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Hometown Holidays

Alice Cooper

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TACOMAWEEKLY 24 Ye a r s o f Se r v i c e Be c a u s e Co m m u n i t y Mat t e r s

Pothole Pig has job security, city street crews don’t

By Steve Dunkelberger

stevedunkel@tacomaweekly.com

The Tacoma Weekly’s famed Perceval the Pothole Pig might have to outsource some of its work to other members of its drift in the coming years.

The demand for spotlighting potholes around

Tacoma will certainly outpace the workload of a single swine.

“It has taken a lot of time to get this bad; it’s not going to get fixed all at once,” Public Works Director Dick McKinley said. “The key for us is to just do what we can.”

Tacoma’s Public Works spending will be cut

Pothole Pig now has a name

That Tacoma Weekly’s famed Pothole Pig now has a name, Perceval. Perceval is one of King Arthur’s legendary Knights of the Round Table. Perceval is the earliest recorded account of what has gone down in legend as the “Quest for the Holy Grail,” a mythical chalice used by Jesus during Last Supper that is believed to have special powers. Our Perceval Pig, however, is on an endless quest for the “perfect pothole” and runs into many along his adventures through Tacoma.

by 45 percent under the proposed budget plan for 2013-14, from $231 million under the current budget to about $104 million. The cuts translate to the loss of about 80 positions from the department that once had a payroll of some 250 people. About 71 of those job losses will come in the Public Works division, which is tasked with maintaining streets, and from an across-the-board cut of every city department to cover Tacoma’s projected $63 million shortfall as well as a “structural deficit” of another $16 million in the street repair fund that had been created through the use of onetime funds for ongoing work under former city u See potholes / page A2

What’s right with tacoma

Put A Sock In It!

‘Standing on the

shoulders of giants’ PCAF commemorates 25 years by honoring its founders

By Matt Nagle

matt@tacomaweekly.com

Dec. 1 is World AIDS Day, an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV/AIDS, to show their support for people living with HIV/AIDS and to remember those who have succumbed to the disease. Here in Tacoma, it will be a special day in that Pierce County AIDS Foundation (PCAF) will commemorate its 25th year of service to people with HIV/AIDS with an event at Tacoma Art Museum to which the public is invited.

“PCAF: 25 Years of Service” will include museum admission and gallery tours, refreshments, an observation of World AIDS Day, opportunities to learn more about PCAF’s current client services and prevention programs, performances by Oasis Youth Center, and an awards presentation with State Senator Elect Jeannie Darneille as guest of honor. State Representative Laurie Jinkins and former Tacoma Mayor Bill Baarsma will present Darneille with the first-ever PCAF Achievement Award for her pioneering work as PCAF executive director from its beginnings in 1989 to her departure from the Foundation in 2007.

“You can’t have a 25th anniversary event without honoring the leader for 18 of those 25 years,” said PCAF Executive Director Duane Wilkerson. “Her years of dedication and hard work is something I’m aware of every day in this job. She set a high bar that I strive to maintain, so I’m very pleased to have followed in those footsteps.

“There’s that old cliché about standing on the u See PCAF / page A8

Rove at crossroads A5

STAR ART: New public art installation in South Tacoma.

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Photo by kits merryman

giving. Wes Wesley of Hospitality

Kitchen takes the first 25 pairs of the Tacoma Weekly’s Sock Drive donations into the day shelter’s resource room, which has been out of socks for a while.

Do the right thing and ‘put a sock in it’ this holiday season

By Kathleen Merryman

Photos courtesy of PCAF

PIONEER. (Top) Always a fighter for equal rights, State Senator

Elect Jeannie Darneille (front, far right) is seen here sharing in the election night joy of winning marriage equality for same-sex couples upon the passage of Referendum 74. (Above) This portrait of the late dancer Rudolph Nureyev as an angel was painted by artist Patrushka for PCAF’s “ART FOR AIDS: Ribbons of Remembrance” fundraising project.

One bid submitted A7 Pothole Pig ...............A2 City Briefs.................A3

Wes Wesley has, for a decade, inspired and managed Tacoma’s biggest holiday sock drive.

The security chief at Hospitality Kitchen at 1323 S. Yakima Ave., Wesley knows who is spending days, and sometimes nights, out in the weather. He sees who is limping, hears who is coughing. He is among the first to know when one of the Kitchen’s regulars lands in the hospital with pneumonia, or with feet damaged by cold and damp. He knows who has died, and who has had a foot amputated for lack of a good pair of socks.

Wesley has a mantra: “Socks are like gold.”

They are gold for the recipient, and for the giver.

Let him explain: “The people who need socks are the people who walk the streets with the backpack on. It’s desperately cold outside. You want to reach out to that person, but you don’t know what to give him, and you set your mind to wonder.

“It’s as simple as a pair of socks. His feet will be warm. He will be better. He will be comfortable. People like to give if it is unobtrusive and they can just do it. It’s just something to grab and give it out.”

Tacomans have made that kind of giving a tradition with the sock drive.

State champions A9

Sports .......................A9 A&E........................ ..B1

u See socks / page A7 Shakespeare holidays B5

Make A Scene......... B7 Calendar.................. B8

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Two Sections | 24 Pages

Section A • Page 2 • tacomaweekly.com • Friday, November 16, 2012

Pothole pig’s

POTHOLE OF THE WEEK

76th and L street

Tacoma has a tremendous pothole problem, and the city knows it.

During the past couple of years, the city has acknowledged this issue by spending millions of dollars in major arterial repairs with the council’s “pothole initiative,” and in 2010, routine maintenance by Tacoma’s Grounds and Maintenance Division completed street repairs on 229,638 square feet of road. In 2011, the city repaired about 150,000 more square feet of road riddled with holiness, and is continuing those efforts well in to 2012.

And while that may sound like a lot of ground, new holes pop up – or return – each and every day, which means a pothole-free road might never exist in Tacoma.

With the help of our readers and our dedicated Pothole Pig, we will continue to showcase some of the city’s biggest and best potholes through our weekly homage to one of T-Town’s most unnerving attributes.

Help the Pothole Pig by e-mailing your worst pothole suggestions to SaveOurStreets@tacomaweekly.com.

Potholes in need of repair can be reported to the City of Tacoma by calling (253) 591-5495.

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1938 Gulf-Miller #12

By Steve Dunkelberger

stevedunkel@tacomaweekly.com

The Indianapolis Speedway museum loaned six racers to LeMay: America’s Car Museum for the Tacoma car museum’s grand unveiling this summer.

One of those gems among gems was the rear-engine 1938 Gulf Miller, the last car designed by the legendary Harry Miller. Following the first appearance by a rear-engine car at Indianapolis in 1937, the Gulf Oil Co. commissioned Miller to build three cars to include the latest innovations. And he delivered. His cars not only looked futuristic, they were generations beyond other cars of the day. The racers featured four-wheel drive and a six-cylinder supercharged Miller engine that was tilted at an angle. Delivered too late for the 1938 season, the cars took to the track the following year. Only driver George Bailey managed to qualify in sixth place, making it the first rear-engine

t Potholes manager Eric Anderson. Had the internal street deficit been rolled into the city’s total general fund budget shortfall, the across-the-board cuts would have been closer to 18 percent.

