The 1900 statewide election was a Republican sweep in Washington. With one exception. Governor Frink was not to be.

John Melancthan Frink was born January 21, 1845 in Montrose, Penn. Descended from Huguenots, Frink's father was a Baptist preacher. The family moved to Madison County, N.Y. when John was young. In 1858 the Frinks moved to Hiawatha, Kansas. After his father died in 1861, John found himself being the substitute patriarch as the oldest of eight children.

His subsequent struggle could be right out of Horatio Alger. He worked hard as a farm laborer to help support the family. He had a brief military stint in 1863, serving in the 22nd Regiment of Home Guards-- not to fight Confederates but to fight Indians. He managed to scrape up enough money and find time to attend college in Topeka for a year, gaining credentials for becoming a teacher. In 1874, leaving the family in the care of the next brother, John set out to see the West. His first stop in San Francisco did not last long. On his way to check out Alaska he stopped in Seattle. And stayed.

At first he performed odd jobs such as working in a coal bunker and carpentry. Eventually he started work in the public schools, "and for four years served as principal in the leading schools of North Seattle and Port Gamble."

This ain’t no Walmart! This ain’t no strip mall! This ain’t no ordinary holiday bazaar! It’s DUCK the MALLS at the Capitol Theatre, an event to benefit the Olympia Film Society and support local artists. Hipsters, youngsters, and oldsters will be offering a wide variety of local, handmade artful objects at this “only in Oly” indie/hippie/punk craft and arts sale.

Russ Olsen was the one Lacey candidate that you could be interested in, because well, for a Lacey candidate, he was suprisingly good. If he were a Olympia candidate, he would have been down the same line as Rhenda Strub or Craig Ottevelli, but for Lacey, he was pretty left of center.

And, he almost won. Here are the precincts that went for him.

Aside from driving through Lacey on various routes every day, I don't know all that much about Lacey and why certain neighborhoods would have voted the way he did. But, a few thoughts.

1. SE Lacey was Russ country. Pricier homes along the lakes? Are these the neighborhoods less likely to be transient? There are also some brand new neighborhoods down there (not even showing up on Google maps yet), so maybe it was the transient vote.

2. Two old neighborhoods near the mall went for Russ. They're some older neighborhoods by Lacey standards.

Riffing off of chad360's comments here at the Olympia columnist thread, I want to remind folks that if you've ever wanted to be a reporter, Olyblog is your chance.

Here are some examples of what I'm talking about.

I try to every week write about what's in the city of Olympia packet. Nothing fancy, not too in depth, but its there mostly every week.

Sarah covers the local blog community.

Enpen photographs and documents Olympia art in the wild.

This is a list of "beats" that could be covered by folks fairly easily via the internet. Rob Richards has taken this reporter thing seriously, actually talking to people on the phone (what is that about)?

This list is just to get you thinking, maybe you can write about a local sports team, or cover your local neighborhood association (I'm looking at you epersona).

The December 8 work party at Grass Lake Refuge has been postponed due to high water, but volunteers from around the region will be meeting on December 8 at Priest Point Park to remove a variety of invasive species, and to do clean-up work in the aftermath of the recent storms. The event lasts from 9am till noon, on Saturday, December 8, meet in the Rose Garden Parking Lot at Priest Point Park.

All are welcome, but those 17 and under must have signed parental permission, 14 and under must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Dress for the weather. Tools provided. No need to RSVP. Questions? Contact Olympia Volunteers in Parks (VIP) Coordinator Todd Smith at 753-8365.

The Stranger just posted their Annual Strangercrombie merry-making, charity-fundraising holiday auction.

All 2007 proceeds go to FareStart. http://thestranger.com/strangercrombie

Happy Merry-Making! 

I don't like it. Makes it easier than ever to use "less lethal" munitions on people.

Taser's webpage

I don't like the picture they used either. Nice"Police" uniform. Nice jackbooted thug image. And maybe Norm you can correct me, but that looks like a Mossberg 590 shotgun the guy is holding, complete with bayonet lug. While the 500/590 shotguns are great, I can't think of anything the cops need a bayonet lug for. I'm sure this is just a posed image, but I don't like the message being sent in the picture. Look, Mr. Bad Ass stormtrooper cop!

Personally I think there should be rules against military looking uniforms for cops. Anything to lessen the image in their own minds that they are "paramilitary"

And what do you want to bet TASER won't be selling this wonderful product to Mr. and Mrs. Law Abiding Citizen?

Not much.

 I have to laugh sometimes, seeing people buying these huge multi kilowatt generators just so they can have lights, and all their creature comforts.

Western society is spoiled, and spoiled rotten.

What do you actually NEED powered?

Hot water tank if electric. This can be heated up for showers and then left alone. Hot water on demand is a better way of doing it anyway, and better for the enviroment.

Fridge and freezer. Does not need constant operation either. Turn it on every three hours or so and you should be fine. Keep the freezer as full as possible. Limit opening and closing as much as possible.

Lights? Give me a freaking break. This is where I think western society is most spoiled, we have to have many watts of lighting all the time. I am a big fan of 12 volt backup lighting systems. But since few have these, let's touch on lighting. If you are reading you don't need to light up a whole room. If you are cooking you don't need to light up a whole room. If you are going to the bathroom yo don't need to light up a whole room. Do we see a theme yet?

Rechargeable battery lanterns, oil lamps if you are comfortable with them, LED flashlights, candles, etc... You really don't need the generator to keep the lights on.

Now if you have a medical or other emergency need for power, use what you need of course.

Cooking? What, no backup way to cook? Shame on you. Even a camping stove out in the garage is better than nothing, and actually quite efficient. White gas (coleman fuel) is my favorite but difficult to use at times. Propane is great if you hook up to a bulk tank.

Heat? What, no backup heating? Okay, in my book you're an idiot and should move back to The People's Republic of Kalifornia :-) (This is a joke...) Wood, kerosene and indoor safe propane (Mr. Heater). Get a carbon monoxide alarm and keep a window open a bit.