Daily digest: Orcas headed for extinction + WA might not pay feds + drag queen wrestling!
Good morning, Cascadia. Here's your daily roundup of news, environmental reporting, and arts & culture from across the bioregion. If you appreciate Cascadia Journal, please take a moment to support me by signing up for a paid subscription. It's just $5 per month. Thanks!
Resident orcas have "high probability of extinction"
According to the Tyee, a new report finds that the threatened Southern Resident population of orcas has a "high probability of extinction" if urgent actions aren't taken. The resident orcas, a genetically distinct population that makes the Salish Sea its home, are down to 78 individuals. The report notes that we actually know what needs to happen to save orcas, including increasing whale watching distances, working across the bioregion needs to restore chinook salmon habitat, and limits placed on large vessel traffic (including oil tankers, which have increased 7 times over since the opening of the TransMountain pipeline expansion, and cruise ships, which are proven to disturb orca hunting patterns). Meanwhile, in Glacier Bay, Alaska, a humpback whale was likely mortally wounded by a propeller strike from a "large vessel." I'd be willing to bet money on what sort of large vessel that was. Seriously, don't take cruises.
WA considers withholding federal payments
After passage and signing of the GOP's budget, which would slash funds to the states in order to build a massive ICE secret police and concentration camp infrastructure (larger than most nation's military budgets) officials in Cascadia are concerned about massive cuts to federal programs. In just one example, Washington state could lose $8.7 billion in programs that support a transition to clean energy. This, as Washington state faces a drought that is putting pressure on its hyrdoelectric dams and could drive up electric costs across the region.
According to MSNBC, in response to the Trump administration's lawless severing funds already allocated by Congress, Washington state senator Manka Dhingra is looking to sponsor legislation similar to bills in Maryland, Connecticut, New York, and Wisconsin that would withhold payments to the federal government until Trump releases frozen funds.
“It’s a novel concept,” said Washington state Sen. Manka Dhingra. “I don’t think states have ever been in this position before … where there’s someone making arbitrary decisions on what to provide funding for and what not to provide funding for, contrary to current rules and laws and congressional allocation of funds.”
It's just another autonomous step toward what's looking like an increasingly necessary option: independence of Oregon and Washington from the United States.
Andrew Engelson
Vancouver looks to boost housing
According to the Vancouver Sun, Vancouver's city council is debating a measure that would double the amount of housing in its central Broadway district near light rail lines. In related news Oregon Capital Chronicle looks at the wide range of housing-related bills that passed in the Oregon legislature this season, including rental assistance, increased funding for shelters, and reforms that allow more multi-family units to be built in Oregon's cities and unincorporated areas.
King county assessor jailed for stalking
PubliCola broke the news last week that King county assessor John Arthur Wilson was jailed for violating a protection order and stalking his former partner. PubliCola has been reporting on revelations that Wilson has been hounding his former partner and multiple local officials have called on him to resign. In other news of creepy dudes in Cascadia, Investigate West reports on a Lynnwood, Washington man charged with sex trafficking charges after using dating sites to convince numerous underage women to have sex and and live-stream the acts.
Drag queen wrestling!
Over at the Stranger, there's a fantastic photo essay by West Smith documenting the dramatic lunacy of "Meet Me in the Parking Lot," an event in which drag queens grapple in professional-style wrestling sponsored by Massive nightclub in Seattle. In related news, Pride events continue into July in Portland, including the Portland Pride Waterfront Festival the weekend of July 19.
Please take a moment to support victims of the terrible flash floods in Texas. GoFundMe has a verified fund that will go directly to victims' families.
--Andrew Engelson