The proposed streets fund budget totals $47.6 million of which about $18 million will come from the general fund. That level of spending is about $30 million less than current levels of street work spending that is already falling well behind the need.

“We really are one of the worst in Washington,” McKinley said.

Roads are graded on a scale of one-to-100 points, with 100 being the top tier of a brand new roadway. The municipal average in Washington is a rating of about 70. Tacoma’s stock of roadway has a collective rating of 42, falling into the poor-tofair range. Roads have been getting worse in the City of Destiny for more than a generation.

“There are roads that we just don’t patch because there really isn’t much of the pavement left,” McKinley said.

The decaying streets around Tacoma are well known to drivers, and they might just become legendary.

City estimates figure Tacoma streets need $800 million in repairs that don’t include sidewalk and utility repair needs.

Crews have spent close to $4 million a year in recent years on roadwork. Crews had been chip sealing about 125 blocks of street, but that will do just 80 blocks under the budget proposal. The 67,000 potholes repaired in just the last year will drop to about 3,000 as the city shifts strategies.

Even those holes will largely

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Photo by Steve dunkelberger

car ever in the Indy 500 race-day lineup. But the day would not end well.

The car dropped out after 47 laps due to engine troubles.

Originally intended to run on pumped gasoline, the car featured side-mounted pontoon tanks, which

proved to be very dangerous and prone to fires. Bailey would later die when his car’s side-mounted fuel tanks caught fire following a crash the following year. The tanks were refitted into the main frame of the car in 1941.

From page A1

be repaired only after citizen complaints rather than proactive patching. Instead of continuing the practice of coldpatching potholes found on Tacoma’s network of 800 lane miles of arterial road within five days of being reported, McKinley wants to hot patch them instead as a way to avoid return visits.

“Cold patching is very frustrating because it is very expensive as well as it doesn’t often work,” he said.

The rub is that hot patching might fix the holes but can only be done in warm and dry weather. That means potholes created in the fall and winter would have to wait until the spring to be fixed.

It also means a community relations blitz to get drivers to steer well clear of potholes so that the potholes don’t get worse before crews can get to them.

And there will be fewer city workers patching what potholes nature creates under the proposed cuts. The Public Works Department currently has 10 street maintenance crew leaders, 25 street maintenance workers, seven street equipment operators and three heavy equipment operators. The proposed budget will strip that down to four street maintenance crew leaders, 13 street maintenance workers, five street equipment operators and one heavy equipment operator. So more potholes are likely as the department shifts tactics as well as cuts crews.

Anyone thinking about cashing in on the rise of potholes by filing claims against the city under RCW 4.96 has a tough road ahead on that journey. The math just doesn’t work out.

City records show that during the last five years, almost 700 people filed claims against the city for damage to their vehicles or personal injuries linked to allegations of poor road conditions. Of the $2.8 million in road-related claims by 696 people filed against the city during that time, Tacoma has only paid out $102,264.81, according to records. That’s only 3.6 percent of the total claims filed.

Drivers who damage their car’s tires, rims or alignment by hitting a pothole can file claims against the city for the cost of the repairs since the city has a legal obligation to repair the streets. Claimants, however, bear the burden of proof that the city is at fault for the damages.

Photo by Steve Dunkelberger

POTHOLES. Street repair workers like Robert

Johnson have been working in sectors of Tacoma to proactively fix potholes they spot along their drives. They will shift to response-only calls under the proposed budget since the department will be about half the size it is now.

That means that the person filing the claim has to prove the city knew about the pothole and did nothing to fix it.

The “prior knowledge” policy means the first few drivers to damage their cars after hitting a pothole might be out of luck when it comes to claims for damages against the city since crews might not have known about the pothole. Only after crews are alerted of the pothole does the liability come into play, and only after an investigation into each claim since it involves taxpayer dollars.

“We take that responsibility very seriously,” Tacoma’s claims manager Jean Homan said.

Even if there is a legitimate claim, many factors go into the amount drivers actually receive for the damage.

The age and wear of the tires, the age of the car and rims lower the amount. Payouts for damage to expensive sport or

performance rims don’t factor much into the final check amount because the owner assumes more risk of damage by installing after-market rims.

“All of those factors are calculated into it as well,” Homan said.

Awful road conditions cost U.S. motorists $67 billion per year in additional repairs and operating costs – an average of $335 per motorist nationally according to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

The group’s report, “Rough Roads Ahead: Fix Them Now or Pay for It Later” also states that a third of the nation’s highways – interstates, freeways and major roads – are in poor or fair condition. It also states that every $1 spent in keeping a road in good condition saves $6 to $14 that would be required to rebuild the road that has deteriorated beyond repair.

For more information:

The city’s proposed Public Works Department budget and the detail involving street improvements is available online at www.cityoftacoma. org.

A five-year summary of the 696 pothole-related claims against the city is available in the online version of this article.

If you spot a pothole, report it to the city’s street department at (253) 591-5161, online at www.tacomaservices.org or Tweet it to @CityofTacoma as well as report it at tacomaweekly.com/potholepig.

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FREE • Friday, November 23, 2012

Put A Sock In It!

introducing nigel A4

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holiday events

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TACOMAWEEKLY 24 Ye a r s o f Se r v i c e Be c a u s e Co m m u n i t y Mat t e r s

When is a gun not a gun?

Voice your thoughts on this story by reading it online at TacomaWeekly.com.

Apparently when TPD officers say it isn’t a crime to use one to force children to the ground

By Steve Dunkelberger

stevedunkel@tacomaweekly.com

An incident, and the way it was handled

by Tacoma police officers, has a handful of parents a little less than pleased about

the level of public safety provided to their Hilltop neighborhood. Police Chief Don Ramsdell and department officials stand by the decisions of their officers and will not comment on the case further, and neither will Tacoma City Council

members nor the mayor. All were contacted for interviews. All declined.

The suspect is not talking either but the parents are, and their version of events is backed up by what little paperwork u See Gun incident / page A8

Photo by cedric leggin

POINT BLANK. A group of pre-teen

and teenage girls were forced to the ground at gunpoint by a neighbor while they were playing tag.

Happy Holidays, Tacoma

Zoolights celebrates 25 years of holiday sparkle Photo by john larson

HELPING OUT. Local military

families were able to pick up free food at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 91.

Providing meals for Thanksgiving

By John Larson

jlarson@tacomaweekly.com

People around the Tacoma area will have wonderful Thanksgiving meals thanks to the generosity of local organizations.

Eloise Cooking Pot Food Bank on McKinley Avenue gave out boxes on Nov. 16 at its McKinley Avenue facility. Dani Campbell, food coordinator for the organization, said many who showed up are ongoing clients of the food bank. Some live on the East Side, while others live elsewhere in the Tacoma area. “They come from everywhere,” Campbell said.

