Tacoma Wa

Pronounce Puyallup? I couldn't even see Puyallup, never mind trying to say it. This was the first day of spring, but the weather was in a snit. Rain began to fall in sheets a nanosecond after I left the Seattle airport, bound for this town about 25 miles south. I came to the Puyallup Valley, known for its daffodil fields, on a quest for spring, for something beautiful and orderly and life-affirming in contrast to world chaos.

A convicted sex offender was charged in Tacoma with kidnapping, raping and killing a 12-year-old girl who was taken from an alley behind her family's home during a July Fourth fireworks celebration. More than a week after the girl was taken, Terapon Dang Adhahn, 42, led investigators to the body of Zina Linnik in rural Pierce County, and his DNA was found on her, according to the charging documents.

Overshadowed for decades by Seattle and its famous Space Needle, this hilly port city on the Puget Sound plans to build its own tall, pointy edifice. Its working name is the Tacoma Spire. If built from the current design, the spire would rise 400 feet and resemble a very thin pyramid. It would be made of steel, glass and shimmering mesh that would simultaneously reflect and let in light. It would cost about $7 million.

Enron Corp. has agreed to pay the city of Tacoma, Wash., $3.28 million to resolve claims that the Houston company profited by illegally manipulating Western energy markets between 1997 and 2003. The terms of the refund were outlined in an agreement the parties filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission late Monday.

An experiment in providing free needles to drug addicts not only reduced unsafe practices that transmit the AIDS virus but resulted in more addicts seeking drug treatment, a health official involved in the nation's first needle-exchange program said Tuesday.

A convicted sex offender was charged in Tacoma with kidnapping, raping and killing a 12-year-old girl who was taken from an alley behind her family's home during a July Fourth fireworks celebration. More than a week after the girl was taken, Terapon Dang Adhahn, 42, led investigators to the body of Zina Linnik in rural Pierce County, and his DNA was found on her, according to the charging documents.

Enron Corp. has agreed to pay the city of Tacoma, Wash., $3.28 million to resolve claims that the Houston company profited by illegally manipulating Western energy markets between 1997 and 2003. The terms of the refund were outlined in an agreement the parties filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission late Monday.

In legend and in fact, Tacoma stinks. Drive up Interstate 5 on your way to Seattle, roll down the window, sniff the breeze for yourself: That's the flatulent bouquet of 100 years of industrial development. Or, as the wags say, the smell of money. But along with hydrogen sulfide, the vapors of animal rendering and assorted industrial fumes, there is change in the air for Tacoma, long Seattle's ugly and overlooked industrial stepsister, the Northwest's Rodney Dangerfield.

These aid agencies are accepting contributions for assistance to victims of the flooding in Venezuela: American Jewish World Service Venezuela Flood Relief 989 Avenue of the Americas 10th Floor New York, NY 10018 (800) 889-7146 http://www.ajws.org American Red Cross P.O. Box 37243 Washington, D.C. 20013 (800) 435-7669 Spanish: (800) 257-7575 http://www.redcross.org Brother's Brother Foundation Venezuela 1501 Reedsdale St. Suite 3005 Pittsburgh, PA 15233-2341 (412) 321-3160 http://www.

These aid agencies are among those accepting contributions for assistance that they or their affiliates are providing for those affected by the earthquake and tsunami in Asia. Action Against Hunger 247 W. 37th, Suite 1201 New York, NY 10018 (212) 967-7800 www.aah-usa.org ADRA International Asia Quake Fund 12501 Old Columbia Pike Silver Spring, MD 20904 (800) 424-2372 www.adra.org American Friends Service Committee (AFSC Crisis Fund)

Overshadowed for decades by Seattle and its famous Space Needle, this hilly port city on the Puget Sound plans to build its own tall, pointy edifice. Its working name is the Tacoma Spire. If built from the current design, the spire would rise 400 feet and resemble a very thin pyramid. It would be made of steel, glass and shimmering mesh that would simultaneously reflect and let in light. It would cost about $7 million.

Pronounce Puyallup? I couldn't even see Puyallup, never mind trying to say it. This was the first day of spring, but the weather was in a snit. Rain began to fall in sheets a nanosecond after I left the Seattle airport, bound for this town about 25 miles south. I came to the Puyallup Valley, known for its daffodil fields, on a quest for spring, for something beautiful and orderly and life-affirming in contrast to world chaos.

In legend and in fact, Tacoma stinks. Drive up Interstate 5 on your way to Seattle, roll down the window, sniff the breeze for yourself: That's the flatulent bouquet of 100 years of industrial development. Or, as the wags say, the smell of money. But along with hydrogen sulfide, the vapors of animal rendering and assorted industrial fumes, there is change in the air for Tacoma, long Seattle's ugly and overlooked industrial stepsister, the Northwest's Rodney Dangerfield.

An experiment in providing free needles to drug addicts not only reduced unsafe practices that transmit the AIDS virus but resulted in more addicts seeking drug treatment, a health official involved in the nation's first needle-exchange program said Tuesday.