Cascadia today: Immigrants may lose health care in WA + Heiltsuk Nation battles green crabs + an interview with film maker Kamyar Mohsenin

Immigrants to lose health care in WA after fed cuts

Through the Static reports that up to 11,000 immigrants in Washington state may lose health insurance after the Trump regime passed massive nationwide cuts to Medicaid. KUOW also covers the cuts and Gov. Bob Ferguson's efforts to find funds to cover some of those expected to lose insurance. “It really ticks me off. What’s happening here is morally bankrupt," Ferguson said during the press conference.

In related news, Blue Mountain Hospital in John Day, Oregon is barely staying fiscally viable, OPB reports. One in five rural hospitals in Oregon are in danger of closing, and Trump cuts to Medicaid are making the crisis worse. If the hospital closes, residents face a one and a half hour drive to the second nearest facility. Cascadia can do better by taxing the wealthy and creating a system of universal health care in Oregon and Washington.

Judges kills Portland measure funding cops

The Portland Mercury reports that a US district judge has tossed out a legal challenge by supporters of an initiative that would have redirected some of Portland's climate funds to pay for more cops. The measure failed to gather enough signatures and supporters had challenged that finding by election officials. But now the measure is officially dead. Good riddance.

Five former BC conservatives founding new party

Five MLAs who were formerly members of the BC Conservative party have announced they're starting their own new center-right provincial level party in British Columbia, CBC reports. Nine legislators have already left the Conservatives under the leadership Kerry-Lynne Findlay, who has stoked racism, anti-Indigenous sentiment, and made a hard right turn into MAGA-style politics. The Tyee spoke with Áʼa:líya Warbus, a former BC Conservative MLA for Chilliwack who's a member of the Stó:lō Nation and who joined the new party.

“Even if there’s going to be a presumed amount of racism that can inevitably happen, I don’t want to be the one that’s stoking the fires of those tensions.” --Áʼa:líya Warbus

Heiltsuk Nation battles invasive crabs

The Narwhal looks at how the Heiltsuk Nation of coastal British Columbia is confronting invasive green crabs, which are destroying clams that the First Nation harvests. Likely given a boost by a 2016 diesel spill, the invasive European green crabs are putting the Heiltsuk clam fishery in crisis. For now, the nation is catching and composting the crabs until a better use can be found. Some crab fishers on the east coast have started harvesting the widely invasive crabs for the commercial market.

A conversation with filmmaker Kamyar Mohsenin

Chum News interviews Seattle-area Iranian American filmmaker Kamyar Mohsenin about the Seattle film scene and his surreal short film what does it feel like to live inside of a pomegranate? Mohsenin prefers the Seattle moviemaking world to Los Angeles, where there's more collaboration, as long as you seek it out. “You can’t just rely on your own projects to develop your skills. You also have to apply them on other people’s projects and endeavors," he says.

Thanks for reading. Keep loving and keep fighting.