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📆 Tacoma Area Events

🛟Tacoma Police Welcome New Marine Services Vessel

🎨Art on the Ave Set for August 9 in Tacoma

🚴Loop Trail Expansion Adds New Walking and Biking Route at Point Defiance

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The Tacoma Police Department has officially welcomed the newest member of its Marine Services Unit: Chinook.

The new vessel was christened during a dedication ceremony attended by Police Chief Patti Jackson, city leaders, community dignitaries, and members of the department. Funded through a FEMA Port Security Grant, Chinook will be used to help protect Tacoma’s port infrastructure, improve maritime awareness, support port-wide security, and assist with emergency response and recovery on local waterways.

For a city built around a working waterfront, the new boat adds another layer of public safety support where Tacoma needs it most. The department says Chinook will play an important role in helping keep Tacoma’s waterfront and maritime community safe.

One of Tacoma’s biggest street fairs is headed back to 6th Avenue.

Art on the Ave returns August 9, bringing artists, makers, musicians, food vendors, small businesses, community organizations, and neighbors together in the 6th Ave. Business District. Presented by TAPCO Credit Union and the 6th Ave. Business District, the annual festival is built around local creativity, neighborhood pride, and the kind of community energy that has long made “The Ave” one of Tacoma’s most recognizable gathering places.

Visitors can expect a full day of local vendors, live entertainment, food trucks, family-friendly activities, and plenty of chances to explore the businesses and artists that help give 6th Ave. its personality. The event is designed to be part street fair, part arts celebration, and part neighborhood block party.

This year’s festival will also feature finished entries from the Weekly Volcano newspaper box challenge, with decorated boxes displayed during the event. Artists are still being invited to participate, though organizers say about half of the available boxes have already been assigned.

Box Challenge Application

After more than a year of construction, a new section of the Point Defiance Park Loop Trail is now open.

Phase II connects with the trail completed in Phase I, creating a safer and more accessible route for people walking, rolling, and biking between major destinations inside the park. The paved trail begins just past the Pagoda and extends to the stop sign near the musk ox enclosure at Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium.

From Animal Loop Road, the trail takes over the right-hand lane toward Owen Beach and connects with pedestrian and bike access improvements completed there in 2022. A new sidewalk also links visitors to the zoo and the Park Avenue trail segment built during Phase I, making it easier to move through one of Tacoma’s most popular parks without relying only on the roadway.

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Meanwhile, in a neighborhood in North Tacoma…