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Cascadia Magazine original:
Addressing the wrongs of the War on Drugs
For decades, the War on Drugs in the Pacific Northwest took its heaviest toll on communities of color. Now that cannabis is legal in Oregon and Washington (and will be later this year in British Columbia), the recreational weed business is booming. And yet because of past convictions and structural racism, people of color are at risk of being kept on the margins.
But as Matt Stangel reports in Cascadia Magazine, entrepreneurs such as Raft Hollingsworth of Shelton, Washington are staking a claim in the burgeoning marijuana industry in the Northwest. And will the help of various measures, including voiding of convictions and economic assistance, minorities in the cannabis business have a better shot at moving beyond the legacy of marijuana prohibition.
Don’t miss the full article here.
Transit use in Seattle & Vancouver hits new records
Sound Transit, the transit agency serving three counties around metropolitan Seattle, reports that contrary to national trends, transit use was up substantially in 2017, a 22 percent increase. Bus use was also up. Vancouver, BC transit in 2017 also saw a gain of about 5 percent over the previous record year. Portland, however, saw declines–mostly in bus use, and for the most part attributed increasing gentrification in the city center.
Portland to require landlords to pay fees for steep rent increases
In an effort to control spiraling housing costs, the Portland city council is expected to pass a measure that would require landlords to pay moving costs for tenants given no-cause evictions or rent increases above 10 percent. Meanwhile, the Portland Mercury investigates a city program intended to help black residents continue to afford to stay in historically black neighborhoods. The program doesn’t seem to be working–only 4 homeowners since 2015 have successfully taken advantage of the loans.
Is now the time for proportional representation in BC?
Martyn Brown at the Georgia Straight has changed his mind: he’s now for proportional representation in British Columbia, which will likely be on the ballot later this year. “The bigger problem”, he writes, “is in how our current “winner takes all” system shuts out the “losing” majority of combined voters that supported other parties.” In other progressive reform news, the recent BC budget allocates $4 million to study a basic income plan for the province.
The fight over Oregon’s beavers
Beavers are a longtime symbol of Oregon–and they’re also proving to be the source of disputes. Because of their dam building-ways, they help improve the ecological health of wetlands–but can also be a flooding nuisance for property owners. High Country News reports on the conflict between the US Dept. of Agriculture, which wants authority to kill “problem” beavers, and conservationists who defend their importance in Cascadia ecosystems.
Broadening the concept of black art
In conversation with KUOW, visual artist Carol Rashawnna Williams talks about how climate change and its effects are important to her work. But as a black artist, she sometimes get pushback for not tackling other social issues. “What makes me a black artist or an African-American artist or an artist of color or whatever you want to identify me as is the fact that I paint.”
Seattle writer explores decline of native bees
The Missoulian has a review of Seattle writer Paige Embry’s new book Our Native Bees. Originally a geologist, Embry was drawn to the topic after learning about serious declines in the 4,000 bee species native to North America. “The world looks the way it does and we eat what we eat because of bees,” she writes.
That’s all today’s Cascadia news and culture, courtesy of the desks, coffee, shortbread and wifi at Powell’s City of Books. Greetings from PDX! –Andrew Engelson
Photo credit: beaver by Chuck Szmurlo CC BY-SA 3.0