Cascade PBS - Washington state & Seattle News

Can Washington’s governor carry a gun on the state Capitol campus?

Shauna Sowersby — Wed, 11 Sep 2024 05:00:00 PDT

When a former law enforcement officer runs for statewide office – and has been open about having a permit to carry a concealed weapon – some people may start to wonder: Can a Washington governor carry a gun in their official capacity for day-to-day duties?

Twice this election cycle, Republican gubernatorial candidate Dave Reichert has brought a gun to a media interview: first, to an interview with The Seattle Times, and most recently to an interview with Cascade PBS at our Seattle office.

So, we were curious if Reichert, who was a beat cop and then King County sheriff from 1997 to 2005, and who now carries a gun in his daily activities, will be able to carry if he is elected governor?

Quite simply, the answer seems to be no, at least when it comes to openly carrying a gun on Washington’s Capitol campus in Olympia.

Asked if politicians are allowed to carry guns, even if they have a concealed pistol license, on Olympia’s campus including the governor’s mansion and legislative buildings, Chris Loftis, communications director for the Washington State Patrol, told Cascade PBS “There are no special exceptions for politicians related to the carrying of weapons” that he was aware of.

But, he noted, concealed pistol licenses are “concealed by nature,” therefore the agency does “not have or keep information related to who is or is not carrying.”

Loftis added, in an email, that the State Patrol has "no way or directive to monitor concealed carries."

So the answer to the question about whether the governor could carry a concealed weapon on the Capitol campus is maybe yes, as long as he or she has a concealed permit and the gun remained concealed at all times, Loftis said.

“Firearms on campus is a regular topic of contention for both politicians and citizens,” he added.

In 2021, lawmakers in Washington banned the open carry of guns and other weapons on the Capitol campus, including the governor’s mansion and all campus buildings. The law also prohibits guns from being brought within 250 feet of public demonstrations and rallies. The bill was signed into law months after pro-Trump supporters carrying guns and other weapons breached the gates of the governor’s mansion on Jan. 6.

In Washington, guns and other weapons are also prohibited in other areas such as jails, airports, schools, child-care facilities and bars. Zoos and libraries were recently added to the list.

In an email to Cascade PBS, Reichert spokesperson Ryika Hooshangi told our reporter that the candidate “abides by all laws and would not carry where he is not legally allowed to.”

Hooshangi further explained that Reichert brought a weapon inside Cascade PBS’ office because “He did not feel it was safe to leave his gun in his vehicle given the crime issues in downtown Seattle.”

Governors have WSP protection in their statewide role, however.

“Incoming governors will be provided with a WSP Executive Protection Unit,” Loftis said. “This unit will work closely with the incoming governor to determine what that protection looks like for them. Security services will continue to be provided by the Department of Enterprise Services.”

While Reichert doesn’t explicitly campaign on his gun ownership, it is not unheard of for gubernatorial candidates in other states to do so.

In Nevada, for example, Gov. Joe Lombardo, a lifetime National Rifle Association member and former sheriff, proudly boasted on his campaign website that he was the only candidate running in the 2022 election for governor “who has carried a gun every day for the past three decades.”

Cascade PBS attempted to reach Gov. Lombardo’s office to ask if he still carries his gun regularly in his day-to-day duties, but did not get a response.

Reichert is running for governor against current Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson.

In contrast to Reichert, Ferguson has used his time as Attorney General to lead the call for stronger gun safety laws in Washington. Ferguson’s office has requested two major gun bills over the past few years, including a ban on the sale or import of high-capacity magazines and a ban on the sale and import of assault weapons in Washington.

Ferguson is also campaigning on combating gun violence and mass shootings as part of his approach to public safety – a stark difference from Reichert, who during his time as a Congressman voted against background checks and gun-violence prevention research.

The last day to turn in ballots for the 2024 election is Nov. 5.

This story has been updated to clarify the State Patrol's guidance on concealed carry of weapons on the Capitol campus.

