Cascadia today: Judge prevents Guard deployment + fire regulations could hamper ADUs + Seattle scientists win Nobel

Judge rules against Guard deployment in Portland

It's been a busy weekend in Portland and I'm just getting now up to speed after being away on a backpacking trip on Washington's wilderness coast. After a Trump-appointed federal judge Karin Immergut on Saturday blocked deployment of any National Guard troops in Portland – either from Oregon or Texas – federal immigration agents engaged in excessive tactics aimed at peaceful demonstrators at the Portland ICE facility. OPB reports that ICE on Saturday evening fired tear gas canisters and flash-bang grenades at peacefully assembling protesters "without provocation."

Meanwhile, Portland city attorney Robert Taylor sent a letter to the Department of Justice, asserting that the feds are using excessive force against protesters and noting the right-wing social media influencers appear to have been granted access to report from the ICE facility, according to the Portland Mercury. According to ABC News, Portland Police Chief Bob Day pushed back on Trump's false statements claiming that Portland was a war zone as well as false claims on Monday that "Portland is on fire," and in the midst of a "criminal insurrection." Day said: "It's not a narrative that's consistent with what's actually happening now." And meanwhile, the Guardian confronted the Oregon Republican Party's social media team, which posted faked photos of Portland protests using photos from uprisings in Ecuador and Brazil.

Trump is clearly attempting to further solidify his authoritarian grip, using cities such as Portland as a "training ground" for his fascist takeover. Cascadia should stand strong in non-violent resistance to this unconstitutional use of federal power. Judge Immergut was correct when she wrote, "This is a nation of constitutional law, not martial law."

The hero in all this is Antifascist Frog, a protester in a frog suit who peacefully confronted ICE and pointed out what a ludicrous farce the feds' military cosplay is:

WA fire marshals seek restrictions on ADUs

I wrote a piece for the Urbanist about a controversy emerging between Washington state fire marshals and home builders over whether accessory dwelling units (ADUs), otherwise known as backyard cottages, should have five-foot wide access paths. Though the marshals insist this would increase safety, builders and housing activists say it's overkill, won't increase safety, and will slow down the creation of new housing. In other housing related news, the South Seattle Emerald reports on a new affordable housing complex in Seattle's Othello neighborhood on the site of a former tiny home village; the Vancouver Sun looks at a provision in BC's tax code that allows owners of multi-million dollar homes to avoid paying any property tax; and Planetizen looks at how apartment construction in Portland is expected to plummet 54% this year over last year.

Seattle-area researchers win Nobel Prize

Demonstrating that Cascadia is a hub for evidence-based medical research, two Seattle area immunology researchers were awarded a 2025 Nobel Prize in physiology/medicine. Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell were given the award for their work identifying and describing how T cells regulate the body's immune system and prevent it from attacking the body's own cells.

And congrats to the Seattle Mariners for tying their series against the Detroit Tigers 1 to 1. Refuse to lose! --Andrew Engelson