Credit: Yelm Farmers Market


– Editor’s note:
Mark your calendar – the Yelm Farmers Market opens Saturday, May 26, Yelm Community Center.


– From the Yelm Farmers Market:
“Our biggest news is the hiring of a new market manager, Jon Jamieson! Jon and his wife Austin have been vendors for a few years so he brings a new perspective to the job. Come meet him at the BFF Chamber of Commerce After Hours on April 26th at the Yelm Community Center, the new home of the farmers market!”
Read more

– Weather record – Record high for any April 24th @ Oly Airport

Olympia Regional Airport, closest official weather service station to Yelm (16 miles), broke the high temperature record for any April 24th. Today’s high was 79 degrees (26.1 C.), breaking the 1977 record high of 77 degrees (25 C.). The average high for any April 24th is 61 degrees (16.1 C.).
Read more

Virgin America-Alaska Air 737-900 merger promotion plane
Photo credit: Alaska Airlines, Inc.


– Editor’s Note:
Passengers with Virgin America tickets check-in with Alaska Airlines beginning tomorrow morning April 25.


– Virgin America will be no more – check-in will be at Alaska Air counters effective April 25
“As of April 25, you will:
* Check-in using one website (alaskaair.com).
* Use one mobile app (Alaska’s).
* Call one call center (Alaska’s).
* Look for Alaska flight numbers.

At the airport, check-in takes place at Alaska’s ticket counters and kiosks. Regardless of where you’re flying, you’ll head for Alaska gates.

On the night of April 24, we’ll complete physical changes at 29 airports around the U.S. and Mexico that are served by both Alaska and Virgin America. The only branding and signage will now be for Alaska Airlines. Signs and screens will all change to Alaska branding at curbside locations, lobbies, ticket counters, gates and baggage areas. While there will be some Virgin America painted aircraft still flying for a period of time after April 25, tickets will be sold only under the Alaska name.

Alaska Airlines and Virgin America are now one airline – and with our regional carrier Horizon Air – we’re one family, all under the Alaska name and brand.”
Read more from Alaska Airlines on the merger.

Leonard Pitts, Jr.
Photo credit: Miami Herald


– Editor’s note:
I have written to Mr. Pitts twice previously for his outstanding observations of this country’s social issues staring us right in our face. He nailed-it again last weekend [April 21] and is spot-on when he says racism “is not a Starbucks problem, but an American problem.” An excerpt of Pitts’ column is below and deserves thoughtful consideration.


– “A standing ovation for the Starbucks CEO who confronted the truth about racism in America”
By Leonard Pitts Jr., Miami Herald

“What you are less likely to encounter when confronted by racism is white people who will own the problem, who will have the guts, humanity and humility required to confront it, assess it and resolve it. So this column is a standing ovation for Starbucks.

Last week, faced with the public relations disaster noted above, CEO Kevin Johnson did all the expected things. He said what happened was wrong. He issued apologies. He did the whole this-is-not-who-we-are routine.

Then, Johnson did something unexpected, announcing the closure of 8,000 company-owned U.S. stores on the afternoon of May 29 so that his nearly 175,000 employees can undergo training in preventing implicit bias. Given how difficult it can be to get white people to even acknowledge the reality of implicit bias, we ought not breeze past the significance of that.

Starbucks deserves credit for one of the most authentic and creative corporate responses in recent memory. One of the bravest, too, given the likely hit to the company’s coffers the mass closure represents.

And as we are singing praises, let’s spare a stanza or two for the white civilians at Starbucks who saw what was happening, whipped out their cellphones to record it and demanded answers from the cops. Nor should we forget those who showed up and showed out at subsequent protests.

One can only hope other white people are taking note. Other white institutions, too. Meaning coffee shops, yes, but also libraries, churches, supermarkets, gyms and police departments. Ultimately, after all, this is not a Starbucks problem, but an American problem. And until we face it, the next public relations disaster — or tragedy — is always just around the corner.

It would be good to see Americans — particularly white Americans — take ownership of that truth. To its credit, Starbucks just did.”
Read more of Pitts’ full column.

WA Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell
Credit: Washington Democrats


– Editor’s Note:
BRAVO to Senators Cantwell & Murray for their leadership on introducing this legislation to protect out coastal waters for future generations.


– “Senators Cantwell & Murray Introduce Clean Coast Act”
“On the eve of the eighth anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, Senators Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray introduced the Clean Coast Act, legislation that codifies rules that were finalized by the Department of the Interior in 2016 to address key safety recommendations made after the devastating oil spill.

“As a reminder, the BP Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill was a catastrophic human, economic, and ecological disaster. It resulted in the deaths of 11 crew members and the injury of 17 more. Oil gushed into the ocean for months, making it the largest marine oil spill ever.

“Unfortunately, last year Donald Trump issued an Executive Order directing the Department of the Interior to reconsider the common-sense safety recommendations made in the aftermath of the disaster, in order to prioritize oil and gas exploration and production.

