Cascadia today: Rural hospitals in crisis + will Canada offer asylum to trans people? + WA book awards
Loss of hospitals in eastern Cascadia begins
If you live east of the Cascades and need convincing that the US no longer cares about your well-being, I suggest you read this story at Investigate West about the crisis facing hospitals in eastern Oregon. At the center of the piece is a young family who were forced to deliver their baby in the car ride between Baker City and La Grande. Because Baker City's hospital was forced to close its maternity ward, Teela Banister ended up giving birth to her daughter less than halfway through the hour-long drive. Rural hospitals across Cascadia are in crisis, and the GOP's cruel Medicaid cuts will only make things worse. The story details how many rural hospitals have a high percentage of patients on Medicaid, and how cuts will continue to decimate care. It'll be important, especially since measles is on the rise in Spokane and other places east of the crest, RANGE reports. Thanks, RFKJ.
ICE disappears two fathers in Portland
Two immigrant men who have families in North Portland were detained by ICE, KATU News reports. The fed thugs smashed car windows and engaged in now-standard secret police behavior, refusing to show any identification. Meanwhile, Washington State Standard reports that the Washington State Department of Health is getting ready to inspect the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, as soon if it gets a favorable appeals court ruling. The for-profit immigrant jail has refused inspectors. NIPC should be closed and ICE should be pressured to leave Cascadia entirely.
Will BC be a refuge for Cascadia's trans people?
The Tyee looks at the movement in Canada to change asylum rules to offer refuge to trans, nonbinary and BIPOC people in the United States. The article profiles several LGBTQ activists in the Vancouver area pushing to increase asylum protections. This is where we are folks. Do you need convincing that Washington and Oregon should leave the United State? Just the other day Trump said he'd consider banning pride flags, and had a disturbing exchange with an extremist "reporter" who talked about the completely imaginary, scapegoating risk of trans ANTIFA™ terrorists. Make no mistake: those of us who live in the US are under fascism now, and it's time to for Cascadia to start taling about going our own way.
“Do the courts of American federalism allow the states or local governments to adequately protect their residents from the degradation of the feds?” Campbell said. “That’s a bit of an open question at this point.” --A. Connie Campbell, LGBTQ activist
WA State Book Awards announce winners
The Stranger reports on this year's Washington State Book awards, which went to Tessa Hulls for her graphic novel memoir Feeding Ghosts, Be A Revolution by Ijeoma Oluo in the nonfiction category, Katrina Carrasco's novel Rough Trade in the fiction category, and Something About Living by poet Lena Khalaf Tuffaha. Kids' book winners were the children's picture book Daughter of the Light-Footed People by Belen Medina and Natalia Rojas Castro, Table Titans Club by Scott Kurtz in the young readers category, and the young adult novel Looking for Smoke by K.A. Cobell.
