have relevant mental health knowledge as, for instance, a provider, administrator or relative of someone with mental illness. A tribal member is being sought as well.

The even split in membership between the County Council and the executive’s office reflects the board’s birth as a power-sharing compromise.

The compromise came after the state shut down the county-owned mental health hospital in January because of health and safety concerns. The problems were related to an unannounced decision by Ladenburg’s staff, who had almost complete control at that point over the system, to turn the hospital into a smaller “evaluation and treatment center” to save money.

Council members demanded a say in how the system was run after that, and hinted at legal action if needed to get it.

The governing board was the compromise. Ladenburg said Tuesday that he expects once council members are more involved in mental health decisions, they are likely to “agree with me more often than not.”

Among the board’s first business when it meets in early June will be to pick three public members from the candidates; start the search for someone to head the Regional Support Network, which coordinates county and private mental health services; and set operational rules.

Muri said he also is interested in boosting funding for outpatient mental health services. Farrell said he thinks the new board might have a role to play in diminishing homelessness in Tacoma.

All the meetings will be open to the public and televised.

“That’s the number one thing,” Muri said. “There will be open, fully vetted discussions on Pierce County mental health policy. That right there alone will answer questions about where money is going and why services have cost us so much.”

If you’re interested in sitting on the Pierce County mental health system governing board and have relevant experience, call the Pierce County executive’s office at 253-798-7477. The office is at 930 Tacoma Ave. S., Room 737, Tacoma, WA 98402-2100. A tribal member is sought for the board, too.

TNT article - Sheriff takes over Roy police

2006-05-22T20:12:00.000-07:00

Sheriff takes over Roy police

THE NEWS TRIBUNE
Last updated: May 22nd, 2006 03:05 PM (PDT)

The City of Roy is without police and Pierce County sheriff's deputies have stepped in to answer calls and patrol the small community. Roy Mayor Kim Eldridge said Monday she asked the sheriff's department for emergency help. Roy police chief John Hawk retired suddenly on Friday.

"My chief concern is to provide coverage necessary for public safety," she said.

With Hawk gone, the south Pierce County city of 865 people lost its police coverage Friday morning. One Roy officer is on medical leave, another is on vacation, and a third officer, hired May 1, isn't fully trained yet.

The Pierce County Sheriff's Department began patrols in Roy at 6 p.m. Thursday, after Eldridge requested help.

"Basically, they have no cops," said Det. Ed Troyer, spokesman for the sheriff's department. "We've taken over policing of Roy. They’re covered.”

Originally published: May 22nd, 2006 03:05 PM (PDT)

Readers comments:

Go figure. Pierce County's down 13 deputies, and as of June 1, it'll be 23 deputies (according to Sheriff Pastor), and now we're having to forfeit deputies to police an incorporated city.

Will the PCSD be monetarily compensated for it? Sure hope so, as there should be some benefit to losing more of our deputies leaving our criminals less "policed".
Anonymous | 05.22.06 - 7:11 pm | #

TNT Article - TACOMA: Convicted bank robber now ‘person of interest’ in rape

2006-05-20T07:23:00.000-07:00

TACOMA: Convicted bank robber now ‘person of interest’ in rape

THE NEWS TRIBUNE
Last updated: May 20th, 2006 01:20 AM (PDT)

A 32-year-old man arrested late Thursday on suspicion of leaving a federal halfway house in Tacoma is considered a “person of interest” in a rape last week in the South End, police spokeswoman Tracy Conaway said Friday.

Investigation of the sexual assault was continuing. No other details were released.

The man was convicted of bank robbery and sentenced to more than 15 years in federal prison in 1994, U.S. Marshal Eric Robertson said. When the man was released four months ago, he moved into a halfway house in Tacoma.

He recently disappeared, and a warrant for his arrest on probation violations was issued Tuesday. The Pacific Northwest Fugitive Apprehension Task Force started working on the case and received tips he was at a local convenience store Thursday night.

Task force members, Tacoma police and Pierce County sheriff’s deputies found the man at the store in the 9600 block of Pacific Avenue. When he didn’t listen to officers’ commands, he was arrested with the aid of a police dog, Robertson said.

