At least 300 bike racers converged on downtown Tacoma last summer for a day of bicycle racing known as the Tacoma Twilight Criterium. They won’t be back this summer.

Mike Brown, owner of Tacoma Bike and one of the organizers of the race, says the event is moving to the Proctor neighborhood after two years downtown.

He said excitement about the race by Proctor businesses was the primary reason for moving the race that requires closing about a mile of roads.

This year’s race is scheduled for June 30, according to the Washington State Bicycle Association’s racing calendar.

I spent Friday at Crystal Mountain for Ski Heritage Week where  the ski resort, Rangers from Joint Base Lewis-McChord and others were on hand to pay tribute to the 10th Mountain Division. Even some family members of the World War II veterans were on hand.

My coverage of the event appears in Saturday’s News Tribune and Olympian, but until then here are some highlights:

LYNN PHILLIPS, DAUGHTER OF 10th MOUNTAIN DIVISION VETERAN, AND SONJA STINGL, WIFE OF VETERAN, SING A DIVISION SONG FROM WORLD WAR II.

LYRICS FROM TWO 10TH …

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Hide your children and flee for the woods, the Hunger Games are coming to Tacoma.

Tacoma’s Trident Athletics is staging its own version of the Hunger Games on Thursday; with free events planned for 5 and 6:30 p.m. Participants will take part in Hunger Games-themed CrossFit workouts while the soundtrack plays in the background.

Varying from the wildly popular movie and books, participants are discouraged from killing each other. Love triangles are optional.

The workouts will incorporate four skills used by “Hunger Games” heroine Katniss Everdeen: Archery, tree climbing, speed work and strength.

“These skills and exercise will be scaled …

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A Mount Rainier National Park ranger and five deputies were honored recently for his attempt to rescue fallen coworker Margaret Anderson, who was shot by a park visitor on Jan. 1.

West District ranger Kraig Snure received a medal of valor from the Pierce County Sheriff’s department on March 29 for “demonstrating exceptional bravery.” Sgt. Nick Hausner and deputies Frank Brown, Brian Coburn, Kevin Reding and Ara Steben received the same honor.

(Click here to read more details about the response by Snure and the deputies.)

Snure and the officers were the first to re-enter the scene of the …

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Two of Washington’s most popular hiking trails are scheduled to reopen Friday, the Washington State Department of Natural Resources announced today.

Mount Si and Little Si trails have been closed since a single-engine airplane crashed in the Mount Si Natural Resources Conservation Area on Feb. 15.

All debris from the crash is expected to be removed by Friday and the investigation by local and federal officials has concluded. Winter weather slowed both efforts. The area will reopen even if the wreckage is not completely removed by Friday. The area may need to be closed for one day in the future …

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Mount Rainier National Park turns 113 today.

Mount Rainier was designated the country’s fifth national park on March 2, 1899, president William McKinley. It was another 17 years before the founding of the National Park Service. Yellowstone National Park was the country’s first national park, founded in 1872.

Two of the state’s most popular hiking trails, Mount Si and Little Si near North Bend, remain closed nearly two weeks after a single-engine plane crashed in the area Feb. 15.

The Washington State Department of Natural Resources and Mount Si Natural Resources Conservation Area hoped to have the trail open by today but snow and winter weather hindered their effort to remove the wreckage over the weekend. The plane is at 2,000 feet and the snow level has been as low as 1,000 feet.

“Current weather predictions indicate that snow is likely to interfere with removal efforts into the …

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Associated Ministries will hold a short service in honor of slain ranger Margaret Anderson on March 3 at Mount Rainier National Park.

Anderson was shot near Paradise on Jan. 1 after setting up a road block to stop a motorist who ran snow tire checkpoint. The shooter fled and was found dead in Paradise River the next morning.

The service will be at 1 p.m. at the northeast side of the Paradise Visitor Center. Associated Ministries attempts to conduct “Moments of Blessings” at the sites of all homicides in Pierce County, said spokeswoman Sandy Windley.

“It is an interfaith service,” …

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