Narrows Bridge squeeze Oct 24, Proctor parade Saturday

This week: two weeks of Narrows Bridge lane closures finally have a start date, Proctor becomes a Halloween parade route on Saturday, and the Tacoma Film Festival turns 20.

Community Events & Things to Do

• 3rd Annual Tacoma Halloween Parade & Spooky Street Fair — Saturday, Oct 17, 3 to 8 p.m., Proctor District, Free. Makers, food trucks and a Kids Carnival on N 27th, the "Creep It Real" costume contest at 6:15 p.m., then the parade rolls down Proctor from N 29th to N 25th at 7 p.m. Parade details
• Tacoma Studio Tour — Saturday and Sunday, Oct 17 and 18, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., 82 locations citywide, Free. More than 100 artists open their working studios for demos and direct-from-the-maker shopping in Arts Month's 25th year. Studio Tour info
• Front Row Card Show — Saturday and Sunday, Oct 17 and 18, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Greater Tacoma Convention Center, $10.79 online per day. About 480 tables of cards, comics and collectibles, plus a Saturday trade night from 5 to 9 p.m. Card show tickets
• Afterlife 5K — Saturday, Oct 17, 9:30 a.m., Heritage Recreation Center in Puyallup, $20 day-of registration. A costumed, untimed Halloween run-walk on the paved Nathan Chapman Memorial Trail where every finisher picks a medal from races past. Afterlife 5K
• Tacoma Film Festival — Thursday, Oct 22 through Sunday, Oct 25, The Grand Cinema. The 20th annual fest packs indie features, docs and shorts into four downtown days; tickets and passes are on sale, and eligible Tacoma students and Tacoma residents with EBT/Quest cards can get free tickets to most screenings at the box office through Tacoma Creates (some exclusions apply). Festival schedule

For Families

• Zoo Boo — Saturday and Sunday, Oct 17 and 18, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium. Costumes, treat stations, a costume parade and animals tearing into pumpkins, plus four of Thomas Dambo's trolls, all included with zoo admission ($17 to $25 online per person; ages 2 and under free). Price: $$. Zoo Boo details
• T-Town: City Services Expo and Trades & Hiring Fair — Friday, Oct 30, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tacoma Dome. Kids trunk-or-treat in costume among city trucks and hands-on booths while teens and adults browse a trades fair with on-site applications. Price: Free. T-Town details
• Trunk or Treat at LeMay – America's Car Museum — Saturday, Oct 31, 3 to 7 p.m., LeMay – America's Car Museum. Decorated trunks, candy, food trucks and live entertainment; kids under 13 need an adult 18 or older with them. Price: Free. Trunk or Treat

General Local News Roundup

Westbound Narrows Bridge drops to two lanes Oct 24 through Nov 8
WSDOT will close the two right westbound lanes of SR 16 across the Narrows, plus the Jackson Avenue on-ramp, around the clock from 5 a.m. Saturday, Oct 24 through Sunday, Nov 8 to replace a failing section of a 76-year-old expansion joint. The HOV lane opens to all drivers, but expect delays of an hour or more from Tacoma to Gig Harbor in the afternoon commute. Read more (WSDOT)

Downtown street parking is now $1.50 an hour
The on-street rate in downtown Tacoma's paid zones rose from $1 to $1.50 per hour on Tuesday, Oct 13, the final step of a parking overhaul the city started in 2025. City-owned garages and lots are not affected; the city says a 2024 study found up to 31 percent of curb spaces were held by the same car for five hours or more, and it wants long stays off the street. Time limits still apply, and registered parkers can get 20 percent off the daily maximum with the Downtown Parking Savings Pass. Read more (KOMO)

North End rental fire ruled intentional
Tacoma Fire says Tuesday's blaze in the 7500 block of North 10th Street, an event and short-term rental owned by former NFL cornerback and Wilson High grad Desmond Trufant, was deliberately set. Crews arrived just after 6 a.m. Oct 13 and stopped it after it reached the attic; no one was hurt, and Tacoma Police have opened a criminal investigation. Read more (KIRO 7)

