Yelm Issues: August 2006 Archives

Yelm is growing at a rapid pace. New housing developments and Walmart will add to the traffic nightmare we now face. That we can all agree on.

One factor I have not seen addressed is how the heavy volume of traffic affects our quality of life. The noise from the traffic reduces the quality of life and adversely affects health whether or not one is "used to it" or not. Noise causes involuntary physical reactions such as dialation of pupils and raised blood pressure. For many with high blood pressure or heart problems, traffic noise and other environmental noises can be dangerous and deadly. The stress resulting from environmental noise can produce angry individuals that often result in acts of violence. Noise impacts the learning abilities of our children in schools.

We all have low tolerances for certain noises. It may be a baby crying, a dog barking, sirens, loud vehicles, lawn equipment, loud music (bass that emits strong air vibrations in particular), air conditioners, etc.
Ask yourself how much is to much and consider how it may be affecting your quality of life. Yes, some things are necessary but so is consideration and respect for our neighbors. If you run noisy power equipment that can be repaired or replaced to eliminate excessive noise then do so. That's being a good neighbor/citizen. If you enjoy loud music consider that others may find it annoying and turn it down. If your vehicle/motorcycle is loud then get it repaired/equiped to run quietly (yes, the means to do so has been available for many years).

Yelm used to be a quiet little town, but for many residents it is fast becoming an unsafe and unhealthy environment. Growth means change. How we manage that growth determines what our quality of life will be. Will we be considerate of the right to the peaceful enjoyment of our homes and community, or will we degrade our quality of life by ignoring the elements that produce negative impacts upon our lives? Will our city officials listen to us and act in the best interests of the people or will they act in the best interests of whatever profits them and their cronies? Do we have unbiased enforcement of our laws and regulations or do we get ignored or harassed when we speak up?

It's about quality of life! It's about working together to build a safe peaceful environment... to respect the rights of others.

Karen Kangas

This writer received a call earlier this week from a reporter for one of the local daily newspapers to ask my comment on a certain matter.
I referred the reporter to stories written in their sister paper down the road. The reporter had no knowledge that this topic had already been covered extensively there,
which led me to ponder how sad the situation is for local newspaper readers to find their daily Puget Sound newspapers (The Olympian, Tacoma News Tribune, 49% of the Seattle Times) are mostly owned or controlled by one source: The McClatchy Co..

Quoting the Tacoma News Tribune of March 14, 2006:
"The McClatchy Co.’s pending purchase of Knight Ridder newspapers means the South Sound’s two daily newspapers – The News Tribune and The Olympian – would be owned by the same company. Readers posting messages to The News Tribune and The Olympian Web sites worried Monday that a single owner might kill off the smaller Olympian. Cheryl Dell, the Tacoma paper’s publisher, said that wouldn’t be the case. “We have no intention of closing the Olympian or selling it,” Dell said. McClatchy announced Monday that it agreed to buy Knight Ridder Inc. for $4.5 billion. McClatchy publishes The News Tribune and the Tri-City Herald in Washington, as well as 10 other daily newspapers. Knight Ridder Inc. owns 32 daily papers, including The Olympian, The Bellingham Herald and 49.5 percent of The Seattle Times. The transaction won’t change The News Tribune’s commitment to covering the South Sound, Dell said...The purchase will make McClatchy the second-largest newspaper chain in the country, behind Gannett Inc., which publishes USA Today. The News Tribune, currently McClatchy’s fourth-biggest circulation paper, will rank ninth after the deal closes this summer."

Further, Yelm's weekly Nisqually Valley News is owned by Lafromboise Newspapers, which also owns the Centralia Chronicle. With consolidation even among the local weekly papers, perhaps this is the only way for some them to survive, yet is a disturbing trend.

No wonder readers are turning more and more to blogs, as newspapers consolidate and the readers' choices to access news from the print media dwindle.

Glen Cunningham, Planning Commission Chair called the meeting to order at 6:30pm. on Monday, August 21st & clearly did not know how to handle the protocols of this meeting and asked staff for assistance several times. Besides city staff, the only people in audience were new City Councilman Hendrickson, Yael & Steve Klein, Cindy Teixeira of the Nisqually Valley News (NVN), Jean Handley and only 2 others. This writer raised these issues on the record:

1. According to the WA. State DOT website, the Y3 Loop will not begin construction until 2013 subject to funding, with the first cars to use it a decade away. I requested the Comprehensive Plan be updated to note that all traffic studies include and traffic mitigation explained that a Y3 Loop will not operational for 10 years, instead of the way it currently is -- where the Y3 Bypass is used to support all traffic issues here. Such is not the case & that that needs to be updated immediately to give a more accurate portrayal of the traffic situation here for planning purposes.