Vouchers for the baskets were distributed two weeks earlier.

Other people showed up without the vouchers, but Campbell said they were provided with other food items. “The secret about Eloise Cooking Pot is that no one goes away hungry,” she remarked.

The Thanksgiving boxes contained a turkey, stuffing, cranberries, potatoes and a dessert.

They also had items for meals on other days, such as pasta, rice and apples. “Those who are hungry need a meal on more than just Thanksgiving,” Campbell said.

Anhdrea Blue is president and CEO of Making a Difference Foundation, which provides funding for the food bank. She said the turkeys were purchased from Tacoma City Grocer. “They came through on a great price,” she remarked.

Boxes for elderly clients were distributed on Nov. 17. About 100 were taken to an apartment complex on the East Side, and another 150 were delivered around the area.

About 400 families showed up

Six waving tentacles (plus two imaginary ones).

Seven stationary geese.

Four skating puffins.

Three antsy aardvarks.

Two Narrows Bridges.

One green and purple flame tree.

Add up the numbers, and you have 25 glowing years of Zoolights.

By Kathleen Merryman

S

ince 1987, the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium’s festival of wattage has lit up Tacoma’s North End and changed how the whole town does lights.

It’s been a reason to invite the relatives from out of town and exhibit a little civic pride.

Or gloat.

Whatever.

I mean, where else, in the 1980s, could you find a Flame Tree blazing with 30,000 green and purple lights?

Where else, over the years, could you cozy up to nurse sharks to get warm on a raw evening? Or walk through the aurora borealis? Or look at lit red wolves and hear real red wolves howl their response to the Vashon Ferry’s horn?

Two million people – an average of 80,000 visitors a year – know it’s nowhere but Tacoma.

u See Zoolights / page A7 New tradition A5

HELPING THE HUNGRY: Event will raise funds for holiday meals for local families.

PAGE B3

Photos courtesy of MetroParks

BRILLIANT. An annual tradition for families far and wide, for more

than two decades holiday revelers of all ages have enjoyed a walk through the aurora borealis and the sound of red wolves howling their response to the Vashon Ferry’s horn.

Best in state A6

Pothole Pig ...............A2 City Briefs.................A3

Lions advance A9

Sports .......................A9 A&E........................ ..B1

u See Meals / page A8 Festival of Trees B2

Make A Scene......... B7 Calendar.................. B8

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Two Sections | 24 Pages

Section A • Page 8 • tacomaweekly.com • Friday, November 23, 2012

t Gun incident From page A1

police filed concerning the incident.

Here is what has been pieced together based on witness and victims’ accounts: A handful of children, between the ages of 11 and 15 were playing tag within 50 yards of their homes around the corner of South 16th and Ainsworth streets at about 10:30 p.m. Oct. 27. They say a man living at the corner house rushed out of the home with what the children described as a long-barreled rifle. He was holding it with both hands by his hip.

“Get on the f---ing ground, get on the f---ing ground,” the children and witnesses said he yelled.

Three of the children, all girls, dropped to the ground where they stood, which was across the street from the man’s house. Two boys walked up to the scene moments later. One of the girls, 15-year-old Isabella Carter, said she screamed out, “We’re just kids. We’re only playing a game.”

The children said several minutes passed as they lay on the ground at gunpoint while the man yelled at them with his arms shaking with his hand on the trigger. They said he then began backing up while still pointing the gun at them.

“He kept pointing it at us until we couldn’t see him anymore when he went into his house,” Isabella Carter said. “To me it was a gun. It wasn’t anything else. It was a gun and he was pointing it at us.”

The children said they ran to a nearby house where their parents were gathering for a pre-Halloween party, about 30 yards from where the children were forced to lie on the ground. The children said they were crying and screaming as they told their parents about the incident.

“It was kind of an unusual thing for them to tell me,” said Aaron Wilson, the parent of a 12-yearold girl who was involved in the incident.

Isabella’s mother, Jamey Voorhees Carter Rivera, reportedly ran to the man’s house and demanded an explanation; a woman inside said the rifle was only a bb gun and that the man would not come out of the house to talk about the incident.

A flurry of 911 calls then prompted five officers to respond. Emergency dispatchers logged the call at 11:18 p.m. The first car arrived at 11:21 p.m., according to the only official record of the case.

Two officers talked to the children and their parents, then walked to the suspect’s house and were apparently refused entry to question the man. A woman inside the house apparently told officer Steve Storwick that the gun the man pulled on the children was “just a pellet gun” and refused to answer further questions.

“If he had even slightly mishandled that he could have killed one of them,” Rivera stated later. “I don’t understand why the police didn’t ask him to see it.”

The officers returned to the house where the victims were gathered and told the parents that no crime was committed. No arrest. No police report would even be filed. The case was closed.

The entire police investigation took 10 minutes, 911 records show.

“It just didn’t rise to the level of being a crime,” police spokesman Mark Fulghum said after reviewing the case with the officers. “He (the suspect) thought there was a car prowler, and that’s why he went out.”

There is no record, or even an allegation, of the

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pre-teen children breaking into any cars, and they never entered the man’s property. They were forced to the ground on the public sidewalk across the street from the suspect’s house.

“I couldn’t believe nothing was done about this,” Wilson said.

This is where the case gets weird. One parent called it surreal.

The children, oddly enough, felt unsatisfied with the police response.

Isabella confronted the man the following morning and asked for an apology for pulling a gun on children while playing tag. She did not receive one. She and her friends then took it upon themselves to make signs warning neighbors of the incident. One sign read, “This man pointed a gun at me while I was playing tag.

He was scared.” Another said, “I pointed guns at children.” The children placed the signs in the right-ofway by the man’s house, where they remained for much of the afternoon.

Two officers, identified as Keith O’Rourke and Matt Verkoelen, came knocking on Rivera’s door that evening.

“I thought they were here to do a follow-up investigation about the guy pulling a gun on a group of kids,” she said.

They were not. They were investigating the man’s allegations of harassment because of the signs and an allegation of someone kicking leaves into his yard.

Rivera was threatened with arrest and a no-trespass order. No charges against her or police reports were filed in this case either. Rivera said officers spent 20 minutes on her neighbor’s complaint while giving just 10 minutes to the initial man-with-a-gun incident.

“I couldn’t believe how they were treating me,” Rivera said, noting that the officers told the children to “shut up” and not to interrupt their investigation about the placement of signs on public property.

“When my daughter tried to explain it was her (who posted the signs) and that no one trespassed or did anything illegal, (the officer) told her she was being ‘rude,’ to ‘shut up,’ to ‘go away’ and to ‘stop interrupting,’” Rivera wrote about the Sunday evening incident. “This treatment was completely out of line.

He had zero business talking to anyone like that, much less a child who had been traumatized by a gunman and already been told

by the police once in 24 hours that they couldn’t do anything to help her. It was at this point that officer Verkoelen finally told me what it is I had done that was warranting this treatment.”

