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New at Cascadia Magaine: a poet and biologist listen to the bees
Cascadia Magazine is thrilled to have former Vancouver poet laureate Rachel Rose as an associate editor. Rachel recently spoke with biologist Mark L. Winton and poet Renée Sarojini Saklikar about their fascinating collaboration, Listening to the Bees. One of the world’s most renowned bee experts and the poet laureate of Surrey, BC worked together to explore the world of bees, which face a worldwide extinction crisis due to pesticides and habitat loss.
Though the two authors approach the natural world looking through different lenses of art and science, sometimes Winton and Saklikar find common ground: “We each throw out ideas,” Winton says, “try them out in pilot projects, see if they’re supported by the results, and if not, reject the hypothesis, learn from the negative results, and move on to another hypothesis. We also share a precision and rigour around our crafts, a compulsion to get it right. ”
For her part, Saklikar finds her work almost “bee-like” in its natural progression: “I think the words just kind of Ouija-board formed themselves into a kind of magnetic trance in my mind, and then when I woke up out of it, as if the bees themselves were dictating to me, I see that the dense repetition of the names of flowers juxtaposed with Shell Oil chemicals.”
Read the full interview online at Cascadia Magazine.
Canadian government to buy Trans Mountain pipeline
Canada’s federal government announced today that it intends to purchase the Trans Mountain pipeline across British Columbia from Texas-based company Kinder Morgan for $4.5 billion, and would likely take on costs of the $7.4 billion expansion. Reaction from opposition parties– both the left-leaning NDP and the Conservatives — was critical. British Columbia’s NDP government remained committed to opposing the expansion, and the Star Vancouver reports that Alberta’s threat to cutoff oil to BC wouldn’t hold up in court. Ethan Cox, writing for Ricochet, says the deal to purchase the pipeline is simply KinderMorgan dropping a “toxic asset” and could bring down Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government. The pipeline was shut down this weekend after a spill near Kamloops. And some wag posted a for-sale ad for the troubled pipeline on Craigslist.
Columbia River treaty talks begin
The East Oregonian reports that talks between the US and Canadian governments have begun to renegotiate the agreement that allows US dams on the Columbia river to store reservoir water in British Columbia. At issue are payments the US makes to Canada. Meanwhile, NWPB notes that Native American tribes have been left out of those negotiations.
Wildfires grow in eastern BC
Global News reports that three wildfires burning in eastern BC are leading to evacuations and firefighting efforts to protect homes. Over at High Country News, they have a handy guide on how to not start a wildfire this summer.
Is Washington ready for universal health care?
KNKX reports on the effort to put an initiative on the ballot in Washington that would create a single-payer universal health care system in the state, paid for with income and capital-gains taxes. The all-volunteer effort is scrambling to get to get the necessary signatures by July 6. More info can be found at Whole Washington.
Portland isn’t Oregon’s fastest growing city — by a long shot
The Oregonian reports on new census data finds that Portland, which added 60,000 residents since 2010, isn’t the fastest growing city in Oregon. That distinction goes to the Portland suburb of Happy Valley, followed closely by Bend, which had a 23 percent growth rate and is nearly topping 100,000 people. Meanwhile the Seattle Times reports that housing rental prices have cooled off recently, perhaps due to apartment construction.
Fighting scotch broom on WA’s coastal rivers
I hate scotch broom, and not just because its brilliant yellow blooms cause a frenzied sneezing allergy reaction this time of year. The Seattle Times reports on the efforts to remove the super-invasive weed from Washington’s Hoh River valley. And in the Elwha valley, the site of the world’s largest dam-removal project, the forests of the former reservoir are returning.
BC Indigenous architects represent Canada at Venice Biennale
The Georgia Straight reports that three Indigneous architects from Vancouver will represent Canada in the prestigious Venice Biennale art show which opened last weekend: Ouri Scott, Patrick Stewart, and Alfred Waugh. The exhibit focuses on sustainability and de-colonization.
“Strawberries,” a poem by Gabrielle Bates
Seattle-based poet Gabrielle Bates, who works for the all-poetry store Open Books, has a poem, “Strawberries,” online at the New Yorker, a vignette of youth and football:
“A car’s tires thu-thunk
over the rubbery black trip wire at the oil change,
triggering a fat bell,
and a group of girls in silver leotards are reflected
like spatters of sap in its windows—
liquidine, firm, gleaming.”
Read the full poem here.
That’s today’s round-up of news, arts, and other stuff from across the Pacific Northwest. A big thanks to Seattle Review of Books for very generous shout-out to Cascadia Magazine and our Almost Summer Reading, this Friday, June 1! –Andrew Engelson
Photo credits: volunteer removing scotch broom courtesy of BLM, Mark Winston and Renée Sarojini Saklikar courtesy of Simon Fraser University, cover of Listening to the Bees courtesy of Harbour Books, protester against KinderMorgan’s pipeline by Mark Klotz via Flickr CC BY-SA 2.0, logo courtesy of Whole Washington.