Recent Articles
Is Tacoma a happy place to live?

Archives

Is Tacoma a happy place to live?

Talking to Chiara Wood and Prof. Kate Stirling, you get the idea they know something you don't. It has something to do with the Happiness Initiative Project, which they are still kind of working out. Right now it involves a survey, further organization, probably some college interns. They have a

Higher rents, possible uprooting scares Proctor District businesses

Archives

Higher rents, possible uprooting scares Proctor District businesses

Businesses are wondering what their future might look like as a well-known group of big-name developers sets its sights on a small business hub in Tacoma's Proctor Business District. Big names reputed to be involved in the project centering on the corner of North 28th Street and Proctor Avenue include

Occupy Tacoma: Where are they now?

Archives

Occupy Tacoma: Where are they now?

The tents were a tactic, a stage - not the movement itself. The message from those still occupying ... well ... that's what we're here to talk about.  Zuccotti Park and West Coast cousin Pugnetti Park in Tacoma aren't occupied anymore. But while there may have been a bit of a

Enter the Conqueror

Archives

Enter the Conqueror

Tacoma, meet The Conqueror. Broadnax the Conqueror. If you want to be formal about it, he is soon-to-be appointed Tacoma City Manager T.C. Broadnax. Based on a lunch-hour conversation, I've unilaterally decided he's just what Tacoma needs. Like most conquerors, Broadnax is strong. He doesn't take any crap, at least not from

Ring the alarm

Archives

Ring the alarm

No one will deny that police and firefighter layoffs are going to hurt. As Tacoma city officials work with union and department leaders to iron out the details of what has become the most contentious aspect of closing a projected $31 million budget shortfall - the loss of what could

2011 HOLIDAY GUIDE THREE: Dorks unite

Guides

2011 HOLIDAY GUIDE THREE: Dorks unite

Laura MacCary and husband Joe Benner have a special wish for Christmas - they want to be able to make robots and talk about technology with their fellow dorks in Tacoma. Dork is a term of respect and endearment in Laura and Joe's world, by the way. Especially if said

When the fat lady sings

Archives

When the fat lady sings

Amongst several hundred police officers and firefighters, Amy Tiemeyer took the podium in front of Tacoma City Council to plead her case. Tiemeyer was one of just a few who didn't arrive solely in support of the Tacoma Police or Fire Department officers and the communities they serve. Tiemeyer is

HOLIDAY GUIDE TWO: An iconoclast's Christmas

Guides

HOLIDAY GUIDE TWO: An iconoclast's Christmas

It's hard to decide what to do this time of year. For many people, the holiday season is simple and routine. But for a growing number of people, plain old Christmas doesn't cut it anymore. People are slicing and dicing tradition in larger and larger numbers. Some are tired of

Go Polar

Arts

Go Polar

It's time to go polar. Thank the Tacoma Art Museum, Franciscan Health Systems and a bunch of other nice folks who have transformed Tacoma's Tollefson Plaza into a full on Polar Plaza, complete with arts, activities and a covered, open-air ice rink open to anyone brave enough to strap on

Shift Your Shopping

Archives

Shift Your Shopping

Shift happens. Especially during the holidays. That's the message from local community-building non-profit Go Local Tacoma, as it joins more than 150 communities across North America in the Shift Your Shopping holiday campaign, an unprecedented national effort that encourages residents to take job creation and economic

View All Articles

Recent Blog Posts

Walkie Talkie Blog

Passive aggressive keepsakes

THE ONE THAT DIDN'T MAKE OUR HOLIDAY GUIDE >>> The frame above is for pictures of your favorite d-bag. We all have at least one in our life - that person you would love to punish, if only you weren't such a cowardly, passive aggressive little whiner; endlessly turning your rage

Walkie Talkie Blog

Spaceworks space issue

LOCAL PROPERTY OWNERS HAVING SECOND THOUGHTS >>> A handful of local artists are suddenly out of luck as property owners in downtown Tacoma have announced they will stop participating in a program that provided artists with free studio and gallery space. You've likely already seen some of the fruits of the program

Walkie Talkie Blog

TONIGHT: Be the Spark!

WHY DESMOND TUTU CHOSE TO COME TO TACOMA >>>   Desmond Tutu is coming to Tacoma. Let that sink in, then consider that the Nobel Peace Prize winner and historic peace activist chose to come to Tacoma as the first of his final two official international appearances before he retires later this

Walkie Talkie Blog

UPDATED: Tacoma officials order medical marijuana dispensaries to close (again)

THIS SEEMS VAGUELY FAMILIAR >>> City of Tacoma's Tax & Licensing Division has summarily revoked the business licenses of at least 19 medical marijuana dispensaries within the city limits. Dispensary owners received letters yesterday, March 17, demanding that they cease to operate by March 28 or face fines and penalties, up

Walkie Talkie Blog

Follow up on our Plowshares cover story

ALL FIVE PEACE ACTIVISTS FOUND GUILTY THIS WEEK >>> Five peace activists, including an 83-year-old nun and an 81-year-old Jesuit, were found guilty this week of a range of crimes after breaking into a nuclear storage facility in Silverdale, Wash. Anne Montgomery, 83, a Sacred Heart sister from

Walkie Talkie Blog

Scenes from the medical marijuana rally in Tacoma

HOT TOPIC >>> The Tacoma City Council told medical marijuana proponents today that so-called dispensaries would be allowed to stay open as long as their owners filed an official appeal of the cease and desist orders distributed last Friday by the city's Tax and Licensing Department. A crowd numbering at least

Walkie Talkie Blog

Tacoma medical marijuana "dispensaries" under attack

THIS JUST IN >>> Medical marijuana patients and their caregivers were stunned Friday, Oct. 15, when several of Tacoma's so-called marijuana dispensaries were served cease and desist orders from the City of Tacoma's Tax & Licensing Division. The orders, with carbon copies to Tacoma Police Department Chief Don Ramsdell and Lt.

Walkie Talkie Blog

Best grilled cheese sandwich

HAVE YOU VOTED YET? >>> A grilled cheese sandwich can go terribly wrong. Experimenting with the classic formula, in this arena, can turn an American classic into a toxic-tasting mouth mutant. And Jesus hates mouth mutants. Well, thank God for Deanna Bender, who still makes the best

Walkie Talkie Blog

MSM Mother's Day surprise

MOTHERF****R! >>> MSM Deli II got a new front door for Mother's Day. Like a car-sized one. It was a regular, frantic Sunday evening when a fairly regular customer drove her car through the generally non-descript storefront at 2220 Sixth Ave., interrupting dinner and showering the wine aisle with concrete, dust

Walkie Talkie Blog

Sensational metal

PAUL SCHRAG: BENEFIT FOR BRIAN REDMAN >>>Metal has evolved. Apparently there are enough enraged teens to have catapulted a full on pop phenomenon, with new metal bands emerging daily. And, forgive me, most of them suck. Instrumentation is sloppy, riffs are tired and repetitive, and grooves are barren. Even the

View All Blog Posts

Recently Reviewed Movies

This author hasn't reviewed any movies.

Recently Reviewed Restaurants

This author hasn't reviewed any restaurants.

Browse Authors