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CLEARING UP:Efforts to improve air quality are paying off.PAGE A2

Lonergan, O’Brien advanceVoters reject Washam after one troubled term

Dramatic romanceB3

Outdoor partyB8

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“Our economic forecast is not improving. We have experienced 11 consecutive months of sales tax coming in less than budgeted. Everyone is aware of the Board’s direction to prepare for a ballot measure in November”

– Pierce Transit CEO Lynne Griffith

See PRIMARY RESULTS / page A8

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City of Tacoma to host open house for State Route 509 slip rampsBy John Larson

jlarson@tacomaweekly.com

For some time, there has been much interest in installing slip ramps at the interchange of State Route 509 and East ‘D’ Street. The city of Tacoma will lead the design effort. Once constructed, the interchange will improve freight move-

ment into and from the Port of Tacoma as well as access to businesses on either side of Thea Foss Waterway and to the Burl-ington Northern Santa Fe rail yard.

The topic was discussed during a recent meeting of Tacoma City Council’s Environment and Public Works Commit-tee. Kurtis Kingsolver, an engineer in the city’s Public Works Department, said the

project is also of great interest to Puyal-lup Tribe and its partner in a proposed shipping terminal on tribal land in the Tideflats. The tribe and Stevedoring Ser-vices of America (SSA) have both con-tributed funding for the project. He said the ramps would be needed to expedite truck traffic between the future terminal and nearby freeways.

Scott Mason, president of Interna-tional Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 23, said the union is very support-ive of installing the slip ramps. He said the tribe and SSA feel that on-dock rail is the preferred way to move cargo to and from the ships once the terminal is built and operating. He said studies show the

By John Larsonjlarson@tacomaweekly.com

Several former Tacoma City Council members fared very well in the primary election of Aug. 7.

In a race that gen-erated much inter-est, Pierce County Assessor/Treasurer Dale Washam will be leaving office after one tumultuous term. He is fourth out of five candidates, with 7,655 votes, or 10 percent. Lead-ing the pack is for-mer Councilmember Mike Lonergan with 40 percent. In sec-ond place is Billie O’Brien, an employ-ee in the Assessor/Treasurer’s Office, with 24 percent. Current Pierce County Coun-cilmember Tim Farrell has 19 percent. In last place is Spiro Manthou, another former Tacoma City Council member, with 5 per-cent.

Lonergan said his goal was to get 30 percent of the votes, which he felt would have been a good showing in a five-person race. He is quite pleased with 40 percent.

“This does not mean I can coast to vic-tory, but if we keep working hard we can win,” he remarked.

Lonergan feels the ongoing controver-sies that have surrounded Washam had an impact on voters. “I really do believe, because of the problems we have had in this office, people wanted someone they can trust. I am really honored that people feel I am someone they can trust.”

This is his second run for a countywide office. In 2008 he lost a bid for county executive. “It is a big county. You really learn that when you run countywide.”

He felt his eight years on Tacoma City Council, his former job running Tacoma Rescue Mission and two years hosting a talk radio show were factors in his strong showing. “That name recognition helps.”

Connie Ladenburg, who also served eight years on the council, has a command-ing lead in the race for the District 4 seat on Pierce County Council. She has 40 percent. Sharon Benson is in second place with 23.6 percent, with Ken Grassi close behind at 21.2 percent. Chris Nye has 15 percent.

Ladenburg, who is stepping away from the Legislature after two years, seeks to fill the seat Farrell is leaving due to term limits.

The other county council position that affects Tacoma is District 2. Incumbent Joyce McDonald took 67 percent. Edge-wood Mayor Jeff Hogan, who took 22 per-cent, will meet her in the general election.

LONERGAN

O’BRIEN

By Steve Dunkelbergerstevedunkel@tacomaweekly.com

Pierce Transit is heading to arbitra-

tion with its union-ized drivers now that one-on-one contract negotiations have apparently failed.

Transit officials have been in talks with the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 758 since last May, meeting more than 20 times. Those mediated talks are now going into “interest arbitration” with the Public Employees Relations Commission after work continued to stall, according to an e-mail sent to transit employees.

“Once it became apparent we were not close with our proposals, we filed for mediation with the Public Employees Rela-tions Commission,” the letter from Transit CEO Lynne Griffith reads. “That process involves both parties selecting a neutral arbitrator that will examine the union’s interests as well as management’s inter-ests moving forward to arbitration. The arbitrator will then issue a final decision that will be binding. We don’t expect to be scheduled to meet with the arbitrator for some time.”

In Washington, interest arbitration is in lieu of the ability to strike for transit employees, just like for police and fire-fighters, since it is of public interest and safety.

The labor dispute comes at a tough time for the agency, following 11 consecu-tive months of sales tax coming in less than budgeted and a ballot measure set for November.

At issue are wages and benefits. The union, which is affiliated with the AFL/CIO, wants a 1.5 percent wage increase this year and a cost of living increase of between 2 percent and 5 percent in 2013. The actual amount would be based on

90 percent of the Consumer Price Index for the Puget Sound region. The union wants its health care premiums capped at 7 percent for workers and 13 percent for their families, while transit management want to redesign the benefits plan to lower overall premiums as the agency continues to try to find ways to control costs and cut expenses.

“Our economic forecast is not improv-ing,” Griffith wrote. “We have experienced 11 consecutive months of sales tax coming in less than budgeted. Everyone is aware of the Board’s direction to prepare for a ballot measure in November.”

Pierce Transit laid off 68 relief driv-ers and 81 full-time drivers. Of those, 15 relief drivers and 23 full-time drivers have since been recalled to their full-time posi-tions.

Voters will face a decision on a three-tenths of 1 percent sales tax increase on the ballot this November. The increase is expected to raise $28 million a year, if approved by voters. It would increase annual service hours from 417,000 to 580,000, within a smaller geographic area than before. It would also raise $7 million for new buses within a year.

“We are not unsympathetic to their financial situation,” said Don McK-night, president of the 770-member union. “This is a give and take process.”

Health care is the main issue, he said, but that is not unusual in contract discus-

sions.“That is the elephant in the room,” he

said. “That is the elephant in the room for everyone.”

That is a fact on which both sides can find common ground. The question at hand is how to solve it.

“It is not just tough for us, it is tough for everybody,” Griffith told Tacoma Weekly.

Pierce Transit has seen its health care costs go up between 10 percent and 20 percent annually in recent years and is set to see another 10 percent increase next year, Griffith said. Changes are needed to control those costs and are on the way regardless of the contract talks, with the enactment of President Barack Obama’s health care reform efforts in the years to come.

Playing against the transit agency in controlling those costs is the fact that it has a veteran workforce, averaging about 55 years of age. That means that they are near the top of their pay scales as well as likely to be using more of their health benefits than younger workers.

“This is not uncommon for a public sector agency,” she said.

While the contract talks move into arbitration, a process that could run a year or more, talks outside of that process are continuing as well. The union has sched-uled a contract update meeting for its members on Aug. 16.

TRANSIT TROUBLES VISIT THE BARGAINING TABLE

PHOTO BY STEVE DUNKELBERGER

BEHIND THE WHEEL. Health care costs are key points in the labor negotiations between Pierce Transit and its unionized drivers.

