BOBBLE TIKI: NEWS IN THE WEEKLY VOLCANO THIS WEEK >>>

Bobble Tiki is back from a week-long hike along the gorgeous northern Washington coast. It was quite lovely to yank out the old hiking crap and hit the rocks and sand and logs and creepy crawly bugs. Bobble Tiki did, however, buy a new spring bottom for the trip, which, as you know, is a dumbass thing to do right before a hike. Bobble Tiki has major blisters.

Oh well.

Time to answer a letter from Michael T:

Dear Michael,

Bobble Tiki unfortunately doubts not the existence of the Creation
Science Evangelism and Dinosaur Adventure Land, alas. Gratefully, it sounds like a adorably tiny and cute little indignant pimple on the entirely pockmarked face of Florida and hence is far less damaging and deleterious to the universal soul than the existence of, say,
a new friend at The Friendly Duck or perhaps Claynation. The best Bobble Tiki can do is spring around three times and exclaim there’s no place like Tacoma … there’s no place like Tacoma.

CASELOAD CRISIS: DSHS Children’s Administration struggles to keep up

IS IT A PERC?: Is it safe to dry clean?

LESSONS FROM DENVER: A chat with Marilyn Strickland

ROCKIN’: The meter reads positive for Pierce County

MICHAEL SWAN: FOOD BUSINESS >>>

The Tacoma Food Co-Op raised $12,000 at its benefit event July 19 in People's Park. With 150 members, and a kickin' blog, the organization will host organizational meetings in August.

Join the fun here.

RON SWARNER: SOMEONE NEEDS TO MOW FAWCETT AVENUE >>>

The family on the corner of 17th and Fawcett Avenue in downtown Tacoma must cross the street to ride their bikes. The sidewalk on the west side of Fawcett between 15th and 17th street has been consumed by tall grass and weeds. 

Who is suppose to take care of this stretch of sidewalk? City of Tacoma? Marcato condominium people?

UPDATE: The sidewalk is being mowed by L&L Landscaping as I type. The families living on this stretch of Fawcett thank the responsible parties.

BOBBLE TIKI: LUNCH WITH BOBBLE TIKI >>>

THE DAILY WORD

Choler \KOLL-ur; KOLE-ur\, noun:
Irritation of the passions; anger; wrath.

USAGE EXAMPLE: Bobble Tiki’s choler rises with every loss the Mariners rack up. At this point, Bobble Tiki’s choler feels like it’s at an all time high.

AFTERNOON NEWS

TACOMA: Elected blogger

OLYMPIA: Walk for suicide

SEATTLE: Rich guy world

NATIONAL: The semicolon situation

ENVIRONMENT:Offshore wind power

JUST BIZARRE: "Our bad," say police

MORE STRANGE NEWS: Kinky

THINGS TO DO TODAY
FILM LISTINGS: Look here
MUSIC LISTINGS: Here’s what’s happening
SHOOT THE SHIT: Weekly Volcano forums

MATT DRISCOLL: CATCHING UP WITH AUDITOR PAT >>>

In this week’s issue of the Weekly Volcano I ran a story about current Pierce County Auditor Pat McCarthy’s campaign for County Executive â€" specifically a recent flap she had with the 2nd Legislative District Democrats. If you didn’t catch the story, you can find it here. If you’d prefer a brief synopsis, here’s the gist: McCarthy has been claiming the endorsement of 2nd LD Dems since at least April. In January, the 2nd LD Dems voted to recommend democrats choose McCarthy’s democratic opponent Calvin Goings with their first choice on this fall’s Ranked Choice ballots - and McCarthy second. In the eyes and interpretation of the McCarthy campaign, the resolution constituted an endorsement. In the eyes of 2nd LD Dems, it really didn’t. When McCarthy was recently endorsed by the Master Builders Association of Pierce County (a group the 2nd LD Dems view as non eco friendly and unprogressive) they reached a breaking point. On Tuesday, June 17 they issued a press release fully endorsing Mr. Goings â€" in an attempt to erase ambiguities that have allowed the McCarthy campaign to claim otherwise, and also withdrawing any support they may have shown McCarthy in the past.

