Cascadia today: GOP had a bad WA primary + BC wants to save owls but still allows clear cuts + Mount Eerie's music of grief

Vote on Seattle rental junk fee ban today

The Seattle city council will vote this afternoon on a proposed ban on, junk rental fees, including charges for things like pet rent, fees for in-unit appliances, cleaning of common areas, and other excessive fees. It would also require landlords to be upfront about all fees in apartment listing so renters know what they'll actually be paying. Read more at the Stranger about the bill, and read the op-ed I co-wrote with Kasey Burton in support of the legislation. If you want to give public comment at 2 pm today, sign up here.

GOP had a bad primary day in WA

Washington State Standard looks at primary results in the Washington state legislature and the news is grim for the Republican Party. The Democrats seem poised to flip seats in several district in southwest Washington, one in Gig Harbor, and one in Puyallup. Disappointment with Trump and his party's failure to rid itself of him are some of the driving forces behind the flip, several state GOP leaders said. House majority leader Joe Fitzgibbon says the Dems will likely be short of a supermajority of 66 but we'll see in November. Meanwhile Oregon Capital Chronicle looks at what's shaping up to be a big issue in the Oregon legislature next session: limits on data centers, which now consume 5,098 megawatts statewide.

Rebates help spark e-bike sales in Portland

The Portland Mercury reports that e-bike sales are up sharply in Portland, thanks in part to a $20 million rebate program from the Portland Clean Energy Fund (PCEF). Turns out you can use PCEF to address climate change when you're not using that money to fund other things, like more cops. In other climate-friendly news, Capitol Hill Blog reports on the opening new bike lanes and re-routing of car traffic on Denny Way in Seattle to help improve on-time running of Route 8, one of the city's most-used bus lines, known for years as the Late 8.

BC wants to save spotted owls, but won't stop clear cuts

The Tyee reports on the British Columbia government's continual greenwashing: it says publicly that it wants to protect the endangered spotted owl, but refuses to stop logging in critical spotted owl habitat near Fire Lake. BC has approved clear-cutting of old growth in 75 hectares of spotted owl habitat near Garibaldi Park.

“The province is logging their own wildlife habitat area for spotted owls. It’s really maddening, but they’re getting away with it.” – Joe Foy, Wilderness Committee

Warehouse damaged by fire closes Seattle-Portland Amtrak

KIRO-TV reports that Amtrak Cascades train service between Seattle and Portland has been halted indefinitely after a fire gutted the derelict Centennial Mills warehouse in Portland. Officials worry the heavily damaged warehouse could collapse onto a train. But freight rail company Union Pacific is resuming service, because I guess an oil spill caused by a warehouse falling on a tanker train is no big deal?

An interview with Mount Eerie on grief and art

The Stranger has an interview with Phil Elverum, the person behind the experimental folk group Mount Eerie. His music deals with grief of all sorts, including the death of his wife ten years ago, breakups, and political heartbreak.

I didn’t set out to do a self-help project in front of everyone, but I recognized how healthy it felt to digest and metabolize this stuff. In our culture, we don’t have a very organized or healthy way of integrating these things into our ongoing lives. --Phil Elverum

Thanks for reading. Keep loving and keep fighting. -Andy