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Seattle housing prices take another leap upward
The housing crisis in Seattle got a jolt of bad news as new data show that the median house price in the city is nearly $820,000, a jump of $40,000 in just a month. Meanwhile, Crosscut reports on how the black community in Seattle’s Central District has been fighting a losing battle against gentrification. In Vancouver, renters’ advocates are pondering a rent strike against excessive increases. And in a bizarre story, California Sunday reports on the booming business of barging waterfront homes to new locations when they’re replaced with mansions.
Major chefs urge BC to phase out farming of Atlantic salmon
According to CBC, more than 50 top Canadian chefs came together to announce their opposition to Atlantic salmon farms in BC waters. In related news, a provincial advisory council recommended that British Columbia’s 20 fish farms should undergo a review process with First Nations before being granted permit renewals.
BC changes rules to allow nurses to prescribe opioid substitutes
The Georgia Straight reports on new rules in British Columbia that will allow nurses to prescribe opioid substitutes, making it easier to provide safe alternatives to fentanyl and other street drugs contributing to overdoses. The Tyee says a new report recommends more safe injection sites and expanded access to nalaxone to address the overdose crisis. And Erica C. Barnett reports that after a needle-stick incident in a library, the Seattle Public Library is investigating installing sharps containers throughout the library system.
New Forest Service budget includes big boost for firefighting
After a record forest fire season in Cascadia, the US federal budget saw a major increase in Forest Service funds for firefighting, High Country News reports. The increase, however comes with some loosening of logging restrictions that could make it easier to cut old-growth forests in the Northwest.
Barbara Stowe’s meditation on civil disobedience against pipelines
The Georgia Straight publishes environmental activist Barbara Stowe’s personal meditation on the practice of civil disobedience at Burnaby Mountain, BC against the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline. “Notice how at first you really didn’t want to come here, how you resented Bill for asking, and now how you want to come back, not only tomorrow and the day after that, but for the rest of your life.”
Julie Marie Wade’s biography of poems
In a lovely, long essay at Poetry Northwest, Julie Marie Wade examines the events at Western Washington University that led to her coming out and the poems the resulted from that time. “So in addition to the loss of family, a severing of ties between my present and past lives, there was also an overwhelming sense of a loss of language. What I most wanted to say had become unsayable; what I most needed to express had become inexpressible.”
That’s today’s news and arts from the Pacific Northwest. Enjoy your weekend! –Andrew Engelson
Photo credit: Seattle homes by Joe Mabel CC BY-SA 2.0