Cascadia today: BC supertankers will be "death sentence" for orcas + for profit online schools boom in OR + an Indigenous fashion show
Many thanks to all of you who became paid members during my fall subscription drive! And a warm thank you to ALL of my subscribers. You continue to help me produce Cascadia Journal. It's thanks to you that I can continue to write this feisty, opinionated roundup of news, politics, environmental reporting, and arts & culture from across the Cascadia bioregion. I appreciate you all.
I'll be organizing some social meetups in Portland and Seattle in December to say thanks and help build this community in the Pacific Northwest. More details soon!
Oil tanker traffic from BC will be "death sentence" for orcas
The Tyee has a terrifying report on a plan to start allowing oil supertankers to deliver petroleum from southern BC through the Salish Sea once Canada completes a new Pacific Link pipeline from Alberta. Currently, only "Aframax" size tankers ply Cascadia's shared waters – but the a proposal would add gargantuan Supertankers to the mix, which are harder to maneuver and could increase oil flow through one of the world's most sensitive ecosystems by two and a half times. That why WA governor Bob Ferguson is opposed, as well as environmental groups on both sides of the border. BC-based Wilderness Committee issued a media release documenting evidence that increased tank traffic in the Salish Sea would amount to a death sentence for the Salish Sea's endangered southern resident orca population:
“Extinction is a political decision Prime Minister Mark Carney has shown he’s quite comfortable with." --Lucero Gonzalez, Wilderness Committee
Many purple districts in WA are now blue
Washington State Standard looks at how districts in Washington that were toss-up "purple" districts that once split votes between Republicans and Democrats are now more consistently voting blue. The eastside suburbs of Seattle, areas of Whatcom and Kitsap county, and Island county (which covers Whidbey Island) have all shifted blue in the past 10 years and raise the possibility of a supermajority in the legislature next session. Meanwhile, OPB does a rundown of races in OR and southwest WA where polling is close in both the OR governor's race and the 3rd congressional district in the Vancouver WA area.
Ballots are due in ballot boxes by 8 pm Tues Nov. 3. Follow along for live reports on Bluesky for Cascadia Journal's coverage of election results tomorrow evening:
Cascadia Journal
Dia de Muertos raises money for immigrant legal defense
OPB reports on a celebration of Dia de Muertos in Portland honoring ancestors in the Mexican community and raising money for Immigrant Counseling Service, an organization defending immigrants caught up the feds' cruel mass deportation campaign. Donate here:
This article on for-profit online K-12 schools in OR is bonkers
The Oregon Journalism Project has a shocking and detailed article on the rising popularity of online, for-profit online K-12 schools in Oregon. Some counties, such as Nyssa count in eastern OR, provide thousands of dollars in stipends to parents using these schools and the money has been wasted on everything from horse riding lessons to golf clubs. Studies show the students fare much worse on achievement tests.
Currently, SIX PERCENT of Oregon K-12 students are enrolled in these for-profit schools.
Want to improve outcomes for students, governor Kotek? Might want to set some accountability standards for these privately run schools.
An Indigenous fashion show in WA
KUOW has a great feature and photo essay on an Indigenous fashion show on Indigenous People's Day at at North Seattle College, a collaboration between Coast Salish and Palestinian fashion designers.
"I was able to show how we can be in any kind of attire — Indigenous, traditional, maybe fancy, or glam — and we always have our children with us," Alayna Eagle Shield, co-director of Ancestral Sisterhood
Thanks for reading. Keep loving and keep fighting.
Do you appreciate Cascadia Journal's exclusive reporting on the ways the Pacific Northwest is pushing back against US fascism? If you have the means, please consider a paid subscription of just $5 per month. Each subscription helps me produce original reporting and opinionated notes on Cascadia's fight to build a more resilient and autonomous bioregion. And to those who already subscribe, thank you! --Andrew
