Happy Friday Newsletter 8.7.26

Posted on by Ande Dunn

Neighborhood News

  • Community Health Care Shutters Women’s Health Clinic
    • Community Health Care has closed its women’s health clinic, the latest fallout from upheaval in the low-cost provider’s family medicine residency program. For patients who relied on the provider, it’s one more gap in an already thin safety net for reproductive and family health care in Pierce County.
  • Parkland Resource Fair and Community Connection at Perry G. Keithley Middle School | Wednesday, Aug. 12, 5 to 7:30 p.m.
    • Pierce County’s Parkland Resource Fair and Community Connection returns to Perry G. Keithley Middle School, pulling local service providers, county staff and neighbors under one roof. Come with questions about county services and program sign-ups or just to see what your neighbors are working on these days. Free and open to the public.
  • Danielle Kartes Revives Historic Alderton General Store
    • Chef and Puyallup local Danielle Kartes bought the long-shuttered Alderton General Store off state Route 162 last week. The 155-year-old building has sat empty since a dump truck plowed into it in 2018. Kartes, who ran Tacoma’s Minoela before it closed and just wrapped a run on Gordon Ramsay’s Next Level Chef, plans to turn it into a boutique gourmet grocery offering grab-and-go sandwiches, local eggs, rhubarb from Knutson Farms and berries from Sidhu Farms. The rebuild carries a $1.5 million to $2 million price tag, and Kartes says fundraising is already past 25%, done through merchandise such as tote bags and trucker hats and $1,000 to $2,500 engraved legacy bricks rather than direct donations. New doors will face away from the highway this time. Kartes is targeting a summer 2027 opening. Find details and fundraising information at aldertongeneralstore.com.
  • Community Yard Sale at Tacoma Urban Farm | Saturday, Aug. 8, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
    • Tacoma Urban Farm holds a yard sale fundraiser benefiting Urban Harvest Exchange and funding its food rescue, gleaning, community garden and gardening education programs. Shop kitchenware, tools, bikes, furniture and the usual yard-sale mix, all clean and sellable. Got stuff to unload yourself? Drop it off beforehand, with big items in the driveway and smaller ones on the porch. Just steer clear of the Sharing Tables and food distribution area. Every dollar spent goes back into growing and sharing food around the neighborhood.
  • Custer Road Closes for Full Rebuild, 112th Street Repaving Underway
    • Custer Road between Bridgeport Way and 75th Street shuts down completely starting Wednesday, Aug. 12, and stays closed through Sept. 30 while Lakewood rebuilds the roadway from the ground up, including curbs, storm drainage, a center turn lane and new lighting. The road carries roughly 20,000 vehicles a day and had simply worn out. A $2.98 million Transportation Improvement Board grant covers most of the cost. Detour via Bridgeport Way and 75th Street. If you’ve got a favorite business along that corridor, this is the stretch when showing up matters. Separately, 112th Street between Steele Street and South Tacoma Way is under nightly closures from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. as crews prepare for grinding and repaving starting the week of Aug. 10. The neighborhood sewer extension project is moving onto Silcox Drive, Wadsworth Street, Boat Street and 88th Street, with rolling local detours over the next two months. Learn more about Custer Road at cityoflakewood.us/custer-road.
  • Tacoma Arts Live Names Katie Stricker CEO After Near-Collapse
    • Tacoma Arts Live has a new chief executive: Katie Stricker, a nearly 20-year veteran of the organization who started as a teaching artist back when it was still the Broadway Center. The appointment comes from receiver Shelly Crocker, the bankruptcy attorney who took over running the nonprofit after its board pled for voluntary receivership in March, following a January announcement that the 47-year-old institution would close under $3 million in debt secured by the Tacoma Armory.
    • Stricker says selling the Armory is off the table for now, and she’s steering the organization’s next chapter toward what already works: education programs that reach more than 30,000 students, teachers and families a year, with plans to expand the Civil Rights Legacy Tour statewide and double the Beyond the Bell and Club B partnership with Tacoma Public Schools.
    • The trade-offs: Tacoma Arts Live will stop booking touring acts, and its ACE small-business incubator wound down when its federal grant expired in June, though former participants were routed to Spaceworks and TractionSpace instead. The debt itself is still unresolved. Crocker expects it will take until year’s end just to settle on a strategy, but Arts at the Armory, Black Night Market, and Market of the Beast are all still on the calendar.
  • Kids Health and Safety Fair at Tacoma Dome | Saturday, Aug. 29, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
    • The Tacoma Police Department’s annual back-to-school fair packs in free vaccinations, health screenings for dental, hearing, vision and blood pressure, backpacks stuffed with school supplies, clothing and a hands-on STEM area with robots, 3D printers and drones. Free Pierce Transit day passes will also be available while supplies last. No registration is needed. Just show up. Children must be present to receive items and services, and parking at the Dome is free. Direct questions to Bervin Smith at bsmith7@tacoma.gov or 253-290-9238.

