Griffin School Levy Goes to Voters February 14

The Griffin School Board of Directors have placed a two year School Programs and Operations Replacement Levy on the ballot for voter consideration on February 14, 2012.  This replacement levy serves as 28% of the district's annual budget and is used to maintain school programs and operations.

Click here to download a PDF copy of the recent issue of Griffin Link detailing the levy and its intended uses.
 
 
 

Good and Bad Knife Bills in Washington State

We have both good and bad news from Washington State. Starting with the good, two companion bills, Senate Bill 6179 and House Bill 2347, would make it legal to manufacture spring-assisted and switchblade knives in the state of Washington. These bills also clarify the definition of a switchblade, or what is referred to in Oregon law as a "spring blade knife," so as to not include assisted-opening knives that are currently subject to adverse interpretation of the state statute making them technically illegal. In addition, this bill would expand the existing law enforcement exemption for possession of "spring blade knives" to members of the military, full-time first responders and those citizens who hold a valid Washington concealed pistol license (WA is a "shall issue" state).

Knife Rights Director of Legislative Affairs, Todd Rather, will be in Olympia on Wednesday to testify in support of these bills on behalf of Washington's knife owners. The bills are a big incremental step forward in a state where any knife with a spring assisted blade has been interpreted as being an illegal knife and where Washington knife manufacturers, such as Fox Knives USA and SOG, were prohibited from even manufacturing these knives in the state, sending those jobs to other states with more rational knife laws, including neighboring Oregon.

The bad news is that last year's ridiculous anti-knife bill, HB 1006, that would make it illegal to conceal any knife over 3 1/2 inches long, even with a WA concealed pistol permit (since it is not a concealed weapon permit), has been resurrected. In a state where a long coat is a normal part of every outdoor enthusiast's, fisherman's and hunter's attire for a good part of the year, this would turn honest citizens into criminals for carrying a modestly sized sheath knife on their belt, along with quite a few common folding knives longer than the arbitrary length limit. It's time to put a stake through the heart of this asinine legislation and Knife Rights is working on that.

If you live, work or travel in Washington state, please contact BOTH your Senator and Representative in Olympia and ask them to support SB 1234 and HB 2347, respectively and ask your Representative to help kill HB 1006 for good. Click here to locate your legislators, or the legislators who represent where you work or travel.

Reprinted with permission from Knife Rights www.KnifeRights.org This article appeared in Knife Rights News Slice - January 21, 2012
   
 

Annual Meeting of the Griffin Neighborhood Association is January 26th

The Annual Meeting of the Griffin Neighborhood Association is Thursday, January 26, 7 PM at the Griffin Fire Department Headquarters. Come early, for light refreshments and conversation. 

Thursday, January 26
7 PM, but arrive early
Griffin Fire Department Headquarters
3707 Steamboat Loop NW

This year's Annual Meeting will include a report to membership on the activities of the Board of the Griffin Neighborhood Association.

Each year, up to half the positions on the Board are offered for elections. This is your opportunity to renew your membership in the Griffin Neighborhood Association, since only current Association members can vote to fill the Board. Click here to become a new member or renew your existing membership, online.

The Annual Meeting features a number of special guests. Those who have already accepted our invitation to speak a few minutes each and to take questions include:

• Karen Valenzuela, Thurston County Commissioner
• John Snaza, Thurston County Sheriff
• Greg Woods, Griffin School District Superintendent
• John Wood, Griffin Fire Chief
• Andy Willis, Pastor at St. Christopher's Community Church
• Jon Tunheim, Thurston County Prosecutor

State Representative Fred Finn and Ray Peters of the Squaxin Island Tribe have also been invited, but have not yet confirmed they will be able to attend.

Where else will you find such a list of elected and local officials, in one place and at one time?

Are you interested in serving on the Board of the Griffin Neighborhood Association? For more information on the duties and responsibilities of Board membership, click here to download a copy of our FAQ. Contact any current Board member, with your questions or to enter your name into nomination.

We look forward to seeing you at this year's Annual Meeting.

Update to speakers list: Thurston County Under-Sheriff Tim Braniff will attend, instead of Sheriff John Snaza.
 

"Public Diplomacy Under the Obama Administration: A New Approach" - January 19

Public Diplomacy Under the Obama Administration: A New Approach

Presented by the Olympia World Affairs Council
January 19, Lecture
Olympia Center, 222 Columbia, Olympia at 7:30pm

President Obama and Secretary Clinton recognize that America needs to do a better job of informing, influencing, listening to and connecting with billions of people around the world.

Are we succeeding? And what will success look like?

Sandra Kaiser explains how this Administration defines public diplomacy and describes the struggle to be heard in a challenging global information climate.