2. The Comprehensive Plan should have a separate section dealing with shallow groundwater hazards. Two specific areas that were impacted were the properties immediately downstream from the proposed Wal-Mart site and the area upstream from the Hawks Landing Subdivision and the new Ridgeline School. This past winter required that City of Yelm staff deal with a number of high groundwater and drainage issues. The present approach for handling shallow groundwater rise was totally inadequate. The Comprehensive Plan needs to be updated to reflect this.

3. Developer's Impact Fees are going to have to be dealt with in Yelm as they are in other areas, providing a quote from the Tacoma News Tribune article of August 20, 2006. Further, Rep. Tom Campbell sat in this very chamber on Saturday, April 29, 2006 and stated publicly in his Town Hall Meeting that the traffic numbers the City of Yelm used for the Wal-Mart project were skewered downward and differ from the numbers supplied to him by State Highway officials.

The only other public comment was from Jean Handley who stated that the 6-year concurrence stats in Chapter 14 of the Comp Plan for the Y3 Loop are not clear in that the goal-posts of that 6-year period is moved continually or not stated at all. She stated that Rep. Campbell told her that if there is a winter storm, earthquake and/or major issue requiring the State of WA. to pony up money for the Alaskan Way Viaduct, the 520 floating bridge or I-5, the money will be taken away from Y-3 and the Loop will not be funded - that info. needs to be in the Comp Plan, too.

Cindy Teixeira of the NVN asked:
"Is it true that the City of Yelm charges developers impact fees of developers now, Mr. Beck?"
"Yes."
"Would you say these fees are fair & in alignment with city requirements?"
"Yes."
Kathy McCormick, the City's Comp Plan contracted adviser from Thurston Regional Planning Council (TRPC) comes to the podium and interjects that the Yelm Comp Plan Traffic Section will be amended after the Thurston Regional Planning Commission (TRPC) holds their Comp Plan Public Hearing on Sept. 20th and both the County & Yelm update their plans in conjunction with each other, in "about a year" or so. HMMM!

This writer called Cindy of the NVN to say I wished to add the following information to provide a more detailed report to the NVN readers and Planning Commission as to my Impact Fee comment. Here are my emailed remarks, from doing more homework after the Hearing, which were provided to the NVN, the Planning Commission, City Development Diector Beck and now for you, the public:

1. Developer's impact fees imposed by the City of Yelm are handled through a fixed impact fee of $750 per PM Peak Trip per each development. This approach would be reasonable if the existing infrastructure load were exactly the same for all development environments. Such is not the case. Per the Yelm Transportation Comprehensive Plan, the Yelm System is in a state of overload with intersections already designated as Level of Service F (lowest grade possible). As the existing Yelm Road Infrastructure is progressively more overloaded, the relative impact increases exponentially. This is why the Wal-Mart Traffic Studies had to rely on the Y3 Loop to achieve compliance with operating standards. Wal-Mart was assessed something over $400,000 in traffic impact fees based on a PM Peak Trip estimate of about 550. This may cover the inside Yelm improvements, but does not include the value of their reliance on the Y3 Loop in the Traffic Studies. If you assume that the Y3 Loop will accommodate 25,000 trips (Average Daily Traffic – High Estimate) and that about 25% of the 8000 trips (ADT) generated by Wal-Mart use the Y3, then Wal-Mart may be calculated to use 8% of the Y3 capacity. At a total cost of $70,000,000, the Wal-Mart prorate share of the Y3 should then be $5.6 million. Wal-Mart is being permitted to cash in on road development paid for by Washington State residents with no reimbursement to the State residents. Until Y3 is competed (Wa. DOT estimated CONSTRUCTION START = 2013, from their website), the City of Yelm will be forced to deal with the additional traffic and accommodate the interim adverse impacts from their taxpayer-supported coffers at some point for intra-city road expansion to add more vehicle capacity.

Bottom line: For example, the City (not Wal-Mart) will end up paying for road widening to Yelm Hwy. between the Wal-Mart site and Five Corners in the near future to add capacity because of Wal-Mart generated traffic.

2. The existing connector roads serving as ingress/egress for the Tahoma Terra development are substandard for the projected volume of traffic this subdivision will require, and that they convey to State Hwy 510 (Yelm Ave. West). As a result, these roadways have to be brought up to standards to safely handle that traffic. The required upgrade is prompted by the new subdivision. Hence, the developer should be responsible for bringing city streets (i.e. the two routes serving the subdivision and the Killion intersection with Yelm Ave. West) up to standards. In nearly every other local jurisdiction (Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater, Thurston County) the full cost of such roadway access improvements would be borne by the subdivision developer as a mitigation fee. The fixed impact fees assessed by Yelm, which should be about $560,000, apparently do not cover the required improvements. Rather than increase the assessment to the developer, it seems that the City has seen fit to shift the extra cost burden on to the local residents that live along the roads to be improved through the development of an LID. It seems clear that again the developer has been allowed to pass on their responsibility to the taxpayer to fund road improvements and in particular, a LID specifically requested of the City by said developer.

