Bipartisan effort in WA legislature to protect net neutrality

The Seattle Times reports on a bi-partisan bill in the Washington legislature that would preserve net neutrality rules that were recently tossed out by the Trump administration. The bill is co-sponsored by a Republican from Bainbridge Island. “Net-neutrality protections help everyone: entrepreneurs, consumers, teachers, everyone.”

Alberta and British Columbia brawl over pipeline

Alberta and British Columbia are at odds over the proposed TransMountain pipeline that would take crude from Alberta’s tar sands to a port near Vancouver. BC premier Horgan has proposed tougher oil spill regulations that could hamper the project. In retaliation, Alberta’s government is threatening to reduce how much electricity it buys from BC. Meanwhile, Canadian prime minister Trudeau repeated his vow to build the pipeline.

Federal tax bill could cost Oregon budget $200 million

OPB reports on how the recent US tax bill could leave Oregon’s state budget with a shortfall of $200 million. In addition, many Oregon taxpayers will feel the bite of new rules limiting how much state income tax can be deducted on IRS returns. Similarly, Idaho is facing the prospect of state income tax hikes of $119 million.

When a ride-share leads to harassment

Seattle writer Kristen Millares Young writes for Crosscut about the time a Lyft ride turned ugly and a driver aggressively hit on her, shattering her trust in the company. “Keep your wits about you, you urge yourself. Show fear, and he’ll maintain the upper hand.” Meanwhile, a bill in the WA legislature would require background checks for ride-share drivers.

Anosh Irani on persistence in the craft of art

In an essay at Granta, Vancouver-based writer Anosh Irani, author of the The Parcel, a nominee for the Governor General’s Award, explores what keeps him going through the creative process. Comparing the writing of a novel to the obsessive protagonist of Werner Herzog’s film Fitzcaraldo, Irani sees art rooted in suffering: “The interiority that we keep speaking of in fiction is built on pain – and the character’s resulting search thereof. The story’s movement is toward healing (not redemption).”

An interview with poet laureate Claudia Castro Luna

At the South Seattle Emerald, Seattle poet Paul Nelson interviews Claudia Castro Luna, the incoming Washington state poet laureate. In the first of a two-part series, Castro Luna talks about her experience as Seattle’s civic poet, and her Seattle Poetic Grid project that matched poems to locations throughout the city. “Everybody’s equal on the map. You can’t see the topography of it, you know? The map is flat, so everybody exists on the same plane…”

That’s all for today from Cascadia Daily world headquarters in Seattle!  –Andrew Engelson

Photo credit: Washington Legislative Building by Wikimedia Commons user Cacophony CC BY-SA 3.0