Recently in Yelm Issues Category

The Nisqually Valley News' two regular columnists Mayor Ron Harding and Nisqually Tribal Elder & Northwest Fisheries Commission Chair Billy Frank, Jr. both talk about water management:

THE HONORABLE MAYOR RON HARDING

Yelm Mayor Ron Harding explains in his monthly City Talk column titled "City adopts seasonal water rate hike",
"But it's not the daily household and business uses that are causing concern: it's the discretionary summertime usage and wasting of water that is challenging us...
The State of Washington requires us to implement conservation efforts. Last year, the city advocated a voluntary conservation program for the summer season...

This year, to discourage wasting of water, the city council and I agreed to apply a seasonal rate increase for June through September."

Billy Frank, Jr.

Nisqually Tribal Elder & Northwest Fisheries Commission Chair Billy Frank, Jr. in his column titled "Time for better water management" talks about exempt wells "that could potentially run our rivers dry".

The Olympian on May 15th preceded these columns with a story titled
"Olympia, tribe agreement aims to ease water worries":
"The water agreement signed Wednesday [May 14] between the city of Olympia and the Nisqually tribe is the first concrete step on a path to ease the water crunch for Thurston County's population center.
In the coming weeks, Lacey will become a partner as Olympia and the tribe work to jointly develop a new wellfield and retire McAllister Springs as a municipal water source after 60 years of use...
Olympia is required under federal law to either treat McAllister Springs with a costly ultraviolet disinfection system or find a replacement water source by October 2012. The springs are exposed and vulnerable to contamination, particularly from spills of railcars running on the nearby line. Wells used by the Nisqually tribe are low-producing, according to the tribe."

The City of Yelm will have to be brought into the agreement about McAllister Springs since the city's water policies affect this water source, as discussed here previously in January, 2007.

Further, the City of Yelm is going to Superior Court from a suit filed by JZ Knight that will hopefully establish the facts and truth about the City of Yelm's actual water rights, as discussed here on March 6, 2008, since city and State Dept. of Ecology officials share different views of Yelm's acquired water rights.

YELM PRAIRIE ARTS ASSOCIATION

"The Yelm Prairie Arts Association is a non-profit organization serving to enrich the lives of people in Yelm and the surrounding communities through supporting visual and performing arts

We support groups who dance, make music, create live theater and enhance arts in education in Yelm Community Schools.

We spread the word about our area performing arts and visual arts groups, sponsor events and participate in activities that the public attends.

We organize fund raising events and provide funding to visual arts groups & performing arts groups via an annual granting process. We operate with the intent to provide an even balance of annually granted funds to both performing arts groups and to visual arts groups.

Make Art a Part of Your Life!

This is an excellent time to be a YPAA member! In the last few years, we have seen significant change and growth in our communities. In 2002 and 2003 as part of our evolving community, the Nisqually Regional Arts Council and Yelm Partners for Performing Arts, now known as The Yelm Prairie Arts Association. gained strength by merging into a single organization under one board to support arts in our community. This includes activities, education and funding for performing and visual arts.

The following are samples of a few of the events and groups our fund raising efforts have helped to support:

Ruddigore, a Gilbert and Sullivan Operetta project at the Drew Harvey Theater

The Annual Christmas program, A Salute to Christmas, by Women in Harmony received funding for the 2002 performance.

ACT 2, ACT 3, ACT 4 and ACT 5 of the Yelm Community Consortia through the Yelm Community Schools. Matching funds to support a renewable grant from the Washington State Arts Commission to provide artists in residence and visual art experiences in Yelm schools and community for the 2002-2003, 2003-2004, 2004-2005, and currently, 2005-2006 school years.

Yelm Middle School - Artist in Residence Matching Funds

Arts are the heart and soul of a civilization. Our hope for the Nisqually region is that our visual and performing arts will bring beauty, warmth and color to the fabric that weaves our community together. We've made significant steps in the past 10 years, yet there is much more we dream about for Yelm and our surrounding communities.

Please join us to help create the hometown and region we all wish for our children, our neighbors and ourselves. If you would like to find a way to contribute and make a difference in our community, click here. Please feel free to contact us by email, or, send regular mail to:

PO BOX 2168
Yelm, WA 98597

Thank you for your caring and support. Your help will enrich the heart of our community.

