Global warming or more accurately global climate change is threatening our way of life and our very life.  If you listen to the scientists and the environmentalist, you’ll be frightened out of your wits.

But the doomsday speakers, the bad news bringers, the bearer of ill tidings have been with us for centuries.  You only have to go back to the 1970’s to see how bad things were going to be in our lifetime.

The Washington Policy Center in Seattle has put out this list of predictions from the 1970’s.

“By 1985 . . . air pollution will have reduced the amount of sunlight reaching earth by one-half.”  Life magazine, January 1970.

“. . . . civilization will end within 15 or 30 years unless immediate action is taken against problems facing mankind,” biologist George Wald, Harvard University, April 19, 1970.

By 1995 “. . . somewhere between 75 and 85 percent of all species of living animals will be extinct,”  Senator Gaylord Nelson, quoting Dr. S. Dillon Ripley Look magazine, April 1970.

Because of increased dust, cloud cover and water vapor” . . . the planet will cool, the water vapor will fall and freeze, and a new Ice Age will be born.” Newsweek magazine, January 26, 1970.

The world will be ” . . . eleven degrees colder in the year 2000.  This is about twice what it would take to put us into an ice age.”  Kenneth Watt, speaking at Swarthmore University, April 19, 1970.

“We are in an environmental crisis which threatens the survival of this nation, and of the world, as a suitable place of human habitation,” biologist Barry Commoner, University of Washington, writing in the journal Environment, April 1970.

“Man must stop pollution and conserve his resources, not merely to enhance existence but to save the race from the intolerable deterioration and possible extinction,” The New York Times, editorial, April 20, 1970.

“Population will inevitably and completely outstrip whatever small increases in food supplies we make,” Paul Ehrlich, interview in Mademoiselle magazine, April 1970.

“. . . air pollution . . . is certainly going to take hundreds of thousands of lives in the next few years alone,” Paul Erlich, interview in Mademoiselle magazine, April 1970.

Ehrlich also predicted that in 1973, 200,000 Americans would die from air pollution and that by 1980 the life expectancy of Americans would be 42 years.

There are more, many more examples of utterances and predictions made by renowned lecturers and scientists.  But the purpose of this piece is to get you to think more clearly the next time someone predicts the demise of some species or the coming global crisis in warming.

Incidentally, the winter of 2007-2008 was the coldest and snowiest winter in a century.  North America had the most snow in 50 years, Wisconsin had the highest ever recorded, Michigan has the snowiest winter since snowfall records were first kept in 1880.

Baghdad had the first snow in its recorded history, Amman, Saudi Arabia, Jerusalem and Damascus all had the heaviest snow in recent memory.   And, don’t forget, we had snow, right here in Thurston County in May.

I’ve been following the fight over allowing taller buildings in downtown Olympia with bemusement and some interest.

Anytime the City of Olympia turns down a business, it moves to Lacey, where the city reaps the benefits of a new business, along with the jobs and the increased tax revenue.  What’s bad for Olympia is sometimes good for Lacey. 

So the fight among Olympia residents over the Larida Village Project and taller building  heights on the area between Budd Inlet and Capitol Lake drew my attention.

I wanted to know what the problems and concerns were regarding building heights and the restriction of the view.  Armed with maps, some idea of how high a seven-story building is, and good sunny weather, I started out.

I went to the strip of land in question and envisioned what such a building would look like and what a five-story building would look like from ground level, from someone walking along Fifth Avenue.

Then I walked along the shore of Capitol Lake, around Heritage Park looking back at the proposed buildings.  I walked the zig zag path up the hill to the Temple of Justice Building and looked back along Budd Inlet.

I even drove to the Thurston County Courthouse and took a look at what the buildings would look like from the courthouse hill view site.

I couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about.  At street level, along Fifth Avenue, there would be some blockage of view.  But it didn’t make any difference how high the buildings were, all view is blocked from any building, even the old health department building blocks views from ground level.

As I walked along Heritage Park the buildings blocked less and less of the view and soon melted down into the overall view.  Attractive buildings would not cause any significant distraction of the view.

From the Temple of Justice site there was almost no blockage of the view.  The buildings disappeared.

The view from the Temple of Justice is stunning and a seven-story and five-story building would not distract from that view whatsoever.   And, from courthouse hill any new buildings constructed on the inlet just becomes part of the cityscape.

