WHAT WE HAVE FOUND TODAY >>>

Gene Pankey: Owner of the Gene Pankey Motor Co., philanthropist with the Clover Park Rotary, always cool to teen Pappi Swarner when he came to collect advertising copy, is dead. (News Tribune)

They Should Set This Up Under The Viaduct Where They All Smoke: Pacific Plaza to beg City Council for DaVita health clinic. (News Tribune)

Where's The Super Hero?: Astronomers discover planet made of diamond. (Yahoo News)

Hurricane Irene: The photos (CNN)

Hurricane Irene Vs. Sebastian Bach: Irene wins (People)

Oh Brother: Tropical storm Katia forms in the Atlantic. (CNN)

Cool: Stream the new Wild Flag album (NPR)

Oh, And This: Chris Cornell has a new track. (Stereogum)

Today In Yuck: Hot dog potato chips. (Huffington Post)

LINK: Weekly Volcano crime column Ragnet

IT HAPPENED IN AND AROUND TACOMA THIS WEEK >>>

Last night hundreds of educators, parents and community members packed into the Tacoma School Board meeting to urge district leaders to reach a contract agreement and avoid a strike. Dozens more demonstrated outside the building before and throughout the meeting.

While the board expressed a strong commitment to starting school on time, there seems to still be a great deal of separation between the district and the Tacoma Education Association.

For Zack Powers full column on the Tacoma School board battle, plus his thought on the Tacoma Chamber scoring cheap history lessons, click here.

WHAT WE HAVE FOUND TODAY >>>

School Bullying: Tacoma School District and the union shove each other. (News Tribune)

Could This Save The Cliff House Restaurant?: Hylebos Waterway drawbridge is getting close to opening. (News Tribune)

Buffet Boost: Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway announced it is investing $5 billion in Bank of America. (NPR)

On The Job: 11 pivotal in Steve Jobs' career. (TechFlash)

Don't Blow Away Your Immune System: The DEA has announced that three-quarters of cocaine in the U.S. can sometimes fatally lower a person's white blood cell count. (Scientific American)

Dying: Walmart and Groupon. (Ad Age and Gawker)

Reunited And It Feels So Good: The Royal Tenenbaums. (Gothamist)

Video: Princess Leia loss 50 pounds. (Hollywood Reporter)

Two Words: R2-D2 helmet. (walyou)

TODAY'S POLL >>>

Good morning, sweet readers! Did you have some Brown and Haley candy sandwiched between Roman Meal bread while strolling around Simpson Tacoma Kraft this morning?

Ridiculous, yes, but if you bleed Tacoma it might not be that far-fetched.

Tacoma brands have been swimming in our noggins ever since the Puget Sound Business Journal held its "most respected brand" in Seattle online poll.

It got us to thinking: What are the most respected Tacoma brands?

Let's vote the hell out of it. We'll announce the results tomorrow.

WHAT WE HAVE FOUND TODAY >>>

Winthrop Woes: Want to buy a hotel? (News Tribune)

Fey Way: Tacoma City Councilman Jake Fey will be running for the Legislature again. (News Tribune)

Drinking Booze In Stores: State liquor stores to offer free samples, including the South Sound (Seattle PI)

Weird: In Japan people have turned in $78 million found in the post-earthquake wreckage. (Gawker)

Dethroned: Burger King has dropped its creepy king mascot. (USA Today)

Conan Update: Our beloved ginger beanpole isn't doing so hot. (A.V. Club)

Today In Creepy: Bill Murray's head attached to Betty White's body. (Jezebel)

In The Kitchen: Carrot Darth Vader (Sushi Chef Japan)

LINK: Movies open today!

WELCOME ZARA >>>

This morning Tacoma Chamber Executive Tom Pierson, Community and Economic Development Director Ryan Petty, Zara Mediterranean Cuisine General Manager Chip Venzone and others cheered on Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland as she welcomed Eastern Mediterranean cuisine to the corner of 15th and Pacific Avenue in downtown Tacoma by slicing a red ribbon with giant scissors.

Zara Mediterranean Cuisine will open this Friday.

Weekly Volcano food critic Jennifer Johnson attended Zara's private celebration Tuesday. Johnson offers her impressions here.

WHAT WE HAVE FOUND TODAY >>>

Tacoma Industry: Don't tread on me. (News Tribune)

Awful: A double bombing kills 75 people and leaves 250 wounded today in Iraq.(CNN)

Small-Town Populairty Contest: Michele Bachmann wins (Washington Post)

Daredevil Stunt: Gaytron the Imploder survives! (Spew)

Final Frontier: Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson call the United States a black hole. (Disinformation)

Oh No Silver Screen: Disney has shut down production on Gore Verbinski's reboot of The Lone Ranger, which was set to star Johnny Depp as Tonto. (Deadline)

Probably A Bad Idea, Baby: Hyper-horny snaggletoothed secret agent Austin Powers is coming back. (Hit Fix)

Hoping For "Paranoid Android": Radiohead to open Saturday Night Live season (Inside TV)

NEW PLACES FOR A CUP OF JOE >>>

Market Street Coffee Company opened quietly June 22 and put smiles on faces by declaring the following Saturday "Free Coffee Day." Owner Linda Fiscus's son, David Williams, and daughter, Michele Dunn, take turns manning the coffee bar. Market Street Coffee occupies half of a space shared with Smooth & Juicey in the bottom of the large purple building owned by Thane Davis and Trish Lecy-Davis (the spot recently vacated by Satellite Coffee). I was sad to see the rocket and spaceman on the outside of the building be painted over, but change is inevitable.

