The hearing on an appeal of the city of Lakewood’s issuance of a permit allowing Camp Murray to move its main gate will begin at 10 a.m. Dec. 7.

Hearing Examiner James O’Connor will preside at the hearing to be held in the council chambers of City Hall, 6000 Main St. SW.

Meanwhile, the Washington Military Department filed notice that it will participate in the hearing and call witnesses.

Attorneys for the city, state and Tillicum Action Committee are …

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News Tribune photographer and multimedia specialist Joe Barrentine came up with a unique way to help tell the story of Tacoma’s tideflats for today’s front-page package. This Tacoma Now & Then photo gallery literally gives us a window into the past. We asked Joe to tell us a little about the project:

I like old photos a lot. Few places have as many Tacoma-related old photographs as the Northwest Room at the Tacoma Public Library. When I started working on a project about the Tifdeflates one if my first stops was the library’s website.

I pored through old photographs for hours trying to get some idea of the important places and times in the history of the Tideflats. As I drove around the city I started seeing a few of the landmarks and I decided to try and mimic the photos from the library. Not a new idea, but nonetheless not something I had not done before.
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There’s more than a little Halloween spirit in Pierce County. From tips and driving around town, we’ve located some of the more elaborate Halloween lights and displays, as shown on the map above. If you know of other favorite haunts, send us an e-mail and we’ll be sure to add it to the map (exact addresses appreciated and bonus points for photos.)

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The city of Lakewood will hold the sixth annual Truck and Tractor Day starting at 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29, at Fort Steilacoom Park.

The main attraction is the opportunity for kids to climb aboard trucks and tractors of all different sizes, including a cement truck and fire engine.

Activities for the whole family include hayrides, pumpkin decorating and face painting. A moonlit hayride around the park starts at 6 p.m. and costs $1; the evening’s final ride leaves at 9:30 p.m.

Each child will receive a free hard hat while supplies last.

The park is located at 8714 …

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We’re working on a story about local folks who trick out their homes with decorations and lights for Halloween. If you know of such a house, send us an email with an address and description (or add it in the comment field) and we’ll add it to our map. If you’ve got photos, we’ll take those too.

The Puyallup School Board will use a Liberty Lake-based consulting firm to help find the district’s new superintendent.

The board voted unanimously earlier this week to hire Northwest Leadership Associates, the same firm that helped the district with its last superintendent search.

That search resulted in the hiring of Tony Apostle, who’s retiring at the end of this school year. He’s been a fixture in the district for more than two decades, holding other administrative posts before taking over as superintendent in 2004.

Northwest Leadership Associates plans to charge $22,800 to help find his replacement, according to the …

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Development and business interests are the biggest contributors to this year’s University Place City Council races, according to an analysis of state campaign finance data.

Nearly 30 cents of every $1 of reported cash contributions to the six candidates came from five contributors: the Master Builders Association of Pierce County or its political action committee; the owner of the Green Firs Village Shopping Center or its manager; and University Place developer Brian McGuire.

Contributors gave a total of $21,420.41 in reported cash so far, according to reports from the state Public Disclosure Commission.

The MBA contributed a total of $2,400. …

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The group of King County cities and water districts that owns Lake Tapps will lower the water level starting Nov. 1 to allow people to do repairs, improvements and new construction on their lakeside property.

The lake is slated to be at its lowest point – about 535 feet, depending on the weather – from about Jan. 8 to mid-February, Cascade Water Alliance said in a news release.

The water level then will go up, with the goal of hitting 541.5 feet by mid-April, Cascade said in the release.

Property owners planning to do work must seek applicable licenses …

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