As far as I could tell, the Larida Village Project would not cause significant impact to the view corridor.

The bigger problem with the Larida Village Project is the fact that, once constructed, it would open the flood gates.  Dozens of other condominiums would be on the drawing board in a matter of months once the Larida Village Project is completed.

The view from downtown Olympia of Budd Inlet, of Capitol Lake of the Capitol Building is magnificent.  Once the first condominium goes up others are sure to follow.

And, that my friends is the real concern of those that want no growth in Olympia.  Those that want to keep Olympia’s downtown just a little funky business district have got to stop the Larida Village Project because once it starts, growth will sweep across the area and downtown Olympia as they know it will be gone in just a few years.

I had the occasion to spend part of two days at the Great Wolf Lodge in Grand Mound.  It is NOT the place to be if you’re an adult, but children and parents with children, will find the lodge exciting and adventuresome and pretty pricey.

Rooms start in the $200’s per night  and go up from there.  It’s not unusual to spend $350 per night for a family room, big enough for parents and kids.

The layout of the facility is designed to make you think that you’re in a great mountain lodge.  Activities for kids abound, most of them costly however.  The indoor water park is a big draw and an amenity that comes free with each room.  Every person in the room, up to four,  is issued a plastic wristband, which also doubles as the room key.  The band allows you access to the waterpark.

The park has a number of rides, some for little ones and some for bigger ones.  Adults will find the larger rides more to their liking.  The lodge has six restaurants and a Starbucks.  It wouldn’t be unusual to spend several hundred dollars a day for a a family of four.

I did see many families bringing in coolers and food to eat in their room.  That’s one way to cut down on the costs.

But adults, without children, will find little to do.  A bus runs hourly to the Lucky Eagle Casino about fifteen minutes away but that’s about it.

Those thinking of using the conference center should be aware that spouses will be left with little to do.  Some shopping is available at the Centralia Outlet Mall and downtown Centralia has a number of antique shops; but at the lodge itself there is nothing for adults to do.

However, if you have a family, the children will love the place and parents will be exhausted trying to keep up with them.

Lacey’s Community Market is a success, bringing relief and joy to the City of Lacey which has been looking for the right combination of market factors for several years.

The city tried various concepts, most echoing the Olympia Farmer’s Market and most failing to excite the vendors or bring out the crowds.  But, this time around it appears the right person has been selected for the right job.

Sharon Kagy, who runs a successful merchandise and collectibles market at the Thurston County Fairgrounds was tapped by the city to lend her expertise to a new Lacey Community Market.

It’s first endeavour on Saturday proved successful, as some 60 vendors seemed delighted with the action and with the crowds, and those visiting the Lacey Community Market were pleased with the variety and quality of the goods being sold.

Assistant Lacey City Manager Scott Spence said it appears the city has achieved the right combination of vendors, leadership, publicity and community support.

Two more Lacey Community Market events are scheduled this summer on the second Saturday of August on August 9 and the second Saturday of September, September 13.  Kagy said that she expects an increase in the number of vendors and more shoppers as word of mouth gets around the community.

Thurston County Public Utility District 1 currently operates a number of small water districts in the area including Tanglewilde with about 1300 water customers.  

The district has water rights to about 70 acre feet of water each year, more than enough to supply its customers but it hasn’t any wells of its own and buys water from the City of Olympia for about $100,000 annually.

Now Thurston County PUD is looking at using its water rights and has drilled a test well near the Tanglewilde pool.  The interim results look good and the utility is giving serious consideration to drilling its own well and using its own water rights to supply its customers.

The cost for the well will be about a half million dollars, but several funds exist from which public utilities can draw funding at very low interest rates. 

There’s a need for hurry on this project.  Under laws passed by the legislature in 2003, all municipal utilities have to use their water rights within five years.  That means that the PUD must have the well drilled and supplying at least 15 homes as required, prior to September.  They think they can meet that requirement.

Supplying its own water to its own customers will be good for the utility and good for its customers.  It should also be good to the City of Olympia which will have additional water which it can sell to someone else. 

And, if the PUD’s well is excellent, it may even have water to sell to the City of Lacey.

