Cascadia today: What First Nations want from next Vancouver mayor + new Cascades trains! + a new queer bookshop in Seattle
Good morning! Do you appreciate this daily email of news from across the Cascadia bioregion, as well as my feisty, opinionated commentary on the Pacific Northwest's pushback against fascism? Then can you please do me a favor? Can you recommend this newsletter to one or two friends? It's free to sign up (although I do appreciate paid subscribers). Thanks!
What First Nations want from next Vancouver mayor
With the Vancouver mayoral election less than a month away, CBC interviews leaders and members of First Nations in Vancouver to find out what policies they'd most like to see from the mayor's office. Topping the list are housing (especially in the form of First Nations-led projects like Sen̓áḵw), and more resources to investigate and prevent the problem of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people (MMIWG2+). The article features interviews with all the candidates on a range of issues important to Vancouver's Indigenous community.
Federal power supplier in Cascadia want to raise rates
OPB reports that the Bonneville Power Administration, the federal agency that oversees generation of hydroelectric power in much of Cascadia, wants to hike its power rates by 6%. BPA claims this is because of the Trump administration's jettisoning of a deal that would have protected salmon on the Nchi Wana (Columbia). But environmentalists are crying foul, with orgs such as Earthjustice saying BPA is overstating the impact of court-ordered flows into the Nchi Wana and Snake rivers rather than through power-generating turbines.
Considering data center now suck up nearly one quarter of all power in Oregon, maybe BPA should raise rates on these energy-wasting companies rather than on ratepayers like you and me.
Portland councilor said stuff about cops during BLM
Meanwhile, in the Portland city council race, the Oregonian is trying to dredge up a fake controversy by digging up old Twitter posts that current Portland city councilor Mitch Green made during the 2020 Black Lives Matters protests. Green, a democratic socialist, in those social media posts called for abolishing the PPB and observed that police are "absolute monsters." Predictably, the police union is calling for Green's resignation and using it in a cynical campaign attack. Green has posted a response, defending the comments in the context of the outrage he and other Portlanders felt in response to the murder of George Floyd and other Black people by police across the US. Green then doubled down on his efforts to shift public safety funding away from cops and into more non-armed crisis responders:
"So, Chief Bob Day is right, I do have an agenda: protect and expand Portland Street Response, defend the budget against cuts to the non-armed first responders, protect the Office for Community Police Accountability, and push for transparency and accountability." --Mitch Green, Portland city council
Vote for Mitch Green.
New Cascades trains start running Sept 30!
Washington State Standard reports on shiny new Airo trains that will being service on the Amtrak Cascades line connecting Eugene, Portland, Seattle, Bellingham, and Vancouver BC on September 30. The new 300-passenger train sets will offer more comfort, a fancy cafe, better WiFi service, and restrooms with touchless controls. I'm thrilled about this – the Cascades line is one of my favorite ways to get around Cascadia, and it makes combining travel and work a breeze. The line is jointly run by Amtrak and the states of Oregon and Washington, and the two states subsidize about half of every fare paid – making this an essential, affordable, and climate friendly way to travel throughout the bioregion. Hope to see you on board soon!
BC gold mine to rely on 15 cargo flights per day
The Narwhal has a detailed story about a bonkers plan for a new gold mine in the Taku river region of British Columbia just upstream from Juneau. Canagold's plan involves barging and using 15 cargo flights a day to ship out gold concentrate that will be further processed away from the Taku river to prevent cyanide leaching. BC's NDP party is all-in on destructive resource extraction since the province's economy has a tepid technology sector and few other industries to support BC's economy other than clear cuts, mining, and shipping out Alberta petroleum and LNG.
Vote for BC Greens.
New queer bookshop to open in Seattle gay-borhood
The Stranger has exciting news for queer people like me who also like books: Charlie's Queer Books, which operates a store in Seattle' Fremont neighborhood, is opening a new, even bigger second shop on Capitol Hill, Seattle's primary gayborhood. Yay!
"We also do things like watch parties and video nights. Events that are kind of stupid, silly, but essential. That’s one of our niches—to not take ourselves too seriously, to be joyful, and in touch with culture, too. We’re not just people who own a bookstore selling to gay people. We are gay people." --Charlie Hunts, co-owner
Thanks for reading. As always, keep loving and keep fighting. --Andy
