By Angela Jossy

Tacoma suffered two losses this week. First we heard that the coyote who captured our hearts earlier this year ended her story in accidental vehicular homicide. Then we learned that Gault Middle School’s suffering has also ended tragically. A huge fire engulfed it this week leaving asbestos-filled smoke and a pile of rubble.

In my opinion, both of these stories deserved a better ending. Tacoma Chupacabra aka Jawless Jerry aka Quasimodo was rejected by local rescue organizations who instructed the public to “let nature take its course.” If the experts had intervened, our little coyote mascot could have lived out her days in a protected environment as a cherished mascot to our gritty city. Now she’s buried in someone’s garden. Gone but never forgotten. RIP sweetie. You’ll never know how much love we had for you.

Gault Middle School also deserved better. I started to write a story about this last October but I decided just to let it be. The decision seemed to be final so no good could come of stirring the pot but now I think we should all know the full story (at least the version of it that I heard) so we can make peace with the loss and learn our lessons from it.

Gault Middle School, built in the early 1900s, sat empty after years of neglect. The neighbors were frustrated by the criminal activity and homeless people frequenting the grounds. Meanwhile, a historical gem of a building ended up facing demolition largely due to red tape. It was destined to be yet another casualty to our city's architectural history. There was a plan to solve two problems at once: save a derelict structure and provide more desperately needed housing options in Tacoma.

Here is the timeline: A request for proposals went out in the spring 2022. Of the 3 proposals, Chaffey Group was selected in mid summer and it took a few months to finish the contract. In the fall, (Sept of 2022) the contract was approved. Then the real work began. This was a complicated puzzle for Chaffey Group to put together that required a lot of research, community engagement and problem solving of the most complicated kind.

Right about that time the economy shifted (property values went down, interest rates went up, supply chain and materials cost went up, etc). Chaffey Group had to scramble to keep all the pieces in place. They adjusted the project scope and gathered the investors they needed to make it work but there were other issues. The project was thought to include a MFTE (Multifamily Tax Exemption) from the City of Tacoma. Grace Pleasants (one of the key people putting this deal together) thought that the RFP from Tacoma School District stated that it did. This ended up not being the case. There were other issues as well. Many neighborhood meetings were held and a lot of public input was taken into consideration. The neighborhood really wanted retail to be attached to the project, specifically a mini-grocery and a coffee shop. Market research revealed that in order to include the retail aspect, a certain number of units would be required to attract retail tenants. Specifically they needed at least 500 units to achieve that. Chaffey thought they could make that work. The property has 7.5 acres available. But then they learned that the McKinely neighborhood sewer system was greatly in need of an update and they currently didn't have the capacity to add more than 400 sewer line attachments to the current system. A study would be required to even answer that question at all. If this development took all 400, then anyone building a house, an ADU or adding an additional bathroom would be out of luck. In order for Tacoma to reach its capacity goals and account for the population growth and density, this work would need to be done with or without this project at Gault.

Meanwhile, while the city considered that decision, the clock was ticking for the Chaffey contract with the school district so they needed to ask for yet another extension. Due to the outcry of the neighbors, the school district thought it had no choice but to reject the extension request right around the one year mark of the contract and instead sought to go get bids for demolition. The demolition would have cost taxpayers over a million dollars due to the disruption of asbestos in the school, an underground storage tank full of heating fuel (since the closure of the property in 2009 it was never properly drained) and other factors. Even the neighbors are leaning toward demolition because their hope of a solution was dashed when they heard the Chaffey contract ran out.

If the neighborhood, the city and the Tacoma School District could have been persuaded to come back to the negotiation table with Chaffey Group, we could have kept this iconic building and also receive some much-needed new housing options, a corner store and a coffee shop.

Originally 250 units were proposed. If the neighborhood no longer demanded retail, this could have been done by Chaffey which would not exceed the sewer requirements.

If the city would have granted the 8 Year MFTE (it was literally a couple blocks outside the arbitrary line for MFTE eligibility) the deal would still have penciled out. Debbie Bingham of Tacoma's Economic Development office told Chaffey it was possible but the timeline was undetermined.

None of this is possible now. The whole thing literally just went up in smoke.

I don’t know the impact of the asbestos on our air quality while the smoke billows through the neighborhood but I hope people are informed of the potential danger.

