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A poet protests a pipeline
In “House Arrest,” an essay online at Cascadia Magazine, poet Danika Dinsmore chronicles the deep bonds she built during her arrest and sentencing demonstrating against expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline across British Columbia. It’s an inspiring call to action on climate change.
“I am no hero. My fellow protestors and I agree: our courage is not extraordinary. We were simply so deep in our despair we were overcome with the need to do something. . . . Crossing the injunction line was the easiest thing to do at the time, because not crossing, not acting, not demanding was more frightening.”
Read the full article here.
Oregon legislature to pay $1.1 million in harassment suits
OPB reports that the Oregon legislature will pay $1.1 million in damages to eight women subject to harassment in the state Capitol, including senator Sara Gelser, D-Corvallis. Meanwhile, longtime Oregon senate president and powerbroker Peter Courtney announced he was taking a “medical leave of absence” under a cloud of scrutiny for failing to tackle a hostile workpace. Willamette Week has a detailed report on how Courtney paid lip service to calls for change in the Capitol’s toxic work environment.
Washington moves toward eliminating vaccine exemptions
After a measles outbreak hit 71 cases in Clark County, Washington, the WA state House has passed a bill that would end “personal and philosophical” exemptions for vaccinations, The Stranger reports. PBS has a report on the battle in southwest WA between anti-vax parents and public health officials. Meanwhile, The Tyee looks at “disease amnesia” among some parents in British Columbia, and the effort to convince them to vaccinate.
Battle to create affordable housing near Seattle park nears end
Crosscut reports on how there may finally be truce in a 13-year battle to build 200 units of affordable housing on a former military site adjacent to Seattle’s Discovery park. A resident of the city’s well-to-do Magnolia neighborhood says yes to affordable housing, just not in his backyard. The Seattle Times looks at Portland’s affordable housing requirements and compares them to proposals on the table in Seattle. And CBC reports that the Vancouver city council is considering a proposal to create a rental-only zone along the new SkyTrain line to the University of British Columbia.
A very big, lonely Douglas fir
Over at the Guardian, you can read a great feature by Harley Rustad about how a massive Douglas-fir on Vancouver Island was spared the chainsaw, and now stands alone in a clearcut. The 70-meter (230-foot) tree is possibly over a thousand years old. “Cronin didn’t know it then, but he had not only stumbled upon one of the largest trees he had ever seen in his career – he had found one of the largest trees in the country.” More on Rustad’s book Big Lonely Doug here. And you really should watch this astonishing drone video by the Ancient Forest Alliance of a climb of the Lonely Doug.
How Chelene Knight helped create a feminist literary festival
At SAD magazine, read a profile of how Vancouver writer and poet Chelene Knight helped co-found Growing Room — an annual feminist literary festival in Vancouver. “I would love to see more people attend who have never attended a literary festival before,” says Knight. Growing Room, which features more than 100 authors runs March 8 – 17. More info here.
“Changing Roads,” fiction by Jeanette Weaskus
At Raven Chronicles, you can read Jeannette Weaskus’ Pushcart Prize-nominated story “Changing Roads,” a slightly mythical work of fiction about a barfly and ladies’ man who lives on the Klamath Indian Reservation. Weaskus is Nez Perce and lives in Pullman Washington. “He used his powers to make himself look very beautiful to women but the rule was that only drunk women could see the amazing beauty that he was able to generate for himself.” Read the full story here.
That’s today’s collection of links to news, arts, fiction and environmental news from across the Cascadia bioregion. Have a great evening! –Andrew Engelson