Word on the Street

Storified: Tweeting twiger on the loose

John Henrikson — Fri, 25 May 2012 02:41:27 +0000

An escaped tiger has taken to social media to live-tweet his exploits. (Don’t laugh, he may have more followers than you do.) Here’s a sampling of the witty kitty showcased in a Storify.

View the story "Tweeting twiger on the loose" on StorifyTweeting twiger on the looseA Bengal tiger was said to be on the loose late Thursday near Puyallup. Little was known about where it came from, but luckily for us, the tech-savvy kitty started up a Twitter account @Puyallup_Tiger. Soon he had hundreds of followers and was Tweeting his adventure. Here's a sampling: Storified

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Meet Bates College presidential finalists

Debbie Cafazzo — Thu, 24 May 2012 20:53:46 +0000

Two Pierce County education administrators and a third candidate from Minnesota are the finalists in the search for a new president to lead Bates Technical College.

The finalists are:
• Tony Apostle, who is retiring as superintendent of the Puyallup School District at the end of June.
• Amy Goings, vice president for operations and college relations at Clover Park Technical College.
• Ron Langrell, executive vice president and chief academic officer for Riverland Community College in Austin, Minn.

Current Bates President Lyle Quasim announced last year that he planned to retire. He will remain at Bates …

Civilian hall of fame at JBLM inducts 2 new members

Christian Hill — Wed, 23 May 2012 21:41:51 +0000

Joint Base Lewis-McChord welcomed two new inductees into its civilian hall of fame Wednesday.

Former DuPont mayor Tamara Jenkins and Ken Swarner, co-publisher and editor of the Fort Lewis Ranger, were recognized during a ceremony earlier today.

Under Jenkin’s leadership, DuPont created a memorial wall to honor fallen service members who lived in the south Pierce County city — three names will be added on Memorial Day — and in 2010 organized a combined Fourth of July and pro-troop parade.

Swarner’s active support of the military includes organizing events so families of deployed soldiers can have pictures taken with Santa …

Ruling clears path for completion of new Camp Murray gate

Christian Hill — Wed, 23 May 2012 20:22:34 +0000

Construction of the new gate at Camp Murray cleared a major hurdle Tuesday when a hearing examiner tossed out a challenge filed by residents in neighboring Tillicum who are opposed to the project.

A representative of the neighborhood group, the Tillicum Action Committee, said it would meet this week to consider whether to appeal to Pierce County Superior Court.

“We’re disappointed that the hearing officer didn’t see the same issues that we were concerned with,” Pat O’Brien said.

The examiner, James O’Connor, denied a second appeal of a permit that Lakewood city officials issued so the Washington Military Department can …

It’s time again for free Slurpees

Kate McEntee — Wed, 23 May 2012 18:27:44 +0000

You’re thirsty for an icy treat and don’t want to pay a penny. Well, 7-Eleven can sate that desire today.

It’s SlurpFREE Day at 7-Elevens across the country. Customers can get a free 7.11-ounce Slurpee from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. today (May 23). Flavors vary by store.

Find a participating store at www.slurpee.com.

The website does proclaim “While supplies last,” so don’t wait too long to indulge.

Puyallup police, court won’t move into City Hall

Sara Schilling — Wed, 23 May 2012 06:30:00 +0000

Puyallup’s five-story City Hall that overlooks the library and Pioneer Park downtown won’t become home to the city’s police department or municipal court.

There isn’t enough space, consultants told the City Council on Tuesday. They also said the building wasn’t designed for those public safety programs and adapting it to fit their needs would cost millions of dollars.

The seven-member council seemed convinced.

“I definitely think this report puts the nail in the coffin of moving the court or police to into this building,” Councilman John Palmer said during the study session.

Instead, several council members indicated they wanted to …

Tickets for car museum grand opening available online

Rob Carson — Tue, 22 May 2012 19:46:23 +0000

Advance tickets are now available for the June 2-3 grand opening weekend at LeMay – America’s Car Museum (ACM). Museum-goers who want to join the celebration of the Northwest’s newest destination and don’t want to wait in line can go to www.lemaymuseum.org/museumtickets/.

Eatonville mayor fires clerk, demotes police chief

Sara Schilling — Tue, 22 May 2012 17:42:41 +0000

Eatonville’s mayor fired the town clerk last week and also demoted the police chief in a separate action.

Mayor Ray Harper said Chrystal McGlone, who worked as the clerk for about five years, allegedly misused a town credit card. Harper said there appears to have been a policy violation but no theft of town funds.

He declined to provide details.

He said he’ll ask an outside agency to review the matter and also plans to contact the state auditor’s office.

McGlone couldn’t be reached for comment.

Harper also removed Kevin Wade as police chief and tapped another officer, Jason McGuire, …

SOTA student a top winner in state art contest

Debbie Cafazzo — Tue, 22 May 2012 13:46:59 +0000

Jasmine Broadnax, a sophomore at Tacoma School of the Arts, is a top winner in the state high school art contest, sponsored by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Broadnax’ work, a pen and ink drawing titled “Faux Pas,” is the winner of the governor’s choice award. Her work will be on display in Olympia at the Capitol building.

2nd red wolf pup dies at Point Defiance Zoo; third treated for leg injury

Stacia Glenn — Mon, 21 May 2012 21:56:25 +0000

Two red wolf pups recently born at Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium have died and a third is being treated for a leg injury.

Five other endangered pups appear to be thriving and are being cared for by their mother Millie, 8, and father Graham, 9, in a den at the Red Wolf Woods exhibit.

The litter – which included four males and four females – was born over a 30-hour period starting on Mother’s Day.

Zoo staff has not determined the genders of the two who died, and said they were the smallest in the litter.

Although red wolf …