GRIFFITH

See SLIP RAMPS / page A8

GarfieldStreet FairA4

TAC MAWEEKLY2 4 Y E A R S O F S E R V I C E B E C A U S E C O M M U N I T Y M A T T E R S

tacomaweekly.com

1965�  LlOoTtUuSs�  35POTHOLEOF THE WEEK

Pothole pig’s

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 main-tenance 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@taco-maweekly.com.

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

Puyallup Ave. and ‘C’ St.The 1965 Lotus 35 is a rare

car indeed, with just 22 ever being made. It was

designed to be a multi-purpose rac-ing car, capable of competing in Formula 2, Formula 3 or the Tasman Cup Series.

This Lotus 35 in the LeMay col-lection was a European Formula 2

race car in the 1965 and 1966 sea-sons and was run with a one-liter Cosworth engine. In 1967 the car was upgraded to a 2.5-liter Tasman modification for racing in Australia and New Zealand. The power plant was later replaced with a Ford 289 V8 that had 250 horsepower.

John C. Dimmer, a Tacoma native

and a board member of LeMay: America’s Car Museum, restored the car to its Tasman specifications in 1990. His son and daughter, John and Carolyn, have competed the car in vintage racing events including the Tasman Revival in Australia and the Goodwood Circuit Revival Meeting in England.

PHOTO BY STEVE DUNKELBERGER

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By John Larsonjlarson@tacomaweekly.com

Several years ago, the ports of Tacoma, Seattle and Vancouver, B.C. embarked on a joint effort to improve air quality in the region. Much progress has been achieved since then. Port of Tacoma Com-mission heard a progress report on the Northwest Ports Clean Air Strategy during its Aug. 2 meeting. Ron Stuart, environmental project manager with the port, told them that six

vehicles used at the Husky terminal have undergone exhaust retrofits as part of a pilot project. These are vehicles that do much idling while on the docks. He said this effort has proved that filters installed on them do work well with such yard trucks.

At Washington United Terminal, 32 trucks have received exhaust retro-fits. Stuart said these have reduced the amount of time the engine needs to run to warm up the cab, pre-heat the engine and defrost

windows.There have been a total

of 59 vehicle retrofits at five other terminals. In addition, the port did ret-rofits on heavy-duty fork-lifts it owns. Stuart said $1 million in grant funding was used in the retrofits at the terminals and to the forklifts.

He noted that some equipment is not compat-ible with available tech-nology for reducing emis-sions.

Stuart said 80 percent of trucks that operate on the Tideflats now have engines made in 2007 or later.

Two years ago, the port compiled a registry of these trucks, about 7,500 of them. Grants of $3 million were allocated to replace engines made in 1998 or earlier in 135 trucks.

Stuart said Tacoma Export Marketing Com-pany, which operates the

grain-shipping terminal along Schuster Parkway, has installed idle reduction technology on vehicles. This has eliminated 3,000 hours of time the vehicles would have been idling. Stuart said this kept 130 tons of greenhouse gasses from the air.

Tacoma Rail has three locomotives with new low-emission technology.

Stuart discussed recy-cling efforts on construc-tion projects. He said 98 percent of demolished material from old struc-tures is being recycled.

Efforts to get employ-ees to carpool or use other forms of transportation to get to work saved 7,300 gallons of fuel last year.

Whether the port will reach its target goal for cleaner air for 2015 remains to be seen. Stuart said achieving that will be more likely if the economy improves.

Tacoma20th Anniversary

Fest

2012

20th Anniversary

Fest

Tacoma

Maritime

tacomaweekly.com

Did you know that nearly one-third of Pierce County’s waste is food, making it the largest cat-egory of material entering the landfill? In 2010, the county began exploring how to manage and reduce food waste, and is now asking for the community’s input via a series of public workshops from August to October.

“Whether it’s someone cleaning out their refrig-erator or a restaurant disposing of unfinished meals, we throw out tons of food every day,” said Rick Johnston, Public Works and Utilities solid waste project coordinator. “We need to find an efficient and effective way to manage our food waste. We want your feedback on this issue, so we can develop a plan that fits the needs of our community.”

The public is invited to attend one of 15 work-shops held across Pierce County to learn more about food waste and several options for managing it. Attendees will be asked to weigh in via a survey at the end of the workshop.

The workshops will be held between Aug. 16 and Oct. 2. Find a workshop near you at www.piercecountywa.org/foodwaste. A virtual workshop will also be available on Pierce County’s website for those who cannot attend in person.

“We encourage you to come learn why food waste is a problem in the United States, what Pierce County is already doing about food waste, and which options are being considered to manage it,” Johnston said. “Solid waste management is a local issue – it’s not one-size-fits-all. We want to use the data we have and feedback from our residents to create a reasonable program at a reasonable cost.”

Several options to manage and reduce food waste were developed for Pierce County by SAIC, a national consulting firm. They completed a com-prehensive study of available practices, while con-sidering the potential economic, environmental and carbon footprint impacts of the options.

The following options will be discussed at the workshops:

education programs to prevent food waste from being generated in the first place.

or all, food waste in order to generate landfill gas and recover energy from that gas.

-

lect food waste from homes and/or businesses to produce compost or fertilizer.

The feedback from workshop participants will be reviewed and used to develop a plan that meets the needs of the county. This plan will then be pre-sented to the Pierce County Council.

Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist has filed a legal brief urging the court to treat 14-year-old Cristobal Arroyo as an adult for his participa-tion in the murder of Hector Hernandez-Valdez. Cristobal Arroyo and his brother Luis were charged with first-degree murder for allegedly killing 15-year-old Hector in their home on June 1, 2012. The victim was stabbed more than 34 times and his body dumped in a recycling bin. Luis Arroyo was also charged with first-degree robbery.

In accordance with state law, Luis Arroyo was charged automatically as an adult because he was 16 years old at the time of the crime. Cristobal Arroyo must be prosecuted as a juvenile unless a court finds that he should be treated as an adult. At a hearing on Sept. 12, the court will consider several criteria, including the seriousness of the offense, whether it was committed in an aggressive or violent manner, and whether the community can be adequately protected through the services avail-able in Juvenile Court. It will take place at Remann Hall at 9 a.m.

The state’s brief outlines previously known facts and presents new information. Police recovered two notes from the Arroyo residence. The first, consis-tent with Cristobal Arroyo’s handwriting, includes a series of check boxes labeled: “lay out bags, shut her up, hammer her bones, cutting off limbs, cutting off head, cutting open,” and “done.” A 7-year-old female relative of the defendants was home at the time of the killing. She told an interviewer that she heard pounding on the stairs, saw a knife and saw blood on the carpet and on Luis Arroyo’s sleeve.

The second note, consistent with Luis Arroyo’s handwriting, includes: “cut open, shank the stom-ach, wack (sic) the head, camera set up.” Detectives recovered a cell phone at the defendants’ home that contained a short video clip showing the victim lying face down in a bathtub. The brothers’ voices can be heard in the video, swearing at and taunting the lifeless body. In statements to police, the defen-dants admitted that the victim was alive and making noises when they put him in the bathtub. They ran

City BriefsA man was shot on July 29

as he chased several masked men who broke into his home in the 1000 block of South Trafton Street. The suspects kicked in the front door. The victim confronted them in the entrance to the build-ing, at which point one shot him. He was taken to a hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.

