SUBSCRIBE TO THE FREE NEWSLETTER
Welcome to Cascadia This Week!
Welcome to Cascadia Magazine’s new weekly email newsletter, Cascadia This Week.
For those of you were fans of Cascadia Daily, you’ll find it’s quite similar: once a week we’ll bring you an eclectic mix of news, arts, and culture from across the region that stretches from northern California to southeast Alaska, from the Pacific Ocean to the Continental Divide, and including most of Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia.
We’ll bring you links to political news, environmental reporting, and profiles of people doing fascinating things in science, business, and the arts as well as a sampling of poetry, fiction, essays, and other high-quality writing. If you have feedback about the selection of content you find here, please email us.
This is also where you’ll find links to original writing and photography published online at Cascadia Magazine. Though we’re scaling back from what we’ve done over the past two years, we’ll continue to occasionally publish in-depth journalism on environmental, social, and political issues. And each month we’ll publish one new poem and one new work of prose (essay or fiction) by an author who lives in Cascadia.
The Pacific Northwest is a fascinating and diverse region, and we hope this modified newsletter and online magazine will offer you a taste of what makes the Cascadia bioregion so special.
Fundraising and non-profit status
We have a few updates on the organization behind Cascadia Magazine. Thank you to all who made contributions during our Fall Fund Drive. You’re helping support independent journalism and high-quality writing. Though we fell short of our goal and now need to scale back, we hope to continue publication. And if you didn’t make a donation during our fund drive but would like to support our work, you can still visit our donate page.
If you’d like to stop your recurring donation because of our plans to scale back to a weekly newsletter and reduced online editorial calendar, please contact us via email and we’ll be happy to cancel your subscription.
We also received notice that we are now an official 501(c)(3) federal nonprofit. This means that any donations you make to Cascadia Magazine (if you’re a US taxpayer) are now tax-deductible. Email us if you have questions.
Thanks for reading, and we hope you enjoy Cascadia This Week!
New at Cascadia Magazine: Fish Warriors
Fifty years ago, a group of fishers from the Yakama Nation fished the Columbia River out of the “official” season in order to stand up for their right to fish for salmon as they had since time immemorial. In an exciting new project online at Cascadia Magazine, Yakama writer and poet Emily Washines documents fishing traditions and the long legal fight by people like David Sohappy, Jr. to get courts to recognize treaty rights. Portland photographer Intisar Abioto, creator of the website The Black Portlanders, captures life on the river and the people behind the the “Fish Wars” of the 1960s, 70s, and 80s.
Find the full article, two of Emily’s poems, and Intisar’s amazing photos here.
Emily Washines, Intisar Abioto, and David Sohappy, Jr. will be participating in what will be a fascinating talk, slideshow, and documentary screening at the Yakama Nation Cultural Center Theater at 7 pm, Tues Dec. 3. It’s a free event…if you’re in central Washington, definitely check it out! More info here.
Washington car-tab measure halted by courts
An initiative that passed in early November elections in Washington that would slash car registration fees has been temporarily halted by a King County Superior Court judge, Crosscut reports. The lawsuit was led by a transit riders organization that believes the cuts would seriously limit transit service. Activist Anna Zivarts writes in the Seattle Times that the draconian tax cuts will hit the disabled hard. Crosscut’s Melissa Santos has a great, detailed profile of Tim Eyman, the anti-tax crusader behind the initiative, and Eyman announced early this week he wants to run for governor as an independent. Will the fact he stole an office chair from Office Depot earlier this year have an impact on his chances? As Simpsons TV reporter Kent Brockman likes to say, “Only time will tell.”
BC adopts UN Indigenous rights declaration
The BC legislature, according to Global News, passed bill 41 that formally adopted the UN Indigenous rights declaration, which requires that all provincial legislation respect the rights of First Nations, and other Indigenous people. In related news, The Tyee reports on a brewing conflict in Squamish, BC over return of parcels land to the Squamish Nation that has outdoor recreationists worried about access.
