Re: “Family support centers could close due to funding cuts” (TNT, 3-21).

Soon after I read the article, I was privileged to attend the second annual gathering of Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department public health nurses and social workers.

This group represented five decades of nursing services to Pierce County families which included home nursing visits for pregnant women and new mothers, classes on infant and child care, 15 well-child clinics and adult health screening clinics.

These services were provided in partnership with local pediatricians and other doctors. Education and early intervention was provided to our most vulnerable citizens. Some …

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The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department and Board of Health are faced with a loss of revenue from federal Title XIX administrative match funds, a loss that affects services to vulnerable families in our community.

One of the programs affected is the Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP). This program has the potential to transform generations of children and families by improving birth outcomes for first-time mothers and their children. The program also has long-term effects, including reduced crime and substance abuse.

A 2013 study, “Societal Return on Investment in NFP Services,” demonstrated that for youth served by the NFP, there was a 53 …

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I am a registered nurse working in Pierce County and also a student at the University of Washington Tacoma. I recently learned about the tremendous Medicaid cuts facing the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department (TPCHD) and about the proposed impacts these cuts will have on TPCHD services to low-income families and children.

I am writing to you to convey my perspectives as a nurse and to encourage TPCHD efforts to absorb cuts in a balanced manner that sustains evidence-based programs shown to be cost-effective in supporting the long-term physical, mental and social health of Pierce County.

Changes to Medicaid are expected …

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I direct Oasis Youth Center for LGBTQ youth in Pierce County. Oasis has served thousands of youth and young adults since the community created it in 1988 as response to the unique needs of LGBTQ.

In the early 1990s, Oasis became a program of the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department (TPCHD). In 1996, TPCHD ended its responsibility and oversight over Oasis. Fortunately, Pierce County AIDS Foundation (PCAF), under the leadership of Jeannie Darneille, took Oasis on as on of its programs. Finding secure, ongoing funding for Oasis was a huge challenge for PCAF, but she persevered.

This is just one example …

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Rob McKenna tells us not to worry about his nearly $200,000 in out-of-state junkets because somebody else paid for them (TNT, 10-29). I want to know the quid pro quo McKenna provided for his travels. I also want to know who funded the Republican Attorney Generals’ Association and financed his travel in his unsuccessful attack on the Affordable Care Act.

Whereas Gov. Chris Gregoire’s out-of-state travel was in support of the bipartisan litigation she led against the tobacco companies to limit their ability to market their poisons to children (and to extend the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department’s victory over …

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The oily airborne events of this past Friday from the Maritime Administration ships isn’t their first, nor will it be their last if left unchecked.

I have seen and smelled exhaust coming from their stacks into my windows and later have seen the same exhaust trapped in the Garfield Park, tennis club and Annie Wright School area. I have seen exhaust plumes wafting at tree level into Old Town and toward Stadium High School.

I have seen scraping and sand-blasting without tenting to prevent paint particles from entering the air or bay that a private boat owner couldn’t dare get …

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