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Recap: 5 top takeaways from Washington’s governor debate

Shauna Sowersby — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 22:12:19 PDT

Washington state gubernatorial candidates Bob Ferguson, a Democrat, and Dave Reichert, a Republican, politely disagreed on the solutions to most issues facing Washington during the first face-to-face televised debate of the 2024 election Tuesday night.

The debate, hosted by The Seattle Times, KING 5 News, El Sol de Yakima and KREM-TV, took place shortly after the presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. Although Ferguson talked over the moderators a few times and neither candidate focused on all the questions posed, the gubernatorial debate offered a clear picture of how their visions for Washington differ.

Ferguson, the current Washington attorney general, and Dave Reichert, a former congressman and King County sheriff, delineated their differences and argued directly a few times during the hour-long debate. The two will face off a second time on Sept. 18 during a debate hosted by the Association of Washington Business and Greater Spokane Inc.

Here are five takeaways from Tuesday’s debate:

1. Public safety is a top priority for both candidates

Both Ferguson and Reichert said they would do some things differently in terms of public safety for Washingtonians.

Ferguson noted that one of his first campaign issues was public safety, and said he would request $100 million in the state budget to distribute to agencies statewide to hire new law enforcement officers. That money could be used for hiring bonuses or to add to already existing salaries. Another part of his plan, he said, is to hire more troopers with the Washington State Patrol, specifically to create a “Hate Crimes Unit.”

Reichert argued that he is the only candidate with experience on public safety due to his background as a law enforcement officer and his time on the Committee on Homeland Security in Congress. But he did not specifically state what he would do as governor to address public safety issues, other than connecting crime with homelessness and drugs. Reichert then pointed to his time working on the case to find the Green River Killer, and argued that it’s not simply a “money issue” as it relates to funding law enforcement agencies but instead a “trust” issue for police officers.

2. Former President Trump got brought up. A lot.

Ferguson used the public safety discussions to make one of his frequent jabs against Reichert, saying that the former congressman is supporting a felon while he is supporting a prosecutor for president. Reichert answered back that he would not be supporting either Trump or Harris for president.

He then told Ferguson that he was the one who was obsessed with Trump after Ferguson accused him of supporting Trump in front of his campaign donors in March.

“Mr. Ferguson, you are obsessed with Donald Trump. I am not obsessed with Donald Trump,” Reichert said. “Please move off of Donald Trump and stop your obsession with Donald Trump. And if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.”

Ferguson continued to bring up Reichert’s support for Trump and his policies and ideas as the debate carried on, adding that as attorney general he beat Trump’s administration more than 50 times in court.

In a similar way, they argued about Reichert’s stand on abortion more than about what each candidate might do to support reproductive health care in Washington. Ferguson accused Reichert of saying one thing in public and another behind closed doors, concerning abortion – and his feelings about Trump.

3. Agreement on the complexity of the homelessness crisis

While Reichert first blamed state leadership over the past 12 years for the homelessness crisis, he later said that he believes it is a result of drugs, substance abuse and mental illness. Reichert said he would pay to fix the homelessness crisis with the misplaced COVID funding that was provided to the state by the federal government, but did not point to any specific policies to address the issue.

Ferguson noted that in his role as attorney general he has already taken measures to address the crisis, such as suing the companies responsible for the opioid crisis and using that money to invest in treatment and first responders.

4. Division on an initiative to repeal the Climate Commitment Act

Ferguson says he will be voting no on the statewide initiative to repeal parts of the 2021 Climate Commitment Act, but said that the cap-and-invest system does need to be adjusted, specifically as it applies to rebates for farmers. He said that as governor he would make sure farmers get the exemption they are entitled to. Additionally, he said he would like to see increased funding from the Act for the Working Families Tax Credit.

Reichert, on the other hand, argued that gas prices under the cap-and-invest system cost more than what lawmakers originally told residents as they were trying to pass the measure. He believes Washington residents were misled, along with farmers and truck drivers. Reichert said Washingtonians should vote yes on Initiative 2117 and he would “find a way forward” with the Legislature that doesn’t place the cost of green, clean energy efforts on the backs of those who can least afford it.

