National parks brace for summer surge as Trump administration proposes more staff cuts

Excerpt from The Los Angeles Times:

• The Trump administration proposed cutting nearly 3,000 more positions in its 2027 budget.
• Lower staffing has prompted worry about parks’ capacity for emergency response, protection of the natural landscape and custodial maintenance.

National parks staff and advocates fear that such issues could only worsen this summer, as the park system faces the busy season with a dramatically reduced staff. At Yosemite, concerns are compounded by the National Park Service’s recent elimination of the park’s timed-entry reservation system, which led to the long spring-break lines.

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The National Park Service has lost nearly a quarter of its staff to buyouts, early retirements and other departures since the Trump administration took office last year, according to an estimate by the National Parks Conservation Assn. This month, the administration proposed cutting nearly 3,000 more positions in its 2027 budget. It also offered a recent new round of buyouts.

The push to cut the park system even further — ahead not only of peak season but of America’s 250th birthday, which the Trump administration has promoted in relation to national parks — has underscored ongoing questions about how smoothly parks can operate as warm weather and summer vacations draw tourists.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum defended the budget proposal on Capitol Hill last week, telling senators that the visitor experience to parks can be improved even while spending and staff reductions are made.

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Congress will have the final say on the proposed cuts, but in the meantime, the reductions that have already occurred presented challenges last season and appear likely to do so again, said Cheryl Schreier, a retired superintendent of Mount Rushmore National Memorial and chair of the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks.

Click here to read the full story.

Across the Country We are Standing Up AND Demanding…

From MayDayStrong: 

May Day Strong – National Day of Action (May 1st) On May 1, 2026, workers, students, and families rally, march, and take action across the country to demand a nation that puts workers over billionaires, with many refusing business as usual through No School. No Work. No Shopping.

SIGN THE MAY DAY STRONG PLEDGE!

SIGN THE INDIVISIBLE MAY DAY PLEDGE!

May 1 will be a coordinated day of action where we are demanding:

Tax the rich so our families, not their fortunes, come first.
ICE Out. No private army serving authoritarian power.
Expand democracy, not corporate power. Defend free and fair elections not a rigged disaster.

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May Day Participation Guide

From Indivisible:

1. Join May Day Strong’s Mass Call ahead of Friday’s day of action (Weds 8pm ET/5pm PT). You’ll hear from organizers mobilizing across the country about the importance of economic disruption as a tactic in fighting authoritarianism and how you can take part in the day of action this Friday (If you haven’t already, find a May Day event near you. There are already more than 3,000 events planned across the country.)
2. May 1st is May Day and we’re calling on folks to make their economic power known. Learn how you can take action to show Trump and his billionaire buddies that we won’t just continue business as usual while they erode our democracy.

Thurston Co. got $10M in first full year of public safety tax. How is it spent?

Excerpt from The Olympian via yahoo!news: 

A voter-approved public safety sales tax has made a big impact for Thurston County in just a few years, County Manager Leonard Hernandez said Tuesday [April 27].

“I think it would be safe to say commissioners that the public safety sales tax has been transformative for this county,” Hernandez said. “So, we really appreciate the voters’ approval to activate that.”

Hernandez made the comment during a budget presentation to the Board of County Commissioners Tuesday. Voters approved the 0.2% sales tax in the 2023 general election, and collection began in April 2024, according to county documents. The tax has primarily helped grow the Sheriff’s Office even as the county has faced other financial challenges. Now, a new public safety sales tax is expected.

In a councilmanic vote, the board approved an additional 0.1% sales tax in December, and collection is expected to start in July, said Summer Miller, the county’s budget and fiscal manager. That means that the council can implement the new tax without going to voters.

“Based on our point-in-time assumptions and estimations, collection amounts are projected to be about $4 million for (2026),” Miller said.

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The county receives 60% of the total sales tax revenue, and the cities get 40% in accordance with state law. Of the county’s portion, 75% goes to the Sheriff’s Office, and the remaining 25% goes to prosecution, public defense and election security.

So far, the sales tax has allowed the Sheriff’s Office to hire twenty-four deputies, three sergeants, two cadets and four support staff, according to county documents. Additionally, the Sheriff’s Office has acquired 27 new vehicles.

The Sheriff’s Office got a new headquarters at 111 Israel Road SW, which is near Tumwater High School and Interstate 5. The county finalized a $14.3 million real estate deal to acquire the property in 2025, The Olympian previously reported.

The Sheriff’s Office also acquired technologies to use in pursuits such as grappler nets and GPS trackers. Lastly, the documents state the Sheriff’s Office upgraded deputy body cameras.

Click here to read the full story. 

Located at Farrelli’s Pizza, 813 W Yelm Ave, Yelm

Editor’s note: Councilor Wood should have recused himself from voting against Pizzeria LaGitanta’s application, since he is the co-owner of a Yelm restaurant, Mr. Doug’s.

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Yelm City Council approves $10,000 in grants for local beautification projects, denies one applicant

Excerpt from the NVN:

Yelm City Council had a busy evening during its meeting on Tuesday, April 14, as members of the council voted to approve the allocation of beautification grant funds to three local entities, while voting against providing grant funds to a fourth.

Kathy Linnemeyer, Yelm city clerk, opened the discussion during the meeting and specified that the beautification grant application process opened during the first week of February, and officially closed at 5 p.m. on March 6.

