Cascadia today: OR & WA pass police mask bans + OR buys a waterfall + new music from Seattle experimental artists
Good morning, friends! As we move forward resisting US fascism, it's also important to remember what we value here in the Pacific Northwest. Cascadia's Indigenous nations have a deep connection to the environment and place here, and the movement for autonomy can learn a lot from them. If you haven't yet read my article on the Federated Tribes of the Colville Reservation's lawsuit in British Columbia courts, take a moment to read it this weekend. It's a case that demonstrates that Indigenous people have been here long before Canada and the United States existed and they continue to build connections across colonial borders.
Andrew Engelson
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Police mask bans pass in OR & WA
Both the Oregon and Washington legislatures have passed bans on law enforcement officers obscuring their faces, and the bills now await signatures from governors Tina Kotek and Bob Ferguson. The bills are aimed primarily at ICE goons, who consistently hide their faces in Trump's mass deportation campaign. Though courts ruled against a measure in California that banned masks, supporters note that the California law exempted state and local officers, while Oregon and Washington's bills don't discriminate and are applied to all officers.
OR legislature nears end of session
Oregon Capital Chronicle is tracking the final days of the Oregon legislature's short session, which ends at 11:59 pm on Sunday. Among the bills that passed and await gov. Kotek's signature are a measure that disconnects Oregon's state income tax from the federal code, preventing $291 million in lost revenue, and a bill that limits how medical centers and hospitals can assist or share patient information with federal immigration authorities. Sightline Institute looks in-depth at a bill in Oregon that will reforms the state's inclusionary zoning program, with the aim of boosting housing construction
Seattle mayor boosts shelters, tiny homes
PubliCola reports on a new initiative from Seattle mayor Katie Wilson that would eliminate bureaucratic hurdles and add more tiny homes and shelter beds in the city, as well as opening up more funding for these approaches. In related news, Street Roots looks at a surge in evictions in Multnomah county, which includes Portland. Nearly 3,000 families faced eviction in January, a steep increase and a major driver of people slipping into homelessness.
Oregon set to purchase popular waterfall
Oregon Capital Chronicle reports that the Oregon legislature is poised to approve $2.1 million to purchase 200 acres of private property that includes iconic Abiqua Falls, ensuring public access the falls and a trail leading to it.
Medical researchers say BC should adopt standard time
After British Columbia announced it will ditch the annual switching of clocks and adopt permanent daylight savings time, CBC talked to sleep medicine researchers and other medical professionals about what to expect. Though they support eliminating the annual switch, they support permanent standard time rather than daylight savings, which more suited to our natural circadian rhythms.
Oregon and Washington should defy the feds on this issue and join British Columbia in ending the stupid time switch.
New, innovative Seattle music
The Stranger profiles two new albums from innovative musical artists in Seattle, including Kate Olson, whose album So It Goes offers contemporary bebop jazz. Meanwhile, Thomas Anderson Doyle, former leader of the extra-dirty grunge band Tad, has taken a radical artistic turn and now does deeply dark ambient music on his album Twilight. Put on some headphones and descend into the abyss...
Have a great weekend! Keep loving, and keep fighting. --Andrew
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