Pierce County Auditor, Julie Anderson, is talking to seniors about voting. Not that seniors have problems voting, seniors vote in droves (at least 79 percent of individuals over 65 in the last election) compared to the rest of the population but there are special considerations for senior voters. So Anderson is going to places seniors live and gather and giving seniors a chance to see the inner workings of the Pierce County Auditor’s Office.

The 10th Northwest Biennial will be on view through May 20 at the Tacoma Art Museum. The exhibit features 30 Pacific Northwest artists and encompasses a wide array of art forms including mixed media installations, video and sound works as well as more traditional art forms. The works endeavor to define what it means to be a part of the cultures and communities of the Pacific Northwest.

Grant “Smitty” Smith walked away from his group Jan. 12 while they shopped at the Tacoma Mall. Smitty, a 74-year old, balding, adult, white male was described as having Alzheimer’s Disease and missing from the group for possibly as long as 30 minutes. The outside temperatures hovered in the mid-30s. Luckily for Smitty, the information in the first two sentences was largely made up to demonstrate a new piece of equipment that might mean the difference between life and death for individuals with Alzheimer’s, Autism, brain injury or other cognitive difficulties.

Julie Collins, a volunteer at Lighthouse Activity Center in Tacoma, is very excited about the new reader theater program she started at the center.

Collins, a retired nurse from Western State Hospital, said she had run the program at Western State as well, and the patients loved it. She was nearly moved to tears when a patient who was participating in Reader theater enjoyed it so much he said, “I finally did something right.”

Seeing the positive results, Collins approached Michelle Williams,