Latest / Sound Neighbors Podcast / Sound Neighbors Episode 3: Close to Home (Oct 22, 2026)

Transcript

Sound Neighbors Episode 3: Close to Home (Oct 22, 2026) · Sound Neighbors Podcast

• 0:00
  Jean: Welcome to the Sound Neighbors podcast, episode three.
• 0:03
  Jean: I'm Jean, and this is the news for South Bay,
• 0:05
  Jean: Johnson Point, and the Greater Olympia area.
• 0:08
  Tyler: And I'm Tyler.
• 0:09
  Tyler: Everything we talk about is on the website
• 0:11
  Tyler: at soundneighbors.com with the sources linked.
• 0:15
  Tyler: And just so you know, this is a value for value podcast.
• 0:18
  Tyler: No ads, no paywall.
• 0:20
  Tyler: It runs on listener donations.
• 0:22
  Jean: In this episode, a slower drive on Johnson Point Road,
• 0:26
  Jean: the last of the Olympia school closure hearings,
• 0:28
  Jean: the library levy on your ballot,
• 0:30
  Jean: a new conservation charge on your property tax bill,
• 0:34
  Jean: old tires coming up off the bottom of the sound,
• 0:36
  Jean: and some Halloween fun close to home.
• 0:38
  Jean: Then the forecast.
• 0:40
  Tyler: If you drive the north end of Johnson Point Road,
• 0:42
  Tyler: you'll want to ease off the gas a little.
• 0:45
  Tyler: Thurston County Public Works says the speed limit there
• 0:47
  Tyler: is dropping from 35 to 30 miles an hour.
• 0:51
  Jean: That covers the stretch from 92nd Avenue Northeast
• 0:54
  Jean: up to Johnson Point Loop.
• 0:55
  Jean: It was one of six speed limit changes
• 0:57
  Jean: county commissioners adopted after a public hearing on Tuesday, October 6th.
• 1:01
  Tyler: Here's an interesting detail. The county's first notice
• 1:05
  Tyler: actually proposed 25 miles an hour. By the rescheduled hearing, it said 30.
• 1:10
  Tyler: And 30 is what was adopted. The county's records don't explain the change,
• 1:14
  Tyler: and they haven't said when the new signs go up. The county's own rule of
• 1:18
  Jean: thumb is that limits are usually set near the speed 85% of drivers already
• 1:22
  Jean: travel. If you have questions, the contact is
• 1:25
  Tyler: County engineer Matt Unzelman at 360-867-2335. Same story. The county's draft six-year road
• 1:33
  Tyler: plan has a few local items. There's a fish passage culvert project on Libby Road, south
• 1:38
  Tyler: of Woodard Bay Road, where a culvert blocks fish in a creek that feeds Woodard Creek.
• 1:43
  Tyler: It's estimated at about $3.5 million and isn't fully funded. There's also a study
• 1:47
  Tyler: for a failed culvert on Kellogg Drive on a creek that feeds Henderson Inlet.
• 1:52
  Jean: on the long-range list widening South Bay Road to two or three lanes from 33rd Lane up to the
• 1:56
  Jean: Chehalis Western Trail at about $6 million. That list has no construction years attached,
• 2:02
  Jean: so don't look for the cones anytime soon. The Olympia School District has now held
• 2:06
  Jean: all three public hearings on its plan to close Madison, L.P. Brown, and McKinney Elementary
• 2:11
  Jean: Schools. The last one at Madison was Monday, October 19th, and it was packed.
• 2:16
  Tyler: act. King Five reported more than 200 parents, students and teachers in the gym and 99 people
• 2:23
  Tyler: signed up to speak. The Olympian put the number who spoke at about 100. The meeting ran more
• 2:28
  Tyler: than three hours. People talked about class sizes, longer trips to school, and losing
• 2:32
  Tyler: friendships. At one point, nine teachers lined up to give a single speech together about
• 2:37
  Tyler: the school's community.
