The mound of remembrances continues to grow at the Lakewood Police Station.

By 7 p.m. tonight, the flowers, balloons, candles, stuffed animals, wreaths and other tributes wrapped around the southwest corner of the Lakewood Police Station, where police had blocked off the entrance.

Hundreds of people, both Lakewood residents and non-residents, visited the site throughout today. In a sign of solidarity that only tragedy can bring, people of all ages, ethnicities and income levels stopped to pay tribute to the fallen officers.
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If you drive around Lakewood today, chances are you’ll see one of the messages local businesses and organizations posted to pay tribute to the four officers who were killed a day before.

Here is a sample:

Lakewood Fire District (Steilacoom Boulevard Southwest): “We honor our fallen LPD officers”

Happy Days Casino: “LPD God Bless You. We appreciate and also grieve in your loss.”

Custer Elementary: “Thank you Lakewood Police.”

RAM Restaurant & Brewery: “In Loving Memory of Our LKWD Officers.”

Linda Fishbaugh stood in silence in front of the makeshift memorial in front of the Lakewood Police Station today.

The mound of flowers, balloons, candles and badges from other police departments paid tribute to the four Lakewood police officers who were gunned down Sunday at a Parkland coffee shop.

Fishbaugh, of Lakewood, knew one of the officers – Tina Griswold — through her son and the Clover Park School District. She said visiting the memorial was the least she could do to pay her respect. Like most of the country, she heard about the shootings and the officers’ identities from the television news.

“When they said a female officer, my heart just dropped,” Fishbaugh said.
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BY JOYCE CHEN
The News Tribune

They came for the cheer. They came for the lights. They came for the memories.

Hundreds of South Sounders got a jump start on holidays at the 64th annual holiday tree lighting Saturday evening outside the Pantages Theater on Broadway.

The 50-foot Christmas tree lit up to the cheers of 800 to 1,000 attendees.

Federal Way’s Sara Slater held the hands of her two grandsons, Hatcher, 6, and Rizley, 8, as the lights flickered on.

“I must have come here 30 years ago with my children,” Slater said. When she attended in past years, “Pantages was run down. The downtown has improved; there’s more of a community sense now.”

Before the countdown, people milled in the tightly packed theater lobby, clutching cups of apple cider. A live military band of five Fort Lewis soldiers played “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” and other holiday standards.

The tree lighting has been a long-standing tradition for Deanna Richardson of Bonney Lake, who arrived with her husband Chris and her daughter Hannah, 8. “My parents were born and raised in Tacoma, so they’ve done this ever since they were children.”
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Federal Way will start using speed cameras in two school zones and three more red-light cameras at intersections Tuesday.

Violators will receive warnings for the first 30 days. Citations and fines will be issued starting Dec. 31.

The city’s first school zone cameras will be near Saghalie Middle School (21st Avenue Southwest) and at Twin Lakes Elementary School (Southwest 320th Street).

Federal Way also will start using three more red-light cameras at intersections Tuesday, with the same 30-day warning period in effect for those cameras until fines start Dec. 31.

…

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The people who’ll greet you at Tacoma Mall’s doors  on Black Friday have a holiday wish for you: That no one breaks into your car and steals your stuff, or your identity.

Members of the city of Tacoma’s Car Prowl Prevention Safe and Clean Team will deploy to the mall at 7 a.m. with placards and pamphlets on preventing car prowls.

“Car prowling is a crime of opportunity,” said team leader Mike Fitzgerald of the Tacoma Fire Department. “Removing valuables from your vehicle or securing them in a locked trunk makes your vehicle unappealing to a car prowler.”

The effort …

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The Puyallup City Council met today to set the city’s 2010 property tax rate. But city officials didn’t jump immediately into council business.

Upon beginning the meeting, Mayor Don Malloy noted the basket of flowers and vase of roses placed on the council dais where Councilman George Dill used to sit. A candle also burned there in honor of the late councilman, who died Thursday from a heart attack at the age of 75.

Malloy asked the crowd to participate in a moment of silence for Dill, who was next in line to be mayor of the city.

Citizens  shared …

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Puyallup officials will meet Monday to finalize the city’s 2010 property tax levy, an issue that has proved controversial this year as council members debate over how much it should be reduced.

The meeting will take place at 1 p.m. Monday in the Puyallup City Council chambers, located on the fifth floor of the Puyallup City Hall at 333 S. Meridian Street.

The Puyallup City Council passed a motion in 2008 pledging to reduce taxes by about $7.8 million, roughly the amount of money it took the city to run the Puyallup Fire Department before the department became part of …

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