From the Seatte Times:

OLYMPIA - Former two-term Olympia mayor Dave Skramstad, who turned from careers in the military, politics and business to a retirement passion for mystery writing, has died.

Skramstad died Monday in Arizona of heart failure, his family said.

Skramstad, 74, served as the capital city's first mayor under a council-manager system adopted in 1982. Although a conservative, he worked well with the liberal council to revitalize the downtown and create some of Olympia's favorite amenities, including the Washington Center for the Performing Arts, the farmers' market, and a boardwalk along Budd Inlet. He served a second term in the early 1990s.

Here's the Olympian's story on Skramstad (with info on a memorial).

I know we don't want to promote cussing, but I think this is a story where you have to sit and say, "What the fuck?"

Local 6:

A fish caught in Lubbock, Texas, with teeth that look like they belong to a human has baffled wildlife officials in the area, according to a report.

Lonely, Drew considered adopting methods which could technically be considered evil...

On Saturday, July 22, two special park-and-ride lots will provide free, all-day parking and convenient access to bus transportation to the event: 5000 Capitol Boulevard in Tumwater and Seventh Avenue and Golf Club Road in Lacey. Just look for the “Downtown Olympia” buses.

I'm going to start posting some links that pertain to the establishment of a wireless system that will envelop all of Olympia, aka muni wifi. So here are some resources that will help us all get up to speed on what we need to know to make this happen:

• Fighting the Good Fight for Municipal Wireless by Craig Settles. Blurb:

  Using a combination of narrative and directive, business strategist Craig Settles tells how Philadelphia launched its citywide broadband wireless initiative, and gives you a foundation for planning your own wide-scale wireless project. Fighting the Good Fight for Municipal Wireless doesn't give you all the right answers. It poses questions you need to ask to determine what answers are right for you.

  The introduction and chapter 5 are posted here.

• Peter Cochrane's Keynote Address at The Wireless Event in London, England in May. This 30 min. video presents a lot of background on the development of the technonolgy that underlies wireless networks.

• muniwireless.com: A portal for news and information about citywide wireless broadband projects around the world.

• This discussion at bettersouthsound.org about muni wifi in Olympia.

Sen Akaka, Daniel K. [HI] - 7/18/2006
Sen Allen, George [VA] - 7/18/2006
Sen Baucus, Max [MT] - 7/18/2006
Sen Bayh, Evan [IN] - 7/18/2006
Sen Biden, Joseph R., Jr. [DE] - 7/18/2006
Sen Bingaman, Jeff [NM] - 7/18/2006