@emmettoconnell.mas.to.ap.brid.gy
blogger at Olympia Time, (former-ish) semi-pro history writer, Podcaster at the Olympia Standard, full-time local government (elections, document recording, etc) […] [bridged from https://mas.to/@emmettoconnell on the fediverse by https://fed.brid.gy/ ]
A lawsuit by the Colville Confederated Tribes in BC argues Canada must consult the Sinixt, a tribe forced south into Washington. Citing the 2021 Desautel ruling, the case challenges colonial borders and could expand cross-border Indigenous rights in Cascadia.
Could a tribal lawsuit erode […]
Demolition of Alcoa’s Intalco smelter near Ferndale (closed since 2020) is about 45% complete, ending the Pacific Northwest’s aluminum smelting era. Once powered by cheap Columbia River hydropower, the industry faded as energy costs rose. Cleanup planning is underway with public comment open […]
With Seattle’s comp plan delayed, we should advance inside-out urbanism: adding units within existing building envelopes via code tweaks. Reforms like parking cuts, single-stair rules, setback exceptions, and elevator changes can boost density citywide without full rezones.
An Alternative […]
FCC chair Brendan Carr threatens TV over “equal time” for Republicans but won’t explain why it doesn’t apply to right-wing radio because it only applies to certain perspectives and you can guess which ones […]
Social media tricks us into obsessing over things we can't change. By engaging with outrage, we hand our peace to algorithms and strangers. True calm comes from focusing only on our own actions and character, letting go of the digital noise we have no power to control.
Stressed out by politics? […]
Party balloons triggered an 8-hour shutdown of El Paso airspace after the Federal Aviation Administration issued a 10-day restriction tied to anti-drone ops by the Department of Defense and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Texts show local officials scrambling amid “mass confusion.”
‘Mass […]
This week's Olympia Time explores Tumwater’s origin via George Washington Bush and William Billings, a Yankee/Appalachian truce forging a pragmatic, exclusionary “Left Coast.”
Plus reads on racial covenants, climate-smart density & alt media. Subscribe for more.
Bush, Billings and the Peace […]
From 2000–2020, Seattle cut ~1M tons of GHGs a year, about 5% per new resident, by adding homes in existing neighborhoods instead of sprawling. Infill meant less driving, smaller, efficient homes, and preserved green space, all with no new climate spending.
Seattle’s No-Cost Climate Pollution […]
South Puget Sound’s identity is a truce between Yankee order and Appalachian independence. From George Washington Bush to Chinese exclusion and timber unions, elites bent rules to protect stability for insiders. The result: pragmatic, regulated, exclusionary peace.
Bush, Billings and the Peace […]
Sitting on the Twitter Files Gang to sign into this one.
ICE’s Plan to Monitor Social Media 24/7
https://www.usermag.co/p/ices-plan-to-monitor-social-media
Invasive Himalayan blackberries being sold at Costco
Do they sell daffodils?
After years attacking “safe spaces,” Texas leaders backed a UT System rule letting students avoid “unnecessarily controversial” topics, requiring syllabus disclosures and “balanced” views. The vague policy chills speech and undercuts the GOP’s past campus free-speech crusade.
Texas Spent Years […]
Washington hit a record 23,969 eviction filings in 2025, up 57% from 2019. Growth slowed but remains high, with King, Pierce and Snohomish leading. Many cases end in default judgments despite the state’s right-to-counsel program, as renters don’t respond or appear in court.
2025 saw more […]
It is entirely possible for there to be a world where someone making up claims about a kind of significant political media figure could be ignored. But Candace Owens has been held up for years, despite just making stuff like this up. So now that she's taking swings at the legs of her own chair […]
Taxing the advertising from digital monopolies is the best, most direct policy regarding social media platforms. Second to actually breaking up the digital advertising platforms.
Bipartisan effort to tax social media gains momentum […]
Seattle CARE Chief Amy Barden says the police guild contract blocks unarmed crisis responders from most 911 calls, limiting them to 10 to 20 of 2,400 daily calls. Restrictions require police control and bar responses in many scenarios, leaving CARE at just 28% capacity […]
WA GOP touts 100K+ “con” sign-ins against the millionaire tax, but the list is riddled with fraud, bots & 11K+ duplicate namesO. One person signed 140+ times. Sign-ins aren’t scientific public opinion, yet Republicans obsess over “winning” them anyway […]
Subscribe to the Olympia Time newsletter: from 1968 open housing after MLK’s murder to exclusionary downzoning that reshaped race & class.
Plus: choosing OSD school guide w/ OSD4All, Urban Future Farms on Washington Grown, ID independents, Rainier’s 1507 mudflow & regional political culture […]
When the battle seems far away and out of control, we need reminding the fight for justice remains local and ongoing.
After MLK’s assassination, Olympia confronted local racism. Black residents exposed housing discrimination and forced 1968 open housing laws. But later downzoning and […]
A murder warrant based on "possible" cause: "Person B bought aspirin. If they intended to poison a relative, it's a crime." This replaces evidence with a hypothetical, allowing a raid to find a crime that might not exist. It turns routine acts into "probable cause" via speculation.
It Looks […]
I believe the New York Times’ bad take on how long vote-by-mail states take to count ballots reflects its New York, precinct-voting lens. In Washington and Oregon, the only media figures who complain seem willfully obtuse about why counting takes time.
Misinformation thrives in a vacuum. If we don't explain why it takes 20 days (to verify signatures and allow for mail transit) people fill that silence with conspiracies. We shouldn't blame the voters. We should transparently defend the process.
/8
They aren’t wrong that bad actors exploit the delay to spread rumors. But the solution isn’t to disenfranchise thousands of people just to make the map turn colors faster on a Tuesday
/7
If anything, without the grace period in CA, late rejections would have spiked as the state transitions to vote by mail over the last decade plus.
/6
Voters don’t think about administrative grace periods. They just think about the deadline. If the rule is Vote by Tuesday, they vote Tuesday. They can’t see the 3-day mail lag or the week of processing that follows their drop-off.
/5
Then there's the signature cure. In WA, we have up to 21 days to fix signature issues. If your hand was shaky or your name changed, you have time to cure your ballot.
/4
In an all-mail system, the USPS is a variable. A receipt deadline punishes the voter for a logistical error they didn't cause. Our rules ensure your franchise isn't killed by a slow delivery.
/3
Most "fast" states use a Receipt Deadline, if your ballot isn't in their hands by 8 PM, it’s trash. WA and CA use a postmark deadline. If you mail it on Election Day, it counts. We treat the mailbox like a drop box to ensure your intent beats mail speed.
/2
The NYT claims there’s "no good reason" for slow vote counting in CA (and WA).
As a Washingtonian, I disagree. We prioritize voter accuracy over news cycles. The slow count isn’t a bug; it’s the system working
https://electionlawblog.org/?p=154419
/1
Recent data from 2026 shows a sharp decline in youth approval for the administration. Younger voters are more sensitive to immediate stressors like grocery and housing costs. Without settled partisan loyalty, they are quickly rerouting their support to new architects. /4