The News Tribune
A dozen Danish trolls now call Pierce County home
in the underbrush and below towering trees, eight larger-than-life wooden trolls smile crookedly, their wild hair of twigs brushed behind overmaining size ears. Starting Thursday, you’ll be able to visit 12 giant troll sculptures in Pierce County...
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Forgotten patients’ graves now bear names in Lakewood
More than 3,200 Western State Hospital patients are buried in Fort Steilacoom Park. The grass dips in spots where their bodies lie and, until recently, their names were lost to time, faded headstones with numbers buried beneath the dirt. On Saturday a...
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PGA Tour pro’s company giving Lakewood golf course a glow-up
Golf Club is getting a glow-up. “TRUE linkswear,” a golf footwear and apparel company based in Tacoma, moved its corporate headquarters to the Lakewood golf course and is renovating much of the clubhouse space. Picture a sleek, modern, warm...
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Historic Tacoma Tower property, parking garage on the market
A historic downtown Tacoma building that was once planned for redevelopment is on the market after its ownership shifted to the project lender this summer. The Tacoma Tower property, consisting of 1114, 1119-1123 Pacific Ave. is being marketed by...
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Californians blast Trump remark that Iran could ‘take out’ LA
President Donald Trump suggested to a crowd of his supporters in Nebraska that Iran could “take out” a major US city like Los Angeles or San Diego, drawing a swift rebuke from California’s Democratic leaders and some fellow Republicans. Trump,...
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Trump poised to test his powers again at Supreme Court
When a pit bull mix under the care of Tacoma Humane killed a toy poodle at the Tacoma City Marathon in May, the response was swift: The nonprofit drew criticism on social media, paused off-site events and saw its CEO depart before the month...
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Warming summit temperatures means a shorter Mount Rainier
Tahoma, Mount Rainier, the crown jewel of the Pacific Northwest and fifth-highest mountain in the contiguous United States, is shrinking. A recent study, reported by Seattle’s Eric Gilbertson in 2024, showed that Mount Rainier, which once stood at...
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CAUGHT ON CAMERA
When 25-year-old Santiago Aldan rode through downtown Puyallup after flashing a handgun at a passing driver this past summer, it wasn’t another human who found his vehicle. It was an AI-driven camera. Puyallup Police Department officers entered the...
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Smith-Western marks 80 years in Tacoma
The unassuming South Tacoma industrial building that’s home to Smith-Western is easy to miss just off Tacoma Mall Boulevard, but inside is like taking a trip to all your favorite vacation spots without leaving Tacoma. The company that started...
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Puyallup Tribe to open Riverbend Social in downtown Tacoma
A little over a year since acquiring the former ALMA arts, entertainment and hospitality venue near downtown Tacoma, The Puyallup Tribe has revealed plans to open Riverbend Social, a mixed-use community center that will support a café, lounge and...
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Krista Perez pleads not guilty to DUI in municipal court
Washington State Legislature candidate Krista Perez pleaded not guilty to driving under the influence at her Friday arraignment in Tacoma Municipal Court. Perez was arrested August 11 after she hit a parked car and caused a chain reaction crash...
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Near theft at Wright Park leads to century-old discovery
A century-old feature of Tacoma’s Wright Park, the bust of Norwegian playwright and poet Henrik Ibsen, has long been framed by rhododendrons down a winding path from the park’s conservatory. It now lies in a dim shed, sharing space with...
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Puyallup school officials appear in court in trans wrestler case
The principal and athletic coordinator of Rogers High School in Puyallup made their first court appearances Tuesday in a criminal case concerning a wrestler who claimed she was sexually assaulted during a match by her transgender opponent. Principal...
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Tacoma’s Old City Hall unveils SheWorks coworking space
It’s been 8 years since local developer Eli Moreno and his Surge Co. firm were selected by the City of Tacoma to redevelop Old City Hall. Sept. 12, the historic property, 625 Commerce St., saw its first public tenant celebration in the building, which...
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Experts cite trucks, road design for Fife curve backups
years, the section of I-5 known as the “Fife curve” has been notorious among locals for traffic backups. “It sucks,” lifelong Tacoma resident Dan Lafferty told the News Tribune. While pumping gas at a 76 station in the city of Fife, the 59-year-old...