Anne Wahrmund
YPAA Chair

PS. We are looking for interested people to become members of the YPAA. Please contact a board member for more information.

The Yelm Prairie Arts Association operate as a non-profit organization under the governance of one common board of directors. The common abbreviated name is YPAA."

TELL THE YELM PRAIRIE ARTS ASSN. YOU READ ABOUT THEIR WORK ON THE YELM COMMUNITY BLOG!

July– December, 2007 by appointment only
Opening reception, cocktails and auction December 15th 2007, 4 – 9 pm

Duveen Group is pleased to announce an exhibition of never seen works of oil on glass, oil on canvas and charcoal all done by the Serbian artist Mr. Georgije Popov who is better known as Makara. This will be the artist's s first United States exhibition and we are happy to host it here at “Dancing Spirits Estates” home of Duveen Group in Rainier, Washington

The exhibition consists of Makara’s most recent bodies of work; on various mediums which were painted between 2002 – 2006 The exhibition will provide an overview of Makara’s life and career and include his newly completed works of 2007.

Known for his unique “cosmic” style, Makara has gained an international reputation for his works among private collectors. His themes are sourced from history and culture and include references to his personal experiences and influences building narratives of epic proportion. Many of his works include the solar system as a prominent theme. Some paintings reference religious themes. Mixing universal concepts with historical and personal themes are also frequently found in his works.
Some of the paintings display female figures communicating with the universe in a unique way, which has been one of Makara’s effective focal points since his beginning as an artist. His complex oil-on-glass layering technique, what he calls “painting in reverse,” is a new style of painting developed by him. One of the oil-on-canvas paintings, “St. Nicolas”, large as life, displays a figure well known and revered to Serbians and Orthodox Christians. His love for animals and angels is profoundly expressed in some of his paintings.
One particular aspect of Makara’s style which I call the shadow play, takes the layering that appears in his paintings and drawings even further, almost to the point of them becoming three-dimensional animations.
Makara was born in 1944 and his journey as a painter began when he was a small child. His classrooms were European painting workshops with teachers from the schools of fine arts which provided him with rich learning experiences.
For the next ten years, he studied the artwork of the Italian Renaissance masters. Enlightened from this experience, he was inspired to travel throughout Europe, South Africa and Canada and see the works of other great master artists.
Today, Makara lives in Canada and Serbia and spends most of his time creating his masterpieces.
___________________________________________________________________
Duveen Group Gallery: Is located at Dancing Spirits Estates in Rainier, WA viewing by private appointment only. Information or images, please call Kevyn 360.446.4866 or duveengroup@yahoo.com

Photo from Port of Olympia website

While there has been much written about the December 2-3 storms, here are some local notes of interest:

1. A record single day rain total for the date of December 2nd
of 2.12 inches beat the former record of 2.01 inches set in 1975 at Olympia Regional Airport. Additionally, the 58 degree high temperature was 2 degrees short of a record high that goes back to 1982.

2. A record single day rain total for the date of December 3rd
of 3.19 inches beat the former record of 2.77 inches set in 1982 at Olympia Regional Airport. Additionally, the 58 degree high temperature was 2 degrees short of a record high that goes back to 1982.

Additionally, locals submitted pictures of our flooded streams carried by KOMO-TV 4, Seattle's ABC affiliate:

1. Lacamas Creek over Bald Hill Rd, Yelm
Scroll down to picture with the caption above.

2. Neat Rd. where the Deschutes spills into the Nisqually
Scroll down to picture with the caption above.

"Sea-Tac Airport recorded four inches of rain on Monday, the second wettest day on record, according to the National Weather Service," quoting KING5 News, Seattle's NBC affiliate.

Wal-Mart says it does not build stores in flood zones. The site of Yelm's Wal-mart was under water last January and this Chehalis location shows that store completely an island!
Wal-Mart Chehalis from KING 5 News from the ground
Wal-Mart in Chehalis form the air from KING 5 News Sky King.

Will Yelm's Wal-Mart be flooded this winter?
Stay tuned as Professional Engineer Ed Wiltsie is on the record at City Hall saying that the Yelm Wal-Mart was approved on a high groundwater area and prone to flooding.

