Restaurant scores, minimum-wage push, pizza expansion among TNT’s top stories

Pierce County saw a busy day of local news Wednesday, from a Tacoma taco spot racking up 60 red points on a health inspection to city leaders reviving a push for a $20 minimum wage. Here’s a quick rundown of what happened.

• Taqueria and Asadero Al Carbon at 8018 Pacific Ave. in Tacoma received 60 red points during a July 10 inspection, with violations including missing paper towels at hand-wash sinks, hot-held meats below safe temperatures and a walk-in cooler leaking onto pans of food. The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department inspects more than 100 establishments weekly, and any business receiving 35 or more red points must be reinspected, with repeated critical violations potentially leading to closure.
• Tacoma city leaders are reviving talks about a $20 minimum wage, with Deputy Mayor Joe Bushnell soliciting feedback from business owners, unions and other stakeholders to shape a proposal by year’s end. Options include an immediate jump to $20, gradual increases or setting a rate above the state minimum wage of $17.13 — with the measure potentially heading to the November ballot if approved by Aug. 4, or the council could vote to implement it directly.
• Puget Sound Pizza opened its fourth location in Port Orchard on June 19, marking its first restaurant in Kitsap County alongside existing spots in Tacoma, Lakewood and Key Center. Owner Cory Cannell also purchased the adjoining Blue Goose Tavern, which shares a kitchen with the pizza restaurant, and he and his brother Nick Cannell hope to reach six locations by the end of next year.
• Since May, 1,645 cyclosporiasis infections have been reported across the U.S., resulting in 141 hospitalizations from the intestinal parasite, with a large multistate outbreak spanning Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky. Washington state has reported 27 provisional cyclosporiasis cases since May 1 — 22 of them tied to international travel and three acquired domestically — with leafy greens identified as the most consistent exposure source in the Michigan cluster.

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