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Hike this now: Frank Jr. Nisqually Wildlife Refuge
We’re big fans of hiking here at Cascadia Magazine, and in the magazine’s latest Get Outside! column, hiking expert Craig Romano picks an easy walk in the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refugee between Olympia and Tacoma, Washington. This meander through the wetlands and tide flats of the Nisqually River delta offers brilliant opportunities to view wildlife and 300 different species of birds (many of them on their migration journey right now).
Read Craig’s full write up with trail description, photos, and driving directions to the trailhead online here at Cascadia Magazine.
And we’re thrilled to learn that Craig was recently honored by the King County Library system as one of this year’s “Literary Lions“–an award honoring great writers from the Pacific Northwest. It’s no surprise that Craig was selected, having written more than twenty hiking guides to the region–all of them packed with fascinating history, environmental notes, and a good dose of humor.
Congrats, Craig on a well-deserved honor!
Cascadia Magazine original: A Poet Protests the Pipeline
In “House Arrest,” an essay online at Cascadia Magazine, poet Danika Dinsmore chronicles the deep bonds she built during her arrest and sentencing demonstrating against expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline across British Columbia.
“I am no hero. My fellow protestors and I agree: our courage is not extraordinary. We were simply so deep in our despair we were overcome with the need to do something. . . . Crossing the injunction line was the easiest thing to do at the time, because not crossing, not acting, not demanding was more frightening.”
Read the full essay here.
Seattle bus driver a hero in random shooting
During a random rampage in Seattle yesterday in which a gunman killed two people, Metro bus driver Eric Stark is being hailed as a hero for continuing to drive his bus and protect passengers despite taking a bullet in the chest. In other gun-related news, the WA legislature is considering a bill that would make 3-D printed guns illegal. And the New York Times recently looked at the growing conflict between rural sheriffs and state officials over newly passed gun restrictions, including Washington attorney general Bob Ferguson’s threat to take legal action against sheriffs refusing to enforce new gun controls.
Why is child marriage still legal in Idaho?
Samantha Wohlfeil, writing for the Inlander, has a detailed and disturbing feature about how in the state of Idaho, children as young as 13 can marry with parental permission. A recent effort to bring the age to 16 in in line with the state’s statutory rape laws failed due to Republican opposition. Wohfeil details numerous instances where brides at this young age are subjected to domestic abuse.
Should drug sellers be held accountable for overdose deaths?
At the Portland Mercury, Blair Stenvick has a great, nuanced article about a bill in the Oregon legislature that would hold those who sell opioids to people who die of overdoses responsible. Some say the laws would hold dealers accountable. But many drug policy advocates take issue with the proposed law, saying it would do nothing to reduce overdoses, and hit low-level dealers and drug users harshly. In related news, the University of Washington quietly severed ties with the Sackler Foundation, which made its money aggressively marketing OxyContin, a key factor in the current opioid addiction crisis.
BC legislature demands the ladies “cover up”
In this week’s “I can’t believe we’re still protesting this crap” news, women legislators and journalists are taking issue with the BC legislature’s Sergeant-At-Arms’ enforcement of a rule against short sleeves in the BC legislature. Women came out in force dressed in sleeveless and short-sleeved dresses to protest the rule. Meanwhile, in other Men in Power Behaving Poorly news, the mayor of the Vancouver suburb of Port Moody has been accused of sexual assault.
Mitchell S. Jackson’s memoir of growing up black in Portland
OPB has a great audio profile of Mitchell S. Jackson, whose new memoir Survival Math details a difficult coming-of-age as a young black man in northeast Portland, as well as giving voice to black men he knew who faced obstacles of racism, asking them “What’s the toughest thing you’ve survived?”
“Avenue,” short fiction by Sharma Shields
At Fairy Tale Review, read a new story, “Avenue,” by Spokane novelist Sharma Shields. After a woman is diagnosed with a chronic illness, she has an encounter with a witch among the ponderosa pines near her home–and is given some advice: “For your kindness, I’ll tell you a secret. Listen carefully: All of our bodies, however compromised, harbor a secret avenue.” Read more of Sharma on dealing with illness in her essay “Great Grinning Things” at Cascadia Magazine. And at Northwest Booklovers, read a detailed interview with Sharma about her new novel The Cassandra.
Hope you enjoyed today’s selection of news, arts, and culture from across the Cascadia bioregion. Have a great evening. –Andrew Engelson