Olympia, WA— Join Works in Progress (WIP) on Wednesday, September 9, 2026 6-9pm to celebrate the relaunch of Olympia’s only independent print newspaper at The Brotherhood Lounge.
At the launch you will get the chance to meet the writers, reporters, and editors at the heart of this project. Additionally, you will be able to pick up a freshly printed issue to take home. This celebration also offers an opportunity to directly contribute to Works in Progress’s ongoing effort to sustain the newspaper. 50% of the bar goes towards keeping us and our print edition afloat. So bring a friend or two!
Works in Progress is a 100% volunteer-powered news outfit that has been committed to providing the South Sound with alternative news since it began in 1990. After a temporary hiatus, WIP relaunched online in Spring 2026. We are now reviving the physical newspaper.
Works in Progress offers activists and organizers a home for their stories, projects, and ideas. WIP covers a range of local and international stories often ignored by corporate media. With repression on the rise, independent journalism is important to protect, now more than ever. We believe that community institutions are a path to the world we want to live in. With your support and participation, getting there is possible.
Works in Progress, news for the movement.
Is It Really At-Will Employment?
by Nicholas Hefling
Too often, while talking with people about conditions at their workplace, someone tells me something along the lines of, “Yeah, well, we’re an at-will state, so there’s nothing we can do.” At times, they’ll say “right-to-work” in place of “at-will.” The two get conflated constantly and both get treated as the prevailing law of the land, under which employers have total control. My previous article looked at “right-to-work” laws, which govern whether the people a union represents have to pay for that representation. At-will employment is a different animal. It does indeed govern discipline and discharge, but it does not mean what most people think.
Noticings: A Column About Public Space and Design — Making a Dogpile
By V Lane Hoy
Towards the end of my last article I touched on the unexpected deflation that some residents experienced after securing housing and moving out of The People’s House, a low barrier homeless shelter originally sited in the basement of First Christian Church on the corner of 7th and Franklin. I find my mind will often circle back to some variation of this topic, which in the broadest sense, I would describe as the tension between the human need for connection and refuge. Environmental psychologist Irwin Altman has called this “dialectical process of privacy.” I’m picking up that contemplation of the porousness between self and other, as well as the ways that tension extends into and emerges out of the built environment.
Thank you for your continued support! If you’re unable to make it to our launch party but are still interested in contributing to the production of future printed newspapers, you can donate directly here or become a paid subscriber through our website.
Works in Progress will also be distributing our first print issue all over Olympia, Lacey and Tumwater the week of September 7th — be sure to look out for a copy to snag! Follow us on Instagram to get a full list of locations.