I spoke to Alicia Lawver at Tacoma School District for this story a few weeks ago and she had this to say.  "The Chaffey Group has had four extensions, two outside of the originally agreed upon extensions identified in the initial agreement. The agreement has expired. A new agreement would require a new RFP or sale process that would allow others to resubmit proposals as well. The original proposal was determined not feasible by the Chaffey Group and they were exploring other options. Chaffey Group was also requesting to reassign the agreement to different investors who were not part of the original agreement selection and qualifications process. I encourage you to talk with Tara Scheidt and some of the other neighbors who have been deeply involved, and continue to be.”

Lawver continued about the MFTE, "That's a city thing not a district thing ... I don't think there is one there. I can't comment on city processes. But the City has made themselves very available to the Chaffey Group and Grace (Pleasants) throughout this process, and the agreement has expired. Currently we are moving forward on defining what the district can do with the property to make it a positive part of the neighborhood again. Once we have finished identifying next steps/possibilities I can share more."

Tara Scheidt of Eastside Neighborhood Council had the following to say about the situation, "I liked the look and the feel of the initial Chaffey proposal and their focus on the historic building being the initial phase of the project being tackled. The community surrounding this building has lived with a decade of nefarious activity seeping from this building and many were calling for the building to be torn down rather than any type of renovation work. At this point it seems that the Chaffey Group has not met the deadline and the contract has expired. The many applicants who presented their ideas for renovation of the main Gault building were shaky at best and none of them had a clear vision for what they would do to the historic structure. All signs pointed to the failure being the required earthquake retrofitting, asbestos remediation, and the roof having a large hole as reasons they wouldn’t touch the main building until all other parcels were built upon. The Chaffey Group wanted to start in the structure and tackle the building first so, for this reason, the community jumped fully onboard with their proposal. Many folks have lived on or in the property for a decade and the attraction to crime overwhelmed the neighborhood. The Chaffey Group also took time to hear what neighbors proposed and they tweaked their plans to accommodate families who attended the Eastside Neighborhood Council meetings, Dometop Neighbors meetings, and the more focused Gault perimeter focus group meetings. With large community input over a significant length of time the Tacoma School District selected the Chaffey Group to move forward with the sale. The economy has taken an unexpected turn and funding has become a dire issue for a large project like this. There were huge investments in low income housing projects in the area with many more low and affordable housing projects in the works so the Chaffey Group focused on investing in work force housing as well as market rate units. Just around the corner from this project is the Hope 6/Salishan THA housing that is an amazing use of market rate and low income in one project. Many neighbors thought it would be a great way to offer more at this site than just one type of housing strategy.”

She continued, “Chaffey wanted to bring in a housing mix and not overwhelm the Eastside with all of Tacoma’s low income new construction and they were worried about the effect of that being seen as redlining this community even further. The community engagement had overwhelmingly asked for the main building to be removed or renovated first, the field to be saved for community use, and the future construction to have underground parking or parking within to not burden new residents. Most of those requests were within the Chaffey Group Project but somewhere along the line things stalled. Neighbors near and far from the site are now calling for the building to be torn down and a new purposeful space added to the community that is built for the neighborhood. This process has taken too long and neighbors are tired of babysitting the space at the cost of enjoying their lives. Neighbors just want relief. Many have Narcan at their front door and have had to use it to save those on the site. Many neighbors feed folks who call this space home and have opened their doors to the folks needing shelter. Most just want a space to be proud of that honors the place we call home. It was great to work with Grace from the Chaffey Group and we really hoped the project would happen as presented.”

She also added, “I know there is an underground tank of fuel for the heating system that has been sitting there. Has that leaked into the groundwater or is it still intact? There has been a concern raised in the past three years that neighbors whose homes around this property all had early onset dementia/Alzheimer’s. Is there something that can be researched and figured out? Every home on one block had neurological diseases pop up. Hearing about it is concerning but how would anyone know for sure? Another RFP process sounds terrible. So many folks in the community took days off to be at every called meeting and school board discussion. I’m not sure if Grace’s grocery store would be viable or the rooftop restaurant facing the mountain. The project drawings looked beautiful though. She wasn’t interested in housing that needed any incentives so that wasn’t on the table for any conversations. She was heading into the DRA process with the planning department last time I talked to her. I’m on the fence with demolition. Removing a building that has held contamination for so long is a huge worry but also renovating it for humans to be around is troubling as well. How does the renovation clear out all of the bad or will it just mask it for future release. When the different community based meetings happened it was refreshing to see what could be there through others perspectives. The current building is built in a way that would hinder much of what all wanted to see in that space and housing seemed the only fit for the awkward arrangement of rooms. If Grace’s group doesn’t get the project up and running I’m leaning a tiny bit toward demolition right now.”

