October 2005

by Susan Bee

Many local people want a healthy local economy in which hard-working people, operating within a free market, can succeed. They want good jobs paying a living wage and providing health-care benefits. They do not want companies to violate environmental or labor laws or to infringe on employees' and customers' civil rights. Further, they like, and want to support, local and independent family-owned businesses. They believe in democracy: a system in which those affected by the rules make the rules. They believe in the right of self determination: a community's right to decide what it . . .

June 2005

by Trudy Springer

So you think Olympia has a moratorium against large retail stores? Think again. Oh, they passed a moratorium alright, stating that no retail space could exceed 125,000 square feet, but on Wednesday, May 18th the Olympia City Council granted an exemption from the moratorium to Westfield in a 5 to 1 vote.

This exemption states that Westfield cannot exceed 125,000 square feet per floor. The council has, by this ridiculous caving into the demands of Westfield, effectively voided the moratorium.

July 2003

by R Jay Hershey

Once upon a time in Washington State, an injury to one union injured all union members. In downtown Olympia the Crane Cafe, The Spar, Ben Moore's, the China Clipper, the Olympia Oyster House, the Olympia Hotel, the Governor House, and dozens of other taverns and restaurants proudly displayed the little sign with the antique lettering which swept up from the left, "This is a Union House!" As a boy, I remember when a fry-cook from the Crane Cafe bought a lot out here on the South Bay Road and built a house. I went to South Bay Grade School with his son, Stan. A fry-cook can't do . . .