SUBSCRIBE TO THE FREE NEWSLETTER
Cascadia Magazine original: A poet and scientist listen to the bees
The new book Listening to the Bees is a unique collaboration between poet Renée Sarojini Saklikar and renowned biologist and bee expert Mark Winston. Through the distinct but complementary lenses of science and poetry, Winston and Saklikar reflect on the devastation wrought by overly intensive management of agricultural and urban habitats.
Now online at Cascadia Magazine, in conversation with Vancouver poet Rachel Rose, the authors discuss ways both science and poetry can change how humans perceive our interactions with the natural world.
“We each throw out ideas, try them out in pilot projects, see if they’re supported by the results, and if not, reject the hypothesis, learn from the negative results, and move on to another hypothesis. We also share a precision and rigour around our crafts, a compulsion to get it right.”
It’s a fascinating conversation. Read the full interview online at Cascadia Magazine.
Cascadia Magazine’s Almost Summer Reading
Join us for our first public event! Cascadia Magazine’s Almost Summer Reading features poets, fiction writers, and journalists published in Cascadia Magazine reading from and talking about their work. It’s free, so grab a cool beverage and listen to some fantastic writing from Donna Miscolta, Anca Szilágyi, Montreux Rotholtz, Michael Schmeltzer, Daniel Hawkins, Niki Stojnic, and Matt Stangel.
6:30 – 8 p.m., Friday June 1
Vermillion on Seattle’s Capitol Hill, 1508 11th Ave.
How Seattle can get transit right
Writing for the Stranger, architect David Cole offers suggestions on how the Seattle metropolitan area can better design the next stage of Sound Transit light rail (ST3), including “no” to a Ballard drawbridge, and consideration of Regional Express Rail system. They’ll need to get to work quickly: according to the Seattle Times Seattle is the fastest-growing city in the US, and added 114,000 people in this decade.
Tribes sues managers of Klamath dams
The Klamath Tribes of southern Oregon and northern California have filed suit against federal managers of the Klamath river dams over severe declines in sucker fish, an endangered species traditionally harvested by Indigenous people in the Klamath valley. Meanwhile, the Georgia Straight reports on how power transition lines for the Site C dam in northern British Columbia are substantially over budget. And the US Interior Department is considering raising the height of Shasta Dam in northern California– but the Winnemem Wintu Tribe is opposed, claiming ancestral burial grounds will be flooded.
BC government wants to boost primary care
According to The Tyee, British Columbia’s provincial government announced a $125 million plan to increase access to primary care in the province, adding new clinics in eastern BC as well as funding clinics on evenings and weekends. Meanwhile, in Oregon, officials are considering creating a state-based health insurance exchange and withdraw from Health.gov, the federal exchange created by Obamacare.
Eagles and otters cooperate in nest-building
Hakai magazine has the story of how bald eagles on the BC coast use kelp to help build their nests–and the birds can thank the recovery of sea otter populations (which keep sea urchins in check) for the abundance of kelp. And speaking of eagles, if you haven’t seen Kevin Ebi’s amazing series of photos of a bald eagle and fox fighting over a rabbit on San Juan Island, check it out!
The Westerlies, originally from Seattle, went east…
CityArts has a profile of the unconventional brass band The Westerlies — now based in New York City, the group has its origins in Seattle, with members who played for jazz bands at Garfield and Roosevelt high schools. You should really have a listen to the gorgeous show they did for NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series.
“The Fish and the Dragons,” fiction by Sarah Jade Macpherson
Sarah Jade Macpherson, who’s based in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley, recently won the Malahat Review’s 2018 Novella competition, and she as an excerpt from “The Fish and the Dragons” online at The Fiddlehead. It’s the story of a boy in China who lives with his grandfather, who fishes for carp with cormorants:
“He pointed at the sky with lined, calloused hands and showed the Milky Way — not simply a far-flung arm of our galaxy, but the celestial river that separates the Weaving Maiden from her Cowherd. It glimmered from the distance as I floated on my own river.”
That’s today’s news and culture from the Jet City world headquarters of Cascadia Daily. To our US readers, have a great Memorial Day weekend! –Andrew Engelson
The Westerlies in a screen shot from YouTube of an NPR Tiny Desk Concert.