The difference between a bb gun and an actual gun is a bit moot since state law sides on what the victim thinks the item was, not what the weapon actually turned out to be. A threat with a bb gun is seen in the eyes of state law as a threat with a real gun. Both are legally defined as firearms, capable of doing bodily harm up to and including death.

But state laws about the use of firearms are a bit gray. RCW 9.41.270 and its associated statutes, for example, state: “It shall be unlawful for any person to carry, exhibit, display, or draw any firearm, dagger, sword, knife or other cutting or stabbing instrument, club, or any other weapon apparently capable of producing bodily harm, in a manner, under circumstances, and at a time and place that either manifests an intent to intimidate another or that warrants alarm for the safety of other persons.

It is unlawful for any person to point or shoot an air gun at any person or property of another, or to aim or discharge such weapon in the direction of the person or residence of another, while within such range as to cause or inflict injury to the person or damage the property of another.”

Protecting one’s life or property with the showing of a firearm is justified “for the purpose of protecting himself or herself against the use of presently threatened unlawful force by another, or for the purpose of protecting another against the use of such unlawful force by a third person. … the show of force is only justified however if “no reasonably effective alternative to the use of force appeared to exist and that the amount of force used was reasonable to effect the lawful purpose intended. … or “to prevent an offense against his or her person, or a malicious trespass, or other malicious interference with real or personal property lawfully in his or her possession, in case the force is not more than is necessary.”

None of these state laws, however, were apparently violated by the suspect pointing a gun, or bb gun, or pellet gun or stick and forcing the children to the ground.

The parents then sought a police investigation into how O’Rourke and Verkoelen treated Rivera and how the officers investigated an allegation of kicking fallen leaves into a man’s yard more extensively than the undisputed claim of a man forcing children to the ground with what best could be described as a bb gun.

The case landed on Sgt. Pete Habib’s desk, and he apparently told the parents he was “pushing it up the chain of command.”

Fulghum contradicts that belief saying that there is no investigation into how the officers in either incident responded. He did say that the community liaison officer for the neighborhood was trying to gather the suspect and parents together to work out a solution.

No such meeting has been planned, however.

This reporter made several attempts to contact the suspect in the initial case. He has yet to respond.

Tacoma Weekly is not identifying him because he has not been charged with a crime. However, he is no stranger to the legal system. A background of public records shows that the 37-year-old man has faced 15 different driving, domestic violence and malicious mischief charges dating back to 2007 and involving incidents in Tacoma, Spokane, Lakewood, Pierce and Whitman counties.

The most recent local cases were domestic violence and threatening bodily harm in 2009. Those Tacoma Municipal Court charges were dismissed with prejudice, which means they will not be refiled. A 2012 case involves a failure to file a change of address with the Department of Licensing.

Neighbors have said the man has since moved from the area. They, however, point out that they have never seen him with a bb gun but know that he has a 30-06 Springfield rifle, which is similar in design to what the children described and later determined by officers to be a bb gun and then a stick.

Police officers in three jurisdictions outside of Tacoma were asked to review the basics of the “man with a gun” incident to see how, or if, they would respond differently than what happened in Tacoma.

They said they would have filed a police report to create a paper trail if more incidents are alleged later.

“I would have at least filed a police report,” one

officer said. “That seems like a crime to me, even in Tacoma.”

Plot Twists Another twist in the case is that Keith O’Rourke, Sgt. Pete Habib and Matt Verkoelen have killed gunmen in the line of duty after feeling threatened by men with firearms in much the same way the children felt threatened.

O’Rourke, a six-year veteran of the department, has been present at three officer-involved shootings. He did not fire his service weapon in two of those cases when other officers shot. The third involved O’Rourke responding to a domestic violence call along South ‘M’ Street this fall, where he spotted a man drive up to a house and attempt to run inside with a gun in his hand. O’Rourke fired twice, killing 29-yearold Prince Jamel Gavin, a Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier, with a single shot to his chest.

A .45-caliber handgun was found at the scene.

Verkoelen was patrolling with another officer, Sean Mallott, Jan. 28, 2011, when they fatally shot a mentally ill man after he fired a handgun at them while they investigated him as a possible suspect in a vehicle prowling case that had occurred along Puyallup Avenue.. O’Connell died at the scene. An independent review determined the shooting was justified.

At about 8:25 p.m. on Oct. 30, 2010, Habib, Verkoelen and officer Scott Harris shot and killed Kenneth Wickham in the parking lot of the Ram Restaurant along Ruston Way after Wickham pointed a handgun at the officers.

According to witnesses, at some point during the conversation with the officers Wickham abruptly changed his physical posture and pointed the handgun in a threatening manner toward the position where some of the officers were situated. Habib, Harris and Verkoelen simultaneously fired their weapons at him for fear of their own and others’ safety.

An independent review determined the shooting was justified.

t Meals From page A1

on Nov. 16. When the food bank ran out of turkeys, Blue said the remaining families received two chickens each.

Blue noted the demand for holiday meals is growing. “I wish we could have done more. I am always amazed at how many people do not have the basics for an awesome Thanksgiving,” she said. “It is always an honor to help the community.”

The Veterans of Foreign Wars Wild West Post 91 provided Thanksgiving food boxes to military families. Post Commander Elmer Clark said they were contacted by a group that asked for their assistance.

Boxes were assembled at the post on Union Avenue. They contained five pounds of potatoes, olives, cranberries, onions, canned corn, gravy mix, stuffing donated by Top Foods, Mrs. Smith pumpkin pies donated by Grocery Outlet in Lakewood, bottles of sparkling cider and dinner rolls. Each

photo courtesy of VFW Post 91

GIVING THANKS. Post members volunteered their time to assemble

Thanksgiving food boxes.

had a turkey donated by Association of the United States Army.

The boxes were donated by Home Depot. “They support us quite well,” Clark commented.

Clark said the boxes were for young, active-duty Army and Air Force personnel and their families, as well as those serving in the National Guard. Recipients came in to pick

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There were also other food items of canned and boxed goods distributed.

Clark said about 12 members of the post spent an afternoon assembling the boxes. He said they were happy to help out during this special time of year. “The VFW is here to support the troops and their families,” he said.

FREE • Friday, April 27, 2012

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A8

B1

A7

TACOMAWEEKLY .com Bellarmine responds to beat Curtis

25 Ye a r s o f Se r v i c e Be c a u s e Co m m u n i t y Mat t e r s

BIA turns 25

A cleaner Tacoma, thanks to the BIA

Photo by Steve Dunkelberger

CLEEN SWEEP. BIA street

crews clear leaves and trash from Pacific Avenue sidewalk.

By Steve Dunkelberger

stevedunkel@tacomaweekly.com

The downtown Business Improvement Area turned 25 years old this spring and is facing much different challenges than when it started at the beginning of the “Tacoma Renaissance” of the late 1980s.

“Downtown has changed a lot since then,” said Maintenance Supervisor Jim Burgess, who remembers those early years of the BIA. “There were drug dealers at every street corner for blocks around.”

