The video of a bedraggled homeless man sitting on the cold concrete, his blistered feet exposed to the night time elements, should be nothing new to anyone who has spent even a moment in an urban environment. However, when a young New York City police officer approached and offered the unfortunate man a new pair of boots, the cell phone video went viral.

According to one article (The Blaze 11/29), the video taken by an Arizona tourist, Jennifer Foster, has been viewed over 1.6 million times. Just as significant, NYPD Officer Lawrence DePrimo’s random act of …

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Three years is a long time.

Since 2009, I have watched my youngest teenager add a foot in height, seen our economy rise from the ashes and struggled to make sense of the politics behind our embittered national election.

Reading the paper this morning, I recalled another horrific milestone now three years in our rearview mirror. On November 29, in 2009, four Lakewood police officers were shot and killed in a Lakewood coffee shop.

We all know the brutally tragic story of Sergeant Mark Renninger and Officers Mark Richards, Tina Griswold and Ronald Owens. I remember hearing the news, the …

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Since I began writing this blog some 18 months ago, I have become a cover-to-cover news junkie. I look for stories that capture my attention, especially those which have a common thread. When I find such articles, ones with a tangible connection to an intriguing theme, it becomes a column.

Case in point are three unlikely recent samplings from the News Tribune: the latest on the Petraeus scandal; a “Dilbert” comic poking fun at managers; an article about a Gig Harbor police sergeant currently suing her department for harassment.

The nexus which connects these three disparate topics is leadership, a …

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In the realm of unintended consequences, irony rules supreme.

Before Mexican President Felipe Calderon first broached the subject of legalized marijuana, now a reality in Colorado and Washington, it was generally assumed by many (including me) that legalization would hurt the bottom line of the violent drug cartels operating in North and Central America. That may not be the case.

In a recent conference with leaders from Honduras, Costa Rica and Belize, Calderon had the following statement: ”It has become necessary to analyze in depth the implications for public policy and health in our nations emerging from the state and local …

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“A solid majority” is how the Trib’s most recent article (11/7) described the passage of I-502. For recreational pot aficionados, Tuesday’s election results provided much cause for celebration.

While some might be tempted to mark the occasion by sharing a bong among friends, I would suggest reading the aforementioned article first. It clearly outlines some of the new guidelines stipulated by I-502, beginning with the date of the new law’s enactment: Dec 6, 2012.

Also included are: the legal limits for personal use- one ounce for people 21 and over; the DUI limitations, a complex restriction that …

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Have you ever come across someone whose poor judgment literally took your breath away? Who made you question the basic decency of people? Who made your blood boil?

Sure you have. There are plenty of individuals whose appallingly bad choices create ripples of misery across numerous lives. None suffer more from these dysfunctional idiots than their children.

I was reminded of that after reading a “Your Voice” article in the Trib (11/4), written by Jake Dekker, a single parent who adopted his now fourteen-year-old son, Danny, three years ago. Dekker wrote about that experience after reading …

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Most days I slug my coffee and sift through the paper. Most days said paper is chock full of stories that roll right into my wheelhouse. Not so much lately.

On any given day, the Trib’s A section is filled with articles that have at least a tangential connection to the police profession: national crime news, public safety budgets, local police stories, or controversial drug arrests. The shortage may not bode well for a column that feeds off such events, but it may say good things about our community’s overall health. Or not.

A perusal of today’s stories include the …

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Tim Eyman is not my hero.

Eyman is, of course, the consummate citizen-activist who in recent years has made it his mission to dismantle our state’s taxation system. Proponents are wildly ecstatic about his ideas, which have included legalizing slot machines, down sizing the King County Council, cutting taxes that provide general public funding, and reducing property taxes by 25%.

This time Eyman’s initiative is a reboot:  I-1185 would require a 2/3 majority for future tax increases. This initiative mirrors past attempts, such as I-1053 (2010) and I-960 (2007). While these measures passed, both were relegated to …

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