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Tacoma restaurant patrons help capture wanted sex offender By David Rose Correspondent

The recent arrest of unregistered sex offender Preston Richardson at a Pizza Hut restaurant in Tacoma is a perfect exam- DAVID ROSE ple of community members, the media, Crime Stoppers and police working together. Richardson was wanted by US Marshals for

a Federal Probation Violation and by the Washington Department of Corrections for a State Violation. He is a sex offender who is required to register for life due to a 2000 conviction for Rape of a Child 1st degree. His photo and a plea for help from the public to find him aired on Q13 FOX News at 10. The next day, several people recognized him in the Pizza Hut and called 1-800222-tips. The hotline operator immediately contacted Tacoma

Police who arrived on scene, took Richardson into custody and booked him into the Pierce County jail. He has a criminal history that includes assault, burglary and several thefts. The tipster will receive a cash reward for the information that led to the fugitive’s capture. Sadly, Richardson is not the only unregistered sex offender wanted by the law right now. To see the rest, go to www.catchwmw.com.

RICHARDSON

;(*64( ,32: /(4 0; <7 -69 :(3=(;065 (94@ By Steve Dunkelberger

stevedunkel@tacomaweekly.com

It was a simple image with a great impact. A member of Tacoma Elks Lodge #174 saw a photo of the Salvation Army kitchen with a single turkey to prepare for Thanksgiving. It certainly would not be enough. So the service club kicked into action and stocked the Salvation Army with 100 turkeys. But the giving didn’t end there. Christmas was coming and the shelves would soon be bare again if nothing were done. Elks members again sprang into action and delivered more than 500 pounds of ham on Christmas Eve, enough to last several months with some creative cooking. “This isn’t going to all get used now,� Salvation Army Executive Director Brian Sonntag said. “We will be serving that well into April.� The Salvation Army provides meals to 1,000 needy people a day, every day. While a bulk of the food and donations come in around the holidays, the holiday push between October and December has to last several months to keep up with year-round demand. “People see the need and respond during the holidays, and we need to capitalize on that,� Sonntag said. “But the need is year-round, so we have to make everything last as long as we can. We get pretty dry in July and August.� That dry spell is helped by constant donations from businesses like Wilcox Farms, which donates pallets of fresh eggs, and day-old baked goods from Starbucks that come in steadily during the rest of the year. But the recent Elks donations come during a big push and was actually more than double what was expected. The lodge had asked for a grant from its national lodge and expected $1,000 but a $2,000 check arrived. That money was leveraged

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Free classes offered for aspiring U.S. Citizens People will find help with becoming a U.S. citizen during free classes at Pierce County Libraries. Participants will prepare for the citizenship exam, and learn about American history, democracy, interviews and vocabulary. Registration is required. To sign up, contact Tacoma Community House, 1314 S. ‘L’ St., in person, by phone: (253) 383-3951 or by email to citizenship@tacomacommunityhouse.org. Tacoma Community House offers help in Russian, Spanish, Ukrainian and Vietnamese. They will help people with completion of Application for Naturalization N-400, fee waiver information and class requirements, including registration, information session and English level testing. Citizenship classes at Pierce County Library will take place at Lakewood Pierce County Library, 6300 Wildaire Rd. S.W., on Saturdays from Jan. 11 to March 15, 8:30-11:30 a.m. and at the University Place Pierce County Library, 3609 Market Place W., Suite 100, on Tuesdays from Jan. 7 to March 18. Locations and times will be announced later for sessions on the following dates: April 7–June 19, July 7–Sept. 11, and Sept. 29–Dec. 11.

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#1 TOP 2013 STORIES SHOW A YEAR OF WINS AND LOSSES #2 OUR VIEWS:

TIME FOR SERIOUS TALK ABOUT HILLTOP’S FUTURE

PHOTOS BY STEVE DUNKELBERGER

36=, 05 (*;065 Tacoma Elks Lodge #174 donated more than 500 pounds of ham to feed people at the Salvation Army.

to buy the ham from Sysco Food Service at a heavily discounted rate. “We aren’t ones to wave a flag saying ‘look at us and what we do,’� Elks General Manager Ron Forest said. “We do this sort of thing all the time. This is what Elks do. We are not very good at telling our story.� Along with operating Allenmore Golf Course, the Elks offer a roster of community programs that range from youth and veterans programs to senior services and

drug awareness and prevention efforts. Tacoma Elks Lodge #174 has been an active part of Tacoma for 123 years, with a goal to support many community activities. This year alone the Tacoma Elks worked with other community agencies to give Christmas to more than 5,000 children, provided more than $60,000 in scholarships and the Elks have always been supporters of active duty and American military veterans.

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TACOMA WEEKLY LOOKS BACK ON THE YEAR IN ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

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