He noted that several of the BIA sidewalk sweepers actually liked cleaning up those high trafficked corners along Pacific Avenue between South Ninth and South 25th streets back then because they would often find wadded up $20 and $50 bills that had been apparently discarded by dealers fleeing the police patrols during the previous night.

“They weren’t apparently very careful with their money,” Burgess said.

Founded in 1988 as a way to provide litter clean up and early evening security for downtown workers who were finding themselves having to walk through rows of homeless people panhandling, drug dealers selling dime bags and otherwise empty streets, the BIA u See BIA / page A2

Youth and Family Summit aims to ignite

discussions on race and education

By Clare Jensen

cjensen@tacomaweekly.com

T

his weekend, more than 1,000 community youth and adults will gather together to discuss a

dents to school – on a Saturday – re-ignites this year on a larger scale aimed at reaching a broadened cross-section of Tacoma.

The summit’s roots started in 2007 with a small student group at Mount Tahoma High School

four-letter word that has become sometimes taboo in local educational institutions: race.

The Youth and Family Summit, modeled after the 2010 event that attracted more than 700 middle and high school stu-

Photos by Ross Mulhausen

TIME TO TALK. More than 700 students attended the 2010 Youth Summit held at Lincoln

High School (top). Organizers Aryanna Drakos (left), Dexter Gordon, and Noah Prince speak at 2010 summit (above). They aim to have more than 1,000 youth and community adults attend this year’s event centered on race and gender equity in education.

Navigating a complicated system

that grew year after year to integrate more students from schools across Tacoma to discuss the role race plays in education equity.

In 2010, the event was held in conjunction with University of Puget Sound’s national Race and Pedagogy national conference, bringing the wildly successful student summit to the forefront of the event.

This year, organizers hope to keep that momentum in growth going.

“Washington state is one of five states where the achievement gap is actually growing,” said Noah Prince, who led the early events at Mt Tahoma. Today, Prince co-chairs the multi-organization collaborative day with Aryanna Drakos from the REACH Center.

“It really is that old adage of ‘it takes a village.’ We want to motivate parents that aren’t traditionally engaged in this u See summit / page A6

Parents plead with school district to save autism program

By Kate Burrows

kburrows@tacomaweekly.com

Photo courtesy of Dana Napoleon

VIBRANT. Keanu Napoleon, 9, is thriving in a K-5 autism pro-

gram at Lowell Elementary, which is slated to be relocated at the end of the year.

Taking aim A5

In the wake of National Autism Awareness Month, a highly regarded autism program at an award-winning school in Tacoma may be closing by the end of the school year.

Although the program itself is slated to move from Lowell Elementary to Jefferson Elementary, parents are up in arms over the possibility of losing a teacher – and the overall supportive educational environment – who inspired significant improve-

Battle to a draw A7

WE’RE MOVING! DECISION: Dale Washam fined for ethics violation.

PAGE A2

Local News...............A2 City Briefs................A3

ment in their children’s conditions.

“Students enter this program and leave entirely different people,” said Dana Napoleon, whose son Keanu, 9, is enrolled in the K-5 program at Lowell Elementary.

“We also have more than 100 signatures from parents of general education students in support of keeping the program, because interacting with our kids benefits typical students, too.”

Interacting with students in general education classes benefits autistic children u See Autism / page A6

Lutes win NWC A9

Photo Courtesy of Sandie King

Local youth shows

art in Seattle

By Kate Burrows

kburrows@tacomaweekly.com

Over the past couple years, seventhgrader Casey King, 13, has gone from failing his fifth and sixth-grade classes to earning a B average this year.

He was diagnosed with Asperger’s u See art / page A6

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Health & Wellness

A9

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Freighthouse square reborn

25 Ye a r s o f Se r v i c e Be c a u s e Co m m u n i t y Mat t e r s

Speaking out

Photos by John Larson

Local youth demands justice for slain cousin

THE MOB RULES. Tacoma Cash Mob

had its first shopping event on April 1 at Teaching Toys in Proctor District.

A “shop local” twist

Cash Mob descends upon Proctor District

By John Larson

jlarson@tacomaweekly.com

A

“shop local” twist on the flash mob concept encourages people to gather to spend money in an independent business. And one hit Tacoma. Cash mobs were the idea of an attorney in Cleveland. Since the first one last year, the idea has spread across the nation, including Tacoma. The first of 10 planned shopping actions took place on April 1 at Teaching Toys in Proctor District.

Tacoma resident Katy Evans said sweet pea Flaherty, owner of King’s Books, was the catalyst for the effort locally. He told Evans about cash mobs in other cities, which inspired her to

start one here.

A Facebook page for Tacoma Cash Mob has generated more than 800 likes since it went online March 14. Evans has enjoyed reading the messages posted on the Facebook page. “It has been fun,” she remarked.

Participants were simply told to meet at a corner on North 27th Street at 2 p.m., but were not told which nearby business they would be patronizing. By participating, they agreed to spend at least $10. After the group assembled, they were told to walk down the street, enter Teaching Toys and begin shopping.

Valla Wagner and Melissa Tennille are coowners of Teaching Toys. “This is not our invention. We are just the lucky recipients,” Wagner said. u See Cash Mob / page A6

Photos by john larson

AND JUSTICE FOR ALL. Cedric

President-Turner (top) held a press conference to discuss the impact of his cousin Trayvon Martin’s death on his family. A rally (bottom) for the slain teenager was held in People’s Park on March 31.

By John Larson

jlarson@tacomaweekly.com

The fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fla. in February has sparked protests around the nation, dialogue on talk radio and postings on the Internet. The impact of Martin’s death is felt deeply in Tacoma, where his cousin Cedric PresidentTurner lives.

Martin, 17, is the black youth who was shot by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer. Zimmerman has not yet been charged or even arrested.

He has claimed the shooting was done in

u See Justice / page A6

Reporting Tacoma’s billboard blight has gone mobile

By Steve Dunkelberger

stevedunkel@tacomaweekly.com

Local blogger, web designer and community activist Kevin Freitas has put his effort to spruce up Tacoma into the hands of anyone with a smartphone.

The man behind the community news aggregator FeedTacoma. com has created a mobile-friendly web page that allows Tacoma residents, workers and casual visitors to the City of Destiny to report the location and condition of unkempt billboards directly from their smartphones rather than jotting down information to be then submitted to the City of Tacoma’s complaint system.

With a few thumb taps on a web-enabled smartphone, the application allows people to fill out an online form that notes the

by steve dunkelberger

camera doesn’t lie. Kevin Freitas takes some photos of billboards in need of repair

around Tacoma that will be added to his database. Unkempt billboards aren’t too difficult for city officials to find. One is located across the street from City Hall.

GPS coordinates, the billboard number, and the specific code

Creative youth A5

violation such as litter or torn or structurally unsound. The infor-

Logger legacy A7

mation is then sent to the city code enforcement office as well

as kept in a database so results can be charted.

“It’s kind of a way to ensure accountability and transparency,” Freitas said, noting that the system will send the violation finder a receipt so the person knows a complaint has been sent properly. “I am always about enabling people to have their say.”

