Housing
Prior to last September, there were no laws governing home inspectors in Washington. The only licensing that an inspector could obtain before then was a Structural Pest Inspector's license with the Washington State Department of Agriculture, enabling them to recognize things like wood decay and termite damage. While knowledge in
Ragnet
In every issue of this fine rag the Weekly Volcano's hack team of wannabe journalists tackle some of the most laughable criminal acts that have recently happened in our area. Then - if we're doing our job - we write about those crimes in a way that makes you chuckle,
Food Matters
EXCELLENT FARE WITH A SURPRISING SOURCE >>> A rising trend in the Tacoma area seems to be pseudo-gourmet food being offered in unlikely places. The standard hangover-helper breakfast menu gets a makeover at Dirty Oscar Annex, a bar that also features live rock bands and an open mic.
Jobs & Education
Sgt. Jacob Howard is on his way to becoming a great aviation maintenance technician. "With a manual, I can take the world apart," the soldier assigned to the 16th Combat Aviation Battalion said. "I love maintenance; I like taking things apart, fixing them and putting them back together." Stepping back from his vision
News Front
One of the largest Veterans Day parades in the United States of America takes place right up the street from Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) in Auburn, Washington. "The Auburn Veterans Day Parade offers an opportunity for the entire community to come out and show support, gratitude and thanks to each and
Military Life
Never underestimate the power of a dollar bill, especially one donated to a cause dedicated to helping others. "Every gift, even as small as one dollar, goes to helping a child receive a backpack full of food during the school year, a senior citizen food and companionship, or a homeless family
Military Life
The iconic and much beloved teddy bear has long been a symbol of endearment and love. Thanks to a terrific partnership of two nonprofits and a student service group, the classic teddy bear is taking on a whole new meaning. Operation Ward 57, a nonprofit organization that supports wounded, injured and ill
News
On a shelf in the Museum of Glass lobby stand boots in sand. Underneath lies a glass art rendition of a red, white and blue improvised explosive device. The wall label explaining the art says, "You never know. Step one way and you're safe. Step another and you're not. Happenstance.
We Recommend
This expo promises to introduce prospective brides, grooms, wedding attendants and their families and friends to the Gritty City as a one-stop shopping destination for the Big Day. They'll be treated to top-notch food and beverages while touring the city's most beautiful places to get married. Over 60 vendors will
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JoAnn Parks is making "Max" available for an evening of public viewing and private meditation sessions. The skull is said to be thousands of years old and one of 13 artifacts with mystical properties, including the ability to generate iffy action sequels. It's been featured in documentaries the world over,
We Recommend
These six-time Grammy winners pride themselves on preaching the wonders of traditional Irish music to the world. Not only have they uncovered a wealth of traditional Irish music from centuries past, but they make it their own with a style that is as exhilarating as it is definitive. Their home
We Recommend
This stage adaptation of Chaim Potok's 1972 classic makes its Pacific Northwest debut in a collaboration between Lakewood Playhouse and the Broadway Center for the Performing Arts. Directed by Marcus Walker, Lakewood Playhouse's managing artistic director, it's the story of a gifted young artist torn between his Hasidic Jewish faith
We Recommend
Paid admission to the Museum of Glass buys each visitor a new hands-on arts experience each month, designed to entertain and inform people of all ages. For 12 bucks more, the museum offers a noon Hot Lunch, at which a box lunch from Gallucci's Glass Café fills your belly while
We Recommend
Nate Jackson organizes a super funny collection of super comedians weekly, which is super. He's a super funny comic himself, so much so that he reigned supreme at the same Bay Area Black Comedy Competition won previously by Mark Curry and Jamie Foxx. Super! He promises nationally known headliners every
We Recommend
Don't even act like you're not going, Olympians. The Weekly Volcano is celebrating this week's first-ever Best of Olympia issue by blowing the roof off the BroHo. No cover. Old School Pizza, free. Live music by DJ James, the Dirty Birds, Morgan & the Organ Donors and Western Hymn. Thurston
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Time to break your wizard bong out of storage: Wednesday's show at Northern promises to be intensely psychedelic. Arbouretum are set to perform with Oregonian jammers Eternal Tapestry, their comrades on a brief West Coast tour that's bringing both bands' gargantuan riffing and hypnotic arrangements to eager ears from SoCal
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On "She's a Babe," you can barely make out Ben Funkhouser singing "I miss my mom and my cats," a line that's as painfully earnest as it is deeply ironic - at least when you consider Hausu's namesake: a gruesome, impossibly over-the-top Japanese horror classic in which a fluffy white
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Cosmonauts may just be the one-millionth psychedelic garage band that I've written about in my time at the Weekly Volcano, and I tell you it's the funniest thing: Though they hail from California, they sound like they could have just as easily been born out in our fair, gritty city.
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Red Queen Theory takes its name from a hopelessly complex evolutionary hypothesis that finds its inspiration in the Red Queen from Through the Looking Glass - the queen who had to run as fast as she could just to stay in the same place. To get anywhere, she said, you'd
News
Retired Chief Master Sgt. Victor Hugo, former 446th Military Air Wing command chief, started out his Air Force career in 1951 by attending basic military training at what was then Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. In 1951, being three years young, the United States Air Force didn't have
