Just drove by someone’s property going south near Vancouver, #Washington on the way to Portland & passed 3 huge flags on tall flagpoles. One was the Confederate flag, (couldn’t make out one, and 1 🇺🇸). I’m just livid.
Livid & sick to my stomach.
Yes, I know it’s a red area, we drive through every time we take our Canada trips, but the flags were new. Lots of Trumpy & religious signs, but this… is a 1st.
In the 1960s and '70s, cops were brutalizing #Indigenous people in the #PNW ...for fishing.
But fishing is a treaty-protected right. People stood up for it. Elders call this era the Fish Wars.
In 1974 the issue went to the Supreme Court. After 3 years of discovery and pretrial, Judge George Boldt heard the case and ruled that the state of #Washington must respect the Indigenous right to fish.
The Boldt decision changed the landscape. It turns 50 next month.
"#Washington state plans to require electric vehicle charging companies to include #Tesla's plug if they want to be part of a state program to electrify highways using federal dollars, an official told Reuters on Thursday.
👋🏼"Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-#Washington), the chair of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee, said Thursday she won't seek reelection in November.
America built its first "concentration camp school," or Indian boarding school, on the Yakama reservation in 1860.
Now, the state of #Washington has appointed five #Indigenous leaders to a Truth and Reconciliation Tribal Advisory Committee, which will investigate the state’s history of Native boarding schools.
I've been out here on the #westCoast for 18 years, and I have NEVER had #friedCatfish that was done right!
I don't understand why it's always SO BAD! It always tastes like a pool. They batter it with too much crunchy cornbread, and fry it too cold so its oily too.
I'm just gonna have to start a #foodTruck and show you yankees how #catfish is supposed to be cooked!
These two plots tell a sad story about where we are in #Eastern#Washington with the #Covid#pandemic. From what limited information is still available nowadays, it seems like the whole country is experiencing yet another wave of #SARSCov2 circulation, but my local region is all I really try to keep up with anymore.
I will try to explain in a 🧵 why this is all so crazy and awful. Read on if you care about your ability to engage in mental, physical, and even sexual activity.
Before permitting a new #solar facility in #Washington, the state needs to know if it will impact #Indigenous cultural resources, like artifacts, first foods, or burial grounds. To find out, they rely on a land survey conducted by… the developer.
Often, the developer contracts this work out. And contractors, according to critics, chronically produce surveys that are “at best deficient and at worst deliberately negligent.”
Registering my car with the state of #Washington was WAY easier than the Department of Licensing website made it out to be. It made me think I had to find a vehicle weigh station and all this other stuff. But in reality, it took maybe 15 minutes, and I already have my new plates!
The one remaining challenge: mounting a license plate on the front of my car.
Also: how to keep my apartment cool with wildfire smoke outside and no central AC inside? (All the fans, I guess.)
On Thursday, the Biden administration announced its support for preparing to breach the four Lower Snake River Dams.
The Nez Perce Tribe, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs, and Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, have been fighting for years to bring the dams down to restore #salmon runs.
Actually breaching the dams will require an act of Congress.
A solar developer sent a state lands archaeologist a string of urgent text messages, which we obtained through a public records request, insisting that she keep her findings private and not share them with tribes.
But when his texts reached the state lands archaeologist, she was already at Badger Mountain --- showing her findings to a tribal representative.
Hey people in Washington State, have you written to WSDOT to ask them to revise their Amtrak Cascades long term plans to include faster travel times? Comments close on April 18, so please write now!
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tues delivered an impassioned speech to world leaders at #UNGA, pushing for sustained support for his embattled nation’s fight against #Russia as he embarked on a delicate mission to bolster his cause globally & in #Washington, Ukraine’s most important partner.
Exploring a beautiful section of the PCT this weekend. Alpine lakes all around with many views of Mount Rainier. Really glad I made the long drive up here. Just saw a man hiking barefoot with a walking stick. A few mosquitoes but my permethrin treated clothes are working really well so far.
#Washington is planning a #RoadUsageCharge (#RUC). The main driver for this seems to be that WA is mostly funding its road maintenance from the gas tax and that is projected to fall significantly, ostensibly due to EVs ("from $1.3 billion in 2026 to under $1 billion in 2035" - https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2023/10/11/washingtons-long-road-to-replacing-the-gas-tax/). I understand that the migration to EVs causes revenue loss that needs to be addressed but I'm very skeptical that an RUC can be implemented in a reasonable way.
Habeck in Washington: Unter Trump wurde viel "kaputtgehauen"
Eigentlich will Minister Habeck in Washington über Wirtschafts- und Energiethemen reden. Doch kommt der Vizekanzler auch um den US-Wahlkampf nicht herum - und wird dabei ziemlich deutlich. Von Ralf Borchard.
BREAKING: #Washington State agrees to end its durational residency requirement for voter registration. A civil rights group filed lawsuit arguing that the law disenfranchised voters who move to Washington shortly before an election and violated the VRA.
"We are devolving into a democracy, because congressmen and senators are elected by the same pool.... We do not want to be a democracy.....
"We encourage Republicans to substitute the words ‘republic’ and ‘republicanism’ where previously they have used the word ‘democracy'.... Every time the word ‘democracy’ is used favorably it serves to promote the principles of the Democratic Party, the principles of which we ardently oppose....