The City of Tacoma’s Tacoma Cares e-mail reporting system does not currently offer a submission receipt and even found itself having to admit that several months of code enforcement complaints filed by residents through its email system were lost. Alongside the complaint form, viewers of the web page Freitas designed will find the legal description of what the city code says about billboard violations in an effort to u See Billboard app / page A6

Pushing the envelope B1

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Section A • Page 2 • tacomaweekly.com • Friday, April 27, 2012

Pothole pig’s

POTHOLE OF THE WEEK

South 52nd and Wapato Streets Tacoma has a tremendous pothole problem, and the city knows it.

During the past couple of years, the city has acknowledged this issue by spending millions of dollars in major arterial repairs with the council’s “pothole initiative,� and in 2010, routine maintenance by Tacoma’s Grounds and Maintenance Division completed street repairs on 229,638 square feet of road. In 2011, the city repaired about 150,000 more square feet of road riddled with holiness, and is continuing those efforts well in to 2012.

And while that may sound like a lot of ground, new holes pop up – or return – each and every day, which means a pothole-free road might never exist in Tacoma.

With the help of our readers and our dedicated Pothole Pig, we will continue to showcase some of the city’s biggest and best potholes through our weekly homage to one of T-Town’s most unnerving attributes.

Help the Pothole Pig by e-mailing your worst pothole suggestions to SaveOurStreets@tacomaweekly.com.

Potholes in need of repair can be reported to the City of Tacoma by calling (253) 591-5495.

Washam fined for ethics violation

By John Larson

jlarson@tacomaweekly.com

Pierce County Ethics Commission has determined that county assessor/treasurer Dale Washam violated county ethics rules in 2010. For that, Washam will be fined $500.

The commission met on April 18 to make its decision. At a meeting in March it heard testimony from Washam, his chief deputy Alberto Ugas, Gretchen Borck and Bertha Fitzer. Borck was Washam’s assistant until recently resigning. Fitzer was on the staff of the Pierce County Prosecutor’s Office. Prosecutor Mark Lindquist, who was appointed to his position, had to face election that year. Fitzer had filed as a Republican opponent to him.

Washam convened a meeting on Sept. 14, 2010 in his office. He invited Fitzer, Borck and Ugas.

During the March meeting Washam testified that he did not discuss Fitzer’s campaign during that 2010 meeting. Ugas testified that the topic was briefly discussed, but just as a matter of exchanging pleasantries. He also testified that during the meeting he produced a photo of Lindquist with a red circle and slash over his face with the words “Defeat Lindquist� on it.

Borck and Fitzer both testified that the campaign was a main topic of conversation during the meeting and that Washam offered to assist Fitzer in her effort to defeat Lindquist.

The commission met last week in

“There is a standard of public trust that was violated.� – Christopher Gilbert, Pierce County Ethics Commission the Swasey branch of Tacoma Public Library. Members convened into a brief executive session. When the meeting was re-opened to the public, Chair Dr. Mari Kruger Leavitt said members concluded that the conduct of Washam violated the county ethics code. Washam will be mailed paperwork to officially notify him of the decision. He has 45 days from that point to file an appeal, if he chooses to do so.

While Washam, and other elected officials, are allowed to discuss politics and support a cause or candidate, they are to do so on their own time and at their own expense. Because Washam held the meeting in his office, it is considered a use of public resources. “He can have this conversation in his dining room all he wants,� Commissioner Christopher Gilbert said.

Kruger Leavitt said $500 is the maximum fine allowed by law in this matter. “We realize it is a minor sanction,� she remarked.

She noted it is rare for the commission to take the action it did. Members could not recall another county official being sanctioned in recent years.

Tacoma City Council hears financial status report

By John Larson

jlarson@tacomaweekly.com

Financial information presented to Tacoma City Council during its April 24 study session indicated few surprises. The council heard a status report on final 2011 figures for general fund revenues and expenditures and reviewed figures for the first quarter of 2012.

Finance Director Bob Biles delivered the report. Overall, it contained favorable variances for both categories.

The 2011 adopted budget had $194,949,000 in general fund revenues, with the preliminary figures coming it at $190,705,000. The approved budget had the fund spend-

ing $195,497,200, with the preliminary figures at $197,293,900 Projected revenue for the general fund for the first quarter was $37,609,900 with the actual amount at $38,656,100, meaning the city pulled in $1.04 million more than expected.

The biggest contributor was licenses and permits coming in at $874,500 above projections.

Biles said there was concern the general fund might have to subsidize operations for Tacoma Dome and Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center, but that will not be the case. He credited staff at the facilities for making adjustments each quarter based on the number of upcoming events. “The economy remains a concern,�

Biles said. “No surprise there.�

From page A1

now provides security and street sweepers as well as serves as a go-to organization for a host of issues.

The programs are supported by the building owners within the 84-block district of downtown that spans from South 7th Street to South 21st Street and ‘A’ Street west to Court ‘D.’ The private, not-for-profit corporation is managed

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City Manager T.C. Broadnax said staff and council will discuss budget matters in more detail during a special meeting in May. He said residents will be able to offer feedback on the budget through the city’s website and at drop boxes in library branches. The timeline he offered calls for public meetings around the city on the budget in October and November. “I look forward to a very engaged process,� he said.

Mayor Marilyn Strickland said this would open the dialogue to people who may not be able to get to city hall easily or be there when the council meets.

Councilmember Anders Ibsen said he would prefer to hold such meetings earlier in the process, such as June or July.

t BIA

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MAY 11 – 13

“It is very unusual,� she said. “There is a standard of public trust that was violated,� Gilbert remarked.

Asked how she thought the public would interpret the decision, Kruger Leavitt said “I would hope they would see this as a serious reaction.�

Washam’s time in office has been full of turmoil. The county has settled claims for damages filed by current and former members of his staff for a total of $1.13 million. Last month Pierce County Council passed a resolution declaring members have no confidence in Washam and asked him to resign.

A recall effort against Washam narrowly missed the number of signatures needed to make the ballot last year. The woman who led that effort, Robin Farris, attended the meeting last week.

Washam has not indicated whether he will run for re-election this fall. Several people have filed for the office. One of them, former Tacoma City Councilmember Mike Lonergan, was in attendance.

Washam did not attend. He did not respond to a voice mail seeking comments for this article.

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through an annual contract the City of Tacoma has with Tacoma/Pierce County Chamber of Commerce to collect the $822,000 from ratepayers and administrate the various programs that range from graffiti removal to e-mail alerts and promotions.

But back in the day, the effort was all about security and grime cleaning, especially along Pacific Avenue around Tacoma Rescue Mission, which made the city’s main street the hub for panhandlers and street loitering. The mission’s move a few blocks south to make way for the Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center a decade ago, Burgess said, was a key factor in the turn-around.

That raises the question of whether the black-andyellow patrols on bicycles could go the way of Portland’s mobile information specialists, who have maps and business directories at the ready throughout the Rose City’s downtown. “We could get to that point,� Schroedel said.