I believe these clarifications need to be made to provide a complete context for my remarks about impact fees for the Planning Commission, the public & NVN readers in a story that Ms. Teixeira will write for this week’s newspaper.

"Artists from the Yelm Prairie Arts Association area were honored with an invitation to participate in the first annual SalmonFest of the Squaxin Island Tribe, “The People of the Water,” held on August 19th at the Little Creek Casino Resort in Shelton.

Local artists in attendance at this premier event included Bettye Johnson, author of Secrets of the Magdalene Scrolls, Joe Cattuti of Ginger Street, Jan and Kathleen Hazelton of Will of the Wind, and Myrna Orsini of the Monarch Sculpture Park in Tenino.

“This event is a celebration of the salmon, integral to the tribe’s culture,” said Charlene Krise, Council Member and Executive Director of the Squaxin Island Museum. Little Creek Casino Resort and tribal enterprises sponsored the premier event which began with an opening ceremony featuring traditional native singers, dancers and drummers. ...

A long time goal, of Squaxin Island and neighboring tribes has been to provide cultural education to the school districts of Washington. SalmonFest proceeds are earmarked for that project. SalmonFest proceeds are also designated to the Squaxin Island Museum and the Education Department. The museum needs to build exhibits and offer more cultural events, but these are expensive and the tribe hopes to begin a yearly tradition which will help them meet their lofty goals.

The SalmonFest is a celebration of the salmon but it is also a celebration of the Squaxin Island Tribe's growth with the surrounding local and regional communities. Other tribes as well as these communities were invited to share in this celebration. The YPAA artists thank "The People of the Water" for including them in this family-oriented, artistically and culturally beautiful, completely delightful day of festivities," quoting the YPAA.

This writer is on the record several time in 2006 and on this blog for all to see in trumpeting the abysmal traffic situation in Yelm currently and one which is about to get much worse within a year as Wal-Mart's opening is expected to bring 8,000 cars per day plus Tahoma Terra and other city approved developments adding thousands more. This same situation is occurring to Thurston County's big sister to the north Pierce County and now officials there are grappling with adapting developer impact fees to cover road improvements. Yelm officials are still in the dark ages taxing its own citizens with a developer-requested-LID (see entries here for June 12, June 13, June 14 & May 24) with one center turn lane, all the while allowing local traffic to be mitigated on that plus a bypass 10 years away from completion, which does nothing to add capacity in the immediate 10-year future, and approving more development. The time is now for this town to grow up into the city that it has become and start thinking for the future, just as this front page Sunday, August 20th Tacoma News Tribune article outlines what Tacoma, Spanaway and other Pierce County cities are doing with similar growth:

"King, Clark, Kitsap and Snohomish counties charge developers impact fees to help widen roads to handle the extra traffic that comes with new houses, stores and offices.

Pierce County doesn’t.

Or, as Bruce Lachney, a county planning commissioner and cranberry grower, puts it: Pierce County “has been stuck on stupid” for years.

Now, with rapid development overwhelming some roads and threatening more, Pierce County leaders say they’re ready to start charging developers for their share of the cost of building or improving roads to handle all the new neighborhoods and shopping centers.

Except they disagree over what developers’ share should be.

The Pierce County Council is considering a nearly half-billion-dollar proposal aimed at reducing traffic congestion by widening key roads, rebuilding intersections and making other improvements over the next 20 years.

About 39 percent of the spending plan would come from traffic impact fees charged to developers. The fees would range from $34 to $3,300 per new house, depending on the location and other factors. Gas and property taxes and a real estate sales tax would pay for the remaining 61 percent.

Critics say developers should pay more.

Because of its scope, the proposal has touched off concerns about how it would affect the price of housing, how it would affect growth patterns and how it would affect taxpayers.
A public hearing is scheduled in September, with a final decision expected in October. Meanwhile, politicians are writing op-ed columns and preparing amendments, and developers and environmentalists are staking out their positions.

At issue is the quality of life in some parts of the county. From 94th Avenue East in South Hill to Spanaway Loop Road to Wollochet Drive Northwest on the Gig Harbor Peninsula, an increasing number of roads are exceeding their county-imposed limits on traffic congestion.

The proposal, requested by the seven-member County Council and written by Executive John Ladenburg’s administration, would apply to new residential, commercial and industrial development only in areas that are not within a city.