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9 / 1 1 25 YEARS LATER
On Sept. 11, 2001, a series of terror attacks in New York, Washington D.C., and Pennsylvania carved scars across our nation that continue to heal. To mark the anniversary, we pause to reflect on the tragedy of that day and the triumphs that rose from...
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What’s behind surge in unpermitted food vendors?
Across Pierce County, more and more roadside vendors have popped up without food safety permits, officials say. Over the past two years, the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department has identified a steep increase in unpermitted food vendors popping up...
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Owner shares story of ferry sitting idle in Oro Bay
Hidden off the coast of Anderson Island a 189-foot, 50car ferry sits tipped to its side, slowly rusting in Oro Bay. The old Ocean City ferry is a landmark on Google Maps and an eyesore to some neighbors but ultimately a testament to one man’s lofty...
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Tacoma mayor calls Fred Meyer closure a ‘gut punch’
The loss of a second Fred Meyer grocery in Tacoma since 2025 drew a response Tuesday from the city’s mayor, while the site’s landlord addressed allegations of rent hikes chasing away the grocer. “We offered lower rent,” Stan Rosen, managing partner...
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Judge orders release of man after 17 years in prison
Six words uttered by a Pierce County judge brought applause and tears to his courtroom Friday, where two-dozen people had gathered to observe the resentencing of a man who has served 17 years in prison for a Lakewood murder. “Mr. Ellis will be...
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Cattle ranchers are fuming, and they blame Trump
When Tim Brunner was at a recent auction barn, he was surprised to see decent cows selling several hundred dollars cheaper than they were just a few weeks ago. He largely blames President Donald Trump. And he’s not the only one. The White House’s...
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‘Mr. Tacoma’ remembered for legacy with UWT, civic work
A Tacoma banking legend and champion for the creation of University of WashingtonTacoma has died just shy of his 100th birthday. The death of William “Bill” Philip, 99, was announced this week by officials with Columbia Bank, which Philip helped to...
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Inside Tacoma’s hidden sheepskin manufacturing hub
Hidden in a nondescript building in downtown Tacoma, across the street from Corina Bakery and The Grand Cinema, rows upon rows of soft sheep skin sit waiting to become car seat covers, earmuffs and rugs. For 38 years, one of the largest sheepskin...
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First Creek Trailhead opens in Tacoma's Eastside
The scene was lively Wednesday evening, as Tacoma Park Board Commissioner Andrea Smith counted to three, pulled a blue ribbon back, and adults and kids on bikes blasted by to mark the opening of First Creek Trailhead on the Pipeline Trail in Tacoma’s...
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How an old airplane ended up in a Lakewood backyard
37 years, a 1950s U.S. Air Force jet has sat in a Lakewood man’s backyard. You can see it from certain angles while pumping gas at the 7-Eleven next door. Some eagle-eyed Reddit commenters spotted the plane on Google Maps and mused how it got there...
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Why are there so many cobblestone streets in the North End?
If you’ve driven around the St. Patrick Catholic Church in the North End of Tacoma, you’ve probably seen the patches of cobblestone street or heard them thudding under your tires. Why are there cobblestones here? Do they add to Tacoma’s charm, or are...
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What’s it like to be a lighthouse keeper in Tacoma in 2026? Not like it was
A 38-foot-tall white tower stands at the end of Browns Point, surveying the blue ocean and panoramic views of the Olympic Mountains. For more than 75 years men tended to the only lighthouse in Pierce County, sounding a horn in dense fog and ensuring a...
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A day on duty at Tacoma’s Hylebos, Murray Morgan bridges
The tide was low and green Tuesday near the Port of Tacoma as Charlie Rodriguez surveyed a blinking board of red, orange and green buttons. With the turn of a couple switches he lowered the gates, blocking traffic, and pressed a thick green button in...
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Tacoma’s new maritime skills center is ready for business
Inside a classroom at 1225 Maritime Center Drive is an array of boxes filled with dogs. Not real dogs, of course. Robot dogs. They have names like Captain, Pilot and Blaze. They’re joined by dozens of other drones in storage, all to be used by...
