Posts published in “Uncategorized”

Voters have choice in Port Commission race Sue Gunn plans to engage community participation in Port of Olympia decisions Desdra Dawning In November, the citizens of Thurston County will be given the opportunity to voice their concerns and select a new direction for the Port of Olympia. On the ballot…

Showing at the Olympia Film Society Capitol Theater on Fifth Avenue in downtown Olympia Dirty Wars August 2 – August 7 Many Americans aren’t even acquainted with a front-line soldier. That’s because the skirmishes that journalist Jeremy Scahill has termed “dirty wars” are fought in the shadows by small numbers…

You would never know from its webpage. On the internet Green Hill School  in Chehalis, Washington, appears like any other educational institution. Its website has several lush pictures of flowers and an open green grass campus. It has a banal plaque which simply says: “Green Hill School Established 1889,” nothing…

A unique farm worker struggle emerges in Washington State Devon Peña http://ejfood.blogspot.com/2013/07/sakuma-brothers-unique-farm-worker.html When Israel compensated Germans for land in Palestine Rosemarie M. Esber http://electronicintifada.net/content/when-israel-compensated-germans-land-palestine/12512 King County Metro plans to run hate group’s false bus ad Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign http://www.seamac.org/press.htm Reducing government debt burdens through bond buy backs Center for…

From school funding to student loans, low-income youth face disproportionately high barriers The United States has the 17th best education system in the world, according to a recent study conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit. A variety of metrics were used to quantify success, including international test scores, graduation rates…

The past 200 years of rapid industrial growth and technological development have impacted the planet and humanity tremendously. Largely fueled by the extraction of fossil fuels, (and other extractive industries, including financials,) aided by petrochemical based materials in technology, transportation and agriculture, both human population and the collective mass of…

photo by Joel Kluger Love Our Local Fest 2013 Celebrate Our Gifts ~ Cultivate Community ~ Dwell in Possibility Daniel A Landin Trillium Power Productions is thrilled to invite you to the third annual Love Our Local Fest! This free event will take place at the intersection of San Francisco…

No—a 2012 Chilean drama film directed by Pablo Larraín The verisimilitude of fiction Enrique Quintero This article is dedicated to F. Gangotena, who in his early twenties went to Chile to support Salvador Allende and was assassinated by Pinochet’s army. In 1988, after 15 years of a CIA backed coup…

The “Pennies for Wendy’s” project Gar W. Lipow Why were labor activists on the street at Lakefair, Saturday July 21, asking fairgoers to donate a penny to the Wendy’s fast food chain? Wendy’s is the largest fast food outlet refusing to pay an extra cent per pound for tomatoes. That…

UPDATE: The legal proceedings have ended. More information has been posted at Janine’s Little Hollywood, and www.scottysupport.blogspot.com ——— [Editorial note:  This article was modified due to space constraints.] The motion to dismiss a felony case against Scott Yoos, an Olympia man who is mute, was denied yesterday by Thurston County…

In the 2010s, new “unlikely alliances” of Native peoples and their rural white neighbors are standing strong against fossil fuel and mining projects. In the Great Plains, grassroots coalitions of Native peoples and white ranchers and farmers (including the aptly named “Cowboy and Indian Alliance”) are blocking the Keystone XL…

In the fall of 2006, I had been a live-in volunteer at Bread & Roses in Olympia, Washington for about three years. That’s three years of experiencing and witnessing the direct effects of homelessness in the lives of people whom I had come to care for and love. Daily, they…

December is wet and bone-chilling in Seattle. So, imagine climbing from bed two hours early to catch three busses to work. Welcome to the reality of commuting in the wake of public transit cuts. In the dark of an early morning commute, a bus rider told me this horror story…

Since only rich kids can afford to go to college these days, as a public service I recently advised college-age youth of the educational opportunities that are available to them through the federal prison system, where they can learn the skills that they will need to survive the future in…

Response to article supporting  genetically modified crops The article in the April WIP entitled “Biology Fortified, Inc: At the vanguard of the Green Movement and Beyond” by Marco Rosaire Rossi states the benefits of GMOs but not so clearly the risks. Benefits include, for example, less use of insecticides and…

Matt Fu I have travelled our country over two dozen times, typically on tour with my music on mass transit and month-long greyhound passes. I love the Real America I have come to know so well, the people and the places, the towns and spirit that hum so vibrantly in…

The Student Support Services Staff Union (SSSSU) of The Evergreen State College went on strike Tuesday, May 28, following a 45-5 Sunday vote for this action. The SSSSU represents over 50 workers at the college, including academic advisers, counselors, coaches, and more. They have been in negotiations mediated by the…

Dear readers, for over twenty years, Works in Progress has been Olympia’s trusted source of local, independent media. Grounded in a tradition of grassroots organizing, we’ve stood steadfast in our commitment to providing outstanding coverage of local social justice issues, and giving space to topics typically ignored in the corporate…

Olympia gun control advocates take matters into their own hands Evelyn Gunn A pressure group that advocates tighter gun control has launched a campaign to strengthen background checks on those applying for firearms. The initiative was launched after authorities in the state failed to act on the issue, declining a…