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Cascadia Magazine essay:
We Hope You Enjoy Portland Spirit
In a city whose unofficial motto is “keep Portland weird,” you’re bound to have a few strange incidents. In an essay for Cascadia Magazine, longtime Portland journalist Terrence Petty writes about a colorful cast of characters he observed on a day last year when leftist activists and pro-Trump protesters clashed.
“The police are setting up barricades that are intended to keep the Trump supporters separated from counter-protesters. One of the cops hands out little green cards to the bench-sitters, including the pit bull owner. The cards bear the names and phone numbers of social services for homeless people and the mentally ill. “Have a nice day,” one of the officers tells the pit bull owner, who is inspecting his little green card.”
Read the full essay online at Cascadia Magazine.
Online at Cascadia Magazine: Three cities, one housing crisis
Earlier this year, Casey Jaywork reported on how the three largest cities in Cascadia (Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver) are considering strategies to address skyrocketing housing costs, with a mix of incentives, zoning changes, and publicly funded affordable housing. Read more here.
Vancouver income-housing gap highest in North America
The Star Vancouver reports on new findings that the gap between housing costs and median incomes in Vancouver is the highest in North America. Meanwhile in Seattle, King county made a parcel of land near a light-rail station under construction available for affordable housing, utilizing a law passed this year. And the Upzones podcast talks with Seattle journalist Erica C. Barnett about efforts to rezone Seattle in the face of NIMBY opposition.
Asylum seekers in Seattle consider suicide
Crosscut reports on refugees in Seattle from places like the Democratic Republic of Congo so frustrated by the US asylum-granting process that they have high rates of suicidal tendencies. And in Tacoma, Washington, more than 170 detainees in an ICE detention center went on a hunger strike to protest separations of immigrant children from their parents. An op-ed in the Oregonian documents efforts by the Buddhist Peace Fellowship in Portland to protest ICE for more than a year:
“May the frightened cease to be afraid
And those bound be freed
May the powerless find their power
And may we all act to benefit each other.”
Members of Trudeau’s youth council oppose pipeline purchase
A group of youths assembled by Canadian premier Justin Trudeau to address issues in North America came out strongly opposed to the government’s plan to buy the Trans Mountain pipeline across British Columbia. Meanwhile, CBC reports that scores of protesters, including First Nations activist Kanahus Manuel, have been arrested in actions against the proposed expansion of the Trans Mountain. Read more about Kanahus Manuel in this profile at Cascadia Magazine.
Cascadia farmers feeling huge pressures
The Tyee reports on how British Columbia farmers are finding it harder and harder to make a living because of a combination of high land prices and globalization. “Part of why farming is so stressful is, first of all, the pricing of food in the global food system is ridiculously not representative of the cost of production or what it takes to grow food.” Meanwhile, Washington cherry growers are expecting a huge hit in business because of Trump’s trade war with China. The Eugene Register Guard reports on how the trade war could effect Oregon’s $800 million worth of exports. And the Bellingham Herald writes that raspberry farmers in Whatcom county are threatened by cheap imports of frozen berries.
“Erin” a poem by Lauren Reed
At Blood Orange Review, you can read Lauren Reed’s poem “Erin,” a remembrance of college love:
“Erin is sitting on the floor
of our dorm room.
Erin with the thick red braid
and the freckles the sun had tossed
across her face….”
Read the full poem online here.
“One Year After the Fire,” an essay by Kevin Taylor
Memoir Magazine has a brave and harrowing essay by Spokane-based writer Kevin Taylor entitled “One Year After the Fire.” It recalls the author’s depression after a difficult break-up and how he attempted to commit suicide by meticulously setting his house on fire. “It was raining throughout the long, night-time return drive, and I was accompanied by the feeling that my death was close. It wasn’t a bad feeling.”
That’s today’s roundup of news, arts, and culture from across the Cascadia bioregion. –Andrew Engelson
Photo credit: clashes between leftist and right-wing protesters in Portland by Wikimedia Commons user Old White Truck CC BY-SA 2.0