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Spanaway Lake leads Pierce County in drownings
Under a clear mid-afternoon sky, Tanya Ricca lay on a towel and soaked up the warmth at Spanaway Park’s south beach. Not too far off the grassy shore, her three children swam in the lake. The kids were aged 5 to 14 and the youngest wore a life jacket....
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Canoe journey focuses on culture, tradition, respect
One of the Puget Sound’s oldest traditions, traveling by water, is shared by nearly every resident of the Pacific Northwest, from fishermen to commuters, and is undoubtedly one of the best ways to immerse yourself in the watery ways of the Evergreen...
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Port of Tacoma gets $135 million terminal expansion
A $135 million investment will double Washington United Terminals’ capacity in Tacoma, adding new cargo-handling equipment and port renovations. Located at 1815 Port of Tacoma Road on the Blair Waterway, WUT will expand its cargo carrying volume from...
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Five major highway projects in Pierce County in summer 2026
Summer is road work season, and various highway construction and replacements are happening around Pierce County. Here are five multi-milliondollar projects underway and their expected timeframes. SR-167 EXTENSION MEGAPROJECT Estimated completion:...
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Tacoma’s Blueberry Park offers free berry picking
Children frolicked between tall blueberry bushes Tuesday afternoon in Tacoma, marking the start of peak blueberry season. As previously reported by The News Tribune, Charlotte’s Blueberry Park in the South End is the only free food forest in Tacoma,...
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Pierce County district approves $21M deal to end sex-abuse claims
University Place School District has agreed to pay $21 million to settle allegations that it failed to protect six former students from sexual abuse by a one-time district employee, according to a court filing Monbune day and an attorney representing...
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Voter registration error in NJ leads states to audit systems
states told USA TODAY they are examining whether a software program that allowed 6,600 noncitizens to register to vote in New Jersey could have done the same thing in their state. More than half of U.S. states and territories use the same vendor tied...
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Scenic train near Mount Rainier to expand its line north
whistle rang loud and low through the forests near Elbe on Thursday afternoon as the train chugged along the Nisqually River, belching clouds of white steam along the tracks. Although the Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad has run along a historic track near...
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Rainier Beer ads boost its iconic status in Tacoma
twin bar owners of 1111 in Hilltop love Rainier Beer. In the back of the bar the walls are adorned with beer cans and bottle caps decorated with the iconic red “R.” Beer bottles with legs peer out behind framed photographs, and detailed posters...
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Historic building in downtown Tacoma sold to nonprofit
A building on Tacoma’s Register of Historic Places will become the new headquarters of an area nonprofit. In a transaction recorded July 13, Centerforce purchased the historic Bone Dry Shoe Building, 2111 Pacific Ave., for $2.49 million from The 21...
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Prestressed concrete pioneers: Tacoma’s 75-year story
Nestled between the Port of Tacoma’s waterways is a concrete company responsible for much of the city’s infrastructure, from the buildings people work in to the bridges they cross. This year, the company is celebrating the 75th anniversary of its...
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Enrollment shifts strain Pierce County school budgets
Editor’s note: This story is the third in a series about how funding for Pierce County school districts has changed over the last decade and what’s not working in Washington’s funding model for public education. Read previous stories about state...
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Local guide summits Mount Rainier for the 100th time
At 10,188 feet up on Mount Rainier, just under the Cowlitz Glacier, sits Camp Muir, a ranger station and climber refuge constructed out of nearby stone in 1916 and later expanded in 1936, complete with bunks and toilets and staffed by climbing rangers...
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Bridge that connects Tacoma and Fife to remain closed until 2033
The city of Tacoma now estimates that the Fishing Wars Memorial Bridge will reopen around 2033, a decade after it closed. The Federal Highway Administration in 2023 shut down the bridge, which links Tacoma to the city of Fife, after it found too much...
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Neighbors clash over eagle concerns at The Preserve Tacoma
a housing site known as “The Preserve” in Tacoma’s South End has furthered acrimony among some of its neighbors who believe the work isn’t living up to the site’s name. Things hit a flashpoint in May during tree clearing at the site, after neighbors...
