In my 25 years of public life, I have come to believe that community leadership is the key to a good community. Leaders create positive change. This was proven true again in 2002, when a very small group of civic leaders decided to … read more

Living in the Pacific Northwest and especially in the Puget Sound area, we have been spoiled with our ability to spend recreational time out in the wilderness, fishing and harvesting various shellfish. With more than 10,000 rivers and streams leading into Puget Sound, … read more

Leaves falling. Crisp days and often stiff nights with much cooler air temps. It’s raining again. Moving air is no longer just a breeze but an outright wind. The sun seems to spend a few hours paralleling the horizon then dips out of … read more

Each year, thousands of chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) return from feeding in the open ocean to the stream they hatched three to five years earlier. In Gig Harbor, the chum salmon migration takes place in the late fall and early winter, long after … read more

Fall is here. Golden and red leaves are dominating the airway and transforming the Earth with a new, patterned blanket. The once-prevailing basil is bowing now, as if to say, good performance, curtain going down. A few weeks back that basil bush was … read more

Salmon Stewards Oct. 10, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. Norm Dicks Government Center Cost: $10 Learn about salmon habitat, life cycle and species in the Puget Sound. Ecologically, traditionally and commercially important, salmon are iconic in our region and influence how we manage … read more

There was immediate controversy. I cringed. I was told the imagery of a fisherman, costing thousands of dollars, was not made by a local artist and it would be installed a few feet from my art gallery’s front door at 4th Street and … read more

The scene at Titlow Park in Tacoma attracts a few curious glances. Eleven women are spread out across the lawn, fly rods in hand, practicing their roll casts, false casts and presentation casts. The instruction this day is provided by Judy Graham, an … read more