Where is Zahid Chaudrey?
Zahid Chaudrey is a Pakistani emigrant, local community activist and disabled US veteran of two American-born children who was detained by ICE during a scheduled court hearing for citizenship, He has been held in the Northwest Detention Center since August. His wife and supporters have been working tirelessly to have him released. His case was transferred from the Ninth Circuit to the federal district court in the Western District of Washington, which has the authority to rule on Zahid’s emergency request for release as early as December 1. For more information about Zahid and his case, visit this link.
Johnson Creek Mine Appeal
Our October issue featured an article about citizens appealing the SEPA process that okayed the expansion of the Johnson Creek Mine in South County. The appeal will be heard by the Board of County Commissioners on December 3 at 3 PM. This may be the last appeal of a Hearing Examiner decision the BOCC will ever hear. Why?
Proposed Change in Thurston Board of County Commissioners’ Appeal Responsibilities
A related article addressed a proposed change in the current appeals process which gives the Board of County Commissioners a say in Hearing Examiner decisions. The new policy would remove the Board from the process entirely so that appeals would go directly to the Superior Court. At a November 18 public hearing on the subject, many members of the public spoke in favor of retaining the current policy, as appeals to the Superior Court cost tens of thousands of dollars, making justice inaccessible to those unable to pay. Also, there are tremendous hurdles taking a case to the Superior Court, where the judge must give deference to the Hearing Examiner decision. As of this writing, it appears that the Board is divided in its decision, with Commissioners Menser and Mejia standing opposed and Commissioners Grant and Clouse in favor of retaining current policy. There is still time in the next week to comment to the Commissioners before an upcoming vote on the matter.
Update on Litigation to Save the Davis-Meeker Oak
The struggle to save the famous Davis Meeker Oak tree next to the Olympia airport was covered in WIP’s July, 2024, January 2025 and March 2025 issues… and the drama continues. There is continued litigation to save the tree. It’s been saved in the short run, this is true. (Click here for more information), but supporters are aiming for the long run. They will be filing a motion for summary judgment and the hearing has already been scheduled for 9am in front of Judge Egeler on December 5th. You can watch online or in person.
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What: Hearing before Judge Egeler on our Motion for Summary Judgment (to be filed shortly–check back here)
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When: 9:00 a.m., Friday, December 5, 2025
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To watch online: 846-3408-9705# Passcode: 1234 Zoom.
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To watch in person: Thurston County Superior Court, Building 2, 2000 Lakeridge Drive SW, Olympia, WA 98502
The effort continues to incur legal fees and are many thousands of dollars in debt. If you can, please donate here: Donate | Davis Meeker Oak
Springwood Gardens Development
In our April 2025 issue, WIP featured an article about the Springwood Gardens project in Northeast Olympia. In October, the City of Olympia’s Planning Department issued its first substantive review of the project with staff comments that must be addressed by the Applicant and resubmitted for additional review.
The City is requiring a plan to mitigate for a proposed wetland buffer reduction. It also found deficiencies in the proposed stormwater management plan and suggested various means of fixing it, including retaining more green space and reducing the level of development. Other areas of concern related to frontage improvements, sidewalks, and hookups for water and sewer.
It appears public comments about protecting the wetland on the site are being addressed. However, the development is going forward.
Green Cove Park Project
Twenty years after acquiring the Sundberg Gravel pit and five years from being listed as a contaminated site by the Department of Ecology, owner Jerry Mahan’s consultant submitted a Groundwater Monitoring Report as part of the required Remedial Investigation ordered by Department of Ecology. Once again, the report did not go deeper than 15 feet below ground, which means it did not sample waste dumped into the gravel pit when Mr. Sundberg owned it, but only sampled the fill that Mr. Mahan brought to the site in 2015 in 440 truckloads. Even at that depth, high levels of arsenic, manganese and iron were found in groundwater. The Green Cove Defense Committee responded to the report by asking Ecology to take over investigation of the site, as Mr. Mahan continues to avoid testing the deeper layers of the pit that functioned as an unpermitted and illegal municipal solid waste and toxic dump for decades. We will report on Ecology’s response in a future update.
Thurston County Criminal Justice System’s New Data Dashboard
Our October 2024 issue featured an article about the criminal justice system in Thurston County which mentioned the Prosecutor’s work creating a justice data website. Since then, the County received a grant and that data dashboard is now live, enabling users to understand how justice is administered here. On it, you’ll be able to track felony cases received over the last several years, how they were resolved, how long it took to move through the system, how many were diverted and more. You can filter cases by race/ethnicity, type of offense, sex, age or whether the offender is a Thurston County resident. It also offers several interactive features that make it easier to track progress on policy goals and highlight outcome difference based on prosecutorial decisions or actions.
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