Tacoma police chief back after weeklong investigation

By Lauren Gallup
After a week of administrative leave, Tacoma’s police chief is back on duty. Tacoma City Manager Elizabeth Pauli placed Tacoma Police Chief Avery Moore on leave last week. In a statement released on Wednesday, Pauli wrote that she conducted a fact-finding investigation into personal use of a city asset. The statement did not specific what the city asset, or costs Read More

Tacomans struggle with high temperatures, heat and access to cooling varies across the city

By Lauren Gallup
Tree canopy over a paved pathway through Tacoma's South Park on the afternoon of Friday, July 12. (Credit: Lauren Gallup / NWPB)
Four days a week, Kevin Ruby’s team is responding to calls and, often complaints, about people experiencing homelessness in Tacoma. “We always are trying to put people in touch with resources,” Ruby said. “It's just the resources right now, this week, last week, this time of year in general, include a lot more often water, cooling shelters, transportation to cooling Read More

Tacoma’s new tenant protections now in effect

By Lauren Gallup
Tacoma labor leaders celebrate the passage of Citizens’ Initiative Measure No. 1 at a press conference on Friday, Dec. 8. (Credit: Lauren Gallup / NWPB)
Since Tacoma voters approved a ballot initiative that introduces new regulations called the Landlord Fairness Code to the Tacoma Municipal Code, there’s been a lot of questions about the initiative. The City of Tacoma has answered some about the process and what happens next. The Landlord Fairness Code was adopted into the Tacoma Municipal Code and is a city law as of Read More

Tacoma tenant protections measure passes — now what?

By Lauren Gallup
On May 25, a number of supporters of the Tacoma For All initiative for tenant protections, rallied in front of the City Hall building. Photo by Lauren Gallup.
The final release of election results for Pierce County showed a victory for those who have been pushing for a set of progressive tenant protections in Tacoma. “We feel really proud of what we've achieved. It was a real David versus Goliath kind of fight,” said Ty Moore, campaign manager for Tacoma For All, the group behind the initiative. Citizens’ Initiative Measure Read More

Controversial Tacoma warehouse proposal moves forward

By Lauren Gallup
The currently vacant site that developer Bridge Industrial is seeking to use for an industrial warehouse in South Tacoma. / Courtesy of Michelle Mood.
The City of Tacoma hearing examiner has upheld the city’s decision to issue a development permit for a mega-warehouse in South Tacoma. The permit decision was appealed by Seattle nonprofit EarthJustice, on behalf of the South Tacoma Neighborhood Council and 350 Tacoma, which argued that the city and developer hadn’t adequately analyzed the environmental impacts of the Read More

Get ready for the heat, west-siders!

By Lauren Gallup
Beachgoers stay cool Monday afternoon at Owen Beach in Tacoma. (Credit: Lauren Gallup NWPB)
Just in time for the Fourth of July holiday, the west side of Washington is going to see some sunny, hot weather. The daytime highs of 80- and 90- plus degrees being predicted might still seem abnormal to those who call the Puget Sound basin home, but those temperatures are on trend with the hotter summers climatologists have been tracking. Historically, Western Read More

Funding for some Tacoma homeless shelters reduced

By Lauren Gallup
The downtown campus of the Tacoma Rescue Mission, who's men's and women's shelters are set to be at capacity July 1 due to budget cuts. // Lauren Gallup NWPB
This year’s funding for Tacoma Rescue Mission homeless shelters has decreased. That means next month, the mission will have to decrease the number of shelter spaces available. As of June 23, the mission had 24 spaces available in their women’s shelter and 39 in their men’s shelter. But by July 1, those will go away, according to the mission. Read More

Pride in Sports: Dockyard Roller Derby

By Lauren Gallup
Skaters on the Dockyard Roller Derby league in Tacoma practice on Monday, June 12. // Lauren Gallup NWPB
Sense of community. Belonging. Teamwork. Identity. These feelings can come from playing a team sport. However, sports often are gendered spaces that follow traditional societal expectations. Then, there’s roller derby, which has a history of defying traditional female roles and giving a space for women to compete. One derby league, Dockyard Roller Derby in Tacoma, is Read More

A park from pollution: 30 years after the ASARCO smokestack demolition, Tacoma’s waterfront transforms

By Lauren Gallup
An image of the ASARCO smelter in Tacoma, showing the smokestack rising above the waterfront. Photo credit Tacoma Public Library.
It was a clear day in Tacoma on January 17, 1993. Commencement Bay was crowded with boats. Families gathered on boat decks and across North Tacoma sidewalks to watch the demolition of what was once the tallest smokestack in the world, the ASARCO smokestack that loomed over Tacoma’s waterfront for nearly 100 years. With the press of a button, a child, supervised by Read More
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