Happy Friday Newsletter 8.22.25

Arts & Entertainment

• Don’t Miss the 2nd Annual Proctor Food Fest
  • Proctor Food Fest is back, Sunday August 24 from 11am to 5pm in Tacoma’s Historic Proctor District. Enjoy a summer afternoon of local food trucks, live music, shopping and more.

• Sabado Sabor August 27 at Tacoma Armory
  • Sabado Sabor is a celebration for people who enjoy music, dancing, good food, and community. Organizers are creating a Wakanda-inspired vibe with gathering, movement and conversation. It’s billed as both a lively date night and a space for community connection.

• Summer Bash at STAR Center August 22 6pm
  • The Summer Bash at STAR Center features an outdoor family movie night with Moana 2. Games, face painting, food trucks touch-a-truck, and local guest Seahawks legend Walter Jones round out the fun.

• Lakewood Playhouse Announces Season 87
  • Lakewood Playhouse has unveiled its 87th season, a lineup centered on stories of finding and using one’s voice to uplift community and speak truth to power. The season opens with The Revolutionists (Sept 12 – 28, 2025), followed by Seussical the Musical (Dec 5 – 28, 2025), The Normal Heart (Feb 20 – March 8, 2026) Pipeline (April 24 – May 10, 2026), and Carrie the Musical (June 12 – 28th, 2026). In addition, the theater will debut its first-ever Festival of New Voices, highlighting emerging writers and diverse perspectives from Tacoma and beyond.

• Screening of Georgia O’Keeffe: The Brightness of Light
  • The Brightness of Light, a feature documentary about iconic artist Georgia O’Keeffe, will screen at the Grand Cinema on Tuesday, August 26th at 1:45pm and 7:00pm. For more information visit grandcinema.com.

• Tacoma Little Theater Announces 107th Season
  • Tacoma Little Theater will open its 107th season in October with the theme, “Crossroads: A Season of Defiance, Destiny, and Discovery.” The lineup includes seven productions: The DaVinci Code (Oct 24 – Nov 9), Matilda (Dec 5 – 28), The Time Machine (Jan 23 – Feb 8), Spring Awakening (March 6 – 29), The Mountain Top (April 24 – May 10), Sotto Voce (June 5 – 21), and Bedroom Farce (July 10 – 26). Tickets and passes are available online, by phone at 253-272-2281 or at the box office.

Neighborhood News

• The WW Seymour Conservatory Needs Your Input
  • The conservatory wants to hear from visitors and members about what programs and activities they’d like to see in 2026. Take the short survey at https://bit.ly/4mqEgeM.

• Eastside Community Center Closing Temporarily for Annual Maintenance
  • From August 25-29, Eastside Community Center will temporarily close for routine annual maintenance. All areas of the building will be off-limits to the public during this time. Programs and classes will pause, but Summer Late Nights (Monday – Friday 5-10pm) will relocate to First Creek Middle School.

• Tribal Member Publishes Book About Safety in the Digital World
  • Marjorie Basballe, a Puyallup Tribal member and victim advocate at the Children of the River Child Advocacy Center, has released a new book, Safe, Strong & Smart: A Practical Guide to Raising Resilient Kids in a Digital World. The book offers practical tools for parents, grandparents, caregivers and foster families to help protect children from online harm. Rooted in cultural values and informed by Basballe’s advocacy work, the guide blends traditional wisdom with modern digital safety.

• Plant Sale at Wright Park August 30
  • The conservatory will host a plant sale featuring perennials, houseplants, annuals and yard decor. All proceeds support the WW Seymour Conservatory. The sale will be between the Wright Park Playground and Lawn Bowling area. Tacoma Nature Center will also host an online Native Plant Sale Sept 12 – 21.

• Curated Bus Tour About Social Economics
  • On Sept 9, Coleman & Associates will offer a curated bus tour exploring Tacoma’s places and spaces that highlight how economics and policy shape social outcomes. Register by September 3, here: https://bit.ly/4mlWOGE. They will also host another installment of their Critical Conversations Film Series on Sept 17 abd 24 at 5:30pm at the Grand Cinema. RSVP by Sept 12: https://bit.ly/4oF08EN.

Local Governance

• Greentrike CEO to Retire in 2026
  • Greentrike CEO Tanya Durand will retire in February 2026 after 29 years of leadership. She first joined in 1996, guiding the Children’s Museum of Tacoma through a major growth, including the “pay as you will” admission model, a museum on Joint Base Lewis McChord and Play to Learn programs across Pierce County. The board has launched a national search for her successor.

Business & Opportunities

• Pierce County Ethics Commission Looking for Representative
  • The Pierce County Ethics Commission is composed of five county residents. It examines questionable behavior and resolves complaints. The commission serves as a non-biased resource and provides guidance for the community. Applications are open at piercecountywa.gov/ethicscommission.

• BizFair Returning with Keynote by Jordan Babineaux
  • BizFair, Washington State’s largest and longest-running small business and resource fair, takes place Sept 20, from 9am to 2:30pm at Pierce College, Puyallup. The free event features small business resources, info tables, workshops, and speakers on topics such as licensing, taxes, marketing and funding opportunities. Register at bizfair.wa.gov.