Photo of Yelm Timberland Library courtesy of Guustaaf Damave Photography

ANNOUNCING A YELM TIMBERLAND LIBRARY SPECIAL EVENING

Our Past, Our Present: the History of Yelm

Date: Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Start Time: 7:00 PM
Yelm Timberland Library
What are the origins of Yelm, and who are the people who have lived here? Ed Bergh, Yelm High School history teacher, will show slides and talk about how the community has evolved through time. Sponso...
Age(s): Adults, Teens middle & high school

Mr. Bergh has created on the internet THE YELM HISTORY PROJECT, "an on going attempt to collect and display Yelm’s history."

WON'T YOU JOIN MR. BERGH AT THE YELM LIBRARY THIS WEDNESDAY EVENING TO LEARN ABOUT YELM'S HISTORY?

CONGRATULATIONS TO YELM'S OWN J & I POWER EQUIPMENT!

"The fifth-annual Yard & Garden Dealers in Excellence Award winners were recently named at the GIE+EXPO in Louisville. Sponsored by Ariens, STIHL, EETC and GIE+EXPO, the awards recognize independent power equipment dealers who are successfully growing their businesses with professionalism and innovation.

This year's winners are:

- Dave's Small Engine Repair in Oxford, ME

- Clay's Power Equipment in Raleigh, NC

- J&I Power Equipment in Olympia and Yelm, WA

The third winner has been a finalist for this award twice before. Opening a second dealership that did over a million dollars in its first season has left no doubt this year – J&I Power Equipment in Olympia and Yelm, WA, is as good as they get. Like many outstanding dealers, J&I credits its experienced, dedicated staff for its success. As the employer, Randy and Lori Longnecker are always looking for new ways to train and motivate their people. They recently set up a training room which houses a computer, conference phone and plasma screen TV, so technicians and sales staff can receive on-site training at minimal expense to the dealership. The Longneckers also added a camera system and central server for both stores. Originally added for security reasons, Randy says the system also helps him manage the Yelm store from his main office in Olympia. These are just a couple examples of the countless innovative, cost-effective things the Longneckers have done over the years to keep their dealership one step ahead," quoting Yard & Garden.


TELL J & I YOU READ ABOUT THEIR AWARD ON THE YELM COMMUNITY BLOG.

YELM'S COMPREHENSIVE PLAN TRAFFIC AMENDMENTS PUBLIC HEARING BY THE THURSTON COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS THIS TUESDAY

The Thurston County Board of Commissioners Public Hearing on Yelm's Comp. Plan Amendments will be Tuesday, December 4 at 6pm at the County Courthouse.

This is a very important meeting to attend to tell the Commissioners we do not accept the City of Yelm's conclusions about traffic.

If you cannot attend and wish to submit public comment,
Aimee Swenson, Associate Planner for Development Services is the person to write, however you must do so in writing by December 3rd at 5pm.

You may email your comments directly to her at:
swensoa@co.thurston.wa.us

or via snail mail to:
2000 Lakeridge Dr. SW
Bldg.1, 2nd Floor
Olympia, WA 98502

or Fax:
360-754-2939

The Board of Commissioners will have Work Sessions on Dec. 12 from 3 - 4pm and on Dec. 18 from 4 - 4:30pm to review amongst themselves all of the public input on the Comprehensive Plan.
The public is welcome to attend as observers only, however no public comments are permitted at these 2 sessions.

YELM'S WATER POLICIES "AN OLD IDEA & IT'S NOT GOING TO WORK ANY LONGER"
NPR's Fresh Air Program with Terri Gross aired this fascinating interview on November 27 with Peter Gleick,
a MacArthur Fellow and co-founder of the Pacific Institute. Mr. Gleick runs one of the nation's leading water-conservation assessment centers.

Mr. Gleick was asked a question about water vs. growth that certainly echoes what is going on in Yelm and says such old-style thinking must change:

"In the past, the answer has been to build it and we'll figure out a way to get the water there and that worked to some degree in the 20th century, but it's not going
to work anymore.
The idea that we can grow without thinking about the resources that are available for that growth is an old idea and it's not going to work any longer.
It's time that we integrate growth and the concerns about growth with the decisions about water and frankly energy and all the other resources we use."

