Harlan Gallinger has been appointed to the Peninsula School Board. He will fill a seat vacated by Jill Uddenberg in September.
Gallinger was appointed by the board to serve the remaining three years of her term.

He was one of 13 who applied for the job.

Gallinger graduated from Sumner High School, the University of Puget Sound and the University of Washington School of Medicine. He is a physician who works in emergency medicine. He also has a teaching background with Teach for America, a national program that recruits recent college graduates who commit two years to teach …

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John McCluskey and Rudy Henry signed their marriage license application this morning and made history.

They became the first same-sex couple to receive a marriage license in Pierce County. A crowd of about 50 people cheered and applauded as gay and lesbian couples left the Pierce County Auditor’s office with their marriage certificates in hand.

“It’s just exciting,” said McCluskey, 76. “We never even thought it would get to this day.”

Henry, 78, said he was excited as well. “I couldn’t sleep very well,” he said.

After being a couple for nearly 54 years, McCluskey and Henry will get married Dec. 15 at First United Methodist Church in Tacoma.

Marriage licenses became available today after state Referendum 74 was certified. The first weddings won’t occur until Sunday because of the state’s three-day waiting period.

The auditor’s office opened early at 6:30 a.m. for the first couples to get their licenses. By 7:10 a.m., 28 couples had received licenses. By then, no more couples were waiting for licenses.

A group of supporters cheered each couple as they left with their license in hand. One man handed out pink and yellow roses.

Couples lined up minutes before the Pierce County Auditor’s Office started issuing the licenses at the County Annex.

Heather Kawamoto and Kay Lancaster were second in line with their 9-year-old daughter, Kayleigh Kawamoto, who sipped from a carton of milk. The Tacoma couple will get married Sunday in Tacoma.

“It’s extremely exciting,” said Heather Kawamato, 38. “It’s the culmination of so many dreams and hopes.”

“It’s overwhelming, exciting and emotional,” said Lancaster, 51.

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Bates Technical College employees and students will be out early this morning (Thursday) and Friday to help raise funds for Bates students in need during the college’s 21st annual holiday food and toy drive.

Throughout the two-day fund-raiser, fire service students will continue the annual tradition of performing push-ups for donations.

Volunteers from the college’s fire service program will light up the neighborhood around the school in downtown Tacoma with ladder and fire trucks. From 6:30 a.m. to 10 a.m., volunteers will canvass the area seeking donations.

Last year’s drive raised more than $10,000 and assisted 175 students.

The Community Partnership Office of Tacoma Public Schools has postponed two parent advisory meetings. One was scheduled for Wednesday night Dec. 5 and another Thursday night Dec. 6.

Both have been postponed until after Jan. 1, according to the school district Web site.

The school district wants parents to help define community partnerships, identify measure of success and offer strategies for ongoing communication.

For more information, contact Amanda Scott-Thomas, director of Community Partnerships, Academic Equity & Achievement, at 253-571-1087.

The Pierce County Council has approved spending $2 million to open a Sheriff’s Department precinct in the Parkland-Spanaway area aimed at reducing crime.

The council voted Tuesday night to pay for land, two buildings and renovations where about 35 deputies will be based.

The facility near Pacific Avenue South and 141st Street Court South is at the epicenter of the highest crime area in unincorporated Pierce County, said Sheriff’s Department Chief Rob Masko.

“We will have a much faster response to our citizens who are living and working in the Parkland-Spanaway area,” Masko said. “We want to be more effective in fighting crime in that particular area.”

Burglaries, auto thefts and assaults are the most common crimes in the area, he said. The precinct is projected to open by the end of 2013, serving a population of about 80,000.

It will draw some deputies from the department’s only other precinct located on South Hill. A small detachment at Sprinker Recreation Center in Spanaway also will move to the new precinct, Masko said.

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The sale of the historic First Congregational Church in Tacoma to Mars Hill Church is final.

Mars Hill’s purchase of the building near Wright Park for $1.9 million closed Nov. 30. Mars Hill is raising $1.5 million to renovate the building as the site of Mars Hill Tacoma, the 15th location for the Seattle-based megachurch. It hopes to start having services in the church at Division Avenue and South J Street in fall 2013.

First Congregational Church continued its weekly worship Sunday in the Knights of Pythias building at 924 Broadway. The church is in talks with three …

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Sound Transit will conduct an open house on Wednesday, Dec. 5, as part of an alternatives analysis to review citizen feedback and options for expanding the 1.6-mile Tacoma Link system that now operates between the Tacoma Dome and Theater District stations.

The event will take place from 4:00 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the University of Washington in Tacoma in William W. Philip Hall, 1918 Pacific Avenue.

In addition to the open house on Wednesday, the following drop-in sessions will offer informal opportunities to hear updates on the alternatives analysis process, review corridor options, and provide feedback:

Thursday, Dec. 6, …

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Staff and students at Tacoma’s Lister Elementary School were saddened to learn of the death of their former principal, Rafael “Ray” Maltos, in October.

But tomorrow, Dec. 1, they will gather to celebrate his life in a most appropriate way.

They’re hosting a memorial tailgate party for a man who was known not only as a dedicated educator – but a dedicated Husky fan. The Lincoln High School cheer team and Lincoln’s drum line will provide entertainment. Sponsors, including the Emerald Queen Casino, are providing refreshments.

Current and former Lister kids, parents, staff members and friends are invited to …

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