Pierce County

2007 Artist Trust/WSAC Recipients Announced

Philippines: A Re-return

Simple Majority Losing Ground (Corrected)

Ranking the Candidates

Krist Novoselic: Democracy in Transition

The Original Indie Rocker

Another Seahawks Injustice

Free Gas for Felons

How To Save Yourself Embarassment

The mud is falling! The mud is falling!

Absentee Voting

Novoselic Testimony in State Senate

Sequoia Ranked Choice Ballot for Pierce County WashingtonMy name is Krist Novoselic.In community organizations I am Chairman of the Wahkiakum County Democratic Party and Master of the Grays River Grange. I am speaking today as Chairman of FairVote - The Center for Voting and Democracy. FairVote is ... More >>

Tacoma's Vote on Voting

The Pierce County council voted 6-1 yesterday to let voters decide if the voting system they recently voted in should be voted out. One thing: the vote for or against the system that voters will be voting on will be tallied by the system they may be voting out. Or in. Again.

Ranked Choice Voting on Ballot Again in Pierce County

The Pierce County Council has put Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) on the ballot with the intention that voters will approve its repeal. I defended the system on KUOW this morning. In the same radio interview, Pierce County auditor Jan Shabro complained about the extra work and cost of Ranked Choice. At ... More >>

Haven't Cons and Their Kids Been Separated Long Enough?

A new state law is keeping families apart, even after a convict is released.

Primary Killer

Be afraid, be very afraid: IRV has infiltrated a major Washington county—and may quickly spread here.

A Downpour of January Political News

Plus: horse sex!

The Super Flood

Forget an eruption. The real threat of Mount Rainier is a surging wall of mud that could bury the suburbs and splash Seattle.

Bitch SLAPPed Again?

How developers are stifling democracy in your town.

Borders et al. v. King County et al.

A transcript of the decision by Chelan County Superior Court Judge John Bridges, June 6, 2005.

Mental-Patient Lawsuit Settled

To end litigation by Pierce County over premature discharges by Western State Hospital, the state has agreed to pay $2.5 million per year.

Links to Returns and News Coverage

To end litigation by Pierce County over premature discharges by Western State Hospital, the state has agreed to pay $2.5 million per year.

NORTHWEST ANNUAL

To end litigation by Pierce County over premature discharges by Western State Hospital, the state has agreed to pay $2.5 million per year.

Judge not

Lest you end up in front of these robed rogues.

Trouble in Tacoma

Lest you end up in front of these robed rogues.

Sex, booze, and brain damage

Odor in the court! Odor in the court! If you think something is wrong with our judicial system, it may be because you ran into one of these stinkers.

Crack-up

Democracy doesn't get much worse than the Pierce County auditor's race.

Is the Election Debate Any Better Without the Incumbent Mayor on the Ballot?

Justin Dylan Renney/Krist NovoselicKrist Novoselic's column on music and politics runs every Tuesday on the Daily Weekly. He writes his latest vinyl finds every Friday on Reverb.​I had a great time at the music-community candidate fundraiser last week at the Crocodile. The Maldives rocked, and ... More >>

Tacoma Houses Might Be Cheaper, But It Costs More to Vote There

Use the wedding cake stamp to help guarantee domestic partners have the same civil rights as married couples!​With the Approve/Oppose Referendum 71 camps running at a statistical tie in the last SurveyUSA poll, every vote counts. So when someone realized that Pierce County ballots require 61 c ... More >>

To Service Dogs and Other Threats to Air Quality, the Clover School District Says No Thanks

Clover school district bans teachers from training service dogs on campus. In related news, the terrorists win. ​Take note, Seattle environmentalists: Your green bona fides have been trumped. Don't believe it? Witness today's news that, citing environmental concerns, the Clover School Distri ... More >>

Pigheaded Strategy

When it comes to swine—or at least swine flu—Tacoma and Pierce County are a step ahead.

Copper the Doomed Rabbit Gets a Reprieve

Sure he may look cute now, but wait till he gets hold of your jugular.​A Tacoma rabbit that attracted global sympathy after animal-lovers discovered it was going to be put to death has now gotten a lucky break. The controversy began when a one-year old brown cottontail named Copper was taken ... More >>

Playing the Maurice Clemmons Blame Game

Huckabee is one of several targets for finger-pointing.​Mike Huckabee has thus far been on the receiving end of most of the blame for the premature release of Maurice Clemmons, the now-dead suspect in the Sunday murders of four Lakewood police officers. This makes sense. Huckabee is a nationa ... More >>

The Maurice Clemmons Case: Finger Pointing and Political Squabbling Overlook the 'Little Picture'

Clemmons​You can read dueling reports this morning on whose justice system is responsible for the deaths of four Lakewood police officers. The P-I's Joel Connelly says it's ex-Arkansas Gov. and presidential aspirant Mike Huckabee, who once commuted the sentence of future alleged cop killer Mau ... More >>

Though Fuming at Arkansas Over Maurice Clemmons, Pierce County Has Also Tried to Keep Ex-Cons Away

Horne argued that Pierce County was a dumping ground ​Pierce County officials are understandably fuming over Arkansas' reluctance to take Maurice Clemmons back. If not for Arkansas' refusal to issue a warrant in October for violation of Clemmons' parole in that state, Washington could have den ... More >>

Pierce County's Own Pushback on Felons

Well before Arkansas ducked Maurice Clemmons, local prosecutors were lobbying to keep ex-cons away.

