Typical week

Weekly Volcano’s quality of life meter for Pierce County

By Volcano Staff on May 28, 2009

A pair of sexually charged dimwits was busted near Lakewood this week after damaging 14 cars traveling down Interstate 5 by throwing rocks at them off a railroad trestle. Apparently, and this is where things get really dumb, the pair — a 23-year-old dude and an 18-year-old chick — were playing a stripping game. For every left headlight the pair busted, Girl Braindead would shed a layer of clothing. For every right headlight, Dude Brilliant would do the same. No word yet on how naked the pair was going to get if they killed someone. MINUS 2



Local officials announced this week that a new community organization will move forward with plans to host a 2011 Tacoma Tall Ships festival, despite a looming $400,000 in unpaid debt left over from the last one. Local consortium Tacoma Waterfront Association will take control, leaving the original Tall Ships organization to clean up the debt. Kinda shady, but we like pirates. PLUS 1



Tacoma was once again named one of the top 25 art cities in the United States by American Style magazine. Our city grabbed the Number 13 slot in the mid-size-city division. Lovely. PLUS 2


Tacoma Police are getting serious about gangs again. Local police officials recently announced renewed efforts to stamp out gangs and keep kids from getting involved in gangs in the first place. Officials have asked for help from other city agencies and the community. Preliminary efforts include crashing underage drinking parties and hounding kids who are out past curfew. Look for an official plan to be unveiled in coming weeks. PLUS 1



A man was arrested at a Lowe’s home improvement store in Kent this week on charges he swindled Lowe’s stores in Pierce, King, Thurston and Kitsap County out of nearly $100,000. He got Pierce County alone for almost $33,000. Apparently he’d get himself added to business accounts over the phone and then make fraudulent purchases. Then, when the real businesses would dispute the purchases Lowe’s would be forced to reimburse them. And so the cycle went. MINUS 1 on a whole, but PLUS 2 for the Lowe’s employee that somewhere along the way undoubtedly thought, “Shouldn’t we require more than a phone call to add someone to a business account?”



Nearly 80 Port of Tacoma Employees turned in a petition recently calling for a vote of “no confidence” in the port’s Executive Director Tim Farrell. The petition emerged shortly after Port officials issued 47 layoff notices. The petition claims Farrell “has not acted in the best interest of employees of the port, the taxpayers of Pierce County or the overall good health of the port as a whole.” Port commissioners will review claims, but have promised no action. MINUS 1



Total Pluses:  6           



Total Minuses: 4



This Week’s Total:  PLUS 2       



Last Week’s Total: MINUS 1