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Oregon voters will decide on sanctuary law
NPR reports on Measure 105, which would repeal Oregon’s sanctuary law, the oldest in the United States. Passed with little fanfare by both Republicans and Democrats, the law says state and local law enforcement can’t pursue arrests for immigration violations. Meanwhile, Washington attorney general Bob Ferguson says his office will file a lawsuit if Trump follows through with threats to attempt to revoke birthright citizenship with an executive order. In related news, the Seattle Globalist has an extensive interview with Seattle immigration activist Maru Mora-Villalpando.
Students in Bend confront school security & mass shootings
OPB reports on a forum bringing together students at high schools in Bend, Oregon to discuss their fears about mass shootings — and despite increased security efforts, students aren’t feeling safer. In Washington, Initiative 1639, which would put in place some of the strongest gun safety rules in the US, is leading in polls despite out-of-state firearm organizations pumping millions of dollars into the race.
Outgoing Idaho governor supports Medicaid expansion
Retiring Idaho governor Butch Otter, a Republican, made a surprising endorsement this week, coming out in favor of a ballot initiative that would expand access to Medicaid in Idaho (with the federal government covering 90 percent of the cost). In related news Boise Weekly talks to the director of Conservation Idaho about how protection of public lands, clean air, and wildlife is driving more people to vote in the Gem State this year.
Yakama Nation tribal leader denied access to Supreme Court
The Seattle Times reports that JoDe Goudy, the leader of the Yakama Nation, was denied entry to the US Supreme Court because he refused to remove his traditional feathered headdress. Goudy was attempting to hear arguments in a case before the court that would determine if gas stations on the tribe’s lands in Washington are exempt from state taxes.
Drug-resistant sea lice plague BC fish farms
The Vancouver Sun reports on a new study that finds that drug-resistant sea lice that have built immunity to anti-parasite drugs are now rampant in British Columbia fish farms — and are now infecting wild salmon. For more on First Nations efforts to ban fish farms in BC, read Mychaylo Prystupa’s feature online at Cascadia Magazine.
A musical set in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside
The Georgia Straight reports on the revival of East End Blues & All That Jazz, a musical extravaganza set in the historically black neighborhoods of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and Hogan’s Alley (which was bulldozed to make way for the Georgia viaduct).
“The Skaters,” poetry by Kim Kent
The Seattle Review of Books has a poem online from last month’s poet-in-residence, Kim Kent– entitled “The Skaters:”
“The ice was always cracking
towards shore.
In its low thundering mist
we felt our own slick
treacheries accumulating.”
Head over the the Seattle Review of Books and read the full poem online.
That’s today’s sampler of arts, culture and news from across the Pacific Northwest. Have a great evening. –Andrew Engelson
Photo credits: immigration officials making an arrest– photo by ICE (public domain)