Cascadia today: PDX pays Blazers $120 million + Vancouver rents drop + Salish canoe paddle honors ancestors
In case you missed it, I was on the CityCast Seattle podcast last week talking about how our region could benefit from a state bank: more funds for affordable housing and low-cost student loans, more certainty about disaster relief, and keeping money in Cascadia instead of with mega banks. Have a listen!
Portland pays hostage-taking Blazers $120 million
Willamette Week reports that the Portland city council tentatively approved $120 million for a renovation of Moda Center, where the NBA TrailBlazers play. This, after Multnomah county commissioners ponied up $101 million and the state of Oregon $365 million – covering the entire $600 million bill for a new playground for a privately owned sports team. In an article at OPB, councilor Angelita Morillo said, “Right now, it does feel like there are some of us who might be getting extorted by the NBA on this." She's right.
In a truly Portland twist on the vote, social media is speculating whether a person who gave testimony in Portland on the bill in a knit hat, sunglasses and puffy coat on a stifling hot day was actually Blazers owner Tom Dundon in disguise:
Late WA vote count tilts toward progressives
The Stranger reports that counts of late arriving ballots in Washington show that longtime state rep Sharon Tomiko Santos, who represents south Seattle, will likely trail progressive activist Kelabe Tewolde in the primary. Washington State Standard reports that in north Whatcom county just south of the border with BC, the race between Bellingham port commissioner Michael Shepard and progressive Democrat Eamonn Collins has narrowed to a gap of two votes. And KNKX says the Democrats are likely to flip four seats from Republican control, putting a legislative supermajority in reach. Let's demand they use it well.
Report on OR universal health care ignores funding
Oregon Capital Chronicle reports that a legislative work group tasked with creating a report outline a path forward for universal health care in Oregon is punting on laying out a funding plan – and so will put out a completely useless document. I've got three words for you: tax the wealthy.
Rents drop in Vancouver for second year in a row
The Vancouver Sun reports that average rent in Vancouver has dropped for the second year in a row, with rent dropping 4% to $2,037 over last year. This is what happens when you build housing. The Squamish First Nation gets it, and opened 6,000 apartment units on returned tribal land in Vancouver.
BC wildfire teams using new tactics
The Tyee reports that British Columbia wildfire crews are using new tactics because old ones aren't working. It used to be that previously burned forests served as firebreaks, but that's changing. “We are not seeing the same sort of potential benefit of a fire running into a fire if [the burn scar] is more than five, seven, 10 years old,” one fire official said. Meanwhile, High Country News reports that the devastating fires in Spokane that destroyed 850 buildings are part of an increasing problem across western North America: more homes being built the fire-prone wildland-urban-interface.
Salish sea canoe journey asserts Indigenous traditions
Salish Currents has more on the annual Intertribal Canoe Journey, which brings paddlers from all over the Salish Sea on a long journey south to the Nisqually River delta. First Nations and tribes from as far as northeast Vancouver Island participate, and it provides a deep connection to ancestors and tradition.
“Like, I know that my ancestors were here. They were tending this prairie. They were fishing in these waters. I get chills when I think about it sometimes. On Cypress Island, I really felt that presence, especially knowing that my great-grandma was born there.”
– SoloWomon, Lummi Nation
Thanks for reading. Keep loving and keep fighting. --Andy
Do you appreciate Cascadia Journal's exclusive reporting on the ways the Pacific Northwest is pushing back against US fascism? If you have the means, please consider a paid subscription of just $5 per month. Each subscription helps me produce original reporting and opinionated notes on Cascadia's fight to build a more resilient and autonomous bioregion. And to those who already subscribe, thank you! --Andrew
