Racism. White supremacy. White nationalism. So many people are involved in conversations about whether or not President Trump can accurately be called a white supremacist that ABC news saw fit to publish an article providing essential definitions. In her August 19, 2019 article entitled “White supremacy and white nationalism have…
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When Greta Thunberg’s UN speech first hit social media, her fiery words and powerful rhetoric gave me chills and a wave of inspiration. Afterwards, it didn’t take long for the climate justice movement to pick up speed and make its way to the US. When the Youth Climate strike took…
“Human beings and the natural world are on a collision course,” said The Union of Concerned Scientists in their Warning to Humanity issued in 1992. Last October, thousands gathered to peacefully occupy five major bridges over the Thames in London. “We’re the ones we’ve been waiting for,” activists chanted, superglued…
In 1787 Benjamin Franklin was leaving Independence Hall at the close of the Constitutional Convention when a woman asked him what kind of government they had created. Franklin replied, “A Republic, if you can keep it.” .To protect us from tyranny, the nation’s founders created a Constitution with checks and…
This article asks you to imagine a place where elections are so different from what we experience in the US today that it’s almost unthinkable. Imagine election campaigns where candidates try not just to distinguish themselves, but also go out of their way to identify areas of agreement and points…
“There is no public education without a treasure and an educator like Toni Morrison, who gave life to Black consciousness through her words and her influence on generations of writers....
There are more jails and prisons —over 5,000—in the United States than degree-granting colleges and universities. State and local spending on prisons and jails has increased at triple the rate of funding for public education for preschool through grade 12 education in the last three decades,according to a report by the US Department of Education.
“Imagine tree-lined streets enhancing the beauty of your Olympia neighborhood,” read the flyer from the City of Olympia. That was 16 years ago. Since then our SW Olympia neighborhood is on its way to becoming one of the loveliest and most walkable parts of the city. Pacific Sunset maples joined…
Dear WiP, Did the mountain bikers build trails in Kaiser Woods illegally? They certainly do everywhere else in the world that has been infected by that extreme sport. Will the park remain attractive to people and wildlife after being turned into a race track? I doubt it! Will hikers and…
Olympia native Teresa Mosqueda was elected to the Seattle City Council in 2017 with a background as a labor advocate and all-around Pacific Northwesterner. This July Teresa was awarded the Progressive Champion of the Year honor by Local Progress, a national network of elected officials across the country. The award…
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge coastal plain is one of the world’s most extraordinary intact wilderness and wildlife areas by any measure of ecological value or wilderness character. These internationally unique wild natural values have been officially documented and reported through decades of detailed studies and reported by those of…
Part of the work of the present is to prepare for a viable future—and so the Friends of Grays Harbor (FOGH) are passing on a task that has long occupied them—the fight to preserve the waters around Grays Harbor. In 2017 FOGH was the recipient of a Supplemental Environmental Project…
Climate Strike...Electric Vehicle Events... Plant a Tree... Walk for the Salish Sea... Native Plant Nursery... Harvest Party... Grant Writing... GRub Soiree... Detention Lottery live drama... Community Solar... Zine-making and Tabling Training... Jacobin Reading Group.... More
Who’s running the show? Let us give some thought to the idea of how a city gets built. And who has the power to shape how that city gets built. Sometimes it is possible to discover some of the steps that lead to something like the “Missing Middle”—where the idea…
A new trade enterprise is offering local vets a shot at agricultural entrepreneurship using an innovative business model that its creators say will eventually be self-sustaining, able to cede land and graduate a new generation of farmers every five to seven years. Veterans are invited to apply for membership in…
Port of Vancouver thriving under new Commissioner leadership Last year, WIP reported that citizens of Vancouver WA had elected a second opponent of oil terminal development to a seat on their Port Commission. With a two out of three majority that was able to change the direction of the Port.…
Over the objection of many residents, in November of last year the Olympia City Council adopted a zoning ordinance known as the Missing Middle (MM). The ordinance envisioned an era of new multifamily housing development in older, low density neighborhoods of Olympia. During the public comment period before adoption of…
Council member Lisa Parshley made a motion at the November 27, 2018 City Council meeting. Council member Jessica Bateman seconded the motion. All the other Council members voted “aye” —Cooper, Gilman, Jones, Rollins and Selby. With this motion, the Council approved an eight-year property tax exemption for Pat Rants’ 28…
News sources The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) was established by Congress in 1935 as an independent federal agency to protect the right of private sector employees to join together, with or without a union, to improve their wages, benefits and working conditions. The NLRB oversees hundreds of union elections…
A decade and more ago, timber corporations left Grays Harbor—but the people who had given their lives to the timber industry stayed. They stayed in towns where there were no jobs, little housing, few public amenities. They have weathered many storms and taken care of each other for years. Four…
This issue of Works in Progress asks who is in charge. Actually, the question is what is in charge. For several decades a destructive worldview has dominated the US and some parts of the world. We need to replace that with the opposite worldview. A “worldview” is the overall perspective…
Candidates answer: The history of Olympia’s downtown property tax exemption indicates that this subsidy has little or nothing to do with the current construction downtown. The City of Olympia has had a tax exemption available since 1997. No strings attached—the only requirement was to build housing in the downtown core.…
Citizen opposition efforts blocked and criminalized “We the undersigned scientists, doctors, environmental organizations and citizens from 187 countries, urgently call for a halt to the deployment of the 5G (fifth generation) wireless network, including 5G from space satellites. 5G will massively increase exposure to radio frequency (RF) radiation on top…
Lower electric rates Public utilities are able to buy power directly from Bonneville power (BPA) at rates lower than what Puget Sound Energy (PSE) pays wholesale. PSE marks up their wholesale price and retails the power to their customers. Public power residential customers pay about 10% less for their power.…
The Marine Terminal One of the questions for our Port Report series is whether fees and charges that the Port collects from users of their business services produce revenue sufficient to cover their cost. This month’s Report will try to shed some light on that question as it relates to…