The locale for this event was Schmidt Mansion, which is a lovely place on its own. But things were looking especially beautiful this evening for this fund-raiser for GRuB. Click here for a short slideshow of pictures from the evening.

About GRuB.

• Late night military psysops in Olympia? What is the military doing that it doesn't want us to know about? ~Taryn
• I witnessed this 'up close'. They were flying the jet right over my place only a few hundred feet over the ground, I wouldn't say it was any more then 500 or 600 feet up. And it WAS a military cargo plane. It was flying circular patterns that went right over Ft. Lewis. In the distance over FL was at least one helicopter, I could hear it and see a search light in the sky. Due to the distance, it was a couple miles away, it could have been two or more but it was hard to say for sure. The cargo plane was flying right to where the helicopters were. I could see it well enough from the street lights to tell it was a four engine cargo plane, and it was the military green color. It wasn't one of the really huge one's I see flying into McChord, but it was substantial, possibly a troop carrier.
• Tuesday night I just laid in bed listening to and being annoyed by all the loud obviously low-flying jets passing overhead ... over and over. Thursday night, after enduring it for a while, around 11pm I went out to my front yard on Central St NE and, facing south, I saw 2 huge jets flying shockingly low, heading north almost directly over Central St. Just south of the intersection near my house (San Fransisco St) the 2 jets banked sharply - in "formation" to the east. I watched them disappear over what I assumed to be the Ft. Lewis area. Eventually, one of them circled back on almost the exact same route.

Hi progressives – The Green Party is having its annual picnic this Thursday, September 22, and we would like you to come. It’s from 5 to 9 at Shelter 3, Priest Point Park.

As a multi-issue party, the Green Party doesn’t sponsor activities in all areas where it has an interest. So Greens have all been involved in a lot of coalition activities, and this is our time for sharing the happenings. You might be involved in some of them – we’d like your viewpoint too.

Basically we’d just like to spend some time with you. You are probably a Green too, in spirit.

Bring a dish to share; we provide drinks, plates and silverware. The food is generally good and the conversation excellent.

Janet

From the Olympian:

Because Tuesday is election day, the council will meet Monday in council chambers at City Hall, 900 Plum St. Meetings are broadcast on TCTV's Channel 3. For more information, call 360-753-8447.

This week's agenda includes:

• A 5:30 p.m. land use committee meeting on South Capitol Neighborhood parking and the downtown Business Improvement District.
• A 7 p.m. business meeting with a public hearing on comprehensive plan amendments.

The Olympian comes out strongly in favor of a Business Improvement District (BID) for downtown Olympia. Business owners would be taxed between $300 and $750 per year, totaling $130k annually:

That money would be spent to promote downtown as a shopping destination and for other improvements such as graffiti removal or hanging flower baskets, more benches or construction of a parking garage.

If I owned a business downtown, I wouldn't want to contribute to the BID either. Ooops. Looks like payment would be manditory:

Now comes word that about 60 downtown business owners have signed a petition opposing the formation of the district. Opponents say they would prefer a voluntary assessment. They also object to the fact that, under the existing plan, businesses that refuse to pay the annual assessment would be turned over to a collection agency.

Voluntary assessments are a problem because they would not provide a reliable revenue source. Secondly, it's important that all businesses unite in the quest to revitalize the downtown core. It's a shared responsibility, and that means businesses should share in the investment.

As for the collection agency, it's appropriate to draw parallels to the neighborhood association again. Residents who don't pay their homeowners' assessment can have liens placed on their property. The business assessment is a tax, and owners have an obligation to pay it like any other tax.