Cascadia today: Tribes get $1.35 billion in dam deal + WA sues to inspect ICE facility + Portland's toppled sculptures in limbo
Suspect arrested in killing of trans woman at UW
KING-5 News reports that Seattle police have arrested a man suspected of killing a 19-year-old trans woman at an off-campus University of Washington student apartment building after the man turned himself in to Bellevue police custody. The killing has rattled Seattle's LGBTQIA+ community, and campus organizations for trans and queer students have come together to offer support and criticize university administration for a lackluster response to safety concerns, the UW Daily reports. In related news, Seattle Gay News reports that the city of Seattle is poised to declare a state of emergency to help support a huge influx of trans people relocating to Seattle from hostile US states.
Want to help support trans folks who've relocated? One of the organizations we'll be fundraising for at the Cascadia Day Poetry Explosion in Seattle at 7 pm Monday May 18 at Vermillion bar and art gallery is the Kawaguchi O'Connor Initiative (KOI), a Washington-based mutual aid organization focused on providing material support to trans individuals fleeing legislatively hostile US states. Even if you can't join the poetry reading, please take a moment to donate to KOI.
How Skagit tribes won $1.35 billion from Seattle over dams
Inside Climate News has a great, detailed feature on the $1.35 billion settlement that Indigenous nations living on the Skagit River won from Seattle City Light before the city re-licensed its dams on the river. For more than a century, those dams on the west coast's third largest river have powered Seattle's growth but tribes were never compensated for the loss of salmon runs. The agreement includes creating fish passage infrastructure to improve salmon runs and grants to the Upper Skagit, the Sauk-Suiattle, and Swinomish Indian tribes.
BC cities demand investigation into LNG health impacts
The Tyee reports that three municipalities in British Columbia – Terrace, Squamish, Hazelton and Dawson Creek – have passed resolutions calling on British Columbia to investigate the local health impacts of LNG terminals on the west coast. The Narwhal reports that the Kitimat LNG terminal has been "flaring" 350 million cubic meters of gas, more LNG than any other facility in the world, and last year reported on the massive air and noise pollution these terminals produce.
WA sues GEO to gain access to Tacoma detention center
The Urbanist reports that the Washington attorney general's office is suing GEO Group, the private contractor that operates the ICE detention center in Tacoma, to allow state health inspectors inside the facility. GEO and the feds have continually denied access, even though a new report from the UW Center for Human Rights found repeated failures to respond to sexual assault charges, as well as more than 3,000 complaints of insufficient medical services and unsanitary conditions.
Portland restores toppled statue, but others remain in limbo
Oregon Arts Watch reports that the city of Portland has restored a statue of an elk that was toppled during BLM protests in Portland in 2020, but that many other statues, including those of US presidents Washington, Lincoln, and Teddy Roosevelt have yet to be restored. Shrug. Meanwhile, the guerilla sculpture installation by artist Todd McGrain depicting York, the only Black member of the Lewis and Clark expedition, is on display at the Portland Art Museum through Jan. 31, 2027.
Thanks for reading. Keep loving and keep fighting. – Andy
Celebrate Cascadia Day with at 7 pm, May 18 at Vermillion in Seattle!
Join us for the Cascadia Day Poetry Explosion at 7 pm, Monday May 18 at Vermillion bar and art gallery at 1508 11th Ave in Capitol Hill. It'll be a fun evening with poetry from Paul Nelson, Matt Trease, Nadine Maestas, and Rhea Melina. Cascadia Democratic Action will be raising money that evening for the Migrant Survival Fund and the Kawaguchi O'Connor Initiative.