A man was attacked on July 27 after leaving a nightclub. The incident happened in the park-ing lot of Latitude 84, located at 8401 S. Hosmer St. The victim was attacked by a group of men. His head hit the pavement and he suffered serious injuries. The suspects fled.

A suspected drunken driver crashed his motorcycle on July 26, seriously injuring his passen-ger. The incident occurred in the 1900 block of Marine View Drive Northeast. The motorcycle hit the pavement and the female passen-ger was thrown into the bushes. The man fled the scene on the motorcycle. The woman was taken to Tacoma General Hospital.

A man was injured during a home invasion robbery on July 26. The incident happened in the 3500 block of South Monroe Street. The homeowner was sleeping when he heard someone breaking in. Two men entered his bedroom and one hit him in the head with a hand-gun. The suspects ransacked the home and fled with cash, jewelry and a cell phone.

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water over the victim and one of them cut his throat.

If prosecuted as a juvenile, Cristobal Arroyo would face a maximum sentence of about six years, or incarceration up to age 21. As an adult, the standard range is 22 to 28 years in prison.

The Tacoma office of the Washington State Department of Revenue is hosting a free workshop for new and small business owners on Aug. 16 from 1-4 p.m. The workshop will take place at the department’s Tacoma office, located at 3315 S. 23rd St. in the second-floor conference room.

Participants will learn about Washing-ton excise taxes, reporting classifications, deductions, tax incentives, sales tax collection and record-keeping requirements. All receive a workbook and helpful reference guide to Department of Revenue rules and regulations.

To register, visit www.dor.wa.gov or call (253) 382-2000. Space is limited. A complete schedule of workshops statewide, and a short streaming video version of the workshop, is available on the website.

For ALL Your

DR. JOSEPH M. MAZUKELLIDR. PEGGY E. VOGT

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Flea season is upon us!Make sure your pet is protected.

Pet owners have the opportunity each Saturday to learn more about their animals on the weekly “Talkin’ Pets” radio program. Each week host Jon Patch and his co-hosts and guests spend three hours discussing a variety of topics related to pets.

Patch graduated from Penn State University in 1983 and began his

broadcasting career at SUN Radio Network in St. Petersburg, Fla. as talk radio producer. He began hosting “Talkin’ Pets” in 1990. It is the longest-running talk radio show dedicated to pets in the nation.

His passion in life is to educate people through interviews with celebrities and pet lovers such as Betty

White, Tippi Hedren, Bob Barker and Linda Blair. He interviews authors of books and people who work for organizations such as Humane Society of the United States and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. They discuss ways to make this world a better place for all animals and mankind that share this very fragile and mysterious planet called Earth. Patch believes we all need to learn how to

share and maintain it so that life for us all continues and evolves forever.

His co-hosts include Dr. Adriana Odachowski and Amy Attlas. Odachowski grew up in Bogotá, Columbia and knew at a young age she wanted to be a veterinarian. She attended Universidad Nacional de Colombia, where she earned a doctorate in veterinary medicine in 2000. After getting married and moving to the United States, she

American Veterinary Medical Association in 2005 after successfully completing an intense

privilege very few foreign veterinarians are able to attain. Odachowski lives in Florida with her husband and three parrots.

She particularly enjoys inspiring future generations to pursue their dreams and participates in the radio show, periodically, educating the public in medical and behavioral issues all over the country.

“I came to this world

to be a veterinarian, I cannot imagine my life doing anything different. Animals are my passion in life,” Odachowski said.

Attlas is a veterinarian to the stars. She founded CityPets, a New York-based company devoted to the health and well being of urban pets by providing veterinary services to more than 5,000 Manhattan cats and dogs. She shares information about owning pets in a large city.

“Talkin’ Pets” can be heard locally each Saturday from 2-5 p.m. on KLAY 1180 AM.

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Tacoma Weekly welcomes your opinions, viewpoints and letters to the editor.

You can e-mail us at news@tacomaweekly.com. Please include your name, address

and phone number when submitting your letter.

Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor,The League of Women Voters in concert with National Association

for the Advancement of Colored People is focusing on increasing the turnout of the 18 to 35-year-old voter this year. Carol Mitchell of TV Tacoma has added her voice to this effort.

By not voting or even registering to vote, young people make themselves, and their important issues, easy to ignore. Young people 18 to 35 are most likely to be hurt by cuts to social services, reduced public transportation and changes to rental laws.

Young people should consider that elected representatives have power to: bring back the draft (and include women); increase how much you pay for interest rates on their student loans; raise how much comes out of their paychecks for taxes and fees; raise tuition at state schools; fund or not fund services such as libraries, parks, kindergartens, health clinics and other low-income safety nets; decide issues on streets such as when to fix potholes, set parking fees, change speed limits and fix streetlights.

Traditionally, young people comprise the smallest voting bloc. The employed and homeowners are the ones most likely to vote. Jobs and cost of housing are major factors in this election. Electing those who can get you a job and affordable housing is on the line.

Voter apathy has its costs. Voting is a matter of exercising personal power. Did you know less than 20 voters decided who became Washington’s governor, twice? In addition, recalling an irresponsible elected official who won out of public apathy and ignorance is very expensive.

Do not pick someone based on an Anglo-Saxon name, misleading slogans or good looks. The responsible voter needs to research the election pamphlets from the county auditor’s office, attend a candidates’ forum and go to www.vote411.org. Yes, even for a primary.

Please make the effort. It is easy to register online at www.piercecountywa.org/auditor. It is also easy to vote. Simply put on a stamp and drop it in the mail or send it free in the 27 ballot deposit sites around the county.

Terri Baker, PresidentLeague of Women Voters, Tacoma/Pierce County

Dear Editor,In response to “Here comes another expensive top-down education

rule” (guest editorial, TW 7/06): So what is being done to stop this draconian nonsense? It should be up to “we the people” what is taught to our children, not the corporate sponsored and completely inept federal government that decides what and who will teach our children. Although mine are grown and educated, I am insulted by the thought of this and feel it by itself is a good reason for civil war!

Roger LehetVashon Island

Dear Editor,Thanks to your newspaper, I learned of Paint Tacoma/Pierce

Beautiful while waiting in my doctor’s office. I contacted Gregory Newkirk, the director, and qualified to have my home painted.

I would like to publicly thank them and the hardworking group of young people for painting my home. Also, thank you Parker Paints for supplying the paint.

It was a pleasure to have such fine young people at my home. It looks wonderful.

Lois PruittSpanaway

Guest Editorials

By Bill Johnston

August 15, 1945. VJ Day. Victory over Japan – the end of World War II and many historians consider the beginning of the “American century.” Europe and Asia mashed to piles of rubble and millions dead. In comparison the United States, despite tens of thousands of combat casualties, left relatively unscathed. We were the victors. The top dog. No one could challenge American military and industrial might. We were, without a doubt, number one.

There is a truism in the history of nations – “buried within your greatest victory dwells the seeds of your final defeat.” The American century is over. It lasted maybe 50 years. What happened?

Well, as did the British empire, we believed our own mythology. We were on a divine mission to bring our own form of civilization to the rest of the world. Yes, we knew about all of those who came before us but we were exceptional. We would not repeat the mistakes of past empires.

