Cascadia today: WA senate passes ICE mask ban + Tacoma hospital stops gender care + Renée Watson wins Newbery

WA senate passes mask ban & ICE still eyes Newport

Washington State Standard reports that the Washington state senate passed a bill banning local, state, and federal police officer from obscuring their faces. No Republicans voted for the bill, which is expected to face legal challenges from the Trump administration. In related news, the Trump administration's plan to build an ICE detention center in Newport, Oregon isn't dead yet, and could be revived this spring, according to court documents that included this statement from an ICE official:

“ICE had begun environmental compliance activities necessary to allow the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Air Facility at Newport, Oregon, to be utilized by ICE-ERO [Enforcement and Removals Operations] as a proposed temporary holding/processing facility.” --Ralph Ferguson, assistant director for ICE enforcement

In related news,there's talk of a customer boycott and union strike at Save-On-Foods stores in Vancouver, BC after it was revealed that Jim Pattison, the chain's owner, is considering selling a Virginia warehouse he owns to ICE. Another Vancouver-based business, Hootsuite, is under fire for providing social media monitoring services to ICE.

Tacoma hospital ends pediatric gender-affirming care

Erin in the Morning reports that MultiCare Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital in Tacoma is closing its pediatric gender health care clinic, under pressure of federal funding cuts because of its trans-affirming care. Children's hospitals across the country, including Children's Hospital in Seattle, have been under attack by the Trump administration in its relentless assault on trans rights.

The way to stop federal pressure to close essential health care in Cascadia is fiscal autonomy. It's time for Washington and Oregon to create realistic pathways to withhold federal payments and use those funds as residents here want them spent, and to no longer be held hostage to an aggressive federal government that cares nothing about our health and safety.

Oregon bill would hold back payments to feds

A bill pre-filed in the Oregon legislature would allow the governor to hold back money owed to the federal government if federal funds appropriated to Oregon are withheld by the US government in “contravention of a valid court order.” The measure, whose primary sponsor is Rep Willy Chotzen (D-Portland), does

Cascadia JournalAndrew Engelson

Seattle leads US in affordable apartment construction

The Urbanist reports that Seattle leads metro areas in the US in production of affordable apartment construction, beating even New York City, with 14,290 units constructed in the past five years. This is great news, but the fact remains: it's not enough. A King County report estimates that Seattle metro area will need 244,000 new affordable units by 2040. Oregon governor Tina Kotek says affordable housing will continue to be at the center of her legislative agenda for 2026, after Oregon succeeding in building 14,000 new units statewide since 2023.

OR announces crab fishing rules to protect whales

In response to a wave of humpback whale deaths on the Oregon coast because of entanglement in crab fishing lines, the Oregon Dept of Fish & Wildlife swiftly issued new rules designed to limit whale exposure to dangerous lines. In other whale news, a new study of humpbacks off the coast of British Columbia shows that the whales can teach each other complicated feeding techniques, including "bubble nets."

Portland author Renée Watson wins Newbery medal

According to the Portland Mercury, Portland-based author Renée Watson has won the Newbery medal for children's literature for her 2025 novel All the Blues in the Sky, about a teenager dealing with grief after the death of a friend. You can listen to a 2024 conversation with Watson at the Portland Book Festival at Literary Arts' podcast.

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