[via email]

On July 14, a group of students who are riding their bikes from Austin, Texas to Anchorage, Alaska to raise money for cancer research will arrive in Olympia.

The team, Texas 4000 for Cancer, will arrive July 14 around 5pm, and will depart the morning of July 15 for Seattle. All of the cyclists are more than happy to conduct interviews either day.

Founded in 2004 by University of Texas student Chris Condit – a cancer survivor – Texas 4000 is comprised of 40 UT students (20 ride up the coast, 20 ride through the Rockies) who ride their bikes over 4,500 miles, which makes it the longest annual charity bike ride in the world. Most of the cyclists have family members or friends who have been affected by cancer.

From Press Release:

AUSTIN, Texas—A team of 43 University of Texas students have once again united to participate in the world’s longest annual charity bike ride—Texas 4000 For Cancer presented by Sense Corp. Texas 4000 riders cycle 4,500 miles from Austin, Texas to Anchorage, Alaska in hopes of raising more than $300,000 for the American Cancer Society.

After just three years, Texas 4000 has raised nearly $1 million. In addition to individually raising $4,000, each rider will volunteer across the country to heighten awareness of cancer and bring hope to those who have been affected by the disease.

The riders, many of whom have been personally affected by cancer, have divided into two groups—one to ride along the West Coast, the other through the Rocky Mountains—and rendezvous in Canada to finish the voyage to Anchorage together. The challenges faced during the trek will mirror the difficult battles waged by cancer patients each day.

Olympia, Washington residents are announcing an immediate boycott of all McClatchy Company news products!

McClatchy owns The Olympian newspaper, located in Olympia, Washington.

Editorial Page Editor Mike Oakland at The Olympian is currently writing innacurate, inflammatory, and divisive editorials, to the detriment of the community & neighborhoods of Olympia.

The Olympian's Editorial Editor Mike Oakland does not reside in Olympia and should keep his divisive comments regarding Olympia, and its residents, to himself, and should not be in a position to monetarily profit from his belittling of the City of Olympia.

Newspaper readers nationwide are urged to stop purchasing all McClatchy newspapers, until The Olympian’s editors and writers refrain from portraying Olympia, Washington in a negative light.

McClatchy Company investors can direct their questions & comments to:

Mike Oakland, Editorial Page Editor The Olympian

360-754-5464

Can't wait to return to Olympia this weekend!  Being away makes me apprciate oly so much more.

this is from an email forward I recieved, thought I'd post it here as I've been meaning to start olyblogging for a while now. At this point I don't know what the police/sheriff situation is, the ships might not even be coming.

The Capital Lakefair will take place in Olympia from the 20th to the 23rd. As part of this year's festivities, the City of Olympia thought it would be a great idea to bring three military ships into the port. That way, the military can have a chance to try and pass itself off as an organization which does not KILL other human beings. Children can be shown by their parents that big boats with big guns that can level whole towns are real cool.

But there are some of us who do not wish a sick institution like the military to be in our town in any form whatsoever, be it a deployment of Strykers or this petty propaganda ploy. Some of us oppose the military as it exists and has always existed: the tool of rich, greedy human beings, used to murder and pillage other countries in order to maximize their profits. Some of those in the military are decent enough people. Others are psychotic and talk about killing all the Arabs. In either case, everyone in the military is working for the rich and we do not want them flouting their weapons in Olympia or anywhere else.

They ARE coming to Olympia, though. So come down on the 21st and 22nd to show the local government and the sailors on the boats that we do not care what excuses they give for their presence; they are not welcome. All groups are invited. Independent planning is strongly encouraged. There WILL be a basic plan in which, hopefully, the various groups will have space to do whatever they wish.

Time and Place.

Saturday July 21

First roundabout above 4th Ave. Bridge. Meet on the sidewalks around the roundabout at 3:00 PM.

Sunday July 22

Sylvester Park. Meet there at 3:00 PM

Watch LAPD allow hipsters to walk around with booze during a downtown art walk, then ticket homeless people doing the same thing.

Gallery Row,* Skid Row or Jim Crow? (Or propaganda?)

Follow links in the post on Jacqueline Dowd's social justice blog, I've disabled comments here so folks can leave comments there.

"Foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." The Ninth Chapter of St. Luke’s Gospel

We invite your participation in a public information meeting at St. John’s Episcopal Church, Capitol Way at 20^th Ave., Olympia, this Saturday, July 14, beginning at 2 p.m. to discuss locating Camp Quixote at the Church in August and September.

Camp Quixote is a response to the perils of homelessness generated by people living in the woods or on the street themselves. A group of Olympia’s homeless has banded together to provide safety, community and support while participating in the programs provided by social welfare agencies to move them to self-sufficiency. Since its origin in February two area churches have successfully hosted the tent city. St. John’s plans to host Camp Quixote for a period of six weeks on the church grounds beginning August 16, 2007.

The public meeting is your first of many opportunities to learn every detail about Camp Quixote, meet St. John’s staff and lay members working in direct ministry with the homeless and to meet several of the camp’s residents. We wish to answer all your questions about the camp and its purpose, its recent history in Olympia, safety and code issues, camp layout and foot print and the effects on the neighborhood around St. John's.

We’ll meet Saturday, July 14 from 2 to 5 p.m. in St. John’s Episcopal Church in our Parish Hall (entrance facing 19th Avenue). We urge your participation and look forward to meeting you and to you sharing with us in this important response to a deep need in our community.

Next month will be OlyBlog's 2nd birthday! As a way to celebrate, I propose we convince the GA to drain the Fetid Lake of Doom and allow us to walk across it in rubber boots and clean out all the junk as a public service. When we cleaned the shores last year we could see a lot of garbage under the water. Also, draining the lake would give Olympians a preview (for good or bad) of what it would look like at low tide if it returns to an estuary.

In any event, OlyBlog's birthday needs to be observed in some way.