GROWTH LAW GAVE GREEN LIGHT

Washington’s Growth Management Act, passed by the Legislature 16 years ago to curb sprawl, authorized local governments to charge traffic impact fees to help their roads keep pace with the traffic generated by new development.

The law also required local governments to ensure that road improvements or other transportation fixes necessary to serve new growth are made “concurrent” with, or around the same time as, the development.

If those traffic improvements aren’t made, local governments must either reject the development that produces the swarm of cars or lower congestion standards to accept even higher levels of traffic.

Other populous Western Washington counties – King, Clark, Kitsap and Snohomish – have impact fees, as do some cities.

In Pierce County, developers make some contributions toward road improvements, but they’re not consistent."

Editor Note:
Since rejection of development applications has not been done by the City of Yelm, then the city must "lower congestion standards to accept even higher levels of traffic" according to the Tacoma News Tribune article. Is this what Rep. Tom Campbell was suggesting in his Town Hall meeting in Yelm (see April 29th entry on this blog) and why City Councilman Bob Isom bristled at Mr. Campbell on Yelm's traffic numbers?

What do YOU think?

Will you let City officials know YOUR views?

There is a "The Yelm Planning Commission has scheduled a public hearing to receive public comment on the proposed updates to the City of Yelm Comprehensive Plan. The meeting will take place on Monday, August 21, 2006, at 6:30 p.m. in the Yelm City Hall Council Chambers, 105 Yelm Ave West," quoting the City of Yelm website.

The Nisqually Valley News (NVN) is reporting in this week's edition [Aug. 18]:
"Backers of the Children's School of Excellence raised a record $175,000 for the Rainier private school during its third annual Garden Party fund raiser and auction night. Proceeds from the dinner, live and silent auctions blew through last year's $117,000 tally. About 500 people attended...Funds raised go toward the operation of the school as well as financial assistance to parents... Children's School of Excellence serves grades K-9, and opened in 1999, founded by RSE student Marjorie Layden... The school doesn't have a financial relationship with RSE, but does have a relationship with presenting to children some of the concepts that adults learn from the School of Enlightenment. Many of the students go to Ramtha's School of Enlightenment, but some do not. Students don't have to attend RSE to go to the Children's School of Excellence, Church said [CSE board secretary Terri Church]. It costs about $4,725 per year for a child to attend CSE." This story is fully accessible only to NVN subscribers. [Ed. Note: What is amazing to this writer is that for two years in a row, the 80+ student private school has raised more funds than the 5,000+ student Yelm Community Schools fundraiser sponsored by the Yelm Chamber of Commerce & with the same auctioneer Larry Schorno, however this as a story has yet to be covered by the NVN. HMMM.]

Photo from Children's School of Excellence website

This safety tip was submitted by this writer's dad and is wise counsel:

"Here's a safety tip I have never considered, but I think it makes a lot of sense, especially since an intruder doesn't know what caused it to go off.

Safety Tip

Put your car keys beside your bed at night. If you hear a noise outside your home or someone trying to get in your house, just press the panic button for your car. The alarm will be set off, and the horn will continue to sound until either you turn it off or the car battery dies.

This tip came from a neighborhood watch coordinator."

Local Yelm author "Bertha Rainen joins the program to discuss her book, "No Excuses [My Plea For World Peace]"" on Global Talk Radio August 15, 2006. You can listen to the archive here by scrolling to "2006-Aug-15"
“This is a simply told story from a place of honesty intertwined with humor that is for anyone seeking something more in their life. While it is autobiographical in presentation, it is not meant to be so per se. It describes one person’s journey and how anyone can lift themselves out of any circumstances they don’t like into a greater, happier, richer life than they ever thought possible. This is about a spiritual journey in great joy that is never ending!” This book is available in Yelm at JZ Rose, formerly the Outback Boutique.

From the City of Yelm email notice of this event:
"The Yelm Planning Commission has scheduled a public hearing to receive public comment on the proposed updates to the City of Yelm Comprehensive Plan. The meeting will take place on Monday, August 21, 2006, at 6:30 p.m. in the Yelm City Hall Council Chambers, 105 Yelm Ave West.

The proposed comprehensive plan amendments will bring the plan up to date, making use of the latest available information, and keep the plan in compliance with the State of Washington Growth Management Act. The changes include updates to the land use, housing, environment, and miscellaneous provisions chapters.

For additional information, please contact Tami Merriman, at 360-458-8496. The proposed changes to the plan may be viewed at the City’s web site at www.ci.yelm.wa.us, or by visiting the Community Development Department at Yelm City Hall. Written comments will be received up to the close of the public hearing. Written comments may be submitted at the hearing, or may be mailed to Tami Merriman, City of Yelm, P.O. Box 479, Yelm, WA 98597.