Vietnam was where the empire’s major faults indicating decline were to become obvious first. Against his better judgment President Lyndon Johnson caved to the philosophy of American exceptionalism. Vietnam had nothing to do with our country’s security. Vietnam was about American domestic politics.

Most Americans had no idea where Vietnam was, let alone what it had to do with them and their lives. But Johnson did not want the exceptionalists to be able to say “He lost Vietnam to the communists” as it was falsely claimed President Harry Truman had lost China.

The day the North Vietnamese Army took Saigon, 58,000 GIs had died for nothing. Our economy was in shambles. American trust in government has never recovered. Corruption in military spending continues unchallenged and the crumbling of the nation’s infrastructure goes on to this day.

Since Vietnam we have not been without a war. Big or small, the exceptionalists need a war. The empire is the world’s policeman – pax Roma!

Half of our national budget goes to the war machine as our schools, hospitals, cities, bridges and roads fall apart.

The war in Iraq has been the frosting on the cake. Planned and started by the exceptionalists in the administration of former President George W. Bush, the empire invaded a country that was no threat to us and had done nothing to us. It was the opportunity for the empire to show the world we could do what we wanted to whom we wanted because we were the top super power. The result has been a disaster.

Our economy is a mess and we will be struggling to pay off this catastrophe for decades. Further, it has made Americans look like total fools to the rest of the world. We were going to turn Iraq into Kansas, complete with American ideals and democracy. Iraq is a country with 5,000 years of history, culture and customs. And most Americans could not find it on a map if their life depended on it. What arrogance and ignorance.

Bill Johnston is a Tacoma resident.

The American empire continues slow descent into failure

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Washington State Supreme Court is being asked to get involved in a lawsuit stemming from a shooting spree that happened here seven years ago. On Nov. 20, 2005, Tacoma resident Dominick S. Maldonado entered Tacoma Mall. It was a Sunday afternoon, the weekend before Thanksgiving, and the mall was filled with people getting an early start on their holiday shopping.

Maldonado was a troubled young man, 20 years old at the time. Heavily armed, he went on a shooting spree, wounding seven people in the process. He took several people hostage and held them in a music store before surrendering to police.

The most seriously injured person was Dan McKown, who ended up paralyzed from the waist down. He sued the owner of the mall, Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group, Inc., for negligence for failing to protect customers.

A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit. McKown appealed that decision. On Aug. 6, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals announced it would need assistance to determine to what extent, under state law, the mall management had a duty to protect customers. They sent three questions to our Supreme Court, seeking to use the answers to guide its ruling.

In 2007, a jury in Pierce County convicted Maldonado of 15 crimes in connection to the shooting spree. He was sentenced to 163 years in prison.

It is an unfortunate fact of life that some people in society are very mentally unstable. To hold a business owner liable because an unstable, armed individual entered an establishment and did harm to other customers would set a legal precedent that could have unintended consequences. The only way Simon Property Group could prevent such a tragedy would be to install a significant security apparatus. To be effective, that would have to be something similar to what exists at airports, with customers walking through metal detectors and uniformed guards requiring people to remove their shoes.

We have accepted such measures in certain locations. Some years ago, a man in King County with a court date related to his divorce entered the courtroom with a gun and shot his estranged wife and her female friend. That is why people entering the County/City Building must stand in line, empty their pockets in baskets, remove their belts and walk through metal detectors. Whether the reason for the visit is a court appearance, an appointment with a county official or a Pierce County Council meeting, visitors accept the reality that security measures are required. The building has courtrooms and what happens in those rooms can often be quite emotionally charged. The incident in King County proved that such buildings need extra security measures to prevent violence.

But having such measures in restaurants or shopping malls would be problematic as citizens go about their daily routines. They would add to the cost of products and services, as business owners would need to raise prices to cover the cost of the extra security.

The blame for what happened at Tacoma Mall that day in 2005 should fall on Maldonado. And that blame was assigned by the prosecutors who charged him and was confirmed by the jurors who convicted him.

We have sympathy for McKown. This newspaper conducted interviews with him and publicized events that raised money to assist him during his recovery. But we hope his lawsuit does not move forward.

Mall shooting lawsuit

should be dismissed

Our View

By Dr. Roger Stark

The United States Supreme Court has ruled the “penalty” imposed for not purchasing a government-approved health insurance policy is actually a “tax.” Consequently, Congress has the power to force every person to purchase health insurance or pay the tax. The Court found the Affordable Care Act (ACA) constitutional and is the law of the land.

What does this mean for our state? The most recent local poll shows the vast majority of Washingtonians oppose the individual mandate (64 percent opposed versus 33 percent in favor). The people of Washington also oppose the entire health care law by 46 percent to 41 percent.

There are currently 900,000 seniors enrolled in the Medicare program in Washington. These seniors often have a difficult time seeing a doctor because of poor provider reimbursements from Medicare. To see a Medicare patient, a doctor receives only about 70 percent of what private insurance pays. Even so, the ACA cuts $580 billion from the Medicare program over the next 10 years, and the vast majority of these cuts are taken from hospital and doctor payments. As a result our seniors will find getting access to a doctor is even worse under the ACA.

Washington has 1.2 million people enrolled in the existing Medicaid program. Medicaid payment to providers is only 40 percent of the amount private insurance pays. Most doctors are not able to cover their overhead with Medicaid

reimbursements, let alone earn an income. The ACA will add 320,000 to 520,000 more people to Medicaid in Washington. Although on paper they will have “health insurance,” Medicaid enrollees will experience limited access to care, just like our current Medicare patients. The expansion of Medicaid will also add a new financial burden to Washington taxpayers.

The ACA also requires employers with 50 or more employees to provide health benefits or pay a tax. The tax is set so low, however, that many, if not most, employers will simply pay the tax and stop providing health care benefits. Based on national estimates, at least 280,000 workers in Washington will lose their employer-sponsored health insurance in the next few years.

Almost half of the funding for the ACA will come from new taxes on insurance premiums, health insurance companies, drug manufacturers and medical device makers. These new taxes will be passed on to anyone in our state who uses health care. In other words, costs will go up for everyone.

Proponents of the ACA argue the law is already having beneficial effects. Small employers can now get a limited federal tax credit if they provide health insurance. Yet because of the regulatory burden, less than 10 percent of employers who qualify have applied. Young adults, under age 26, can now use their parents’ health insurance. This is almost a moot point because the vast majority of people in this age range are healthy and almost

never need insurance anyway.Proponents also emphasize the

preventive care mandated in the ACA. Yet many, if not most, insurance plans already include preventive care. Medicare patients will now have more of their drug expenses covered. However, the overall drug savings to seniors is a small amount compared to the $580 billion cut the ACA makes in the overall program.

Elected officials should instead focus on workable solutions by putting patients in charge of their health care. The use of health savings accounts, high-deductible insurance plans, more competition in the insurance market by allowing interstate purchase of insurance and meaningful reform to Medicare and Medicaid would go a long way toward patient control of their own health care.

At the time of our founding, James Madison wrote that the powers of the states are “numerous and unlimited” and the powers of the federal government are “few and defined.” The Supreme Court ruling shows there seems to be no boundary to the power of the federal government and the liberty of every person in Washington has been reduced as a result. Unfortunately, this all occurs without addressing the rising cost of health care or improving access.

