Cascadia today: Shooting at Blaine border + Spokane balks on data center ban + let tribes manage public lands
Good morning, friends. If you haven't yet read the New York Times piece that profiles the growing movement for Cascadia autonomy, please take a moment. "The revolution begins with a poetry reading," Anna Griffin said of our Cascadia Day event at Vermillion, and then went on to describe Cascadia Democratic Action's movement aimed at putting options – including soft secession or independence from the US – on the table.
FBI investigating CPB shooting on BC - WA border
Cascadia Daily News reports on a shooting involving Customs & Border Patrol agents this morning at the border crossing between British Columbia and Washington at Blaine, near the Peace Arch. This is breaking story and not many other details are available.
Spokane balks at data center ban
KHQ reports that the Spokane city council delayed at vote on a one-year ban on news data centers in the city. RANGE Media has more on the proposed vote, which comes as Spokane-based Avista Energy is apparently pausing plans to build a ginormous data center near or in Spokane that could suck up as much as 500 megawatts of power – enough to power 400,000 homes.
If you live in Spokane, contact your council member and urge them to vote for the ban and put a stop to this AI driven madness.
King county unveils Metro bus plan amid budget woes
According to the Urbanist, King county executive Girmay Zahilay announced its plans for the future of the Metro bus network – which includes service expansion but which must confront troubling budget shortfalls. It's a familiar refrain for transit agencies in Cascadia– Sound Transit had to scale back expansion of Puget Sound light rail, and Portland is looking at steep cuts to TriMet service.
The federal government has failed to fund any major urban transit projects since Trump took power – and that's a clear argument for fiscal autonomy for Cascadia. The $36 billion our region sends to the feds each year that isn't returned could be used for the things our residents need: transit, health care, and good schools.
Nature wins when Indigenous people manage land
The Tyee covers a new study that demonstrates when Indigenous nations manage lands, biodiversity increases and wildlife and habitat improve. Unfortunately only 0.4% percent of land in British Columbia is managed by First Nations. That needs to change in Cascadia. I've argued that management of federal lands in the US should be shifted to state or tribal control, and I stand by that. Indigenous people have be carefully stewarding the land since time immemorial and should be given the chance to do more of it.
Thanks for reading! Keep loving and keep fighting. --Andy