Lawver stated that Chaffey added new investors to the plan and Grace Pleasants responded saying that the right to assignment is in the contract. It states that they are able to assign new investors.

Reports by Landau Associates, obtained by Chaffey, stated that the underground tank was not leaking as of February/March 2023.

A quarter of a million dollars of due diligence was spent by Chaffey Group to get all of this information together, a huge loss for any business.

Sources who are in the know tell us that five major developers have pulled out of big development deals in Tacoma this last year. The fact that Chaffey was still willing to work with us shows their commitment to Tacoma in my opinion.

We were told that it took the school district six months to get a fence put up and it was almost immediately smashed by a stolen vehicle. It took 4 months to get the fence fixed. The week that repair was made, another portion of the fence was attacked and knocked down. It took two to three months again to repair. The school district just did not have the resources to manage all the issues with that building.

Chaffey legally could not defend the building either because they didn't have the title. A transfer of title could have solved this and they would have put security in place.

On the plus side, now we will have ruins like Ancient Greece and we can bring tourists and tell the tale of what bureaucracy and the perils of real estate investing doth bring.

See Video Coverage

<b>What will rise from the ashes?</b>

By Stephanie Smith

At 4:11AM on January 3, 2024, Tacoma Fire Department was dispatched to a fire at Franklin Benjamin Gault Middle School located in East Tacoma at 1115 East Division Lane. Though everyone just calls it Gault Middle School.

SO, now it’s time for a very brief history of the school. We are talking about a school so a little education will always be a requirement. 😊It was named after the Superintendent of Tacoma Schools from 1888-1892, Dr. Franklin B. Gault. Dr Gault was a mathematician who had a long career in education and ended his days here in Pierce County teaching high school math. He’s buried in Tacoma Cemetery. He had a mustache nearly as impressive as Wyatt Earp. See Franklin Benjamin Gault (1851 - 1918) | University of Idaho Historical Photographs (uidaho.edu).

However, the man and the building are two different matters. The school was built in 1925, designed by Hill & Mock architectural firm. It was opened in 1926 and was closed 83 years later in 2009 when Gault and McIlvaigh were consolidated by Tacoma Public Schools into First Creek Middle School due to funding and declining enrollment.

After the schools closing, when Gault Gazelles became First Creek Middle School Eagles Metro Parks continued to operate the Eastside Pool at Gault till 2018. The funds came from a 1982 Washington Recreation and Conservation Office grant to Metroparks allowing them to continue operations of the pool long after the school’s closure. In 2018 when the Eastside Community Center opened its doors, the doors of the Eastside Pool at Gault closed for good. The closure of the last active part of the building created even more issues.

“Up until the Tacoma Public Schools and the City of Tacoma closed the school and community pool, Gault was a valuable community asset.” Joyce Glass, East Tacoma resident.

The value to the community, while Gault was open, was not just in the space but in the memories and community that had formed among the Gault Gazelles. To this day former students remember their teachers like Mr. Stewart, Mr. Yant, Miss Lundquist, Mr. Uhl, Mr. Ross, Mr. Venture, Mrs. Sanford, Mr. Gorham, Mrs. Shackleford, Mr. Coe, Mr. Berret and so many more. Teachers and staff showed them the value of community. Though Gault was closed, this spirit of community building carried with them to Lincoln High School and beyond as demonstrated by the enthusiasm that persisted for revitalizing the space.

Enthusiasm also led to frustration as plans were put forth and nothing ever seemed to come of them. The cost to make those dreams happen was too high for those looking to invest. But, really was there a greater cost in leaving the building to deteriorate? Dreams of it used as a school once more or housing seemed to come and go. As the building degraded it added to the frustration from the neighborhood.

