Community | The JOLT News Organization, a 501(c)(3) Nonprofit

Port of Olympia seeking input on Olympia Regional Airport Master Plan Update at third open house

The Port of Olympia will hold the third public open house on the Olympia Regional Airport Master Plan Update (MPU) on Thursday, May 26, 2022, from 2:00 – 3:30 PM via Zoom. The Port of … more

5/18/22 | 2 comments

Peer Olympia's downtown offices are at the corner of Legion and Franklin.

Thurston County Commissioners Award Treatment Sales Tax Funds

Today, the Thurston County Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously to approve $1.2 million in Treatment Sales Tax (TST) funds over a 19-month period beginning June 1, 2022 for six community … more

5/18/22

Olympia’s Community Livability and Public Safety gave a go-signal to the Council of Neighborhood Associations to work on updating the 10-year-old MOU with the city in its meeting on Wednesday, May 11.

Council of Neighborhood Associations to work on updating the 10-year-old MOU with Olympia

The Community Livability and Public Safety Committee has recommended updating the 10-year-old memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Olympia City Council and the Council of the Neighborhood … more

By Lorilyn C. Lirio | 5/17/22

Olympia Planning Commissioners get updates on House Fund presented by Housing projects manager Darian Lightfoot at the meeting held Monday, May 16.

Olympia Home Fund likely to meet goal of funding 300 supportive homes in its first five years

Housing programs manager Darian Lightfoot expressed confidence that the Olympia Home Fund will meet its goal of funding 300 supportive home units in five years. Lightfoot was at the Olympia … more

By Lorilyn C. Lirio | 5/17/22

Seated around the conference table are, l-r, Port Commissioners Amy Evans, Bob Iyall, Joe Downing, executive director Sam Gibboney, Thomas Architecture Studios’ Amos Callender and Ron Thomas.

Destination Waterfront: “A good investment for the next generation”

Thomas Architecture Studios, the firm overseeing development plans for Destination Waterfront, is eager to see green grass growing soon on some of Port of Olympia’s downtown waterfront … more

By Tiziana Piatos and Danny Stusser | 5/17/22 | 1 comment

Rainbow gay pride symbol.Colorful flag on LGBT community bar for homosexual and transgener people in Amsterdam.European freedom,equality and tolerance concept.

OSD official challenges schools to commit to safe environments for LGBTQ+ students

Olympia School District Board of Directors president Maria Flores challenged the city’s schools to commit to maintaining safe, healthy and welcoming environments for all members of the … more

By Lorilyn C. Lirio | 5/16/22

Thurston County commemorates National Police Week

To honor its law enforcement officers, Thurston County joined other local governments in commemorating National Police Week, May 15- 21. The Thurston Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) said the … more

By JC Medina | 5/13/22

Holly Chisa, representing the Northwest Grocery Association, asks the Olympia City Council to review the hazard pay ordinance implemented on May 1, 2021.

Hazard pay ordinance still in effect for some grocers

Olympia City Council member Dontae Payne said the hazard pay ordinance, which requires large grocery stores in the city to pay workers an additional $4 an hour, is still in effect. Payne responded … more

By Lorilyn C. Lirio | 5/13/22

Flowers of the Week

As I write this, it’s still chilly. There was frost this morning, the sun has been in and out between showers, and seeds I’ve planted are dawdling in the damp earth. I hope that by the … more

By Jill Severn | 5/13/22 | 1 comment

What's happening coming up?

Saturday Market at the West Central Park Saturday, May 14, 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM The Saturday Market at the West Central Park is a brand new farmers and crafters market that will feature live music … more

5/13/22

A proposed subdivision will be built inside the orange box along Decatur Street, Olympia.

Site Plan Committee reviews office conversion and subdivision proposal

The Olympia Site Plan Committee is reviewing two applications for development projects – one is to use the existing building and the other is a proposal to subdivide 1.4 acres into nine lots … more

By Lorilyn C. Lirio | 5/13/22

CBDG program specialist Anastacia Everett presented the draft fund allocation for project year 2022-2023.

Olympia to receive about $400K from housing fund

The City of Olympia expects to receive around $400,000 from the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, which will fund projects that focus on rehabilitation and maintenance of low-income … more

By Lorilyn C. Lirio | 5/12/22 | 1 comment

Prairie Birds – Part 2

Last Saturday, following my own advice from last week’s column, a friend and I journeyed out to the prairies to see what we could see. It rained off and on (what a shock!) but it was a … more

By George Walter | 5/12/22 | 3 comments

This is a close-up of a police body camera similar in function to what police throughout Washington will be using, according to new laws passed by the legislature in 2021.

Olympia City authorizes police to acquire body cameras

Olympia’s City Council has authorized the Olympia Police Department (OPD) to acquire and use body-worn cameras and car video systems in compliance with Washington State’s RCW 10.109.2021, … more

By Lorilyn C. Lirio | 5/11/22

Bakers are listed by Stacker as the 26th lowest paying job in our area.

Lowest-paying jobs in Olympia

The U.S. may be one of the wealthiest countries in the world but there’s a growing trend of financial inequality, with middle-class households feeling the most impact. In fact, the number of adults … more

By Stacker | 5/10/22

Regional Fire Authority committee members meet on Monday to discuss the public outreach for RFA plan.

Olympia, Tumwater to hold public event on the Regional Fire Authority plan May 19

The cities of Olympia and Tumwater will co-host an online event on May 19 at 6 p.m. to provide opportunities for a public discussion about the Regional Authority (RFA) plan. In an RFA committee … more

By Lorilyn C. Lirio | 5/10/22 | 1 comment

During the Olympia Advisory Committee meeting held on Thursday, Water Resources director Eric Christensen discussed with the committee members the proposal to provide a discount irrigation rate for urban agriculture.

Olympia utilities committee approves discount water rate for urban agriculture

The Olympia Utilities Advisory Committee (UAC) has directed its staff to develop a discounted rate for irrigation water used for urban agriculture. Water Resources Department director Eric … more

By Lorilyn C. Lirio | 5/10/22

The rainbow gay pride symbol. Capital City Pride’s project “Resilience and Brilliance”, will be on June 4, Friday at the Port Plaza.

Olympia supports Capital City Pride’s “Resilience & Brilliance” project

Olympia’s Parking and Business Improvement Area (PBIA) board members unanimously voted to support Capital City Pride’s (Pride) project “Resilience and Brilliance”, happening … more

By Lorilyn C. Lirio | 5/9/22

This image shows United States artillery technology that might or might not be the same as that being used in training at Joint Base Lewis McChord on July 22, 2021. The image is from Feb. 22, 2021 in a joint U.S.-French artillery training event in Djibouti.

JBLM to conduct artillery training Tuesday

Joint Base Lewis-McChord will have day and night-time artillery and mortar training starting tomorrow, May 10 to Friday, May 13. Residents living near the 90,000-acre base are advised that they … more

By Edwin Oscar Gutierrez Jr. | 5/9/22

This drawing shows the "Alternative A" conceptual design for Tumwater’s new maintenance and operations facility.

Community members oppose location of planned Tumwater maintenance facility

Plans to build a new Operations and Maintenance Facility for Tumwater have come under scrutiny as residents oppose the long-planned project. “We want the city to call time-out and pause this … more

By Larry Madarang | 5/6/22