Tagged: Pierce County

Construction at Joint Base Lewis-McChord would increase further if Congress adopts President Obama's 2012 budget proposal.

The News Tribune reports that the spending plan released Monday would set aside more than $300 million for construction at the base south of Tacoma, up from about $172 million in the 2011 budget proposal Congress has yet to approve.

An informant's tip has led authorities to find four homemade explosive devices and other weapons buried at a Puyallup site.

Traffic was diverted Friday afternoon from the site on Shaw Road East and several homes were briefly evacuated. Puyallup police, federal Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents and members of the Pierce County sheriff's bomb squad responded.

ATF spokeswoman Cheryl Bishop says the cache may be tied to a fugitive killed in a confrontation with bail bond agents in Lakewood more than two years ago.

Eyes turn to Olympia on eve of budget talks, Bellevue takes a hit, Pierce County plans protections against nature's hits,  and the Huskies fight their way to a Holiday. 

Washington's oldest prison will close by April 1st, a casualty of the state's current budget crisis. McNeil Island Corrections Center's 500 inmates will be moved to other facilities. Some of the 245 employees will be reassigned, while others stand to lose their jobs.