The man was treated for a dog bite at a local hospital, then booked into Pierce County Jail. It was the man’s third arrest for probation violations since his release from federal custody.

Stacey Mulick, The News Tribune

TNT Article - Felon walks from work near Olympia

2006-05-20T07:22:00.000-07:00

Felon walks from work near Olympia

STACEY MULICK; The News Tribune
Last updated: May 20th, 2006 01:20 AM (PDT)

State corrections and local law enforcement officers searched Friday for a convicted felon who walked away from a work crew south of Olympia earlier this week.

Officials suspect Gary L. Matthews, 43, might be headed to the Tacoma area. He was convicted of second-degree burglary in Pierce County and was serving a sentence of four years, three months at Cedar Creek Corrections Center in Littlerock.

He walked away from a work crew that was off site Wednesday morning, prison spokeswoman Vicki Loete said. He had been in good standing and had no previous problems while working on crews away from the prison grounds, she added.

“They didn’t see this coming at all,” Loete said of the work crew supervisors.

Matthews is 5 feet 7, 175 pounds and has brown hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a red T-shirt, khaki pants and work boots. Officials have since found the red shirt.

He was not considered armed or dangerous.

“His history is burglary,” Loete said. “He has no assaultive behavior.”

Loete asked anyone who sees Matthews to call 911 or Cedar Creek Corrections Center at 360-753-7278.

Stacey Mulick: 253-597-8268
stacey.mulick@thenewstribune.com

TNT Article - Clover Park High School closes for day over graffiti message

2006-05-16T12:10:00.000-07:00

LAKEWOOD: Clover Park High School closes for day over graffiti message

THE NEWS TRIBUNE
Students at Clover Park High School in Lakewood were sent home Monday after a threatening graffiti message was found at a nearby elementary school.

Lakewood police and bomb-sniffing dogs searched the campus of the high school, 11023 Gravelly Lake Drive S.W., but found nothing, police Lt. Dave Guttu said.

Police were investigating the message, which indicated a bomb would go off at the school at 9 a.m.

The high school was locked down after a staff member at Park Lodge Elementary School found the message in a play shed before 9 a.m., school district spokeswoman Kim Prentice said.

A short time later, school was dismissed for the day.

Students, even those who walk and drove their cars to school, were bused to their neighborhoods. All student cars were left at the school and students were told they could pick them up after the police concluded their investigation, Prentice said.

“We are just trying to take every precaution we can to make sure everyone is safe,” Prentice said.

TNT Article - Tree disease hits WSU forest in Bonney Lake

2006-05-07T08:49:00.000-07:00

Tree disease hits WSU forest in Bonney Lake

ROB TUCKER; The News Tribune
Last updated: May 7th, 2006 01:40 AM (PDT)

A rare patch of greenery and open space stands out in Bonney Lake, a band of serenity surrounded by ever-sprouting homes and businesses.

Thousands of 4-H and schoolkids visit annually. Locals bike, walk their dogs or stroll on trails in the 150-acre wood, flanked by three of the busiest roads in the city.

The forest, long owned by Washington State University, is targeted for development. Weyerhaeuser’s Quadrant Corp. has partnered with WSU and wants to build hundreds of homes, a trail, parks and a 30-acre shopping area.

But before developers could fell a single tree, something else beat them to it: windstorms and disease.

Foresters and a specialist discovered over the winter that more than 1,000 trees – some of the site’s tallest – were either blown down or infected with root rot. The sick ones will have to be cut down to stop the spread of disease.

Meanwhile, the property has been closed to the public since mid-February.

And some residents are suspicious.

Laurie Carter, a Bonney Lake resident who sends out an online newsletter, wrote that people have contacted her and asked questions.

“Will keeping the forest closed indefinitely make people in this area forget about the forest, clearing the way for development?” she asked. “It is public land and our taxes that support WSU and therefore the forest, right?”

Many people in Bonney Lake want to preserve as much of the forest as possible, so local concerns run high.

250 trees down, 829 infected

“It’s drastic,” said Mayor Neil Johnson. “It’s concerning. We have questions.”