Thurston County Auditor Kim Wyman said it best when talking about the state’s political parties and their activities following the United States Supreme Court ruling that the “Top Two Primary” is legal.

The parties have asked the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to rule on their 2005 suit which placed an injunction on the state from using the “Top Two Primary”.  Wyman said it reminded her of the cartoon where the young boy stands on the ball field with the soccer ball under his arms, as the rest of the team leaves the field.  He hollers “Wait, the game isn’t over.”

But the game is over.  The US Supreme Court has ruled on a 7-2 vote that the “Top Two Primary” is legal and can be used.  The political parties are left, trying to understand how the game could possibly be over, when they didn’t even know the game was out of reach.

I think the parties are trying to keep some sort of case going, because, when it’s all over, the Democrats, the Republican and the Libertarian parties are going to be left with paying the state’s legal fees, to the tune of maybe a half million dollars.

And, it’s all because, when they thought they were winning, in the lower courts, they asked for and were granted, legal fees.  But now that they have lost in the highest court in the land, they are on tap to pay the legal fees for the state.

And, that’s called, left holding the ball.

This is it.  This is the final shot for Capital Lakefair.  If it can’t make it this time around, the end will be near.

This community festival is entering its 51st year and things haven’t been tighter or more important.   Lakefair has lost the active support of the City of Olympia, the support of some of the downtown business interests and has been short of money and short of volunteers.

The last two years has seen a significant decline in participation and dollars.  Many of the local non-profit groups which depend on Lakefair for much of their annual budget have had two years of near collapse. Last year it rained the entire time, while two years ago  saw temperatures climb into the 90’s most days keeping visitors and food buyers away.

But Lakefair has one thing going for it this year - - Bob Barnes.  Barnes, who was Lakefair president in 1981 has come out of retirement to see if he can’t rejuvenate this community event.

He has pulled in major sponsors, found more volunteers, and has revamped Lakefair to make it “more family friendly.”   Barnes has committed to chairing the event for two years.  This is his first.

But he admits he has an uphill battle.  In his president’s message in the Official Program, Barnes takes on the City of Olympia and its assertion that Lakefair costs the city money and has no significant benefits.  Barnes talks about Lakefair’s intangibles and says that community festivals are just as important to a city as roads, police and fire protection.  He also takes issue with downtown businesses which feel that Lakefair is harmful to their bottom line.

It’s doubtful that Barnes can change the city’s mind or some of the downtown businesses.  I doubt he can get them to support Lakefair.  But there’s no doubt - - he’s trying.

If Barnes can’t turn this festival around and garner significant community support then no one can.  This is the last gasp for Lakefair.  By next year it could be gone, or Barnes can pull off a miracle.

I don’t much believe in miracles.

They’re at it again, those City of Olympia officials, who have identified a new location for a downtown parking garage.   The place designated for this great honor is the old Mills and Mills Funeral Parlor parking lot on Fifth Avenue.

Apparently the old Department of Transportation site on State is out of the picture - - as is Sylvester Park, which in 1955 was identified as a good location for an underground parking garage by the city.  Only a concerted effort on the part of local residents stopped the destruction of the city’s major park.

Since 1986 the City of Olympia has commissioned five different studies on the need for a parking garage in downtown Olympia.  In 2002 a consultant’s study found that downtown traffic didn’t justify a parking garage, and if one were built it would require about a half million dollars a year of taxpayer subsidy.

I don’t think that traffic in downtown Olympia has increased significantly since 2002 and I suspect the results of that study are still valid.  Olympia doesn’t need a parking garage.  Such a structure would rapidly become a gray elephant.

In the 1980’s the City of Spokane built a downtown parking garage in a public-private partnership.  Lack of use caused the facility to fail and Spokane taxpayers spent millions to bail out the owners.

That’s going to happen in Olympia, if the city goes through with its plans for a parking garage.

City officials seem to think that if they build it - they will come.  That if they build a parking garage, shoppers will come and fill it up.  That’s just wishful thinking.

What the city needs, before it builds a parking garage, is more reasons for people to come into downtown.  In order to do that, it has to eliminate city regulations which make opening a downtown business difficult.  It has to severely reduce impact fees, and it has to change the entire atmosphere in city hall.  The city has to become more business friendly.

A parking garage will not attract shoppers or visitors.  Only a new attitude on the part of Olympia officials will do that.  We have to feel welcome and today we don’t.

