Ancient Emmett, from a time when Olympian newspaper photographers roamed the east side, looking for children to photograph

3/3
Gen Z isn't disengaged; they're reframing engagement through mutual aid and activism. To save democracy, we need structural shifts like citizen juries that value diverse input over the ability to navigate a system biased toward the habits of age.

2/3
Stop shaming young people for "apathy." We’ve built a system that rewards the cognitive ease of older cohorts while ignoring the hurdles for Gen Z. If the system only works for those with matured "task-completion" brains, the problem isn't the voter, it’s the design.

Young People Aren’t Apathetic — They’re Redefining Civic Engagement Every time I hear someone say, “Gen Z doesn’t care about democracy,” I wish I could have them spend a day in my shoes as a civically engaged college student. I’ve watched my fellow students negotiate ...

1/3 🧵
Why do we gain faith in democracy as we age? It is post-hoc rationalization. As the prefrontal cortex matures, our capacity for routine task completion peaks. We don’t just become more "patriotic," we biologically become better at checking administrative boxes.

thefulcrum.us/civic-engage...

My favorite corner of campus, before it honored O'Brien, it honored Public Health

Going Closer to Home One of the dark secrets of Washington State politics is that in the 1960s and 70s it took a court to force the state legislature to redistrict. The state...

Olympia Time dives into capped legislatures, and why it weakens representation, plus a Sine Die podcast w/ Beth Doglio & Claire Wilson. Also: local Air Force history, Oly Arts at 10, and a legal note.

buttondown.com/OlympiaTime/...

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olympiatime.com/newsletter/

Why rural areas vote Republican despite worse health outcomes - Niskanen Center Rural areas disproportionately suffer from Republican policies but Republicans can blame Democrats for worse health outcomes, especially when policies can be framed as helping immigrants or racial min...

Rural areas suffer worse health partly due to GOP policies, but a “health spiral” drives resentment and anti-government views. Republicans shift blame to Democrats, especially via culture-war framing, insulating themselves while worsening outcomes.

www.niskanencenter.org/why-rural-ar...

Don’t Just Replace Chavez—Rethink Monuments It’s time for tributes to leave the great-man theory of history behind.

We shouldn't replace one hero with another. Monuments should reflect collective movements and fuller, more complex histories rather than “great man” narratives.

Don’t Just Replace Chavez—Rethink Monuments - The Atlantic
www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026...

Review: The Burning of Moses Seattle David Lewis’ account of Moses Seattle is a rare and thoughtful portrayal of a unique but little-known figure, suffering people and a difficult period in our shared history that we must embrac…

David Lewis’s The Burning of Moses Seattle, traces a myth-laden life shaped by displacement, hardship, and exploitation, culminating in his horrific death and pioneering burn treatment.

Review: The Burning of Moses Seattle
www.postalley.org/2026/04/19/r...

We expand our annual Sine Die episode this year to include education expert Senator Clair Wilson! Also on this episode is our own Rep. Beth Doglio who does the traditional unpacking of what the legislative session meant for us in Olympia.

theolympiastandard.com/2026/04/18/1...

Grocery union campaigns against ‘surveillance pricing’ Retailers are individually tailoring prices based on a consumer’s personal information. Electronic shelf labels could be the next frontier.

Grocery union UFCW is campaigning against “surveillance pricing,” where retailers use data to charge different customers different prices. Lawmakers propose banning it, warning tech like digital shelf labels could bring personalized pricing into stores.

nwlaborpress.org/2026/04/groc...

Capping legislative size (435 in Congress, 147 in WA) amid population growth has “downzoned” democracy, making reps distant, boosting executive power, and favoring big-money campaigns. Uncapping would restore local representation and stronger oversight.

olympiatime.com/2026/04/18/g...

Orbán’s blunder: his gerrymander backfired, giving the opposition 87% of district seats [Welcome to DemocracySOS, a newsletter about the failings of America’s “winner take all” democracy, as well as proposed reforms and solutions.

Seems relevant.

Orbán’s gerrymandered, winner-take-all system backfired when support dropped. A small vote swing handed the opposition 87% of district seats and a supermajority, showing how distorted systems can flip dramatically.

democracysos.substack.com/p/orbans-blu...

Turning the corner at Block 46 I want to, first off, acknowledge a lot of people who are reading this email this morning because they found me through the post I wrote last week about the...

In this week's newsletter: Second part of my new series on Olympia’s parking lots, plus TRL crisis analysis & local reads.

buttondown.com/OlympiaTime/...

