Two accidents on STP route – Spanaway and Roy

According to a report from the state patrol there were two accidents during the 2013 Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic. In the first a car brushed with a rider at 168th Street and Pacific Avenue in Spanaway. The rider was unharmed. There were emergency vehicles called to the site. The other collision was near Roy on SR…

Waiting in line on 176th Street and 22nd Avenue?

This morning at 3 a.m. the work was supposed to be completed on the leveling of 22nd Avenue at 176th Street. If  you tried to get home that way,  you probably had to wait as long as 10 or 15 minutes for your turn to pass through. Only on direction of traffic at a time…

Beware of massive numbers of bicycles Saturday July 13!

July 13-14 is the Group Health Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic. It is a 200-mile bicycle ride, the largest multi-day bicycle event in the Northwest. There are up to 10,000 participants riding from Seattle to Portland in one or two days. The route takes them through Summit, Waller, Spanaway, Roy and McKenna. This is a…

Avoid 22nd Avenue and 176th Street intersection July 11-12

The  intersection at 176th Street and 22nd venue is under a major construction  push again. There are flaggers at all four sides and the delays are long. There is a big, lane wide cut out in the center of 22nd Avenue on the south side of the intersection. Avoid if at all possible. You won’t be…

Ground breaking has begun on the Elk Plain O’Reilly’s

ELK PLAIN, WA — The site has been the Elk Plain Cafe since the 1940’s and a gas station since about 1901. Earlier this year, the Elk Plain Cafe building was removed along with old manufactured homes and the tall trees. This week, the excavation began for the new O’Reilly’s Auto Parts store on the…

Uncle Sam’s is music and community first

By Marianne Lincoln If you are a music lover near Spanaway, you may already know why Uncle Sam’s American Bar & Grill is so packed with cars and motorcycles regularly. The owner, a musician himself, cares a great deal about the vibes at his bar. Craig Arrowood’s life began with a father who played bass…

New project on 176th St. E begins July 8

Construction work along 176th Street East from B Street East to 14th Avenue East in Spanaway will begin July 8. This project is one of several Pierce County projects to improve safety and relieve traffic congestion through the 176th Street East corridor. Beginning in July, crews will clear areas outside the existing roadway, then excavate and…

Parkland L&W to cease water fluoridation

By Marianne Lincoln OPINION Parkland Light and Water was the lead name on the lawsuit to prevent the Tacoma Pierce County Health Department from mandating fluoridated water across the county in 2002. When the matter was headed to the Washington State Supreme Court, they balked and signed the agreement to fluoridate the water. It cost their rate…

Spanaway Lake’s choir camp will dazzle their audience Saturday

SPANAWAY, WA — Spanaway Lake High School is hosting the second annual Vocal Jazz and Show Choir Summer Camp. It runs through Saturday, June 29 when the group will hold their concert at 1:30 p.m. Cost is $5 Award-winning choreographer Damon Brown, and Music Company director Bernard Crouse are running the camp with the assistance…

The Post Office hole on SR7 needs to go away

Editorial opinion This photo is of a drainage ditch on Pacific Avenue in Spanaway between Les Schwab and the Spanaway Post Office. This is the single biggest mistake in the sidewalk project for SR7. This little ditch 1) Almost never fully drains 2) Hides a very deep hole between the two locations 3) Creates a…

Impact of smelting operations on arsenic in urban lakes

UW Tacoma — The ASARCO smelter in Ruston, Washington contaminated the south-central Puget Sound region with heavy metals, including arsenic and lead. This study finds that arsenic is highly mobile in these urban lakes. Current knowledge of the chemical, physical and biological factors affecting arsenic mobility in regional lakes will be discussed and initial data on…