Credit: Jim Morin, The Miami Herald, MorinToons Syndicate.


– Editor’s note:
When projects are over budget, cutbacks begin affecting jobs, and that trickles down to affect Yelm residents and businesses when uncertainty brings spending contractions.


– “Trade war, tariffs threatening Seattle’s construction boom?”
“President Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs are affecting the region’s construction boom say multiple developers, Sound Transit, and a new report out this month.”

“Multiple developers now say the tariffs on steel and aluminum are raising costs on construction projects here.

Mortensen says, in its second-quarter report, that construction costs have spiked to the highest point in the last nine years. It blames steel and aluminum tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.”

“Kevin Daniels, of Daniels Real Estate, says it has had an immediate and sudden impact on plans.”

“Oak View Group’s Tim Leiweke told Bloomberg earlier this month that the cost of a privately financed new arena at Seattle Center had also gone up from $600 million to $700 million, and blamed tariffs and the cost of getting steel as a reason.”

“Sound Transit has already said the Federal Way Link Light Rail is significantly over budget, and that the cost of materials is to blame,” by Chris Daniels, KING-5 TV News, Seattle.
Read more

Smoke enshrouded downtown Tacoma, Aug. 14.
Photo credit: Joshua Bessex – joshua.bessex@gateline.com


Issued by: Seattle/Tacoma National Weather Service, for the Southwest Interior of Washington
(including the Yelm area)

…SMOKE LIKELY TO RETURN BEGINNING SUNDAY…
Low level smoke is likely to return to Western Washington beginning Sunday. Air quality could possibly deteriorate to unhealthy levels Monday and Tuesday. The surface flow pattern will turn offshore and northerly on Sunday. Smoke from British Columbia fires is likely to spread south into Western Washington. Northern areas will be affected first, but eventually all of Western Washington could have thick smoke near the surface. It is possible that air quality could return to the unhealthy levels of earlier this week on Monday and Tuesday. Temperatures on Monday and Tuesday will be in the 80s to low 90s. Current forecasts call for a marine push Tuesday night or Wednesday that will cool things off and also push most of the smoke out of the area.
Read more

– Editor’s note:
Yelm’s forecast is 90 degrees for Monday, 94 for Tuesday, and both days could break their respective record highs.

Photo: Noexcuseradio; Edited: LW/TO


– Editor’s note:
Why is Thurston County’s White Star on a Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB) marijuana retail applicants list when they are a Tier 3 Producer & Processor, since the WSLCB clearly states having all three licenses is not permitted: producer, processor, and retailer? Thurston County’s White Star has been a Tier 3 Producer & Processor since April 2016.


– The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board’s (WSLCB) 2017 website under “FAQs on Marijuana”:
* What is a license?
The law creates three separate tiers: marijuana producer, marijuana processor, and marijuana retailer…

* Can I hold all three license types?
Having all three licenses is not permitted. A licensee may hold both a producer and a processor license simultaneously. The initiative does not allow a producer/processor to also be a retailer…

* Under the header “Marijuana Licensing FAQs:”
Am I able to apply for a retail license since I am a producer and/or processor? Am I able to have a relative apply?
This is known as “Vertical integration” and is not allowed. You cannot hold a producer/processor and retailer license. If another entity or relative holds a retail license, and you are a producer and/or processor, you may not take profits, make business decisions, be a true party of interest, or have any financial gain/interest in their business…


– The Facts
* A WSLCB alphabetical listing showing Thurston County’s White Star as a marijuana retail applicant.
Read more


* Yet White Star is Tier 3 Producer & Processor since April 2016 in Thurston County.
Click here for that document.

Suspect Zachary A. Altona arrested
Photo credit: Thurston County Sheriff


– “Police seize meth, arrest fugitive after Yelm standoff”
“Authorities from Yelm, Thurston County, State Patrol and other agencies were serving search and arrest warrants at a home in the 9300 block of Prairie Wind Street Southeast in Yelm Thursday when the wanted man refused to come out.

“After the Thurston County SWAT team was called in and tear gas was pumped into the attic, [Zachary A.] Altona came out, and after a brief struggle, was taken into custody.