Local Governance

  • Park Board Meeting at Eastside Community Center | Monday, Aug. 10, 5:30 p.m. Meet-and-Greet, 6 p.m. Meeting
    • Parks Tacoma’s Board of Commissioners meets at Eastside Community Center this month, with a commissioner meet-and-greet at 5:30 p.m., followed by the regular board meeting at 6 p.m. The five-member board sets policy for the whole park district, including Browns Point and Dash Point, and members serve staggered six-year terms. The agenda will be posted to the district’s event page ahead of time. Eastside Community Center, 1721 E. 56th St., Tacoma.
  • New Tacoma Neighborhood Council Meets Wednesday, Aug. 12
    • The New Tacoma Neighborhood Council holds its next meeting Wednesday, Aug. 12, at 5:30 p.m. The hybrid meeting will be held at the Tacoma Public Library’s Main Branch downtown, 1102 Tacoma Ave. S., and on Zoom. It’s one of the more accessible ways to weigh in on what’s happening in your own neighborhood. No appointment is necessary. Just show up or log in.
  • State Regulators Open Workshop on Data Centers and Grid Costs
    • The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission holds an Aug. 12 workshop on how large power users, such as data centers, could reshape utility rates and grid connections statewide. Public comment is open now. Given how much power the South Sound’s data center boom already pulls from the grid, this is worth a look before it shows up on your next electric bill.
  • State Weighs Year-Round Ban on Recreational Scallop Harvesting
    • WDFW is taking public comment on a proposal to close recreational scallop harvesting across Washington’s marine areas year-round, citing biotoxin risks to divers and intertidal harvesters. If you dig scallops o! the Sound, this is the proposal to weigh in on before it becomes permanent.
  • City Council Puts $15,000 Behind Library Food Program
    • The Tacoma City Council is allocating $15,000 in contingency funds to back a pilot partnership between St. Leo Food Connection and Tacoma Public Library. The program was born out of library staff noticing children showing up hungry and quietly buying snacks out of their own pockets to cover the gap. The pilot covers Summer Meals at the Main Library, healthy snacks at three branches and a feasibility study on a pop-up pantry downtown. Because talks came together after St. Leo’s fiscal 2026-27 budget was already set, the funding wasn’t included anywhere else. This allocation covers the gap and can apply retroactively to 2026 or roll into 2027 if the pilot proves successful.

