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.…
Posts published in “–”
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…
Climate change in Washington State has long been a divisive issue cutting deeply across partisan lines. Debates rage over the cost of fuels, the growth of clean energy, and how we can distribute the benefits of an ever-cleaner economy most equitably. Emerging from this divide, however, is a new front.…
Help! I am not an economist. It should not be necessary for all of us in America to be “national debt economists.” This is why we have a—branch government. To oversee our budget—our tax dollars. Unfortunately one of the parties, the supposedly fiscal conservative Republicans, with the help of lobbyists…
Six months ago, in the February 2019 issue of WIP, Linda Orgel reported on a meeting Congressman Derek Kilmer held to discuss economic development in Grays Harbor County. Orgel’s aim in writing was to question the dominant paradigm imposed on rural areas in the name of economic development. She stated…
Willem Van Spronsen, 69, was shot and killed around 4 am on July 13 by police officers outside the Northwest Detention Center, a private immigration detainment facility in Tacoma, WA. We are printing his statement, made public after his death, because reading it forces us to think about the way…
Olympia Assembly As the Abolish ICE movement erupts again, private prison corporations that contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain migrants are feeling the heat. GEO Group and CoreCivic, who together exert near duopolistic power over the private prison sector, have been hit by a wave of bank…
Stand Up for Kids aims to help Thurston County’s vulnerable youth through a unique approach to support. This entails more than just handing out resources and saying, “God bless you”— not that this isn’t also productive. But much more is needed at this time because the homeless population is under…
An urgency to address climate change by a group of tenacious middle and high schoolers was on display July 13 when about 50 people gathered for a rally at the state capitol to share their hopes and fears about life during climate uncertainty, calling listeners to stay engaged in the…
This September 15, the Estuarium is celebrating 11 years of its SSEA, the Sound Cruise! Join them for an amazing day on the water, discussing large marine mammals and enjoying tasty treats and a no host bar. Enjoy a day aboard My Girl celebrating our unique and beautiful estuary ecosystem. Expand your…
Before we can think about “sustaining” the world for the future, we must actively repair the environmental and social damages inflicted by our precursors, from which we have benefitted comprehensively. As designers, planners, and clients of the built environment, we need a more integrated, accountable and proactive approach, one that…
YWCA Olympia is pleased to announce that nominations for their Annual Womxn & Business of Achievement awards will be accepted from now to Friday, August 23, 2019 at 5:00 pm. Established in 1994, the YWCA Olympia Womxn of Achievement Award is one of the most prestigious honors for womxn...
Will the B-Team achieve its goal of war with Iran? With the United Kingdom and Iran in the midst of a tense and dangerous standoff after the tit-for-tat seizure of oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, international observers are warning that the British government has fallen into a trap…
In decades past, we were taught to save the trees. As it turns out, it is we who need the trees to save us. The most current report from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recommends adding a billion hectares of additional forests to the earth’s surface to help…
I suggest you take a look at the parks that Evergreen has completed in the past few years and your concerns will be no more. They train the volunteers well and there are no issues with building trails in any location. They have helped fix hiking trails that have fallen…
Our roving researcher Any organization can be thought of as a pyramid: the base, the largest area, is made up of low to mid-level employees who go about their jobs, doing whatever the level of managers above them dictates. It is only at the very top of each pyramid, the…
None of the positive changes that have improved our nation’s political or social lives were gifts from Congress or big business. Women’s right to vote, labor unions, environmental laws, civil rights advances for many kinds of people, and other accomplishments were won only because of smart, courageous nonviolent grassroots organizing.…
Dear Mayor Selby and members of the Olympia City Council – We strongly urge you to support and approve the Missing Middle Housing recommendations in their entirety. We represent diverse organizations and interests in Olympia, and are writing to show our shared and common support for the Missing Middle Housing…
In the July WIP, we reported that the state of Washington had created and funded a new office to ensure that businesses lived up to federal laws prescribing protections for temporary agricultural workers (guest workers) hired under H-2A rules. Agricultural operators are allowed to bring in these temp workers only…
Producing, transporting and liquefying natural gas is acknowledged to produce high levels of carbon, but due to technology and new fields, it’s now possible to produce an abundance of natural gas. Getting it to far away markets means liquefying it. Back in February, WIP reported on plans for new LNG…
Sasquatch revealed!... Night out for Safety and Liberation... Economic Investment Initiative... Grand Oly Opry... It takes a farm to throw a party!... Stories in the Dark... Sierra Club picnic... Family Movie Night... Ice Cream Social... more...
The community we want to build: For all practical purposes we live in a society fixated on increasing the economic value of those who are already wealthy by decreasing the economic value of the other humans. The success of the first project requires the completion of the second: the two states are directly proportional to each other....
Our June issue was about the huge gap between how much money people have to live on, and the developers’ firm belief in expensive housing. We included a photo of the Rants Group’s planned
luxury condos in downtown Olympia.
I came home to Olympia in late May after a trip to Ireland and began to see the Olympia skyline. Yes, the 7-story 123 4th Ave building was still there with its noodle shop, empty retail spaces and rumors of vacancies, but now the 9 story, 138-unit Mistake by the…
The best food is often hidden away in the corners of nondescript strip malls. These types of family-run multi-generational businesses must work hard to stay ahead of corporate outlets. They succeed by connecting with the community and by reflecting the values of their employees and customers, in contrast with bland…
Somewhat quietly, the next generation of wireless technology, 5G (for 5th Generation), is sprouting up in cities around the globe. At this juncture, communities would ideally be given the opportunity to weigh in on these fundamental questions. Do people want this kind of future? What impact will this technology have…
Works in Progress invited the unknown challengers for Olympia City Council races to submit a statement about their positions. Three candidates replied...