The Rape of Orithyia, mountain gale nymph, by Boreas, god of the north wind, a mytho–poetic interpretation of the wrath of the Goddess and her hand in the devastating Marshall Fire, Colorado 2021.
Posts published in “–”
In The Armies of the Night, Norman Mailer writes about going to a big demonstration against the Vietnam War. He isn’t planning to go at all, but a friend calls him up about it. He feels as if he ought to go, though he doesn’t want to. Finally he goes.
In Who Owns the Sun, Environmental activists Berman and O’Connor offer a scathing explanation of why solar technology has played such an insignificant role in meeting America’s energy needs. Politicians, utility companies and even many mainstream environmental groups come under attack for either their lack of leadership on this issue…
CENTER PAGE: We live in an age when ignorance is praised. Ignorance and division are being manufactured on a mass scale. There is essentially an industry teaching us to doubt what we know...
It turns out that if you’re a refugee trying to escape horror and death by coming to the United States via the Mexican border—make sure that you are Ukrainian!
Most Olympia residents would welcome a coffee shop or small grocery store into their neighborhood, yet plans for such Neighborhood Centers have been in talks for years with little to show for it.
As Starbucks reports quarterly profits of $40 billion, they try to quash organizing efforts of baristas and other staff who are voting to unionize for better working conditions. Recently Matt Crichton talked with one of the baristas at the Cooper Point Village Starbucks about the employees’ experience trying to form a union.
Heat, smoke and climate assault have become “new normal” conditions that daily threaten workers, especially in agriculture.
Late in July 2021, the head of Olympia’s Office of Community Vitality requested $200,000 as a new “enhancement” to the City’s operating budget. It would pay for the City to hold a special election in the spring, to put a .1% sales tax increase before voters....
PERSPECTIVE: Ever wonder what a Department of Natural Resources (DNR)–approved clearcut of public forestland looks like after the fact? Our Whatcom County field team got a close look...
Until the last week of this July, there was a forest of 80– to 100–year–old trees in a residential neighborhood, on Cooper Point Road between 20th and 28th Streets.
On July 21, 2022, the Washington State Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling in Conservation Northwest v. Commissioner of Public Lands, the “All the People” case.
BOOK REVIEW: I suppose it will surprise no one to learn that the age–old fight for free speech goes on, and likely will continue as long as there are unpopular ideas...
In May 14, a young white supremacist armed with a semi–automatic assault rifle traveled over 200 miles to the zip code 14208, which seemed an ideal place for implementing his plan to kill black people.
This is not a story about the broad swath of Olympia residents who spend half their income to pay for a place to live. It's about reshaping Olympia for investors.
I’ve always been intrigued by electric cars. I love driving but hate the problems that cars bring—like maintenance and the looming possibility of another expensive thing breaking that I don’t know how to fix. A car is “the gift that keeps on taking.” So, when the State motor pool offered…
The founder and resident kitchen god at Delmonico’s, “Olympia’s only truly artisan butcher shop,” Brian McDonald, who seems to have found his niche after years gaining experience and honing skills in the culinary arts, the food service business, and related pursuits. He says he got his start at home. “My…
Olympia Little Theatre ♦ Harlequin Productions ♦ Community Farmland Trust ♦ Solstice Women’s Retreat ♦ Olympia Fiddle Camp ♦ Living History Museum podcast series ♦ Underground Pop Cassettes ♦ Deschutes Estuary Restoration ♦ Parallax Perspectives ♦ Olympia Free Clinic♦ Queer Body Love
It’s easy to make a pledge to reach “net zero.” It’s much harder to create a credible plan to reach that goal and then execute that plan. Beyond mere pledges, are these companies demonstrating real leadership on climate issues by taking meaningful action?
The Manchester Fuel Department (MFD) is the Department of Defense’s largest single-site fuel terminal in the United States. The depot provides military-grade fuel, lubricants and additives to U.S. Navy and Coast Guard vessels, and to those from allied nations like Canada. Records available from 2017 show over 75 million gallons…
This May issue marks the end of our monthly publishing schedule. We’re taking a break and then beginning a quarterly publication schedule. The next issues of WIP will appear in September 2022, December 2022, March 2023, and June 2023.
WIP editors began working on this issue of the paper with the idea that we would look back at our stories over the past few years to see where there are “loose ends.” What stories did WIP publish about government actions or environmental threats or citizen efforts to improve things—where there needed to be on-going coverage?
Listening to live music is one of the most enduring sources of joy for humans but even though its roots are just as deep and its rewards every bit as satisfying, participatory music-making by non-professionals is hard to find in most communities. Not so in Olympia,...
Twenty percent of Olympia’s registered voters just imposed a sales and use tax on everyone else.
RETHINKING EVERYTHING: The inflation spike of 2021 and 2022 has presented real policy challenges. In order to better understand this policy debate, it is imperative to look at prices and how they are being affected.