Just call the situation politics. It’s silly. It doesn’t matter much. But this is the way we’ve chosen to do things.

McCarthy recently got a hold of me to clarify her position (a viewpoint I’d hoped to have for the original piece, but since McCarthy’s all busy auditing and whatnot it proved impossible.)  Most importantly, with or without the official endorsement of the 2nd LD Dems, McCarthy feels fine about her chances in the district which includes Roy, Rainer, Graham and Orting. She pointed out that the 20 person voting group which decided to issue Tuesday’s press release probably didn’t speak for the entire district.

“I’ve been a Democrat in good standing for over thirty years,” says McCarthy. “The resolution (originally passed by the 2nd LD Dems in January) said ‘endorsement.’ From my perspective, we believed it was an endorsement. Clearly, my democratic opponent did as well. That was my perspective.”

As for her recent endorsement by the Master Builders Association of Pierce County, McCarthy was “as surprised as anyone” by it, and also happy to have it. She pointed out that every candidate for Pierce County Executive interviewed with the MBA looking for the endorsement.

“I’m very proud of that endorsement. I think the next Executive will need to take a reasonable approach to development and growth,” says McCarthy. “I believe in bringing everyone to the table. If we pigeonhole and profile, and make enemies it doesn’t help. I’d love to have the endorsement of environmental groups as well. Everyone should have a seat at the table.”

MATT DRISCOLL: HATES FLYING ANYWAY >>>

Feeling a little off today? Perhaps James Howard Kunstler’s talk of the oil crisis and America’s blind dependency left you to sleep a little uneasy last night? Or perhaps that half pound burger you ate at Mary’s just didn’t sit right?

It could be any number of things. I’m no doctor.

But, if it was Kunstler’s oil talk, perhaps you’d be interested in an event happening tomorrow at the University of Puget Sound from 9 a.m. â€" 4 p.m. It’s a conference, and conferences often lack excitement, but the title is intriguing - “Flying in a Carbon-Constrained World: Aviation's Role in Oil Dependence and Climate Change.”

The conference is completely free and everyone is invited to attend. It will take place in the UPS Rotunda.

Here’s a teaser from Patrick O'Neil, an Associate Professor at the University of Puget Sound, who sent out the email that got this event on the Weekly Volcano’s radar:

“Military and civil aviation play a key role in America's addiction to oil and our contribution to global warming. Recently, both sectors have taken major steps to address these challenges. Over the next decade, the Air Force is planning to replace much of its oil with fuel derived from domestic coal. On the commercial side, Boeing is working with Virgin Atlantic and Continental to develop bio-based renewable fuels, and test flights have already begun. Come learn about the cutting edge of alternative aviation fuels and how they may contribute to a safer, cooler world.”

Representatives from the U.S. Air Force, the 2020 Vision Education Fund, Boeing, the National Energy Technology Lab, and the International Council on Clean Transportation will be on hand - as well as Congressman Jay Inslee.

Here’s a look at the complete schedule of events for tomorrow's conference at UPS:

9:00 a.m. Welcome

9:30 a.m. Session 1
The Challenge: Moving away from oil and fossil fuels-What are the Air Force and civil aviation doing in this regard, and why?

11:00 a.m. Session 2
Possible Solutions: Coal-to-liquids - Where is aviation headed-toward coal-to-liquids, biofuels, or both? How can we best balance national security and climate concerns?

12:30 Break

1:00-2:00 Lunch Keynote:
Congressman Jay Inslee, D-WA

2:30 p.m. Session 3
Possible Solutions: Bio-Fuels

4:00 Closing Keynote:
Amory Lovins, Rocky Mountain Institute (via video)