Why do so many people walk or jog down the middle of the road in North Tacoma? It seems every day I see folks who opt out of our more-than-adequate sidewalks in favor of danger and excitement provided by the middle of the street. Is it because they've tripped over imperfections on the sidewalk in the past? Better view of houses from the street? Death wish?

Puzzling.

The Jon Higley campaign has agreed to re-evaluate a couple of their sign placements. That's all a guy can ask. I'm proud of them.

Alright, this has gotten completely out of control. Tacoma has been overrun by an invasive species of dipshit. I thought it was just me, but there have now been plenty of other mentions online and in personal conversations pointing to the negligence of campaign sign placement all over town. The worst cases exist on North 21st Street between Pearl and Proctor. Let the record show that, when attempting to turn left from N 21st onto Stevens Street (both directions), your view of oncoming traffic is obstructed:


I am generally not one to complain about unsafe behavior. This is actually way out of character for me. I use this intersection almost every day, and it has gotten more and more annoying since the signs started turning up. This eventually led me to call the Tacoma fire department's non-emergency phone line last week to complain (also WAY out of character for me). They said they would report this to the public works department, who would in turn come out and inspect the site at N 21st and Stevens.

One of three things happened:

1) The fire department phone operator dropped the ball and neglected to make the effort to contact public works
2) The public works department neglected to respond to the complaint
3) The public works person who inspected the site has his/her head as far up his/her ass as our local candidates

What is the deal?

Usually people around here are overly concerned with safety to the point of making me nauseous. Now that there is a legitimate safety concern, you all disappear. Where did all the bleeding hearts go? What should be done about this?

After taking the above photos yesterday, I discussed it with a nice couple having a garage sale a few blocks away. They told me that they discussed having a "sign pulling party" with some of their neighbors. That's what I'm talking about! I think this is a great idea. The only thing worse than the placement of these signs is the fact that people are afraid to remove the signs for fear of resulting legal trouble.

I would have ripped these signs out a long time ago if I hadn't already placed an angry phone call and announced my opinions to so many people in the area. If one of these idiots threatens legal retaliation, I'd be a prime suspect. Since I will not be removing them myself, I would like to recommend that someone else do it. Yank them out in broad daylight when there are plenty of people watching. Make me proud.

P.S. Here is an incomplete, non-partisan list of local assholes: Jon Higley, Norm Dicks, Jon Cronk, Ken Nichols and Jesse Young. Please don't vote for any of these rats.

So there are bears in North Tacoma? Somebody got a photo of a bear hanging out near 6th & Pearl yesterday. Around 8am this morning it was captured in a ravine next to Highway 16. Wildlife agents plan to relocate the adolescent male.

Agents used tranquilizer darts to sedate the bear. Initially after being shot, the bear ran off, and it took another 1/2 hour of searching to locate the sleepy little guy.

I have to wonder where the heck it came from. If I had to venture a guess, I'd say someone brought it here, either to be a pet or a cruel joke on the surrounding neighborhoods. We have plenty of deer in the north end, but I've never even heard of a bear sighting. If it wasn't brought here by someone, are we to assume there are more bears around here?

Last time they came to town, the result was an acoustic rainbow through the back room of The Spar on a gorgeous summer evening in Old Town. You can expect virtually nothing to be the same this time around.

Dave Hates Chico is synonymous with the word acoustic. Or at least they have been in Seattle for double digit years. They've taken their acoustic open mic gig all over the country, from Seattle to New York and back again. They have established themselves as one of the country's most reputable duos of open mic. Their acoustic repertoire goes for miles and nobody can dispute that.

So why are they switching to electric??

Come find out on Saturday night.

What many of you have never seen before, I have. I have spent many an hour playing electric guitar with Jeremy Johnson. Truth be told, electricity is actually at the root of my relationship with Jeremy. If it weren't for electric guitars and gourmet sandwiches, this article would likely never have been penned.

The only guy more excited for this show than me has to be Jeremy himself. My resources are saying that he is rather jacked up to plug in and get loud. Those of you who only know his gentle, acoustic side may be a bit surprised by his possible anger and ferocity set to be on display here this weekend.

Bring your earplugs and your thirst for good beer and great people. I'll be bringing my Smiths requests and an appetite for rock. I might even be packing a Pesto Chicken sandwich in my pocket. We'll see how it unfolds. The only thing I can guarantee is greatness.

See you there.

I took my first walk through the north end with my daughter in a stroller and my faithful puppy dog earlier today. While it has always been apparent that the neighborhood is walkable, it occurred to me that I couldn't ask for a better place to raise a child in this region.