“‘President Trump has ordered the roll back of common-sense solutions to improve safety and prevent oil spills,’ said Senator Cantwell. ‘Friday [April 20] marks the eighth anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon disaster and today [April 19] I have introduced legislation to prevent tragedies like that from happening again.’

“Senator Murray said, ‘Communities in Washington state and across the country who depend on our healthy coasts for their food, recreation and livelihood would be devastated by an event like the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe, and President Trump’s move to reverse rules that help keep people safe and protect our ecosystem against such disasters is a huge step in the wrong direction,'” by by Washington State Democrats.”


Blogger Klein is a Washington Democrats member.

First Families at the funeral of Barbara Bush,
April 21, 2018, Houston.
Photo credit: © @PaulMorsePhoto/Office of George H. W. Bush


– “Four presidents come together to pay tribute to Barbara Bush”
“A touching photograph of several generations of presidents paying tribute to the late Barbara Bush is being warmly and widely circulated on social media.

“The remarkable photo features four former presidents — Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George H. W. Bush — along with first lady Melania Trump and former first ladies Michelle Obama, Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton,” by Kate Sullivan, CNN.
Read more


– Other Presidential Families represented:
* Chelsea Clinton
* Susan Ford Bales
* Lynda Johnson Robb and Senator Chuck Robb
* Luci Baines Johnson and Ian Turpin
* Tricia Nixon Cox and Edward Cox
* Ambassador Caroline Kennedy and Edwin Schlossberg
Read more

Not present:
President Jimmy Carter was traveling and unavailable and First Lady Rosalynn Carter was recovering from surgery.

– “Rural Pathways to Prosperity Conference in Lacey”
“Thurston County is participating in a state-wide event aimed at uplifting rural youth through economic opportunity”

“The Rural Pathways to Prosperity Conference is one step local leaders are taking to help rural youth access opportunities to help them succeed economically. Pacific Mountain Workforce Development Council, Washington State University Extension, Career Connect Washington, Capital Region ESD113, Thurston County Chamber, Thurston Economic Development Council, and Yelm Community Schools are all partnering to host the conference.

“The conference is being held from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on May 9 at the Thurston EDC Center for Business & Innovation, South Puget Sound Lacey Campus.”
Click here for more information and to pre-purchase tickets.
___________________________________

– “Thurston County Announces County News Page”
“Thurston County residents now have access to a quarterly newsletter, the Habitat Conservation Plan, a citizen engagement tool, news releases, and other information, all on a new webpage.

“According to a statement released by the county, the new webpage “is part of a continued effort to enhance transparency and share information about County business with citizens.”

“The quarterly newsletter, called County Up Close, will inform residents about department and office updates, job opportunities, and actions by the commissioner,” by South Sound Business.
Read more
_____________________________________

– “Big Shoe raises $41,000 for homeless kids”
“A really big thanks to the Brothers Four and everyone who played a role in Entertainment Explosion’s A Really Big Shoe 12 benefit concert for homeless kids held Feb. 25 at the Washington Center for the Performing Arts. Together we raised an amazing $41,600, for a 12-year total of just over $317.000.

“In April we distributed $4,000 checks (up from $2,900) to Community Youth Services and the Tumwater, North Thurston, Olympia, Shelton, Tenino, Rainier, Rochester and Yelm school districts. The money is used to help more than 2,000 homeless kids, and 4,000 served by CYS,” By Scott Schoengarth, Letter to the Editor in The Olympian.
Read more

– “Tacoma-made movie with ‘Starship Troopers’ Casper Van Dien is just latest for local film company”
“Van Dien [Casper Van Dien, the star of “Starship Troopers“] is the co-star of a film shot around the South Sound in 2016.

“The thriller “Last Seen in Idaho” comes out April 24 on several video-on-demand services. It was filmed in Tacoma, Gig Harbor, Olympia, Yelm, Port Orchard, Tenino and other locations.

“Tenino happens to be the hometown of the film’s director, Eric Colley. Along with partner (and Winlock native) Hallie Shepherd, the pair have been producing movies in Tacoma since 2005,” by Craig Sailor, Tacoma News-Tribune.
Read more


– UPDATE: April 27, 2018
“Puget Sound Filmmakers Release Third Feature Film, “Last Seen in Idaho””

“Much of the story takes place in Washington state, where filmmakers Colley and Shepherd hail from. The Puget Sound area provided a variety of scenic filming locations, including Tacoma, Gig Harbor, Puyallup, Olympia, Yelm, and Colley’s hometown of Tenino. A memorable chase scene takes Summer and her pursuers throughout the six stories of Tacoma’s Landmark Convention Center and Temple Theatre, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. Washington natives will also recognize other memorable locations, such as the Tacoma shipyards, River Road in Puyallup, The White Horse Tavern in Yelm, and Tenino’s downtown storefronts,” quoting a local contributor, Thurston Talk.
Read more

Source: Earth Day Network


– Editor’s note:
Click here for ideas on how you can participate.