It is the City of Yelm's policy to provide reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities. If you are a person with a disability in need of accommodations to conduct business or to participate in government processes or activities, please contact Agnes Bennick, at 360-458-8404 at least five working days prior to the scheduled event.

The Mail-In Voter Registration deadline is this weekend to register to vote in Washington State's September 19th Primary. Quoting the Washington Secretary of State's website,
"The deadline for registering or transferring your voter registration is 30 days before an election. If you register by mail, your application must be postmarked by the 30-day cutoff or it will not become effective until after the election.

If you are not already registered to vote in Washington and you miss the 30-day deadline, you can register in person at your county elections department until 15 days before the election. Contact your County Auditor for assistance and information."

"You must complete a voter registration form if you are registering for the first time in Washington or if you have moved to a new county. If you have moved within the same county, you may transfer your registration by completing a new form or contacting your County Auditor by mail, email, or phone. There is no registration by political party in Washington state.
To register to vote in the state of Washington, you must be:

* A citizen of the United States
* A legal resident of Washington State
* At least 18 years old by election day

You may not register to vote if you are:

* Presently denied your civil rights due to a felony conviction.
* Judicially declared mentally incompetent and ineligible to vote.

If you meet the above criteria you can register by completing and mailing in a voter registration form.
Mail-In Voter Registration Form

With the controversy by Yelm city officials and the local newspaper now behind us over JZ Knight's invitation to attend her Fabulous Wealth Retreat last June, comes word that a representative from a southwest regional magazine was in the audience and has brought more notoriety to Yelm and Ramtha's School of Enlightenment. Kathleen Francis filed this report for Sedona, AZ. based Four Corners Magazine titled "A Remarkable Life, Anyone?" (pdf, see page 2).

As this writer was getting a chelation treatment last week at the Mount Rainier Clinic in Yelm, my thoughts turned to the discussion among all of the patients getting similar treatments sitting together in the comfortable chairs in the main room. Listening to the conversations, I heard people from Puyallup, Oregon, Tacoma, Seattle, the coast, and on and on. They all come here from the world over because of the hope of reversal from devastating diseases caused by arterial plaque and what chelation therapy can do to reverse many of these symptoms. Dr. Elmer Cranton, one of the leading MDs in the field of chelation therapy has many books and scientific articles published on this topic. He has operated the Yelm office since 1993 with his son John Cranton taking over day-to-day operations in the last year.
Won't you learn more of this fabulous method of avoiding many non-invasive surgeries on which Dr. Cranton has written the book? Dr. Cranton has published a book for the public and is available in his office titled "Bypassing Bypass Surgery Chelation Therapy: A Non-Surgical Treatment for Reversing Arteriosclerosis, Improving Blocked Circulation, and Slowing the Aging Process. In his definitive book on chelation therapy, Dr. Cranton clearly explains what chelation is, what it does, and how it works."
Won't you consider visiting this little jewel right here in Yelm and learn why people from all walks of life are coming to this Yelm icon?

"Starting August 1st, for 35 straight days, WakeUpWalMart.com is taking its national movement, and headquarters, on the road in a non-stop, cross-country tour hitting 19 states and 35 cities in 35 days. From the East Coast, to America's heartland, to the West Coast, the "2006 Change Wal-Mart, Change America Tour" is taking to the streets to fight for a better America.

In town halls, public squares, and at state fairs, America's most exciting grassroots movement is standing up to rich, powerful corporations like Wal-Mart and spreading the word that it is time for Wal-Mart to do what is right instead of taking America in the wrong direction.

Over the next month, WakeUpWalMart.com will be holding membership drives, community meetings, and some pretty exciting events with some of our nation's best and most passionate political leaders like Senator John Edwards, who will be joining with us to fight for a better America.

So for the next 840 hours, 6 over-caffeinated Americans on one really big bus nicknamed Smiley are going from New York City to Seattle to fight for good jobs, more affordable health care, and a better life for all hard-working families.

But, to truly change Wal-Mart and change America for the better we need you.

The 2006 Change Wal-Mart Change America tour will be stopping in the cities listed on the left side of this page.

Click any event to RSVP. We will post the details before the event comes to your town.

Hope to see you there!" quoting the Wake-up Wal-Mart site.

In Seattle September 3
And, September 4
With Wal-Mart on the threshold of changing Yelm's retail landscape, isn't this is THE perfect time to become educated about this tour.

One of the most provacative films of the day will be shown at the Prairie Hotel Thursday Aug 17, at 7:30PM and is open to the public.

