Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s masterpiece, “Crime and Punishment” is the story of Raskolnikov, a man who contemplates then commits a violent crime. The main character’s inner turmoil illustrates how a criminal act completely cuts a person off from society and how strong is the need to reconnect.

The story is as relevant today as it was in the middle of 18th century Russia.

Recent columns by Leonard Pitts of the Miami Herald (Trib 5/10) and Katie Baird, a UWT professor (Trib 5/9), are reminiscent of this theme. Both writers introduce us to their own version …

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When you first met Jim Lewis you were likely to notice his prominent, Roman nose. It gave his face character in contrast to his calm and easy-going nature. Jim’s casual confidence was of great value when he worked the streets of Tacoma as a patrol officer and field training instructor, as a member of the department’s search and rescue team, and, in his last assignment, as a motorcycle traffic officer.

On April 27, 2004, Jim Lewis was speeding down a Tacoma street with his lights and sirens activated when a motorist pulled out in front of him. Jim died in …

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Many of us have childhood memories of being singled out for the age-old crime of being different than the crowd. Fewer have experienced a traumatic incident as one alleged to have occurred to a high school student named John Lauber almost five decades ago. Some of the bullies recently “outed” their role in the event to The Washington Post (5/11), which included a known public figure.

The details are both troubling and cliche. In 1965 at Cranbrook School, an upscale Michigan prep, John Lauber was a transfer student whose effeminate habits made him “easy pickins’” …

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I was checking the reader comments a few days ago when I came across one that was such a positive, sweet-filled bit of praise that for a moment I felt buoyant. It was a feeling not unlike the constant sense of lift one gets – or at least should get – from the loving presence of a mother.

Then I saw who wrote this particular comment. It was my mom.

On this glorious and sun-filled Mother’s Day, I am foregoing the period of hours I usually spend hatching another blog. Instead, like most people fortunate enough to have a wonderful mother …

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It all started with the pink underwear.

As the world leader in incarceration, by percentage and expense, America knew something was up when Joe Arpaio, the self-anointed “Toughest Sheriff in America,” introduced the country to his inmates’ pinkish undergarments. That was years ago. Since then Sheriff Arpaio’s crusade to make his jail a self-described “concentration camp” has had its ups and downs.

Whether the discussion includes Sheriff Joe or not, incarceration itself is a controversial topic. Is it punishment or rehabilitation? Should doing time guarantee an inmates’ right to lift weights, watch TV and read Playboy or instead be a …

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In the last year or more it seems that every time we reach the end of the Powell murder mystery, another chapter is written. The latest installment is the disturbing trial of Susan Powell’s uber-creepy father-in-law, Steven Powell.

Detectives investigating Susan Powell’s disappearance served a search warrant on Steven Powell’s home last August. The warrant affidavit would likely have requested a broad scope for the search, and in the case of homicide – okay, disappearance – search and seizure case law can and should allow greater latitude than lesser crimes. The stakes are higher and the evidence could be anywhere.

Given …

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Every now and then a story comes along that grabs your attention. The truly exceptional ones, the tales that resonate on several levels over the span of years, are a rarity. I want to share one that I first heard over twenty years ago, when I was a young man struggling through the process of becoming a police officer. Its lesson has implications well beyond law enforcement, but I’ll warn you now – it’s violent.

It is known as the Newhall Incident and it occurred in 1970 just outside of Los Angeles. The story begins …

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“I see the bad moon arising. I see trouble on the way.” -Creedence Clearwater Revival

Every now and then I will read a scientific explanation that doesn’t blow past my head at warp speed. I may not know what warp speed is, but I must have been paying some attention during Astronomy 101. I actually have a basic understanding of the phenomenon, known as the Supermoon, that will be playing out in tonight’s sky.

It’s actually pretty simple. Because the lunar orbit is an ellipse rather than a circle, its distance from any one vantage changes over time. In this …

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