On a given Tuesday morning last month, anyone traveling on or around Franklin Street in downtown Olympia would have beheld a curious spectacle.
Posts published in “Issue: June 2021”
Over the past seven years or so, the city of Olympia has offered a variety of incentives to several developers to invest in “market-rate” apartment buildings downtown. One of the most lucrative offers is an 8-year exemption from property taxes for the building’s owner.
Our city leaders keep telling us that building more market rate housing will help moderate real estate prices. More supply brings prices down. Thousands of new housing units have been built in Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater in the last year or so—including many of the sought-after single-family homes. It won’t be long until…
The news lately is that businesses just can’t find people to fill the jobs they’re offering. But it’s not a sign that people don’t want to work, it’s a sign that something is wrong with the American economy. Businesses have become addicted to a low-wage economy—one that contributes daily to…
In Thurston County, the need for advocates for children who have been relinquished to the foster care system is intensifying. Local volunteers who work with children in foster care report that the pandemic has affected children’s welfare in ways that may be unseen.
On Friday, May 7 —just five days ago, though it seems like an eternity—public attention in Israel was totally riveted to the complicated dance of party politics. Prime Minister Netanyahu, facing three serious corruption charges at the Jerusalem District Court, had just failed in his efforts to form a new cabinet.