The resignations of Russ Lehman and Bob Shirley from the Olympia School Board are a loss to public control of the local school system. 

The whole mess boils down to one question - - who controls the Olympia School District?  Is it the superintendent?  Is it the self-serving teachers union?  Or is it the parents and the public of the Olympia School District?  It’s obvious that the parents and the public have lost.

Shirley and Lehman have been at odds with other members of the Olympia School Board for nearly two years.  Both have asked for greater accountability from school officials and both have been on the losing end most of the time.

An election to determine who would fill a vacant seat on the school board boiled down to a fight between Lehman and Shirley against the rest of the school board.  They lost the battle when Frank Wilson won election.  They had backed his opponent.

A later resignation from the board found the two sides unable to agree on a replacement and ESD 113 had to step in and appoint someone to fill the vacancy.  Allen Miller was the chosen one.

All school board members are taught, from the day they’re elected, that school board members should stay out of the day to day operation of the school district and concentrate on long term goals and objectives.  They are taught that by several state educational associations which represent school administrators.

But the question has to be asked.  When is it alright for a school board member to object to an administrative decision?  Is it in private or should it be in public?  I’ve always favored discussion of public concern should take place in a public forum.  Others, like school administrators and school employee unions, would prefer the decision be made in private.

I’m not certain that Lehman and Shirley were always right.  I suspect that they were wrong on occasions.  But I do know that they wanted important decisions made by the school board and often questioned the decision-making process which left out parents and the public.

What’s ahead for the Olympia School District?  I think the appointment of Allen Miller was a great move by ESD 113.  I think Miller has the best interests of the public and the parents at heart.  And, being new, and not subject to indoctrination from school officials, Miller is still fresh and unspoiled.  His vote to lower the wage increase for district administrators was a demonstration of his ability to vote against the majority.

I also think the three remaining members, Miller, Wilson and Carolyn Barclift, will be able to appoint successors to fill the vacant positions.

But the process has to be done in public and the public must come away from the selection process feeling that the school board represents them, and not the special interests that abound in the school district.

For some reason or other, I seem to get many survey calls.  I don’t know if its because I still have a land line or if I just get lucky.  I always consider myself lucky when I get a survey phone call, because I enjoy answering surveys.

I particularly like to “lie” to the surveyor.  I almost always lie when I’m polled.  When they talk about the margin of error - - that’s me.

So when I was polled today I was interested.  Until they asked me if my name was Ken Balsley.  I asked how they got the name.  They said ”it was computer generated.”  Then they asked my if I still lived at 4434 24th Avenue.   I was hesitant to reply, but I eventually did so.

Then the questions started coming.  All about Thurston County and its need to protect land and open space.  I aways think open space and wild areas are important so I support that.  Then I was asked if I would approve the lifting of the property tax levy lid to do so.  I replied - NO. 

They gave me several alternatives over the next few questions.  What if it were only 15 cents per thousand?  What is it was capped at $3.5 million?  What if a citizen group controlled the money instead of a government agency?

It was then I realized, that this was not a survey.  This was an educational effort under the guise of being a survey.  They wanted to give me information and didn’t really care what my answers were.

I finally asked, how much longer is this going to take.  The surveyor said “it depends on your  answers.”  Then I knew.  As long as I was negative towards a tax increase, they would continue to feed me information hoping eventually to change my mind.

Thurston County should be ashamed of itself.  Using public money to influence an election and doing it under the guise of “taking a survey.”   I think it stoops pretty low and I suspect, it’s probably illegal.

Governor Christine (Call me Chris) Gregoire was in Chicago a couple of weeks ago to attend a fund-raiser for herself and other women.  Word has it that she spent some alone time with Barack Obama.   Does the title Vice President of the United States have any kind of ring to it.

The United State’s Supreme Court ruling that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution allows an individual to own a gun, is a long time in coming.  Of all the amendments to the constitution, the Second Amendment hasn’t been challenged or ruled upon in more than 200 years.  It was about time.

The argument went that the second amendment applied only to state militias and did not allow individuals to own a gun.   A reading of the amendment was not clear and required a ruling by the supreme court of our nation.

