A fin whale, SoulFULL Fest, and new City ordinances

This week: a 67-foot whale turned up at the Port, downtown's SoulFULL Festival fires up the grills next Saturday, and the City Council put two ordinances on the books. We've also got where to take the kids over Labor Day weekend and a reminder about that Sept. 9 first bell.

Community Events & Things to Do

• SoulFULL Festival — Saturday, Sept. 5, 917 Broadway, downtown, Free. A food-truck block party celebrating cultural comfort foods, music, and Black-owned makers, with free parking all day. SoulFULL Festival
• Proctor Farmers' Market — Saturday, Aug. 29, N. 27th & Proctor, 9 a.m.–2 p.m., Free entry. Tacoma's only year-round market is at peak-summer produce right now. Proctor Market
• Griot's Garage Cars & Coffee — Sunday, Sept. 6, Griot's Garage, 10 a.m.–3 p.m., Free. Wander rows of showpiece cars with a coffee in hand at the local detailing giant's HQ. Griot's Garage Events
• Rainiers vs. Salt Lake Bees — Saturday, Aug. 29 (6:05 p.m.) and Sunday, Aug. 30 (1:35 p.m.), Cheney Stadium. The last home weekend of the regular season — grab tickets before the club heads out. Rainiers schedule

For Families

• Garden Tour: Leafy & Fruity Hors D'oeuvres — Sunday, Sept. 6, Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium, 10 a.m. Meet the zoo's horticulturists and the plants that feed the animals. Included with admission. Moderate PDZA events
• Dog Days at the Zoo — Thursday, Sept. 24, Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium. Leashed, friendly pups are welcome to tour the grounds with the family for one special day. Included with admission. Moderate PDZA events
• Children's Museum of Tacoma — Open Wednesday–Sunday, 1501 Pacific Ave. Five hands-on playscapes and an art studio, all on a pay-as-you-can model, so no one's turned away. Best for ages 0–8. Cheap Children's Museum

General Local News Roundup

A dead fin whale arrived at the Port of Tacoma on a cargo ship's bow. The roughly 67-foot endangered whale was discovered Monday, Aug. 24, drawing a multi-agency response from state and federal wildlife officials. A necropsy suggested the animal was likely alive when struck by a vessel, and the remains were moved to McNeil Island for study. Read more (KING 5)

School's back sooner than you think. Tacoma Public Schools sets the first day for grades 1–12 on Wednesday, Sept. 9, with kindergarten starting Sept. 14. Now's the time to sort out bus routes, supply lists, and that first-morning wake-up. Read more (TPS calendar)

The City is honoring a 75-year-old Tacoma company. At Tuesday's meeting, the Council proclaimed Aug. 30, 2026, as Concrete Technology Corporation Day, marking the tideflats manufacturer's 75th anniversary. It's a nod to one of the city's longtime industrial employers. Read more (Tacoma Newsroom)

City Government & Council News

Council passed two ordinances Tuesday. At its Aug. 25 meeting, the Council adopted Ordinance 29116, updating pay and compensation for several unionized city workforces, and Ordinance 29117, authorizing the City to acquire easement rights by eminent domain along a vacated alley near Puyallup Avenue to repair and maintain a stormwater trunk main. Full text is posted on the city's Legistar portal. Read more (Legistar)

A historic median is headed for the Tacoma Register. The Council moved to add the North Union Avenue Greenway — the city's first planted median greenway, dating to 1910 — to the Tacoma Register of Historic Places. It's a small formal step that protects a piece of the West End's streetscape. Read more (Tacoma Newsroom)

Weather & Seasonal Notes

Summer's easing its grip. Expect a mild, mostly gray stretch with highs stuck in the mid-60s and overnight lows around 51–54. Thursday and Friday stay dry and partly sunny, but rain chances creep in over the weekend — around 40% Saturday — and then settle in through midweek, with rain likely by Wednesday and a high near 59. Keep a light jacket handy for the SoulFULL Festival and any waterfront plans, and if you've been putting off outdoor chores, Thursday or Friday is your window before the damp arrives. It's a clear sign the season is turning toward fall.

Local Business & Real Estate Spotlight

A Proctor mixed-use project clears an environmental hurdle. The City issued a mitigated determination of non-significance for "Proctor 4," a mixed-use development proposed by Rush Development at 3917 N. 26th St. That means the project moves forward without a full environmental impact statement, though the public comment window runs through Sept. 10. Read more (Tacoma Daily Index)

Restaurant churn continues downtown. The News Tribune's TNT Diner reports a fresh downtown closure alongside a running list of cafes, bars, and eateries still angling to open around Tacoma in 2026 — a reminder that the local dining scene keeps reshuffling. Details are with the News Tribune (thenewstribune.com).

Food & Drink

New beer landed in Proctor. Peaks & Pints rolled out its latest six-pack of fresh arrivals this week, pulling in releases from Fair Isle, Reuben's Brews, Fort George, and more into the cooler. Worth a browse if you like to try before you commit. Peaks & Pints

Frugal Tacoma

• $5 Movie Mondays — The Grand Cinema, 6th Avenue. The nonprofit indie house runs $5 films on Mondays for premium members, plus free popcorn and a standing member discount on almost everything else. Membership required for the Monday rate. The Grand Cinema

Community Spotlight

When Pierce County families hit a hard month, a lot of the food that fills the gap traces back to one warehouse in Tacoma. The Emergency Food Network is the county's central food distributor, supplying more than 75 food pantries, hot-meal sites, and shelters across the region. In a recent year the organization moved over 18 million pounds of food and helped provide millions of meals, working from its distribution center on 92nd Street South. It's the kind of quiet infrastructure most of us never see until we need it. EFN leans heavily on volunteers to repackage bulk food and keep the lines moving. If you've got a few hours, that's a direct way to help a neighbor eat this week.

Sports

Defiance hit the road. Tacoma Defiance begin a three-game away trip running Aug. 30 through Sept. 13, so there's no Starfire home match this stretch — catch them on the club's channels instead. Defiance matchday

This Week in Tacoma History

As Tacoma heads into Labor Day weekend, it's worth remembering that the holiday once doubled as a birthday party for one of the city's most beloved landmarks. In September 1934, "Old Fort Nisqually" opened to the public at Point Defiance Park as part of Tacoma's Labor Day celebrations — two original Hudson's Bay Company buildings had been carefully relocated from DuPont and paired with faithful reconstructions of the sales shop and bastions. What began as a Depression-era civic project is now a living-history museum that has welcomed generations of Tacoma schoolkids in period costume. In 2024 the fort marked its 90th year in the park. Not a bad reason to wander out to Point Defiance this weekend. Parks Tacoma

Deadlines & Public Notices

• Parks Tacoma Committee of the Whole meeting — Monday, Aug. 31, 6 p.m., affects anyone following park district decisions; call-in info at the district site. Parks Tacoma
• Proctor 4 (LU25-0180) environmental comment deadline — 5 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 10, for neighbors who want to weigh in on the N. 26th St. development. Tacoma Daily Index
• TPS first day of school — Wednesday, Sept. 9 (kindergarten Sept. 14), affects every Tacoma Public Schools family. TPS calendar

Before You Go

That's your week, Tacoma. With SoulFULL Fest coming up, we want to know: what's the best plate of comfort food you've had in this city lately? Hit reply and tell us the spot — we might feature it next issue. And if a neighbor could use a quick catch-up on their city, forward this along.