Frustrated by the lack of local, state, and federal action to address the climate emergency, in 2019 a group of local activists set out to create tangible change.
Posts published in “Issue: January 2022”
After the year we just had, asking readers where they find light may sound like a maddening and unanswerable Zen koan. And honestly, given our species’ epic capacity for self-delusion and antipathy, abandoning a trope as shopworn as darkness giving way to light seems justifiable.
Media Island’s low-power radio station KOWA is no more. No turning the dial to 106.5 and getting an earful of great Pacifica Radio programs. Years ago, when the operators at Media Island had problems with their transmitter, they moved it from Black Hills into town. They never found a suitable…
You could tell the independent oil men by their pinkie rings. The Big Oil guys wore expensive brown suits and conservative ties.
One month after Governor Inslee lifted the Eviction Moratorium on October 31, 2021, only 12 cases were filed in Thurston Superior Court. This is less than the number of cases filed in October when the moratorium was in effect.
PERSPECTIVE: I ask that we consider a thing called a ‘Reasonable Accommodation’ standard. It says, in effect, that we must make some accommodations for the needs of others who may be at risk....
INTERVIEW: Peter Sanderson is a licensed marriage and family therapist who practices in both Thurston and Mason Counties. He participates among other things in 3 of the state’s five Medicaid Managed Care plans. He was interviewed by Matt Crichton for Works in Progress in December 2021....
BOOK REVIEW: Rauch reminds readers repeatedly that truth isn’t what I think, or what you think. Truth is what we think, a fragile consensus based on current evidence and always subject to revision.
The Roe v Wade decision said that there is no possible way that the framers in the 16 uses of the word “person” in the Constitution could have been thinking about embryos or fetuses. What is not in dispute is that women are people under the Constitution.
In the first two weeks of December, around 700 worker health advocates made their way (online) to the 10th annual COSHCON—Council on Occupational Safety and Health Conference.
Eleven ghostly souls braved the elements on December 4 to underscore the city’s lethargy in implementing the Thurston Climate Mitigation Plan. Adopted in all jurisdictions of Thurston County last year, the plan lists over 70 action items that must be completed within the next decade to maximize adaptation and preparation…
The continuing quest by local attorney Burgess and City staffers to turn a toxic waste site into a housing development This summer, the President of the Economic Development Council, the legal counsel for the Thurston Chamber of Commerce’s public policy advocacy arm, the former Port of Olympia attorney and the…
RETHINKING EVERYTHING #14: I was a teacher at the pioneering Small School in Devon [England] which opened in 1982 and closed in 2017. Pupils ranging from eleven to sixteen were offered a broad, balanced program of academic, creative and practical activities.
REFLECTION: When the Capital One credit card “campaign” was launched in 2001, we were besieged with the phrase “what’s in your wallet”? I was really annoyed by this question and horrified by such offensive messaging....
A day after yet another tragic school shooting, I just finished teaching a criminology class about gun violence and how to reduce it in the US. I found that my students have many misconceptions about the scope and nature of the problem. I believe they are not alone, and that…
Set a livable minimum wage across the economy, and make real food more accessible. Hungry people who work hard and long are the ones who must buy fast food, cheap meat and junk food. Lift the prosperity of working-class Americans while supplying the market with affordable and healthy alternatives instead of…
Theresa Mosqueda of Olympia was one of three sponsors of a Seattle City Council program that awarded up to $835 per childcare worker to over 3,500 childcare providers in Seattle. In her regular news to residents of the city where she serves, Mosqueda said that the money is “an important…
REFLECTION: Fire has been central to our existence as humans since the time before time. Fire helped to bind us to each other. This is where I find light.
When I moved to Olympia in the spring of 2000 the musical landscape was considerably more active than we find it today. Local labels K Records and Kill Rock Stars were at the height of their power and influence...
Covid Testing, Mon-Fri, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm, Next to the old Greyhound bus station, 7th and Capitol Way S. in downtown Olympia
Dear WIP, The article “Elected officials in Thurston County begin allocating new federal funds,” in the November/December issue, is an encouraging example of watchdog journalism...
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…
Download as PDF A commercial fire in Olympia on December 15 took three hours to extinguish. A small 2-story building that housed several unique small businesses and an apartment had water damage in addition to structural damage. No one was injured, but everyone must find a new place to live…