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Mental health, housing & education on WA & OR legislative agenda
As legislative sessions open in Oregon & Washington, Oregon governor Kate Brown has made it known she’ll back legislation that would place limits on rent increases, OPB reports. Josh Cohen, writing for Crosscut, looks at the various ways legislators are looking to deal with Washington’s housing affordability crunch, including tenant protections and more funds for affordable housing. Also at Crosscut, John Stang looks at the bipartisan consensus in the WA legislature to increase funding for mental health services. And WA governor Inslee supports changing a college financial-aid program to make it available to all students who qualify academically.
A proposal to provide free transit to Vancouver youth
CBC reports that new Vancouver city council member Jean Swanson has proposed a plan that would make all transit in the city free to youth age 18 and under. You can find out more about the #AllOnBoard proposal at this website.
Meanwhile, a lot of Seattle residents are feeling nostalgic after the closure of the Alaskan Way viaduct, but Charles Mudede, writing for the Stranger (bless him) reminds us that plunking a freeway next to Seattle’s waterfront was an abomination: “These are monsters. They are scary. They’re like those nightmare-large lizards that emerge from the sea and destroy the city with their giant tails and crush humans under their gigantic feet.” In other freeway news, it’s likely the feds will approve a Portland plan to collect tolls on I-5 and I-205.
Was Coastal GasLink pipeline illegally permitted?
In light of a recent showdown between police and the Wet’suwet’en First Nation over the Coastal GasLink pipeline in northern British Columbia, the Narwhal is re-posting its investigative report from late last year in which environmentalists claim the $4.7 billion LNG project from Dawson Creek to Kitimat was permitted illegally. Meanwhile Vaughn Palmer at the Vancouver Sun criticizes BC premier John Horgan and the NDP for their love of gas pipelines, and the Tyee talks with NDP environment minister Michelle Mungall about her unapologetic switch from being an opponent of the Site C dam project to a supporter.
Drawing attention to murdered and missing Indigenous women
Over at Seattle Met, Hayat Norimine’s fantastic, long feature looks at the Native American women drawing attention to the fact that some of the highest numbers of missing and murdered Indigenous women are in Washington state. “While the majority of crimes against American Indian women are committed by non-Native people, tribes have almost no ability to prosecute non-Natives, even on their land.” In related news, Seattle Weekly reports on efforts to increase data collection on the MMIW crisis in Washington state.
Classical music’s #MeToo moment
OPB talks with Portland-based violinist Raffaela Kalmar and her efforts to lead a #MeToo movement in the classical music world, drawing attention to conductors and fellow musicians who’ve allowed a culture of harassment and abuse to flourish in many US musical institutions.
Capilano Review makes archive available online
The Vancouver-based journal Capilano Review is one of British Columbia’s oldest and most influential literary magazines, and they’ve recently done something very cool: putting their entire archive over one year old online with free access. The archive dates back to 1972. It’s a great resource, and to say thanks you should subscribe to get the latest issues.
That’s today’s assortment of links to news and arts from across the Pacific Northwest. See you tomorrow! -Andrew Engelson