"a bi-monthly journal of environmental news and commentary..."

209 East Fourth - Engaging Conversation

by Peter Moulton

For the SPEECH Board of Directors

With the return of the rains and ever diminishing daylight, we're busy preparing for Winter's long gestation - a perfect time for reflection and planning. As you head back indoors for the season, take advantage of the flurry of events and activities available in the weeks ahead.

Talking About Growth
This month's most informative gathering will likely be Thurston Regional Planning Council's public forum on their new report, "Financing Region-Wide Infrastructure." As mundane as it sounds, this landmark work provides plenty of gory details on the cost of growth to Thurston County residents.

To learn how sprawl may impact your pocket book, be sure to show up at the Labor & Industries conference room in Tumwater on October 15th at 7pm. To obtain a copy of the report in advance, call TRPC at 786-5480.

For a detailed analysis of TRPC's report, write the Carnegie Group at Box 11612, Olympia 98508, and ask for their free publication "What Price Growth: The Cost to Thurston County Residents, 1997-2002." Doubtless many of the Carnegie Group's concerns will be discussed at length on the 15th.

On-Line Discussions
Thanks to the friendly folks at Olympia Networking Services (aka "olywa.net") you can take the conversation on-line through a new mail server. A hybrid between regular e-mail and electronic conferencing, mail servers route conversations amongst a list of subscribers via e-mail.

To raise your pet concern, engage in a creative dialogue or simply lurk in the background, send e-mail to "envirotalk-request@olywa.net." The body of the message should simply say "subscribe." A friendly greeting will describe how you can participate in this interactive discussion of South Sound environmental topics.

Candidate Forums
If you're tired of talking and simply want to listen for a while, be sure to stop in at the League of Women Voters' two candidates forums at the TCTV studios, 440 Yauger Way on Olympia's westside.

On October 17th at 6:30pm, candidates for the Olympia City Council, Olympia municipal court judge, and Griffin and Olympia School Boards can be heard. On the 18th at 4pm, candidates running for the North Thurston and Tenino School Boards, and Lacey and Tumwater City Councils will be in attendance. For more info, call the League at 459-4460.

And be sure to check our endorsements this month to see how city council candidates fared before our local environmental PAC, the Thurston Environmental Action League.

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