In the Margins | Where’s Amelia? This family’s legacy is to search for the truth
Dec 11, 2024A Pierce County family with Gig Harbor connections is descended from one of the last people to hear Amelia Earhart’s voice on the radio.
In the Margins | Getting curious, not judgmental, about school bus drivers
Oct 24, 2024The next training class for potential Peninsula School District bus drivers starts Monday, Oct. 28. Chris Phillips talked to three local people who love driving a bus.
In the Margins | Elections workers are democracy’s foot soldiers
Aug 22, 2024During the final months of any presidential election cycle, it’s tempting to grow cynical about politics and the process we use to propel our democracy. My own Grinch-like outlook toward elections began during the 1980s when, as a community reporter and editor here in Gig Harbor, I stayed glued to my desk into the wee
In the Margins | Braving auction anxieties in support of Gig Harbor’s working waterfront
Jun 05, 2024To be honest, I have always found auctions to be a bit intimidating. I tend to second-guess myself about whether to bid for stuff, how much to bid for stuff, and what to do with the stuff if I do emerge an unlikely winner. While my fellow bidders enjoy the sporting gamesmanship, I nervously fret
In the Margins | Spring has sprung: Rely on a guide when entering gardening purgatory
May 08, 2024How Mike Gatto and Raft Island Roses helped Chris Phillips find a sunnier disposition toward gardening — just in time for Mother’s Day.
In the Margins | Crew School provides a reality sea trial for commercial fishing wanabees
Apr 10, 2024During decades as a desk-jockey, I moved words and numbers around on various glowing screens. I often longed for work beyond the confines of the cubicle. You know — honest, hard work that allows for physical achievements, hand-made results, and liberal use of Advil. After weekends of amateur landscaping, crude carpentry, or bloody-knuckled attempts at
In the Margins | Amid our booze bonanza, let’s get sober on drunk driving
Feb 21, 2024I was arrested for drunk driving about 35 years ago. True story: A Gig Harbor police officer ran me through the curbside test for sobriety — I failed. He handcuffed me in front of W.B. Scotts restaurant (now Bella Femmina) on Harborview Drive and invited me to the back seat of his patrol car. I
In the Margins | New Year tastes bittersweet without Fredda’s deli sandwiches
Jan 03, 2024With each new year, many of us awake with renewed ambitions involving fitness, food, family or finances. The calendar jump-starts our intentions for another year in which the garage — or maybe our arteries — will get cleaned up for a better or longer life ahead. Or, if you’re like me, you spend the midnight
In the Margins: It’s time for humanity to take off its training wheels
Nov 15, 2023In October, my phone buzzed with an incoming message from my son-in-law. He proudly shared a video of my spunky 3-year-old granddaughter pedaling her new “big kid” bike, complete with hot-pink paint and fresh training wheels. She was grinding away on her pedals, then cautiously coaster-braking to a stop, much to the amusement of her
In the Margins: Back to school in a classroom of river, sky and maybe even some fish
Sep 27, 2023As our summer yielded to fall, I took myself back to school. My classroom was a quiet stretch of the Jefferson River in Montana, nestled between the Continental Divide to the west and the Tobacco Root Mountains to the east. Our annual eastward pilgrimage to this region is disguised as a family obligation to help