Cascadia today: Seattle won't ban RVs + Strickland "very sorry" for missing impeachment vote + VHS popular again in Cascadia

Seattle city council sustains veto of RV ban

KUOW reports that the Seattle city council failed to override a veto of legislation that would have effectively banned RV camping by people without other shelter in the city. Mayor Katie Wilson vetoed the legislation, which would have required RV campers to obtain complicated permits. Wilson flipped the vote of frequent critic Rob Saka, who clearly has his sights on re-election in a new progressive political climate in the city. In related news, the Portland Mercury interviews Democratic Socialist city council member Mitch Green about how he overcame an attack campaign bankrolled by business interests in Portland and won re-election as an openly leftist firebrand.

Microsoft finally cleaned up their mess

Those of you who use Microsoft-based software know that email and other online services were unusable on Thursday as the Seattle-based computer giant faced major outages – GeekWire reports that most of the problems had been resolved Friday morning. You know what's a great alternative? Free, open source software like Libre Office, which I've been using for a decade and a half – and it works great! Also, let's tax these massive corporations with huge imbalances between CEO and worker pay. Portland is talking about doing exactly that.

Strickland "very sorry" for missing Hegseth impeachment vote

Washington State Standard reports that US rep Marilyn Strickland, a Democrat who represents Tacoma and Pierce county is "very sorry" that she got stuck in traffic and missed a vote to move forward the impeachment of US Secretary of WarFighting™ Pete Hegeseth. A lot of employers wouldn't stand for that excuse, and progressives should remember this in the next primary election. In related news, Democrat Mary Peltola increased her lead in the US senate race in Alaska, and was nearing the 50% mark. The ranked choice system isn't triggered if one candidate's vote totals exceed 50%.

Air taxi between Spokane and Olympia launches

Legislators from Spokane and others doing business in Washington's capital will now have a direct flight: Washington State Standard reports that SeaPort Airlines is debuting direct flights two days a week between Spokane and Olympia.

But here's something funny: SeaPort Airlines' CEO Kent Craford recently wrote an op-ed for the Seattle Times about how our region shouldn't waste money on high-speed rail. He's wrong. Cascadia should find the fiscal independence to build out both high speed rail in the Vancouver BC - Eugene corridor, and also improve regular speed rail east -west between Puget Sound and Spokane, Yakima and beyond! We could have nice things like high speed rail if we re-invested the $51 billion our region pays in federal taxes that never return in funds or services.

Invasive fresh water weed found in Oregon

OPB reports some bad news for Cascadia's ecology: the extremely invasive weed Hydrilla verticillata has been found in a lake in Jackson county, in southern Oregon. The weed is extremely vigorous, hard to eliminate once established, and can entangle both fish and boats. You can report invasives to the Oregon invasives hotline.

Albums and VHS are hot commodities in Portland

In an era of streaming and ephemeral sources of media, vinyl albums and VHS recordings of movies are surging in popularity in Portland, OPB reports. The piece looks at how Rose City is home to cinemas showcasing VHS movie nights of neglected classics, as well as vinyl record shops in every corner of the city. Not to mention that Seattle is home to Scarecrow Video, a nonprofit that holds North America's largest collection of VHS rarities.

Just remember to be kind and rewind.

Thanks for reading. Keep loving and keep fighting! --Andy