Dr. Roger Stark is a retired cardiac surgeon and a health care policy analyst at Washington Policy Center. He is the author of the book “The Patient-Centered Solution: Our Health Care Crisis, How It Happened and How We Can Fix It.”

How ruling on health care will affect Washington

OPINION

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By Matt Naglematt@tacomaweekly.com

In another chapter in the state’s ongoing efforts to regu-late the use of medical mari-juana, the Department of Health has ordered a Tacoma doctor to remove medical marijuana information from his website or be penalized. The doctor sees this as a violation of his First Amendment right to free speech, and he’s determined to do some-thing about it.

Since 1981, Dr. Scott Havsy has been practicing medicine in Tacoma. At his offices at Liv-ing & Wellness Centers PS on Pacific Avenue, he specializes in chronic pain management and addiction medicine in addition to male hormone replacement therapy.

Part of his efforts in pain management is to prescribe medical marijuana to patients who qualify according to state law. Havsy said that to help educate the public and answer specific questions of those seek-ing information on the subject, he added a page to his website that lists symptoms and ailments

that, in his professional opinion and interpretation of the law, qualify patients for a “green card.” The page also includes information on the specific docu-mentation Havsy needs to deter-mine whether the patient law-fully qualifies. He also includes a link to a Washington State Legislature webpage where visi-tors can read the state’s medical cannabis law (RCW 69.51A) for themselves.

According to the state Depart-ment of Health in a letter sent to Havsy last month, his medical cannabis webpage violates the

section of Washington’s medical cannabis law that forbids health care workers from advertising medical marijuana. It states: “A health care professional shall not…include any statement or reference, visual or otherwise, on the medical use of cannabis in any advertisement for his or her business or practice….” The letter states that if Havsy fails to comply by removing medical marijuana information from his website, he faces a determina-tion of unprofessional conduct, a $1,000 fine and he must take 10 hours of classes on ethics

and law. Havsy believes this section

of the law violates both state and federal constitutional guarantees of commercial free speech and he wants the section changed.

“I’m being denied my con-stitutional right to free speech in my opinion,” he said. “By plac-ing a total ban (on health care providers distributing medical marijuana information), they’re eliminating, or restricting total-ly, the flow of free speech on the greatest medium that’s out there – the Internet.”

Washington State Depart-

ment of Health Director of Com-munications Tim Church said the law speaks for itself clearly in directing health care provid-ers on how to handle the issue of medical marijuana. “The law is very direct. It doesn’t leave a lot of room for interpretation” when it comes to health care providers and advertising medi-cal marijuana. “That is really a discussion best kept between the patient and their physician.” There is also information on the Department of Health’s website at www.doh.wa.gov (type “mari-juana” into the search field).

Church said Havsy’s case is the only one he’s aware of right now.

Havsy sees this current situa-tion as an opportunity to clarify the law further for health care providers regarding what consti-tutes disseminating information versus advertising.

“I’m not advertising marijua-na,” Havsy said, “I’m providing an informational website on how a qualifying patient may obtain a certificate of use for cannabis if they qualify with the proper documentation, which is legal in the state of Washington.”

Annie Wright Schools will host bestselling author Dr. John Medina for a speaking engage-ment Aug. 22, to school com-munity members about his book “Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home and School.” The event will take place at 9 a.m. in Kem-per Auditorium on the Annie Wright Schools campus at 827 N. Tacoma Ave.

Medina is a developmental molecular biologist and research consultant. He holds joint affili-ate faculty appointments at the University of Washington School of Medicine in its Department of Bioengineering, and at Seattle Pacific University, where he is the director of the Brain Center

for Applied Learning Research. In addition, Medina was the founding director of the Talaris Research Institute, a Seattle-based research center originally focused on how infants encode and process information at the cognitive, cellular, and molecular levels.

“The Annie Wright commu-nity is thrilled to welcome Dr. John Medina for this important discussion about how kids learn,” said Christian G. Sullivan, head of Annie Wright Schools. “This opportunity directly aligns with Annie Wright’s commitment to provide a rigorous curriculum and enables our faculty to sup-port the individual learning needs of our students.”

Annie Wright Schools has secured a limited number of seats for the public. Tickets are free and can be secured at www.aw.org. Also invited to attend are area educators from vari-ous schools and Annie Wright parents, alumni, trustees and employees.

Medina’s presentation was made possible through the gen-erosity of the Annie Wright community’s FundaNeed pro-gram, which raises money for a specific area of need. In past years, the FundaNeed provided upgrades to the school library, science and technology equip-ment, outdoor experiential learn-ing opportunities, and financial aid and endowment.

Annie Wright Schools is an independent day school for boys and girls in preschool through eighth grade, and an all-girls day and boarding school in grades

nine through 12. The Upper School offers the prestigious International Baccalaureate Diploma program. Learn more at www.aw.org.

DR. JOHN MEDINA

“By placing a total ban (on health care providers distributing medical marijuana information), they’re eliminating, or restricting totally, the flow of free speech on the greatest medium that’s out there – the Internet.”

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Each year, 250,000 ser-vice members make the tran-sition from military ser-vice to civilian life.

Veterans are over-index in entrepreneurship. In fact, nine percent of all U.S. firms are owned by veterans. More than 2.4 million veteran-owned busi-nesses employ more than 5.8 million individuals. About one quarter of veterans say they are interested in starting or buying their own business. So, we know that providing greater access and opportunity to these veter-

an-owned small businesses will help them grow and create jobs.

The U. S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has numerous programs in place specifically designed to support our veterans. Financing oppor-tunities exist for veterans who are establishing or expanding their small business, including microloans and Patriot Express loans. Last year, nationally, we approved more than 4,300 loans to veterans totaling $1.5 billion. And, the Seattle District office approved 110 loans to veterans totaling more than $53 million. Thousands of military reservists and veterans have also received entrepreneurship training and business counseling through SBA-affiliated partnerships. And, within the last two years,

SBA worked with contracting officers to deliver the highest-ever percentage of federal con-tracts to service-disabled, vet-eran-owned small businesses, totaling $10.4 billion.

But we can do more. That’s why the SBA launched Opera-tion Boots to Business: From Service to Startup to help tran-sitioning service members and veterans become entrepreneurs and create jobs.

Operation Boots to Busi-ness will build on SBA’s role as a leader in entrepreneurship training. SBA will help connect veterans with its resource part-ner network – Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs), Women’s Business Centers (WBCs), SCORE, and Veterans Business Opportunity Centers

(VBOCs) – for support through-out the lifecycle of their new businesses.

Through its ongoing collab-oration with Syracuse Univer-sity’s Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF), SBA will also provide comprehensive training materials specifically geared toward transitioning ser-vice members.

The pilot program is cur-rently underway with the Marine Corps at four locations – Quan-tico, Va.; Cherry Point, N.C.; Camp Pendleton, Calif.; and Twenty-Nine Palms, Calif. By next year we plan to expand to all branches of the military. The initiative includes three phases of instruction: a short introduc-tory video on entrepreneurship; an in-person classroom training

on entrepreneurship; and an in-depth, online, 8-week entrepre-neurship course that leads to the creation of a business plan.

