I was among the many social workers, state employees and volunteers who approached and questioned our unhoused neighbors in Thurston County during the last week of January.
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With a click of a mouse, 15 years of cooperative work to create a Nisqually Tribe curriculum to be used by local school districts zipped over to an Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) employee’s remote drive.
Oh, the children! Filling the ranks is more complicated than it used to be, thanks to a change that occurred back in 1973, a year of startling historical significance. 1973 was the year of the Roe v. Wade decision and the Watergate hearings (remember those?).
For the public to understand the dangers posed by many jobs, it’s vital that journalists write about the real story of everyday conditions, risks and strategies affecting working people.
Some time ago, I was employed as a cost estimator for a large local siding company. We installed siding on hundreds of single-family new homes and several multi-family buildings throughout Puget Sound every year. I would create estimates and order packages on between 25-50 homes each week. That experience provided…
The City of Olympia has again ignored state law in its handling of developer Jerry Mahan’s application to build family homes on a toxic waste dump.
(o porqué los revolucionarios no van al cielo)
¿A donde van los revolucionarios después de muertos?
Su destino no es el cielo
ni mucho peor el infierno
Olywa Days of Change is gathering memories from the 1960s to the 1980s for a book project. A group has met online for over two years, encouraging each other to write down stories, share histories and gather photographs and graphics.
Dan Leahy was a storyteller, teacher, organizer, traveler and writer. He contributed regularly to Works in Progress, where his political analysis and organizing work were reflected in articles about housing, local elections, traffic on neighborhood streets, oil companies and oil trains—and private developers and their role in government among other…
For 36 years the Community Sustaining Fund (CSF) has funded individual and organizational efforts to strengthen the fabric of people, environments and habitats that make up our Thurston County communities. The Community Sustaining Fund (CSF) was able to offer support to four local community organizations as part of its Fall…
Dear Madam Congresswoman, As a lifelong Democrat who eagerly voted for you to succeed Lt. Governor Heck as our community’s representative in Congress, I am shocked and saddened by your yes vote for H.Con.Res.9, “Denouncing the horrors of socialism.” This resolution states that “Congress denounces socialism in all its forms,…
The major fiery train wreck in Ohio last month serves as a reminder of just how potentially dangerous long and heavy trains can be. Add to this the fact that in the last 10 years, Class One rail carriers have dramatically increased both the length and tonnage of the average train, while cutting back on maintenance workers and inspection times,..
Your comments are needed at the BOCC public hearing on Tuesday February 7th at 5:30 pm, either by Zoom or in-person at the Atrium Facility, 3000 Pacific Ave
We, the undersigned, are residents of the Westside of Olympia. We intend to be part of the “robust analysis and public engagement” that Mayor Selby indicated will be part of the City of Olympia’s Subarea planning effort. The City is scheduled to begin this effort in March, 2022.
Cougar Theater ♦ String & Shadow Puppet Theater ♦ Center for Responsible Forestry ♦ Rosie’s Place ♦ LOTT Treatment Plant ♦ Traditions Fair Trade ♦ South Sound Progressive Alliance ♦ Olympia Lamplighters ♦ Orca Books ♦ Brotherhood Lounge ♦ TOGETHER ...
We can’t escape our future. The sum of our collective actions as humans acts as another force of nature, influencing the big physical systems that underpin the small blue, watery planet we’ve all come to know. We are in the process of making our own collective future. Our collective status…
…police accountability took a hit . …the City of Olympia posted an opening for an entry-level police officer …one year after it was filed, a citizen petition denied...
REFLECTION: The vistas are stunning. The Olympics to the west and the Cascades to the east, blue sky reflected in waters of the Sound, houses dotting evergreen-filled hills. The air is crisp, hints of salt water mixed with musk of western hemlock, Douglas fir, red cedar. Mt. Baker and Mt. Rainier stand regally as reminders of roiling powers deep below rich farmland.
The Thurston Climate Mitigation Plan: Framework for Climate Mitigation Action for Thurston County and the Cities of Lacey, Olympia and Tumwater was finished in December 2020. It starts out by listing several years of previous city and county resolutions, strategies, and plans – all concerned with slowing global warming.
When Thurston County’s Board of County Commissioners created a stakeholder committee to provide additional input on zoning changes to rural wireless facilities, hopes were high among the private citizens in the group that the safest and most conservative decisions would be made to protect public health and property values.
Olympia Community Solar and South Sound Solar just completed installation of a solar array at Quixote Village as part of their work to leverage solar energy as both a powerful tool for equity and a contribution to Thurston County’s renewable energy transition.
Home in Tacoma for All and Tacoma Democratic Socialists of America announced an important victory for residents of Meridian Mobile Estates, who faced mass eviction from the mobile home park in Puyallup slated to close October 1st. Following protests, the owners of Timberlane Holdings, a large developer, agreed to negotiate with tenants.
The most dangerous times on an airplane are take-off and landing. These are transitional times between two conditions that are not clearly defined. In the first case, the mass of the plane is yet to be airborne, and in the second case, a mass that is elevated in the atmosphere needs to come down.
Come to the Estuarium on December 17 to discover the orcas that share the waters of the Puget Sound. You will learn the history of southern resident orcas in this area and the survival challenges they face.
PERSPECTIVE: The Olympia School Board’s unanimous decision to appoint Talauna Reed to the board has sparked vocal ire cloaked in concern. Ms. Reed is the first African American board member and has criticized the police in the past.
Reader Review Grant is back…but with a difference. Each issue we will suggest a book to review. If you’re interested in reviewing the book, email us and put BOOK REVIEW in the subject line. We will buy the book (or reimburse you if you buy it) and pay $50 if…
After almost three years of stymied contract negotiations, rail workers voted 99% this summer in favor of a strike. That threat was averted when the Biden administration stepped in. By September there was a tentative proposal agreed to by the companies and submitted to the unions. But it’s not over.