Cascadia today: ICE out of control in Portland + feds log forests in shutdown + rethinking OR arts funding
Good morning! News media are facing an unprecedented crisis right now. PBS and NPR threatened now that Trump has eliminated of federal funding for public broadcasting. Outlets have laid off staff and closed their doors. The FCC bullies news outlets critical of the administration, and once trusted news source such as the Washington Post and CBS News are quickly becoming mouthpieces for the authoritarian administration. If you appreciate the opinionated, anti-fascist commentary at Cascadia Journal and my daily roundup of news and arts from across the Cascadia bioregion, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. I'm just eight subscribers short of my goal of 70 paid member by November 1st. Thanks! --Andrew
ICE officer threatens to shoot ambulance driver
When you have a national masked police force with no accountability, they tend to do awful things. Case in point: Willamette Week reports that an ICE officer threatened to shoot the driver of an ambulance that was attempting to take a patient from Portland's ICE facility to a local hospital for treatment.
“I was still in such shock, that they were not only accusing me of such a thing, but crowding and cornering me in the seat, pointing and screaming at me, threatening to shoot and arrest me, and not allowing the ambulance to leave the scene."
Meanwhile, the Seattle Times has an excellent report on conditions inside the Tacoma Northwest ICE Processing Center, as told mostly by Alfredo “Lelo” Juarez Zeferino, the prominent farm worker labor organizer who chose to be deported to Mexico rather than contest his detention. Conditions were not good, including detainees being fed bloody, nearly-raw chicken for a meal. In related neww, the Portland Mercury has a good story on the immigrant-rights organizations fighting to help those caught up in Trump's cruel crackdown – one worth checking out is the Portland Immigrant Rights Coalition.
Feds still clearcutting forests despite shutdown
OPB reports that even as the US government shutdown enters its second week, the US Forest Service is continuing to authorize timber sales in Oregon and Washington as Trump hopes to “streamline regulatory processes” and clear-cut millions of acres of Cascadia's forests. Washington State Standard, meanwhile examines the extent of Washington wildfire season, in which 251,840 acres burned – well below the average of 423,436 acres in recent years. The human-caused Bear Gulch Fire in the southeast Olympics is still burning but won't spread further, officials say. It's a tragic hit to of one of the most beautiful valleys in the region, a place where I spent time in early July just before the fire started.
The debate over farmworker overtime
Oregon Capital Chronicle reports on Oregon's new farmworker overtime law, which labor activists say is long overdue, but independent farmers and orchardists say threatens the viability of agriculture in central and eastern Oregon. I reported earlier this year on how small, independent orchards in Oregon are being threatened by vacation homes, Trump policies, and industry consolidation. In related labor news, thousands of BC public service workers are on strike, affecting state offices, jails, and public liquor and cannabis stores. In addition, mail delivery resumed in BC and the rest of Canada after postal workers agreed to a rolling strike.
Arts organizations offer a "Re/Think"
Oregon Arts Watch reports on a new initiative supported by a broad coalition of arts and cultural organizations in Oregon called "Re/Think." Its aim is to present the Oregon legislature with a comprehensive plan to fund and support arts across the state in the 2027 legislative session.
“The goal is to create a unified strategy and list of priorities to present with the Legislature to support the arts, culture, and humanities going forward,” – Cultural Advocacy Coalition of Oregon Senior Advisor Sue Hildick.
-- Andrew Engelson