City Government & Council News

Six Tacoma census tracts nominated as Opportunity Zones
Gov. Bob Ferguson nominated six Tacoma tracts for the renewed federal program on Oct 13: five keeping their current status and one new tract, 94007. The zones give investors tax breaks for long-term projects in Downtown, Hilltop, the Brewery District, Portland Avenue, South Tacoma along Pacific Avenue and near Puyallup Tribal headquarters; the city says existing zones have drawn more than $250 million since 2018. Read more (City of Tacoma)

Ballots arrive this week with a Pierce Transit tax on them
Pierce County mailed general-election ballots on Tuesday, Oct 13, so they are arriving this week. Proposition 1 asks voters in the Pierce Transit service area to raise the agency's sales tax from 0.6 to 0.9 percent, about 3 cents on $10, to fund a 47 percent increase in bus service, four new routes, expanded paratransit and free rides for people 65 and older; the agency has not raised its rate since 2002. Read more (Gig Harbor Now)

Weather & Seasonal Notes

Thursday starts with morning fog, then turns sunny with a high near 65. Friday looks mostly sunny near 67, with a 40 percent chance of rain after 11 p.m. A 30 percent chance of rain Saturday morning gives way to a partly sunny afternoon near 60; Sunday should be partly sunny near 57. There's a slight chance of rain Monday afternoon (high near 56), with partly sunny skies near 57 Tuesday. Clocks fall back Sunday, Nov 1. NWS Tacoma forecast

Local Business & Real Estate Spotlight

Cafe Yumm returns to the region with a West End storefront
The Oregon-based rice-bowl chain has filed plans for a 2,800-square-foot restaurant at 2601 N Pearl St in Westgate North, the former Big Chicken location. Filings put a roughly $200,000 remodel at a November start, with an early-2027 opening targeted for its first Puget Sound location since leaving downtown Seattle in 2023. Read more (MyNorthwest)

New on the books
From the City of Tacoma's business license records: Fancypants Jewelers, a custom-design and repair shop run by two Washington natives with 45 combined years in the trade, has registered at 728 Broadway in the Theater District with an Oct 1 listed start date. Also new: Yidun Haofan, a confectionery and nut retailer at 1212 S 11th St in Hilltop (Oct 6); and a filing for Cooks Tavern LLC, a full-service restaurant at 3201 N 26th St in Proctor, listing a Nov 26 start date. A business license filing does not necessarily mean the restaurant will open that day, and the record does not say what is changing at the longtime Proctor spot. Browse the license data

Food & Drink

Boo Five Three haunts the Armory Oct 23. Tacoma's longest-running beer festival goes full Halloween on Friday, Oct 23, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. on the Tacoma Armory parade floor, with Washington brewers, a booth-decorating contest, a costume contest and food trucks out front. General admission includes a souvenir glass and eight drink tokens; the first 800 in get the 2026 commemorative glass. 21 and over. Boo Five Three tickets

Fondi's Proctor run is over. The Gig Harbor pizzeria closed 2515 N Proctor St after Oct 3, saying its scratch-made dough and mozzarella were too costly to make the Tacoma shop profitable; The News Tribune noted the closure in its Oct 11 roundup. Proctor gift certificates still work across the bridge. Fondi's note to Proctor

Fresh hop season peaks at Peaks & Pints. Wednesday's flight in Proctor lined up Seapine's whole-cone Mosaic, Ravenna's West Coast Mosaic, the Bale Breaker and Formula collab Sticky Situation and a Loowit IPA built on 240 pounds of Strata. Fresh hops fade fast. This week's flight

Frugal Tacoma

• Kids Eat Free Tuesdays — Famous Dave's, Tacoma. Get one free Lil' Wilbur kids' meal with the purchase of an adult entree on Tuesdays at the Tacoma location, for a limited time. Check the offer details before you go. Famous Dave's Kids Eat Free
• CheapSk8 Wednesdays — Tacoma Armory, Hilltop. Roller-skate for $8, with skate rentals and fees included, Wednesdays from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. through Dec 30. Oct 21 and Oct 28 are the next sessions. Skating details