"The June 2006 L.A. American Scholars Symposium is still the most popular online streaming choice for C-Span viewers, according to their companion Capital News website. The 9/11 truth symposium, hosted by Alex Jones, featured numerous credible researchers and whistleblowers - as well as a speech by actor Charlie Sheen. The program, carried under the banner of C-Span's 'American Perspectives' slot, caused waves across the Internet after debuting last weekend and repeating a further three times. It is highly unlikely that Dick Cheney's speech which followed the symposium is responsible for any of the ratings!" quoting Prison Planet.
And this:
C-SPAN BROADCAST REVITALIZES 9/11 TRUTH?
Tuesday, August 01, 2006 - FreeMarketNews.com
"The broadcast this past weekend of the proceedings of the American Scholars Symposium may have won more members for the 9/11 Truth movement. According to Paul Joseph Watson, whose Infowars partner Alex Jones hosted and moderated the event, the program, aired Saturday and Sunday and due to repeat on Tuesday evening, has generated a whole new audience for skepticism about the official version of the attacks five years ago."

Congratulations to Yelm area author Bettye Johnson for her achievement in her book 'Secrets of the Magdalene Scrolls' featured in today's Seattle P-I:

"It's hard not to be inspired by an author such as Bettye Johnson. After all, how many first-time novelists do you know who are great-grandmothers? All it takes is one conversation with Johnson to understand that the author of "The Secrets of the Magdalene Scrolls" (Living Free Press, 318 pages, $19.95) has never fit neatly into any of the accepted mores that once governed women of her generation.
Reached by phone at her home in the town of Rainier in Thurston County, the writer admits to feeling "very blessed" about the publication of her novel."

Another Ramtha student making news creating new ideas and inspiring others! Fantastic, Bettye...

Ramtha works with his students every New Years Eve by having us focus and create how we each would like our coming year to unfold. While the party revelers are out singing "Auld Ange Syne", we are in a "discipline" placing our minds on each season's intended desires. While in-progress of our work last New Year's Eve, when Ramtha directed us to focus on Summer, this writer heard him to say; Summer, chaos, look up! Reading the front pages of any newspaper this Summer; from record heat, major storms worldwide, power outages, icecap meltdown, war in Lebanon, Iraq, saber rattling between the USA & Iran, and now the alleged airliners bomb plot from the UK, and one can see that Ramtha was again "bang-on." Even the Northwest Airlines flight attendants proposed strike effective August 15th is titled CHAOS (Create Havoc Around Our System).
Ramtha has been speaking of these days from the mid-1980's with books from back then:
Change: The Days to Come
and Last Waltz of the Tyrants

This writer has received several questions about the gas pipline project crossing the outskirts of Yelm. The Tacoma News Tribune carried a front page story on August 10th about this issue:
"Following a history of ruptures and explosions, a private company is replacing a corroded, 50-year-old natural gas pipeline that snakes through Western Washington. It had no choice. Three years ago, after ruptures near Lake Tapps and the Lewis County town of Toledo, the federal government ordered that the 268-mile line close by this December. 'The feds lost confidence in the pipeline’s ability to continue operation,' said Alan Rathbun, a pipeline safety director for the Washington State Utilities and Transportation Commission. The pipeline’s owner, Williams Northwest Pipeline of Salt Lake City, is in the process of abandoning the line made of 26-inch pipes that run from Canada to Oregon. The company is spending $330 million to replace it with 80 miles of strategically placed 36-inch pipes. The new piping will combine with a second Williams pipe system to transport all of the natural gas used in Western Washington. One 22.5-mile segment of the new piping crosses the Nisqually River through Pierce and Thurston counties, upstream from the town of McKenna. Last week, backhoes forded the water, digging a trench about 14 feet deep across the 160-foot riverbed. The process, known as open cutting, removed sopping tons of cobbled rock in order to bury a U-shaped piece of pipe. The digging despoiled sediment and could change the ecology of the river...But worry about the dig’s ecological impact brought together federal, state and county regulatory agencies to work with Williams. Groups like the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission are hovering over the project to make sure damage to the environment is minimized. Months of research provided a window of time in which the salmon would be least affected. The most damaging part of the dig was done within a day. Research also discovered that the amount of sediment disturbed would be no worse than a strong storm or spring defrost – endurable disruptions. Sediment flow was monitored at various spots along the river during the dig. Williams says everything went according to plan...n top of these precautions, Williams is giving back to the land it’s destroying.
$550,000 FOR CONSERVATION
When a construction project can’t avoid disturbing a wetland, state and federal law requires environmental mitigation, or a payout for damages. Williams agreed to give $550,000 to the Nisqually Tribe to be used to preserve and maintain the Nisqually River watershed. Regulatory agencies said that was suitable compensation. '“We think we are getting a very good tradeoff here,' said Sandy Howard, a spokeswoman for the Washington State Department of Ecology. 'The whole story here is: a trade between a short-term harm to the environment for a long-term environmental gain.' A tribal official said the money will be held in a fund until worthwhile projects are approved. 'We’ve been doing comprehensive studies on all kinds of streams, looking for mitigation projects,' said George Walter, a spokesman for the Nisqually Tribe. The Nisqually have a history of caring for the basin. Some of their work includes protecting endangered salmon species, removing dikes and restoring estuary habitats and acquiring shoreline property for permanent protection."