Sandra Kaiser and her family live on the Steamboat Peninsula. She recently completed a 25-year career with the State Department as a public diplomat, directing press, education and cultural programs from U.S. embassies in Europe and Latin America.

 

Citizens' group to begin initiative process to move electrical service to Thurston PUD

An interesting development is now underway with the formation of a citizen's group to advocate for Public Power - the distribution and generation of electricity by our county's own public utility, Thurston PUD No. 1. Currently a water utility, Thurston PUD has grown a great deal over the last seven years. We have a staff of 11 to 12 people and operate water systems in Thurston and four neighboring counties.

Going electric requires a county-wide vote in the general election. The citizen's group, Thurston Public Power Initiative, was established by Thurston County residents to accomplish this goal by petitioning our county's registered voters to place the issue on this November's ballot and to campaign for its passage. Their first task is to submit the petition language to our county auditor for approval and collect nearly 12,000 valid Thurston County signatures to place the issue on the ballot this fall. Their deadline to accomplish this is early July.

In 2008, a similar citizen's group in Jefferson County (Port Townsend area) succeeded in passing a county-wide vote and the Jefferson PUD will soon be entering a three year transition to take control of its electrical service at the end of March 2013. Similar ballot measures that same year failed in Island and Skagit Counties.

This proposal is not new to Thurston County. It first came about with the formation of our own public utility district (PUD) in 1938. The long period of court battles that ensued failed to bring the PUD into the electrical business. Several more attempts were made up to the early 1960's when one of two supportive commissioners died suddenly, leaving the other hopelessly deadlocked with the third commissioner. Future elected commissioners later overturned the entire effort.

During our PUD's first 23 years the issue went before the Federal Court and involved several other county PUDs' attempt to take over Puget Power as well as another private utility. The last eruption 50 years ago even sparked a highly polarized dramatic debate in the state Capitol and led to the removal of the pro-public power and long time Speaker of the House, John L. O'Brien by defections from within his own Democratic Party.

Why the current interest in publicly controlled power?

Our current Investor Owned Utility (IOU) Puget Sound Energy is no longer a publicly traded company with US shareholders. It "went private" three years ago and is now entirely foreign-owned and -operated (though nominally registered in the state of Delaware as a US company). Its new owners are an Australian Investment Bank and Canadian Pension Funds. Their mutual interest in owning our state's largest private utility comes as no surprise, since Puget Sound Energy is one of the largest consumers of the Canadian Natural Gas Fields located in Western Canada. The resulting match-up along with the existing pipelines could be characterized best as a vertically integrated conglomerate (single ownership of the gas fields, pipelines and the consuming utility). That is where we are today.

I ran for office over three years ago on a platform that including having our PUD commission a feasibility study on whether we should enter the electrical business and how best to pursue this option. I was elected with over 60% of the vote. It is now time to act on this issue and give our citizens a clear appraisal of its prospects.

At our January 10 meeting, I will ask our PUD to commission an independent feasibility study to determine whether we should enter into the electrical business and via what process taking into account our current economic climate. One of the subjects the study will consider is the finite resources of federally-controlled hydropower and our ability to access it before its capacity is all spoken for.

In the future, electric utilities will be more and more involved in our citizens' transportation choices. Most car manufacturers are fully aware of and working toward this. As demand and cost of generation rises, so will electric rates. Public power provides the opportunity for greater citizen oversight and local control of this resource that is so vital to the overall economic health of our community.

Future electrical rates by a publicly owned utility could be moderated by:

1) Direct access to Bonneville's (BPA's) cheaper Tier One federally sourced hydro-power through a hundred year-old federal policy known as "Preference,"

2) Lower interest rates on debt for municipal bonds which are tax-free for PUD's,

3) Removal of the over 10% return (profit) paid to private utility shareholders as regulated by the Utilities and Transportation Commission, the regulator of all private utilities in our state.

All users - residential, industrial, commercial, and government - would benefit from the historically lower rates of publicly-supplied electricity. One of the greatest benefits of rate relief would go to the commercial and industrial business owners who provide jobs in our county. They are currently unable to take advantage of the small farm/residential exchange subsidy from BPA, so their rates will be most favorably impacted in a transition to public power. Cheaper rates to all forms of government could also lead to additional savings for all our citizens, helping to retain spending on government employment, which is an important sector of our local economy.

Improved system maintenance and operation of our electric utility could provide better overall service without the prolonged seven to ten day long storm-related power outages that leave our most vulnerable citizens helpless - often in the coldest and wettest months of the year. Expansion of locally-based union linemen would bring jobs to our county, assure greater system reliability and shorter down time, and be better able to maintain the grid. Our insistence on using quality (instead of second-hand) components will also drastically reduce the number of currently all-too-common power outages due to equipment failure or blown transformers.