Arts & Entertainment

  • Art on the Ave at Sixth Avenue | Sunday, Aug. 9, noon to 7 p.m.
    • TAPCO Credit Union and the Sixth Avenue Business District throw their annual free showcase of Tacoma’s art and music scene along Sixth Avenue between Alder and State streets. Five stages run all afternoon, from the all-ages Real Art Tacoma stage to the 21-and-older lineups at O’Malley’s and the E9 Firehouse, plus roller derby demonstrations from Dockyard, aerial arts, hula-hoop workshops and a community dance-off at Tacoma City Theaters. Add an art exhibit, an art battle and dozens of vendors selling work you can actually take home, and it’s an easy place to lose a few hours. Free and open to everyone. Find full set times and the stage map at artontheave.org.
  • Tacoma Little Theatre Opens The Outsider at 210 N. I St. | Friday, Aug. 28
    • TLT kicks off its 108th season with The Outsider, a political satire about the most reluctant gubernatorial candidate imaginable, too honest and too awkward to be electable, which is exactly why voters can’t look away. The production runs Aug. 28 through Sept. 13, with a pay-what-you-can night Sept. 10 and an ASL-interpreted matinee Sept. 13. Tickets are $23 to $31. tacomalittletheatre.com.
  • Museum of Glass Hosts Glass Fest Northwest at 1801 Dock St. | Saturday, Aug. 8, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
    • Glass Fest Northwest returns with artist booths, live glassblowing demonstrations, food and music across the Museum Plaza, with free admission all day. Visiting artist Dan Friday, Lummi Nation, works in the Hot Shop Aug. 5 through 9 as part of the festival’s Native arts programming, tied to the concurrent IN THE SPIRIT Arts Market at the Washington State History Museum and Tacoma Art Museum. Circle back later in the month for Concert in the Cone on Aug. 20, when kora player Sean Gaskell performs live alongside Hilltop Artists glassblowers. That event is also free.
  • Venardos Circus Returns to Point Defiance Park | Aug. 20 to Sept. 7
    • Venardos Circus brings its new show, Far Beyond, to Point Defiance Park for a nearly three-week run. Expect the usual blend of circus spectacle without animal acts, which has been the company’s whole pitch since it started touring. Find tickets and showtimes at venardoscircus.com.
  • Tacoma Bands Headline Forbidden Feline Festival at Slim’s Last Chance in Seattle | Sunday, Sept. 27
    • Tacoma acts SkullKat and Star Matriarch join a queer- and femme-fronted punk lineup at Forbidden Feline Festival, a one-day outdoor festival in Georgetown. SkullKat is fresh off an EP with Tacoma producer Steve Fisk, with a release show at New Frontier earlier this month. Doors open at 1 p.m., and the show starts at 2 p.m. Ages 21 and older. Early-bird tickets are on sale now at forbiddenfeline.com.
  • DuPont BBQ Cookoff at Clocktower Park | Friday through Sunday, Aug. 21-23
    • One of Washington’s oldest KCBS-sanctioned barbecue competitions returns to Clocktower Park for its annual weekend of slow-smoked meat, vendor booths, live music, a beer garden and children’s games. Admission is free, and every dollar spent goes to American Legion Pat Tillman Memorial Post 53, which runs the whole thing with volunteers rather than a corporate event company and puts the proceeds back into veteran services, youth programs and first-responder recognition. Come for the barbecue. Stay because it’s genuinely a whole-town weekend.
  • One Coin, Two Sides: The History and Archaeology of Fort Nisqually at DuPont Historical Museum | Wednesday, Aug. 12, 6:30 p.m.
    • Historian Steve Anderson, who managed the restored Fort Nisqually in the 1980s, walks through how the Hudson’s Bay Trading Company trading post got its history right the second time around. His talk traces the HBC’s reach across the Pacific Northwest, then digs into how the fort’s original restoration missed the mark until historical research and archaeology dug it back out, literally. The free, illustrated presentation lasts about 45 minutes and is suited for ages 10 and older, DuPont Historical Museum, 207 Barksdale Ave. Direct questions to duponthistoricalmuseum@gmail.com or 253-820-3656.
  • Wooden O’s Macbeth at Wright Park | Saturday, Aug. 8, 7 p.m.
    • Free Shakespeare in the Park makes its Tacoma stop with Wooden O’s touring production of Macbeth, featuring ambition, dark magic and the requisite dramatic falls from power. Bring a blanket and a picnic and settle onto the grass at Wright Park for one of the more quotable scripts in the canon. Free and open to all ages.
  • IN THE SPIRIT Arts Market and Northwest Native Festival at Washington State History Museum | Saturday, Aug. 8, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
    • The free Native arts and culture festival turns 21 this year and is spread across the Washington State History Museum, Tacoma Art Museum and Museum of Glass, with free museum admission for the day. Expect artisan vendors, a fashion show, hands-on activities and food, plus guided tours of the This is Native Land exhibit led by curators Danica Sterud Miller and Todd Clark. Performers include Connie McCloud, the Alaska Kuteeyaa Dancers, Rona Yellow Robe, 1876 and LOZEN. It’s worth noting that this falls on the same day as Glass Fest Northwest, so you could reasonably spend the whole afternoon downtown.
  • Garden of Peace Sessions Brings an Intimate Concert Series to Gig Harbor | Saturdays, Aug 22 through Sept. 19
    • A new listening-room series debuts in a private garden in Gig Harbor, intentionally capping attendance and professionally filming every set so the evening outlives itself. The five-week run opens Aug. 22 with pianist Elijah Bossenbroek, then brings guitarist Yasmin Williams, an NPR Breakthrough Artist, on Aug. 29; Tomo Nakayama on Sept. 5; Emmy-nominated songwriter Noah Gundersen on Sept. 12; and guitarist Marisa Anderson to close it out Sept. 19. Foundre Zach Blue describes the vibe as Tiny Desk under Pacific Northwest trees: no walls, an hourlong set and time built in beforehand to wander the garden itself. Advance tickets are required. All ages. Parking and shuttle service are included. Tickets are now on sale at lifeislikeasong.com.