During a 45-minute walk, I encountered very few cars, enjoyed smiles from several other walkers and enjoyed the nice, smooth sidewalks some of us may take for granted. Never have I lived anywhere with better sidewalks. The city recently forced many residents to pay for sidewalk repairs, mostly due to tree-root damage. At first this seemed unreasonable to me, but today I realized the benefits.

Little kids, skateboards, strollers, inline skates, wheelchairs... whatever it is you use to travel our sidewalks, you should have no trouble getting from point A to point B. Just another reason North Tacoma is the best neighborhood in the world.

Washington Mutual and now Rainier Pacific. Both have gone from riches to rags and both originated in our backyard. While not as spooky as the WaMu debacle, the Rainier Pacific dissolution seems to be exactly what this region needs to avoid. This pattern of 1 step forward and 2 steps back is not going to take our economy where it needs to go anytime soon.

Rather than a bank named Umpqua, I sincerely hope that something fun will go into the corner space at N 26th & Proctor previously used by Rainier Pacific Bank. North Tacoma needs more places to have fun and less places to do business, in my opinion. Take your business downtown!

The global economy still wavers. The stock markets are as fickle as my 5 day old daughter. Real estate may or may not be picking up steam. What are your thoughts on the economic health of the region? I give up trying to make my own predictions. Hopefully some of you will step up and risk an opinion.

Tacoma, the times they are a changin. Here are a couple things of which to be aware.

Happy: 1022 South
Hilltop is home to a craft cocktail lounge. Have you ever been to a bar that takes the art of making cocktails VERY seriously? It is interesting to see what they can do with alchemy and infusion. This is not something out of the movie Cocktail, mind you. We're talking about scientific, laboratory-style concoctions that fizz, smoke, bubble, and glow. 1022 South is the type of place where cocktails transcend being just a beverage. Ordering a drink can be quite a complex experience: choosing a drink, ordering it without feeling stupid, watching the process it takes to make it, and of course, enjoying your selection. If you are out and about looking for a place to "just have a drink or two" I highly recommend 1022 South, located at 1022 South J Street in Tacoma.

Sad: Rector's Antiques
My favorite antique store in Tacoma has closed. Located across the street from MSM, Rector's was usually my go-to spot for funky furniture, antique lighting and old clothing/costume items. Being far removed from the official antique row downtown has taken its final toll on Rector's. If anyone should hear that they are planning on relocating, please post follow-up information here.

I had to make a run to Sea-tac airport this morning. Early. Aside from my morning pot of coffee, the chief motivator for me today was the notion of actually enjoying a fresh, authentic bagel for breakfast. Of course, there aren't any fresh bagels to be had in Tacoma. How did I do it? What's my secret?

Big Apple Bagel in Des Moines is a godsend. Every time I drop someone off at the airport in the morning, I find myself at Big Apple selecting 6 warm, soft bagels and a tub o' cream cheese to bring back to the City of Density with me. Today it was 2 onion, 1 blueberry, 1 tomato basil, 1 cheddar herb and 1 swiss melt, all still warm. By this evening I will feel like a turkey, stuffed to the gills with bread. I look forward to this feeling.

For those of you who don't know, the bagel is more than meets the eye. To the uneducated, it is simply a donut-shaped piece of bread. To those of us who know better, it is a precise concoction, boiled then baked, chewy, moist, soft. This is not found in just any bagel. Most bagels you find around here ARE simply bread in the shape of a donut.

Tacoma needs a real bagel shop, ASAP. Cascade Bagel didn't make it downtown... but that was because they picked the worst location ever: inside a museum. Their Lakewood location isn't very good, yet they've managed to keep that one open for years. Somewhere on Pacific downtown or 6th Ave would be a perfect place for the next great bagel shop in Tacoma. Offer fresh bagels, good coffee and a great sandwich lineup and you CANNOT fail.

Someone. Anyone. Please.

Several of my relatives plan to move back to Tacoma in the near future. This has me thinking about the City of Density and how it is here today compared with how it was here 10 years ago.

I regularly complain about all sorts of things in Tacoma ranging from traffic cameras, to bad urban development, to the lack of useful retail downtown. That being said, I think Tacoma is much cooler today than it was 10 years ago. Does this mean Tacoma really sucked in 99? Or is it actually cool here now? The answer to this question depends largely on who you ask.

I moved back to Tacoma in 99 and I've had no regrets. I love my neighborhood, we have several great bars & restaurants to enjoy, traffic and cost of living are manageable and the geographic location and climate are ideal. What more do you need?

While it's been interesting to watch the city grow to this point, I'm even more interested to see where it goes from here.