A 59-year-old Tacoma man’s scheme to buy gas for himself and others using city credit cards defrauded the city of Gig Harbor out of $52,568 over a period of about two years, according to reports from police and the Washington State Auditor’s Office.

The man wasn’t a city employee, according to the reports.

Pierce County Superior Court records show that prosecutors charged him for the gas card thefts as well as other counts including possession of stolen property, possession of a stolen vehicle...

A string of car break-ins and attempted car break-ins hit the area around the Tacoma Dome on Thursday night around the time of the KORN concert.

Tacoma Police Department detective William Muse told The News Tribune there were six complaints of vehicle-related theft between 8:21 p.m. on Oct. 10 to after midnight, all within about a mile of the Tacoma Dome, 2727 E. D St.

“Anytime you have an area of town where there’s a large population of vehicles or a major event, it could be the convention ce...

After a serious motorcycle accident that left her unable to work at 55, a woman was awarded about $1.66 million that a former Tacoma attorney helped her manage.

Seven years later, she had $20,000 in the account, according to court records. By the end of 2019, she only had $15.

Over half a million dollars ended up in the lawyer’s bank accounts, court documents allege.

The attorney allegedly embezzled over $570,000.

According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, a grand jury indi...

There are people who come to Gig Harbor to settle. Others come to sail. And some come to steal.

Shoplifters come from “all over,” Gig Harbor Police Chief Kelly Busey told The News Tribune. He listed off a long list of cities: Port Angeles, Bellingham, Portland, Yakima, Spokane, Tacoma. The Police Department did a statistical analysis of where their criminals come from and couldn’t detect a pattern, he said.

The department started a program in the fall of 2021 to help curb retail theft, called...

“Life is worth living. There is help. ”

Since signs with messages of hope and phone numbers to call for help were tacked onto the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in 2021, Jud Morris of the Gig Harbor/Key Peninsula Suicide Prevention Coalition says it’s made a difference for at least two families.

Those families said their loved ones chose not to end their lives after seeing the signs, Morris said.

Could suicide-prevention nets save even more?

“One life lost is too many, so if there’s anything we can d...

Sun shining a little too brightly down by the waterfront of Gig Harbor? That glint that caught your eye might not be seawater.

The Shenandoah Float Find is on — and there are eight glass orbs left to discover.

To commemorate the grand opening of their Maritime Gallery April 26, where a restored fishing vessel, the Shenandoah, will be on display for its 100-year anniversary, the Harbor History Museum is hiding one glass float somewhere in the city each week. The lucky finder gets to keep the fl...

Just around the curve of a quiet, forested road winding through the Gig Harbor area is a quaint sage-green building.

It’s close to 100 years old.

Over its long residence at 8205 86th Ave. NW in Gig Harbor, Rosedale Hall has seen birthdays, weddings and retirements. It’s hosted piano recitals and exercise classes.

The hall recently celebrated a public reopening after PenMet Parks oversaw extensive renovations to the exterior and interior of the building, completed in July. These included repai...

Who knew you could do so much with a log?

A group of contestants will saw, splice, chop, roll, chain and buck their way through the Buckley Log Show on Saturday and Sunday, building on a legacy that stretches back to 1973 at the height of the timber industry in the city of Buckley.

Besides cutting wood, the two-day competition challenges contestants to shinny up wooden poles, wield heavy machinery, throw axes and more in a demanding test of strength and skill. All are welcome at this free, fam...

An English teacher resigned from their teaching job last week through a mutual agreement with the Peninsula School District, after online trolls began attacking their after-hours profession as a drag king on social media and the information was amplified by a local conservative commentator.

The post that quickly turned into an online firestorm surrounding K Wayne, who uses they/them pronouns and has taught in the district since 2021, is an example of how social media cyberbullying has targeted...

Some residents have raised concerns about a new English Language Arts curriculum that the Peninsula School District will test in elementary schools this fall.

Out of the 14 members of the public who participated in public comment at the Peninsula School District Board of Directors meeting at Swift Water Elementary School on June 18, seven of them urged the board not to use the Wit & Wisdom curriculum in classrooms. One person spoke in support of it.

Some opposed to the curriculum questioned it...

This year it took college sophomore Athaliah P.S. Ioane 20 minutes to fill out the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). In her senior year of high school, it took her three months.

Key Peninsula Fire Commissioner Randy Takehara sometimes has trouble falling asleep these days.

The retired Air Force reservist has been in the fire service for three decades. Now, he serves as the board chair for his local fire district. His term is from 2022-2027.

The polite but direct commissioner doesn’t mince words when he talks about his frustrations with the community he was elected to serve. He said the commissioners all desire to help the community. But the distrust they’ve faced in r...

In Washington, justices are elected in staggered nonpartisan elections. In the case of vacancies between elections, the governor appoints replacements who must win the next election to stay in office. 

In recent years, the state Supreme Court has ruled on some contentious issues. In McCleary, et al. v. State of Washington, the Court ruled in 2012 that the state was failing to fulfill its constitutional obligation to amply fund public education. More recently, it has made decisions affecting evi...

Sales taxes in Gig Harbor might increase again next year.

The 0.1% sales tax increase — or 1/10 of a penny, which equates to 10 cents more on every $100 purchase — under consideration by City Council would bring in about $1 million for street maintenance, which the city says is underfunded.

If approved at the council’s Sept. 23 meeting, that would bring the total sales tax in Gig Harbor to 9.1% in 2025 after voters passed a different 0.1% sales tax increase in the Aug. 6 primary to fund police...

Madrona Links is the only fully public golf course in the Gig Harbor area. That means anyone can use it for typically low fees — unlike private courses, which often charge expensive membership fees to access their facilities.

It’s where Dave Walker, a retired commercial fisherman, learned to golf. Walker, a Gig Harbor resident for some 30 years, remembers the course’s better days.

Now?

“It’s gone way downhill,” he told The News Tribune at a public meeting and rally hosted Aug. 13 inside Hacke...