Finally, there are great changes underway as to how electrical energy will be delivered in our future. A decentralized electrical grid composed of local renewable energy generation as part of people's homes, clustered development, and community-based initiatives could lead us closer to a sustainable future. I believe strongly in a more sustainable future and I have been involved directly in our County's Sustainability Initiative as the chair of the water panel. More and more, the issues of how our energy is produced, and how far away it is produced, will determine what rates we will pay and what kind of future we will share. Isn't it time that we, citizens, as electric consumers, have a voice in those decisions being made on our behalf? The decision is in your hands.

- CHRIS STEARNS

Chris Stearns, a resident of Thurston County since 1976, is a Thurston PUD. Commissioner and was elected to his first term in 2008.

Public Disclaimer by Chris Stearns: The views contained in this article reflect my own personal opinions and are not necessarily those of my fellow PUD Commissioners, nor do they reflect the official position of Thurston PUD No. 1, which is a water utility at this time.


This article reprinted without permission from Works In Progress, January 2012.
 

Critical Areas Ordinance Public Hearing - December 10

A public hearing has been scheduled by the Thurston County Planning Commission on the draft Critical Areas Ordinance.   The hearing will be held on Saturday, December 10, 2011. 

Date: December 10, 2011
Time: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., with doors and sign-in beginning at 9 a.m.
Location: Room 129, Building 2 of the Thurston County Courthouse, 2000 Lakeridge Drive S.W.
Olympia, WA 98502

The hearing is being held open over a longer period, during daylight hours, to allow all citizens to have a safe, convenient environment in which to testify.  Those who wish to appear and testify may do so at any point between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. on December 10th.  The public hearing may be extended at the discretion of the Planning Commission.

The Planning Commission is not scheduled to make a recommendation at the close of the public hearing. 

In addition, the Planning Commission is currently accepting written comments on the Critical Areas Ordinance, and will do so until 5 p.m. on December 23, 2011.  Please e-mail comments to Andrew Deffobis at deffoba@co.thurston.wa.us, or submit written comments by mail to:

Andrew Deffobis, Associate Planner
Thurston County Planning Department
2000 Lakeridge Drive SW
Building 1, 2nd Floor
Olympia, WA 98502

Public hearing drafts of the Critical Areas Ordinance are now available by clicking here. 

For more information on the update to the County's Critical Areas Ordinance, click here.

Thurston County Planning Department maintains a web mail service, which issues notices of this kind. You are welcome to sign up for this web mail service by clicking here.
 
 

Gourmet, Locally-Produced Fudge to Benefit Local Preschool

The Steamboat Island Cooperative Preschool is currently selling gourmet fudge from Sweet Escapes by Angel. This delicious and beautifully packaged fudge is made fresh locally on the Steamboat Peninsula.


Perfect for the holidays! Available in three flavors: Milk Chocolate, Milk Chocolate With Nuts, and Peanut Butter.

$9 per block. Taking orders until Dec 7th.

Order your today by calling 866-1819 or email steamboatcooppreschool@gmail.com 

The Steamboat Island Cooperative Preschool also has a new web site. Click here to learn more about their program. SICP has long provided a terrific local educational experience for both children and their parents. In the Griffin area, we're lucky to have fine educational opportunities such as this for our children.

Thank you for supporting the Steamboat Island Cooperative Preschool!
 
 

World Affairs Council Speaker "Leaving Afghanistan - Easier Said Than Done" on Nov 17

THE OLYMPIA WORLD AFFAIRS COUNCIL LECTURE

THURSDAY, November 17, Olympia Center, 7:30 PM, Room 101

SPEAKER: Dr. Katya Drozdova, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Seattle Pacific University

TOPIC: "Leaving Afghanistan – Easier Said Than Done"

As the United States and its coalition allies struggle with a coherent departure policy in Afghanistan, there are lessons to be learned from the Soviet Union’s misadventure in that country from 1979-89. Dr. Drozdova is eminently qualified to deal with that subject. Born in the former Soviet Union she has been a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, where she was a principal investigator in a study called "Mining Afghan Lessons from the Soviet Era" (MALSE). She studied and translated former top secret records of the Soviet Politburo, the purpose of which was to explore ways that might benefit western forces from the Soviet experience. The results of her study have been used to inform policy-makers, scholars and military leaders.

Dr. Drozdova’s recent research and publications focus on problems of U.S. national and international security and counter-terrorism strategies. In addition to her work at the Hoover Institution, she is also a research fellow at the Naval Postgraduate School and an affiliate with the Empirical Studies of Conflict Project. She previously held research positions at New York University’s Alexander Hamilton Center.