Opportunities

  • WACT Book Club Opens 2026-27 Season | Thursday, Sept. 24, 7 to 8 p.m.
    • The WACT Book Club kicks off its new lineup with Damascus Station by David McCloskey on Thursday, Sept. 24, then alternates monthly between spy novels and travel-and-adventure reads. Agatha Christie’s Come, Tell Me How You Live is up in October. Sessions run from 7 to 8 p.m. on Zoom, are hosted by Beth Ahlstrom and don’t require you to finish the book to join the discussion. An RSVP is required to recieve the Zoom link.
  • City Workshop Prepares Small Businesses for Public Contracting at Edison Square | Wednesday, Aug. 26, 4 to 6 p.m.
    • Tacoma’s Equity in Contracting Program pairs small businesses with lenders from Chase, BECU and KeyBank for a panel on financing readiness, working capital and the barriers that keep small firms out of the public contracts. Networking time will be offered before and after the panel. Register at makeittacoma,com/events.
  • New Tacoma Neighborhood Council Wants Your Input
    • The New Tacoma Neighborhood Council is running a Business Survey and a Community Survey through the rest of 2026 to shape its 2027 action plans. Each takes a few minutes and feeds directly into what the council brings to the city. Find both at newtacoma.org.
  • Clover Park School District Hiring Bus Drivers, Offering $3,000 Bonus
    • Clover Park School District is urgently hiring bus drivers for the 2026-27 school year, with a $3,000 bonus for the first eligible applicants hired into open positions. It’s a real immediate way to help a district that’s been short-staffed on routes.
  • Fircrest Seeks Civil Service Commissioner
    • The City of Fircrest is looking to fill one open seat on its Civil Service Commission. If you’ve got the time and interest to weigh in on hiring and promotion rules for city employees, this is a low-key way to get involved in local government. Contact the city manager’s office to apply.
  • Reality Sport Opens Its School Property for a Community Giveaway at 2310 S. 66th St. | Saturday, Aug. 15, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
    • Reality Sports just bought a former Tacoma school property and is clearing out what’s left inside: desks, chairs, tables, bookcases, books, art and learning supplies, sports gear and decor. Donations go toward Reality Sports’ programs, and first dibs go to whoever shows up, first come, first served. Bring your own muscle and a vehicle that fits a bookcase. It’s worth flagging for any teacher, coach or nonprofit you know that is stretching a budget.
  • Bank on Washington Annual Forum at William W. Philip Hall, UW Tacoma | Wednesday and Thursday, Sept. 2-3
    • Financial Empowerment Network’s two day forum brings together financial-inclusion practitioners and community partners under this year’s theme, “Bridges Over Barriers,” betting that partnerships between people and resources outlast anything a single organization builds alone. Expect sessions built around finding collaborators for the year ahead rather than just panels to sit through Register using the link in FEN’s announcement.
  • Washington State Fair Farm Barn is Hiring for September
    • The Fair Farm Barn, the animal-petting barn and one of the best-loved spots at the Washington State Fair, needs a few more seasonal team members before the fair opens Sept. 4 – 27. The job: greet visitors, answer animal questions, staff the petting area, keep things clean and generally make sure guests and goats both have a good day. The position starts at $17.13 an hour. Applicants must be 18 or older, pass a background check and commit to at least seven days of availability during the run. Only a handful of spots are left, so don’t sit on it. Contact Tessa at 253-273-8823 or myfairmarmlady@outlook.com.
  • County Seeks Conservative Advisers
    • Pierce County is accepting applications for three openings on its Conservation Futures Citizens’ Advisory Board, which evaluates applications involving county funding. The county is seeking an agriculture-industry representative, a resident of a city or town with fewer than 15,000 people and a resident of County Council District 1. Applications are due Aug. 10. Information and the application are available at piercecountywa.gov/CFCAB.

