SUBSCRIBE TO THE FREE NEWSLETTER

Vancouver’s beloved Canuck is missing

CBC reports that the Canuck the Crow, Vancouver’s most beloved wild bird, known for his antics with humans (including stealing a knife from a crime scene) has gone missing. Shawn Bergman, who has documented Canuck’s antics for thousands of followers on social media, wonders if he might have been captured, and has offered a reward of $10,000 for his return.

You can learn more about Canuck at his Facebook and Instagram pages. And be sure to  read poet Fiona Tinwei Lam’s poem “Ode to a Crow,” online at Cascadia Magazine, a tribute to the cheeky corvid:

“Dark star of the show,
prankster, terror, tease, bad boy,
you ride the Skytrain for free, dive-bomb letter carriers,
target cyclists’ backpacks between rest stops at McDonalds.”

Will anti-fascist flags fly at Portland Timbers matches?

There’s an ongoing conflict between Portland Timbers fans who want to fly the Iron Front flag, a symbol of anti-fascism that dates from the Nazi period in Germany, during games and MLS officials, who have banned the flag and all “political symbols.” OPB interviews Sheba Rawson, who leads the nonprofit that includes the Timbers Army, the fan group insisting their flag symbolizes inclusion and safety in a way similar to rainbow LGBTQ flags. Willamette Week has more on the controversy, and The Stranger reports that hundreds Seattle Sounders fans walked out of a recent game in support of the Timbers Army. Nate Christiansen at Crosscut argues MLS is making a historic mistake banning Iron Front flags.

BC woman wins right to medically assisted death

A British Columbia court ruled in favor of Julia Lamb, a woman with a painful spinal disease, who has requested the right to medically assisted death, a major ruling that alters the province’s current approach to death-with-dignity.

US government proposes increased protection area for orcas

Lynda Mapes at the Seattle Times reports that US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration is proposing to greatly expand the critical habitat area for endangered orcas, to areas beyond the Salish Sea, including much of the coast of Washington, Oregon, and northern California. Orcas are dying at high rates, and the death of the calf of Tahlequah the orca captivated the world’s attention last year.

Saving the shrub-steppe ecosystem

Much of central and eastern Washington and Oregon was covered in shrub-steppe habitat, a dry landscape of sagebrush, wildflowers, and pines that supports populations of elk, badgers, raptors, and many other species. Emily McCarty at Crosscut has a fantastic, detailed look at efforts to protect these unique ecosystems.

A program that connects immigrant & refugee youth through music

OPB looks at a fascinating education program called Pass the Mic, which began in eastern Oregon, and now also works in Portland schools bringing music education and performance experience to immigrants and refugees from a wide variety of countries and backgrounds.

Flash fiction by Anastacia-Reneé

Seattle poet Anastacia-Reneé has two flash fiction pieces at Pacifica Review– “Day Drinking” and “Say What”:
“the new girl arrived with her hands inside her mouth & her voice in her pocket. & you might think this is just a cool way of telling the story dear reader, i am telling you the truth…”

Read the full pieces here. That’s all the Cascadia news, arts, and culture we could fit in tiny little newsletter. Hope you enjoyed it and if you do, consider forwarding this email to your friends using the button below. Thanks! –Andrew Engelson

Photo credits: Canuck the crow by Shawn Bergman