The BIA, he said, strives to take the proactive approach to problem solving, which includes meetings on issues and changes as well as promotions and collaborations. Street planters, banners and pressure washing every downtown sidewalk at least twice a year makes the area more inviting to shoppers, for example.

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Section A • Page 6 • tacomaweekly.com • Friday, April 6, 2012

t Billboard app From page A1

inform residents about the issue of unkempt signs and the law.

While the current version of Freitas’ violation-reporting system only includes descriptions of billboard ordinances, it is not outside the realm of possibilities that upgrades could include ways for people to report junked cars, potholes, abandoned political signs, excessive litter or illegal dump sites, chipped sidewalks or other code violations. “I would absolutely think about doing that for the city,� he said.

But billboards around the city, largely owned by Clear Channel, have been the biggest targets thus far, including on Freitas’ ongoing web series “Hey, Clear Channel!

Clean Up Your Crap.� The web rant documents billboards that seem abandoned, are surrounded by litter or are otherwise in need of repairs.

Billboards have been a matter of debate around Tacoma for more than a decade now.

The city first set a framework in 1997 to have

t Justice From page A1

self-defense, stating that Martin attacked him.

President-Turner is a senior at Foss High School. Martin was his cousin. Martin lived in Miami and was visiting his father in Sanford, a city near Orlando. He went to a store to purchase candy and iced tea. He was walking home in the gated community when he encountered Zimmerman. The shooting happened the day after President-Turner’s 18th birthday.

President-Turner held a press conference on March 30 to discuss the shooting.

He said Martin was just a teenager walking down the street with a bag of Skittles and

many of them removed by 2007. But then Clear Channel sued the city on freedom of speech grounds. Clear Channel and city officials then negotiated a deal that would have removed some signs in exchange for digital billboards. That 2010 plan was later blasted by residents who simply wanted the signs removed entirely. A new billboard ordinance was approved in August.

A deadline to remove some 190 billboards around the city came and went last month after City Manager T. C. Broadnax announced in March that the city would not enforce the new rules until the end of the year. This, he explained, was to save money for the cash-strapped city because of the likely long and expensive legal challenge Clear Channel would likely mount.

While the city has postponed enforcing the new ordinance, it has committed to continue to cite billboard violations that are deemed blight or hazards to public safety.

Community booster, lawyer, editor of the Tacoma Urbanist website and outspoken opponent of billboards Erik Bjornson noted that the anti-billboard blight app Freitas created is a useful tool for people to use, but the real challenge might be apathy.

a bottle of Snapple. His death has sparked much conversation about how young black males are perceived in society because his presence in the neighborhood caused Zimmerman to be suspicious and call 911.

President-Turner expressed concern that a similar shooting could happen here. “I hope it is not your loved one who is next,� President-Turner remarked. “I do not want this to happen to another family.�

He said his family is devastated by Martin’s death and angry that Zimmerman has not been arrested. He blamed the death on Zimmerman’s “irrational actions.�

He spoke of spending his 16th birthday in Miami. He and Martin celebrated the special day by riding dirt bikes. He enjoyed the times he spent with Martin as they grew up. “Those memories will never go

“One of the biggest problems Tacomans have is that we have become acclimated to blight,� he said, noting the large number of potholes, illegal dump sites, litter, decaying roadways and sidewalks found around the city. “There are hundreds of things out of compliance in the city, and sometimes it takes a citizen complaint for the city to take action. Every block has something big and bad that plagues it.�

Billboards, he said, are just the most obvious. “They really impact the skyline,� he said. “The only people I know of who like billboards are the owners and advertisers. Everyone else thinks of them as blight. What you really have is very large garbage on a stick all throughout the city.�

Having the City Council pass tougher billboard ordinances only to have a city manager announce the rules won’t be enforced doesn’t help matters, either. Doing that tells residents that their voices weren’t heard, he said, noting that the city doesn’t seem to even be taking action against the dozen or so billboards it owns or has on its city property that fall afoul of the ordinances.

While Clear Channel is the target of the

away,� he said. “I want people to know that my cousin was a great person.� President-Turner said Martin usually had a smile on his face. “The fact he is gone is unimaginable.�

President-Turner is doing an internship at the Tacoma law firm of Rumbaugh, Rideout, Barnett and Adkins. He has applied to the University of WashingtonTacoma and would eventually like to go to law school and become an attorney. “The death of my cousin has put an extra drive in me to fight for social justice.�

President-Martin was part of a small crowd that gathered at People’s Park on March 31 for a rally demanding justice for Martin. Another rally will take place in the park in Hilltop at 11 a.m. on April 14.

KEVIN ROGERS MINISTRIES & CITY OF FAITH CHRISTIAN CENTER PRESENTS

t Cash Mob While the shoppers did not know what business they would go to, Wagner was informed ahead of time that her store had been selected. She doubled the number of employees she would have on a typical Sunday afternoon so things would run smoothly.

Wagner went to other businesses in Proctor District to obtain items for a gift bag to give to the cash mob shoppers. She also held a raffle, with free tickets, to give away three items.

From page A1

Evans said people nominated a number of businesses on the Facebook page. There are plans for cash mob activities at nine other businesses over the next few months. The plan is to hit businesses in various parts of town.

She said it could be beneficial to businesses that could use more interaction with potential shoppers on the Internet. “A lot of businesses in Tacoma do not have a presence on social media,� she remarked.

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application’s blight reporting, officials there say they welcome the input from residents when their signs seem to violate city rules. “We think this can be a real positive,� spokesman Jim Cullinan said. “Most of the checks we do are with our own eyes. If we see something, we fix it.�

But there are hundreds of Clear Channel billboards in the region, and a big windstorm or downpour could create an unsightly issue that could otherwise go unaddressed until it is spotted or until someone complains. “Not everything is known immediately,� he said, noting that Freitas’ efforts will hopefully shorten the timeline between when a billboard becomes damaged and when it gets fixed.

Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc., the publicly traded, billboard arm of Clear Channel Media and Entertainment, is one of the world’s largest outdoor advertising companies with close to one million displays in more than 40 countries across five continents.

If you do not have a smartphone, report billboard complaints by e-mailing TacomaCares@cityoftacoma.org or call (253) 5915001.

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TACOMAWEEKLY.com

Friday, September 21, 2012

Section B, Page 1

Find shelter from zombies in the Dome District

Photo by steve dunkelberger

undead. Fact meets fiction at the Zombie Preparedness Expo later this month when attendees will learn all about how to prepare for a zombie attack from FEMA and CDC experts.

By Steve Dunkelberger stevedunkel@tacomaweekly.com

I

f you are reading this, you are not a zombie. Find a way to the safety zone in Tacoma’s Dome District on Sept. 29 if you hope to survive.

The government, what’s left of it, has set up a quarantine zone around the Tacoma Dome Best Western, where people can learn all about how to survive the zombie invasion with seminars, group discussions and displays of preparedness equipment for a full day of survival training on Sept 29.

