Tacoma Daily Index Top Stories — December 2015

Here are the top five stories read by visitors to the Tacoma Daily Index‘s Web site during the month of December, according to Google Analytics.

1. Elmer Ogawa: After hours with Seattle’s forgotten photographer (Tacoma Daily Index, Dec. 7; Dec. 9; and Dec. 11) — Between the late-1940s and the early-1960s, the Japanese American photojournalist Elmer Ogawa captured a period in Seattle’s history that is now nearly as forgotten as the late photographer himself. Tacoma Daily Index editor Todd Matthews wrote a biography of Ogawa, and it was excerpted in the newspaper over three days. Collectively, the serialized feature was the most read story on our Web site in December.

Elmer Ogawa: After hours with Seattle's forgotten photographer (COVER DESIGN BY TROY TSUCHIKAWA) — Elmer Ogawa: After hours with Seattle’s forgotten photographer (COVER DESIGN BY TROY TSUCHIKAWA)

2. Grand opening Jan. 7 for $23M Advanced Technology Center at Bates Technical College (Tacoma Daily Index, Dec. 11, 2015) — Bates Technical College officials will celebrate the grand opening of the $23 million Advanced Technology Center (pictured below) in Tacoma in January. Officials broke ground on the two-story, 53,000-square-foot building (pictured below) last year. The facility includes an auditorium, meeting spaces, administrative support and educational spaces, a STEM classroom, a learning resource center, and student support services. The award-winning building was designed by Tacoma-based McGranahan Architects and achieves the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold rating, according to Bates Technical College officials.

Grand opening Jan. 7 for $23M Advanced Technology Center at Bates Technical College (IMAGE COURTESY BATES TECHNICAL COLLEGE)

3. Design honors for McGranahan Architects, Clover Park Tech Health Sciences Building (Tacoma Daily Index, Dec. 2, 2015) — Twice in 2015, McGranahan Architects received top industry honors for its work designing the $24 million, 56,468-square-foot state-of-the-art LEED Gold Certified Health Sciences Building (pictured below) at Clover Park Technical College.

Design honors for McGranahan Architects, Clover Park Tech Health Sciences Building (PHOTO COURTESY CLOVER PARK TECHNICAL COLLEGE)

4. 4 contractors bid on project to remove aging art installation downtown (Tacoma Daily Index, Dec. 3, 2015) — Four contractors responded to a call for bids issued by the City of Tacoma for a project to remove and dispose of a downtown art installation (pictured below) created nearly 40 years ago by the prominent Pacific Northwest artist Harold Balazs.

4 contractors bid on project to remove aging art installation downtown (PHOTO COURTESY CITY OF TACOMA)

5. Vancouver Notch: DNR approves proposal to name Mount Rainier foothills feature (Tacoma Daily Index, Dec. 1, 2015) — The Washington State Board of Natural Resources approved a Pierce County resident’s proposal to officially name a v-shaped mountain pass in the foothills of Mount Rainier in honor of the late British Navy Captain George Vancouver.

Vancouver Notch: DNR approves proposal to name Mount Rainier foothills feature (PHOTO BY TERRY RISHEL / COURTESY BARBARA REID)

To read earlier coverage of the Tacoma Daily Index‘s top stories during 2015, click on the following links:

Tacoma Daily Index Top Stories — November 2015 (Tacoma Daily Index, Dec. 1, 2015)
Tacoma Daily Index Top Stories — October 2015 (Tacoma Daily Index, Nov. 2, 2015)
Tacoma Daily Index Top Stories — September 2015 (Tacoma Daily Index, Oct. 1, 2015)
Tacoma Daily Index Top Stories — August 2015 (Tacoma Daily Index, Sept. 1, 2015)
Tacoma Daily Index Top Stories — July 2015 (Tacoma Daily Index, Aug. 3, 2015)
Tacoma Daily Index Top Stories — June 2015 (Tacoma Daily Index, July 1, 2015)
Tacoma Daily Index Top Stories — May 2015 (Tacoma Daily Index, June 1, 2015)
Tacoma Daily Index Top Stories — April 2015 (Tacoma Daily Index, May 1, 2015)
Tacoma Daily Index Top Stories — March 2015 (Tacoma Daily Index, April 1, 2015)
Tacoma Daily Index Top Stories — February 2015 (Tacoma Daily Index, March 2, 2015)
Tacoma Daily Index Top Stories — January 2015 (Tacoma Daily Index, Feb. 2, 2015)

To read the Tacoma Daily Index‘s 10 most read articles among visitors to our Web site in 2015, click on the following links:

Top Stories 2015 | #1 — Andy Warhol and Tacoma Dome (Tacoma Daily Index, Dec. 23, 2015)
Top Stories 2015 | #2 — Art Chantry Speaks (Tacoma Daily Index, Dec. 23, 2015)
Top Stories 2015 | #3 — Vancouver Notch (Tacoma Daily Index, Dec. 22, 2015)
Top Stories 2015 | #4 — Tacoma Musical Playhouse purchases shuttered historic church (Tacoma Daily Index, Dec. 22, 2015)
Top Stories 2015 | #5 — Tacoma issues RFP for Bikeshare Study (Tacoma Daily Index, Dec. 21, 2015)
Top Stories 2015 | #6 — Original House of Donuts opens in downtown Tacoma (Tacoma Daily Index, Dec. 21, 2015)
Top Stories 2015 | #7 — Tacoma seeks artists to design wraps for traffic boxes (Tacoma Daily Index, Dec. 18, 2015)
Top Stories 2015 | #8 — 1120 Creative House opens in downtown Tacoma (Tacoma Daily Index, Dec. 18, 2015)
Top Stories 2015 | #9 — Artist Lynn Di Nino’s creative commute (Tacoma Daily Index, Dec. 17, 2015)
Top Stories 2015 | #10 — John Hathaway: A Tacoma gadfly’s voice goes silent (Tacoma Daily Index, Dec. 17, 2015)

Todd Matthews is editor of the Tacoma Daily Index, an award-winning journalist, and the author of several books. His journalism is collected online at wahmee.com.