The Tacoma Murals Project is ready to stir the paint pot for another season of crime and grime fighting.

Part of the City of Tacoma’s Safe, Clean and Attractive initiative, Graffiti Reduction Through Community Based Art aims to cut tagging and get residents involved in defining and beautifying their neighborhoods. To that end, the city wants to hear from people who live in areas battling blight and vandalism, and who have a wall ready for a mural. The application deadline is April 2, so start procrastinating now.

The city will provide the artist to develop the painting, and …

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Elton Gatewood, founding director of Tacoma’s Neighborhood Council program is retiring Tuesday after 37 years with the city.

He did not want to go. The loss is one of the casualties of the city’s economic crisis.

Thanks to his deep knowledge of the city and wise and gentle diplomatic skills, the neighborhood councils have driven citizen involvement that has brought peace and beauty to many areas of Tacoma.

We invited people to comment on Gatewood’s accomplishments, and this is part of what we heard:

“I’m glad you are apparently planning a note or article about Elton Gatewood – I hope it’s about his contributions, his generous spirit, and his dedication to helping give Tacoma’s neighborhoods an effective voice in the city (as well as his contributions to numerous other cities’ neighborhood councils).

“I met Elton only 4 or 5 years ago, and was quickly impressed with his knowledge of the city government and the way it actually works, his advice on best approaches to city officials, both elected and administrative, and his mentoring of folks like me new to neighborhood councils. He guided with a firm and yet flexible hand, letting us know what was required and how best to provide it, and doing it with a quiet and unassuming leadership style that made one listen carefully.

“Elton founded the neighborhood council system 20 years ago, working with activists all over the city, including Marion Weed out here in NE Tacoma. In my experience, he kept up the dedication to neighborhood empowerment, consistently working in the neighborhoods’ and the city’s overall interests, sometimes in ways unfavorable to leading figures in the city administration. We will miss his example and leadership.”

John Thurlow, Chair, NE Tacoma Neighborhood Council

“As an officer of the South Tacoma Neighborhood Council knowing and respecting Read more »

Tacomans are famous, or perhaps notorious, for their activism, and their wonkiness.
They demand that attention be paid to neighborhood concerns, from gangs to traffic to crime to air quality.

They have learned how to get that attention in part thanks to (occasionally bitter) experience, and to an eight-year collaboration between the city’s Neighborhood Council Office and University of Washington-Tacoma’s Urban Studies Program.

The two offer the Government Leadership Institute free to all comers on Mondays from January 30 through March 5. Each of the five sessions runs from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on the UWT campus, Keystone …

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Two clouded leopard cubs are leaving Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium Thursday and heading to Florida, where zookeepers hope they will breed this spring.

Sumalee and Sabah are moving to the Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Garden, the zoo announced today.

“While we’re sad to say goodbye, we’re excited that more people will have the opportunity to see these rare and beautiful cats,” general curator Karen Goodrowe Beck said.

Sumalee is one of two clouded leopards born at Point Defiance last June. She was paired with Sabah, who came from the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, when she was three months old. …

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Because of the inclement weather, tonight’s events honoring Martin Luther King Jr. at the University of Puget Sound have been canceled.

The 7 p.m. celebration at Kilworth Memorial Chapel and 5 p.m. afternoon reception in the Rotunda at University of Puget Sound have been postponed, a university news release said. The university says it will work to reschedule these for a future date.

The evening event was to feature Lyle Quasim as speaker. The afternoon reception was for volunteers who took part in community work today.

The Redeeming the Prophetic Vision 2012, an interfaith service scheduled for Sunday afternoon to honor Martin Luther King Jr., has been canceled because of the snow.

The event was set to run from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. today at Urban Grace Church in Tacoma.

Demolition crews tearing down the westbound half of the old Nalley Valley viaduct have finished the section that spans South Center Street.

That puts an end to total street closures, but South Center Street still will be partially closed at certain times this week as crews continue work nearby.

According to the Washington State Department of Transportation, one lane in each direction will be closed between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m., Monday through Saturday morning. Single-lane
closures will continue between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. each weekday.

In addition, drivers will notice the right lane of eastbound State Route …

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The Science and Math Institute (SAMI) and Stewart Middle School in Tacoma are among six educational entities chosen to serve as Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) mentors to other schools in the state.

A total of five schools and one school district have been named Lighthouse mentor schools by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Each entity will be awarded $20,000 to help promote and develop STEM education. They will offer technical assistance and advice for other middle schools and high schools that are creating their own STEM environments.

In addition to SAMI and Stewart, other …

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