And, today it came down 5-4, that the United States Constitution allowed individuals to own guns for hunting and self-protection.   The lawsuit challenged the District of Columbia’s 30-year old rule baning individuals from owning guns anywhere within the nation’s capital.

The supremes said that owning a gun was not without limits however, and seemed to allow governments to put some restrictions on gun ownership, but not an outright ban.

Those long time arguments between anti gun people and pro gun people is now moot.  The court has ruled the second amendment does allow gun ownership.   Just what kind of restrictions can be placed on gun ownership will now be the issue and not the right to keep and bear arms.

I’m not going to rush to the store and buy me a gun.  But I sure like the fact that I can if I want to.  Way to go supremes.  You made the right decision.  It should have been 9-0 however.

One of my greatest memories, and that which separated South Sounders from others, is berry picking.

Every kid, during the 1950’s, picked berries.  As soon as school was out in June we’d be at the fields picking strawberries.  The poor kids did it because they needed the money.  The rich kids did it because their parents felt it would teach them the honor of hard work.

Poor kids rode the berry bus.  We’d get up at 5 a.m. walk a mile or more to the bus stop and get on the berry bus.   It would make its way around Thurston County picking up kids along the route.  After an hour or more of riding the bus we’d make it to the fields.  The rich kids were dropped off at the field by their folks, but we all made it.

We’d hide our brown bag lunch in the grass, under something so no one would steal it, and report to the row boss who was usually a large woman.  She would assign us a row.

The fields were always damp in the early morning and it was chilly, so we’d start with our jackets on, but very shortly, as the summer sun warmed us up and dried out the fields, the jackets would come off, thrown haphazardly behind us.

We’d  pick the biggest berries first because they filled up the boxes quicker, but the row boss would always make us go back and redo a row because we left too many small berries.

We’d push our flats in front of us, making small talk with the pickers around us and making eyes at the girls.   But soon, we’d become bored with the work and would start a berry fight and throw rotting berries at each other, anything to pass the time.

After what seemed like hours, it would be time for lunch.  We’d find our brown bag, eat the sandwich and drink the pop, now warm from the sun.  But, too soon, it was back to work.

Each filled flat would be taken to the row boss, who would either accept it, or send us back to fill it up more.  Once she was OK with it, she’d punch our card, and we’d start all over again with a new flat.

Some of us worked all season, some worked for just a few days, but after what seemed like forever the berry bus would arrive and we’d stop picking for the day.  The rich kids got picked up at the field in the family car.  We’d get to ride the berry bus on its long trip back home, knowing that tomorrow we’d start it all over again.

As the season progressed some of us would continue on to pick raspberries and later green beans.  But we all picked strawberries, rich and poor.  It was the great equalizer.

It was started on April Fools Day 2004.  The Olympian announced it was publishing a news supplement to its paper - - Lacey Today.  With great fanfare, at a Lacey Chamber of Commerce meeting, the new publication was unveiled.  “We recognize the future of our paper is in Lacey,” said newspaper big wigs.

There were cheers all around.  Finally, The Olympian realized that Lacey and its large population base, as well as its growing retail business, was important to the newspaper and Lacey Today was the result.  This new product was inserted in all of the newspaper’s subscribers in the greater Lacey area.

Over the few short years, the Lacey insert began to see a decline, in news coverage and quality of product.  By 2007, Lacey Today was filled with nothing important.  It was gradually slipping away.

It published its last edition on June 25, 2008.    Jerre Redecker, editor of Lacey Today said, “Changes to the newspaper reading habits and advertising have made it impractical to continue publishing.”

The quality of work had slipped so low that almost no one will miss Lacey Today but it demise still seems like a slap at Lacey and the few readers The Olympian  has in this area.

Cutbacks and staff transfers at The Olympian have moved reporters to Tacoma and The (Tacoma) News Tribune.  As earlier reported 17 staff members have also been laid off at The Olympian  including three reporters and business editor Jim  Szymanski.

The closing down of Lacey Today is just another example that newspapers around the country are trouble.  Because, if The Olympian couldn’t pick up subscribers and advertisers in Lacey, it couldn’t survive the future.

George Carlin, the 60’s poster child for comedy, became a foul-mouthed bitter old man in his later years.

Accolades for him by the mainstream media, talk about the way he pushed limits all of his life which brought him millions of fans around the world.  What they failed to recognize, is that in the last decade, Carlin morphed from a man whose comedy was ahead of its time, to an old man yearning to be relevant.

