Close count: Teachers from the Tacoma School District fill the gymnasium for a meeting at Mount Tahoma High School on Wednesday in Tacoma. With the start of the first day of school today in question, teachers and school district officials took contract negotiations into the evening Wednesday night. A union vote on a possible strike failed to gather sufficient votes Wednesday evening. Union bylaws require 80 percent approval by the total membership to authorize a strike. Although 90 percent of the teachers at the union meeting at Mount Tahoma High School voted in favor of striking, the total yes vote only amounted to 77 percent of the union membership. (Associated Press)