• 2:38
  Jean: Board President Jess Tortor Palumbo told King Five it will be a difficult decision and
• 2:43
  Jean: she feels for everyone who spoke. She also said she worries about what happens if the district
• 2:47
  Jean: doesn't move forward. Under the plan, Madison's 160 students would move to Roosevelt about a
• 2:53
  Tyler: mile away. The district estimates closing Madison alone saves about $1.12 million a year
• 2:59
  Tyler: and about $3.1 million for all three schools. The board votes on Thursday, November 12th,
• 3:03
  Tyler: and written comments can still be mailed to the school board at 111 Bethel Street, Northeast.
• 3:08
  Jean: One more piece for folks up our way. Boston Harbor Elementary out on Zengel Road scored
• 3:13
  Jean: fifth of seven schools on the district's closure scoring list. A lower score means a stronger
• 3:19
  Jean: candidate for closing. Boston Harbor scored 57, one point ahead of L.P. Brown.
• 3:24
  Tyler: But Boston Harbor is not on the closure list. The district says it picked L.P. Brown because
• 3:29
  Tyler: falling enrollment isn't just an east side problem, and L.P. Brown was the lowest scorer
• 3:33
  Tyler: on the west side. Boston Harbor has 166 students, second smallest in the district after Madison.
• 3:40
  Jean: So not on the list this round. Families there may still want to keep an eye on it.
• 3:44
  Tyler: On your ballot is Timberland Regional Library's Proposition 1. That's the system that runs
• 3:49
  Tyler: the Lacey Timberland Library on College Street. The ballot calls it a levy lid lift.
• 3:55
  Jean: That phrase trips people up, so here's what it means. The library district has a property
• 3:59
  Jean: state law caps how much that tax can grow each year at 1% and over time
• 4:04
  Jean: that's pushed the library's rate down to just under 23 cents per thousand
• 4:08
  Jean: dollars of assessed value. A lid lift lets the district reset the rate higher
• 4:13
  Jean: than that cap would allow. A yes vote raises the library's rate to 35 cents per
• 4:18
  Tyler: thousand dollars in 2027 and 2028 and that 2028 amount becomes the new base
• 4:23
  Tyler: for future years with the 1% cap starting again from there. A no vote
• 4:27
  Tyler: keeps the current rate.
• 4:29
  Jean: In dollars, the voter's pamphlet example is a $334,000 home paying about $40 more a year.
• 4:36
  Jean: The library's own estimate for a typical Thurston County home is about $59 more a year.
• 4:42
  Tyler: The library says property taxes are 96% of its budget, and it already cut about $3.7 million
• 4:48
  Tyler: this year.
• 4:49
  Tyler: If the measure fails, the explanatory statement says cuts to staff, hours, books, and bookmobile
• 4:54
  Tyler: service would start in 2027.
• 4:57
  Jean: Supporters call it a long overdue cost of living raise.
• 5:00
  Jean: Opponents, a group called Citizens for Accountable T.R. Libraries, say the library should first
• 5:05
  Jean: show it has cut costs and managed its money well.
• 5:08
  Jean: And they write that voting no is not a vote against libraries.
• 5:11
  Jean: It needs a simple majority.
• 5:13
  Jean: Ballots are due by 8 p.m. on Tuesday, November 3rd.
• 5:16
  Tyler: If you like what you're hearing, feel free to donate on the website.
• 5:18
  Tyler: It's what keeps us going.
• 5:19
  Jean: Next, something that'll show up on your property tax statement.
• 5:23
  Jean: The Thurston County Commissioners held a hearing on Tuesday, October 20th, and were set to
• 5:28
  Jean: vote on a 10-year system of charges for the Thurston Conservation District.
• 5:33
  Tyler: Under the plan, most homes would pay $25 a year plus 10 cents an acre, starting in 2027
• 5:39
  Tyler: and running through 2036, so a one-acre home lot would pay $25 and 10 cents.
• 5:45
  Tyler: It covers unincorporated Thurston County, plus Lacey, Olympia, and Tumwater.