“It’s depressing to me to see a century old building squandered. People don’t think about the craftsmanship and materials that went into a building like that. Once it falls into disrepair the prevailing attitude defaults to throwing it away and build something new, well what if everything old in Tacoma wasn’t saved at some point? Gault could have had a second life and been repurposed but instead it was written off.” -Andrew Picken

The vandalism, dumping of trash and stripped vehicles, and repeated fires over the years led to neighbors asking the school for more security features including fencing, eco blocks, and additional lighting. Neighbors attended school board meetings and attempted to advocate for change.

A nearby frustrated neighbor, Anna Burgess Lieck commented “It’s been a horrible blight on the neighborhood and a drain for anyone living close to it. A magnet for crime and bizarre behavior for years. Any glimpse of hope we’ve had for improvement has been stamped out by bureaucracy under the guise of “due diligence”. A large group of us spoke repeatedly at school board meetings in favor of improving the property citing how much neglect has been inflicted by the school district. That has been ignored over and over again.”

Anna’s frustration has been echoed by many and acknowledged by agency after agency over the years. The abandoned building mirroring the abandonment felt by many in the area as libraries, grocery stores, community centers, and other community assets disappeared or relocated. Disinvestment seemed to be the term that frequently described what was happening around the neighborhood.

Tacoma Public Schools owns the property and many uses have been explored over the years including housing. Repeated attempts to repurpose the building or sell it met with barrier after barrier. Tacoma Housing Authority attempted to step in to create affordable housing and was unable to bear the cost. One of the bigger issues has been asbestos contamination. A problem that now has been unleashed upon the neighborhood with this fire.

There had been a great deal of hope in 2023 that the situation around the school would change with the possible purchase by Chaffey Building Group. In September of 2023 that sale fell through following the feasibility study, citing cost and lack of density in the neighborhood to support retail. It was bad news for the neighbors who had hoped this would finally be the rebirth Gault needed and the main building was scheduled for demolition.

But, more and more one can realize that clinging to the past prevents us from moving forward. It hurts when you lose something that has been a large part of your life, your community, and the emotional toll it takes when we watch it slowly fall apart is even more difficult to bear. This is a chance for a rebirth. The demolition has been moved up and we’ll see what is born from all this, what emerges from the fire. Let’s hope a phoenix will rise from the smoke and ashes of Gault Middle School for the sake of the neighborhood and the entire Eastside of Tacoma.

It hasn’t all been bad.

The school’s field continues to be a source of joy, bringing together the neighborhood around it. You can’t beat a green space to run around, and it was certainly a source of sanity for the area during covid lockdowns. A good snow fall on the field results in igloos, snow people, and so much winter fun. Springtime activities have included easter egg hunts, youth baseball, and more. The field is and at one time the school and Eastside Pool was a source of joy and community. You cannot forget that it was a school that many attended and have great memories of. The Eastside Pool is where many learned to swim and enjoyed free open swim on the 1st Saturday of the month with their friends and family.

Some of the more interesting moments in Gault’s recent history and a story from a former student. The last few are pretty cool so stick it out to the end…

“Monty” the python is flying in that big circus in the sky.

In October of 2023 there were reports of people digging a grave about 4 am in Gault’s field which turned out to be not for a person but a 7ft snake in a wooden box. Rest in peace Monty.

It’s a dumpster fire…

In April of 2022 Tara Scheidt, a community leader and lifelong Eastside resident, posted about a fire in the street in front of Gault “This abandoned school site has seen it’s share of interesting events but today was the cherry on top. A literal dumpster fire…The garbage truck caught fire inside and had to eject their load onto the street.”

Lights out!

Also, in April 2022 during the demolition of the gym a power pole was accidentally damaged causing a power outage.

Couch Surfin’

In July 2021 a couch was dumped in the middle of the road by Gault but was quickly moved out of the road by the next passing motorist. The neighborhood, East Tacoma, all of Tacoma, and our county is full of helpers and problems solvers. To all the helpers and doers thank you for all you do.

School takeover

In November of 2020 a group called Tacoma Housing Now occupied the school to push for its use to house those needing shelter to avoid freezing to death. This was a divisive moment for some neighbors due to the unsafe conditions and unauthorized access to the building. We can all agree that no one should freeze to death on the streets.