“Detectives from the Thurston County Narcotics Task Force searched the home and seized about 3 ½ pounds of methamphetamine, packaging material and scales. Also found near the attic entrance was a loaded Colt .45 pistol and about $2,000 cash,” by KIRO TV 7 News, Seattle.
Read more


– “SWAT team ends Yelm standoff by deploying chemical agents, arresting man in attic”
“A 24-year-old man was arrested after authorities say he barricaded himself inside the home. After multiple attempts to contact him, authorities released ‘chemical agents’ into the home and the SWAT team was able to locate the man in the attic, according to a Thurston County Narcotics Task Force news release,” by Danielle Derrickson, The Olympian.
Read more

Josey Howard, National High School Rodeo Assn. competitor
Photo credit: Jaelyn Sleeman


– “Yelm’s Josey Howard Finishes 15th at National High School Rodeo Championships”
“A western-style rodeo competition, cutting sees a rider and horse work as team to demonstrate their ability to manage cattle during a 2 1/2 minute performance.

“[Josey] Howard, who will be a sophomore at Yelm High School this fall, and Taylor Hansen, who will be a junior at Tenino High School, finished in the top 15 in the cutting horse division at the 2018 National High School Rodeo Association National Finals.

“Held in Rock Springs, Wyoming, July 15-21, Hansen finished 13th in the nation in girls’ cutting, while Howard, one of only three freshmen among the nearly 100 participants to compete in the event, finished 15th overall, making Washington one of only four states to have multiple placers in the top 15,” by Grant Clark, in Thurston Talk.
Read more

Most expensive property ever listed in Thurston County
Photo credit: South Sound Business


– “De Beers diamond heiress lists spaceship-inspired estate near Yelm for $11 million”
“A futuristic showstopper mansion, owned by diamond mining company heiress Rebecca Oppenheimer, the granddaughter of former De Beers Consolidated Mines Chairman Harry Oppenheimer, is the most expensive house to ever come on the market in Pierce, Kitsap or Thurston counties, according to Morrison House Sotheby’s International Realty Owner and Founding Broker Michael Morrison. Morrison has the $11 million listing.

“Oppenheimer spoke to me by cellphone from Cape Town, South Africa where she now lives with her two children, who are 13 and 10 years old.”

“Rebecca Oppenheimer is a very holistic person and her manse in the Tenino/Yelm area of Thurston County, which she designed as her dream home, reflects that,” Patti Payne, Puget Sound Business Journal.
Read more


– “Diamond Heiress’ $11 Million Home for Sale in Tenino”
“High upon a hill in Tenino stands an out-of-this-world custom home built by the heiress to the De Beers diamond fortune. It can be yours for $11 million — the most expensive property for sale in Pierce, Thurston, or Mason counties,” by South Sound Business.
Read more

Photo credit: Kevin Siers, McClathchy’s Charlotte [NC] Observer.


– Editor’s note:
Today, “nearly all of McClatchy’s 30 daily newspapers, “which almost never speak with one voice, are doing so now. That’s why we’re joining with fellow journalists across the country in calling for an end to the president’s war of words against our free press.” This includes our own daily newspaper, The Olympian, an op-ed that should be read by every American!


– “President Trump, we’re not ‘enemies of the people.’ End your war on our free press.”
By McClatchy Opinion Staff

“In our business, we know how much words matter. We know, too, that Trump’s references to us as the “enemy of the American People” are no less dangerous because they happen to be strategic. That is what Nazis called Jews. It’s how Joseph Stalin’s critics were marked for execution.

Every reporter who has ever covered a Trump rally knows the scratch of a threat that’s conveyed during that ritual moment when he aims the attention of the crowd to reporters. And as real as the threat of physical violence is, especially after the murder of our colleagues in Annapolis, Maryland, Trump’s aggressive posture toward the First Amendment worries us even more.”

“It’s an affront to the U.S. Constitution when President Trump threatens to eliminate the First Amendment protections the Supreme Court has built into our nation’s libel laws — or when he suggests revoking the FCC licenses of broadcast news organizations whose reporting he doesn’t like.”
Read more of the full op-ed.


– UPDATE: August 16, 2018
“‘The press is not the enemy of the people,’ Senate declares in resolution”

“The Senate unanimously passed a resolution by Democrats on Thursday condemning attacks on the free press and affirming that “the press is not the enemy of the people,” President Trump’s label for the media.

