Cascadia today: Cascadia prepares for hunger + water conflict in age of drought + a Vancouver cinema closes
Cascadia prepares for halt in food aid
As the federal shutdown continues and Congress sits on its asses, Washington state announced it had secured temporary funds to keep distributing WIC (Women, Infant, and Children) food aid through November, Washington State Standard reports. Washington will not be able to issue SNAP food aid after October 31 if the shutdown continues, and the more than 750,000 people in Oregon who depend on SNAP will see benefits vanish in November. Meanwhile, a food bank in Bremerton has extended its hours to help support more than 21,000 federal workers in Kitsap County who've gone without pay during the shutdown, KUOW reports.
Please donate (money is preferred over food items) to Northwest Harvest or Oregon Food Bank to help people get through this crisis.
Trump prepares to invade Portland
As Portland and the Trump administration sort out the ramifications of a Ninth Circuit Appeals court ruling in favor the feds (there's dispute about whether a second injunction is still in place) Trump again lied to the media, the Oregonian reports, claiming that “The whole place is burning to the ground … That’s like an insurrection more than it is anything else.” According to our sources, Portland is not, in fact, burning to the ground. In a FOX interview, he threatened to invade San Francisco as well, claiming he can use the “unquestioned power” of the Insurrection Act to send in troops.
What is happening right now isn't an insurrection. But if the Trump administration continues to treat Portland and Cascadia as a foreign enemy, then we will have no choice but to confront the feds with non-violent steps, including impounding of federal tax revenues and statewide referendums on independence.
Water conflicts rise as a result of drought
According Columbia Insight, the Washington State department of ecology has issued a halt to all surface water use in the Yakima River basin after years of drought have left reservoirs dry. The order will affect about 1,500 water users (mostly agricultural) in central Washington. Washington State Standard has more on the negotiations between stakeholders in the Yakima River basin, as well as in the Nooksack River in north Washington, with tribes, farmers, and others competing for what little water is left.
Vancouver mayor's plan for housing corporation fails
CBC reports on how Vancouver mayor Ken Sim's plan for the city to create a private housing corporation that would build 4,000 housing units failed in a vote in the city council. This, as the city faces a high vacancy rate for new condos, some of which are being converted to rentals, the Vancouver Sun reports.
Lamenting the closure of the Park Theatre
The Georgia Straight has an essay by Nathan Caddel on the closure of a longtime Vancouver cinema, the Park Theatre:
It’s unknown what will happen to the physical space the Park is set to depart. Figuratively, it will undoubtedly leave a massive hole in the city’s cultural fabric.
This, as Seattle's historic Egyptian Theater also recently closed its doors for good. Support your remaining independent cinemas, folks! --Andrew
