Cascadia today:WA bill would ban police masks + feds balk at removing Snake dams + Indigenous artists hack the Met
WA bill would ban police face coverings
Two Washington state legislators will introduce a bill next year to ban face coverings by police Washington State Standard reports – in legislation similar to one passed in California earlier this year meant to limit federal immigration officers using masks to hide their faces. The California law is being challenged court by the feds, who claim it's unconstitutional. In related news, there's a debate going on in Oregon about whether ICE and other federal officers can be charged in state courts for excessive use of force, Oregon Capital Chronicle reports.
US energy secretary wants to keep Snake River dams
OPB reports that US energy secretary Chris White visited the Tri-Cities area of central Washington, and at a speech near Ice River dam, insisted that the feds won't remove the controversial dams on the lower Snake River. This summer, the Trump administration backed out of a landmark deal between the federal government, tribes, local governments, and environmentalists to recover salmon runs in the Columbia watershed (which includes the Snake). American Rivers estimates the Lower Snake dams provide about 4 percent of Cascadia's hydro power, and these 1,000 megawatts could be replaced by solar and wind.
New light rail stations open south of Seattle
The Urbanist reports on everything you need to know about the new light rail extension that opened over the weekend that extends south of SeaTac airport to Federal Way in south King County. Meanwhile, the Seattle Times reports that the debate over expansion of SeaTac airport is heating up, with nearby communities insisting that it will increase noise and pollution in communities that are more affordable and ethnically diverse than other areas in the greater Seattle area.
Feds jack up fees to national parks
Idaho Capital Sun reports that the Trump administration is raising the cost of a national parks pass for international visitors to $250. Meanwhile, a recent report from Tourism Economics predicts that Seattle will see a 27 percent decline in international visitors in 2025 – the vast majority from Canada. Oregon also saw a steep decline in tourism by international travelers this year thank to the feds' terrible immigration policies.
Cascadia needs to assert its autonomy from the US and stop ill-advised immigration and travel policies that damage our economy. Cascadia Democratic Action is starting conversations about what a peaceful pathway to separation might look like.
Andrew Engelson
PNW Indigenous artists hack the Met
The Stranger has a fascinating review of a digital "hack" of New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art's American art collection by Indigenous digital artists – many of them from Cascadia. Titled "ENCODED," the project lets visitors view artworks such as "Washington Crossing the Delaware" on their phones with a virtual overlay of art by 17 Indigenous artists. Says Portland-based artist Demian DinéYazhi´, "Western art history is colonial propaganda.”
--Andrew Engelson
