| PR Charts — A cleanup Thursday along Percival Creek to improve fish habitat ended up showing the extent of the homelessness problem, too.
A day crew from Olympia Probation Services scrambled up and down the corridor, bagging garbage and debris that is mostly the result of encampments of homeless people drawn to the secluded canyon between Percival Cove and the Olympia Auto Mall.
About 250 bags of junk have been collected by several work parties involving the city, Tacoma Rail and Wild Fish Conservancy. Tacoma Rail operates a line through the canyon that connects to Mottman Industrial Park in Tumwater. Wild Fish Conservancy is a nonprofit group that works to protect and restore wild salmon populations and their habitat.
The conservancy got involved because the stream, also known as Black Lake Ditch and connecting Capitol Lake and Budd Inlet to the Black River, is prime spawning and rearing habitat for chum and coho salmon, sea-run cutthroat trout and strays from the Deschutes River chinook run, project manager Ted Labbe said.
The one-mile stretch of Percival Creek Canyon also has become a haven for the homeless, even though it’s illegal for people to walk up the railroad line.
Piles of trash were picked up beneath the Cooper Point Road bridge, much of it linked to people who camp in the canyon during warmer weather.
“We know they don’t have anywhere to go,” said work crew supervisor Michael Arch of Olympia Probation Services. “We just want them to keep the place clean.”
Lappe added: “We’re not breaking up active encampments. That’s why we’re doing the cleanup this time of year.”
It also is an opportunity to pick up trash washed into the canyon during December floods, he said.
Homeless advocate Rob Richards said the canyon is used by homeless people year-round, much like the city’s Grass Lake Park area, which also was cleaned by city crews in recent weeks.

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By Brett Hait, bhait@nashvillecitypaper.com
TAMPA, Fla. – The Vanderbilt basketball team arrived in this warm and breezy coastal city Wednesday night ostensibly to win a game on Friday.
Look closer, though, and it becomes clear the Commodores are carrying a banner of deeper significance.
History can be written this month, the kind of history that causes record books to be re-printed and teams to forever be etched into the memories and consciousness of its fans.
This is only the second Commodore to make back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances. They are situated at the highest seed, No. 4, the school has received in 15 years.
This is also Vanderbilt’s third tournament appearance in five years. Peruse the sometimes-sparse school record book, and it becomes quickly apparent that such a streak is noteworthy.
In nearly every way, the golden age of Commodore basketball might be in full bloom.
“I think this may very well be the best five-year stretch in Vanderbilt history by the time this season is over,” said former Commodore guard Barry Booker, now a college basketball TV analyst.
Kevin Stallings never had a doubt he could win at Vanderbilt when he accepted the school’s head-coaching position in 1999.
In 30 seasons as a player and coach, his teams have made 25 tournament appearances, including 16 NCAA berths and three Final Fours.
He had been a successful head coach at Illinois State and had been involved in plenty of victories as an assistant at Kansas and Purdue. The same formula, he figured, would bear fruit in Nashville.
In Stallings’ first four seasons, the Commodores failed to make a single NCAA Tournament appearance. The nadir came with an 11-18 record during the 2002-03 season.
Suddenly, a puzzled Stallings wondered how he had gone from living a charmed life at Illinois State, Kansas and Purdue to becoming a whipping boy of many Vanderbilt fans.

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