Stephanie Johnson, Arts & Events manager, City of Olympia The City of Olympia Parks, Arts & Recreation’s Poet Laureate Program and Intercity Transit are launching a new collaborative project, “Poetry Rides the Bus.” Through this project, transit riders have the opportunity to discover 22 different poems, written by local community…
Posts published by “Bethany Weidner”
From the annals of folk wisdom One day, a buyer came to a town looking for raccoons! He announced that he would buy raccoons for $100 each. The people of the town thought, this guy is crazy. Why would somebody buy wild raccoons at $100 each? Still, some of the…
April 6-8 in Chicago Grassroots union activists, worker center leaders, and all-around troublemakers gather for workshops and meetings at the Labor Notes annual conference. Join thousands of union members, officers, and labor activists More than 100 meetings and workshops • Organize with others in your union, industry, or campaign •…
Return your ballot on the Home Fund and School Levy vote any day up to Feb. 13 3rd Annual Eye-2-Eye Dinner Fundraiser Fri. Feb. 2, 5:00 PM, at St Michael’s Catholic Parish, 1208 11th Ave SE, Olympia. Celebrate the nightly shelter run by Interfaith Works. Tickets $65 single, & up. To…
Puyallup Water Warriers & Redefine Tacoma JAN 26, 2018 — On Tuesday, January 23, Northwest Tribes gathered at the Washington State Capitol for American Indian Lobby Day. A Puyallup Tribal elder prayed over your signatures and messages before they were delivered to Governor Inslee’s office. Afterwards we gathered in the Rotunda…
The Water Protectors were right! In our March 2017 issue, we reported on the Water Protectors protesting the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) crossing beneath the Missouri River, and predicting that the pipeline would leak and eventually contaminate essential water resources. Nevertheless, the pipeline owners got the go-ahead…
Matt Lester interviews Samia Saliba Tell me about the demonstration that you organized on December 10th. It was in response to Trump’s announcement about moving the capital and the embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv. I felt there needed to be a response. A call to action was…
A letter from Emily Lardner to the Community: My son Sam Jessup will be sentenced in North Dakota in February for driving Michael Foster to a valve site so that he could turn off the pipeline bringing Alberta tar sands oil to the US. Sam filmed it. He’s been convicted…
There are lots of ways to help: becoming a full-fledged foster parent, signing up to offer “respite care” and give foster parents a break, joining one of the groups that support foster parents or act as mentors to youth, working in the legislative arena to promote laws that help keep…
From news releases On January 19, Governor Inslee signed a 2017-19 capital budget with $4.17 billion in total spending and $2.72 billion in bonds. The budget was passed after a year’s delay when legislators agreed to new rules governing small water wells. The capital budget plan prioritizes K-12 school construction…
INEQUALITY Resources of this earth are here for all life. Nature never intended hoarders to accumulate and keep enough for a thousand lifetimes while others go hungry and unsheltered. Squirrels only put away enough for a year or two. Human toleration of this disease can be short tempered. This inequality…
King Tide Fri, Jan 5. 8:00- 10:00 am. The Harbor House on the waterfront in Olympia. Contact Mike Coday, envirotalk@yahoogroups.com New Skills for Liberation and Ending Oppression Fri-Sat, Jan 5-6, 9 am -5 pm. Workshop presented by Backbone Campaign, Sliding scale $155-$500. On Vashon Island – location info upon registration. Register…
Just Housing Advocacy Group The Jungle, known to some of its residents as the Jungle of Hope, is home to between 150 and 200 people living in a wooded area between Pacific Avenue and Martin Way. It is Olympia’s largest encampment of houseless community members, including people who have…
Palestinian poet Dareen Tatour is seen in an Israeli courtroom with her family and supporters before a hearing in the northern city of Nazareth on November 20. Tatour was arrested in a pre-dawn raid on her home on October 11, 2015 for a poem she published on social media. She…
The recent US Senate election in Alabama focused some attention on the fact that “felons” (or at least some felons) in Alabama) can—and did—vote. If you want to see who these people might be, to find out what makes a person a felon—or what crime constitutes a felony—don’t expect any…
Hang out with us! You’re welcome to come to any of our monthly potlucks in 2018. Our multigenerational community potlucks for LGBTQ+ folks and allies have definitely been a highlight of 2017: it has been great to feast, share food, and learn from discussion with community members of all ages…
To the Readers of WIP: In 1906, Congress passed the Antiquities Act and President Theodore Roosevelt signed it into law. This Act established the authority of a president to create national monuments to protect certain public lands and waters for historical, cultural, natural or scientific reasons. As an aside, these…
Olympia WA—A climate justice coalition identified as Olympia Stand has staged a blockade of an oil fracking train departing from the Port of Olympia. The protesters have constructed a camp along the tracks at 7th and Jefferson St. in downtown Olympia. The action comes upon the one–year anniversary of a…
Tree lighting ceremony. Friday, December 1, 5 pm Capitol Building Rotunda. Olympia motorcycle toy run Sat, December 2. Gather at South Sound Center at 10 am, take off at 1 pm. Contribute toys for run at Obee Credit Union, 400 Cooper Point Rd SW, or Generations Credit Union ,…
Peter Bohmer interviewed by Mark Lester What is the Universal Basic Income? The Universal Basic Income (UBI) is getting increasing attention in the United States, in particular from Silicon Valley, and many other countries in the world. The idea of the universal basic income is that every resident in a society would…
Dear WIP, The October issue of WIP carried an introduction to the ProTruth Pledge. The pledge is designed by social scientists to encourage truth in politics. In the political arena today, people seem to have little incentive to tell the truth. In fact, the two local candidates who had signed…
Report from a threatened forest Dear WIP and WIP readers, The following plea was transmitted in a phone call from a 20-year old tree sitter perched 80 feet up in the branches of a douglas fir in the Willamette National Forest, near the McKenzie River. Cascadia Forest Defenders are present…
September 2017 marked Leonard Peltier’s 73rd birthday and 42nd year in prison. He is currently held in a high security federal prison in Coleman, Florida –as far as possible in the continental US from any family or community. Peltier has been seriously ill with diabetes and other medical conditions for…
2.3 million people are behind bars in the US—the biggest number in the world. In the 30 years between 1980 and 2010, thanks to the cynical “tough on crime” and “war on drugs” policies implemented in the 1980s the overall prison population grew 11 times faster than the general population.…
[Ed note: Our staff writer reflects on the advice offered by Dr. Barbara Love at the Citizens’ Climate Lobby’s monthly online meeting October 14. Dr. Love is the Professor Emeritus of Social Justice Education at U. Mass–Amherst, recognized internationally for her work on issues of diversity, inclusion and liberation.] Dr.…