Cascadia today: Portland college strike resolved + WA farmers hit hard by Iran war + fiction by Ling Ling Huang

Good morning! We have some new readers after a busy weekend at Seattle's No Kings protest – to those of your reading for the first time, welcome! Also, it's the last day of March and the final day in my paid subscriber drive. I provide this roundup of news, environmental reporting, and arts coverage – as well as feisty weekly essays about Cascadia's pushback against fascism – without a paywall. So, if you appreciate Cascadia Journal, please consider supporting it with a monthly subscription of just $5 per month. Thanks! --Andrew

Portland college strike ends

OPB reports that striking faculty and staff at Portland Community College have reached an agreement with management of the state's largest higher education institution and will end a strike that began on March 11. Faculty agreed to a 2% pay raise in the first year and 3% in the second year, and the college says it will need to trim budgets to meet those raises. Meanwhile, Democratic party staff at the Washington legislature are again attempting to unionize, Washington State Standard reports. And the Guardian reports that Starbucks shareholders are considering removing two board members who have aggressively supported union-busting efforts by the Seattle-based global coffee chain.

Shoreline still confronting racist property covenants

The Osprey reports on the long-simmering problem of racist, exclusionary covenants attached to properties in Shoreline, a suburb north of Seattle. Though the covenants are no longer enforceable, the city is pushing residents to remove them (and to remove restrictions on building apartment on properties near the city's new light rail station). In other structural racism news, an organization in south Seattle is leading an ambitious fundraising PTA drive and uniting efforts across schools in the city's diverse neighborhoods – north end and primarily white Seattle schools raise much more PTA money that funds activities, playgrounds and even teachers.

ICE says it doesn't plan to expand in Oregon

ICE has no plans to expand to Newport or any other location in Oregon, acting director Todd Lyons told Congress this week, according to reporting at Oregon Capital Chronicle. Speculation about a new ICE detention facility in the coastal town of Oregon late last year sparked fierce opposition from residents. Meanwhile, Washington governor Bob Ferguson signed into law a bill that limits automatic license plate reader data, including how it can be shared with the feds. A study from the University of Washington found that state agencies regularly shared data with federal immigration authorities.

WA farmers hit hard by Iran war

KUOW reports that Washington's independent farmers are struggling because of high gas prices and expensive fertilizer thanks to the closure of the Straight of Hormuz in Trump's stupid, illegal war on Iran. In related news, Oregon farmers will have to confront drought conditions this summer after record low snowpack this winter, Jefferson Public Radio reports.

Jealousy and dystopian tech in Ling Ling Huang's novel

The Portland Mercury talks with Oregon writer Ling Ling Huang, whose novel Immaculate Conception is a nominee for the 2026 Oregon Book award for fiction. It's the tale of two jealous artists and a dystopian technology that might allow the two enter meld each other's minds to resolve their conflict. Sounds creepy and fun! The Oregon Book Awards will be presented on April 20.

Thanks for reading! Keep loving and keep fighting! – Andrew