Puyallup City Councilmember Rick Hansen is interested in restoring the police department’s motorcycle patrol and talked about it with me for this week’s issue. I did a lot of research on how police departments nationwide are using motorcycle patrols but unfortunately, because of space concerns, the information won’t be included in the story that is released in the Feb. 26 Herald.

That, however, is the beauty of blogging. Here’s what I dug up from several other places:

• Pittsburgh’s motorcycle squad issued more than 11,000 traffic tickets in 2008, 10 times as many as their counterparts in cruisers. The unit features 30 new bikes costing $28,000 each, all equipped with new lights, sirens and sidecars and serves a city of more than 300,000 people.
• The Pinal County Sheriff’s Department in Arizona this month created a five-person motorcycle squad by reassigning two deputies and a sergeant. The unit, which serves a population of more than 179,000, is aiming to improve traffic safety by focusing on accident investigations and drunk drivers.
• The Humble Independent School District police in Harris County, Texas, serves a population of 33,000 students and 2,300 teachers primarily through traffic control and patrolling sporting events. Officers go through a difficult two-week training academy in which half fail on their first attempts.
• Stillwater, Okla., police reinstituted their motorcycle patrol in the 1980s and now uses two 1340 cc Harley-Davidson bikes to serve a city of more than 40,000 people. The department says the bikes are more mobile, easier to deploy and increase contact with the public. Officers are trained at an 80-hour academy.
• Pennsylvania State University police began using two electric motorcycles in September 2008 to patrol parking lots during football games, the first unit in the state to use electric cycles. The bikes use no gasoline and have rechargeable, recyclable batteries. The department says they operate well in narrow places like sidewalks.

The spectacle that is the Mat Classic was indeed memorable. Bonney Lake’s Addison Tracy earned a state title in the 145-pound division. Check out the Feb. 26 issue of the Herald for a full story on the biggest wrestling tournament on the West Coast.

If you’re familiar with the parking situation in downtown Puyallup, you’ll know it’s often hard to find a space.

Sound Transit knows this too, which is why they’re negotiating with the Puyallup Fair and Events Center to lease the fair’s red lot for commuter use. Myself and Avani Nadkarni are researching a story for the Feb. 26 issue about the parking problems in both Puyallup and Sumner.

An interesting part of this is that several businesses in both cities received letters from a consulting firm telling them their properties could be seized by Sound Transit under eminent domain rights. Sound Transit spokeswoman Linda Robson said her agency is not pursuing any transactions like this at the moment.

Stay tuned…

Traffic seemed to be on everyone’s mind at the Feb. 17 Sumner City Council regular meeting.

“It’s about traffic,” Councilmember Steve Allsop told Sound Transit CEO Joni Earle, who had come to discuss, among other issues, the possibility of a Sounder parking garage. “Quiet roads become busy artileries (when people rush to catch the train).”

Sumner resident and council meeting regular Tom Powers also stopped by the meeting to address the issue of non-delivery trucks using Valley Ave.

“We have an awful big problem with the traffic,” Powers told the council. “(The trucks) are making a bad situation worse.”

Resident Julie Moltke used the public comment time to address another dangerous traffic issue: the intersection between Valley Ave. and Gary St. There are near-misses on that road daily, she said.

“It’s a very dangerous spot,” Moltke said.

Happy Wednesday morning East Pierce County,

In this week’s issue, we will be running a front-page story about Puyallup City Manager Gary McLean and his efforts to seal personnel records from his former employer, the city of Des Moines. The records were released to The Herald and Councilmember John Knutsen last week.

The records indicate McLean received some complaints early in his six-year tenure with Des Moines but improved during the latter years, his former boss said this week. And as McLean pointed out, he has yet to receive a complaint against him during his time in Puyallup.

Feel free to comment and let us know how what you think about this story.

Puyallup stalwart football player Justin Veltung will take his talents to the University of Idaho football team this fall. Be sure to check out the Feb. 19 issue of the Puyallup Herald for a full story on Veltung’s achievement.

Good morning everyone,

The crowd at the Puyallup City Council chambers was a bit lighter than usual last night despite the fact that council conducted their first evaluation of City Manager Gary McLean, a hot-button topic for the past few months.

John Knutsen surprised virtually no one by making a motion to fire McLean, who he claims has little experience in running the day-to-day affairs of a city. While colleagues Rick Hansen and George Dill had more positive things to say about McLean, they supported Knutsen’s motion.

The council majority that seems to prevalent on many issues these days — Mayor Don Malloy and Councilmembers Tami Brouillet, Mike Deal and Kathy Turner — defeated that motion, meaning McLean will retain his job for the foreseeable future.

An interesting sidebar to the evaluation is the fact that an injunction was filed Tuesday in King County Superior Court. The injunction seeks to block Knutsen’s public records requests for McLean’s evaluations as city attorney for Des Moines, along with other records pertaining to the end of his employment and alleged complaints made against him for foul or abusive language. The injunction was filed by a John Doe, who is described as a Des Moines employee from 1996 to 2002 (the same years McLean was there). McLean did not confirm or deny he was John Doe.

There will be more information forthcoming on this issue after the hearing takes place next Wednesday, Feb. 11, at 1:30 p.m. More details are available in the Feb. 5 edition of The Herald, which will be posted online tomorrow.

That’s it for now. Have a great Wednesday.

This year’s Super Bowl certainly lived up to the hype and expectations! When Larry Fitzgerald scored his second touchdown of the day giving the Cardinals a 23-20 lead, it looked like the Steelers were doomed. Unfortunately, Pittsburgh responded with a go-ahead touchdown of their own to quell any hopes of a Cardinals victory.

Be sure to check out the sports section in the Feb. 12 issue of the Herald for an in depth look at the Super Bowl extravaganza in the Herald’s weekly “in the redzone” column.