Earth Day news for 2018, how sad:
“Showing ‘Total Disregard for Indigenous Rights and Public Wishes,’ Trump Moves to Open Alaska Wildlife Refuge to Drilling”
“Critics warn that drilling in the region will threaten hundreds of species, violate the human rights of Native people, and further exacerbate the climate crisis”

“Demonstrating a “total disregard for Indigenous rights and public wishes,” the Trump administration on Friday moved to expedite oil and gas exploration in previously protected lands in Alaska,” by Jessica Corbett, Common Dreams.
Read more

“The Pacific Ocean has a plastic problem. Here’s the plan to fix it”
By Douglas Main, NBC News.
Read more

“Earth Day 2018: The 10 Most Pressing Environmental Concerns Facing Our Planet – And Rays of Hope for Each”
* More than 1 billion people in 192 countries will come together again Sunday for Earth Day 2018: End Plastic Pollution.
* Weather.com takes a look at the state of the planet and offers a ray of hope for each of the 10 most pressing environmental issues.
By Pam Wright and Bob Henson, weather.com.
Read more


– “It’s Earth Day!”
“Earth Day Network’s mission is to broaden and diversify the environmental movement worldwide and to mobilize it as the most effective vehicle to build a healthy, sustainable environment, address climate change, and protect the Earth for future generations.

“Growing out of the first Earth Day, Earth Day Network is the world’s largest recruiter to the environmental movement, working with more than 50,000 partners in 196 countries to build environmental democracy. We work through a combination of education, public policy, and consumer campaigns.

“The first Earth Day on April 22, 1970, activated 20 million Americans from all walks of life and is widely credited with launching the modern environmental movement. The passage of the landmark Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act and many other groundbreaking environmental laws soon followed. Twenty years later, Earth Day went global, mobilizing 200 million people in 141 countries and lifting environmental issues onto the world stage. More than 1 billion people now participate in Earth Day activities each year, making it the largest civic observance in the world,” quoting the Earth Day Network.
Read more

Megan Hansen
Photo credit: LinkedIn


– Editor’s note:
The Nisqually Valley News (NVN) announced that former Assistant Editor Megan Hansen will return to the newspaper as Editor, replacing Michael Wagar who has accepted a position as President of parent-company Lafromboise Communications, Inc. in Centralia. Wagar will remain as NVN Publisher for the time being.

Hansen has served most all of her journalistic career working for Keven Graves when he was Publisher/Editor of the NVN and again 4 months after she was hired as Editor in Oct. 2012 at Sound Publishing, Inc. leading their three-newspaper Whidbey News Group.

Keven Graves spoke of the time he interviewed Hansen saying, “She was fresh out of college and had a spark in her eye that is thrilling to see in a young journalist, especially in this day and age.” He hired her at the NVN upon graduation from Central Washington University in 2007, and during the five years in Yelm she worked her way from the general assignment reporter to Assistant Editor. On October 19, 2012, Graves reported that Hansen was leaving the NVN to take “the reigns of the newspaper I started my reporting career at in 1987 [Whidbey News-Times], and also the newspaper I co-founded in 1994.” Graves re-joined Hansen 4 months later as Publisher & Executive Editor of the Whidbey News Group in February 2013 where they have been colleagues for the last 5 years.

Since Hansen worked the majority of her career of over 11 years with Keven Graves, first at the NVN and then Sound Publishing, she knows Yelm well and will seamlessly move into the newspaper’s Editor’s chair. However, she will return to a different Yelm than when she left – a different mayor and city administrator, the complicit city councils are a thing of the past, and a city and Police Dept. that has been allowed to have a Facebook page, wow. Yet one thing has remained unchanged since she left – daily reports from the Yelm Community Blog, still free to the public!

One interesting observation I have is that she leaves a rather large parent company in Sound Publishing, Inc., with three newspapers and other publications for which she is Editor, to take a job for a very small newspaper group (Lafromboise) as Editor for one newspaper.
This begs the question, “Why the NVN?”
There must be another reason she would make this move and I suspect she will be offered the job of NVN Publisher in the not too distant future, perhaps even Publisher for the Centralia and Battle Ground newspapers, too, allowing Wagar to pass those titles on to her so he can be devoted full-time as corporate President.

Working for Graves for 11+ years means we probably will see little change for the Yelm newspaper in sticking to a “conservative” slant, however Hansen brings to the paper for the first time in many years an Editor with a woman’s viewpoint, which I find refreshing. I will be interested to watch how Hansen creates her own niche at the NVN.

– Bottom Line:
I have offered several times for this Blog to collaborate with the NVN in the last 12 years. Both Graves and Wagar declined – perhaps Hansen will see the value of such collaboration as a benefit to the community and the NVN, as most newspapers have multiple blog contributors.
Therefore, my offer is officially extended to Hansen for consideration.


Congratulations to Megan Hansen from the Yelm Community Blog.


Blogger Klein was referenced by Hansen in several NVN stories bet. 2009-2012.