Cascadia today: ICE kidnappings climb in WA + Seattle teachers set to strike + progressives may split vote in Vancouver mayor race

ICE kidnappings in WA climb

The Seattle Times reports that ICE kidnappings reached a new high in Washington state last month and that seizures are increasing in the Puget Sound region and central Washington. Arrests are also up at SeaTac airport, part of a nationwide surge by immigration goons in their cruel mass deportation campaign, the Seattle Times reports. The immigrant right organization La Resistencia posted on Bluesky that yesterday 94 detainees, most from the Northwest Detention Center, were flown out of Boeing Field. Sources working on the ground outside NWDC have heard reports that another 100 are expected to fly out soon. There's speculation that the flights are happening to make space within NWDC for another local surge in ICE activity.

Now is the time to volunteer with local observer and rapid response groups.

Too many progressives are running for Vancouver mayor

The Tyee looks at the race for mayor of Vancouver, where incumbent center-right candidate Ken Sim and his ABC party are unpopular in recent polling. But Sim's base may be enough to defeat a divided group of progressives, who are each fielding their own candidates: William Azaroff of OneCity, Stephanie Allen of Coalition of Progressive Electors (COPE) and Pete Fry with the Green Party. They're at risk of splitting the anti-Sim vote among themselves as well as Liberal party centrist Kareem Allam.

“The progressive wing of politics in Vancouver, it’s a three-headed monster at the moment,” – Stewart Prest, UBC political science lecturer.

Seattle teachers ready to strike

Seattle public school teachers voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike if bargaining between the union and district fail to come to an agreement before the scheduled start of classes on Sept 2, KUOW reports. In other education news, the Portland school district is mulling plans to close between 10 and 20 schools to help balance its budget, the Oregonian reports.

Meanwhile, Washington State Standard reports that governor Bob Ferguson has been traveling the state trying to build support for a bill in the next legislative session that would ban cellphone use in all public school classes. Oh, and Washington can expect to be paid at least $237 million and Oregon will receive $125 million in a historic $17.1 billion settlement between Meta and 47 states over the harmful, addictive social media products it marketed to kids.

Will Idaho become home to 1/3 of US nuclear waste?

Idaho Capital Sun has an opinion piece opposed to a proposal from the state of Idaho would direct one third of all nuclear waste in the US to the Idaho National Laboratory outside of Idaho Falls. INL is one of the most toxic nuclear sites in the country, and sits on the aquifer that feeds the east Snake river. Another opinion piece at Washington State Standard looks at how the plan completely ignores water needs in the region and the importance of protecting the Snake river and the Columbia downstream.

Seattle Black Panther mural restored

The South Seattle Emerald reports on a community effort to restore a mural created in tribute to the city's Black Panther Party, which was active in the fight against racism and poverty in Seattle in the 1960s & 70s. The mural, which celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Black Panthers in Seattle, had been weathered and vandalized and has now been completely renovated.

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

Please join Cascadia Democratic Action and Cascadia Poetics Lab for the first installment of Subduction: A Cascadia Spoken Word and Performance Series at 7 pm, Wed. September 2 at Vermillion on Capitol Hill, 1508 11th Ave.