Super Trooper

October 2019 an officer responded to a crashed truck in Gault Field and ended up getting high centered and needed a tow themselves. Hey, we all need a little help sometimes, we’re all just people.

Why did the chicken cross the road?

Well, we may never know why an intrepid chicken decided to wander about Gault in 2012 because the chicken is not available for comment but it’s sure ‘egg’cting to imagine it’s motivations. Probably just a good place to scratch and peck.

Erin King, Gault alumni

“To this day, I never see a snowman, and not think of Mr. Uhl. If you know, you know.”

Field of Dreams – Chris Brown, Gault alumni.

“My daughter and son in law met there (Gault) in ‘02 after they grew up he proposed to her on the baseball field they've been married 11 years. My wife went there as well.”

Long but worth the read. By Richard Spears II, Gault alumni.

I remember one day my friend and I decided to walk to school from 29th St E where we lived. Usually, we either went up the wooden stairs in the woods on 32nd St I think it was, then up past rogers elementary, or up the dirt road below rogers in the strip of woods. The day before we decided that we wanted to hit the store before school. The plan was to go up Portland Ave stop at mins then go up Fairbanks to school.

We got our homework and met up early so we could stop by mins grocery store and grab some now or laters or some pogs before heading to school. We meet up as planned and started walking to school in a typical winter overcast Washington morning. Once we reach 32nd st it started to rain.

We decided to run to Mins grocery and stay dry while the rain passed (hopefully). We greeted Mr. mins as we walked in and did a little looking in the store to pass time before deciding which candy to buy. We got our candy and talked with Mr Mins a bit and eventually it stopped raining, so we left. We decided to stick to our plan and continue up to Fairbanks instead of going up the concrete steps that lead up next to Rogers elementary. As we walked past the barber shop it started to rain pretty good.

By this time, we could not turn back and wait for the rain in Mins because we would not make it to school in time. So we continued on and the rain really started coming down, a real heavy downpour, big heavy rain drops everywhere, the edges of the roads had water gushing down it, almost up to the sidewalk in a few places. We were getting soaked; the rain was coming down nonstop and time was ticking to make it to school on time. Big puddles were forming at each storm drain in the road, flooding the sidewalk and half of the lane on Portland Ave in some spots. We made it about half a block to Fairbanks when we came to a puddle of water that was so huge, cars were going around it, water went over the sidewalk up to the grass.

It seemed like the water was flowing like a river next to the curb. We stopped and looked at what felt like a lake in front of us, it took up one lane and it was going all the way across the sidewalk.

As we stood there already soaked from the rain, we looked at this lake then looked at each other with rain drops hitting our faces, squinting our eyes as the drops pelt us, we laughed and said we are not going home, we don't want to hear it from our parents on why we didn't go to school that day or why we were late to school.

So, we decided to walk through it, why not? We are wet anyways, right? We can dry off in school throughout the day. We can make it in time and have a good day of school. We accepted that we were as wet as we were going to get. We walked side by side into this puddle one step at a time until it was about to the ankle maybe a little deeper, not too bad.

We were laughing as we walked through it when we both looked back when we suddenly heard some vehicles coming behind us and saw the city bus coming in the lane by the sidewalk and a couple cars beside it in the other lane. There was nowhere to go in time to get away from the puddle before they reach us. We were practically in the middle of this lake by now.

Hopefully the bus gets over one lane if the cars speed up, the bus slows down then changes lanes or stops and lets us run for our life out of the lake. For a brief second, we turn and look at each other in a kind of blank stare/panicked state, then we both started running forward to get out of the lake before they get here. What seemed like a millisecond later as we were running, we heard a huge splashing noise that sounded like a title wave or a tsunami splashing on concrete!

As I turn and glance back while running, I see the bus and cars side by side in the road and the bus is in the puddle driving full speed and the water is splashing up to the windows in a huge cresting wave of water getting higher and higher as it gets closer to us. Suddenly we were under water, the wave was over my head. To scale this wave a little, I was six foot in the sixth grade, this was a huge heavy wave of water, going clear over my head! It crashed over us, soaking every bit of our clothes and our body, our underwear and socks were soaked, everything we had was completely soaked! The bus and vehicles kept driving on as we stood there at the edge of this puddle.

