Steve Klein addresses current issues impacting Yelm and vicinity and provides a meeting place for anyone with an interest in this area to provide their ideas and opinions
“How long before wild Chinook salmon are gone? ‘Maybe 20 Years’”
“Some 45,000 to 50,000 spring-summer Chinook spawned here in the 1950s. These days, the average is about 1,500 fish, and declining. And not just here: Native fish are in free-fall throughout the Columbia River basin, a situation so dire that many groups are urging the removal of four large dams to keep the fish from being lost.
“‘The Columbia River was once the most productive wild Chinook habitat in the world,’ said Russ Thurow, a fisheries research scientist with the Forest Service’s Rocky Mountain Research Station.
“Standing alongside the Salmon River in Idaho, Thurow considered the prospect that the fish he had spent most of his life studying could disappear. ‘It’s hard to say, but now these fish have maybe four generations left before they are gone,’ he said. ‘Maybe 20 years,'” by Jim Robbins New York Times News Service. Read more
“‘I shouldn’t be up here. I should be back at school on the other side of the ocean,’ the 16-year-old from Sweden told the United Nations Climate Action Summit. ‘Yet you all come to us young people for hope. How dare you! You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words.'”
“Thunberg slammed the members of the U.N. for caring more about money and ‘fairytales of eternal economic growth’ than collapsing ecosystems, mass extinctions and people suffering due to climate change,” quoting Kalhen Rosenblatt, NBC News. Click here to see Thunberg’s UN speech!
“Climate change threatens health in Northwest”
“While smoke from wildfires might be climate change’s most obvious impact in Washington, other threats still loom. Some predicted health effects include heatstroke, dehydration, worsened pollen allergies and increased cancer risk. And while local scientists have a plan to fix it, they say they are concerned that no one is carrying it out.”
“Meanwhile, climate scientists predict more smoky summers. On Wednesday, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) released a study that found that during one year, wildfire smoke in Washington state caused 245 deaths, directly and indirectly. The study pegged the costs of those “premature deaths” at $2.2 billion, and $55 million spent dealing with associated illnesses.”
“‘I’m seeing things that I did not think would happen until 2050,’ said Dr. Kristie Ebi, a professor in the Department of Global Health at the University of Washington. ‘Climate change is coming at us much faster, and the speed of change and how that’s going to affect extreme events is going to be very problematic.’ Heat waves and floods are becoming more frequent and intense sooner than expected, she said,” by Ryan Blethen, The Seattle Times. Read more
“US bird numbers drop by nearly 3 billion in 48 years”
“In the last five decades US bird numbers have plummeted by 29%. As populations dwindle, so do the chances of species survival,” by Tim Radford, Climate News Network. Read more
ExpressCare Providence, Lacey. By Providence St. Joseph Health
“ExpressCare Providence, a new walk-in clinic, opens in Lacey”
“A new walk-in clinic called ExpressCare Providence opened Monday morning in Lacey.”
“The clinic aims to fill the gap between primary care and a visit to the emergency room, said Gayle Prather, clinic practice manager.
“Some medical conditions that ExpressCare is equipped to handle:
nausea and vomiting, minor burns, cough, colds and flu, sprains, ear
aches, sore throat, pink eye, abdominal cramping and diarrhea.
“The clinic is at 1350 Marvin Road, which is in the same shopping center as Costco and The Home Depot. It is near Panera Bread.
“The clinic is open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week,” by Rolf Boone, The Olympian. Read more
A new multi-faceted visitor services model launches this month. The new model from Experience Olympia & Beyond offers visitor services throughout the county, expanded online travel planning and expanded hours for reaching someone by phone.”
“The new multi-faceted approach includes:
A call center with expanded hours through a partnership with the Hands On Children’s Museum to answer visitor questions and provide suggestions on what to see and do in the destination.
A text and website chat option that expands online travel planning. Visitors can get answers to frequently asked questions any time of day, helping visitors beyond normal business hours when many are traveling or planning their travel.
Regional visitor information centers through partnerships with Lacey South Sound Chamber, Olympia Downtown Association and Encore Teas & Chocolates, and Yelm Area Chamber of Commerce. The visitor center on the capitol campus is closing, but visitors will have access to in-person visitor information with expanded collateral at visitor centers throughout the region. Experience Olympia & Beyond is working with regional partners to open additional visitor centers beyond those listed here.
A certified tourism ambassador training program that will allow anyone in the county, including frontline service staff at hotels, attractions and volunteers, to be trained to answer visitor questions about things to see and do in the region. The program will also be offered to Leadership Thurston County classes through a partnership with the Thurston County Chamber. The training will result in a positive visitor experience and increased word of mouth.”
“New Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Open in Tacoma”
“Electrify America, which owns and manages an electric vehicle charging network, has teamed up with Tacoma Power to install several new EV charging stations in Tacoma,” by South Sound Business. Read more
“State’s Electric Vehicle Fleet Logs 1M Miles Driven”
“The fleet of 113 state-owned electric vehicles, managed by the state Department of Enterprise Services, was originally purchased as part of Gov. Jay Inslee’s 2015 initiative to get state agencies to make 20 percent of new passenger vehicle purchases electric by 2017. Inslee amended his goal earlier this year by asking for 50 percent electric vehicle purchases by 2020,” by South Sound Business. Read more, Gov. Inslee’s Newsletter on this subject: Read more
“Study: Washington Among Least Energy-Expensive States”
“For 2019, Washington ranked as the third least energy-expensive state, according to a recent WalletHub study,” by South Sound Business. Read more
nvn for wind towers
“Delta invests $2 million for study of potential facility to produce biofuel from forest floor debris”
“Commitment will fund exploration for the establishment of a sustainable biofuel refinery in Washington State,” by Delta Airlines News Hub. Read more
“Taxing your electric car to pay for highway repairs is gaining momentum”
“Momentum is growing in Congress for some sort of federal tax or fee on electric vehicles,” by David Lightman, McClatchy newspapers. Read more
“Koch-Backed Republicans Want to Tax Your Electric Car”
“The free-market economics devotee who owns an oil giant is bankrolling campaigns attacking electric car buyers and light rail systems,” by Alex Kotch, Sludge. Read more
“Beginning Sunday, Sept. 22 and through Saturday, Sept. 28, 2019, the non-profit charity National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) and holistic health pioneer Dr. Joseph Mercola, founder of Mercola.com, are co-sponsoring Annual Vaccine Awareness Week, a week dedicated to raising awareness about vaccination, health and informed consent.