As of early last week, the interior looks much the same as when Satellite was there. Williams says Market Street Coffee is growing into it the space and will be adding their own aesthetic touches. He mentions a wall mural by artist Jeremy Gregory is on the "want" list. Williams has ties to the hip-hop community; CDs by CityHall (EvergreenOne and Todd Sykes) are for sale and displayed on the counter. Pastries come in daily from Corina Bakery; beans are from Madrona Coffee and loose leaf teas provided by Mad Hat Tea.

"We want to provide what people want. Just tell us; we'll get it for you," Williams says. To this end, Market Street now has rice milk and soy milk.

Not much of a coffee person, I opted for a 16-ounce chai that held an even balance of spice and sweetness. Williams made it just slightly warm, per my specification. On another visit Williams' sister Michele Dunn made me a pomegranate Italian soda-which was like a creamy sweet dessert in a cup.

Of note, the drip coffee at Market Street Coffee Company is not made with a machine. Fresh grounds sit in a filter, and hot water is poured over top - with the brew collected in an hourglass receptacle with wood collar and leather tie. The distinctive coffeemaker is a Chemex. To me, it looks more like an artsy vase.

"People love it. They're buying them for their house," says Dunn, showing me the coffeemakers which Market Street Coffee Company also sells.

[Market Street Coffee Company, 1122 Market Street, Tacoma, 253.365.6706]

THIS WEEK ... >>>

Thing: Fruit-flavored rolling papers available at The Hippie House

Made by: Zig Zag and Juicy

For sale at: The Hippie House

Located: 3109 Sixth Ave., Tacoma

Co-owners: Justin Stieglitz and John Anderson

Opened: May 21, 2011

Not your: Normal, dirty head shop

Considered: The Nordstrom of head shops

If only: I could visit Santa at a head shop

Christmas with the in-laws: Would be more tolerable

To read this week's full column, click here.

THE TIME IS NEAR >>>

A friend referred to the Tacoma Food Co-op event we attended last night as "Natural-food-hippie-palooza." The humorous description is fairly on point. Natural food enthusiasts, supporters of the co-op and those seeking information gathered at Bluebeard Coffee and Cork Tuesday, June 28. Event attendees roamed freely between the two businesses and chatted up vendors while enjoying samples of gluten free breads, organic chocolate, all natural cookies, muesli, dips and spreads, Mad Hat teas ... you name it. Many featured products were those that will be for sale at the co-op. Music played, prizes were raffled off, kids ran about.

Most importantly, perhaps, organizers, vendors and co-op volunteers were on-hand for this "face-to-face with the community" opportunity. There was a lot of chatting, nodding, discussing and information being shared.

As Tacoma resident Crystal Gordon tasted vegan dips and baked tofus from Small Planet Organics of Vashon Island, she smiled. "I've had these before," she tells me, "just not around here."  Comments like this were repeated by others as they relaxed into the idea that products previously considered hard to find would soon be sold just down the street.

Former gallery owner Robert Stocker bought gluten-free brownie and bread mixes from Sevierly Good for his son. "Whenever I see good stuff, I grab it," he says. "My son can't have gluten and that limits what he gets to enjoy."

Ever the skeptic, I tried it out for myself and was very surprised at the texture and taste of the brownie sample. Thumbs up. I noticed two sets of pricing on some products; one regular and one discounted by roughly $1 or ten-percent for co-op members.

Maria Sevier of Sevierly Good says she's not sure what the actual discounts will be in the co-op, but she was extending a rounded 10-percent discount to members at last night's the event. Good to know membership does have a tangible, financial benefit beyond voting privileges and a newsletter. Of course, Tacoma Food Co-op vice president Casandra Gorell  points that out here.

The Tacoma Food Co-op has been in the works since 2006. From the outside looking in, it seems like it's been a struggle for TFC to raise funds, a struggle to find a location, and a struggle to get members. If TFC was a band, the first album would be titled Struggle.  You can read some of our coverage of the process here, here and here.

The culmination will come when the building at 3002 Sixth Avenue in Tacoma that currently houses Neighborhood Market opens its doors as the TFC on August 1.

Get your cloth shopping bags together, folks. The time is nearly upon us.

More information can be found at www.tacomafoodcoop.com