I don't see anything yet in the Breaking News section of the web Olympian. Anyone have details?

Last night we had dinner with friends that recently decided to live in Washington permantly. My wife mentioned that they should move to Dupont because of its plentiful newer homes, among other reasons. I thought almost immediatly is "Why would they want to move out of town?"

As I consider Lacey and Tumwater to be, in part, "in Olympia," I have always considered anything east of the Nisqually outside of town. But, now  I wonder if it really is.

1. Dupont is closer to Olympia than it is to Tacoma, but just barely. Almost 17 miles (and 24 minutes) to Tacoma, but only 15 miles (and 21 minutes to) Olympia. Probably a wash, but you have to consider that most of the traffic will be in Pierce County, making it easier to get back and forth to Olympia. Via surface streets though, the Dupong Steilacoom Rd. is more accesable than Mounts Rd. (which you would have to get back onto the highway to use).

2. Dupont is in Pierce County, is not in the North Thurston District, but if your a Timberland Library System cardholder, you can borrow from their library, but it would not be as easy as getting a book in Lacey. This is the official kicker, that it is a different county of their on the other side of the Nisqually River.

3. Dupont is on our side of Ft. Lewis. Both mapmakers and me consider the Nisqually River the dividing point between Pierce and Thurston counties. But, the real element that keeps out two counties apart is the undevelopable land contained in Fort Lewis. Unlike Pierce and King counties that rub up against eachother at Federal Way and Fife and Sumner and the Auburn Valley, Pierce and Thurston counties will never join up.

4. The Dupont Police Chief is running for Thurston County Sheriff. Link.

More voices in the debate over building a new convention center. From The Olympian:

OLYMPIA — The group that opposed a conference center downtown three years ago is raising concerns again, this time about the idea of a state-financed conference center.

Public Funds for Public Purposes opposes a state-funded conference center in Olympia, saying taxpayer dollars should not be used to build a facility that would largely serve private groups, said treasurer Walt Jorgensen. The group is writing to lawmakers, including Sen. Karen Fraser, who writes the Senate’s capital budget.

“The problem is expressed in our name,

From The Olympian:

At least a handful of South Sound bar and tavern owners say the state's new smoking ban may force them out of business this year.

The owners who used to allow smoking say business is significantly down, and that new customers have not come calling since the ban went into effect in December.

In any case, it would show support for the ban to go have few beers in your favorite pub.

[...] Boehner personifies how the cost of corruption in Washington gets passed on to ordinary Americans. As chair of the Education and Workforce Committee, he is known as the “representative from Sallie Mae.

The Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation invites everyone to watch “A CONVERSATION WITH GANDHI,