Daily Digest: Gates To Give Away Fortune, ICE is awful, and Chinook Nation seeks recognition
Bill Gates will give away his fortune early
The Associated Press reports that Microsoft founder Bill Gates ramp up his philanthropic donations and will give way $107 billion, 99 percent of his wealth, and close down the Gates Foundation, which funds global health initiatives, by 2045. The move comes as Trump and Elon Musk effectively shut down USAID, causing immense damage to public health and increasing risk of famine. Gates told the Financial Times he believes Musk is "killing children" because of the cuts. Rather than leaving things like global health to the whims of billionaires, it's time to revive French economist Thomas Picketty's idea of a global tax on wealth.
Autonomy for eastern WA and OR?
Oregon Capital Chronicle has a fascinating opinion piece about the idea of creating an autonomous region in eastern Washington and Oregon that would create a separate legislature and governor for the eastern half but keep the states intact. It's an outgrowth of the right-of-center greater Idaho concept, and a way to address the growing political divide between the progressive Western side and the more conservative Eastern side. It's an idea worth investigating. Meanwhile, a delegation from Washington state traveled to Victoria to meet with British Columbia officials to look at ways to build connections in the wake of the Trump administration's aggressive policy toward Canada. And the Narwhal looks at the very real possibility that the conservative government in Albert could seek separation from Canada– and how that movement is about drilling more oil.
Preparing Cascadia to resist ICE
Cascade PBS has a detailed look at how immigrant rights organizations such as Advocates for Immigrants in Detention Northwest are mobilizing to protect and assist immigrants in Cascadia caught up the Trump's immigration crackdown. RANGE Media reports on how federal agents have reportedly been spying on immigration activists in the Spokane area. It's time to abolish ICE and establish in Cascadia a humane and economically sustainable policy on immigration.
Chinook Nation's bid for recognition stalls
OPB looks at the Chinook Indian Nation's long journey to seek federal recognition as a tribe, and how that effort has stalled thanks to indifference from US Rep Marie Gluesenkamp Perez. The 3,000-member nation has called the region at the mouth of the Columbia River and Willapa Bay home since time immemorial. Any effort at independence for Cascadia must include much more meaningful decision making power for Indigenous people, and implementation of all of the provisions of the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
More on prize-winning author Tessa Hulls
The South Seattle Emerald is re-publishing its detailed interview with author and artist Tessa Hulls, whose graphic memoir Feeding Ghosts won a 2025 Pulitzer Prize for autobiography. Turns out that Hulls, who's from Seattle, actually moved to Juneau, Alaska about four months ago. KTOO talked to her about the book and her life between Alaska and Seattle.
--Andrew Engelson
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