( 9. March 2010, 19:14 by Derek Young) Tacoma City Council Meeting for March 9th, 2010

Tonight’s Tacoma City Council meeting actually had some debate. Two big items on the agenda included the Cheney Stadium remodel and a resolution that continues to move the Elks project forward. There was, for the first time, a fair amount of talk this evening. Here are our notes:

C O N S E N T A G E N D A

RESOLUTIONS
Resolution No. 37992 setting Thursday, April 1, 2010, at 1:30 p.m., as the date for a hearing by the Hearing Examiner for Local Improvement District No. 3967, for the relocation and construction of sanitary sewer mains to serve...

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( 9. March 2010, 14:10 by Derek Young) Tacoma’s Stormwater Management Program Updates - Public Comment

Tacoma’s Stormwater Management Program is being updated for 2010, and the City is seeking public comment on the changes. We have been amazed how much this topic has come up in random conversations in the last few weeks. Seriously. So, you must have an opinion too.

The Stormwater Management Program is the planning document that guides storm drainage system operations of the City through 2010 to protect our local surface waters from the pollutants carried by stormwater. The Stormwater Management Program is a permit requirement under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Municipal Stormwater Permit. This permit, a...

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( 9. March 2010, 11:35 by Derek Young) Cheney Stadium on Tonight's Agenda

Tonight’s City Council meeting includes the approval of the next phase of Cheney Stadium upgrades:

Awarding contracts to: Mortensen Construction, Inc., in the amount of $23,000,000, plus a contingency of $1,408,750, for a contract total of $26,547,750, including sales tax, budgeted from the 2009 LTGO Bond Cheney Stadium Phase III, for the Cheney Stadium Upgrade Phase III Design Build Project – Specification No. PF09-0561F.

We didn’t really know what to say on this one after last week’s study session where Council provided ample feedback on the placement of the overhanging roofline. If you haven’t been following it, well,...

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( 8. March 2010, 13:04 by Steve Dunkelberger) Weekend review: blood and giggles

Tacomans took full advantage of the sun last weekend. The Tacoma Dodgeball game on Saturday was huge and lasted for about three hours. Fun and pain was had by all, even drawing a scout from Bremerton to check out the local talent following a thrown gauntlet. All are welcome next Saturday. Balls not required.

Inside fun included Tacoma Musical Playhouse’s staging of the 1980s flashback musical, The Wedding Singer. This film turned Broadway has it all. It has dancing, singing and 80s glam-rock tunes. What further made this show stand out was the great cast. Not only is

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( 5. March 2010, 12:00 by Derek Young) The Marriage of Figaro - This Weekend

We were just reminded that the always wonderful Tacoma Opera will be presenting The Marriage of Figaro this weekend with shows this evening and Sunday.

Imperfect humans. Perfect music.

In this most human of operatic comedies, the clever valet Figaro and his bride-to-be Susanna clash wits with the amorous Count Almaviva, whose own marriage is on the rocks. Meanwhile, the other occupants of the castle play out their own schemes and desires.

Join us for one of the greatest operas ever written.

Friday, March 5 at 8pm ~ Sunday, March 7 at 2pm
Pantages Theater, Tacoma

Buy...

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( 4. March 2010, 16:38 by Steve Dunkelberger) Weekend Preview: comic books and combat vets

It is an eclectic array of funness on the calendar this weekend, from shows to talks about comic books to everything in between.

First on tap is a traveling stage reading of “Last of the Boys” by Steven Dietz. The story centers on a gaggle of Vietnam veterans coming to terms with the lingering questions about the war and their actions during and after the shots were fired. The moving and darkly funny gig is a collaboration between Northwest Playwrights Alliance and University of Puget Sound Theatre Arts, to benefit the Dragoon Raiders Soldier and Family Fund.
The show’s...

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( 4. March 2010, 15:20 by Derek Young) Convicting the Innocent - Tonight

If running, spy books & beer aren’t your thing, maybe social justice is. In 1984, Ronald Cotton was sent to jail for raping Jennifer Thompson-Cannino based on her eyewitness testimony. He was finally exonerated in 1995 when DNA evidence proved that he was not Jennifer’s rapist. Tonight they will be speaking together about their experiences and needed reforms to the judicial system as part of the Integrity of Justice Speakers Series.

TONIGHT
Ronald Cotton & Jennifer Thompson-Cannino
Co-authors of “Picking Cotton, Our Memoir of Injustice & Redemption”
Thursday, March 4, 2010 at 6:00 –...

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( 4. March 2010, 14:59 by Derek Young) St. Patty's Day Run - Volunteers Needed

The 2010 Bud Light St. Patty’s Day Run is just over a week away. The upcoming 5k run was quite the talk of last week’s Tacoma Beer Run with a number of runners already signed up and ready to go. The event begins and ends on Dock Street with an out and back course along Schuster Parkway.

Are you running? If so, great! If not, do you want to get involved and help out? The fine folks at the Tacoma Sports Commission are looking for more volunteers to help make the event a...

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( 4. March 2010, 10:23 by Derek Young) Whitney Rhodes Named DMG President

The Downtown Merchant Group, Tacoma’s voice for downtown businesses, finalized their slate of candidates and voted this morning. The new president of the DMG is our very own Whitney Rhodes – partner at Seasonal View, former writer and editor of Exit133, and a graduate of UWT’s Urban Studies program. Former DMG Presidents include City Councilmember Marty Campbell, Patricia Lecy-Davis, and, most recently, Ken Grassi.

Congratulations, Whitney!

( 4. March 2010, 09:49 by Derek Young) UWT's Joy Building - Retail Along Pacific!

If you may recall, a story in The News Tribune last November revealed a difference of opinion between the University of Washington Tacoma and the Downtown Merchant Group regarding retail in the Joy Building. UWT had announced plans to use the remodeled Joy Building’s Pacific Avenue frontage for classroom space. The DMG argued that businesses had made choices based on a UWT promise that the space would be used for retail.

This morning’s DMG meeting revealed a slight change of direction. The Joy Building will now have retail stores along its Pacific Avenue side with classrooms...

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