Community Spotlight

If you have wondered how a tiny creative business lands a real Tacoma storefront, the answer is often Spaceworks Tacoma. Launched in 2010 by the City and the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber to fill empty downtown windows, it grew into an incubator that has helped train 125 creative businesses, helped 66 launch into storefronts and commercial spaces, and presented 175 public art installations, according to its published history. Alumni include Tinkertopia and Stocklist Goods, and the program now pairs with the Chamber's Kiva hub for zero-interest microloans. Applications for the Fall 2026 Creative Enterprise cohort are now closed, so if you know someone with a good idea and no lease, send them the link for the next round.

Sports

Defiance season ends on penalties. Tacoma Defiance erased three deficits at San Jose Earthquakes II in Sunday's play-in, drawing 3-3 in regulation and 4-4 after extra time on goals from Rafael Jauregui (two), Mark O'Neill and Landon Lucero, then converted one spot kick in the shootout. That wraps 2026. Recap (Sounder at Heart)

Loggers take the crosstown rivalry. Puget Sound beat Pacific Lutheran 23-13 Saturday at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup, picking off four passes. UPS plays at Willamette and PLU at Pacific on Saturday, Oct 17, both at 1 p.m. Box score

Prep football. Mount Tahoma edged Lincoln 23-21 on Oct 9 on a field goal with 13 seconds left, and Silas beat Bellarmine Prep 37-22, per The News Tribune. Bellarmine visits Lincoln Thursday, Oct 15, at 7 p.m.; Friday, Oct 16, Stadium hosts Auburn at 7 p.m. and Mount Tahoma plays at Central Kitsap. Bellarmine at Lincoln

Kraken and Seahawks. The Kraken won 6-3 at Detroit on Oct 9, 5-3 at Washington on Oct 11 and 3-2 in a shootout at Philadelphia on Oct 13; they play at Tampa Bay today at 4 p.m., at Florida on Saturday, Oct 17 at 3 p.m., and host Detroit on Tuesday, Oct 20 at 6:40 p.m. Kraken schedule The Seahawks (3-2) lost 32-29 to the 49ers on Oct 11, play at Denver tonight at 5:15 p.m. on Prime Video, and host the Chiefs on Sunday, Oct 25 at 5:20 p.m. on NBC. Rainiers and Mariners baseball is done for the year. Seahawks recap (ESPN)

This Week in Tacoma History

On October 17, 1935, Tacoma lost one of its grandest landmarks. The Tacoma Hotel, opened in 1884 and designed by the New York firm McKim, Mead & White, stood on the bluff near Ninth and A Street overlooking Commencement Bay. Rudyard Kipling was among its famous guests. Around 6:15 a.m. that day, a fire started in the basement carpentry shop and spread through the building. Everyone inside escaped, but the hotel was destroyed and never rebuilt. The Tacoma Hotel story. The Northwest Room at the Tacoma Public Library is also marking Archives Awareness Month with photos, letters and maps from its collections. Northwest Room picks

Deadlines & Public Notices

• General election ballots — Tuesday, Nov 3, 8 p.m. — ballots are arriving this week; use an official drop box by 8 p.m. or get yours postmarked by Election Day, and check your registration at votewa.gov. Election details (Pierce County)
• Public hearing on three Tacoma Water properties — Tuesday, Oct 20, no earlier than 5:15 p.m. — the City Council takes comment on declaring three vacant Midland-area parcels surplus and transferring them to Pierce County at no cost for affordable housing. Hearing notice (City of Tacoma)
• Council budget study session — Tuesday, Oct 20, noon — proposed-budget presentations continue, with placemaking and jobs up; watch in Council Chambers at 747 Market St, on TV Tacoma or Zoom. Budget schedule (City of Tacoma)

Before You Go

That is the week. If you cross the Narrows for work, we want your survival plan once the lane closures start Oct 24: earlier alarm, later dinner, the bus, or a well-timed Gig Harbor happy hour? Hit reply; we will share the best tips next issue. And if a neighbor still thinks the Halloween parade is on the 31st, forward this their way.