Tacoma’s old paper mill — known for its foul aroma — is closing. Smell ya later | Opinion

Tacoma Aroma

I’m so happy the pulp mill will close and the toxic Aroma of Tacoma won’t linger in our city on clear mornings anymore.

I feel bad for the people who will lose jobs, but overall this is very good. The increase in property values and desirability to live here will attract business, jobs and investment, and quickly offset the mill.

This is an economic win, and where Tacoma needs to look for future growth.

Seth Cool, Tacoma

Incorporation? No thanks

State Rep. Melanie Morgan, D-Parkland, is misguided if she thinks Summit and Summit-Waller want to become a city with Frederickson, Parkland and Spanaway. She may have lived in Parkland for 30 years, but my family has lived in Summit-Waller since the 1960s. If we had wanted to live in Parkland or Spanaway, we would have located there. Thank goodness we didn’t.

Parkland and Spanaway are treated like Tacoma’s stepchildren. Summit-Waller is rural and spacious, and we pay our taxes accordingly, also supporting the school districts to which we are designated. For over 20 years we have worked through Pierce County’s Comprehensive Plan, and before that representatives from the area worked with the county to establish a greenbelt between intensely populated areas. We do not need to become another King County, with wall-to-wall houses north to south and east to west.

Could we instead let our children know there is more to life than tightly packed neighborhoods and alternative styles of living?

I don’t think Rep. Morgan will find many Summit and Waller folks interested in her plan.

If you want sidewalks, live in town. —

Char Davenport, Summit-Waller

Mail delivery

I subscribe to home delivery to The News Tribune. I have for the last 25 years. There is just something about getting up, walking out to the newspaper tube, getting the paper and physically holding it in your hand.

I found out today that The News Tribune is suspending daily delivery in favor of having your newspaper delivered by the United States Postal Service. Yes, folks, you heard that right: the mailman is now becoming your paper boy. Instead of getting your paper at 6 a.m., you’ll now get it when the mail comes, and if it comes.

The News Tribune would also like you to read the news with your tablet and your cell phone instead of getting a print edition. They say you get the news as it’s happening, and much faster.

I’d much rather have my newspaper. I don’t know what these people are thinking. Or if they are.

Robert S Viguers III, Lakewood

Host families needed

In the aftermath of the pandemic, we are still learning how things have changed. One change that has a bigger impact than it may first appear is our ability to enrich our communities through hosting exchange students. Since the pandemic, finding people open to hosting international high school students has been challenging.

As a host parent and volunteer, I can attest to the impact exchange students have. Exchange students provide a different point of view to their classmates, often changing the perspectives of those around them, and they immeasurably enrich the lives of the families they live with. Meet anyone who has hosted a student and you’ll hear a story of a life changed and a lifelong family member gained.

Schools throughout Pierce County are able to host students, but we need more individuals and families to host through organizations like AFS-USA, which began by bringing German students to the U.S. to build closer bonds through people in the aftermath of WWII.

Host families represent the diversity of the U.S. and include couples, individuals and people with or without children.

Anne-Marie Davidson, Bonney Lake