Harrington is a rural community of about 400 people in Lincoln County about an hour west of Spokane. In 2012, it was one of several communities whose library received a high-speed fiber connection as a result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
The Lincoln County Public Development Authority (PDA) believed if their entire downtown –not just the library –could access broadband, then people interested in a rural lifestyle might consider relocating their businesses there. Knowing that Harrington is too small for a large private internet service provider (ISP) to make the investment needed to bring service to its citizens, the Lincoln PDA made a deal: It asked the library’s private ISP to become downtown Harrington’s provider.
With funding from local tax revenue, the PDA purchased the necessary equipment, the provider installed it and committed to maintain service to the downtown area. The project went live. Just two years after formulating a plan, Harrington had gigabit internet service with equipment purchased, owned, and operated locally — which cost the PDA less under $10,000.
Harrington Mayor Justin Slack said his family moved to Harrington from Seattle in 2013.
“I was able to use the high speed connection available here to maintain my career as a commercial property appraiser,” Slack said. “We opened up a coffee shop at the site of the old post-office as a space for folks to use the service, and eventually had the idea to create a co-working space for other teleworkers like me.”
Slack said ‘The Post and Office’ currently serves the Harrington community with a high speed connection, and allows local residents to maintain their urban jobs at companies like Microsoft and Indeed.com. Nearby, the historic ‘Electric Hotel’ is being renovated and a new storefront that sells jewelry and artwork is exploring e-commerce.
“It just goes to show that with a little help from government, some local dollars, and community support, we can make a big difference in rural Washington,” Slack said.
That’s the difference Gov. Jay Inslee hopes to see in more communities statewide. Today, he was joined by Slack as well as legislative and tribal leaders to detail his proposal to expand broadband.
“We’re Better Together” The 31st Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Celebration in Tacoma will once again bring the community together to celebrate Monday, January 21, 2019 as a day on, not a day off.
A distinguished scholar, teacher, and college administrator,Isiaah Crawford became president of University of Puget Sound on July 1, 2016, following an extensive national search. Crawford’s academic work and achievements as a senior administrator are closely aligned with the values and aspirations of Puget Sound, and with the key areas of challenge and opportunity facing higher education today.
Creative entrepreneur Steve Buchanan joined the Spaceworks Incubator program in 2016 and completed multiple Spaceworks training programs. He has worked over the last year developing GoodDesign and remodeling a new shop just blocks from Spaceworks headquarters. GoodDesign is a Sign and Space design company who works with clients to apply their brand to physical space. This “space” can include anything from storefront exteriors and interiors, tradeshows and exhibits, down to simple business signs and fleet graphics.
Spaceworks makes Tacoma culturally vibrant and economically strong through training and support for artists and creative entrepreneurs. Since launching in June 2010, Spaceworks has worked with over 400 artists and creatives in over 55 spaces around Tacoma. Funders include the City of Tacoma, Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber, Community Development Block Grant, JP Morgan Chase Foundation, South Sound Together, US Bank Foundation, The Bamford Foundation, and The National Endowment for the Arts.
Marijuana is big business in Washington state, and now that business is extending into the classroom.
With less than a week to go before the permanent closure of the viaduct, there’s already been plenty of discussion about how people who work in offices can adjust to the Seattle Squeeze. But hundreds of thousands of people in our region work in food service, retail, warehouses, caregiving, delivery, and other fields that require a worker show up at a particular workplace in order to do their jobs. Their employers have a key role to play in helping us all ride out these dramatic transportation impacts, too.
At the age of eleven, we moved, and I started using “food” to deal with trauma, feelings of loneliness, and boredom. I became a compulsive overeater at that time, and the disease of compulsive overeating continued to get worse, until my Higher Power brought me to Overeaters Anonymous at the age of fifty-one. I simply didn’t know how to deal with life on life’s terms, and I tried to get what I needed by bingeing predominantly on chocolate and ice-cream. It didn’t work! Before I came to Overeaters Anonymous at the beginning of 2014, my life was out of control, and completely unmanageable. I could not stop bingeing on a daily basis. I felt tremendous fear, shame, guilt, and rock bottom self esteem. I isolated myself from others. I was suicidal. I weighed three hundred and thirty five pounds. I was dying. I was experiencing so much pain and suffering, I wanted to die.
Start 2019 off right by getting a jump-start on your home improvement project! Whether you’re a homeowner, landlord, renter or potential homeowner, one of the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections Home Fairs will have something for you!