A. On Wednesday, August 9, the Yelm City Council approved Ordinance #853 amending YMC 2.04 by changing City Council meeting days from Wednesday to Tuesday and Study Session Days from Thursday to Wednesday. This is to accommodate the Nisqually Valley News (NVN) printing schedule so that City Council news items can be communicated with the local community in a more timely manner for that same week's NVN edition.

B. Additionally, the NVN and sister newspapers finally have a website with links to their full articles. This writer welcomes them to the computer age and welcomes the opportunity this blog and all readers will now have to link access for their stories. One must be a paid subscriber to the print edition in order to receive a password for computer access to the full site.

C. The Thurston County Roads Dept. has closed Bald Hill Rd. for three weeks at Lackamas Creek between Longmire and the newly widened turn:
Project: Lackamas Creek Culvert
Location: Bald Hill Road over Lackamas Creek
Description: Culvert replacement [to allow salmon access to stream].
Expected Completion Date: August 28, 2006
Estimated Cost: $120,000
Funding Sources: Federal/County

This writer has previously mentioned several times the precipice of traffic gridlock on which Yelm is approaching fast.
Nowhere was that more aptly exhibited than at 1:30pm and into the evening on Tuesday, August 8th in Yelm when all northbound lanes of I-5 were closed at the Nisqually River Bridge due to an accident. With the subsequent long wait times on the freeway 16 miles to the west of town, vehicles diverted on Wa. Hwy 510 though Yelm and north to Roy and Tacoma. Traffic movement took a half hour just to go from 89th Ave. to the town's main traffic light, less than two miles. Emergency vehicles were delayed in their responses due to the almost gridlocked conditions.
I am on City Council records several times this year saying there needs to be a capacity increase to carry traffic on Yelm's main artery. When I asked the Nisqually Valley News why they omitted from their story my on-record comments to the City Council during the LID Hearing about this issue, I was told by the reporter that this angle has been covered previously and space limitations warranted omission.
I say this issue has not been covered enough and needs to be raised continually as this town enters a traffic quagmire.
Let's ask some questions. What do YOU think?

1. Turn lanes add just a little capability for a road to carry more traffic and mostly assist with flow by removing turning traffic from through lanes.
Will a LID-sponsored center turn lane improvement to Yelm Ave. West alleviate the daily traffic backups, backups continuing even with school on Summer recess?
Will a center turn lane add capacity to carry more vehicles in and out of town?

2. With no additional lanes of traffic in or out of Yelm now planned, how will this town handle any additional traffic capacity (lanes of through traffic) now and in the immediate future?

3. A bypass is 10 years away according to the DOT website. With no bypass for a decade, what do we do to alleviate the current and worsening conditions prior to 2015?.

4. Wal-Mart and Tahoma Terra will be adding thousands of cars daily to city streets within the next year.
How do you think the city's traffic flow will be a year from now?

5. Even with a current center turn lane on Yelm Ave. East, traffic was at a crawl there yesterday because the vehicles were mostly through traffic going north. Only assisting with flow, can you see that a center turn lane on the East side did nothing to provide capacity yesterday, as will be the case on the West side?

6. Isn't the city being a bit short-sighted in not planning for the huge traffic increases in the next one to ten years and planning for a 5-lane Yelm Ave. West now, instead of just a three lane Yelm Ave. West? Won't we be coming back and asking property owners along Yelm Ave. West for more of their land as the town must widen the artery to 5 lanes within a few years?

7. Local Yelm businesses suffer as patrons find even driving a few blocks difficult here, delaying their shopping or taking their business elsewhere on back roads? You would think the Yelm Chamber of Commerce and Yelm Economic Development Committee would be aggressively touting this issue on behalf of local businesses, who work hard and provide tax revenue to the city. With gridlock affecting sales and tax revenue to the city, why do we hear little or nothing publicly stated by these groups about this issue? (i.e. this writer was to go shopping in McKenna yesterday and did not.)

8. How about considering many ideas previously suggested, like a simple reliever to Yelm Ave. West by making Washington Ave. a through street from behind McDonald's through 1st St. (507) to 3rd St.?

9. What would the traffic situation at 2:30pm yesterday been like if Yelm High School was in session and their vehicles were added to the gridlock? Add that to Wal-Mart & Tahoma Terra traffic and what does that look like?

10. Diversions from I-5 through Yelm are not uncommon, occurring with increasing frequency. How would you have liked to have driven from Southworth Elementary School to downtown Yelm in over an hour, as yesterday?
And what about our children on school buses in that gridlock were school in session?

