One of our favorite bars turns 10, petition thief charged among top TNT stories

Pierce County businesses and community efforts are marking milestones this summer, from a decade-old craft dive bar in Tacoma to a new waterfront marketplace in Gig Harbor. Meanwhile, Anderson Island residents are organizing to restore essential services, and prosecutors have filed charges in a signature-theft case tied to Washington’s millionaire’s tax.

Here are Tuesday’s top stories:

• The Mule Tavern is marking 10 years on South Tacoma Way, having opened in July 2016 in a building constructed in 1905 that previously housed Oasis Beer Parlor. Owner Sam Halhuli pivoted the bar during the pandemic by selling house-made ginger beer, tonic and cocktail syrups to-go — revenue that proved lucrative enough to rehire most staff.
• Anderson Island residents have formed a nonprofit food cooperative to reopen the island’s only store and gas station, which closed abruptly after 50 years of operation. The Anderson Island Food Cooperative hopes to reopen the store within six months, supported by membership fees and sales, though a cafe is not part of initial plans.
• Gather Gig Harbor, a new waterfront marketplace at 3126 Harborview Drive, softly opened last month as the first local market to open downtown since the Harbor General Store closed in 2023. Owners Pouneh Minovi Kaufman and her mother Mandy Minovi plan to add a Mediterranean cafe when the market reopens in 2027 after a fall remodel.
• Benjamin Lee Brown, 54, faces three gross misdemeanor charges after allegedly taking a petition clipboard from a woman gathering signatures against the millionaire’s tax outside a Safeway on Canyon Road East on June 9. Deputies could not locate the discarded signatures, which Brown allegedly threw out his pickup window after.

The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited senior editor Adam Lynn. The source reporting referenced above was written and edited entirely by journalists.