Estimates vary on how many trees will be lost, but the number will be less than 10 percent of the forest’s total, said Mel Taylor of the WSU business affairs office in Pullman.

WSU reports that about 250 trees were blown down or uprooted. Forest pathologist Ken Russell reported that 829 standing trees scattered throughout the forest were infected with root rot or standing too close to a diseased tree.

Russell said in his April report that if the root rot is ignored, it “will only intensify and create a greater (safety) hazard” from falling trees.

Mayor Johnson said the city wants a second opinion from its expert.

Dennis Tompkins, the city’s on-call arborist, read the report and said Russell’s work was absolutely credible. He said he’s prepared to look at the trees if the city wants him to.

WSU would welcome any tree expert who wants to examine the forest, Taylor said.

Development project pending

The university and Quadrant would split development profits if the project goes forward. But the company still must secure permits from the city.

The Bonney Lake park board wants Quadrant to dedicate 40 acres for public parks, said board member Dan Totten.

Taylor said he wasn’t sure how the tree removal project would affect Quadrant’s plans.

All permitting processes have been put on hold at the request of Quadrant, Steve Ladd, city planning manager, said last week.

Senior vice president Wally Costello of Quadrant wasn’t in the office Friday, but he said in mid-March that the company is evaluating options and wanted to talk more to the newly elected mayor and the council.

WSU is aware of public concern, Taylor said.

He recounted what has happened so far:

Foresters from WSU and Weyerhaeuser went into the forest after the February windstorms to check for damages. They also cut down leaning, uprooted trees that were in danger of falling. WSU, still the forest manager, made plans for loggers to take out about 40 truckloads of downed trees.

Then foresters discovered root rot.

WSU halted salvage plans and brought in an outside forest pathologist. The diseased trees, scattered throughout the property, must be removed because the disease can spread, Taylor said.

He said about 300 truckloads of logs will be taken out. Profits will go to 4-H programs.

The City Council will discuss the situation May 16. The city has invited Russell, representatives from Quadrant, the state Department of Natural Resources and WSU.

Taking down the infected trees and those near them will create small to moderate-sized openings in the forest, Russell said in his report. “The after-harvest effect will be a forest similar to the present appearance but with scattered openings that, once stabilized, will look reasonably natural after about two years,” he said.

Carter said if the trees are cut as proposed, the openings likely will allow people to see clear through the forest, something they cannot do now. The tall evergreens form a wall of solitude against noisy traffic, shopping centers and other urban activities nearby.

“It’ll certainly be a different forest after this is done,” Carter said. “It will have a different look than we’re used to.” What Ken Russell’s report on the Bonney Lake forest said:

• Infected trees are located in all parts of the forest. They need to be cut down to stop root rot from spreading and to eliminate the hazard from future windfalls.

• Red cedar, cottonwood, red alder and maple trees within infected areas should not be cut because they are immune to root rot.

• Several large, infected Douglas firs pose a hazard to autos and pedestrians along 214th Avenue East.

• The city should consider cutting a 60-foot or wider swath of trees all around the existing forest edge.

• The cutback area should be replanted with cedars or hardwoods because they won’t grow as tall as Douglas firs and won’t be as much of a threat to nearby streets and pedestrians.

• Runoff from a nearby shopping center, along with root rot, contributed to blow-down of big firs.

Rob Tucker: 253-597-8374
rob.tucker@thenewstribune.com

TNT Article -

2006-05-07T08:47:00.000-07:00

Audit cites mistaken L&I payments

RACHEL LA CORTE; The Associated Press
Last updated: May 7th, 2006 01:26 AM (PDT)

The state Department of Labor and Industries paid more than $600,000 in pension benefits to dead or otherwise ineligible claimants, and it lost more than $180,000 in equipment, including laptops, digital cameras and camcorders, according to a state audit.

The review by state Auditor Brian Sonntag identified several problem areas. It found that in addition to the pension payments and the lost items, the department appeared to have circumvented bid laws for service contracts, and that its accounts receivable system and pension payment system lacked adequate safeguards.

The 54-page audit, released Friday, covers the state budget year that ended in June 2005. The department, which has 2,600 employees, had an annual budget of approximately $235 million.