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Residents fear environmental woes if gravel mine expands
A controversial sand-andgravel mine in DuPont might be allowed to expand if it meets certain environmental standards, according to a hearing examiner decision published earlier this month. As previously reported by The News Tribune, Glacier Northwest...
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Long-awaited, $20M childcare facility opens in Tacoma
After years of fundraising, planning and construction, the wait is finally over. The Multicultural Child and Family Hope Center’s new $20.9 million, 32,000-squarefoot childcare center at 2102 S. 23rd St. in Tacoma is ready to open. Soon after the...
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Trump said pool would cost $2M; estimate was much higher
When President Donald Trump first announced the project to transform the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on April 23 during an event at the Oval Office, he described the pool as a “filthy, dirty” place and that it was “leaking like a sieve.” Trump...
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Watch: Largest tree in Lakewood comes down one branch at a time
roaring sound of a chainsaw cut through a Lakewood neighborhood Tuesday as a 500-year-old, 160-foot-tall tree, the largest in the city, was disassembled, branch by branch. As previously reported by The News Tribune, the large Douglas fir on Lake...
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Lakewood fir to be cut down due to decay risk
Hidden in a Lakewood neighborhood, a tall Douglas fir stands resolute by the road, towering about 150 feet tall and 80 inches wide. Its bark is riddled with holes, and it’s between 400 and 600 years old, likely one of the oldest of its kind in the...
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Iran delays nuclear talks as clashes worsen in Lebanon
Iran delayed the start of negotiations over a permanent peace deal with the U.S. after fighting intensified in southern Lebanon, a potential setback to President Donald Trump's efforts to end the war and curb Tehran's nuclear program. The talks, which...
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Life on Salmon Beach: Tacoma’s hidden waterfront community
Hidden behind an unassuming locked gate by Point Defiance Park is a community of people who like their privacy. Through a thicket of forest and down a steep flight of nearly 300 stairs rest 104 homes, held up by stilts over a narrow stretch of beach....
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Could Tacoma be the new Hollywood? Some people think so
To support the independent film scene in Tacoma is to love Tacoma. It’s to know that the city has so much to offer, to dedicate time to helping others see it and to not expect much in return. Nowhere is that more embodied than at The Grand Cinema....
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Takeaways from Tuesday’s primary election results
Graham Platner, a military veteran and first-time candidate whose populist message resonated with voters in Maine, prevailed over the state’s governor to win the Democratic primary for Senate on Tuesday. Now, he will face Sen. Susan Collins, a...
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‘Seattle to Texas Express’: Why some residents are leaving
Some Republicans say it’s the new normal: that Washington state residents and businesses are leaving because the cost of living is too high and the political ideology has shifted too far to the left. Former talk show host Kirby Wilbur, who spent about...
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Diaz was shot ‘without provocation.’ 2 charged in teen’s death
Two people have been charged with murder in the shooting death last month of Parkland teenager Braylon Diaz. According to charging documents, the suspects are 26year-old Alyssa Marie VaughtBarr and 21-year-old Brandon Torres-Mesa, who is at...
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Man sentenced for stabbing at Point Defiance Park
The man convicted of trying to murder a woman walking alone on a trail at Tacoma’s Point Defiance Park in a stabbing attack foiled by other park goers was sentenced Friday to 22 years in prison. A jury found Nicholas Fitzgerald Matthew guilty of...
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Construction firm faces $1.1M claims in unfinished projects
Every time Brittany Gunderson goes out to her yard, she’s reminded of a promise poured in concrete and left unfinished. Gunderson, who lives in Bonney Lake with her husband, Todd, hired a local construction firm to build a ramp for her brother-in-law,...
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Report says Iran, US reach outline ceasefire deal
The United States and Iran have reached an outline agreement to extend their ceasefire pending the approval of President Donald Trump, Axios reported Thursday, after Iran targeted a U.S. air base in Kuwait in the wake of U.S. strikes on what Washington...
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Residents favor quiet over business growth in Northeast Tacoma
Northeast Tacoma can feel like its own small town. It’s separated from the rest of the city by Commencement Bay, and it can be a bit of a hike to get there. Plus, there are only a few businesses that dot the roads and intersections, compared to dense...
