PERSPECTIVE: Ever wonder what a Department of Natural Resources (DNR)–approved clearcut of public forestland looks like after the fact? Our Whatcom County field team got a close look...
Posts published in “–”
Until the last week of this July, there was a forest of 80– to 100–year–old trees in a residential neighborhood, on Cooper Point Road between 20th and 28th Streets.
On July 21, 2022, the Washington State Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling in Conservation Northwest v. Commissioner of Public Lands, the “All the People” case.
BOOK REVIEW: I suppose it will surprise no one to learn that the age–old fight for free speech goes on, and likely will continue as long as there are unpopular ideas...
In May 14, a young white supremacist armed with a semi–automatic assault rifle traveled over 200 miles to the zip code 14208, which seemed an ideal place for implementing his plan to kill black people.
This is not a story about the broad swath of Olympia residents who spend half their income to pay for a place to live. It's about reshaping Olympia for investors.
I’ve always been intrigued by electric cars. I love driving but hate the problems that cars bring—like maintenance and the looming possibility of another expensive thing breaking that I don’t know how to fix. A car is “the gift that keeps on taking.” So, when the State motor pool offered…
The founder and resident kitchen god at Delmonico’s, “Olympia’s only truly artisan butcher shop,” Brian McDonald, who seems to have found his niche after years gaining experience and honing skills in the culinary arts, the food service business, and related pursuits. He says he got his start at home. “My…
Olympia Little Theatre ♦ Harlequin Productions ♦ Community Farmland Trust ♦ Solstice Women’s Retreat ♦ Olympia Fiddle Camp ♦ Living History Museum podcast series ♦ Underground Pop Cassettes ♦ Deschutes Estuary Restoration ♦ Parallax Perspectives ♦ Olympia Free Clinic♦ Queer Body Love
It’s easy to make a pledge to reach “net zero.” It’s much harder to create a credible plan to reach that goal and then execute that plan. Beyond mere pledges, are these companies demonstrating real leadership on climate issues by taking meaningful action?
The Manchester Fuel Department (MFD) is the Department of Defense’s largest single-site fuel terminal in the United States. The depot provides military-grade fuel, lubricants and additives to U.S. Navy and Coast Guard vessels, and to those from allied nations like Canada. Records available from 2017 show over 75 million gallons…
This May issue marks the end of our monthly publishing schedule. We’re taking a break and then beginning a quarterly publication schedule. The next issues of WIP will appear in September 2022, December 2022, March 2023, and June 2023.
WIP editors began working on this issue of the paper with the idea that we would look back at our stories over the past few years to see where there are “loose ends.” What stories did WIP publish about government actions or environmental threats or citizen efforts to improve things—where there needed to be on-going coverage?
Listening to live music is one of the most enduring sources of joy for humans but even though its roots are just as deep and its rewards every bit as satisfying, participatory music-making by non-professionals is hard to find in most communities. Not so in Olympia,...
Twenty percent of Olympia’s registered voters just imposed a sales and use tax on everyone else.
RETHINKING EVERYTHING: The inflation spike of 2021 and 2022 has presented real policy challenges. In order to better understand this policy debate, it is imperative to look at prices and how they are being affected.
South Puget Sound Habitat for Humanity last month hosted a Home Dedication for two families moving into homes they helped to build with their own hands. The Deyoe Vista community in Lacey is brought to life by hundreds of volunteers and donors each year...
POETRY: True peace is served by shattering our illusions with the stone of Truth....
GUEST COLUMN: Thirty-nine suspects remain in the United States’ prison on Guantánamo Bay, or “GITMO” as it’s commonly known. And nobody can reasonably predict when, if ever, they will be freed.
On April 6, the Washington State Commissioner of Public Lands launched an unprecedented carbon leasing project. The first of its kind on state trust lands, this initiative enters ecologically valuable forests into leases to generate revenue for trust land beneficiaries by reserving them for carbon storage uses.
BOOK REVIEW: At a time when transgender youth are being threatened with parental separation [1] and transgender women and transfeminine people of color are being murdered at record rates [2], "Conundrum" is especially poignant.
Calling all Changemakers! The Community Sustaining Fund of Thurston County (CSF) is now accepting Spring 2022 grant applications through May 16, 2022, for creative and impactful applications that serve Thurston County communities. In
BOOK REVIEW: In two inspiring and optimistic books, Caleb Maupin lays out where we are politically, how we got here, and points the way forward. You may not agree with him on some things, but he presents ideas and asks questions that merit consideration by any who favor transformative progressive change....
The stage is set with speakers, a foldout table with audio controls, and a MacBook. A mess of cords snake over the stage and three group members wheel a piano from the shadows behind the curtains and situate it within the temporary base. Behind them is the Bridge Music Project…
According to an index created by the Institute on Tax and Economic Policy, Washington state has the most unfair state and local tax system in the US...
The Evergreen State College celebrated its inauguration and dedication on April 21, 1972 —colliding with a call for a national student strike against escalation of the Vietnam War. Eirik Steinhoff, an Evergreen adjunct faculty member, retrieved Governor Dan Evans’ speech at the event...
An interview with Maria Siguenza, who will run for Position 1 of Washington’s 22nd Legislative District. The seat is now occupied by Laurie Dolan who has announced her retirement at the end of this term.