[Ed. Note: Nowhere is this exact observation more relevant than Yelm's City Council quest for growth and where anyone questioning that is called a critic and anti-growth. Yelm's water availability vs. all of the housing for which the city has accepted applications to supply that water are swiftly coming together in a major confluence. This is as critical as the traffic and storm water runoff issues, all making headlines here. Mayor Harding's column on growth last week in the NVN demonstrates old-style thinking that does not serve the city's future. Scroll down to the November 27th entry for more on Mr. Harding's remarks. And, Yelm Community Blog readers have been kept informed on this issue for over a year and a half!]

STATE'S LEGISLATION CITED FORCES YELM TO STOP USING LODGING TAX FOR HISTORICAL SOCIETY MUSEUM
This writer wrote the following letter to the City's Community & Government Relations Coordinator Cindy Teixeira and copied the City Council. No answer or acknowledgment by the Council was ever received:

Your Staff Report dated November 19th, 2007 about the Yelm Prairie Historical Society service provider contract said,
"Questions about using lodging taxes for the museum have arisen, however and we recommend (City staff to Council) that museum funding from that source cease until ownership conditions can be met. Clarification and research into appropriate legislation revealed a discrepancy about use of lodging taxes for operation of a museum housed in a facility not owned by the City of Yelm or the Historical Society. Alternatively, we would pay for the contracted services from the General Fund."

Could you please tell me what the city is going to do with the money it has already collected from the hotel lodging tax?

If legislation revealed a discrepancy about the use of lodging taxes for operation of a museum housed in a facility not owned by the City of Yelm or the Historical Society, then wouldn't the proper course of action be that the taxes previously collected be held in escrow until a permanent space is found where legislation would permit their use - i.e. a facility owned by the City or Yelm or the Historical Society ?

If the city already spent those taxes against "appropriate legislation", then shouldn't the city repay those taxes by putting that amount in escrow until we have a facility owned by the City of Yelm or the Historical Society and those monies can be spent according to the law?

WHAT DO YOU SAY ABOUT THESE ISSUES?

Maia, Adam & Bellaluna of Clean Freaks Carpet Care

Local award-winning entrepreneurs and marketers Adam and Maia Dealan-de host a FREE MARKETING SEMINAR, Wednesday, December 5th at the Prairie Hotel.

"We recently had the opportunity to participate in a live (via satellite) question and answer session with billionaire president of Virgin Airlines, Sir Richard Branson. With over 700 business owners in attendance Sir Richard didn’t end up addressing the question we submitted, but he did share inspiring and thought provoking stories and insights about wealth, service and that moment of opportunity.

Sir Richard got our minds whirring with his story about the birth of Virgin Airlines. Before he had the audacity to take on behemoth British Airways he was simply a record executive who got stuck in Costa Rica when a small local airline dropped the ball, stranding Sir Richard and hundreds of others in a small island airport. Thinking outside the box in that brief moment of opportunity, Sir Richard did the math and realized that if he chartered a plane and filled the seats at $39 a pop he and his wife could fly off the island for free, and even make a small profit. He wrote the price on a piece of cardboard, walked around the airport holding it high and soon filled a charter plane.

After that success he called Boeing to find out what the cost would be to rent a used plane… once they realized he wasn’t a crank call (!) they worked out a one-year trial lease program and Virgin Airlines was born. Sir Richard’s billions, his charity Virgin United!, his visionary space tourism program Virgin Galactic and wildly fun and free lifestyle evolved from this seized opportunity and we thought…

Wow! We Want That…

Our session with Sir Richard was part of a long quest to get serious about studying marketing and money-making. We’ve owned and operated three businesses in the Yelm area over the past nine years. We’ve put in a lot of hours and followed a lot of the “wisdom” in our various industries, but still we wanted…

More Wealth And Freedom!

We started picking the brains of the most successful people we could get in touch with and put into practice wealth strategies learned from live seminars and one-on-one discussions with multi-millionaire and bestselling author of Body-For-LIFE, Bill Phillips, marketing guru Joe Polish, 22 year-old millionaire-entrepreneur Cameron Johnson (who made his first million while still in High School!), and lifestyle wizard and bestselling author of The 4-Hour Work Week, Tim Ferriss, among many many others. We have flown all over the country and invested tens of thousands of dollars to find out what really works.