We looked at each other in disbelief as the waves of water go back into the street. It felt like we almost died from the tsunami wave that just cleared our heads and soaked us to our bones.

We had fun at school and still did not want to go home to change into dry clothes, we still wanted to make it to school on time. We did what kids always did then, we walked it off. We found it funny, we started laughing and skipping, jogging and cheering the cars that went by, taunting them to splash us!

We cheered the cars that did after that. That half a block to Fairbanks was the longest part of that walk, definitely the wettest, and of course the most fun of the walk. We made it to Fairbanks and made it up the hill uneventful, we probably dried our shoes off a bit walking up that steep hill.

We made it to school on time that day. We were planning on meeting up at lunch and the classes that we had together. Once I got to class I gave my homework to my teacher, it was a soaked piece of now transparent paper with the questions in black printed ink and blobs for answers, she looked at it, then looked at me, she knew i couldn't say my dog ate my homework this time, so she asked me what happened.

I gave her the brief story; a bus soaked us while it was raining. She sent me to the office because I looked like a drowned rat. I still had puddles of water at my feet wherever I stood at this point.

Once I got to the office, they all turned their heads and looked at me as I walked in. I looked like I went swimming with all of my clothes on.

Now here is one of my favorite memories from attending Gault Middle School.

I believe it was the counselor, maybe it was not. I honestly do not remember her name; I wish I could. But I can still remember her and her kindness.

She took me back to her office and asked me a few questions and I told her what had happened. I also explained I could not go home and change until after school, because both of my parents were at work, and I would get in trouble if she had to call them from work. So, she had an idea.

She brought me back to another room and there was a few boxes of clothes. Probably lost and found from over the years. She went through and looked for male clothing and brought a few out to try, mostly too short, too tight or too big and short or too short and tight. Remember, I was six foot in the sixth grade.

Needless to say, after searching through all of the clothes I still had no clothes to wear other than my soaking wet clothes. She brought me back to her office and had me sit and wait while she talked with some of the office staff. A few minutes later she came back and talked with me a few minutes. She asked me if I would be ok going to the store with her.

I get to skip class with a teacher? Cool sign me up! I agreed and we got into her car and went shopping for a full set of clothes for me. Even new shoes.

She made sure they all fit and paid for them. We got back to school; I thanked her and went to class and had a typical day after that.

She paid for the clothes from her own pocket, not from the school funds.

She never asked for reimbursement.

She was one of the many passionate teachers at Gault that made a difference in kids’ lives as they grew up.

She is part of the reason over 35 years now, that I still pay it forward every chance I get.

She made a difference.

She made one of my favorite memories in Gault Middle School.

Thanks for sticking it out to the end. 😊

Want to learn some new #sustainability tips/tricks in 2024? Join us for one of our free home & garden #EnviroHouse workshops! The 2024 #workshops were just announced—visit http://cityoftacoma.org/workshops to check out the topics and to register.

Check out:

• City chickens and ducks

• Rain gardens

• Yard waste and worm bin composting

and many more!

With murders down 26.7% and violent crimes down 17.5% Tacoma Police attribute those numbers to their increased visibility and more resources as well as community outreach and hot spot patrols.

The Police Chief attributes their higher number of drug arrest and their increased weapons arrests to those violent crimes decreasing.

Learn More

Watch Dedrick Crocklem’s interview with King 5 as he discusses training to be an Olympic level boxer in a Spanaway garage.

Watch Here

Pierce Transit has introduced it new Runner app that provides door-to-door, affordable, on demand shuttle service for the Spanaway/Parkland/Midland, Ruston and Tideflats zones. This is the same program they have been using in Puyallup. The Runner aims to provide service to underserved areas with convenience and affordability.

Learn more and how to download the app

The Tacoma Venues & Events Department (TVE) is seeking a full-time Community Impact Coordinator to help lead TVE’s community engagement program. At TVE, we believe inclusivity matters, legendary experiences belong to everyone, and an engaged and collaborative crew make possibilities into reality with creativity and innovation every day.

The ideal candidate takes pride in executing game-changing community impact experiences to serve and unite our community, leveraging TVEs unique assets and capabilities including partnership organizations, and our physical structures to make a positive and sustainable impact in Tacoma and beyond. They enjoy planning, attention to detail, and collaboration. They can work independently under tight deadlines and react to changes successfully. They value inclusivity, are inspired by the community, and enjoy working with a variety of people and viewpoints.