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111-year-old landmark demolished after permit ‘issued in error’
Crews starting tearing down a 111-year-old school house this week after Pierce County staff mistakenly issued a demolition permit for the historic building, a county spokesperson confirmed Tuesday. Pierce County’s Planning & Public Works department...
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‘Mushroom guy’ DeLeo provides fresh fungi to Tacoma chefs
was a cold, misty, midspring morning — as Pacific Northwest as it gets — when I officially met “the mushroom guy” in his habitat. If you live in or near Tacoma, and you like good food, you probably know him, too. For nearly 15 years, Adam DeLeo...
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Ashford guide shatters Mount Rainier speed record
On May 9, Rainier Mountaineering Incorporated (RMI) guide Simon Kearns woke up in company housing in Ashford well before dawn. For breakfast, he had a bowl of oatmeal and a cup of coffee. He’d slept a total of 30 minutes, but that was normal for him...
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Police honor Foss employees who intervened in knife attack
The Tacoma Police Department honored five Foss High School staff members during a press conference Thursday for their roles intervening in a knife attack that left six injured last month. On the afternoon of April 30, four male students confronted...
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Fire on Tacoma’s Temple Theatre roof likely electrical
A fire on the roof of Tacoma’s historic Temple Theatre on Tuesday likely was caused by an electrical failure. Chelsea Shepherd, spokesperson for Tacoma Fire, told The News Tribune that the department is finalizing its report for the building at 47 St....
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Ex-Pierce County teacher who molested students sentenced to prison
The former Pierce County elementary school teacher convicted of inappropriately touching four students was sentenced Friday to 66 years to life in prison. Jordan Roy Henderson, 36, was found guilty by a jury of 12 counts of first-degree child...
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Guarded by JBLM and Chief Leschi’s spirit, prairies endure
Fifteen thousand years ago, the Vashon Glacier, which helped carve Puget Sound, retreated and left behind hundreds of thousands of acres of grassland prairies, which were peppered with Garry oak trees, wildflowers, birds and butterflies. The prairies...
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Lakewood’s J’Nai Bridges to star in Seattle Opera’s ‘Carmen’
After over 100 performances in more than a dozen different productions playing the eponymous character, opera singer J’Nai Bridges has made it indisputably clear: Carmen is her calling. The Lakewood native has played the iconic temptress across the...
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State moves to force health inspections at Tacoma ICE lockup
Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson and Attorney General Nick Brown announced Tuesday that the state is seeking a federal court order to stop the contractor that runs the immigrationdetention center in Tacoma from blocking state health inspections at the...
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Iran offers plan to focus on Strait, delay nuclear talks
Iran has offered the United States a new proposal for negotiations that focuses on opening the Strait of Hormuz and lifting the U.S. sea blockade on Iran as a way of ending the war and then tackling nuclear negotiaasked tions later, according to three...
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18 Washington sheriffs face certification complaints
Nearly half of the elected sheriffs in Washington state face allegations of misconduct lodged by the public with the state’s Criminal Justice Training Commission, which has the authority to suspend or revoke a cop’s certification as a law enforcement...
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Loud train horns disrupt sleep in Old Town Tacoma
Residents in Old Town Tacoma say they have been kept up at night lately by the blaring horns of trains passing through the area. The trouble is centered at the railroad crossing near the inKurtis tersection of McCarver Street and Ruston Way. City...
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Pierce County Juvenile Court sees sudden leadership change
The man who has overseen Pierce County Juvenile Court as its administrator for more than a decade, TJ Bohl, and the court’s longtime probation manager, Kevin Williams, were separated from their positions last week. The reasons for their sudden...
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Why Tacoma holds so many special elections each year
With Tacoma Public Schools’ recently-approved property tax measures in the rearview mirror and Parks Tacoma’s bond measure looming, Tacoma residents might feel that they are constantly voting in special elections. Washington state law allows for up to...
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Ex-sheriff's leader sentenced for DUI crash injuries
The man who was leading the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Division when he drank, got behind the wheel of his pickup while off duty and caused a rollover collishe sion, pleaded guilty Tuesday to vehicular assault DUI and...
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