Cascadia today: Portland prepares for feds + WA paid leave in crisis + BC arts orgs struggling
Good morning, and congratulations to the Seattle Mariners for making it to the American League championship after a nail-biting 14-inning game against Detroit on Friday. Good luck to Cascadia's only Major League Baseball team. Our region is a special one, and if you appreciate this roundup of news from across the Pacific Northwest, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. I still need nine new subscribers to meet my goal of 70 by the end of November. Thanks! --Andrew
Portland city council seeks to protect city from feds
OPB report that the Portland city council passed a series of administrative measures to help protect the Rose City from a planned deployment of National Guard Troops by Donald Trump. The measures include creating a city liaison to immigrant community, and monitoring of increases in federal action in Portland. Though minor, these are steps toward autonomy that cities across Cascadia should be taking to increase their independence from federal meddling in their affairs. Meanwhile, hundred of protesters braved the pouring rain and engaged in an emergency World Naked Bike Ride to continue their weird and effective resistance to Trump's expected invasion.
Andrew Engelson
WA family leave program faces fiscal crisis
Washington's innovative and successful paid leave program, which launched in 2020 and is helping people take parental leave and care for ailing family members – faces a $350 million budget deficit unless the legislature fixes things. It's a familiar story: Democrats control both houses of the legislature and the governor's mansion and yet have failed to reform its regressive tax system and fund the social safety net in the absence of federal programs – quickly being dismantled by the Trump administration. Washington has the second-most regressive tax system in the US, meaning the wealthy fail to pay their fair share:
Trial of safe supply activists in BC begins
The Tyee reports on the opening of a trial in Vancouver of the founders of the Drug User Liberation Front, an activist organization that openly bought and distributed medical-grade meth, cocaine, and heroin to provide a safe supply to drug users in an attempt to prevent more fatal overdoses. Fouders Eris Nyx and Jeremy Kalicum found DULF to provide relief in BC's overdose crisis, which has killed nearly 15,000 people since 2014. They're being charged with drug trafficking, even though the BC government has a similar safe supply program. Last year, I reported on that program, which evidence shows can reduce fatal overdoses.
BC arts organizations face challenges
CBC reports on the financial pressure arts organization in British Columbia are facing, including two institutions in Penticton that may be forced to close: The Dream Cafe, a live performance space, and the Penticton Art Gallery. It's a tough time for many venues post-pandemic: the Vancouver Art Gallery has laid off staff and reduced programing by 30 percent. And Seattle International Film Festival announced it will close the storied Egyptian Theater, which has been integral to the city's film scene for decades. And Seattle Davidson Galleries, a longtime fixture in the city's Pioneer Square art scene also announced in August it will shut its doors.
Cascadia values its creative economy, and we need fiscal independence and autonomy from the United States if we're going to adequately fund things we believe in here in the Pacific Northwest. --Andrew Engelson