About half of the displays at the Tacoma Zombie Festerval and Preparedness Expo 2012 will be specifically targeting the current zombie infestation, while general preparedness information from the Federal Emergency Management Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and survival equipment from retailers will flesh out the roster. The day will include child and adult zombie walks, a scavenger hunt, a zombie film festival, zombie and zombie hunter costume contests as well as performances by the Hot Roddin’ Romeos and the Toy Box Pole Dance Studio dancers.

Presentations include walking tours of a refugee center that you would call home as well as tips on what to include in your

emergency preparedness kit – zombie or no zombie.

“If you are prepared for a zombie attack, you are prepared for anything,” organizer Mike Shaudis said, noting that the idea behind the event is to mix the popularity of all things zombie with the need-to-know information about preparedness in this tongue-in-cheek event that mixes fantasy and reality. “It is all genuine information.”

A survival kit is generally the same whether the disaster is an earthquake, flood, terrorist attack or zombie apocalypse. People should keep a kit of everything they would need to live for at least three days without power, transportation or shelter. While few people, mostly survivalist nuts, would actually attend a fullday conference on emergency preparedness, the theme of a zombie attack makes the topics a fun time for all.

“We tried to bring it to the mainstream by including the zombies,” Shaudis said.

“It will be great to see the crossover.”

There are not many chances when people gather for a “festerval” to talk about how to properly store emergency food items while in zombie costumes – not to mention heading down to Bull’s Eye to take turns at shooting zombie heads with some 120 rentable firearms.

Tacoma Zombie Festerval and Preparedness Expo 2012 All day photo scavenger hunt – Get out of the hotel and see Tacoma by public transportation to avoid the zombies.

9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tactical, preparedness, and practical classes 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Bull’s Eye Indoor Range will be having an all-day Zombie Shoot at their location with no clean-up fee for Zombpocalypse participants.

10 a.m. Kids zombie hunter contest at expo event space 11 a.m. Kids zombie walk at expo event space 12 p.m. Kids zombie costume contest at expo event space 6 p.m. Adult zombie and zombie hunter costume contests at expo event space 7-10 p.m. 18 and over concert featuring The Hot Roddin’ Romeos, with special performance by The

Toy Box Pole Dance Studio.

7-10 p.m. Pop Culture Zombie Fest room and public service announcement contest sponsored

by Justin Giallo’s Tacoma Grind House Theater and Seattle’s Crypticon.

Tickets available in advance at Meier’s House of Clocks – 3730 S. ‘M’ St. or at the door.

Admission is free for children under 9 before 11 a.m. Children 5 and under are free all day.

Children 6 to 12 are $5. Public service and military personnel get in for $8. Everyone else can find sanctuary for $12 or $55 for a full zombie survival kit if supplies last. Profits to benefit The Wounded Warrior Project. The “2012 Tacoma Zombpocalypse” will take over the Best Western Tacoma Dome Hotel, 2611 E. ‘E’ St. More information is available at www. tacomazombpocalypse.com.

Dawn of the Dead Dash The Tacoma Zombie Festerval and Preparedness Expo 2012 will be a training ground of sorts for an event later this fall. A “Dawn of the Dead Dash” is set to take over downtown Tacoma on Oct. 26.

This scavenger hunt turned survival race is an exciting “life-changing” adventure run through the streets of Tacoma, with humans running for safety as zombies set to pounce. There will be blood, lots and lots of blood.

Participants will be asked to challenge themselves to see if they can escape death and remain human as a rapidly growing zombie population

infects the city. Prizes will be awarded to the top male and female human finishers as well as the zombie who infects the most human participants, as well as honors going to top costumes in human and non-human categories.

The race is simple, get from point A to point B before being tagged by a zombie. If a human runner is infected with the virus, he or she then becomes a zombie and their hunt for humans begins.

Tickets are $35. Information is available at Dawnofthedeaddash.com.

Cody Rentas Band and the band that won it all this year in Memphis, The Wired!

Band, from Seattle. Sept. 23, 4-10:30 p.m.

All ages until 8 p.m. Donation $8 SSBA members, $10 non-members, kids under 12 free, active military $8, silent auction and raffles

boy songs and Rockin HW singing and reciting cowboy poems. The center is open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. during the Puyallup Fair. Just come to the Red Gate and take a quick turn to the billboard cowboy and come on in. For more information contact The Fred Oldfield Western Heritage Center at (253) 445-9175.

The Things We Like One THE SHOPPE REUNION The people spoke and The Fair listened – ongoing fan requests have brought back the most popular free enter tainment group in Fair history: The Shoppe. Those fans that made them the most popular group to ever perform on a Puyallup Fair free stage inspired The Shoppe Reunion at The Fair happening through Sept. 23 at the Coca-Cola Stage at noon, 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.

Two FARMERS MARKET HARVEST FESTIVAL The end of farmers market season will be feted with a harvest festival and fundraising event Sept. 25 at the 6th Ave.

Farmers Market. Come out and enjoy a pie eating contest, community dinner, harvest basket raffle and live entertainment by Double Bars. Sponsored by 6th Ave. Farmers Market, Soulstainable Soups, Asado, Primo Grill, Old Milwaukee Café, Gateway to India and It’s Amoré. Market will be open 3-7 p.m.; community dinner 4-6 p.m.; pie eating contest at 5:30, raffle to follow. Cost: $10 for dinner and entry into the raffle. Additional raffle tickets can be purchased for $3. All proceeds go to the Farmers Market Healthy Community Campaign.

Three BLUES…LIVE South Sound Blues Association (SSBA) presents its first fundraiser at The Swiss to help send Blues Redemption and House of Bourbon to the International Blues Challenge in Memphis in January, 2013.

These two groups came in first in their category and will represent the SSBA next year in Memphis. It will be a great day of live blues with Blues Redemption and House of Bourbon, Maia Santell and her All Star Blend, Dean Reichert Band, The

Four FRED OLDFIELD AT THE FAIR The Fred Oldfield Western Heritage Center is one exhibit at the Fair you would not want to miss. The paintings of the famed Oldfield depict scenes of bucking horses, Native Americans, miners, cowboys and even beautiful Mt. Rainier. Jewelry, prints and cards are also for sale of other artists and even Oldfield’s very own cookbook is available for sale. More artwork at the center includes Kenneth Hurley’s horse and buffalo paintings, Don Crook’s mountains and horse paintings.

Talk to the artists and listen to Don Allard singing cow-

Five ANTHONY HAMILTON Singing in church since he was 10 years old, Anthony Hamilton’s natural talent – rich, soul-steeped vocals breathing sonorous life into emotion-packed lyrics – has earned him a reputation as an “artist’s artist.” He counts guest stints on a diverse roster of projects from Dr. Dre and Young Jeezy to Keyshia Cole, Josh Turner, Santana and John Rich (Big & Rich). Between his own album sales and collaborations, Hamilton has sold more than 19.6 million albums. He plays the Emerald Queen Casino at 8:30 p.m. Sept. 22. Must be 21 or older to enter. www.emeraldqueen.com.