Special Reports | The JOLT News Organization, A 501(c)(3) Nonprofit Organization

Nailah Bulley of ADEFUA Cultural Education Workshop, who teaches African drumming and dancing, performs at Northwest African American Museum’s Kwanzaa celebration at Washington Hall on Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022. (Amanda Snyder/Crosscut)

Festivities in Focus | Celebrants dance, reflect through Kwanzaa

Festivities in Focus | Celebrants dance, reflect through Kwanzaa A NAAM gathering on the fourth day of the secular pan-African holiday honored the principle of Ujamma, or cooperative … more

1/2/23 | 1 comment

Each volunteer walks to choose a service member’s grave for their wreath.

First ‘Wreaths Across America’ ceremony places 90 wreaths at Masonic Memorial Park

“This is the first chance I’ve had to volunteer to lay the Coast Guard wreath,” Petty Officer First Class Scott Calhoon, US Coast Guard, stated at a chilly Wreaths Across America … more

By Shirley Stirling | 12/20/22 | 1 comment

One of the three campuses of Northwest School of Innovative Learning (SOIL) is located in Tumwater.

'Kids seem to be a paycheck:' How a billion-dollar corporation exploits Washington’s special education system

Donna Green hit her breaking point last summer, six months into her job as the top administrator at the Northwest School of Innovative Learning, or SOIL. more

12/5/22 | 3 comments

Ballot batches being counted and sorted into precinct

How safe are elections in Thurston County?

The ballots from yesterday’s general election are being tallied, and the Thurston County Auditor’s office is posting unofficial results. more

By Sage Hamilton | 11/9/22 | 2 comments

What’s happening coming up?

Tenino Depot Museum Pioneer Village- Depot MuseumJuly 22 10:00am-4:00pm, July 23 10:00am-5:00pm, July 24 11:00am-3:00pm Do you enjoy making antler jewelry, apple cider, making, blacksmithing, … more

7/22/22 | 1 comment

Nearly all children attending Washington’s K-12 schools are now eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine, to the relief of many parents.

Washington kids 5 to 11 are getting vaccinated faster than the national average

At Aki Kurose Middle School, Roderick Patel’s son Ezra, 5, sat quietly on his dad’s lap, eyes fixed on an animation on a phone, as he bared an arm for his first shot of COVID-19 … more

By Venice Buhain | Crosscut.com | 12/3/21

Members from the 15th Medical Group host an open house for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, Oct. 26, 2018. The event reached out to members of the community to raise awareness of breast cancer and to teach people the importance of monthly self-checks.

“The enemy is lurking in our bodies” — Women veterans say toxic exposure caused breast cancer

October 14, 2021 -- As Kate Hendricks Thomas sat one night with her second-grade son Matthew, he placed his hands on the table as if he were an adult girding up for an important … more

by Kelly Kennedy | The War Horse | 10/15/21 | 1 comment

Olympia City Council: Pat Cole's Picks

It's local election season, and we're all trying to figure out who to vote for and support. Local elections are, in many ways, the most important elections. Our local governments have the … more

By Pat Cole | 10/8/21 | 4 comments

The new sign for the VA Olympia Outpatient Clinic was still in its protective shipping wrapper as recently as the week before the official opening of the clinic on Aug. 16, 2021.

New VA healthcare clinic in Olympia opens Aug. 16

Veterans seeking healthcare won’t have to travel to American Lake for many services after this Mon., Aug. 16, when the new VA Olympia Outpatient Clinic opens its doors to in-person … more

By Danny Stusser | 8/13/21 | 1 comment

EMBRACING – Laura embraces her son Nathan. She says kids who need special help are harmed further when the Department of Children, Youth, and Families puts them in unstable living conditions: It piles ‘trauma on top of trauma,’ she says. Laura and Nathan asked that their real names not be used in this report.

Can a court victory provide refuge for foster youth?

Laura was afraid her autistic son, Nathan, would accidentally kill himself. After a brain injury, the 13-year-old had begun setting fires in their house and had climbed onto the roof. Unable to find … more

By Allegra Abramo | InvestigateWest | 8/12/21

Cooling centers open to the public Thu.-Fri., Aug. 12-13 from 1 - 7 p.m.

Too hot? Here is a list of "Cooling centers" -- locations open to the public along with their operating hours and Intercity Transit routes to get you there. Lacey Timberland Library500 College … more

8/11/21

This home at 862 Ebbets Dr SW in Tumwater was sold by Garrett Lafferty for $435,000.

The JOLT Real Estate Report for July 11 - 17, 2021

This weekly report covers single-family home sales in Thurston County over the past week. There were 118 sales completed from Sunday, July 11, through Saturday, July 17, 2021. The median sales … more

By Prachi Gohil | 7/19/21

This home at 2142 79th Ave SE in Tumwater was sold by John Duerr for $625,000.

The JOLT Real Estate Report for July 4 - 10, 2021

This weekly report covers single-family home sales in Thurston County over the past week. There were 93 sales completed from Sunday, July 4, through Saturday, July 10, 2021. The median sales … more

By Prachi Gohil | 7/12/21

This home at 801 Wilson St. sold last week for $550,000.

The JOLT Real Estate Week in Review for Jan. 10-16, 2021

This is the first weekly report covering single-family home sales in Thurston County. It covers the 50 sales completed from Sun., Jan. 10 through Sat., Jan. 16, 2020. Median price of these … more

1/18/21

Washington misses its deadline to bring foster kids home from troubled out-of-state group facilities

Valery Roseus remembers the day when a staff member called a meeting at Capital Academy, a residential youth institution in New Jersey where he had lived for a time as a foster child under the care … more

By Rachel Nielsen | InvestigateWest | 12/2/20

Washington foster kids detail abuse at Sequel group homes

For more than two hours, a foster youth who had just been shipped by Washington state officials to a privately run Iowa group home was held down by three staffers, his wrists and heels painfully … more

By Rachel Nielsen | InvestigateWest | 12/2/20

Free transportation to American Lake VA Medical Center is available to veterans from the Lacey Veterans Services Hub.

Attention Veterans: This story is for you

Are you a veteran in need of help? Having trouble finding the information or services you need? Thanks to the vision of the City of Lacey and support from Thurston County, the South Puget Sound … more

By Kathleen Anderson | 11/17/20

In a photo posted to Facebook, Olympia police officer Tiffany Coates poses with a group of armed men, many of whom can be seen making hand gestures associated with the Three Percent movement. Coates was responding to a call at a gun shop parking lot in the early hours of June 5. (Facebook)

Laws banning private armies go unenforced as election day vigilantism looms

OLYMPIA – When Olympia Police Officer Tiffany Coates’ cruiser rolled into a gun shop parking lot, she knew dozens of armed men were waiting for her. She wasn’t … more

By Katie Hayes | InvestigateWest | 11/16/20

School recess appears to be nearly as much fun at home as it would have been at school for Jonah and Faith.

What it’s really like to navigate remote learning

The internet is fraught with remote-learning forums, Facebook posts, and homeschool tips. Across the nation, classrooms are empty, and teachers are anxious. Parents are having sleepless nights … more

By Nikki McCoy | 11/16/20

County wants to hire a ninth judge

Thurston County Superior Court hasn’t had a new Superior Court judge position added since 2000, and in those two decades, criminal filings have increased by 18 percent. Superior … more

by Cody Neuenschwander | 10/12/20