Cascadia today: Conservatives win big in BC + feds to poke around in King county elections + remembering Tom Skerritt

Good morning. This past weekend, British Columbia had a provincial election, and the BC Conservatives routed the incumbent centrist NDP. I'll have a more in-depth analysis later this week. If you live in Washington or Oregon and follow most media you won't hear a word about the BC election because it's north of the 49th parallel. Here at Cascadia Journal I work to cover news, environmental reporting, and arts coverage from across the greater Cascadia bioregion. If you appreciate this coverage you can't get elsewhere, please consider becoming a paid subscriber during my fall member drive. I can't do this without the generous support of my readers. Thanks! --Andy

Conservatives win big in BC provincial election

After calling a snap election they thought they were sure to win, British Columbia's centrist NDP was pummeled by the BC Conservatives in a provincial election over the weekend. According to the Tyee, the conservatives are set to win 64 seats to the NDP's 27. The BC Greens won 2 seats. Premier David Eby, who called the early election thinking the NDP could beat the conservatives by associating them with Trump, resigned as leader of the NDP after the defeat.

BCC leader Lorne Doerkson, a former rodeo rider and newspaper publisher who represents Cariboo-Chilcotin in northern BC, will be the next premier. CBC looks at what BC can expect from the conservatives: cutting taxes, eliminating safe supply of opioids (which has saved thousands of lives) and repealing DRIPA, the law requiring consultation and consent from First Nations on BC legislation. I'll have more analysis of the disappointing results later this week.

Feds to poke around in King county elections

As voting is underway in Oregon and Washington, Washington State Standard reports that the Trump regime is sending department of justice officials to "observe" election counting in King County, which includes Seattle. Meanwhile, the feds are planning to take Alaska to court if the Republican candidate for US senate, Dan Sullivan, doesn't win against Mary Peltola. The feds are mad that another candidate on the ballot, Dan J. Sullivan, is confusing their voters. Libby Bakalar, a former Alaska elections director, said of the threat of legal action:

“ [it's] laughably bad, almost to the point of sanctionably frivolous. Watching MAGA on the ropes like this in court up here is a sad and scary sight.”

An interview with bystander who stopped Bend shooting

OPB has an intense interview with Kaylub Giamanco, a resident of Bend who happened to be near Silver Rail elementary school in Bend, OR at the moment a teenager began a mass shooting there. Giamanco grabbed a pistol from his truck and confronted and killed the shooter before he could take other lives. Despite a widespread myth of "good guys with guns," bystanders stopping mass shootings in the US are incredibly rare, the article notes. Giamanco says he thinks about the legacy of trauma that likely led to the teenager doing what he did:

“Sometimes there’s a child out there that didn’t have the love that they deserved,” Giamanco said. “But I do want to believe that if he had more love in his life and better parenting, that this could have been prevented.”

Returning Indigenous fire practices to BC

Magic Canoe reports on efforts to return Indigenous intentional forest burns to British Columbia to improve forest health and prevent bigger, more destructive wildfires. The story also looks at efforts to allow native plants to return after the destructive wildfires north of Lillooet, BC in 2021.

“I used to look at an unburned area and think, Beautiful British Columbia. Now I look at them in horror because it’s all gonna burn down.” – Jennifer Grenz, Nlaka’pamux ecologist, author, and professor

Seattle-based film star Tom Skerritt dies

The Seattle-based movie star Tom Skerritt, known for roles in Alien, Top Gun, and A River Runs Through It, died at the age of 93 last week. Charles Mudede at the Stranger recalls Skerritt's career and influence in Seattle. The Seattle Times has more on his impact on local film and politics.

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