Daily Digest: Making shrooms legal in Cascadia, OR school elections and 25 years of geocaching

Andrew Engelson

14 May 2025 — 2 min read

Activists hope to make magic mushrooms legal in Cascadia. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Good afternoon! I hope this wrap-up of news and arts during our roller coaster ride into fascism helps you make sense of what's happening. If you appreciate Cascadia Journal, help me meet my goal of 50 subscribers in May. I can't do this without your support. Thanks!

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It's time for Cascadia to consider independence

In case you missed it, several of us wrote about how, in the face of Trump ignoring the the rule of law, Washington and Oregon need to consider independence from the United States. It's kind of a big deal, so take a moment to read it!

Movement to legalize shrooms grows in WA

KUOW reports on a growing movement to decriminalize psylocibin – otherwise known as magic mushrooms – in cities across Washington state. Proponents in Port Townsend are pushing for loosened restrictions for both medical and recreational use. 🍄

Oregon votes on school boards

OPB has an excellent guide to local school board elections statewide. Ballots are due by May 20. In other election news, King County, which encompasses the greater Seattle area, will be choosing a new executive – and Cascade PBS has a guide to the candidates. My favorites are Girmay Zahilay and Claudia Balducci, two very strong candidates who will be tough to choose from! And The Stranger reports that wealthy douchebag Brian Heywood is back with a bunch of right-wing initiatives in Washington, including a cap on property taxes and a ban on trans girls in sports. Go move to California and be a guest on Gavin Newsom's dumb podcast or something.

Former Vancouver mayor is Canada's housing minister

The Tyee reports that Gregor Robertson, who served as mayor of Vancouver from 2008 to 2018, has been appointed by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to serve as housing minister. That's encouraging since Robertson is very familiar with the housing affordability crisis and homelessness. In other news, I wish a plague of oozing sores upon the landlords in WA who, according to Cascadia Daily, have jacked up rents right before a new state law limiting increases goes into effect.

Geocaching started in Oregon 25 years ago

OPB has a great story about the sport of geocaching, the worldwide online treasure hunt in which stashes of trinkets are hidden in 3 million locations around the world. Turns out the first cache was hidden in Estacada, Oregon in May 2025.

--Andrew Engelson

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ICE agents arrest a man and the text from the voiceover reads "This is not OK."

They took a father from his child

In the art of writing fiction there's a concept known as the "inciting incident," a moment early in a story when the main character is confronted with a shock or sudden change that then drives the rest of the narrative . It's a useful concept

Officers of ICE detain a man, a person of color, in handcuffs, with another officer holding a military-stye assault rifle.

Cascadia today: ICE arrests surge in WA + Seattle city council hates renters + printmaking with a steamroller

Thank you for reading Cascadia Journal! And a big thanks our paid subscribers... you make this daily newsletter possible. I'm just two subscribers short of 50 paid readers, will you help me meet my goal? If you find this roundup of news & arts from across the bioregion,

A plane drops water over a smoking wildfire buring in forest of thick trees.

Cascadia today: Wildfires force evacuations + MAX service faces cuts + native youth create art of "rematriation"

Wildfire in Columbia Gorge forces evacuations According to KGW, the Burdoin fire on the Washington side of the Columbia Gorge is now burning in more than 11,000 acres and has destroyed a dozen homes, with areas near the towns of Klickitat and Wahkiacus still under evacuation orders. Over the

Oregon governor Tina Kotek stands at a podium and speaks into a microphone.

Cascadia today: OR governor calls special session + Seattle votes for mayor + Elliott Smith's songwriting genius

OR governor calls special session on transportation After the Oregon legislature failed to pass a substantive transportation budget this year, governor Tina Kotek will call a special session in August to try to address the issue, OPB reports. She's delayed 500 layoffs at ODOT, due to a budget