Guest Contributor

By Holly Reed With beautiful melodies and catchy beats, each song by Olympia artist James “Afrok” Bowman hooks you in and hits you with lyrics that are both genuine and timely. “It's one hundred percent real and honest and it speaks about the world around me,” says Afrok. His honesty, speaking right from the heart, rings deep through his lyrics. Drawing the audience in with powerful truths, his music informs and inspires with depth and gravity.  “Hip-hop has been called the CNN of the streets,” says Afrok, paraphrasing an oft-repeated statement made by Chuck-D, member of the influential rap group,…

Joe Mabel, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Deepa Sivarajan We spend more than 90% of our time inside buildings—our homes, workplaces, daily errands, and social activities. Seem like a lot? This year we’ve only been driven indoors more during the COVID-19 pandemic and recent wildfires and smoke across the West.  The energy we use to heat and power our buildings are a major source of greenhouse gas emissions—in Oregon and Washington, second only to transportation. Why are our buildings such a big source of pollution? Because we still use and prioritize burning fossil gas (misleadingly called “natural gas” by, well, the gas industry) in…