Cascadia today: Feds threaten Portland + homelessness is ongoing + fight hate with kazoos
Good morning! I'm back from vacation and feeling fresh, rested, and ready to fight fascism! Hope you kept cool during the Cascadia heat wave. I can report that the wild blueberries at Anderson & Watson Lakes in the North Cascades are at their peak, so seize the day and get your fingers purple while you can!
Labor secretary calls for crackdown on Portland
As National Guard troops wander around Washington DC picking up trash, the feds fail to charge a guy who threw a sandwich at an officer, and Trump vowed to send troops to Chicago to solidify his power grab, US Labor Secretary Lori Chavez DeRemer thanked ICE for its efforts during a recent cabinet meeting and then said "I hope you will come to Portland, Oregon, and crack down.” DeRemer served one term in Congress representing Oregon's fifth district south of Portland. This comes as Little Prince Donald Trump, Jr. wrote on social media that Seattle and Portland were "craphole" cities requiring invasion by national guard troops. That's after Washington governor Bob Ferguson sent a strongly worded letter to attorney general Pam Bondi last week, responding to her threats to arrest state leaders who provide sanctuary or refuse to assist the feds.
Meanwhile, crackdowns continue, with a Washington national guard veteran detained in Tacoma after attending his last check-in before obtaining citizenship, KUOW reports. Spokane is considering an ordinance banning ICE apprehensions at ticketed outdoor events.
Washington and Oregon should defend their sovereignty and begin the work of autonomy from the United States, which in seven months has devolved into a shithole authoritarian state.
Andrew Engelson
Homelessness still plagues Washington
Washington State Standard reports that data from Washington's department of Commerce show that rates of homelessness are still high, with 22,173 people living without shelter early this year. The data did not include figures from King County, where the problem is severe. In related news, Street Roots finds that despite his nice rhetoric about stopping sweeps, Portland mayor Keith Wilson continues to sweep encampments at a rate similar to his predecessor. Meanwhile, the troubled King County Regional Homeless Authority, which has struggled with budget problems and poor leadership, now has another problem: director Kelly Kinnison is under investigation for creating a toxic work environment, PubliCola reports.
Hanford solar project raises questions
For Columbia Insight, I wrote about a project that at face value sounds great: leasing surplus land at the poisoned Hanford site for solar energy. But the proposal is short on details and environmental groups want to know how the project will impact cleanup of the federal nuclear site. In related news, governor Ferguson hit the pause button on a solar project in central Washington until the Yakama Nation has had more time to comment.
Freeways aren't the answer, Oregon!
The Portland Mercury reports that a $2.1 billion freeway expansion in Portland got underway this week as the Oregon legislature prepares to go into a special session after failing to pass a transportation budget earlier this year. In better transportation news, Vancouver residents are enjoying shiny new trains on the Expo and Millennium light rail lines, the Tyee reports.
Kazoos are better than hate
An upcoming right-wing Christian nationalist rally in Seattle on August 30 designed to provoke an angry response was moved from Seattle's Cal Anderson Park in the heart of the Capitol Hill gayborhood, and will now take place on the little peninsula of Gas Works park, PubliCola reported. If you wanna read more about the homophobic assholes and their strategy of looking like persecuted victims of ANTIFA™, read more here at Cascade PBS. Most Seattle progressives seem to be pursuing a strategy of ignoring Sean Feucht's crybaby tour, but if you have a kazoo and live in Seattle, maybe consider this...
--Andrew Engelson
