FREE s Friday, May 10, 2013
TACOMA RAINIERS
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MUSIC AND ART IN WRIGHT PARK
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LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS
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Y TACOMAWEEKL.com YOUR COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER - 26 YEARS OF SERVICE
GO GREEN TACOMA
CITY ROAD REPAIR LIST
Price tag likely to be ‘significant’
How will your garden grow?
PHOTOS BY STEVE DUNKELBERGER
ROAD. Funding for a
HOMETOWN HEROES
PHOTOS BY MICHAEL SAGE / COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP AWARD – DR. GORDY KLATT AND THE TACOMA RELAY FOR LIFE VOLUNTEERS
City of Destiny Awards celebrate those who make Tacoma great By Matt Nagle matt@tacomaweekly.com
PHOTOS BY TACOMA WEEKLY STAFF
NOW GROW! Tacoma
Weekly staff writer Kathleen Merryman (top, bottom photo) has planted a workplace garden, with some seed-sewing help from Production Manager Tim Meikle (middle). By Kathleen Merryman Kathleen@tacomaweekly.com
The space behind the vast Tacoma Weekly complex on Pacific Highway was, we admit, on the seedy side. Long before our thriving enterprise moved in last summer, some fine citizen ditched, literally, a sofa in the drainage canal behind the building. Last year, the surface water maintenance crew working the slope under I-5 found it and, casting accusing looks at blameless journalists, hauled it out and set it by a cluster of derelict newspaper racks. There was another box back there, wooden and bent on becoming one with the morning glory, horsetail and nasty grass around it. We were not alone. Our neighbors to the north had laid out an obsolete wall cupboard next to the platform on which they store pallets, wood and a pickup canopy. They
X See GARDEN / page A10
M
ayor Marilyn Strickland and Tacoma City Council members recognized Tacoma’s top volunteers on May 7, during the 27th annual City of Destiny Awards. Held at the Stadium High School Auditorium, spirits were high as the award recipients received much applause for their selflessness and leadership. “Tacoma is blessed with people who love this city and are willing to volunteer their time and talent to improve it,” said Strickland. “Instead of sitting on the sidelines, they are rolling up their sleeves and taking action that has a positive impact on our community. We owe them many thanks.”
YOUTH GROUP AWARD – ZOO GUIDES
THIS YEAR’S CITY OF DESTINY AWARD RECIPIENTS YOUTH LEADERSHIP – MAY LUU
EMPLOYEE GROUP/UNION GROUP AWARD – INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS DISTRICT 751
As vice president of the Wilson High School Key Club, May Luu has impacted the lives of many by embodying the Kiwanis/Key Club mission statement: “Serving the Children of the World, One Child and One Community at a Time.” She volunteers at St. Joseph Medical Center’s Family Birth Center and led her fellow Key Club members to help very ill, premature babies by raising funds for March of Dimes and she helps foster children through Catholic Community Services. Over the holidays, she inspired Key Club members to hold successful food drives, and on the last Friday of each month Luu and the Key Club make 300 sandwiches for the Rescue Mission.
NEIGHBORHOOD GROUP AWARD – ZINA LINNIK PROJECT
YOUTH SERVICE – TATIANA MASON
Tatiana Mason’s volunteer career began at the Tacoma Nature Center, X See DESTINY / page A4
Paper weapon A5
SECOND CHANCES: Tacoma Goodwill celebrates overcoming obstacles. PAGE A4
Tigers top Lions A8
City Briefs ................A2 Pothole Pig ...............A3
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY AWARD – LINCOLN TREE FARM CAMP COUNSELORS
Native stories B4
Sports ......................A6 A&E ....................... ..B1
Transportation Master Plan will look at road conditions and patterns as a way to improve traffic flows around the city. By Steve Dunkelberger stevedunkel@tacomaweekly.com
The $4 million in road repairs f u n d e d through the Pothole pig’s new Transportation BenPOTHOLE efit District and its associated $20 annual vehicle fee will help curb Tacoma’s pothole infestation. But residents should not expect big changes from that effort alone. Many streets are beyond repair and simply need to be replaced after decades of neglect and deferred maintenance. But the $4 million will be added to the funding pool along with about $30 million in grants to start chipping away at the backlog of needed upgrades. City estimates put the price tag of road repairs at an $800 million backlog, but even that estimate is low and out of date since it was calculated in 2003. “It was a good number at the time, but it is really not comprehensive. It’s going to be more, much more,” Interim Public Works Director Kurtis Kingsolver said. “It will be significantly more.” Public Works officials are now conducting a citywide review of its road and traffic signals to detail the needed repairs as a way to tackle them comprehensively. That report is expected to be finished later this month. “This is the first time we have done this and it is really going to help us a lot to figure out where we are,” he said. What is known is that about $2 million of the TBD funding will go toward residential street chip sealing and overlaying, with about $500,000 going toward work on main streets, city documents outline. Specific road repairs and pothole filling will get about $1.1 million. About $300,000 will go toward curb and sidewalk work and $60,000 will go toward upgrading traffic signals that are failing or based on outdated technology.
X See STREETS / page A10
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