L&I officials disputed some of the findings, but said they would work with Sonntag to make the necessary fixes.

“We take the findings seriously, we always do,” said Steve Pierce, spokesman for L&I. “In a number of cases, we’ve already taken actions. We’ve been working with the auditor’s office for some time.”

The department pays more than $500 million a year in pension benefits.

The audit found that $254,694 was paid to six claimants who were dead, and that $360,945 was paid to two surviving spouses after they remarried.

The overpayments ranged from eight months to 15 years.

An additional $1 million was paid to 59 claimants and survivors who did not return forms certifying they were still alive and informing the department whether they were in jail, had another job or remarried.

The auditor’s office recommended that L&I do a better job cross-checking its data against Social Security Administration data, and do a periodic check of pension data and marriage and divorce records, among other things.

The department said the audit’s finding of money paid to ineligible claimants was too high, noting that in one instance the benefit payments were never cashed.

“Additionally, we have recouped significant funds in the remaining cases, leaving a current balance to be assessed or recovered of $158,765.96,” the department wrote in its response.

L&I also noted that it would be comparing its records of surviving spouses to current marriage records at the state Department of Health, and that the system should be up by the end of June.

Citing the missing 105 items – which included 24 digital cameras, eight laptop computers and five camcorders – the auditor’s office said the department needs to increase its ability to track the location of property.

L&I said it has since created an “asset alert” system, “which is triggered upon the movement of an asset within the system.”

L&I helps employers meet safety and health standards, inspects workplaces and administers the state’s Workers’ Compensation System.

READERS COMMENTS:

Doesn't surprise me at all.

We reported to L&I a couple of years ago a man who, while on an L&I claim for a "back injury", was converting a garage into a 2-story house without permits. They did nothing.

We turned him in to PALS Code Enforcement, who though red tagged the project, but then failed to do anything when he continued to hammer away AND illegally tap in to sewer, water and electricity.

We reported the house to the Assessor's Office to, at the very least, see that the owner is taxed on it, and when looking at the Assessor's records, it still doesn't show up.

The garage-now-house which is now ready to occupy provide a nice income for the guy on L&I and now will bring in a nice profit for the man who owns it and whom allowed it to be built - a "Civil Engineer" as we came to learn as he throws his title around as though it means something.

These three agencies have failed the system. Or is it the system which has failed these three agencies? Regardless, there's lots of room for improvement in our "system" AND these agencies, despite that our County Exec says that "there's nothing broken in Pierce County".

Whose fault is the brokenness?

TNT Article - South Hill man dies after gunshot wound, car crash

2006-05-07T08:26:00.000-07:00

South Hill man dies after gunshot wound, car crash

SUSAN GORDON; The News Tribune
Last updated: May 7th, 2006 01:26 AM (PDT)

A 27-year-old South Hill man died after he was shot early Saturday. A friend who tried to take him to the hospital rolled the car on the way, authorities said.

James Nicholas Stewart was outside his apartment in the 12000 block of Military Road East near Shaw Road East just after 2 a.m. when about five shots were fired, said Pierce County sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer.

An autopsy showed Stewart died from a single gunshot wound to his chest, said Ryann Thill, an investigator for the Pierce County medical examiner.

After the shooting, another man put Stewart in a car and drove toward Good Samaritan Hospital. But the car flipped over on 23rd Avenue Southeast just east of South Meridian Street in Puyallup, Troyer said.

Puyallup emergency crews removed Stewart from the overturned vehicle. The driver was unhurt, Troyer said.

No one has been arrested. Detectives were looking for a gray, midsized, newer sedan that carried two white males in their 20s, Troyer said.

“We don’t have a gun. We just have spent rounds,” he said.

Earlier that night, Stewart and his friend visited a bar and had arrived at the apartment just before the shooting, Troyer said.

The killing is not believed to be gang-related, Troyer said, adding that it might have followed a fight or a road-rage incident.

“We’re looking into the possibility they may have gotten into an altercation in the bar or on the road back,” Troyer said.

Susan Gordon: 253-597-8756
susan.gordon@thenewstribune.com