• 5:50
  Jean: This was made possible by the legislature in 2025. Before that, a county our size was
• 5:55
  Jean: capped at $5 a parcel. The district says the money would go to its conservation help for
• 6:00
  Jean: farms and homeowners, a pledge of a million dollars a year to save farmland, and a new
• 6:05
  Jean: education center.
• 6:07
  Tyler: As of early Wednesday, October 21, we hadn't seen an outcome posted by the county, the
• 6:12
  Tyler: district, or local press. We'll update you on the website when it does.
• 6:16
  Jean: Here's a cleanup story with a south sound twist. Back in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, groups
• 6:22
  Jean: sank thousands of old tires across Puget Sound, hoping they'd become reefs for rockfish and
• 6:28
  Jean: lingcod.
• 6:29
  Tyler: The fish didn't use them. And over the years, the straps holding the tires together broke,
• 6:34
  Tyler: tires drifted, and washed up on beaches. And they break down into microplastics.
• 6:39
  Jean: So the State Department of Natural Resources has been hauling them out. Crews just pulled
• 6:43
  Jean: about 2,000 tires from off Fry Cove County Park on Eld Inlet, according to the Olympian.
• 6:49
  Jean: That follows about 9,000 tires in 2025 near Burfoot Park, by Boston Harbor, and about
• 6:55
  Jean: 3,900 in 2024 next to Tolme State Park, on Nisqually Reach.
• 7:00
  Tyler: The tires can't be recycled, so they go to a facility that only takes tire waste.
• 7:05
  Tyler: DNR says 10 priority sites are left, and it'll ask the legislature for money to clear
• 7:10
  Tyler: them.
• 7:11
  Jean: a neighborhood feature. Hidden Meadow School is an outdoor preschool on a 16-acre property on
• 7:17
  Jean: Henderson Inlet, and it's added something new for homeschool families. It's a Tuesday afternoon
• 7:22
  Tyler: program, two to four, for kids six to twelve. They spend it outside building shelters,
• 7:27
  Tyler: learning firemaking and cordage, carving spoons and bowls, and later in the year
• 7:32
  Tyler: identifying and forging plants. The school's website has a nice line about it.
• 7:36
  Tyler: The bowl a child carves in January is the bowl they eat from in April.
• 7:40
  Jean: The same group of 10 kids stays together all year. Co-director Jake O'Rear leads it,
• 7:46
  Jean: and the school says it teaches fire, knives, and tools slowly, and never before a child is ready.
• 7:51
  Jean: It's not accredited and doesn't give grades. Tuition is $150 a month, plus a one-time $100 fee.
• 7:57
  Tyler: The preschool itself serves kids 3-6, Monday through Thursday,
• 8:01
  Tyler: and follows the North Thurston Public Schools calendar. You can find tour information on the
• 8:05
  Tyler: school's website. A few more stories from around the area. In Tumwater, a two-alarm
• 8:11
  Jean: fire on Thursday, October 15th tore through the Suncrest Apartments on
• 8:15
  Jean: Israel Road right across from City Hall. Firefighters used a ladder to rescue a
• 8:20
  Tyler: man from a second-floor balcony and they found a child asleep in one unit and
• 8:24
  Tyler: walked him out. No one was seriously hurt. About 40 firefighters responded
• 8:29
  Tyler: including crews from South Bay Fire. Dozens of residents were displaced and
• 8:33
  Tyler: and the cause is under investigation.
• 8:35
  Jean: Next, if you or a family member retired from state service,
• 8:39
  Jean: pay attention to your mail.
• 8:40
  Jean: The state healthcare authority says
• 8:42
  Jean: UnitedHealthcare's PEBB complete Medicare plan
• 8:46
  Jean: goes from about $220 to about $343 a month
• 8:50
  Jean: on Friday, January 1st.
• 8:52
  Jean: That's a 56% jump.
• 8:54
  Tyler: Kaiser's Medicare plan barely moves,
• 8:57
  Tyler: and Providence, including St. Peter Hospital,
• 8:59
  Tyler: leaves UnitedHealthcare's Medicare networks
• 9:01
  Tyler: on January 1st.