Veterans are natural entre-preneurs, already possessing the experience and leadership skills to start businesses and create jobs. Boots to Business is an opportunity to assist our local veterans channel these skills and ultimately help them to create an economy built to last. For more information on the Boots to Business training program, and how to take part as a transition-ing service member, please visit www.sba.gov/bootstobusiness.

Calvin Goings is assistant associate administrator for the United States Small Business Administration (SBA).

GOINGS

By John Larsonjlarson@tacomaweekly.com

Pierce County cab companies are making a last-ditch effort to find common ground with Tacoma officials over a move that will have security cameras in every cab by the end of the summer.

At issue is access and price.“Why would we need to pay three times

the cost and get less?” said Daniel Sib-bett, owner of Aloha Cab Company. “It just doesn’t make sense to pay all that money if it won’t do what we want it to do when there are better and cheaper ones out there that will. I don’t know. I don’t get it. But maybe I’m just a dumb island boy, but it doesn’t seem right.”

What he thought would be $1,500 to equip his five cabs will actually be $5,000 to install systems that meet the requirements laid out by the city.

A flashback is in order to get to the root of the problem.

Tacoma passed an ordinance that would require in-car cameras back in 2006, follow-ing the lead of Seattle and other cities around the nation, in an effort to control crime. The city rules also set operating standards as a way to control crimes that were being phased as the years passed. The first vehicle inspec-tions, for example, were conducted a year ago. The recession caused further inspection delays and enforcement requirements until this summer since the City Council opted to

delay the tighter requirements out of “eco-nomic concern” for the drivers and the cab companies. That delay ended this summer when the city mailed out reminders in May about the required improvements – includ-ing the installation of in-car cameras – and inspections set to start this month.

Sibbett doesn’t dispute the need for cam-eras, since they would protect the drivers from robbery and other crimes committed by

their passengers. His issue is one of cost and access. The city requires a system that costs about $900 and is only available through one vendor in Kent, while other models run as low as $300 and include more features. Tacoma’s code also only allows police to access the videos because the recording system will be locked under the dashboard with a law-enforcement-only key system. Sibbett wants a system that allows the cab

companies to have access to the camera as well so they can use the images to warn driv-ers of problem passengers and for insurance claim documentation. Limiting the cameras, he said, would also drag out the time cabs would be out of service at a precinct instead of picking up fare-paying customers.

The city modeled its 2006 cab codes, which also include provisions for insurance, background checks for drivers and annual safety inspections, on similar codes in Seattle and other metro areas around the nation. The restriction to the cameras by only law enforcement officers was taken straight from Seattle, which added the tighter rules after a legal challenge by the American Civil Liber-ties Union over privacy concerns, accord-ing to Tacoma’s Licensing Department. It’s that restricted access that adds cost to the cameras because the equipment must be securely fastened inside a tamper-proof box rather than just wired into the car’s electrical system.

The rules affect some 80 cabs that are licensed to operate within the city. Pierce County rules are less restrictive but offi-cials from both governments are meeting to streamline the process so cabs have just one set of rules to follow.

Tacoma licensing officials are organiz-ing a meeting with cab company owners and drivers in early September to discuss any future changes. Cabs have until Aug. 31 to have the cameras installed and inspected as part of their annual license renewal.

PHOTO BY STEVE DUNKELBERGER

SOUR NOTE. Daniel Sibbett, owner of Aloha Cab Co., has rallied area cab

companies to voice their concerns about in-car camera rules that go into

effect later this summer.

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Slip RampsFrom page A1J.R. Wikane was third with 9 percent. This district includes

Northeast Tacoma and suburban areas to the east.Three people ran for the state House of Representatives seat

Ladenburg is vacating in the 29th District. Democrat David Sawyer is in first with 41 percent, followed by Republican Terry Harder with 34 percent. If early results hold up, Democrat Ben Lawver will not advance. He had 24 percent of the vote.

Some races with only two candidates were on the primary ballot, but the contests will be determined in November. Two Democrats are battling for the Washington State Senate seat in the 27th District. State Representative Jeannie Darneille has 58 percent, with attorney Jack Connelly trailing with 40 percent.

Democrat Laurie Jinkins is running for re-election for posi-tion 1 in the State House of Representatives in this district. She has 74 percent of the vote and Republican challenger Steven Cook has 25 percent.

With Darneille running for senate, her position 2 seat is up for grabs. Two members of Tacoma City Council are competing for this office. Jake Fey has 50.7 percent and Lauren Walker has 47.7. The two Democrats will decide the race in November.

Fey gathered with supporters at his campaign office on Aug. 7 for the first election results. He said the primary election will allow him and his campaign staff to determine where they did well in the district and where they can do better in the general election. They will compare the votes by precinct with the areas where he knocked on doorbells.

“I am happy to be ahead,” Fey said. “It gives us a positive outlook, but there is still a lot of work to be done.”

In the 6th Congressional District, Democratic State Sena-tor Derek Kilmer has nearly 60 percent of the vote in Pierce County. In distant second place is Republican Bill Driscoll at 18 percent. The top two finishers will face off in November to determine who will replace longtime Congressman Norm Dicks.

In the other race involving Tacoma, incumbent Adam Smith has 56 percent of the vote in the county for the 9th Congres-sional District. In November the Tacoma Democrat will face Republican challenger Jim Postma, who had 31 percent of the county vote.

terminals would greatly increase truck traffic on the Tideflats.

A committee of stakeholders was asked to study design ideas. A number of configurations for the ramps were examined. The group offered its recommended design to the committee.

An open house on the slip ramps will be held on Aug. 14. It will take place at 5 p.m. in room 405 of Greater Tacoma Conven-tion and Trade Center. It will allow city residents as well as business and property owners in the area to learn about the features and schedule. The open house will also give participants an opportunity to comment on the preferred design alternative, or two alternatives if a preferred alternative decision has not been made. The project is entering the initial stage of selecting a preferred interchange design alternative and preparing the environmental documentation. Comment cards will be available for meeting participants to pro-vide feedback to the project team. Additional information is available at www.cityoftacoma.org/SR509.

Primary Results From page A1

PHOTO BY JOHN LARSON

ELECTION NIGHT. Tacoma City Councilmember

Jake Fey (right) spent time with his sup-

porters at his campaign office on Aug. 7. He

is running for a seat in the state House of

Representatives.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 10, 2012 SECTION A, PAGE 9

TACOMAWEEKLY.com

SportsSports

Conditioning camp winding down summer

A11

By Steve MullenCorrespondent

Success has followed Pat Johnson every-where in life, both on and off the gridiron.

“I’ve learned from some of the best at every level that I’ve coached at and it’s really paid off to this point,” said Johnson, who was recently named the new head coach at Foss, replacing Ken Baker. “Dave Miller and Dick Zatkovich have been big influences both on and off the field,” added Johnson, who hopes to point the Falcons in the right direction very soon.

Success as a player came early under Zatkovich at Lakes High School in the 1997 season. “We won the state 3A title with future Washington Husky and Jacksonville Jaguar Reggie Williams leading the way for the Lanc-ers,” said Johnson. “I had a great year on the offensive line.”

During his junior year, Johnson had a thought cross his mind regarding his future. “I realized with my smallish size that I was not going to play either major college or NFL football, so I thought about coaching as being my life calling.”

