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Tag: Legislative Building

Foggy dome, sunny dome

Foggy dome, sunny dome

The dry weather the past week or two in Olympia has resulted in foggy mornings and sunny afternoons around the Capitol Campus. Not even the dome of the Legislative Building is immune to the fog, but it sure stands out once the sun arrives.  

Found in Digital Archives: 1960 photo of Capitol by night

Found in Digital Archives: 1960 photo of Capitol by night

This year’s legislative session has reached the stage when the House and Senate members are spending many hours daily, and sometimes into the night, debating and voting on bills that survived the recent committee cutoffs. Friday is the deadline for policy bills to emerge from the budget committees of the originating house. March 13 is the last day for the House and Senate to vote on bills and other measures originating from the house of origin. After that, they’ll look…

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Snow at the Capitol!

Snow at the Capitol!

It might not exactly qualify as Snowmageddon. It even might not be sticking enough to make a snowball. But it’s snowing at the Capitol. The wintry white flakes started falling from the sky after 10 a.m. on New Year’s Eve, more than enough snow to terrify “First Snowflake Freakout Lady” from one of those funny PEMCO ”Northwest Profile” radio ads. Whether it lasts until Tuesday’s arrival of 2013 remains to be seen.

Blue day for blue spruces next to Capitol

Blue day for blue spruces next to Capitol

(Photo courtesy of Washington State Archives) Like sentries silently standing guard for decades, they’ve flanked the north stairs leading up to the Legislative Building, mostly unnoticed by the employees and tourists walking past them. But the two blue spruces on the north side of the Capitol soon will be no more, victims of last January’s ice storm that wiped out so many trees in the Puget Sound region. The Department of Enterprise Services announced that a contractor on Saturday will…

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Vote for your fave “Archives treasure”

Vote for your fave “Archives treasure”

Nowadays, we have opinion polls on everything from presidential candidates to Lady Gaga’s wild attire. Not wanting to miss the poll train, we’re offering you a chance to sound off on some of our State Archives’ many interesting documents, collections, photos and other historical nuggets. Starting this month, we’re featuring various “Archives treasures.” Over the past week, we’ve showcased three of these treasures for viewing. The first “contestant” is the state boxing license applications submitted by heavyweight legends Muhammad Ali…

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Olympia celebrates Capitol Group design centennial

Olympia celebrates Capitol Group design centennial

Wilder and White watercolor, 1912 Secretary Reed and other Olympia notables and townspeople are celebrating the centennial of Wilder & White winning the nationwide design contest for Washington’s much-praised Capitol group.  They bid everyone welcome. Walter Wilder and Harry White were young, little-known New York architects when they won the competition 100 years ago today, submitting an audacious and grand plan for a Capitol Group that includes the Capitol (Legislative Building), Temple of Justice, and other building clustered on a…

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Can it be? Spring in Olympia?

Can it be? Spring in Olympia?

Despite the cold, wet weather the past several weeks (OK, months), one sign that spring is actually (allegedly?) here is when the cherry trees and rhododendrons are in bloom on the Capitol Campus. That was evident during a much-welcomed sunny afternoon earlier this week in Olympia as one of the trees on the east side of the Legislative Building was bursting with blossoms.

Where were you when Nisqually Earthquake struck?

Where were you when Nisqually Earthquake struck?

It was exactly 10 years ago today when the Nisqually Earthquake struck much of Western Washington and shut down the 2001 legislative session for a couple of days. The big shake occurred at 10:54 a.m. and caused $2 billion in damage. Check out this story in yesterday’s Olympian about the 6.8-magnitude quake and its aftermath. For those of us who were in the Legislative Building on Olympia’s Capitol Campus, the tremor was a wild, scary ride. But it could have…

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From Your Corner of Washington: Dave’s window

From Your Corner of Washington: Dave’s window

When the snow was falling fast and furious outside the Legislative Building Thursday, we snapped this photo looking outside the window of our esteemed and respected communications director, Dave Ammons. Those in our office knew Dave’s window had a great view of the Temple of Justice and all. Thanks to Andrew Sullivan’s blog on The Atlantic’s website, many people across the country now know it as well.