One of her publications, Solving the Afghanistan Puzzle, follows the paper trail of Soviet involvement in Afghanistan – and suggests a great deal about our own involvement there today. Other articles include Dark Memories, a brief history of Soviet torturers and assassins; Intelligence Design, describing how terrorists are getting very good at covering their tracks and how their pursuers must become even better at uncovering them; and Security and Liberty, how to protect the nation against terrorism without sacrificing our liberty.

Dr. Drozdova is currently assistant professor of Political Science at Seattle Pacific University. She holds advanced degrees from Stanford University and New York University.

Coralroot Orchid: Beautiful & Unusual Parasitic Plant

photo by Guy Maguire

Last spring during a volunteer work party at the McLane Point Preserve on Eld inlet, we came across an unusual and beautiful little flower, a Spotted coralroot orchid, or Corallorhiza maculata. I immediately wanted to learn more about this fascinating plant.

The Spotted coralroot orchid is a myco-heterotroph, which means essentially "gaining its nutrients from the roots of mushrooms." The Northwest is home to over a dozen species of these types of plants. These small orchids and heath family plants are unique because they have lost all their chlorophyll, do not perform photosynthesis, and rely entirely on the roots of certain mushrooms for all their nutrients.

Contrary to popular belief, not all plants are green. In fact, these myco-heterotrophes come in a great variety of colors. Once upon a time they had leaves and were green like most plants, but over time evolved to lose their pigment as they developed associations with specific fungi species. Some of the more common myco-heterotrophes in this area are the Candystick (Allotropa virgata), Indian pipe (Monotropa uniflora), Spotted coralroot (Corallorhiza maculate), and Striped coralroot (Corallorhiza striata).

While ecologists have known for many years that more than 90% of plants associate with fungi, only recently have they learned that specific plant species quite literally act as parasites on these fungi, stealing their nutrients. This may seem like a negative, but the reality is these plants play an important role in the forest’s ecology. These fungi get their energy, in the form of sugars, from the trees around them and in turn provide the trees with nitrogen and other nutrients. The "parasitic" orchids take only a minute fraction of those nutrients for themselves. In turn, they occupy a unique niche and provide more diversity in the forest. These orchids also fill an important link in the forest ecosystem by providing nectar for many species of pollinating insects.

My research on this fascinating organism led me to think about what else have we may have yet to  discover. Looking deeper into the lives of these plants has illustrated how truly interconnected the forest is.

So the next time you are wandering the woods and in the mountains, keep your eyes peeled! The Northwest is home to a diversity and abundance of these strange, beautiful, perplexing little flowers.

-GUY MAGUIRE 

Guy Maguire is Capitol Land Trust's Restoration Projects Coordinator.

This article reprinted with permission from the Fall issue of the Capitol Land Trust newsletter.


Click here for more information regarding the Capitol Land Trust.
Click here for information regarding the Steamboat Conservation Partnership, a unique collaboration between the Griffin Neighborhood Association and the Capitol Land Trust.


Click here for more articles of this kind, regarding the nature around us.

 
 

Olympia World Affairs Council Presentation on Slovakia, November 3

Slovakia, 2011

Slovakia’s Transition from Socialism to Democracy: Effects on Daily Life, Family and Culture Thursday, November 3, 12:00 - 1:00 pm, in the Community Room of the Olympian, 111 East Bethel Street

Much as Americans can remember where they were and what they were doing on September 9, 2001, Slovaks and other Eastern Europeans remember how their lives were about to change in the late summer and fall of 1989, when growing protests in East Germany led to the removal of prohibitions on travel to the West, the physical removal of the Berlin Wall and the ensuring collapse of the Soviet Empire in Eastern Europe. For Czechoslovaks, the decisive period was from November 17 to December 29, 1989: in just 33 days over 40 years of Communist Party rule can to an abrupt, peaceful end in what Slovaks called their “Gentle Revolution.”

One tends to think of these events in largely political terms of shifting lines and coloration on maps, the fate of empires and within the context of the East-West struggle of competing economic and political systems. But what was this cataclysmic change like for the people? What did it mean for individual lives and the effort to raise and support a family? What were the consequences for daily life, the effects on culture?

The Olympia World Affairs Council is proud to sponsor Dr. Marta Botikova, a visiting Fulbright Scholar at the Evergreen State College, to address this subject. Dr. Botikova is a full professor of Ethnology and Chairperson of the Department of Ethnology at Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovak Republic, where she studied and has taught since 1978. She is a member of a half dozen professional associations, is widely published and has taught in short programs at universities throughout Western and Eastern Europe. One of her most recent publications treats Culture and Way of Life through the Eyes of Women in Slovakia.