“(With) the applications, we advertise those on the city website and social media accounts. The beautification grant committee met and reviewed the applications,” Linnemeyer said. “We received six applications. One did not qualify. One was submitted after the deadline, and the application strictly says late applications will not be accepted. Four applications are being recommended by the committee for 2026.”

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The first beautification grant applicant up for vote was Bounty for Families, who sought $1,000 for pavers and a retaining wall for the Yelm Community Garden at Yelm City Park.

Councilor Brian Hess said the community garden has been used for “quite some time” to provide local residents with training or educational opportunities on gardening.

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Yelm City Council approved the beautification grant of $1,000 for Bounty for Families, unanimously, with a 6-0 vote. Councilor Tracey Wood was not present during the votes for Bounty for Families or for the American Legion Post 164 and VFW Post 558’s applications.

Up next for Yelm City Council approval was a $5,000 grant request from American Legion Post 164 and VFW Post 558 for the purchase of a new, electronic digital sign. This was also unanimously approved with a 6-0 vote.

The third approved grant request of the evening was Pizzeria La Gitana, who sought $4,000 in grant funding to construct string lighting in their parking lot.

……

Prior to voting on Pizzeria La Gitana’s grant application, [Council member] Wood arrived at the meeting virtually. He was the only ‘no’ vote, as Pizzeria La Gitana’s grant request passed with a 6-1 motion.

[Editor’s note: Councilor Wood should have recused himself since he is the co-owner of a Yelm restaurant himself, Mr. Doug’s.]

Yelm Farmer’s Market Opening Day is Saturday, May 2nd. 

Excerpt from Facebook: 

Yelm Farmers Market is opening! May 2nd through September 26th , Saturdays 10 am – 3 pm.

WA gets ‘F’ in new report card for lack of statewide school cellphone bans

Excerpt from The Olympian: 

Washington is taking home an “F” grade for failing to adopt a statewide ban on cellphones in schools last session, according to a new report.

The findings announced Monday [April 13] come from a group of child well-being and safety organizations: The Anxious Generation Movement, Smartphone Free Childhood US, Institute for Families and Technology, and Becca Schmill Foundation. The report analyzes whether states have policies in place demanding that students store their phones from bell to bell.

Rather than pushing for phone-free schools, Washington lawmakers this year adopted the bipartisan Senate Bill 5346 that aims to help school districts enact phone policies tailored to their community’s needs by 2030. Gov. Bob Ferguson signed the bill, which directs the state superintendent to submit a report with best-practices recommendations by mid-December 2027, into law last month.

Report card project lead Lina Nealon, director of strategic partnerships for the Institute of Families and Technology, said students need relief from the harm and distractions that phones cause before 2030.

The way Nealon sees it, Washington is “ignoring” evidence showing the benefits of taking phones out of the picture for the entire school day.

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Most school districts in Washington have already adopted cellphone rules, according to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. More than half with policies in place ahead of the school year reported to OSPI that they would be limiting smart-device access just during instructional time. Nearly a third required the devices to be stowed throughout the day.

Click here to the full story.  

76-year-old bridge on WA’s ‘critical’ list will need $180 million in repairs

Excerpt from The Olympian:

The Narrows is just one of the state’s bridges in need of mending. About 1 in 10 of Washington’s spans are more than 80 years old. The Narrows’ westbound bridge, which opened in 1950, is 76 years old.

Lawmakers have acknowledged that the state has work to do in patching up bridges — but it’s a costly prospect, and Washington faces lots of competing infrastructure demands.

State Rep. Jake Fey, a Tacoma Democrat who chairs the House transportation committee, helped put a price tag on the Narrows’ needs during a phone interview earlier this year.

The estimated cost to address the bridge’s westbound span: nearly $180 million for short-, mid- and long-term repairs, Fey said. That estimate is for keeping the Narrows’ older span operational for a good period of time.

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Bridges are expected to be in service for at least 80 years, she said, though many can last much longer with the proper preservation and maintenance.

The westbound Narrows is ranked within the top 10% on the transportation department’s “Critical Bridge Needs” list, [WSDOT spokesperson Cara] Mitchell said. Even though it isn’t considered to be in poor condition, it is viewed as a high-priority structure, in part because of its large traffic volumes and the major economic and mobility issues that a restriction or closure would impose.

If Narrows repair work doesn’t get completed in the suggested time frame, then repairs will get more costly and complex, Mitchell said earlier this year.

Trump Admin. scrambles to block British investigators access to Epstein files 

+ Daily Beast: Trump Stonewalls British Probe Into Epstein Scandal – It’s unclear what conditions the DOJ might impose before handing over the unredacted files

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+ FOX News: Federal judge says lawyer ‘lied repeatedly’ during Epstein-linked suit against billionaire Leon Black – Judge found some evidence, including plaintiff’s sonogram images in personal journals, had been falsified

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+ Daily Beast: Trump Humiliated as Epstein Video Projected on DC Hotel Before His Big Night -Protesters are determined not to let Donald Trump forget about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

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+ The Huffington Post: Marjorie Taylor Greene Says Trump ‘Flat Out’ Told Bondi: ‘Do Not Release The Epstein Files’ – The former member of Congress was among Trump’s biggest supporters until her call for transparency led him to turn against her.

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+ Alternet: Extensive records review reveals Trump’s Epstein investigators ‘looked the other way’

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