Soon after Biden took office, Congress passed the American Rescue Plan Act (ARP Rescue Plan). Thurston County jurisdictions will share a windfall of over $82 million in “fiscal recovery funds.”
Posts published in “Issue: December 2021”
Whether it’s permanent refuge for undocumented immigrants, sustainable housing for low-income people, creating zones of protection from electromagnetic frequencies, or making sure habitats remain intact for native species, contributors to our theme of “Gimme Shelter” make it clear they understand the primacy of shelter and that safe haven is the right of all sentient beings.
...a happy ending! ...never-ending ...never enough?
Growth was still the grail at the Thurston Economic Development Council’s Real Estate Forum on Oct 7. Specifically, growth in the commercial and industrial sector --with opportunities for South Sounders to make money in related real estate development.
Dear Lord, my latest high-rise plan is this...
The challenge by real estate to take direct control of the City Council failed as City voters rejected the candidacies of Spence Weigand, Robbi Kesler, Cory Gauny and Candace Mercer in the general election, as well as Wendy Carlson’s candidacy in the primary.
The Olympia City Council in June approved a Housing Action Plan that lists specific actions the City will take to ensure our housing supply is adequate and affordable for the people who live here now and in the future. It also lists actions the Council considered but decided to exclude…
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…
Olympia planners must awaken to two things if they hope to fundamentally shift the affordable housing landscape of our city: our bioregional climate reality and the viability of cryptocurrency and related technologies.
Are there any low income housing complexes in Olympia? Where are they, how much do they charge and are there any projects under construction?
When Becky* unlocked the door to her room at the SafePlace Emergency Shelter, she described it as the first time she could remember having a place she could relax enough to rest. Her home life had become so dangerous that she’d taken to sleeping in a car to avoid her…
I have been an immigration lawyer for more than 30 years. My work has always been mainly to help people inside the US to secure permanent legal status. Most of my clients have been or are currently part of an undocumented class. Some have been in deportation proceedings—the government actively…
BOOK REVIEW: Somebody Else’s Dream: Dakota, The Buoys, & “Timothy” by rock journalist Maxim W. Furek celebrates the 50th anniversary of the 1971 song “Timothy” and the legendary Satsop River Fair & Tin Cup Races Festival....
For over six years farmers, development interests and conservation advocates eagerly waited for a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP). This 30-year plan will cover the entireThurston County outside the cities’ urban growth area. It targets four endangered animals—the Mazama pocket gopher, Oregon vesper sparrow, Oregon spotted frog, and Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly.…
A small section of the Chehalis River is easily viewed from I-5 between Centralia and Chehalis, but this river is much more. To start with, it is the largest watershed completely within the boundaries of Washington State. It’s a watershed of immense reach, 2,700 square miles in area, with over…
We are moving from a world in which individual choice and competition made sense to one in which collective choice and cooperation are necessary, not because ideologies have changed but because both the problems we face and the nature of the resources required to solve them have changed...
This is the story of how the Thurston Housing Land Trust (THLT) was able to offer its first affordable home to a low-income family on Olympia’s westside. Community Land Trusts provide a model for our community to assure people in low-or-moderate income households that they can own a home.
Despite these blue sky promises, a proposal to revise the code governing deployment of wireless towers alarmed residents of rural Thurston County this fall...
In Thinking Like a Terrorist, published in 2008, Mike German proposes a Government Accountability Scale ranging from “fascism” to a “free government”...
Early in the pandemic, state and federal governments enacted moratoriums to prevent eviction of tenants for nonpayment of rent. People losing jobs, losing wage-earners, and losing childcare were falling behind on rent. The moratoriums meant that at least they wouldn’t lose their homes. The moratorium ended in Thurston County on…
BOOK REVIEW: "No Good Men Among the Living: America, the Taliban and the War Through Afghan Eyes" explains everything about the US occupation and how it avidly pursued its own failure.
Governor Inslee’s vaccine mandates are widely credited with increasing the overall vaccination rate for our state. According to the WA Department of Health, as of November 8, 2021, 79.6% of our state population aged 12 and up have received at least one dose and 73.5% are fully vaccinated. Inslee is…
Three years ago, 47 states (all but California, West Virginia, and Mississippi) allowed either philosophical or religious exemptions to school vaccine requirements – including New York. New York didn’t allow philosophical exemptions but did allow parents to avoid vaccinating their kids for school by declaring that they held a “genuine and…
Download as PDF Harlequin Theater performances Until the Flood, through Sat., Dec 4. . This riveting play uses a series of staged interviews to explore the uprising in Ferguson, Mo. following the shooting of Michael Brown. A Christmas Carol, through Dec. 31. Lots of special effects make this holiday classic…