Two Pierce County Sheriff's Deputies Wounded in Shootout; Suspect David Crable Shot Dead

David Crable was killed last night in a shootout that left two Pierce County Deputies in critical condition​UPDATE: Neighbors say Crable never left the house without his gun. Details after the jump. Two Pierce County Sheriff's Deputies are in critical condition after trading gunfire with a ... More >>

Family Selling Diamond Ring on Craigslist Robbed, One Killed

At least here, the robbery will only be metaphorical.​If you've ever wondered why Craigslist will never replace brick-and-mortar resellers, this story is for you: A family in Edgewood, just east of Tacoma, was terrorized last night by four gun-wielding robbers who'd come after seeing an ad lis ... More >>

Police Arrest Tacoma Couple Accused of Murdering 65-year-old Mother And Stuffing Her Inside a Crawl Space

The happy couple.​After investigators acting on a search warrant forced their way into Tacoma home of Laurinda Mae Hughes late last month, they found a trail of blood, a wallet and a set of false teeth in the glass near her dresser. But no Hughes. Continued search turned up the entrance to a ... More >>

Morning Food News: Beer and Gelato Come to Ballard, Plus Three New Organic Farms in Pierce County

​Ballard residents, loosen your belts. Two new businesses are coming to Ballard Avenue this week. My Ballard reports that The Noble Fir will open on Wednesday and D'Ambrosio Gelato hopes to do the same on Friday. The first is a tavern featuring beer, wine, hard cider, and cheese-meat plates, t ... More >>

Tacoma Shooter Jed Waits Committed Suicide, Says Medical Examiner

Jed Waits at Seattle Pacific University, where he met his eventual victim Jennifer Paulson.​After shooting and killing Jennifer Paulson outside Birney Elementary School in Tacoma the morning of Feb. 26, Jed Waits jumped into a tan sedan and drove off. A Pierce County Sheriff Deputy stopped him ... More >>

Allen Myron, Deputy Who Killed In-Laws and Himself, Pushed for Better Domestic Violence Prevention

​You'd prefer not to have to use a cheap word like "ironic" when it comes to a tragedy like this, but, what are you going to do? Months before committing a heinous act of domestic violence himself, Deputy Allen Myron -- who reportedly had been abusive to his wife -- reached out to the father o ... More >>

Judges Shouldn't Have Suppressed Records on Maurice Clemmons Cop Killings, Rules State Supreme Court

​In 2006, The Seattle Times launched an eye-opening investigative series on the treasure trove of court documents improperly sealed by judges. The Times went to court and got many of those records unsealed. But some judges, apparently, didn't learn their lesson. The state Supreme Court ruled ... More >>

Fastest Growing Legislative Districts in Washington State Are Republican

​Washington state is growing, as evidenced by the fact that we'll be receiving a new Congressional district in 2012. And while conventional wisdom holds that a population boom in the "Soviet of Washington" is a boon for Democrats, a closer examination of the actual numbers might prove differen ... More >>

Pierce County Sheriff Eager to Research Warrantless Searches After Kentucky "Toilet Flush Raid" Supreme Court Case

​On Monday, the United States Supreme Court ruled 8-1 that cops have every right to break into your house and arrest you if they suspect you have drugs and then hear a toilet flush. This is because a toilet being flushed, as we all know, is a certain giveaway that you're destroying evidence an ... More >>

Pierce County Voters Discover That You Get What You Pay For, Lose 17 Bus Lines

Expect fewer of these contraptions on the roads of Pierce County.​In a dose of good news for people who hate government, mass transit, and poor people, the board of Pierce Transit decided Monday to eliminate 17 bus routes and dramatically scale back service to large swaths of less-populated ea ... More >>

Weldon Marc Gilbert, Accused Child Rapist, Can Watch All the Kiddie Porn He Wants In Jail

​Weldon Marc Gilbert stands accused of raping and molesting multiple young boys and videotaping himself while he did. Police also found around 28 hours of child porn on more than 100 DVDs in his house. And while that massive collection of kiddie porn may be illegal, because Mr. Gilbert is act ... More >>

Pierce County Sheriff, Tacoma City Council Considering Crackdown on Medical Marijuana (UPDATE)

​Update #2, Friday, July 29 @ 8:57 a.m.: At a city council meeting last night, Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland called for a moratorium on all new medical-marijuana businesses in the city. The city council has not yet decided how to handle dispensaries, but, according to a report today in the ... More >>

Robert 'The Traveller' Hill, Tacoma's Latest Political Prisoner, Campaigns from Jail Cell

Hill campaign pic​If you remember Will Baker, Tacoma's Austin Powers-inspired political gadfly and "International Man of Diplomacy," you might also recall he was arrested three times in three weeks for refusing to stop talking at city council meetings - then continued his monologues in jail w ... More >>

How Low Can You Get? Skeeter Manos, a Lakewood Cop, Arrested For Stealing From Slain Officer's Fund

​A Lakewood cop was arrested today and accused of stealing more than $120,000 from the fund set up for the families of four officers killed in the line of duty in November 2009. Skeeter Manos, 34, of Dupont, is alleged to have set up a secret bank account for donations to the Lakewood Police O ... More >>