11. And then to top it all off, the Washington State Patrol was out in an unmarked car giving speeding infractions along Bald Hill Rd. between 5 Corners & 4 Corners. Couldn't they have assisted moving traffic better through the Wa. State Hwy 507 and Vail Rd. intersections and across county lines into McKenna instead?

12. With gas predicted to be $4 a gallon here soon because of the Alaska pipeline shutdown, how would you have liked to have burned all of that fuel waiting in gridlocked traffic for an hour yesterday in your hometown?

Won't you speak up to your elected officials and city planners?
Your voice needs to be heard!

Family Watchdog is a site that lists registered sex offenders who are living in a particular zip code. Place our local zip codes in the database and up pops the address of each category of offender. Click on any of the squares and full name, address, picture and other information pop-up about these individuals in our neighborhood.
Wouldn't you like to have this knowledge ?

The City of Yelm Municipal Court announced that passport applications are now accepted there effective August 1, 2006 on behalf of the U.S. Department of State. The court will forward the application to the U. S. Dept. of State for processing and the passport will be mailed directly to the applicant in about six weeks. Proper passport photos, proof of citizenship and photo id are required. See the U. S. Dept of State Passport application site for more information.

For those of you that missed the limited engagement of Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" at the Yelm Cinemas last month, this important film returns to the area at Olympia's Capitol Theater August 19th through 24th.
The film is also currently showing a Tacoma's Grand Cinema.

Whatever your thoughts about Al Gore, won't you put those aside and see the science behind the global warming crisis explained?

Former Yelm Mayoral Candidate Steve Klein formally endorses Jean Marie Christenson for State Representative, District 2, Position 1.

Ms. Christenson has demonstrated her passion, energy, and focus in bringing this District's dynamic growth to the forefront, highlighting what was once considered a backwater rural constituency into the mainstream of this State's issues.

Jean Marie, an ardent advocate for education, has personally embraced undergraduate and graduate studies. A former teacher herself, Jean Marie is currently a student at the District 2, Yelm-based, Ramtha's School of Enlightenment (RSE). She is stepping forward to serve her fellow citizens in bringing about change and awareness on a whole host of topics that focus on this area's future. Jean Marie is upsetting the status-quo by challenging the old ways of thinking in district and State politics.

Jean Marie will enter the Primary election on September 19 as the only Democrat running for State Representative of District 2 in Position 1. Congratulations, Ms. Christenson.

"Our vote in the Primary election remains vital, as many elections are won or lost in the Primary even if your candidate is the only one running from your Party. Candidates must receive an impressive percentage of the votes to be considered viable contenders and worthy to receive endorsements. Endorsements are very important to a campaign, as they equate to huge numbers of votes and substantial funding. Therefore, your vote for Jean Marie Christenson on September 19 is still very important," quoting Ms. Christenson.

If you live in Thurston County, you will automatically receive a mail-in ballot. If you live in Pierce County, you will need to request an absentee ballot for the Primary. And remember, you must be registered to vote at least 30 days before the election.

Won't you join me in electing a woman who will utilize her unique talents in representing us in Olympia?

Steve Klein

P. S. This writer has extended an invitation to Rep. McCune to share his vision with this blog. He has yet to respond.

Dear Friends,

When I filed with the Public Disclosure Commission 3 months ago, on May 1st, indicating my decision to run for State Representative I was told by several of the Power Structure, the movers-and-shakers in the Democratic Party I would never be endorsed. You and I kept our focus.

I entered the race without financial backing, I had no previous experience, and I was a student in Ramtha's School. I was told, "Three strikes, you're out." You and I kept our focus.

Chairman, Committee Officer, Representative and Senator, told me to get out. They would not endorse me because I could not over come these obstacles. You and I kept our focus.

Last Sunday evening, July 30th, the 2nd Legislative District Committee voted unanimously to endorse Jean Marie Christenson as their Candidate for State Representative in District 2. The Thurston County Democrats had already voted unanimously to offer their services. You and I kept our focus.

Additionally, the very same folks who said it couldn't happen were at a party Sunday evening celebrating the one Candidate who had already won the Primary Election for the Democratic Party by entering the Primary Election unopposed by any other Democrat!! That Candidate is Jean Marie Christenson. You and I kept our focus.

Today I am pleased to announce to you:

Jean Marie Christenson is the Democratic Party's Candidate for State Representative in District 2, Position 1, and has already WON the Primary Election!

I know that you and I will keep our focus.

Thank you.

Jean Marie Christenson, Candidate for State Representative, District 2, Position 1

Photo courtesy of Stephany Ray, Professional Photographer and Webmaster of MastersConnection.com