Cascadia today: Pete Fry is progressive choice for Vancouver mayor + ICE kidnaps men on family camping trip + Poetry by Minh Nguyễn

Vancouver progressives to rally behind Fry

The Tyee reports that Vancouver mayoral candidate William Azaraoff, with the progressive OneCity party, has dropped out of the race for mayor, leaving progressives with a single candidate to rally behind, Pete Fry of the Green party. Incumbent mayor Ken Sim, of the center-right ABC party, has a high disapproval rating and Fry led Sim in polling in July. Still in the race are Kareem Allam with the centrist Vancouver Liberals and Colleen Hardwick, a NIMBY anti-housing activist. Sim has drawn criticism for two advisory measures he's putting on the Oct 17 municipal ballot: one calling for criminalization of public drug use, and one urging involuntary commitment of people for mental health issues or drug use. Vote Pete Fry.

ICE kidnaps immigrant men on WA family camping trip

KING-5 News reports that ICE kidnapped five immigrant men from their tents in the middle of the night during a family camping trip over Labor Day at the Red Bridge campground in the Mount Baker Snoqualmie national forest. Forest Service rangers collaborated with ICE by taking photos of the campers claiming there was a "garbage issue" with the campers.

This is horrible, and confirms my decision this year to refuse to buy an annual US trail pass, which is emblazoned with a photo of would-be emperor Donald Trump.

Meanwhile, Burien police are suspected of assisting an ICE agent evade constitutional observers filming him in July, Real Change reports. That's in violation of both city of Burien and Washington state laws forbidding local law enforcement with collaborating with ICE. And Bolts magazine reports that Piece county is considering moving to an appointed sheriff rather than directly elected one – which would cut short the term of Keith Swank, a radical right MAGA supporter who urges his officers to disobey the state's sanctuary law and has made offensive statements about trans and LGBTQIA+ people.

Light rail bridge system killed endangered chinook salmon

The Seattle Times reports that an anti-corrosion electrical system on the Sound Transit light rail crossing on the floating bridge over Lake Washington has killed thousands of fish, including endangered chinook salmon. Sound Transit is working on a fix that would move wiring out of the water. As someone on Bluesky pointed out, a more grave threat than the transit line is 6PPD, an additive in car tires that has killed 40% of returning of coho salmon in Puget Sound, and yet still remains legal.

A bill in the WA legislature last year would have imposed fees on makers of tires with 6PPD to encourage them to phase out the toxic chemical. The bill died in committee. The S’Klallam and Puyallup tribes have called on the feds to ban 6PPD, which can kill coho within hours of ingestion.

Salmon is key to BC First Nations food security

The Narwhal looks at how the harvest and canning of salmon is key to food security for First Nations in British Columbia – and how climate change is threatening salmon runs on the Sto:lo (Fraser) river. The article profiles the Cheam First Nation, located near Chilliwack, BC, and their annual tradition of canning salmon, and how this tradition is critically important in the face of declining numbers of grocery stores and climbing food prices.

Poetry by Minh Nguyễn

At Poetry Northwest, read Seattle-based poet Minh Nguyễn's poem "măng cụt | mangosteen" about the delicious tropical fruit with a deep purple rind:

have you ever known the shade of purple
that stains your hands
when you crack open a mangosteen?
it is unrelenting and stubborn,
the way they paint your fingertips with bruises.

Read the full poem here.

Thanks for reading, and as always, keep loving and keep fighting. --Andy