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Posts published in “Issue: December 2022

Community Spotlight — December 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 ...

Hostages to the future — Thoughts on the Theme — December 2022

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…

Then this happened — December 2022

…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...

Home so far away

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.

Will Thurston’s latest climate mitigation plan make the difference?

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.

Tiny homes at Quixote Village get a big solar boost

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.

Tenant protests force developer to pay $26,500 in relocation assistance to families

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. 

Black eye for the left

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.

Thank you from the Estuarium

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.

Reader Alert!

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…

Racial disparities in WA homeownership are greater today than in the 1960s

A new Washington state report highlights the stark reality that black and indigenous people, and people of color (BIPOC) would need to buy more than 140,000 houses in the state to achieve parity with white homeownership on a percentage basis. The housing gap is even more significant today than in the 1960s, when housing discrimination and redlining were legal.

Blue Heron becomes a Co-op

Another Co-Opportunity! Blue Heron Bakery, which has successfully served the South Sound community and beyond for over 45 years, will become a community-owned cooperative in 2023. The bakery joins an increasing number of successful businesses operating as co-ops, to the benefit of both workers and consumers. “Our intention is to…

Haki Farms Collective

The Haki Farmers Collective was founded by Mercy Kakutani-McGee and her daughter Elisa as a continuation of the work started by elders who called the valleys of Kandara, Kenya home.

Discover Olympia’s hidden histories

On October 7, several “Olympia Hidden Histories” self-guided walking tours were introduced to the public. The multimedia walking tours are a collaboration of student authors and faculty at The Evergreen State College, with the “Walls Tell Stories, Olympia” project of Art Forces and Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice.

Building a relationship between the Nisqually Tribe and North Thurston Schools

Partnering with the Nisqually tribe, the North Thurston School District plans to develop a course in the traditional Lushootseed language with the goal of offering it at River Ridge High School starting in the 2023-2024 school year. Works in Progress correspondent Margaret Thomas met with Nisqually Tribal Chairman Willie Frank III in his office this fall to talk about Lushootseed in the schools. Excerpts from their 40-minute conversation appear below.

An insatiable desire for warehouse land

The new economy shows up in proposals to expand airports, or build new ones, as cargo planes crowd out passenger flights. It has also created a seemingly insatiable demand for more and more rural and agricultural land to be rezoned for industry and warehousing. This race for space looms over the whole country and Thurston County is no exception.