His Las Vegas act was filled with vulgarity, sex and most of all, insignificance.  He tried to capture his former glory but ended up living on his reputation.  And, his act reflected his bitterness.

Praise if you must his early days, but to have been a truly respected figure, he should have died 20 years ago. 

It was May 2006, and Team Olympia was in place and ready to start working on construction of a new city hall for Olympia.  The price of the project had been set at $25 million - - and the location favored for the new city building was property owned by the Port of Olympia.

City officials were confident the project would be underway by early 2007 and plans were made to move into the new Olympia City Hall by mid 2009.

The best laid plans were not to be.   Team Olympia opted out of the contract citing unknown difficulties.  The City of Olympia found a new site when the old Safeway building location became available.  And plans to construct Olympia’s new city hall were back at the starting point - again.

Now the cost is set at $31 - - not counting land purchase and clean-up costs - - and three teams of developers are vying to become the builders of the new city hall.  Except, one of the teams had to back out because it couldn’t meet the City of Olympia’s requirement that it offer equal benefits to its employees’ domestic partners. 

Now we’re down to two teams of developers, both designing the new city hall, and the cost has climbed to $35 million - - not counting land purchase and clean-up.

From its track record, I don’t hold out much hope that the project will go any smoother than it has already.   I suspect that we may not see a new Olympia City Hall for many years yet to come. 

Layoffs at The Olympian means that effective control of the local newspaper has been transferred to Tacoma and will operate out of the The (Tacoma) News Tribune offices.

Not only have 17 Olympian staffers been laid off but several others have been transferred to Tacoma where they will operate out of that sister publication.  Those transferred from Olympia to Tacoma include the Advertising Manager and the Classified Advertising Manager, thus moving those operations out of town.

It’s not certain how many reporters and editors have gone, but at least one has lost his job at The Olympian.

The moves are part of an effort to save McClatchy Company from further financial problems.  The company has seen a significant decrease in revenue primarily due to the decline in advertising in all of its newspapers.

McClatchy owns seven daily newspapers in Washington State including The News Tribune, The Olympian, the Bellingham Hearld andThe Tri City Herald.  It also owns 49 percent of The Seattle Times.

Since its acquisition of those newspapers in April 06, the company has been consolidating its operations.  A significant piece of the action is controlled by The (Tacoma) News Tribune which staffers at The Olympian refer to as “the mother ship.”

A look at the pages of our local newspaper will show many stories with bylines from other McClatchy papers, particularly those of The (Tacoma) News Tribune.  Fewer and fewer stories are being generated from Thurston County. but are fed to The Olympianfrom McClatchy’s other papers.

The Olympian isn’t the only McClatchy paper to feel the pinch.  Some 84 employees at The (Tacoma) News Tribune have also lost their jobs.

These layoffs in newspaper staff are just the latest in bad news from a media which is trying desperately to remain relevant while fewer and fewer people are subscribing to newspapers.  Total paid subscriptions to The Olympian fell from 34,377 in 06 to 32,708 in 07.  The Olympian  isn’t alone.  Most newspapers across the country have seen a significant decrease in paid circulation.

But, with the newest cuts, layoffs and transfers it appears that for all practical purposes, operation of The Olympianhas been transferred to the “mother ship” in Tacoma.

While circulation has been shipped out overseas and advertising moved to Tacoma the news side of the operation is still controlled from The Olympian’s office on the Eastside. How much longer that will remain is a matter of conjecture. But less and less local news is making the pages and it’s only a matter of time before all news operations are moved to Tacoma as well.

Indicating that The Olympian is moving out of town is the fact that they have put up an adjacent piece of property for sale, a piece they have owned for decades.

Recent news events about loss of life on the Nisqually River got me thinking about my own experiences on that deadly river.

When I was 13 years old, another boy and I, whose name I no longer remember, were at an office party at a house on the river.  We decided to take a boat and row up the Nisqually River until we got to McAllister Springs.  We had never seen the springs and we wanted to find it.  So we took off.

After several hours, we decided we’d never find the springs and besides, it was getting hard work rowing up-river and we were tired.  It was also getting dark and we knew our parents would be looking for us.

