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Vancouver and Portland take action on affordable housing
Yesterday, the Vancouver city council approved an ambitious plan to create 72,000 affordable housing units over 10 years, through a mix of zoning changes, faster permitting, and a ban on foreign investment in housing. Meanwhile, Portland approved one of the biggest affordable housing projects in its history, a complex in the Lloyd District that will add hundreds of new subsidized units (although critics wonder about the hefty price tag). And the Portland Mercury also reports that the Republican US tax plan could have disastrous consequences for affordable housing in Oregon.
Mangialuk’s Highway: a tragic story of indigenous kids in the Arctic
You’ll want to set aside some time to read Vancouver writer Nadim Robert’s “Mangilaluk’s Highway” at Granta, a magnificent and sad account of three First Nations teens who ran away from abuse in a residential school in the 1960s. As part of a special issue on Canada, the piece documents the harsh reality of these government-sponsored religious schools where native children were often subjected to predatory sexual abuse.
Why are Washington’s legislators exempt from public disclosure?
Shawn Vestal, writing for the Spokesman-Review, wonders why Washington state has such a far-reaching, 45-year-old public disclosure law for all government business, but exempts individual state legislators. “If you’re curious how the Legislature has handled harassment complaints,” he writes, “or want to know who weighed in when a bill was being amended. . . well, tough.” Two GOP legislators have proposed changes to the law.
Cleanup at Hanford nuclear site at risk
Washington’s Hanford nuclear site, which created the fuel for the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, is in the midst of a $16 billion effort to turn toxic wastes into glass. A detailed report at the Seattle Times found that the safety of those efforts may be compromised by the Trump administration’s effort to abolish an oversight board. The board’s recent report noted a lack of “sufficient technical rigor” in preventing a dangerous meltdown of plutonium at the site.
An avant-garde gallery moves: Seattle’s loss, Portland’s gain
City Arts reports that Seattle’s alternative gallery space INCA, which has promoted the work of lesser-known experimental artists, including multimedia artist Sondra Perry, will be closing its space in Seattle and moving to Portland. You can explore their artists and past shows on INCA’s website.
Protesters to Starbucks: we demand recyclable cups!
A 12-foot monster named “Grounds” has invaded the parking lot at Starbucks’ headquarters in Seattle. The hungry-looking sculpture is the work of Stand, an activist group trying to get the global coffee-purveyor to switch to genuinely recyclable cups. The group claims the 4 billion cups Starbucks customers plow through each year aren’t recyclable at most facilities because of a plastic lining.
I’d also add: whatever happened to porcelain cups, for when you actually sit down to sip your coffee instead of running on the sidewalk with it? Oh well, I guess some ideas are too radical for their time.
That’s all the latest links from The Great Northwest. –Andrew Engelson
Photo credits: Starbucks cup monster courtesy of www.stand.earth