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Leah Sottile on right-wing groups in Cascadia
After a deadly terrorist shooting in El Paso, Texas this weekend in which the shooter had a clear agenda of hate against Latinos and immigrants, attention is being focused on right-wing domestic terrorism in the US, which has been steadily climbing during the Trump administration.
Someone who knows a lot about growing right-wing radicalization in Cascadia is journalist Leah Sottile, who reported on the right wing groups associated with the Bundy family of southern Oregon, and working with OPB and Longreads has created the amazing Bundyville podcast, an in-depth look at armed far-right extremism in the region. It’s sobering, frightening stuff.
Listen to Bundyville here.
Wildfires growing in BC, Oregon
Though this year’s fire season is mild compared to 2017 and 2018, wildfires are growing in Cascadia, with a fire burning 200 hectares in the Okanagan-Similkameen region of British Columbia, CBC reports. A 1,400 fire continues to grow 41 kilometres west of Atlin, BC The Georgia Straight notes, and the Milepost 97 fire in southwest Oregon is now 55 percent contained. More info on current fire situation can be found at Inciweb in the US and the BC Wildfire Service in British Columbia.
Cascadia communities ill-prepared for wildfires
OPB interviews researchers in forest ecology who are concerned that rural and suburban towns in Washington and Oregon aren’t prepared for catastrophic wildfires like the one that destroyed the city of Paradise, California last year and left 80 people dead. This follows another story at OPB last week that finds Oregon lags far behind other western states in preparedness for earthquakes, tsunamis, and other natural disasters. For more info on how to prepare for a megaquake in the region, visit Cascadia Prepared.
Oregon Senator calls for emergency session after weekend shootings
After mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio over the weekend, Oregon Senator Roy Wyden called for an emergency session of the US Senate to pass universal background check legislation. Portland Tribune looks at recent attempts to revive Initiative 40, which would require gun locks on firearms stored in homes. In related news, Crosscut reported on new laws that went in effect in Washington that take guns away from those accused of domestic violence.
Hang your laundry to fight climate change
OPB looks at a new campaign by Solar Oregon to encourage people to hang their laundry out in the summertime, noting that it takes 3 kilowatts to dry a load of laundry (equivalent to three pounds of coal, if it’s not generated from renewable sources).
What a Seattle Green New Deal Means
Crosscut examines how the Seattle city council is working on applying a proposed Green New Deal on the city level— a platform that works toward affordable housing, increased transit funding, and taxes on carbon-producing corporations. Seattle voters are deciding many council seats, and the deadline to mail ballots for the primary is Tuesday, Aug 6.
Summer fiction by Sherry Jones
“Eat, Drink, and Be Merry” is the latest installment of the Spokesman-Review’s Summer Stories series–and this offering, Spokane-based writer Sherry Jones imagines a party in 2069 when the world is on fire, people are celebrating the 100th anniversary of Woodstock and you can print out prime rib from a “Meal Mate.”