The theme of this issue came from a line in a Robert Frost poem: “Before I built a wall, I’d ask to know / What I was walling in or walling out…” When our cover illustrator Aicha El Beloui read that line, she thought about a Tetris: “It is one…
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Your comments are needed at the BOCC public hearing on Tuesday February 7th at 5:30 pm, either by Zoom or in-person at the Atrium Facility, 3000 Pacific Ave
We, the undersigned, are residents of the Westside of Olympia. We intend to be part of the “robust analysis and public engagement” that Mayor Selby indicated will be part of the City of Olympia’s Subarea planning effort. The City is scheduled to begin this effort in March, 2022.
Cougar Theater ♦ String & Shadow Puppet Theater ♦ Center for Responsible Forestry ♦ Rosie’s Place ♦ LOTT Treatment Plant ♦ Traditions Fair Trade ♦ South Sound Progressive Alliance ♦ Olympia Lamplighters ♦ Orca Books ♦ Brotherhood Lounge ♦ TOGETHER ...
…police accountability took a hit . …the City of Olympia posted an opening for an entry-level police officer …one year after it was filed, a citizen petition denied...
REFLECTION: The vistas are stunning. The Olympics to the west and the Cascades to the east, blue sky reflected in waters of the Sound, houses dotting evergreen-filled hills. The air is crisp, hints of salt water mixed with musk of western hemlock, Douglas fir, red cedar. Mt. Baker and Mt. Rainier stand regally as reminders of roiling powers deep below rich farmland.
The Haki Farmers Collective was founded by Mercy Kakutani-McGee and her daughter Elisa as a continuation of the work started by elders who called the valleys of Kandara, Kenya home.
On October 7, several “Olympia Hidden Histories” self-guided walking tours were introduced to the public. The multimedia walking tours are a collaboration of student authors and faculty at The Evergreen State College, with the “Walls Tell Stories, Olympia” project of Art Forces and Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice.
Instead of seeing a legacy forest while driving north on Cooper Point Road in Olympia, you now see a devastated clearcut landscape and a large sign for OlyEcosystems, the new owner. They have already begun stabilization and restoration of the property with two community work parties that began planting trees…
Partnering with the Nisqually tribe, the North Thurston School District plans to develop a course in the traditional Lushootseed language with the goal of offering it at River Ridge High School starting in the 2023-2024 school year. Works in Progress correspondent Margaret Thomas met with Nisqually Tribal Chairman Willie Frank III in his office this fall to talk about Lushootseed in the schools. Excerpts from their 40-minute conversation appear below.
BOOK REVIEW: One of the pleasures of reading detective novels is getting to know the setting. Sara Paretsky’s detective series, which features V.I. Warshawski, exposes new sides of Chicago. The same is true with Cara Black‘s series, featuring Aimee Leduc, which is set in Paris...
The new economy shows up in proposals to expand airports, or build new ones, as cargo planes crowd out passenger flights. It has also created a seemingly insatiable demand for more and more rural and agricultural land to be rezoned for industry and warehousing. This race for space looms over the whole country and Thurston County is no exception.
Renowned sociologist Francis Fox Piven shared a somber analysis with The Guardian on Nov. 25, 2022: “I don’t think the fight over elemental democracy is over, by any means. The United States was well on the road to becoming a fascist country—and it still can become a fascist country.” Large-scale…
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.
South Puget Sound Habitat for Humanity last month hosted a Home Dedication for two families moving into homes they helped to build with their own hands. The Deyoe Vista community in Lacey is brought to life by hundreds of volunteers and donors each year...
POETRY: True peace is served by shattering our illusions with the stone of Truth....
GUEST COLUMN: Thirty-nine suspects remain in the United States’ prison on Guantánamo Bay, or “GITMO” as it’s commonly known. And nobody can reasonably predict when, if ever, they will be freed.
On April 6, the Washington State Commissioner of Public Lands launched an unprecedented carbon leasing project. The first of its kind on state trust lands, this initiative enters ecologically valuable forests into leases to generate revenue for trust land beneficiaries by reserving them for carbon storage uses.