Enrolling at James Madison University for the 2000-01 school year, Johnson would redshirt and also enroll in the school’s Reserve Officer Training Corps program, where he would meet his future wife. Hanging up his playing shoes at the end of the 2001 spring game, Johnson went on to coach at Harrison-burg High School and would find his niche.

“This would be my calling, coaching is where I wanted to be,” said Johnson, who to this day still maintains his enrollment in the Washington State National Guard.

After a brief deployment to Iraq in 2004, Johnson came home to assist his ailing mother while his next coaching move was being con-templated. He would catch up with former mentor Dave Miller at Lakes during the spring of 2005. “Coach Miller runs a program as professionally as anybody, he is a top-class coach.”

While Johnson would help out during the spring, his future as a coach was in the not-too-distant future.

“Coach Miller made me the defensive line coach starting in the 2005-06 season,” Johnson said. “I could not say enough about the opportunity to come back and coach at my alma mater for such a solid, established program.”

Things began to happen at a rapid pace for the Lancers’ new defensive line coach, and more than just football. “My wife and I were married in 2007 and while she was stationed in Augusta, Ga., I became a full-time National Guardsman. I was very busy to say the least.”

Last spring, a new job came open on the Tacoma School District website, the one John-son was waiting for all his coaching life.

“I was hoping for something in the Taco-ma-Lakewood area. After they let coach Baker go, I had two great interviews. It was a dream come true.”

When all was said and done, Johnson put his staff together quickly and thought about the future of Foss football.

“We want to change the culture of losing and be in the fight at the end. Another impor-tant factor will be to compete well against our rival Tacoma schools and build a winning tradition from there.”

Success, drive and hard work – three things that resonate with Pat Johnson and soon with the fortunes of Foss Falcon football.

Former Lakes assistant has strong background

PHOTO BY JEREMY HELLING

Pat Johnson takes over as

the head coach at Foss High School

after serving as an assistant at his

alma mater Lakes High School for the

past seven seasons.

By Jeremy Hellingjeremy@tacomaweekly.com

Now in its 14th year of existence in Tacoma, Zach Smalls’ endur-

ance and speed training program ZeeSpeed has become a mainstay in local athletes’ summer plans. And despite having run it every summer, Smalls noted a strong characteristic about this year’s group.

“The will to come, to work out,” said Smalls, who has run more than 100 athletes through his camp this summer. “Kids send me text mes-sages about how if they miss a day they’re sorry. You don’t need to tell me sorry for missing one of my workouts. That shows me you care, which is really inspiring.”

Closing in on the final week of the camp on Aug. 7, at Stadium High School, male and female ath-letes from various high schools and colleges were once again busy run-ning through Smalls’ array of drills and sprints early in the morning. And with a growing number of stu-dents catching on, it is clear Smalls’ program is having an impact.

“The whole camp just helps you with form, your stride and arm movement,” said recent Gig Har-bor High School graduate Dillon Alexander, a first-year participant. “I never could really get that stride. I was quick out of the box but couldn’t get that top speed.”

“This helps with pretty much everything conditioning-wise,” added Lakes High sophomore-to-be Bryson Foster.

With the final day of camp on Aug. 16, students will have com-pleted another grueling summer of more than 80 hours of work in 24 separate sessions. With many stu-dents focused on becoming faster and quicker, the amount of sports represented is almost limitless.

“It’s really fun, it’s good for you and it helps with track and soccer,” said 12-year-old Mason Middle School student Hannah Buckhalter.

“I go to my high school volley-ball classes and can see I’m getting faster,” added Lexi Hormann, a sophomore at Curtis.

Along with the physical aspect, however, a main focus of the camp continues to be the instilling of life values and lessons that are appli-cable off the field.

“My dad tries to push every-one to do their best in everything, whether it’s sports or academics,” said Smalls’ daughter Hayley, a

PHOTOS BY ROCKY ROSS

Students take part in various drills and sprints during

ZeeSpeed at Stadium Bowl on Aug. 7, as Zach Smalls (second from bottom)

encourages and instructs athletes as they work. See ZEESPEED / page A12

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Sounders FC U-23 defender DeAndre Yedlin was named First Team All-PDL on July 31. The right back started every match during the 2012 campaign, scoring a goal and an assist. The selection recognizes Yedlin as one of the 11 best PDL players among the 73 teams across North America.

“DeAndre is a dynamic, modern outside back with a great engine,” said Sounders U-23 Head Coach Darren Sawatzky. “He was a warrior this summer logging every minute of every game.”

Yedlin joined the Sound-ers U-23 after his freshman season at Akron. Follow-ing his freshman season at the NCAA powerhouse, Top Drawer Soccer named him as one of the Top 10 Fresh-man in college soccer.

“DeAndre comes to train-ing and games and works hard without any excuse, and he has grown daily over the past two years,” Sawatzky said. “We look forward to watching him grow this fall at Akron.”

The future is bright for Yedlin, who is a Sounders FC Academy alum. The 19-year-old is eligible to be a Home-grown Player for the Seattle Sounders FC. This means the Sounders FC first team could acquire Yedlin automatically without using a draft pick if, or when, they choose.

“DeAndre is poised to play at the next level, and time will tell how well he

does,” Sawatzky said. “He has the pieces necessary to play as a professional and it will be fun to watch him in the coming years.”

STUDS ATWORLD SERIES

The Seattle Studs have been taking part in the NBC World Series in Wichita, Kan., having won their first two games before falling to drop to the loser’s bracket.

The Studs began the tournament with a 2-0 win over the Conejo Oaks on Aug. 1, as starter David Benson pitched a complete game, allowing just four hits and one walk in nine innings, with four strikeouts. Right fielder Kyle Boe was 2-for-2 with two walks and a run scored, and Eric Peterson delivered the game’s only run batted in by singling to score Boe in the fourth. Connor Savage pinch ran in the eighth inning and scored on a wild pitch to account for the other run.

The Studs cruised to a 7-0 win over the Nevada Griffons on Aug. 3, as Damon Porter, Taylor Thompson and Thomas DeBoer combined on a six-hitter. Caleb Brown doubled to score Brian Cor-liss to get the Studs on the board in the third, and Bobby Joe Tannehill followed with a run-scoring single and fin-ished 2-for-5 with two RBIs. Boe, Jett Hart and Derek Jennings also collected runs batted in for the Studs.

The Studs then fell to the El Dorado Broncos 1-0 on Aug. 4, as starter Brandon Faulkner fired a three-hitter and struck out 11 batters to

take the win. Studs starter Miles Nagel allowed only one run – on a single in the first inning – in five innings, but suffered the loss.

The Studs were to take on the Kansas Cannons in the loser’s bracket on Aug. 7, with the winner facing the Dodge City A’s in the semifi-nals on Aug. 8.

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL LEAGUE OFFERED

Registration for the RAGE Girls Volleyball League in the Puyallup and Spanaway-Parkland communities will be held on Sept. 15, at Rog-ers High School from 8:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. and again on Sept. 22, at Frank-

lin Pierce High School from 8:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. League play is offered for girls in third to ninth grade in both the elementary and junior high divisions. Cost is $40 and includes a t-shirt, an instructional clinic, and seven matches.

The instructional clinic by members of the Rogers High School volleyball team will be held on Sept. 15, from 9-10:30 a.m. for students in third to fourth grade and from 10:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. for students in sixth to ninth grade. Another similar clinic will be held on Sept. 22, at Franklin Pierce High School. Volunteer coaches are also being sought. More

than 300 girls participated in the league last year.

