Cascadia today: Woman dies, afraid to cross Point Roberts border + BC Greens' Gen Z leader Emily Lowan + Wildwood film has deep roots in Portland

Good morning. As elections approach in Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia, Cascadia Journal will have all the results and analysis in the coming weeks. If you appreciate my coverage of issues important to the Casacadia bioregion, consider becoming a paid subscriber during my fall membership drive. I'm still ten subscribers short of my goal of thirty by October 31. Your financial support helps keep independent news sources like this running, thanks! --Andy

Woman dies, afraid to cross border at Point Roberts

Cascadia Daily News reports that Paige Adamson, a Canadian citizen who lives in the isolated enclave of Point Roberts and who was detained a month ago by US border patrol agents for six hours on claims of voter fraud, has died. Friends told CDN that Adamson feared to cross the border again after the confrontation, and failed to visit her primary caregiver in Bellingham. CBC has a report on her detention in September, and harassment by border officials when she tried to return to Point Roberts, where she had lived since 2012.

This is an absolute outrage. Voting by non-citizens in the US is extremely rare, and the Trump regime is using every excuse it can to harass people crossing the colonial border. I look forward to the day when no one has to talk to border guards at Point Robert or anywhere along the 49th parallel in Cascadia.

Emily Lowan, the first Gen Z leader of a BC party

The Tyee interviews Emily Lowan, the 26-year-old leader of the BC Greens, which is fighting to be an influential coalition partner if either the NDP or BC Conservatives fail to gain a majority in British Columbia provincial elections this weekend.

Elected as party leader with the slogan "Fight the Oligarchs, Fund Our Future," Lowan is hoping to raise taxes on the wealthy and introduce proportional representation to BC's electoral system. Her party currently holds only two seats, but Lowan is hopeful of more gains in Victoria and Vancouver, where Green Party candidate Pete Fry was elected mayor last week. Lowan told the Tyee that the NDP, which is claiming that a vote for the Greens will hand the conservatives a victory, has transformed into a center-right party that ignores the climate crisis.

"It’s lazy for the BC NDP to rely on fearmongering about vote splitting to maintain power. I think I would have more respect for them if they did anything with their power.” – Emily Lowan, BC Greens leader

Feds fight claims of workers sickened by Hanford cleanup

KUOW reports that workers who've cleaned up toxic waste related to nuclear weapons manufacturing at the Hanford site in central Washington are being denied medical benefits by the feds even after a WA law was supposed to assist them. The US department of energy has spend about $12 million fighting the claims in court as Hanford workers deal with thyroid cancer and other ailments likely related to radiation exposure.

OR legislator switches from GOP to Democrats

As legislative elections are underway in Oregon, one state rep from the coastal town of Astoria, Cyrus Javadi is running for re-election as a Democrat rather than his former affiliation with the Republicans. Javadi was a crucial switch vote on a 6% gas tax last year (which was later repealed), and he believes in the radical idea that paying for things like repairing roads and bridges will require new revenue. The election in the 32nd legislative district has been one of the most expensive OR races this year and polling shows a dead heat between Javadi and opponent Max Sherman.

Turning waste into compost outside Seattle

The South Seattle Emerald has a great profile of the family-owned business Cedar Grove, which turns kitchen scraps and yard waste into compost at a facility in Maple Valley just outside Seattle. It's a complicated but necessary process that turns something that would otherwise end up in landfills into compost for landscaping and gardens.n

Wildwood, an animated movie steeped in Cascadia

Portland Mercury looks at the new animated film adaptation of Wildwood, the beloved fantasy novel created by Decemberists frontman Colin Meloy and illustrator Carson Ellis in 2011. The movie, with plenty of violence and adult themes is definitely NOT a movie for young children (it's rated PG-13). But it's one that's proving extremely popular with teens and tween in the Portland area. The movie, produced by Portland-based Laika studios, is infused with deep dark forests, and tells the story of a Portland teenager searching for her brother, who was carried off by a murder of crows. The Mercury has more on Wildwood's deep roots in Portland. Also, the soundtrack is amazing, and includes plenty of connections to Cascadia.

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