“The move came as more than 300 newspapers and other media outlets joined The Boston Globe in publishing editorials Thursday promoting freedom of the press and refuting Trump’s denouncements,” by Nicole Gaudiano, USA TODAY.
Read more


– Fred Obee’s Editorial, Executive Director, Washington Newspaper Publishers Association
“I do not write today to choose sides on the right or left of national politics. Instead, I write today on behalf of the more than 80 newspapers of the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association as we join others across the nation in defense of our profession.”

“Our free press supports the rights of people expressing every imaginable political viewpoint. It’s not fake. It is very real and it’s time our President recognized and supported this very basic and central concept of our democracy.”
Read more

24-hour avg. particulate concentration in the atmosphere
recorded at the Tacoma observing site.
Photo credit: Puget Sound Clean Air Agency


– “Onshore winds improve worst air quality in Puget Sound history”
“The past 24 hours [Tuesday to Wednesday] had the worst air quality on record in Western Washington, according to University of Washington professor of Atmospheric Sciences Cliff Mass. Last summer’s wildfire season holds the record for second worst.

The air quality in Western Washington was “unhealthy for everyone” at most air monitoring sites Wednesday. Puget Sound Clean Air Agency says these are the highest particulate levels so far this summer,” Rich Marriott, KING 5 TV News, Seattle.
Read more


– “Seattle’s air quality worse than India, China”
“The air quality around Puget Sound quickly degraded as smoke from surrounding wildfires blanketed the region. The air quality is now unhealthy for everyone,” Kipp Robertson, KING 5 TV News, Seattle.
Read more.

A fast-moving brush fire spread to a Yelm home
Wednesday evening, August 15, 2018.
Photo credit: Bill’s Towing, Yelm


– “Brush fire damages home in Yelm”
“Police said the fire started around 5:00 pm. in a hay field near 1st St. NE an Railroad Road SE.

“By the time firefighters arrived, the wind had fanned the flames to a nearby home,” by KOMO TV-4 News Staff, Seattle.
Click here for the story and video.


– From the City of Yelm Police Dept.
“As many residents are now aware the City of Yelm experienced a brush fire this afternoon in the area of 1st Street and Railway. The fire is now contained and no additional structures or people are in harms way. A detached garage was burned and a residential structure was partially damaged on Donovan Ct. along with several acres of dry field. SE Thurston Fire responded along with neighboring agencies to get and had the blaze contained within 20 minutes. The Police Department assisted by closing roads in that area which are all now back open. Please exercise great care during this time of extreme heat and dry conditions. Thank you for your patience in getting around this area for a period of time.”
Click here for the story and video.


– “A brush fire in Yelm destroyed a garage and damaged a home as it burned several acres”
“Kevin McManus, who is staying at a home next to the one that was damaged, said neighbors fought back the fire before crews arrived. At one point it was climbing the side of his house and burned the back porch and yard.

“McManus said wind helped carry the fire across the field toward the houses. He rushed back to make sure two dogs at the house he is staying at got out safe.

“‘That was horrifying, that moment right there, because I didn’t know how close it was to the house, and when I got there it was around the house,’ he said,” by Danielle Derrickson, The Olympian.
Read more


– UPDATE: August 16, 2018
“Wildfire remains a danger in urban areas as fast-moving blaze burns home in Yelm”
By Steve Kiggins, KCPQ TV 13 News, Seattle.
Click here for the video.

– From Yelm RV & Boat Storage:
BOAT STORAGE
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R.V. STORAGE
Our expansive open and closed units, include pull throughs, top of the line security and convenient access hours so that your home away from home is safe secure and remains in pristine condition!

AMENITIES
At Yelm R.V. and Boat Storage, we pride ourselves on offering ready access, month to month leasing and ease of use for every part of your storage experience. Our locally owned and operated facility is here to serve the community.
YELM OFFERS THE BEST SOLUTIONS FOR YOUR STORAGE NEEDS

At Yelm, we are part of the community and make every effort to ensure we provide the highest level of customer service. We take great pride in our amenities and facilities. At Yelm, you’ll find a tidy, secure space for all your Boat and R.V. storage needs!


Yelm Boat and RV Storage LLC
We are a locally owned and operated business here to serve all your boat and R.V. storage needs.
557 Rhoton Road
Yelm, WA. 98597
Phone: (253) 465-6470
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