On October 13, the Thurston County League of Women Voters is sponsoring a morning and an evening forum on the Port. Speakers will briefly address the Port’s history and role in the region, its finances, environmental issues related to Port activities, and creative visions for the Port’s future. The morning forum begins at 7 AM at Ruby’s Cafe, 700 4th Avenue E, Olympia; the evening forum begins at 6:15 PM at Traditions Cafe at 300 5th Avenue, SW, Olympia. If you have questions regarding these two events, contact Eve Johnson, League Chair, at 754-1455.

The Port of Olympia owns 190 acres of prime waterfront real estate adjacent to downtown Olympia. It owns almost 1500 acres in Tumwater, divided between the airport and the Air - Industrial Park. Its comprehensive plan identifies its goals as enterprise, economic development, environmental integration, and public service. In pursuit of these goals, it collects 3.7 million in taxes each year from residents throughout Thurston County.

On occasion, the Port emerges from its relative obscurity, most recently due to the transport of military equipment from Iraq and a plan to provide Weyerhaeuser a forest product export facility. But just as quickly, the Port recedes from view. Few taxpayers appear to have any clear idea of what the Port does, how it relates to city and county government, and what role the public can play in setting the future direction of the Port.

An Oly band makes a good impression in Portland:

Cuter than birds pooping huckleberry, I present Kickball, your new favorite band. Like most of the sincere and honest bands in the Northwest, they come from Olympia. Although they have misgivings about being lumped into the same pile of that classic Olympia sound (the Microphones, Mirah, Halo Benders, etc …) they do breathe the same breath. However, they’ve added a new twist to the sound and are getting more abstract and heavy with each album. The band is made of three nice people, Jacob (dances funny while playing), Adam (cool, calm and coherent), and Drummer (probably the most inventive drummer in the world).

There is a write-up of Yee's book on the Al Jazeera website:

He attended the U.S. Military Academy Class of 1990 reunion at the Renaissance Westchester Hotel. Cadets who were in Yee's company at West Point greeted him with big hugs and strong handshakes in the crowded reception area.

The last time he saw most of them was five years ago.

Steve Anthonavage, a 1986 Dover High School graduate said he was in disbelief when he saw Yee on television.

"I wasn't even sure it was Jim," Anthonavage said.

Army Major Chauncy Nash of Fayetteville, Ga. who played soccer with Yee at West Point, says he "was just surprised to see a case like that".

"It's not Jim. It didn't make any sense to me. I thought it might have been a misunderstanding. I didn't think the charges fit what I know about Jim."

Many of West Point graduates purchased Yee’s book at the reunion. Asked about some parts of the book that criticised the U.S. military’s handling of Guantanamo detainees, Yale Peebles of Fayetteville, Ark said that he wasn’t surprised.

"Everybody's entitled to their perspective," Peebles said. "I guarantee you that no matter what the issue is, people will have opinions."

After viewing these, I am amazed by how much they all love Teddy Roosevelt. He was a good man, and, at this point, I would take his over the current admin.(I think)

A number of the pieces of art and furniture were from Teddy's time, but some were also from the other Roosevelt administration, however, they say VERY little about FDR and a lot about Teddy.

Teddy's most famous quote is, of course, "Speak softly and carry a big stick". It seems that the Bushies have been emulating this poorly to date. They seem to speak loudly, and using troop numbers in Iraq as an example, haven't carried a very big stick. Not big enough to get the job done properly anyways.

What do people think?

Joe Hyer is now all alone in his race for Olympia City Council:

Greetings,

For personal reasons, I have been unable to actively campaign and I would be unable to accept the position on city council if I were to win the election. Therefore, I have decided that it would be unethical to take contributions or to participate in any candidate forums.

It is not possible to remove my name from the ballot nor change the statement in the voters' pamphlet, so I am placing this notice on the website provided in the pamphlet.

Thank you,

J. G. Bell