Recreation

  • SoundView Little League Claims State Title, Heads to Regionals
    • SoundView Little League’s All-Stars beat Gig Harbor 4-1 in Walla Walla to take the Washington State Little League championship, punching their ticket to the Northwest Region Tournament in San Bernardino, California. One win away from Williamsport feels a lot closer than it did a month ago. Send them off with some hometown noise.
  • Thirsty Dog Run at Titlow Park | Saturday, Sept. 5
    • Parks Tacoma’s Thirsty Dog Run returns to Titlow Park. Dogs are optional but very much encouraged, as long as they are leashed and accompanied by a human. Add a souvenir cup at registration, and it comes back full of root beer float at the finish line. Volunteers and vendors are both welcome. Sign up through the race page or email races@parkstacoma.gov to set up a booth.
  • Tacoma Concert Band Plays Out the Summer Series
    • Parks Tacoma’s free outdoor concert series keeps rolling with stops at STAR Center on Friday, Aug. 7, and Wapato Park on Saturday, Aug. 8. Bring a blanket, grab food from the vendors and settle in in on the lawn. Free. No ticket is required.
  • Point Defiance Zoo Opens Behind-the-Scenes Shark Tour
    • Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium’s new “Fins for the Future” tour takes small groups, with a maximum of six guests, into the Tropical Reef Aquarium’s back-of-house area to see how the zoo cares for its Indo-Pacific leopard sharks. The tour includes information about the international effort to release zoo-hatched pups into protected waters off Indonesia. Tours run Tuesday through Saturday from 2 to 2:30 p.m. and are open to ages 6 and older. The cost is $35 for members and $55 for nonmembers. For more information visit pdza.org/discover/zoo-for-you.
  • Tacoma On the Go Walks McKinley Hill in East Tacoma | Wednesday Aug. 12
    • Tacoma On the Go wraps up its McKinley Hill neighborhood series with a closing walk through East Tacoma, meeting the people shaping the neighborhood along the way. Free and open to anyone curious about what’s happening in that corner of the city.
  • Puyallup Rodeo Becomes a Wild-Card Round for the Governor’s Cup
    • Breakaway roping’s Cinch Playoffs come down to fractions of a point, and Washington gets a piece of the drama. The top eight in the Playoff Series standings earn automatic tickets to the $1.5 million Governor’s Cup in Sioux Falls, Sept. 25-27. Right now, Danielle Lowman holds that last spot by a mere 0.13 points over Sawyer Gilbert, with the points race, led by Josie Conner, still open through Aug. 24.
    • Everyone outside the top eight gets one more shot: The Puyallup Rodeo at the Washington State Fair, Sept. 10-13, serves as a wild-card round, handing out the field’s final four Governor’s Cup berths. It’s worth a trip to the fairgrounds if you want to watch someone rope their way into the finals in real time.

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