Police & Fire

Gig Harbor Now reporters stay alert to crimes and emergencies and relay information that allows readers to understand and react to incidents.

Public safety sales tax revenues would primarily sustain police staffing

Jul 02, 2024 | By:

After overwhelmingly rejecting a property tax increase earlier this year, Gig Harbor voters will head to the polls again this summer to vote on a sales tax measure supporting the city’s police department and general fund budget. Revenue from the proposed Public Safety Sales Tax, which will appear on the Aug. 6 primary ballot, would

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One year after the ‘Blake Fix,’ arrests are up but treatment still lags

Jul 02, 2024 | By:

April Kelly spent years in and out of jail because of her addiction. Her health suffered, she lost contact with family and eventually ended up homeless. None of it was enough to make her quit. “They talk about reaching your bottom,” she said, “but it didn’t matter what I lost or how alone I was.

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Paranoia, alcohol and drug use preceded fatal Ray Nash shooting, documents indicate

Jul 01, 2024 | By:

Pierce County prosecutors charged Melissa Dawn Wells, 34, with a count of second-degree murder and a count of first-degree manslaughter in the shooting death of her 39-year-old boyfriend on June 26 on Ray Nash Drive in Gig Harbor. Documents filed with Pierce County Superior Court indicate that Wells “seemed to be in a psychosis (disconnected

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Fireworks allowed just 14 hours in county, not at all in city

Jun 27, 2024 | By:

If fire officials can’t persuade people not to give up personal fireworks altogether, they’d be obliged if lighting them was contained to the Fourth.

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Deputies say woman shot and killed boyfriend at home on Ray Nash Drive

Jun 27, 2024 | By:

Pierce County Sheriff’s Department deputies arrested 34-year-old woman on suspicion of shooting and killing her boyfriend on the 6300 block of Ray Nash Drive in Gig Harbor late on Wednesday, June 26. Deputies booked the woman into the Pierce County Jail on suspicion of second-degree murder, according to a blog media post from the sheriff’s

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Prosecutors charge elementary school teacher with three new counts of molestation

Jun 26, 2024 | By:

Pierce County prosecutors charged Gig Harbor resident Jordan Roy Henderson with three additional counts of first-degree child molestation, according to Superior Court documents.  Prosecutors entered the new charges against the Evergreen Elementary School teacher on Wednesday, June 26. Documents indicate that a new victim came forward after Henderson was initially charged in April.  Henderson remains free

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Pierce County participating in regional evacuation alert system

Jun 13, 2024 | By:

Ahead of what could be a busy wildfire season, Pierce and six other Puget Sound-area counties are promoting a regional evacuation alert system. The Ready, Set, Go program creates a standardized three-step evacuation messaging system for most counties bordering Puget Sound, including Pierce, Kitsap, King, Skagit, Thurston, Snohomish and Whatcom. Emergency Management officials are hoping

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Gig Harbor Police Blotter | Hospital patient spits on, bites and punches nurses

Jun 06, 2024 | By:

Editor’s note: The Blotter is written based on information provided by Gig Harbor Police , Gig Harbor Fire & Medic One  and the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office. A 32-year-old woman with a history of mental illness, recently released from the Washington Corrections Center for Women after serving a sentence for assaulting a health care worker, injured two nurses at St. Anthony

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Fire department taking heat for rising home insurance costs

Jun 05, 2024 | By:

A fire protection rating downgrade led to an extra bump in home insurance costs on south Fox Island, but it’s not just them. It’s happening everywhere.

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New state program aims to make Gig Harbor Wildfire Ready

Jun 03, 2024 | By:

Wildfire Ready Neighbors, a statewide initiative that helps property owners prepare their homes for wildfires, expanded to Gig Harbor last week.  State Public Land Commissioner Hilary Franz unveiled the new program during a press conference at Fire Station 50 in Gig Harbor on May 31. Officials from the Washington Department of Natural Resources and Gig

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