A bit of trouble at our local watering holes, but great work by Ruston police to solve the crime....
The News Tribune story
KIRO TV story (with video)
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Christmas 2008
1973
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1973
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August
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- New Signs ~ New Times
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- Special Meeting: August 25, 2008
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Why we do what we do...
Our community is only as strong as its informed citizenry. Information should be factual and timely ~ and opinions should be many. This is a safe place where both factual information and varied opinions can be aired. Everyone is encouraged to join the conversation. Anyone can submit information or opinions for posting. Opinions expressed belong to individual authors.
Questions? Email Karen at Karen.Pickett.MBA@gmail.com.
Questions? Email Karen at Karen.Pickett.MBA@gmail.com.
19 comments:
A busted drug deal, an assault, theft, fraud, and plenty of drinking and drugging all with the backdrop of the Unicorn and the casino. Yes, Ruston watering holes certainly do attract only the finest clientele.
Maybe we should reconsider supporting the gambling tax and attract more of the same quality folks to our town.
Thank goodness we do have good police in Ruston.
There's nothing wrong with the Unicorn and the casino. You just don't want people to have a good time and you want to put people out of work. People like you should move out of Ruston if you don't like our traditions.
Anonymous #1 is such an evil minded nasty person you have to wonder about this person's mental well being. I'm sure all is well in the minds of the cabal and their perfect world.
The problem is the Town of Ruston has to pick up the bills for their misguided lawsuits.
You are a real sicko #1 give us your name and we will try to get help for you.
Can we be more civil, guys? When Anonymous #3 comes out swinging at someone who seems honestly disgusted with some bad criminals, that's not right. I can sympathize with Anonymous #1. He is angery at those creeps who do drugs at one of our bars. Then one of the creeps makes his victim, who is a Ruston resident, go into the casino with him where the creep feels comfortable. He forces the victim to use the casino atm to get money.
So Anonymous #3, I'm not being smart, but why do you feel that a misguided lawsuit come into this picture? Maybe you mean that the resident who was beaten up might sue the Town because he was beaten up in the casino parking lot and kidnapped and robbed? I will listen if you will explain.
Just give Anonymous #3 some prozac and forget about it.
unfortunately that's the way of the world... especially in times of a recession. It's not really fair to blame either establishment as this is an isolated incident.
So saying these places attract those kind of people is highly unfair - Even places like Beverley Hills, Salt Lake City, and Greenwich, have isolated incidents at bars - thats no reason to say they should be ridden out.
And last I checked - ever since the casino moved in, drug deals and other crimes seemed to have decreased considerably at that location - just talk to other patrons of the shoboat if you don't believe me.
anon #1, Yes it is a blessing to have RUSTON POLICE (& FIRE)....left up to the current power of the Town 'Cancel' we will NOT have either one before long!!!
'A bit of trouble..'? '..an isolated incident..?' Karen and friends, you seem to be displaying some short term membory problems here. Are you blind to the many major problems at the Unicorn that have disrupted the lives of residents in that neighborhood? You didn't know about the screaming, drunken 'customers', fights in the street on 49th and Baltimore, damage to property and physical threats to anyone who protested?
You don't remember when last summer there was a shooting in or near the parking lot of the casino? You didn't see the police tape and or the blood trail from the casino parking lot through the alley and onto Highland Street, leaving a seriously wounded Ruston resident near dead?
And now, in the space of a week and ending up in last night's arrests, a robbery, kidnapping, theft, and use of the casino facilities including its ATM, were a big part of the crime scene of the men who beat up and held a Ruston resident for some time against his will.
Just ask the residents on 49th, Baltimore and Highland streets
how isolated these incidents are.
Karen, you do Ruston no service at all by glossing over of what happened with a one line article , 'a bit of trouble at our local watering holes but great police work...' There's no way to white wash this incident. The more you publicly ignore each 'bit of trouble' and argue that the problems are isolated and not connected to these businesses, the deeper the hole you are digging for the end of Ruston.
well on a good note, i did a search on ruston for uplifting news and guess what I found? The Town of Ruston has a official website. How nice is this finally we have a slight identity. its http://www.rustonwa.org. It says its under construction, but its nice and they have started adding some things. I called the office yesterday to confirm and someone there confirmed that the administrative assistant is working with the mayors wife to add and spruce it up. So now we have something else we can watch!
That's nice.
How much time did the police spend on this recent crime? Between the Casino & Unicorn the town receives roughly $33,000 per year in taxes. Is it worth it? The cost of these establishments on Ruston's services is unacceptable for what they bring to the town.
The comments previously written are from people who do not live in this town and I would venture to say they are disgruntled casino employees that are frequenting this blog.
I don't mind paying my share of taxes when they are going to the good of the town. These two establishments are no good.
Just like the arsenic the smelter left behind - because the bars have been here for along time doesn't mean its good.
When the bar doors close the disease is out running our streets.
Sleep well Ruston residents - hope you have good security.
Very easy to pick on a couple of business owners and blame them for the actions of people on drugs, or that people drink to much or gamble to much. Do you really think that the people responsible for these latest crimes looked in a phone book and picked the Unicorn and the Pt. Defiance Casino as places to come to and rob someone. More than likely, these are people who randomly move around the county and do these types of things at a variety of bars. The issue is not the Unicorn and the casino, it is society. Ruston has had issue's for years. Does anyone remember the Big Bad Wolf and the knock down fight's there. Or how about when the Pollack brothers owned the Idle Hour and let in numerous former underage students from their teaching days.
