Cascadia today: Wildfire smoke comes to Salish Sea + Indigenous local farm in BC + experimental dance in Seattle
Wildfires bring smoke to Salish Sea
The Bear Guch fire, a human-caused wildfire burning in the southeastern Olympic mountains, has grown to nearly 5,000 acres and brought a haze of smoke to the Salish Sea region, KING-5 reports (acreage is updated from InciWeb). According to an article at KUOW, an air quality index between 100 and 200 is the equivalent of smoking up to half a pack of cigarettes a day. Meanwhile, a fire near Lake Cameron on western Vancouver Island has grown to more than 500 hectares, CBC reports. And in central Oregon, the 96,000-acre Cram fire near Madras has been contained, authorities reported, according KATU-TV.
Real Change newspaper vendors detained by ICE
Real Change, the Seattle newspaper sold by people without shelter, said in a press release that two of its vendors have been detained by ICE immigration authorities. The Stranger has more, and indicated the two vendors are detained at a facility in Tacoma. Meanwhile, Street Roots reports that a charter K-8 school in south Portland voted to move to another location because of its proximity to an ICE facility where an excessive response to protests has brought tear gas from federal agents.
"This is not merely an unfortunate incident; it is a calculated act of cruelty and intimidation that goes against the very fabric of our mission and our city's values," --Krystal Marx, Executive Director of Real Change.
Return ballots by 8 pm in Washington's primaries
I'll be covering the results of tonight's primary election for Seattle mayor (at Katie Wilson's election party) for PubliCola. Follow me there and on Bluesky for election night updates.
Ballots are due to be returned to drop boxes by 8 pm today in primary elections across Washington state. Use this drop box locator to find one near you. And if you live in Seattle and haven't used your democracy vouchers yet, you can up until the November general election (and you can also vote to renew the project, which allows people who aren't wealthy to actually run for office). In other election news, PubliCola reports that the Seattle city council voted to put a new business tax proposal – which would generate $90 million revenue by increasing taxes on businesses with more than $2 million in annual sales – on the November ballot.
Indigenous farm produces locally on Sunshine Coast
The Tyee has a great, in-depth feature on the Salish Sea Regenerative Farm Society, an Indigenous-led farm created on reclaimed land in Sechelt, on BC's Sunshine Coast. In a region where only three percent of food is produced locally, the farm, led by Aaron Joe, a member of the shíshálh Nation, is a critical step in creating a sustainable, local food system. The site, donated to the shíshálh by the BC government, used to be full of trash and blackberry brambles.
“It’s such a great example of what reconciliation looks like. Not just me being Indigenous and having only Indigenous people working here, but all of us working here, all of us working towards a better future.” – Aaron Joe, shíshálh Nation member
"Girl Dinner" dance performance at Seattle's Base
Seattle Dances has a review of the recent experimental dance performance "Girl Dinner" by kelly langeslay, recently performed at Base Experimental Arts in Seattle's Georgetown neighborhood. A mix of dance, lyrics, and spoken text that explores queerness, neurosis, and the risks of mercury poisoning – is staged in a Barbie-pink kitchen. The next performance coming up at BASE is at 7 pm Tues, Aug 19 by resident choreographer Heather Kravas, whose work is described as follows:
"Precise and extreme, these dances look like landscapes punctuated by Rube Goldberg machines. Glacial movements give way to strange loops, still forms tremble and transform, DIY folk dances turn into complicated parables.
Sounds amazing! --Andrew Engelson
