Cascadia today: WA calls feds' bluff on non-citizen voters + PDX shelters poorly managed + inside the life of a ferry worker

Okay friends, October is nearly over. And that means it's time to dress up in spooky and goofy costumes, but also to help me reach my goal of thirty new paid subscribers to Cascadia Journal by November 1! Can we hit five more member in the next several days? You can join at either the $5 per month or $10 per month level. Your support helps keep this feisty newsletter documenting the Pacific Northwest pushback against fascism going!

And many thanks to my existing paid members. Thanks, you're awesome! --Andy

I'm visiting Portland this week, which is always a treat. I was recently eating at a vegan Thai restaurant and talking local politics with my partner, when a man came to our table and said, sorry to interrupt, but I heard you talking local politics. Turns out it was none other than mayor Keith Wilson. Does he do that for every visitor to the Rose City or just me? 😂

WA election officials call feds' bluff on non-citizen voters

According to KUOW, Washington secretary of state Steve Hobbs has said "no" to the US attorneys office's request to set aside 400 ballots they say were issued to non-citizens, citing lack of evidence and cooperation by the feds in explaining why they they the voters are not US citizens. Voting fraud is extremely rare in WA, and the Trump regime has worked tirelessly to undermine confidence in election security so it can challenge a result it doesn't like (such as in Alaska).

In other election news, OPB looks at six key races that could determine the balance of power in the Oregon legislature. And the Stranger looks at why huge corporations and billionaires have been silent about whether or not to repeal the state's millionaires tax: because it distracts from efforts to increase business taxes.

Advocates call for WA to stop sharing data with ICE

Immigrant rights groups and labor unions called on Washington governor Bob Ferguson to step up efforts to prevent ICE from illegally accessing state drivers license data in its ramped up mass deportation effort in the region. Despite state law forbidding state and local assistance in immigration enforcement, ICE has repeatedly gained access to state data in its warrantless kidnappings of immigrants. Researchers at the UW Center for Human Rights found that ICE and CBP made 365 arrests using state license plate data. Meanwhile, masked ICE goons pulled firearms on peaceful observers in Burien, a suburb south of Seattle, according to Through the Static.

If masked law enforcement is illegal in Washington, why isn't governor Ferguson ordering the state patrol to enforce the law? You can ask him by email here.

Poor management at Portland alternative shelters

A new report from the Portland ombudsman's office found that a survey of residents of alternative shelters (such as tiny home villages) found widespread mismanagement, harassment, and threatening behavior by staff, the Portland Mercury reports. In other housing news, the Urbanist reports that the Seattle Social Housing Developer will purchase a 195-unit apartment building in West Seattle and make it subsidize housing. In Tacoma, a ballot initiative would increase protections for renters, KNKX reports. Meanwhile a court in Seattle ruled in favor of landlords whose property value decreased because of tenant protections. Boo hoo. Sorry, but I'm pretty sure there isn't a constitutional right to soak tenants with high rents.

Tanker ban and forests under threat from BC conservatives

With the BC conservatives now in the majority in Victoria, the environment in British Columbia could come under attack. The Tyee looks at the ban on oil and LNG tanker traffic on BC's north coast and whether the conservatives can succeed in ending it. Meanwhile, the Tyee also looks at the fate of old growth protections in BC, and whether the conservatives' half-hearted promises to protect old growth stand up in the face of pressure to increase timber output and incoming premier Doerkson's promise to “more fibre on trucks."

WA needs its own endangered species act

In response to the feds' attempts to eviscerate habitat protection as part of the US federal endangered species act, Fred Koontz in an op-ed for Columbia Insight argues that the Washington legislature should pass its own endangered species act. This is a fantastic idea. WA's current law offers only advisory protections, nothing binding. Oregon should follow suit and create state laws that protect species and habitat across Cascadia.

A firsthand account of ferry sickouts and life as a ferry worker

In his latest Ferry Tales column at CHUM NEWS, ferry worker Albert A. Shorr writes about the recent sick-out by ferry engineers as well as the quirky daily life of working ferries plying the Salish Sea. You should check this journal out, it's quintessential Cascadia writing!

Back upstairs the ABs have donned harnesses, climbed outside the safety of the green gates. They make their way steadily offshore, lathering the windows with soap, scrubbing at stubborn seagull poop, swiping it all away with squeegees. The sun is out and I can see them sweat too, blue shirts are unbuttoned, undershirts are out. Our fill-in second mate shows up in time for our theoretical second round trip with a case of sparkling water, a boom box, and four more pizzas. --Albert A. Shorr, ferry worker

Thanks for reading. As always, keep fighting and keep loving. And please consider becoming a paid subscriber and help me meet my goal of 30 new paid members by November 1! -Andy