Olympia lost beloved community member Hali Panneton on March 12, 2020. Hali was 63 and passed unexpectedly at home from a cardiac event. Due to limitations on gatherings during the pandemic, her memorial celebration was held this summer on June 22, which is Hali’s date of birth. Hali was a…
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India Walton—a self-described democratic socialist, former nurse, and founding executive director of Fruit Belt Community Land Trust—shocked the Buffalo NY establishment by defeating four-term incumbent Mayor Byron Brown in the Democratic Party primary by a seven percentage-point margin (51.9 percent to 44.8 percent). If Walton prevails in November, she will…
On a misty, cool Saturday morning, vendors at the Olympia Farmers Market begin their weekly routine of arranging produce, preparing their displays and drinking their coffee before the market opens.
WIP still has funds from our “Readers Review” grant. Each month we publish a list of books (see below). If you’d like to be considered to review one of them, email us and put BOOK REVIEW in the subject line. We will buy the book (or reimburse you if you…
I don’t know how the mud flats...or how the prairie grasses.
Those who grew up in Westside Olympia during the 50s through the 70s had few restraints on the length and breadth of their society. The Null Set was a particular sort of offbeat joint for our band of underage youths to partake in an Olympia underground of poets, artists, musicians…
Before there were Dollar Stores, before there were Starbucks, before there were cinemas in the Mall, before there were Target and Walmart and Netflix—there were three towns with quirky entrepreneurs and room for everyone. We grabbed some memories from Reddit and elsewhere to give you a hint of what we’re…
Getting to this point took extensive effort by individuals in the community, including a final hurdle last winter.
In 2017, the new owner of a retired Washington State Ferry arranged to moor the vessel at the Port of Olympia’s Marine Terminal while he arranged to take it to the Caribbean. The Florida businessman had no previous involvement with boats. Three years later, the Evergreen State Ferry was still…
Railroads are grappling with a weird phenomenon that is a combination of “labor shortages” and 12.6 million people still claiming some form of unemployment compensation, amid stimulus-fueled demand.
Not much news about working people makes the news. We hear about the stock market every day: Dow Jones—up today! Lookin’ good. Oops, Nasdaq—down today! Disappointing result. Oops, S&P-500, up, as investors look past poor economic data. And drilling into our brains despite us. On the other hand, we have…
...remember how the City Council ...remember how two votes make a majority ...In a victory for the climate
It’s hot and the water is cool and wet! A new spray park in Olympia’s Westside has become a gathering place for people from nearby neighborhoods. From toddlers to elementary schoolers and up—that’s the action in Woodruff Park this summer. There’s a picnic shelter, restrooms and trees making enough shade…
It’s like Chatham Strait writes in his article about the Evergreen State ferry moored at the Port of Olympia. The boat is daily decaying at its berth, but to us it looks the same as it looked 66 years ago.
Art ‘N The Alley * Music at West Central Park * Empowerment camp for girls * Tour of Bigelow House * Women’s Rights Day * Trees Action Group * Olympia City Council * Regenerative bioregional culture project * Free movies and stuff on the waterfront * South Sound senior centers* Glen’s Parallax Perspectives
BACKPAGE: Key tax rules. Who really pays the taxes.
THOUGHTS ON THE THEME: What does it mean, “the ballot or the bullet”? When we first thought of the theme for the July issue, we were thinking about Malcolm X’s declaration that 1964 “would be the year of the ballot or the bullet.”
INTERVIEW: Christine Yorba is part of a coalition of educators from the North Thurston Public Schools (NTPS) working for meaningful teaching around equity and anti-racism. She recently talked to WIPster Matt Crichton about her experiences with the implementation of that goal at NTPS.
…attention 3 Percenters and Proud Boys.... ...a new tactic to nullify the First Amendment right... ...with friends like this... ...just stop complaining!... ...Jeff needs help with childcare!... …One dollar, one vote...
Six Thurston County artists with the support of Thurston Climate Action Team (TCAT) met with members of the public on June 26 to imagine and plan for a large climate justice mural to be painted in Olympia in the coming year.
Toward a happier, healthier community Each year, the Community Sustaining Fund (CSF) awards funds to local groups based on applications in the Spring and Fall. The Fund is supported primarily by people contributing via the “Round Up at the Register’’ option at the Olympia Food Co-op; and in recent years…
Resisting nuclear build-up at the ballot box—or in the street Citizens of Washington State consistently vote for government officials who support building and stationing nuclear weapons in our state. In the 1970s, Senator Henry Jackson convinced the Pentagon to locate the Trident submarine base on Hood Canal. Senator Warren Magnuson…
I think back to instances where the real state of America, so flagrantly defined, stood unabashedly before us, baring itself for all to see. I often referred to my husband’s favorite sports team as “Team Xbox” which caused unrest in our home. I could not stand the corporate take-over of…
The Farm Workforce Modernization Act would likely lead to enormous increases in the number of workers brought to the US by growers.
Washington is known for having a strong economy; however, even before the pandemic, one in four Washingtonians struggled to make ends meet. Obscured by the one in four number is the fact that those who are Black, indigenous or people of color in Washington are sometimes two to three times as likely to live in deep poverty as those who are white.
WIP still has funds from our “Readers Review” grant. Each month we publish a list of books (see right column). If you’d like to be considered to review one of them, email us and put BOOK REVIEW in the subject line. We will buy the book (or reimburse you if…
BOOK REVIEW: If you were walking by your favorite independent bookstore and saw the title Mirage of Police Reform: Procedural Justice and Police Legitimacy, by Robert E. Worden and Sarah J. McLean, you might think what awaited you between the covers would be a look at the many cycles of proposed police reform of the past few decades.