The Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program began in Seattle in 2011 and brought together law enforcement and public defense attorneys to find alternatives to repeatedly arresting drug users, sex workers and other low-level offenders. Unlike other criminal justice diversion programs, LEAD … [Read more...]
As people with disabilities fall into homelessness, WA lawmakers seek a fix
The growing divide between federal disability income and rent is leading more people into homelessness. Tyrone Porter could soon become one of those people. His Seattle apartment, while subsidized, still costs $805 a month. For three years, that rent was covered by the state. But late last year … [Read more...]
How this immigrant farmer in Kent is reconnecting to her agrarian roots
Veronica Karanja grew up farming in Kenya, but it took her years in the U.S. to find land again. Veronica Karanja says this as she wipes her damp forehead with the back of her hand, settling it on her hip as she looks over her garden of squash, herbs and budding corn. “Many good things are … [Read more...]
‘No supervisors, no boss’: Upending farm labor by owning the land
Tired of mistreatment and not being able to afford the food they harvested, two Bellingham farmworkers left corporate agriculture to start their own berry cooperative. Torres, 35, and Hernandez, 43, founded the organic berry farm Cooperativa Tierra y Libertad (Land and Liberty Cooperative) … [Read more...]
For rural Native communities, affordable groceries can be hours away
Emergency assistance alone can’t fix food inaccessibility for communities like the Hoh Tribe on Washington's Olympic Peninsula. Like many tribes on the peninsula, residents on the Hoh reservation have long dealt with its distance from grocery stores. In general, rural areas with small … [Read more...]
Fort Lawton Takeover Commemoration – 50th Anniversary
Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center 5011 Bernie Whitebear Way, Seattle, Washington 98199 Come celebrate with us March 8, 2020 at 10:30 a.m., as we honor those who fought tirelessly for the creation of Daybreak Star as a social and cultural home for our local urban Native community. In 1970, in … [Read more...]
Anti-Pipeline Protests Shut Down Canadian Rail Networks
Anti-pipeline protests have shut down major rail networks across Canada as indigenous rights and environmental activists act in solidarity with the Wet'suwet'en people of British Columbia, who are fighting to keep a natural gas pipeline off their land. Canadian National Railway (CN) said … [Read more...]
Racist acts by Seattle-area students made news last year. Here’s how schools responded
By Dahlia Bazzaz / Feb. 18, 2020 / Seattle Times After the newspaper illustration spread on social media, the school became one of several in the Puget Sound region where racist, bigoted images or speech by students garnered media attention in the last year. What happened next, experts said, … [Read more...]
STATE PATROL UNDER PRESSURE TO EXAMINE BIAS IN SEARCHES OF PEOPLE OF COLOR
After analyzing data from millions of traffic stops conducted by the State Patrol, InvestigateWest last month revealed that black, Latino, Native American and Pacific Islander drivers were searched at a higher rate than white motorists — even though troopers found drugs or other contraband at a … [Read more...]
‘The border is this imaginary line’: why Americans are fighting mining in B.C.’s ‘Doughnut Hole’
Christopher Pollon / January 8, 2020 / The Narwhal Logging permits in the Skagit River headwaters will no longer be issued by the B.C. government but mining exploration is causing friction with Americans downstream. We travelled the river to meet the people fighting an Imperial Metals … [Read more...]
Black pot entrepreneurs fight for piece of Washington’s very white marijuana industry
‘They were prosecuting us the most for cannabis ... now, they’re on the street corners in our neighborhoods, selling that stuff to us.’ by Melissa Santos / February 13, 2020 / Crosscut Hairston said he and other aspiring Black pot entrepreneurs were effectively locked out of the state’s legal … [Read more...]
After a century of suppression, Native languages are being revived in Washington schools
by Manola Secaira / February 11, 2020 / Crosscut Throughout the state, tribal elders and educators are bringing Salish and other languages to youth. Across the state, other tribes have been working diligently on language revival projects, including in public schools, according to Patty … [Read more...]
Seattle City Council votes to limit winter evictions
by David Kroman / February 10, 2020 / Crosscut Landlords worry the proposal from Councilmember Kshama Sawant will leave them housing people for months without rent payments. The measure, proposed by third-term Councilmember Kshama Sawant, allows low-income tenants to use winter as a defense … [Read more...]
Feds sue King County for banning ICE deportation flights from Boeing Field
Almost a year after deportation flights were banned, the Department of Justice makes good on its threat to sue. by Lilly Fowler / February 11, 2020 / Crosscut Brian T. Moran, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington, and William D. Hyslop, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of … [Read more...]
MASHPEE WAMPANOAG TRIBE CONTINUES FIGHT FOR LAND
On February 5, 2020, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, the People of the First Light, were forced to continue their fight for sovereignty and land rights, this time in the federal appeals court in Boston.The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe of Massachusetts have occupied the same region for over 12,000 years and … [Read more...]
Native burial sites blown up for US border wall
Authorities confirmed that "controlled blasting" has begun at Arizona's Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, a Unesco recognised natural reserve.. . In their bid to build the wall, the White House has waived dozens of laws - including ones that protected Native American graves, endangered … [Read more...]
Prize-winning artists embark on a new chapter on Vashon
Couple aims to subvert work of traditional museums, promote environmental justice, climate concerns. By Elizabeth Shepherd Friday, February 14, 2020 9:22am, Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber After a year of living quietly on Vashon, Beka Economopoulos and Jason Jones have a spotlight trained on … [Read more...]
Women affected by natural-hair discrimination explain why it is still a problem in Washington state
A new bill could make it illegal to discriminate against people who wear styles such as Afros and braids, as well as religious head coverings like hijabs. State Rep. Melanie Morgan, D-Parkland, recently introduced legislation to broaden the definition of racial discrimination to include … [Read more...]
From Canadian imports to price caps, WA lawmakers seek ways to cut drug prices
Several measures aim to help reduce patients’ out-pocket-costs for medications, including for lifesaving insulin. The legislation Stone-Vekich supports, Senate Bill 6087, had a public hearing last month before the Senate Health & Long Term Care Committee. The measure, sponsored by … [Read more...]
Native American Jewish Justice Raquel Montoya-Lewis Tells Us How She Made History
When Justice Raquel Montoya-Lewis was sworn in to Washington’s Supreme Court earlier this month, she became the second-ever Native American person to serve on a state Supreme Court. “This was never something I really planned on or expected to happen,” Montoya-Lewis tells Kveller via phone from … [Read more...]
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