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olympiatime.com/newsletter/

New York Times and WSJ editors continue to trivialize massive pro-democracy demonstrations. Analysis of "No Kings 3" front pages. Local editors continue to shine. New York Times and Wall Street Journal leadership continue to downplay and minimize mass demonstrations while editors of smaller outlets do a better job communicating these vital pro-democracy events.

The New York Times NYT and Wall Street Journal downplayed massive #NoKings protests, minimizing scale and pro-democracy framing, while local papers and some major outlets gave stronger, more prominent, and more inspiring coverage.

mediaanddemocracyproject.substack.com/p/new-york-t...

Block 46 in Olympia has evolved from shoreline to rail hub to parking lot. Now, a 5-story apartment project replaces stagnation with density. Though tax breaks cost short term, they spur housing and yield far greater long-term revenue and urban vitality.

olympiatime.com/2026/04/11/t...

Oh look. It's the Mayor of Red Lodge, Montana that just buzzed the Olympic National Park this afternoon.

Trying to find out who to call

Here is the flight, which is still current

www.airnavradar.com/data/registr...

This guy was definitely not flying above 2,000 feet above the Olympic National park just now.

He literally flew between the rocks at Hole in the Wall and the cliff shore.

registry.faa.gov/AircraftInqu...

Critics who called Biden’s disinformation efforts a “Ministry of Truth” are silent as Secretary of State Marco Rubio directs U.S. embassies to run coordinated counter-propaganda campaigns using Elon Musk’s X, tied to military psyops and influencer networks abroad.

www.techdirt.com/2026/04/08/r...

Jacob Siegel’s Error-Filled Book On ‘Censorship’ Got Fact-Checked. He’s Calling It Censorship. Fact-checking is not censorship. Asking a publication to correct factual errors is not censorship. Pointing out that someone’s book contains demonstrably false claims is not censorship. None …

"If asking for a correction to a false factual claim counts as censorship, the word has been stretched so far that it no longer means anything... The more the term gets diluted, the easier it is to weaponize against anyone who challenges you on the facts."

www.techdirt.com/2026/04/06/j...

Kentucky Republicans Are Trying to Impeach a Judge For Acknowledging That Racism Exists The impeachment inquiries against Judges Pamela Goodwine and Julie Muth Goodman set a dangerous precedent.

Kentucky Republicans launched impeachment efforts against two judges, including one case against Judge Julie Muth Goodman for noting racial disparities in charging and sentencing.

ballsandstrikes.org/law-politics...

Weeks After Denouncing Government Censorship On Rogan, Zuckerberg Texted Elon Musk Offering To Take Down Content For DOGE On January 10th, 2025, Mark Zuckerberg sat down with Joe Rogan and put on quite a performance. He talked about how the Biden administration had pressured Meta to take down content. He detailed how …

Free speech absolutists: weeks after Mark Zuckerberg criticized government censorship on Joe Rogan’s podcast, texts revealed he offered Elon Musk help removing content about DOGE staff.

www.techdirt.com/2026/03/31/w...

WA whiffs on phones in school Lawmakers had a chance to restrict smartphones in schools, but opted for more study of the issue. Until 2030. Who's in charge here — the humans or the phones?

I'm glad a statewide ban didn't pass. Device rules should be balanced and as local as possible. Blanket rules remove agency and drive us into the moral panic that is framed on the parents rights campaigns that are about controlling than allowing discovery.

www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

Timberland Regional Library’s crisis reflects deeper issues: a 1% property tax cap, $3.8M deficit, and urban Thurston County subsidizing rural branches. Trustee fights are a sideshow to a bigger question: levy funding, governance reform, or possible district breakup

olympiatime.com/2026/04/04/t...

Grandmother Faces Trial in Alabama for Wearing Penis Costume to No Kings Protest The 62-year-old was arrested for wearing a penis costume to an Alabama No Kings protest — then prosecutors doubled down.

Free speech absolutists.

An Alabama grandmother faces trial after police arrested her at a “No Kings” protest for wearing an inflatable penis costume and holding a “No Dick Tator” sign.

theintercept.com/2026/04/03/p...

5/ Advocacy is revealed through "conclusion-first" reporting. By branding her work as an "aggressive rejection" of ideologies, Kruse signals the outcome before the facts are in. She has traded the press pass for an activist’s megaphone.

4/ True journalism avoids financial ties to the subjects it covers. Yet, Kruse is a paid speaker for GOP fundraisers and an "ambassador" for Future 42. This creates a one-sided echo chamber that relies on partisan infrastructure rather than neutral sourcing.

3/ Rantz warns against omitting "inconvenient" legal realities. Kruse frames policy debates as a "final battle" of "sanity against insanity." This binary rhetoric silences complex legal context in favor of a weaponized viewpoint designed to mobilize a specific base.