In 2007 it all came together for us in our current business as…

We Doubled Our Profits!

And had record sales every month of the year, all while taking an extra day off every week (…and several vacations!). In November we were chosen one of 10 Finalists for a National Spokesperson position and a 2007 Chevy Corvette in our industry’s “Better Your Best” Contest in front of over 700 business owners (profiled in The Olympian 11/28/07).

Before we found out how to run a profitable, fun business we often felt…

Burnt Out… Maxed Out… And Ready To Snap!

We worked long hours and did great work, but never seemed to make the money or have the freedom that we wanted. We’ve had employees, and we’ve done the work ourselves. We’ve tried “brick and mortar” businesses, service businesses and multi-level marketing, but no matter what we tried we often felt stressed as we worked late into the night, sometimes seven days a week!

(Maybe you can relate.)

Several of our friends and local business owners have been in the same position and we’ve been unofficially coaching, brainstorming and sharing what we’ve learned with like-minded people wanting a change. Finally, we decided to “go big” and offer some of what we’ve learned and the strategies that have worked for us at a…

FREE Marketing Seminar!

If you have any questions or to pre-register, please give us a call toll free 1-800-894-4840 or visit www.lifewealthtraining.com. Please come (and bring a friend!) on Wednesday, December 5th at 7:00 PM at the Prairie Hotel Conference Room. The cost is FREE, and we hope that investing an evening with us will help you move on the path to transforming your own dreams into reality!"

Maia and Adam Dealan-de,
Founders of LifeWealth Marketing And Business Training

CONGRATULATIONS GOES TO CLEAN FREAKS CARPET CARE AS OUTLINED BY THE OLYMPIAN
"The Dealan-des this month were honored in a competition with 75 other carpet-cleaning companies nationwide that compared marketing plans and customer-relations strategies. The Dealan-des' presentation was judged among the 10 best in a contest run by a Tempe, Ariz.-based marketing firm that counsels carpet-cleaning businesses. The consultant, Joe Polish, began his career as a carpet cleaner," quoting The Olympian in this November 28th story.

WON'T YOU TELL CLEAN FREAKS CARPET CARE YOU HEARD ABOUT THEIR AWARD-WINNING SERVICE ON THE YELM COMMUNITY BLOG?

Thursday, November 29
Tom Keeslar & Robert Stanley (original Bloomline band member)
are back with "unplugged" versions of their original ska/ rock-styled songs. 8pm

Saturday, December 1
Live People ~ Rock. 9pm

Saturday, December 8
Paul Rodriguez performs heartfelt Americana acoustic rock & blues. 9pm

RediCab is available to take you home in style after an evening at Bar Cinco. Serving Thurston, Pierce, King and Lewis Counties.
360 400-TAXI (8294).

Notable Notes
• Overflow parking available at the dental arts building next door
• Tuesday thru Friday - Happy Hour from opening till 6pm - $1 discount on all Bar Cinco Specialty Drinks and 50¢ discount on all beers
• Tuesdays - 25% off on all bottles of wine. Try a special wine at a discount
• Free Internet Access
• Gift Certificates Available

BAR CINCO
704 Yelm Ave. W • Yelm, WA • 360-400-9000

PLEASE TELL THE BAR CINCO STAFF YOU READ ABOUT THEM IN THE YELM COMMUNITY BLOG!

Honeybees are mysteriously disappearing around the globe. What can you do as an individual, to contribute to the return of the honeybees?
The most obvious answer is: get started with beekeeping. Create a home for one or more colonies of honeybees and care for them.
How is this done?
A class on “How to get started with beekeeping” will provide you with answers to the questions you have. You will be able to see and touch all the materials you need, and you will learn which locations are best suited to have bees. After attending the class you will know from where to order a package of live bees to get started next spring and where you can get more education.
A small honey tasting contest lets you sharpen your senses for your own future honey flow.
The class is given by Thomas Mani on Saturday December 1st, 2007
11am to 1pm
at Gordon’s Grange in Yelm (white building beside Gordon’s Gift Shop)
Cost: $10
Please sign up for the class by email at tmani@fairpoint.net

PLEASE TELL MR. MANI YOU READ ABOUT HIS CLASS IN THE YELM COMMUNITY BLOG.