We were right.  Not only were they looking for us, but so were dozens of others.  After we were found missing, the call went out and volunteers as well as law enforcement officials had started a search.  

Needless to say, we were in deep trouble.

My next experience with the Nisqually River came when I was 20 and stationed at Ft. Lewis.  The Army decided to put some of us in rubber rafts and send us down the river for a training exercise.  Most of the soldiers were in 20-man rafts.  I had the fortune or misfortune of being in a four-man raft.

It was late Spring and the river was running high and fast, just like this week.

About mile after our put-in spot and probably about a mile from the Delta, our raft hit a log jam and went under upside down.  We were all wearing life jackets and none of us suffered any more injuries than a few scratches but much of our equipment was lost.  I managed to hang on to my rifle but I did lose my glasses.

That experience on the Nisqually taught me how difficult that river can be.  Even some members of the Nisqually Tribe, who live along the river, have drown in its swift moving waters.

The most recent deaths involved people with no experience, in the wrong type of water craft and without any life jackets.  Any one of those is a recipe for danger alone, but add in alcohol and you’ve got disaster.

The Nisqually River comes straight off of Mt. Rainier.  At this time of year snow-melt makes the river fast and cold.  Add in floating debris, brush and logs and you have a very dangerous river.  I know, from personal experience. 

Thurston County Prosecuting Attorney Ed Holm’s decision to run for a judge’s seat on the Thurston County Superior Court strikes most of us as a little odd.  Why did Holm, at the age of 68, decide to change careers?  What has happened over the last couple of years to cause Holm to even want to be a judge?

Perhaps we need to review some of the recent developments in Holm’s life both professional and personal.  That might give us a better understanding of why a prosecutor wants to be a judge.

Lets start off with something personal.  A couple of years ago, Holm and his wife were victims of a crime.  A home invasion to be exact.  Criminals broke into his house and terrorized his wife.  Holm was injured while trying to protect her. 

The criminals were caught and tried in Pierce County because of who the victim was.  I’m no psychiatrist but it seems to me that his experience as a victim might make him want to get revenge on all criminals.  But, it also seems to me that he could fight crime just as well being the chief prosecuting attorney.

Holm’s professional life is even more screwed up.

Holm and some male members of his staff were sued by former female employees, charging sexual harassment among other things.  The court found Holm and his male staff guilty and assessed a multi-million dollar fine against him and his office.  Of course it’s us, the taxpayers who ultimately pay those fines.

Then one of Holm’s deputy prosecuting attorneys was picked up for drunk driving.  It just happens to be the person who prosecutes drunk driving charges in Thurston County.

Then Holm’s prosecutors were slapped with a charge of “gross negligence” by Thurston County District Court Judge Sue Dubuisson when lawyers in Holm’s office failed to turn over police reports on Port of Olympia anti-war protesters.  Thus putting in jeopardy any charges against the protestors.

Holm was in danger of not even being re-elected to his current position.

And then, he decided to run against incumbent Judge Gary Tabor, one of the more conservative judges in Thurston County and a judge which is normally hard on crime and on criminals.  All Holm would say when quoted in The Olympian was that he thinks he would make a better judge than the one who’s there now.

I have no idea what’s on Holm’s mind.  All I think is that he knows he wouldn’t be re-elected as prosecuting attorney and to try a run at Superior Court might be his best political bet.

 Holm’s knows  this is going to be a Democratic year and that Democrats all around the country are going to be elected or re-elected to office.  Apparently he thinks that his background as a Democratic office holder will sweep him into his new job.

And besides, if he loses, he still has two years left to serve as Prosecuting Attorney, at which time he’ll be 70.  You can be a judge in Washington State until you’re 75.

After an all-day retreat, looking at past accomplishments and turning an eye to the future, the Lacey City Council decided to have a year-long “Visioning Process” by which they would involve the entire Lacey community in setting a vision for the long term future of the city.

Just when the visioning process will start is still up in the air, but the entire Lacey Council came away prepared to embark on this new adventure.

The Council itself set some long term goals which included:  finding and obtaining new water sources, working on establishing a better relationship with Fire District 3, and purchasing land to perhaps work with a private party to develop the property.

Look for the City of Lacey to begin the visioning process by reaching out to community groups and explaining just what they have in mind.  The entire visioning process could take a year and perhaps even longer.