Daily Digest: Evictions climb, Oregon bill targets journalists, grizzly reintroduction fizzles

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Vancouver gives up on supportive housing

The Tyee looks at the future of supportive housing – designed to bring people out of chronic homelessness – in Vancouver after the wealthy Kitslano neighborhood defeated a project. In a city that's seen a 32 percent increase in homelessness in the most recent data, it's discouraging that mayor Ken Sim has put a hold on all supportive housing projects. Meanwhile, evictions have doubled since 2019 in King County (the Seattle metro area) and many have gone through the experience without attorneys despite a 2021 law that was supposed to provide them with free counsel, KUOW reports. Oregon Capital Chronicle reports that evictions are also spiking in Oregon, but that rental assistance programs are cushioning the blow.

Tacoma ICE releases green card holder

KUOW reports that University of Washington lab technician Lewelyn Dixon, a Filipina woman with a green card who has lived in the US for decades, was released from months in custody at an ICE detention center in Tacoma. Meanwhile, Bellingham's mayor penned a letter to residents of British Columbia urging them to visit – in response to southbound car trips across the BC-Washington plummeting by 51% in April compared to April 2024 – much of it due to concerns about border checks. Oregon is doing what Cascadia should be doing much more of to support immigrants: it recently put into effect a law that offers in-state tuition at colleges to asylum seekers.

Bill in Oregon would hamper journalism

Mistakes sometimes happen in journalism – we're paid poorly, pressured to crank out articles at a furious pace, and have fewer fact-checking staff in our profession. A bill in the Oregon legislature sounds great – demanding corrections occur in publications – but could be used to harass and hamper journalists working in good faith. Street Roots looks at how House Bill 3564 could be used to bully journalists and shut down controversial coverage. And in other local journalism news, a former staff member of Eugene Weekly who is suspected of embezzling more than $100,000, may be extradited to Oregon. Early last year, the paper was forced to lay off all staff after the incident and has struggled to continue.

Grizzly reintroduction stalls

Cascade PBS reports that plans to reintroduce grizzlies to North Cascades National Park in Washington have stalled – in part due to indifference by the Trump administration, but also because opposition from local residents. In British Columbia, according to the Narwhal, First Nations have stirred controversy by temporarily closing some public parks in British Columbia to allow for Indigenous ceremonies and to give some lands a break from record numbers of visitors. The closures have predictably resulted in some racist backlash. Reminder: we live on stolen Indigenous land and tribes and First Nations are working to help heal these lands broken by a century and a half of resource extraction and capitalism. Non-Indigenous residents of Cascadia owe it to them to assist in that effort.

--Andrew Engelson