Stories for Tillicum
Letter: The Far Side
Posted by | CommentsDavid Anderson, Bill’s Boathouse, Tillicum
Just the mention of Gary Larson’s popular single-panel comic entitled “The Far Side” makes me smile. Two quickly come to mind – the two spiders that have weaved a giant web at the base of the slide down which an unsuspecting fat little kid wearing glasses (did you know most of Larson’s human subjects were fat and wearing glasses?) is about to descend. One of the spiders says to the other "If we pull this off we’ll eat like kings!"
Pankey home sees progress, walls
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Volunteers and members of the Rotary Club of Clover Park raised the walls on Tacoma/Pierce County Habitat for Humanity’s 200th house this last Saturday. This home is being built in Tillicum in honor of Rotarian and Lakewood resident, Gene Pankey.
College students converge on Tillicum to build
Posted by | CommentsStudent volunteers from Linfield College and other schools across the nation are in Tillicum this month to build Habitat for Humanity houses. Many gave up their spring break and traveled hundreds of miles for the opportunity to haul lumber, cut boards and hammer nails for local families in need of a home.
Student groups have traveled from California, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Utah to participate in Habitat’s Collegiate Challenge program, which allows students to learn more about poverty, housing and homelessness through direct service.
$6.95 million in I-5 interchange analysis
Posted by | CommentsThe legislature included $6.95 million in the state's transportation budget to analyze five interchanges in Pierce and Thurston counties. The interchanges are: Thorne Lane and Berkeley Avenue in Tillicum, Steilacoom-DuPont Road in DuPont and Marvin Road and Martin Way in the Lacey area of Thurston County. The funding will pay for "in-depth analyses," of the five I-5 interchanges, and is a "critical step before dirt starts moving."
GED English class offered
Posted by | CommentsPierce College, in conjunction with Tillicum Elementary, is offering GED class in English beginning this spring quarter. More information in on this flyer.
Letter: When apple juice is no longer apple juice
Posted by | CommentsBy David Anderson, Tillicum
Selling fake apple juice to babies seemed a harmless way to make ends meet. After all, Beech-Nut executives rationalized, there was a budget to meet. And besides, said a company executive, "So suppose the stuff was all water and flavor and sugar? Why get so upset about it? Who were we hurting?"
Governor signs Carrell custom-car repair bill into law
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Sen. Mike Carrell, R-Lakewood, smiles after the governor signs his custom-car repair bill, SB 6005, into law Wednesday.
Classic-car aficionados celebrated the governor’s signing of Senate Bill 6005 Wednesday, clarifying in state law that custom-car restoration and preservation shops are different than general auto-repair facilities. Present for the official bill-signing ceremony was Sen. Mike Carrell, R-Lakewood, himself a restorer of classic automobiles. Read More→
Letter: Shuttered Broken Windows
Posted by | CommentsBy David Anderson, Tillicum
He was best known for “the broken windows theory” - fix what’s visually and physically broken in a community – graffiti, litter, dilapidated and neglected properties - to prevent further vandalism which otherwise left unmaintained leads in turn to escalation of more serious crime. Read More→
Letter: Want to go swimming?
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By Bill White, Lakewood
The Oakbrook pool hopes to open this spring.
A group of Oakbrook Golf and Country Club members is hoping to open their former club’s pool this spring but they need interested families to act now.
Read More→
Letter: Loyalty Needed
Posted by | CommentsBy Edmond B. Dennery, Tillicum
In a smaller city such as Lakewood, residents should expect loyalty from its municipal staff, this loyalty being reflected in decisions that contribute to the best interests of the residents. Loyalty has been sadly absent in regard to a long series of actions in regards to Murraygate—the plan to move Camp Murray's main gate access into the residential area of Lakewood's Tillicum neighborhood. Read More→
Letter: My take on the gate
Posted by | CommentsBy David Anderson, Tillicum
In rendering his decision on what remains an on-going, unresolved, now-going-on-three-year controversy as to whether Camp Murray gets its gate or not, Lakewood’s Hearing Examiner James O’Conner ruled March 1 that the so-called rationale and validity of the Washington Military Department (WMD) gate-relocate were outside his purview, scope and analysis (p.8)
Letter: "The envelope please . . . .”
Posted by | CommentsBy David Anderson, Tillicum
At least as important if not more so at the 84th Oscars was not so much who won what but who dressed best and who outlandishly worst (she wore that?). Read More→
Northwest Trek invites students to explore animal-related careers for free March 3
Posted by | CommentsHigh school and college-age students who think they might want to become a zookeeper, zoo veterinarian or zoo educator won’t want to miss Career Day on Saturday, March 3 at Northwest Trek Wildlife Park. This full day event will be held from 10:30am-4pm and participants are required to attend the full day. Read More→
Letter: Books not butts
Posted by | CommentsBy David Anderson, Tillicum
Quick announcement: Volunteers for judging the science fair at Tillicum Elementary are needed. Background checks are required which takes some time so ASAP contact Tara Longfellow at 253-583-5370 or tlongfel@cloverpark.k12.wa.us . Ten to 15 judges are needed for the science fair on March 1st from 12:30-3.
One of the biggest wastes of everyone’s time in the City of Lakewood planned for late this spring will be the “All-City Community Meeting” sponsored by the Community Safety Resource Team (CSRT). Read More→
Letter: City-State Gambling Debate
Posted by | CommentsBy David Anderson, Tillicum
Over the weekend, John Rothlin, Chief of Staff, House Republican Caucus, took exception to my opinion piece which has since been published in The Suburban Times and Lakewood Patch. He gave permission for me to quote him as to what he wants clarified:
“The non-tribal gaming proposal is in no way a part of the House Republican budget proposal, let alone a ‘key element.’ Rep. Alexander ( Rep. Gary Alexander, R-Olympia, ranking Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee), is a sponsor of the non-tribal gaming bill (HB 2786) but did not assume it in the Republican budget. I suggest you watch the budget rollout news conference on TVW during which Rep. Alexander addresses (at the 22:09 mark) this specifically.”
Letter: Gambling Expansion is Back
Posted by | CommentsBy David Anderson, Tillicum
My five-year-old grandson loves to play “I Spy.” It’s a game he always wins because the version we use when he visits our house is the same one he has at his home so he’s very up on where all those very-hard-to-otherwise-find objects are in the jumbled pictures.
The future of publishing... In Tillicum
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Communities in Schools of Lakewood offers a digital publishing class on Fridays for 3rd-5th grade kids at Tillicum Elementary. Teacher Christina Klas invited me to speak with the class for a few minutes about publishing on the internet. To show a quick and practical example of publishing in today's media world, I snapped the above picture with my cell phone, added a few sentences, and posted it to The Suburban Times. Using a white board screen connected to the internet in the school's library, I refreshed The Suburban Times website and up popped the kids picture. They thought that was pretty cool. From my cell phone to the internet in a few clicks.
Loads of good questions followed. The kids seemed genuinely interested in the idea of communicating ideas and thoughts with little more than passion, pictures and stories.
I was even invited to come back and sit for an interview. I'm honored, and look forward to seeing what these kids come up with. Thank you for invite (and your hard work) Christina, do count me in for a return visit. The kids were great.