Evictions in BC highest in Canada
Another indicator of the housing crisis in British Columbia, The Tyee finds that roughly 10 percent of people moving out of housing in BC were “forced” to do so–indicating that eviction rates (which can lead to homelessness) are the highest in Canada. Meanwhile, Erica Barnett reports that King County and Seattle are nearing a deal on an “interlocal agreement” to tackle homelessness. And Salem Reporter notes that the city council in Salem, OR passed an ordinance this week banning camping on sidewalks and public spaces, further criminalizing homelessness.
Seattle and Vancouver pass city budgets
Real Change looks at passage of the $6.5 billion Seattle city budget, which increases funds for tiny houses, new public restrooms, and a big boost for “Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program, which mobilizes case managers, law enforcement and prosecutors to help low-level offenders avoid incarceration and connect to services.” Meanwhile, the Vancouver Sun reports that the Vancouver city council passed its budget, which increases property taxes 8.2 percent to fund new transit, affordable housing, and school programs.
Portland fuel storage facility at risk in megaquake
The Portland Mercury investigates what a major earthquake would do to a massive, old fuel storage facility in north Portland–and the news is not good. In related news, 21 people were arrested at the Oregon capitol protesting a new LNG pipeline terminal. And the WA Dept. of Ecology has halted work on a methanol plant in Kalama on the Columbia River, saying it didn’t meet all environmental standards.
A deep dive into Yakima’s changing demographics
The New York Times wrote a great, detailed feature on the changing demographics of Yakima, WA where the Latinx population is surging, but political representation on the city council has been slow to grow. Northwest News Network looks at tensions in the city where federal courts ordered changes to the council system to increase representation among the Hispanic community. In related news, Eugene Weekly reviews a new exhibit at the University of Oregon that explores the legacy of racism in Oregon, well into the late 20th century (the Green Book, for instance found that only 10 hotels in Oregon welcomed black people in 1962).
A radio DJ’s battle with cancer
Crosscut has a lovely and sad profile of KEXP music DJ Cheryl Waters, who continues to work for the Seattle-based public radio station as she’s treated for cancer. “It’s really sort of a cruel thing that someone who makes their living speaking gets tongue cancer,” she says.
A menagerie of masks in Newberg, OR
Oregon Arts Watch reviews a new show, “Universal Feeling” on display at the Chehalem Cultural Center in Newberg, OR curated by by Portland artist and mask-maker Tom Fuemmeler. More than 60 artists are represented and organized by one of six facial expressions.
Celebrating Donald Byrd, one of Seattle’s greatest choreographers
Seattle Dances reports on a new exhibit and performances at the Frye Art Museum in celebrating the 40-year career of Seattle choreographer Donald Byrd, whose award-winning dance work is complex, challenging and often poetic.
An essay by BC’s Jónína Kirton
At the Capilano Review, read an excerpt from Jónína Kirton’s essay “Everything is Waiting,” an ecstatic ode to slowing down and observing the world around us. “I consider myself to be in collaboration with the universe. I feel most comfortable in the natural world. Crows follow me down the street.”
Poetry by Woogee Bae and Geoff Inverarity
Poetry Northwest has a gorgeous excerpt from a longer poem by Seattle’s Woogee Bae called “mung.”
“Am I to say your name
or face
In a box of silver, peridot”
And at Geist, take a moment to read Geoff Inverarity’s “The Woman Who Talks to Her Dog at the Beach,” a lovely, and funny “Socratic dialog” about dogs and the meaning of life:
“Who, on this shoreline,
is a Good Dog?
Are there better dogs than I am?”
Hope you enjoyed the first edition of Cascadia This Week. To those of you on the US side of the border, have a great Thanksgiving weekend! Be sure to join us for two great events: a talk and slideshow on Yakama fishing rights in Toppenish, WA on December 3, and our Seattle Writers + Artists reading at Vermillion in Seattle on Tuesday December 10!
Thanks for reading. –Andrew Engelson