• Starting a Business in Washington Webinar
  • Join a free, one hour webinar, Sept 4 from 11am to noon, to learn essential steps for starting a business in Washington. Topics include planning, licensing, and registration. The session connects participants with the small business liaison team, which helps navigate regulatory requirements. Register at https://bit.ly/45oM62r.

Recreation & Wellness

• The Thirsty Dog Run Sept 6 at Titlow Park
  • The Thirsty Dog Run returns with a dog-friendly race for runners and walkers. Root beer floats will be served at the finish line in souvenir cups purchased during registration. Dogs must be leashed and accompanied by their humans, but bringing a pup is optional. Register at https://bit.ly/4mpH2B2.

• Cook Through the (Cook)book at the Nisqually Living History Museum
  • Over the next six months, the museum will host cooking demonstrations highlighting recipes from Dine We Must, its recently released cookbook. Demonstrations run from noon to 3pm and are included with admission. Cookbooks are available in the Visitor Center Gift Shop for $25.99.

• Tacoma Police Department’s 3rd Annual Kids Health & Safety Fair
  • TPD’s Annual Kids Health & Safety Fair will be Saturday August 23, 10am – 1pm at the Eastside Community Center (1721 E 56th St, Tacoma). The motto for this year is “School Ready on Day 1.” After welcoming 4,000 attendees last year, they expect a similar turnout this year. The fair will provide backpacks filled with school supplies, coats, personal care kits, haircuts, bicycles and helmets, free children’s vaccines, on-site dental cleanings, vision screening, sports bras, t-shirts, socks, undergarments, games, entertainment and more! This year they will also be giving out 500 brown bag lunches for children to take home, a minimum of 3000 bags of nonperishable dry goods provided by Emergency Food Network, The Church of Latter Day Saints and Skoolie Foundation.

Reviews

• Film Review: Highest 2 Lowest, by Elizabeth Mulloy
  • Spike Lee doesn’t have the strongest record when it comes to his re-imaginings of Asian Cinema. His take on Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy, is widely regarded as one of the worst remakes of all time. Now over a decade after that disastrous remake, Lee takes another shot at remaking another Asian classic, Akira Kurosawa’s High and Low. However, instead of it being a straightforward remake, Lee describes it as both a modern-day reimagining of Kurosawa’s film and an adaptation of the King’s Ransom by Evan Hunter. So does Highest 2 Lowest meet the same standards as Kurosawa masterpiece? Of course it doesn’t. But is it able to stand up on its own two feet? Kind of. At its best, the film delivers some of the strongest work Lee has put on screen in years. At its worst, it’s Lee at his most frustrating.
  • We follow David King (Denzel Washington), a powerful music mogul at the center of New York City. His record label is on the verge of being bought out by a massive media conglomerate, one that plans to push him out the second the ink is dry. Desperate to hold on to control, King makes a huge financial gamble to block the deal. But when his son, Trey (Aubrey Joseph), and his driver’s son are kidnapped and held for ransom, King is forced into a spiral of moral and ethical dilemmas. Does he pay the ransom, sacrificing his company and giving the kidnappers exactly what they want? Or does he try to find a way to save both his son and his business without giving in?
  • For the first hour or so, I was wondering what the hell Lee was smoking? Because it wasn’t just “not that great”, it was borderline bad. The whole opening stretch is stiff, disjointed, corny, and plays like a bargain-bin soap opera. We’re talking wooden acting from the majority of the ensemble, baffling music choices that undercut scenes that might have otherwise worked, and melodrama so overcooked I found myself laughing just to get through it. Even the great Denzel Washington, was struggling as he was buried under the weight of all the melodramatic performances around him (Ilfenesh Hadera, I’m looking at you). The only time where Washington was comfortable was when he was with Jeffrey Wright. I was honestly amazed that the great Spike Lee made this terrible opening hour.
  • But after that painful first hour, it’s like Lee finally remembered he was a filmmaker and delivered the neo-noir crime thriller this joint was supposed to be all along. The second half is alive with his cinematic voice, packed with political commentary, dripping with style, and oozing with swagger. The pacing is tight, the scenes are electric, and the performances, especially from A$AP Rocky, finally hit their mark. Ironically, this is where Highest 2 Lowest deviates the most from its source material and that is probably for the better. At its core, the story still beats with commentary on wealth inequality, but now filtered through the brutality of the music industry.
  • Once upon a time, it was all about raw talent and the right connections. Today, it’s nepotism, social media clout, and rubbing shoulders with the gatekeepers to make it big. And when you’ve got wealth, there’s an expectation that you flaunt it and weaponize it. If you don’t? Someone’s coming for your head.
  • In the end, Highest 2 Lowest is a strange, uneven ride. At its best, it soars with some of the strongest filmmaking Lee has delivered in years. At its worst, it crashes into some of the lowest points of his career. The swings are so drastic that the film feels bi-polar. One scene might bean easy A, the next a hard D. It’s messy, frustrating, and inconsistent, but even with all that, it’s still a film worth experiencing. Because when Lee hits, he really hits.
  • My Rating: B

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