The position requires a strong work ethic, sound decision-making skills, diplomacy, ability to work independently and in a team environment, and excellent interpersonal communication skills.

This position will require attendance at a variety of events and functions including evenings, weekends, and holidays. Occasional industry-related travel may be required.

Does this sound like you? Read on and Apply Here

[[image]] House of Tomorrow

Save the Date for a historic home tour you won't want to miss if you're in the area! Pierce County is hosting an open house for the public to visit and tour the House of Tomorrow in Puyallup on Wednesday, January 17, from 10:00 am-2:00 pm and learn about its architecture and the architect, Bert Smyser.

Pierce County was awarded a Flood Mitigation Assistance grant from the FEMA Federal Emergency Management Agency in 2022 to acquire the House of Tomorrow. Located along Clarks Creek in unincorporated Pierce County, this property floods regularly, resulting in repetitive flood loss damages. This voluntary property acquisition and removal of the house structure from the flood hazard area will eliminate future flood loss damages. With Pierce County’s purchase of the property, the homeowner will also be able to relocate.

Please note trucks and SUVs are recommended for limited field parking, and hiking boots or rubber knee boots are also recommended.

𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘 on HOUSE OF TOMORROW: This may be your last chance to see the House of Tomorrow as FEMA would only fund the flood mitigation grant if the house is removed by demolition as a result of the agency's determination that the relocation of the house is neither cost-effective nor practical. We agree with the local preservation community that this will be a tragic loss of a piece of architectural history. If you'd like to express concerns about that or the lack of more convenient times to tour the home, the link we shared from Pierce County includes contact information for the project manager.

Find the address and more information here

Following the Cliff Mass weather blog, we are quite certain to have a dump of snow in the mountains and we will not have the warmer El Nino temps in January like we were feeling for much of December.

See the weather models and more predictions

[[image]] Cindi

“A favorite pic with me and the legendary Lauren Bacall," Cindi Rinehart

The Queen of Soap Operas, Cindi Rinehart from local TV show Northwest Afternoon, passed away recently. I remember rushing to turn on the TV after returning home from high school in the 80s to find out everything that happened on my favorite soap operas, Days of Our Lives, Another World and Santa Barbara. Cindi was one of the most enthusiastic and positive spirits I've ever seen. Her co-star from Northwest Afternoon, Elisa Jaffe, had this to say about her passing on Facebook, "It is very difficult to share that one of the most 'alive' people I’ve ever met is no longer with us. Cindi Rinehart passed away peacefully this morning after a brief battle with esophageal and lung cancer. Jim Brooks, her husband of 32 years, was preparing to bring Cindi home today for hospice care. And those who know Cindi know that despite her larger than life persona, she was a major homebody who enjoyed sitting around with a batch of Jimmy’s chili or a “pop” with friends. Jimmy said she’s now finally with her family. Cindi was preceded in death by her father Paul Rinehart, her mother Kathleen, her sister Carol, and brothers Buck and Skip. She could be feisty, a fighter, vulnerable, witty, flirty, frisky, and free of filters. Even in these last months and days, Cindi toyed with good looking paramedics from her stretcher and charmed the 7th floor nurses and medical team. You could often tell her mood by the changing color ring around the iris in her eyes. You didn’t want to see gray. But the twinkle put you under her spell. KOMO TV’s energetic Queen of Soaps was a natural on air, incredibly talented and authentic. Cindi truly loved her devoted Northwest Afternoon fans and job on channel 4 broadcasting about soap operas. Most of my stories regarding Cindi require a filter so we’ll have to share our memories someday over a toast to Cindi, which she’d like. She was a prankster who nearly 30 years ago knowingly sent me to a very risqué part of Bangkok and didn’t warn me about what I’d encounter. And there was a time when co-worker Ken Schram lost a parakeet or some kind of bird, and Cindi said she secretly replaced it with a close lookalike. Most of all, I’ll miss Rinehart’s spirited laugh. It was a delightfully unique joyful cackle that will always spark a smile. Rest in peace, love, and joy Cin." 

We will miss her too. - Angela Jossy