Works In Progress celebrates its 20th birthday with a look back at the social justice struggles of the past two decades.

by Mike Coday

People for Joe Hyer announced on April 9th that Joe Hyer was resigning from the Olympia City Council effective April 10, 2010. Hyer was arrested on February 17, 2010 on three charges of selling marijuana from his home. Filings in the marijuana felony cases suggest that Hyer believes he may have been entrapped by a "trusted political mentor" who has not been identified further at this time. Hyer pled not guilty to the charges on March 9, 2010. Recent filings in the case indicate that Hyer has struck a deal with the prosecutor for a guilty plea on one felony count related with special enhancements dropped in the plea. State law requires that public officials convicted of a felony lose the public office. The guilty plea could lead to a six month jail sentence for Hyer.

by Lee Durfey

All too often, those working toward social justice become overwhelmed by the challenges involved in confronting complex issues such as racism, sexism, homophobia, poverty, and sustainability. The problem, as many of us are aware, is that there are too many worthy causes out there, and little time available to individuals to make a real, lasting impact. As a result, many of us are forced to choose from among a myriad of equally important issues while others may attempt to become involved in too many projects at once, eventually burning out. However, the majority of us become so overwhelmed with work, school, raising children, and simply surviving that we are forced to abandon our efforts at social reform completely. In an effort to bridge the gap between related issues and to further strengthen existing efforts for social change, a People's Movement Assembly (PMA) is currently being organized in Olympia with the goal of bringing together activists, organizations, and those who wish to get involved.

by Joshua Neuhouser

It's like the setup of a very bad joke: a group of men walked down a street in Baghdad. Among them were two Reuters employees - a young photographer named Namir Noor-Elden and his middle-aged driver, Saeed Chmagh. They had caught the attention of a circling Apache helicopter, whose gunners had identified Noor-Elden's camera as a rocket-propelled grenade launcher and the men as enemy combatants. As Noor-Elden raised his camera, preparing to shoot, the American gunship fired 200 rounds into the crowd.

by Nadav Lewkowicz

After three years of legal battles prompted by a fight with cops that never happened, three Olympia, WA anarchists settle out of court in a lawsuit that gave them over $30,000 and gave the City of Seattle one less reckless cop brutalizing people on the streets. Nadav Lewkowicz from the Leatherstocking Collective of Crumm Mountain, NY interviewed Brendan Maslauskas Dunn, a member of the IWW, anarchist and one of the Flag 3.

by Janine Gates

About 100 community members packed a room at The Olympia Center Monday night to hear about the very latest local hydrological cycles of Thurston County and its climate impacts on the region. The event was sponsored by Olympia Climate Action and the League of Women Voters, with city and county representatives giving presentations. The discussion had direct relevance to the city of Olympia's update of its Shoreline Management plan, due to the state in September. City staff held a series of public meetings on the shoreline update in February and March.

by Annie Bird, Rights Action

On Apr. 10, a minimum of 3,000 military troops and police were mobilized into the area of the Bajo Aguan on the north coast of Honduras, especially the town of Tocoa. Press reports claimed the US Drug Enforcement Agency is participating in the operation. This massive mobilization occurred just three days before the Apr. 13 negotiations that could determine the fate of 20,000 hectares (almost 50,000 acres) of land whose ownership is contested between 3,500 poor farming families organized in the Movimiento Unificado Campesino del Aguan (MUCA) and three powerful businessmen. It is feared that if the MUCA farmers do not accept the businessmens' proposal, represented in negotiations by Honduran President Porfirio Lobo, a proposal that remained firm in the three prior meetings, forced evictions of 28 communities and hundreds of arrests may occur.

Four delegations set to travel to Honduras this summer are looking for participants.

by David Rovics

I can't stand talk radio of any political persuasion, it's all too repetitive and emotional. But I like to keep tabs on the media landscape out there, and in terms of who's talking on the radio in much of the USA here are your choices, in order of prevalence: football, Jesus, Rush Limbaugh and, late at night when folks are apparently good and ready for it, shows about the government hiding the existence of aliens from outer space who are living in Nevada. If you find the "public" radio station and the classical music playing all day hasn't put you to sleep yet, for an hour or so in the evening you can listen to chirpy graduates of Ivy League schools with upper-class New England accents review the latest in French cinema or the newest innovations in poodle-grooming techniques. On TV it's even worse. Through this static there are a lot of people who are out of work and living in an overcrowded, dilapidated shack somewhere in Michigan or Texas who are desperately trying to make sense of the world around them.

compiled by Mike Coday

Bits and pieces of news from around the country and around the world

Coffee Strong press release

Travis Bishop walked into Coffee Strong the morning of Thursday, March 25. He was released from the Fort Lewis brig after serving a seven and a half month sentence, for conscientious objection to service in Afghanistan. He seemed dazed by smiling faces in greeting, and then offered a big hug.

by Olympia FOR

Many people who read Works in Progress have not been able to watch the Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation's TV programs because they live outside of Thurston County, they don't have cable, or they don't have TV at all. Dennis Mills is posting our TCTV programs to the Internet so people anywhere in the world can watch them. Simply go to: www.olympiafellowshipofreconciliation.blip.tv, click on the link for past episodes, and choose the episode you want to watch.