From Yahoo! News:

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. - A young man dressed all in black went on a rampage at a gay bar with a hatchet and a gun Thursday, wounding three patrons in what police said appeared to be a hate crime.

One victim was in critical condition.

Police searched for 18-year-old Jacob D. Robida, who was wanted on charges of attempted murder, assault and civil-rights violations.

According to court papers, Robida's mother told police that he briefly stopped by the house less than an hour after the brawl and was bleeding from the head. In Robida's bedroom, officers found Nazi regalia and anti-Semitic writings on the wall.

This episode demonstrates why we should be vocal in confronting groups that espouse such views.

Dear Friend of Bigelow House Museum,

The Bigelow House is jumping into the 21st Century by creating a list serve to share news and events with you. If you haven't checked it out, please visit our ever expanding web site: www.BigelowHouse.org. There's lots there now, and more to come!

Our 2006 Membership drive is now underway. Many of you may have already recieved our mailing . If you are not already on our snail mail list, contact us at BigelowHouseMuseum@yahoo.com and include your contact information to recieve our periodic mailings and event announcements.

This year we offer a new lifetime membership level. This level includes all the benefits of membership as well as priority scheduling of Bigelow House for your group functions and events, and permanent recognition on our new lifetime membership wall.

Beginning this year, you can download our membership packet directly from the website at: www.BigelowHouse.org/support.htm

Thank you for your interest and support of Bigelow House: Olympia's Community Museum!

Edward Echtle
Director, Bigelow House Museum
(360) 753-1215
email: bigelowhousemuseum@yahoo.com
web: www.BigelowHouse.org

Hi friends of the WCPA stagehands,

Our second informational picket will be this Friday, February 3, at 6:00pm, during CenterFest, the WCPA's annual fundraiser. Board members will undoubtedly be attending, so it's a great opportunity for them to see how the community feels about fair and equal treatment towards the stagehands. As a reminder, this is an informational picket only - patrons are NOT crossing a picket line by attending. We will not disrupt the event in any way; we are merely exercising our legal right to inform the public, and supporting our fellow stagehands who are working inside.

See you Friday night!

--Katy WCPA Stagehands

I put together a map of the places around Olympia, and Thurston County generally where you can get a free wireless connection (its a newer map, see comment below).

I tried to post it directly to Olyblog, but it didn't come over well (well, that can happen now, see comment). I added all of the wifi hotspots I know about (through Zhonka, the libraries and what there was listed at jwire), but I know I don't know them all. For now, only I can add locations, but I'd like to find a google maps hack site that can let anyone add locations (done). If you know of another location that isn't listed, just comment on this post, and I'll add them (don't bother now, go here).

For those of us who would like to either see one of our local governments build a WiFi network or encourage a private company to do the same, I was reminded last night that the existing connections in town could serve as an ad-hoc wireless network. From  Municipal Wireless: A Primer for Public Discussion:

Some cities have created programs to recruit businesses and community organizations to install their own hotspots, thereby creating an ad-hoc network of sorts. These are generally called WiFi networks or sometimes community wireless networks. Each node is privately owned by the sponsoring business or community organization, and each node has its own ...connection. ...The municipality only has to promote the network to the public, and recruit and assists sponsors with technical assistance and software support. Sponsors advertise “free

Here is a show that is coming up a week from now that is very unique. Akron/Family are a primarily dark, folky experimental band who will be joined by Norfolk & Western, Karl Blau and Sir Richard Bishop. Akron/Family are on Young God Records, founded by Michael Gira, formerly of the Swans (as mentioned in my last blog post about Jarboe.) Young God Records was founded a few years ago and it is the home to many dark folk-influenced artists including Devendra Banhart's earlier recordings. Sir Richard Bishop, of the Sun City Girls, the legendary Seattle band of mythic pied pipers, whose music can quite accurately be described as "divine." Bishop will be a hearty addition to this heady lineup. Sir Richard Bishop's music is lovelieness, playing strange guitar improvisations in the strain of John Fahey. Karl Blau is he of the Golden Pigtails, a Northwest legend who has recently collaborated with Laura Veirs.

If you want to be utterly whisked away by music, this show is for you, my friends.

I edited this article hours after the original post, due to major changes in the show's line-up.

Olympia seems guilty of discrimination

Isn’t it interesting that we boaters that choose to anchor our boats in public waters have been served with a “Notification of Intent to Obtain Custody

More students are eating healthfully, thanks to new school nutrition policies. But that has meant less vending machine and snack-shop revenue, which helps to pay for student activities.

Some students say their classmates haven’t stopped eating junk food; they’re just not buying it at school.

Full Article

For any savvy high school student out there, I would start selling soft drinks for $1 to my classmates.

You're assuming some risk but the reward outweighs it. You would make a few extra bucks and the most likely punishment would only be for the school to tell you to stop.

I would research into various laws pertaining to the matter so that I had my ducks in a row, though.

I have always wished I could go back to high school with the information I know now. I would say the majority of the time, when administration tells you you cannot do something, they're simply pulling it from thin air and if someone really wanted to back the school down, could.

They rule by intimidation.

Drew Hendricks makes a good point in The Olympian today:

"They've used deception before," Hendricks said. "It doesn't cost them anything to get that permit. There's no cost if they don't show up. For all we know they could be having a rally in Spokane. There's going to be a lot of confusion until we see the whites of their eyes, so to speak, or the brown of their shirts."

The Olympian has a very interesting article about animal control in rural areas of Thurston County:

Now, Animal Services responds to cases in which an animal threatens or bites a person, and in cases of suspected animal abuse or neglect. But for cases in which pets or livestock are attacked by other animals, county residents must call the sheriff’s office.

With two agencies handling animal complaints, residents already aren’t sure whom to call, county staff members warned.

The county’s new hire will likely address some of the problems now handled by sheriff’s deputies and problems Animal Services stopped addressing in 2003 such as barking dogs and animals destroying property.

per email

Hello friends,

Our first meeting was attended by over 80 interested community members. We want to see you there, too!

We have visions of an artists' co-operative, dedicated to local beauty, creative expression and connections. We want to share our inspirations through creation of Artful Life Community Marketplace.

Your input as a potential customer, non-member displaying artist, or active co-op member is greatly desired. We are seeking passionate volunteers, highly vocal appreciators and visionary, generous FUN-ders.

What possibilities can you imagine? Together we create our culture.

Please spread the word