The Tacoma School Board voted 4-1 Thursday to file a letter of intent to become a charter school authorizer” with the State Board of Education before the April 1 deadline.

The decision does not commit Tacoma Public Schools or the School Board to becoming an authorizer of charter schools in Tacoma. However, it buys the board several more months to consider it as an option. If the board failed to file a letter of intent, it could not later decide to become an authorizer of charter schools.

Filling the shoes of retired Congressman, Norm Dicks, is a mighty big job. The job taken up by Derek Kilmer, freshman Congressman representing Washington’s 6th district.

A former member of the Washington State Senate, Kilmer represented the 26th district from 2007 to 2013, moving from the  Washington House of Representatives where he served from 2005 through 2007.

The Congressman is an alumnus of Princeton University. He won a Marshall Scholarship to the University of Oxford, where he earned a PhD. 

In compliance with Facebook's new page management policy requiring municipal and state governments to assign more descriptive words to their Facebook page names reflecting that they are, in fact, municipal and state government entities and not an entity representing all residents within a given area, the City of Tacoma’s Facebook page is back up and now reflects the name “City of Tacoma Government” at the top. 

Facebook has allowed the City to retain its original website URL facebook.com/cityoftacoma. 

The nomination deadline for the City of Tacoma’s 27th annual City of Destiny Awards – which spotlights exceptional volunteers who have worked to drive Tacoma forward – has been extended by the Citizens Recognition Committee. Nominations are now being accepted through January 25, 2013.