Daily Digest: Evictions rising, ICE nabs people in Portland, and what's up with BC ostriches?
Evictions are rising, straining safety net
Investigate West has a detailed look at soaring eviction rates in King county, Washington – up 66 percent over pre-pandemic levels. Though rent stabilization and other supports should help, the increase is sure to put more people at risk of homelessness. Pressures on Cascadia's most vulnerable residenta are rising: Washington State Standard reports that the GOP Big Ugly Monster Bill in Congress threatens food assistance programs in Washington. Meanwhile, King County ponders a .1 percent increase in the sales tax (the most regressive of taxes) to better fund Metro Transit and fix crumbling roads.
This is all to say that governments in Cascadia are failing to meet the crisis of wealth inequality and Trump's destruction of the federal social safety net. John Burbank, writing for the Urbanist about the Washington legislature and gov Bob Ferguson's failure to meet that crisis, agrees. "There is nothing responsible about these cuts to public services. And there is nothing responsible about just waiting, as a sitting target, for the Trump cuts."
Seattle council member resigns
Seattle city council member Cathy Moore, perhaps best known for ordering "Arrest those individuals" during a noisy protest of a vote on homeless services – will resign her seat just a year and a half into her term. The council will appoint a new member but they won't be up for re-election until Nov 2026. Meanwhile, Seattle mayor Bruce Harrell faces 7 opponents in his re-election fight. In other local news Portland worries that a badly needed park levy won't pass. And Cascadia Daily takes a look back at Whatcom County's Sasquatch Protection area legislation – proving that governments in Cascadia can be responsive to the people's needs.
Portland man still detained by ICE in Tacoma
Street Roots reports on Jose Luis Reinaldo, a 22-year-old asylum seeker from Venezuela who was detained by ICE in February, and remains in custody at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma. "...it’s not easy to be locked up here,” told the paper, “even for the strongest.” Willamette Week notes that ICE has started detaining people at immigration courts in Portland, punishing people who are trying to work within the system. And bless the anonymous writer for the Stranger who faults security guards at grocery stores in Seattle for wearing ICE-style combat gear: "You look like assholes, kitted out like Proud Boys who think Al Qaeda is gonna jump them in the produce section."
What's up with the Ostriches?
I really don't want to write about the ostriches in British Columbia. But a recent piece in the New York Times and ongoing 24-hour rightwing coverage means I guess I'd better. So, in a nutshell, at a farm where ostriches are raised to be killed for their meat, birds have been getting sick from avian bird flu (you know the stuff that the Trump administration wants to spread and is cutting vaccine research for). Sixty-nine of the 400-some birds on a farm in Edgewood, in central BC, have died from the H5N1 virus, and as a safety precaution, officials from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency asked that the rest of the birds be culled. Enter top US Health official Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and rightwing celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz – who have been leading a campaign to save the birds, even offering to take them as refugees across the border. Never mind that children worldwide are dying because of the Trump administration's cuts to USAID. We have to save some fucking ostriches. If you really want to read more about the whole stupid episode, there's stuff at the New York Times and CBC.
BlackOut art exhibit in Portland 5 years after BLM protests
The Portland Mercury looks at the upcoming BlackOut visual art exhibit inspired by the Mercury's 5-year anniversary exploration of the legacy of the Portland protests. The exhibit, running June 5-July 5 at The BLACK Gallery (916 NW Flanders in Portland) features work by Sai Stone, Lakayana Drury, Savina Monet, and Devin Boss.
--Andrew Engelson