For further informa-tion, go to www.recre8.org and click on Rage Vol-leyball League or contact Justin Luckman at (253) 298-3026 or at jluckman@fpschools.org.

LOGGERS’ SWIMMERS HONORED

The College Swim-ming Coaches Association of America has released it list of Scholar All-America teams and individuals with both Puget Sound swim teams are represented.

Both the men’s and wom-en’s teams earned a spot on the NCAA Division III Scholar All-America team lists for the spring semester. In order to earn inclusion on the prestigious list, both teams posted above a 3.0 GPA as a team.

Three Loggers also earned the individual honor of the same name with all coming from the women’s team. Tracy Wormwood, Ken-zie Kitson and Ava Williams were all named Scholar All-Americans. The CSCAA requires swimmers to post a 3.5 cumulative GPA or higher and qualify for their respective national champi-onship in order to earn the honor. Wormwood qualified for the Division III Champi-onship in both the 100 and 200 breast while all three Loggers were part of the 400 medley relay team that qualified for championship meet.

Teale Kitson of the men’s team earned Scholar All-America Honorable Mention. The list includes swimmers who did not qualify for the national championship but have a 3.5 GPA or above and recorded an NCAA pro-visional time in at least one

event. Kitson was an NWC champion in the 100-yard backstroke and held a “B” time in both backstroke events.

BATTLE AT THE

Battle at the Boat vet-eran Jose “Loco” Hernan-dez and Robert Osiobe have replaced the Juan Garcia-John Jackson bout as the main event for “Battle at the Boat 88” on Aug. 18 at the Emerald Queen Casino. The original headliner was scrapped due to unforeseen circumstances but the new main event is expected to produce fireworks from the opening bell.

The definition of a tough luck contender, Hernandez, 13-5-1 (5 KO’s), is known for taking on all comers with no questions asked. Born in Nigeria and based in Den-mark, Osiobe is also recog-nized for his willingness to challenge the best. Osiobe, 12-5-4 (6 KO’s), battled nine undefeated foes and the five men to beat him were a combined 74-1-1.

Retired Marine and local superstar Nate Serrano, 4-1-1 (3 KO’s), will look to best Osvaldo Rojas, 6-2 (2 KO’s), in the semi-main event. Serrano, of Yakima, and Portland’s Rojas fought to an entertaining six-round draw in June and agreed to a rematch just minutes after exiting the ring. The undercard also pits Portland native Ray Lampkin Jr., 1-0, against Yakima’s Randell Corpuz 2-1-1.

Tickets starting at $25 are available at the EQC box office or by going to Tick-etmaster.com. Additional bouts will be added shortly. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the opening bell is scheduled for 7 p.m.

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For a few innings on Aug. 6, it looked as if a power surge from the Tacoma Rainiers was going to continue their recent string of solid per-formances. Then, in the course of five batters in the top of the fifth, New Orleans slugged three homers themselves, lead-ing the Zephyrs to a 9-4 win at Cheney Stadium.

Rainiers’ starter Steve Garrison surrendered a run-scoring single to Jeff Dominguez and a sacri-fice fly to Chase Lambin to put New Orleans ahead 2-0 in the second inning. But Alex Liddi followed with a bomb over the left field wall off Zephyrs starter Omar Poveda in the bottom of the inning, and Luis Rodriguez drilled a two-run homer over the right field wall in the third to give Tacoma a 3-2 lead.

“Luis is probably, for the whole year, putting the best at-bats up for us night-in and night-out,” said

Rainiers’ manager Daren Brown. “He swung the bat well tonight. Homers with him are not something you’d expect, but he does square the baseball up and those things can happen when he does that.”

The Zephyrs then tied it in the top of the fourth, but Vinnie Catri-cala regained the lead for Tacoma with a solo homer that landed just over the left field wall in the bot-tom of the inning.

That’s when disaster

struck for Garrison, who allowed a leadoff homer to Chris Coghlan in the fifth and a two-run shot to Luke Montz two batters later. Chris Aguila soon followed with a bomb to left, prompting Brown to remove Garrison.

“The runs he gave up early were pitches up in the zone, but they were base hits,” Brown said. “In the fifth inning they turned into homers. It hap-pened pretty quick…you go into that inning with a

4-3 lead, and nine pitches into it you’re down 7-4.”

The Rainiers’ bats then went cold against Poveda and relievers Rob Delaney and Jon Link, as Tacoma managed just one hit and four walks in the final five innings. Garrison took the loss in allowing seven runs on 11 hits in four and one-third innings, with two walks and no strikeouts.

Despite the loss, the Rainiers had still won six of their last eight games as of July 7, although they

remained in last place by a large margin with a 50-67 record.

“We’ve pitched bet-ter and we’ve also gotten some big hits, and that’s some things that were lacking early in the year,” said Brown, noting the recent outings of Hector Noesi and Erasmo Ramir-ez on the mound.

He added that the turn-arounds of the younger hitters has been key to the recent success and will be needed to salvage a suc-

cessful end to the season. “Alex (Liddi) has been swinging the bat pretty good now for about 10 days or two weeks, he’s been coming around a bit. Catricala, it was good to see (the homer). He’s had a rough year early, and he’s starting to come around as well. We’re talking about two 23-year-olds – obvi-ously young guys – and I think it’s important for them to have a good month of August.”

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sophomore at Washington State University. “It builds character in kids.”

“This stuff carries over for life,” Zach Smalls said. “It’s not just football or not just baseball. And these girls are running as hard as the guys.”

Smalls’ program has even continued to support students heading to college in the form of scholarships, something it has done since the beginning.

“It’s a great environ-ment,” said Wilson High football and track star Devon Phillips, who is in his sixth year participating in ZeeSpeed. “People are working to get better not just in athletics but in life.”

“The first day four or five years ago, I came out here and after the first couple weeks I was like ‘this camp

is getting better and better,’” said Frederick Crumbley, a junior at Stadium High and a multi-sport athlete.

With a growing num-ber of good reviews and a continuously strong support staff as well, even college students are returning to take part for the first time.

“The dedication is awe-some,” said Wilson High grad Taylor Gomsrud, a sophomore at Boise State University looking to join the softball team. “I’m so mad at myself for not doing it (earlier) because I could have been so much faster.”

With drills such as full-field sprints, stair climbs and shuffling and backped-aling stations – along with Smalls’ message of dedica-tion – the camp offers ath-letes a chance to compete within the group in the off-

season as well. “With all the athletes

out here, I see I’m not the standout best, so I want to step my game up and show I’m one of the best, or at least one of the top ones,” said Tre Brahm, a freshman football player at Bellarmine Prep.

“(Zach) says to never quit, work harder and stay in the first quarter, which motivates me to work hard-er,” said Christopher Faust, a sophomore at Lakes. “I take that into consideration and actually do it.”

“That’s really all it comes down to, is how hard you want to do it,” added Lakes

teammate Kiyrie Simmons. “If you don’t apply your-self here or anywhere else, you’re not going to show it on the field.”

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CONSTANT LEADER. Zach Smalls, who has been running his camp for 14 years in Tacoma, instructs students during a drill at ZeeSpeed on Aug. 7.

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