The isssue is responsibility and taking responsibility for one's actions. Not blaming. You can either be part of the solution through education or take the easy way out and run business's out of town that you can't deal with.
Most of you try to incite a riot by using phrases like a "Blood trail" that went from the Casino through the alley. Why does everyone here embelish the facts and try to make their version the right one. And why say these messages are coming from upset former Casino workers, havn't most of you done enough to them already, or do you enjoy kicking people when they are down??
If the Unicorn and Casino generate $33,000 in taxes, why don't you just find out what the calls to these establishments actually cost. After you look at that and if their taxes cover the calls, then go look at any domestic violence calls and see if the person who is responsible for these calls covers the cost of the response. That's how silly some of your arguements are.
These are both legal business's, who from as far as I can tell are not offering or promoting illegal activity. The Proctor district, downtown district and every district in Pierce County has crime that in some way can be tied to booze or drugs.
So, go head and continue to pick on a few and see where you end up, probably as part of Tacoma and stil facing the same issues.
I don't live in Ruston but I do live rather close. The people who are complaining that the bars and casino brings criminals to Ruston obviously know very little about life in general.
Step outside your world in the Magic chocolate land for a minute. The world is not perfect. Ruston has a very low crime rate compared to Tacoma. Yes, Tacoma is bigger however Ruston is located in a good part of Tacoma. I also think that because Ruston has it's own police force that the crime is so low. If Tacoma took over, my guess would be crimes would be more frequent at these locations because of the response times and just the sheer size of the city.
I am not sure who these people are who feel we live in a perfect world. Let me guess, you people are the types who don't go outside of your house once night falls? You never drink alcohol because the devil made it right?
You should be thanking the all mighty lord you have your OWN police department. You people have no idea how lucky you are. Stop your pathetic whining when a violent crime hits your town once every 20 years.
Very true. The saddest part of annexation would be loss of our own police department. Do you think the Tacoma police department would respond to anything that did not involve imminent loss of life? And even then, how quick would the response time be?? Those of you who do not like the trouble at the Unicorn will no longer have your voices heard at all! TPD is too busy with big crimes in other areas of the city. Ruston will be not be on their radar.
We are so lucky to live in this awesome town, and it is unfortunate that our "leaders," both elected and appointed are leading us down the road to ruin.
Why are there so many unhappy Ruston Citizens so unwilling to be involved in productive and proactive roles?? Nothing will change by complaining - whining is unproductive, and soon people will stop listening. The current council and mayor got where they are by action and persistance. As long as they are more persistant than others, they will be the ones that decide what our future will be. Non-Ruston Connection residents need to organize and take action - this is the path to different results.
Here is a question we should all ponder before we vote on August 19th... Do we really want to give our council 100% of the power by changing our form of government? Remember, the decision to put this issue on the ballot was initiated by the council as an underhanded method for removing (then) Mayor Transue from office. This is the way the RC group works - the real issue is typically hidden underneath the candy-coated action that is taken.
No matter who wins the battle, the war has been lost. Ruston is DYSFUNCTIONAL, thanks to the extreme bickering on all sides.
Healing? That's a foreign word in this town. The words I hear constantly are: cabal, evil, crazy, sicko, diseased, disgruntled. They have a stranglehold over the words I once thought could prevail, like: 'community', 'neighbors', 'the greater good', and 'good will'.
Thanks to the extremists on all sides for poisoning the Ruston well. Hello, Tacoma.
Just wanted to add my two cents. When I was considering moving here, I checked out the crime rate and remember thinking that Ruston has one of the lowest crime rates in the area. Reading some of the comments there is some strong emotions over this anecdotal event. Like many of the spirited discussions going on about various issues in the town most of the comments utilize this definitely bad and negative event push their particular (pro/con) viewpoint on some issue such as the Casino or Unicorn or Tacoma annexation. One thing I would add is a bit of data (since I am data driven) that is available on the web regarding crime rates in Ruston, Tacoma or any other city in Washington. Going over it briefly we are blessed to be living in Ruston compared to other cities even our next door neighbor with regards to crime rate and police coverage. Take a look: http://www.city-data.com/city/Ruston-Washington.html
There is a lot of other data on the website. You can search the web site to compare to Tacoma or other Washington Cities.
Events such as this one should lead one to study the data before making blanket statements. Events such as these give us the opportunity to see what is good in our system or community and what could be improved while respecting the rights of those that live and do business in our community.
I participate in the consequences to a lot of negative events. Ruston is safe compared to other places I have lived and worked. There is a lot less chance of a bad thing happening to you here than other places, but if a bad thing does happen, the odds just went up to 100%.
I do appreciate this blog and Karen's effort allows alot of us to express our opinion without too much work. It is easy to see who is adding useful information that we can learn from and who is just blowing off steam or trying to use this blog to insult people anonymously. Remember, it is easy to ignore nonconstructive comments; its a skill we perfected as youngsters. Have faith that most people can separate useful from non useful communication.
Tom Ferrer
Thank you for your comment, Tom. I always value your objective input. It's hard to argue with logic!
Well, Karen, at least you acknowledge its hard to do what you do! From the vote totals in the last two elections, it looks like you are losing your battle against logic!
If you are right, Anonymous, that assaults, drug dealing and robbing people are not connected with these businesses and that the problem is really society, then why don't society's cruds do their nasty stuff in other businesses like Ruston's brokerage house, day care center and the fitness gym?
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