YahooNews

Olympian Blogs

Around South Sound Blog

11 things to do this weekend 05/18

This Just In

Two robbed at gunpoint in Rochester 05/25

The Politics Blog

10th CD: For Denny Heck it’s jobs, jobs, jobs 05/24

South Sound Sports Blog

State soccer preview: With fractured and sprained wrists, Tumwater's Connor Sigmon has posted 10 goals in five playoff games 05/25

The Business Blog

'Worst is behind us': Thurston's jobless rate falls 05/22

more blogs & columns

Local Photo Galleries

A fiery end, a hopeful beginning

The fiery end of two buildings overlooking Mud Bay on Monday marked a new beginning. The McLane Fire Department torched the buildings in a training exercise at the request of the Capitol Land Trust as a part of its continuing effort to restore the Eld Inlet estuary.

• GALLERY: View more photos from the controlled structure fire.
Exchanging differences in education

OLYMPIA – They snapped photos, and asked questions. And the school principals from Jakarta, Indonesia, gazed in amazement at some of the sights that seemed unusual to them, such as a student with blue hair, two girls sitting on the floor while working on a classroom project and countless kids wearing jeans with holes in the knees, shorts and T-shirts to school.
Gopher situation frustrating for some

Small red and yellow marker flags flap in the breeze of the quiet, windswept mounds of the West Rocky Prairie Wildlife Area southeast of Maytown in South Thurston County, marking the locations of small, reclusive Mazama pocket gophers.
Stevick wins fifth Capital City Marathon in six years

OLYMPIA – As a kid, Jesse Stevick used to sit in his front yard and watch the Capital City Marathon runners pass by, cheering as they ran. On Sunday, Stevick, a 29-year science teacher from Olympia, was the one getting the cheers.

• MARATHON: Full results with top 10 overall, top 10 masters and age division categories.
• HALF MARATHON: Top 10 overall, masters plus the times of all 1,206 racers.
• FIVE MILER: See all the finishing times of the 5-miler race plus masters times and more.
• KIDS RUN: View the results of Saturday’s 1.2-mile kids run
Couple joins fight for child care safety

Looking back on it, Chris and Jamie Thompson can’t believe how much their lives have changed since May 20, 2010. That was the day their 9-month-old son, Colby, was airlifted from his day-care center in Auburn to Seattle Children’s Hospital.
Still running smooth after 25 years

TUMWATER – New Market Skills Center, a South Sound vocational school, on Saturday celebrated 25 years of teaching students how to cook, fix autos, work on computers, launch a career in health care or work in environmental sciences.
State's political boundaries to change

Washington’s political boundaries must change as a result of the once-a-decade remapping effort that adjusts for population shifts detected by the U.S. Census, and the public side of the job is just getting started.
Comic engagement: May they be happier than the Lockhorns

Sandra Kinnunen was in her bathrobe, enjoying a cup of coffee and the Monday morning newspaper, when she found a birthday surprise from her boyfriend.
Teachers getting unwelcome news

The Olympia School District is notifying 48 teachers this week that they might not have jobs in the fall, as it works to close a $2.3 million deficit. Of course, the real number of teachers who could lose their jobs – and the actual amount of the deficit – depends largely on how things play out in the state Legislature’s special session, and how many teachers decide to retire, resign or take a leave of absence during next school year.
302 pounds lighter, teacher meets Oprah

Whether she’s walking, teaching or doing housework, Wendy McConkey loves her new streamlined body.
New judicial center may get name of late judge

OLYMPIA — Technically, Olympia has two buildings named City Hall — the old one at 900 Plum Street S.E. and the new one that opened in March at 601 Fourth Ave. E. But the old one, now being converted into a new judicial center, may soon have a new name.
FEMA delivers flood news to Thurston County residents

TUMWATER – Is your property in or is it out? That was the question answered Monday evening as Thurston County residents pored over maps released by the Federal Emergency Management Agency that show what properties are at risk of flooding.
Centralia man, 24, killed as ATV hits tree

A Centralia man was killed Saturday night after crashing an all-terrain vehicle into tree near Tenino, according to the Washington State Patrol.
It's a day for tales of Joe and other beloved vessels

OLYMPIA – Over the years, Robin and Kae Paterson haven’t missed the Olympia Wooden Boat Fair too often, and it was no different this weekend. Alongside 40 other wooden boats in the marina near Percival Landing, the Gig Harbor couple talked with visitors while sitting in the wheelhouse and shared stories of the Joe, a 45-foot tugboat they bought in 1986.
Pesticide ‘national crisis’

WASHINGTON – If environmental groups get their way, West Mathison fears that it will be illegal to spray pesticides on up to 80 percent of the farmland in Washington state.