“Since 1982, NVIC’s mission has been to prevent vaccine injuries and deaths through public education. In defense of human rights, including freedom of thought, speech, conscience and informed consent to medical risk taking, which includes vaccine risk taking, NVIC works to secure and protect flexible medical, religious and conscientious belief exemptions in U.S. vaccine policies and laws,” by the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC). Read more
Story at-a-glance
More than 500 vaccine-related bills were introduced in U.S. state legislatures in 2019, many of which proposed to restrict or eliminate vaccine exemptions
Only 2% of children attend public or private schools with vaccine exemptions for any reason — medical, religious, philosophical or conscience — in the U.S.
Fear mongering about measles outbreaks in the U.S. and around the world resulted in the forced vaccination lobby persuading legislators to eliminate the religious and conscience exemption in Maine and the religious exemption in New York.
In Washington state, the conscience exemption for measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine was eliminated.
In California, the legal right of private doctors to grant a medical exemption to vaccination was essentially eliminated.
Harmful vaccine bills restricting or eliminating vaccine choice were stopped in Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Vermont, Washington, Oregon and Texas, thanks to thousands of people participating in the vaccine lawmaking process, who personally contacted their state legislators and showed up for public hearings to defend their informed consent rights
The online NVIC Advocacy Portal was a major catalyst for that success. Registration is free, and puts you in direct electronic contact with your own state and federal legislators. You also receive action alerts with talking points via email when vaccine bills are moving in your state or in Congress so you can take action. Sign up today and consider making a donation to support NVIC’s important work to prevent vaccine injuries and deaths and protect your informed consent rights,” by Dr. Mercola. Read more
“The Disappearing Medical Exemption to Vaccination”
Analysis by Barbara Loe Fisher, on Dr. Mercola’s site. Read more
“As Police and Firefighter Numbers Fall, Officials Urge Prep”
“As police and firefighter numbers dwindle, authorities urge personal responsibility in disasters.”
“Last year, FEMA released its 2018-22 Strategic Plan for disaster response, which emphasized ‘shared responsibility across all layers of government down to the individual.’ In other words, residents of the affected communities are their own first responders.
“‘If you’re talking about a sudden large-scale disaster, there will never, ever, ever be enough professional first responders right when they’re needed, right when a disaster strikes,’ Simpson said. ‘Everybody is a first responder.’
“Even FEMA defines first responders as those closest to the impacted areas during an emergency or disaster. In FEMA’s after-action report on the 2017 hurricane season, residents and nonprofit organizations were among those who lessened the burden on fire, police and emergency medical services.
“‘We’ve kind of built up this mythology that somebody is going to be there and save you,’ former FEMA administrator Craig Fugate said. ‘And the person that saves you is maybe yourself or your neighbor.’
“In parts of the country, ordinary Americans are learning about what disasters they can expect and how they should be prepared for the aftermath.”
“Community Emergency Response Teams [CERT] were created so that local and state emergency departments could have trained volunteers to respond in emergency situations. CERT became a national program in 1993 and now has over 2,700 local programs nationwide, with more than 600,000 individuals trained since the program’s inception,” by Jake Goodrick, Brigette Waltermire, Natalie Anderson, Christian Gravius, Associated Press.
Editor’s note: Every week, President Trump further defiles the Constitution of the United States, states rights, and the will of the majority of constituents, as these story highlights attest, published last week:
UPDATE: Sunday, Sept. 22, 12N PDT: “Trump admits he discussed Biden with Ukrainian president” By Ellen Uchimiya and Stefan Becket, CBS News. Read more about this extraordinary admission!
“Pentagon puts brakes on 3 border barrier projects because of cost”
“Amid recession fears, almost half of Americans have anxiety over debt”
“One fifth of adults feel sick about money they owe,” by Karen D’Souza, Chico, California’s Enterprise-Record. Read more
“Deny, divert, discredit: Trump turns to his scandal playbook once again”
“Analysis: The president has a canned approach for trying to fend off bad news. This time, it’s a whistleblower report,” by Shannon Pettypeace, NBC News. Read more
“Trump lifts some tariffs, in sign trade war is inflicting harm on U.S. economy”
“‘The administration is trying desperately to reduce the pressure,’ said one economist,” by Martha G. White, NBC News. Read more
“Judge orders President Trump to testify in 2015 lawsuit”
By Rosalind Helderman, Colby Itkowitz, Washington Post, Read more
“How Trump and Giuliani pressured Ukraine to investigate the president’s rivals”
Editor’s note: And let’s remember these head-turning stories from actions in 2016, 2017 and 2018, where Trump moved to cede Ukraine to Russia. 2016, 2017, 2018.
By Josh Dawsey, Paul Sonne, Michael Kranish, David L. Stern, Washington Post. Read more
“‘Wow!’ Trump Campaign Posts Fox News Anchor Ed Henry’s Fake News About Border Wall”