• 9:03
  Tyler: Open enrollment for state retirees runs Monday, October 26th through Monday, November 23rd.
• 9:09
  Tyler: That's two weeks before Medicare's own deadline, so don't wait.
• 9:13
  Jean: There's a benefits fair Monday, November 16th at Labor and Industries in Tumwater.
• 9:17
  Jean: And for free Medicare counseling, Senior Services for South Sound is at 360-586-6181,
• 9:25
  Jean: extension 134.
• 9:27
  Tyler: And one for the foodies.
• 9:28
  Tyler: Lacey wants to make its food truck plaza in the depot district permanent.
• 9:33
  Tyler: The city is hiring a consultant to study at least three sites, each with room for six
• 9:37
  Tyler: trucks, plus restrooms, seating, and a play area.
• 9:40
  Tyler: Proposals are due Monday, November 9th.
• 9:44
  Jean: Now some things to put on the calendar.
• 9:46
  Jean: On Friday, October 23rd, the South Bay PTA holds its fall funfair, with a trunk retreat
• 9:52
  Jean: in games from 6.30 to 7.30 at South Bay Elementary.
• 9:56
  Tyler: Sunday, October 25th at 10, there's a two-hour nature sketching and journaling session at
• 10:01
  Tyler: the Nisqually Reach Nature Center at Lure Beach. Tickets are about $45.
• 10:07
  Jean: Monday, October 26, River Ridge High School's AAPI Club hosts a free fall festival and trunk
• 10:12
  Jean: retreat from 5 to 6.30 in the school bus circle.
• 10:16
  Tyler: Parents, North Thurston Schools, including South Bay Elementary, Nisqually Middle, and
• 10:21
  Tyler: River Ridge are closed Thursday and Friday, October 29 and 30 for conferences.
• 10:27
  Jean: Thursday, the county's Project Safer Trunk Retreat runs 5.30-7.30 on Lily Road. No registration.
• 10:34
  Jean: Park on Ensign Road or in the nearby business slots.
• 10:37
  Tyler: Friday, October 30th, Lacey's Haunted Night Market closes out its season at The Depot,
• 10:42
  Tyler: 5-9. And Saturday, October 31st, there's a free Dia de los Muertos celebration from
• 10:48
  Tyler: 2-5 at Lydia Hawk Elementary.
• 10:51
  Jean: The full list is on the Town Square calendar in Sound Neighbors Magazine. And as always,
• 10:56
  Jean: with the organizer before you head out. Now the weekend forecast from the National
• 11:00
  Tyler: Weather Service for Olympia. Friday looks mostly sunny and cool, with a high near 59.
• 11:06
  Tyler: Friday night drops to around 36 under partly cloudy skies. Saturday brings a chance of
• 11:11
  Jean: rain after 11 a.m., mostly cloudy, with a high near 56, and a chance of rain Saturday
• 11:17
  Tyler: night with a low around 38. Sunday brings a chance of rain, partly sunny, with a high
• 11:23
  Tyler: near 60. Sunday night, a slight chance of rain early, then a low around 37.
• 11:29
  Jean: So if you've got yard work or a pumpkin patch run, Friday's your best bet. And with lows
• 11:34
  Jean: in the upper 30s, keep a warm layer handy.
• 11:37
  Tyler: That's it for episode three. Thanks for spending some time with us.
• 11:41
  Jean: Sound Neighbors runs on value for value. If the podcast or the magazine helps you out,
• 11:45
  Jean: you can donate on the website at soundneighbors.com.
• 11:48
  Tyler: And if you have a tip or an event we should know about, the website is the place for
• 11:51
  Tyler: that too.
• 11:53
  Jean: I'm Jean.
• 11:54
  Tyler: And I'm Tyler.
• 11:55
  Tyler: This has been Sound Neighbors, hyper-local news for the South Sound community.
• 11:59
  Jean: Have a good day, neighbors.
• 12:00
  Jean: We'll talk soon.