5. Both candidates said they would not support new revenue sources

The cost to the state budget of repealing the cap-and-invest system and another initiative that would repeal the state’s new capital gains tax – a total hit of as much as $3 billion a year – didn’t get much attention during the debate. Both Reichert and Ferguson said they would not support new funding sources in Washington.

Ferguson said that during his time in office he has led a state agency that has made money for Washington, and also talked about his experience cutting bipartisan budget deals on the King County Council. Reichert noted flat-out that if elected governor he would veto any new tax laws. Instead, he said he believed that money is being misspent on “programs that just don’t work.”

Topics: Debates 2024, Election 2024, Elections 2024, Local Politics, Washington

Garcia challenges seasoned incumbent Cantwell for U.S. Senate seat

John Stang — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 05:00:00 PDT

The fentanyl crisis is personal for Raul Garcia. His oldest son was once addicted to the drug, but broke that habit about six years ago. The experience left its mark on the Toppenish emergency-room doctor and is a major reason he is running as a Republican for the U.S. Senate against the longtime Democratic incumbent, Sen. Maria Cantwell.

“I see so much of it in the ER and then to have it in our home,” Garcia said.

Another reason for running: Garcia’s wife Jessica told him years ago that if he really wants change in a Democrat-dominated state, he needs to run for office to make it happen.

Moderate Washington Republicans — facing a multitude of likely unelectable right-wing candidates — recruited Garcia to run for governor in 2020. He came in fourth among seven Republicans in the 2020 primary, with 5.4% of the vote. He made progress in this August’s Senate primary, coming in first of five GOP candidates with 21.3%. When all five Republicans’ primary votes are added together, they total 38.6% of the vote compared to Cantwell’s 57.9%.

The campaign war chests are more lopsided — Cantwell has $10.7 million to spend compared to Garcia’s $539,882, according to the Federal Election Commission.

“I’m the David against the Goliath,” Garcia said.

Goliath – aka Cantwell – was first elected to the Senate in 2000. In the most recent contest, Cantwell defeated TV personality Susan Hutchinson, who had great name recognition around Puget Sound, with 58% of the vote.

Garcia, 53, lives in Yakima and has been a physician for 26 years. Born in Cuba, he graduated from the University of Miami and the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine. He has been the medical director of two hospitals, and is currently the medical director of Astria Toppenish Hospital. He founded Opportunity for Washington, a nonprofit promoting education, and helped found the Partnership for Food & Community Security in 2020 to promote COVID-19 education.

He wants to introduce a federal bill to charge fentanyl dealers with manslaughter if any of their sales can be linked to a death. “If a plane with 300 people crashes in the Cascades, the government would shut down those planes,” Garcia said.

Another aim of his campaign is to have outside auditors inspect every federal agency for inefficiencies.

Cantwell also believes fentanyl is a major problem nationally and within Washington, agreeing the state’s numbers are too high. She wants to find out why they are so huge and wants to send more money to intercept fentanyl imports across the Mexican border.

Washington’s fentanyl death numbers have been increasing — from 1,033 in 2022 to 1,984 in 2023, according to University of Washington research. In 2022, Washington ranked 24th out of 50 states and the District of Columbia in the rate of fentanyl deaths per 100,000 people at 33.7, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Cantwell noted that Congress has addressed the issue with several bills, including legislation targeting the financial assets of foreign fentanyl manufacturers and cartels, plus requiring U.S. Customs officials to update policies and procedures for intercepting drugs at the borders.

A bill currently before the Senate would permanently label fentanyl-related substances as Schedule 1 drugs. Schedule I means a drug has no current accepted medical use in the United States, which would make it impossible to prescribe. Schedule I drugs include marijuana, heroin, GHB (one of the so-called “date-rape drugs”) and LSD. Fentanyl, a powerful and heavily controlled opioid used to deal with intense pain, is currently a Schedule 2 drug.

Cantwell, 65, lives in Edmonds. Born in Indianapolis, she graduated from Miami University in Ohio, moved to Washington in 1983 and served three terms in the Washington House from 1986 to 1992. She moved to the U.S. House in 1992, but lost her reelection bid in 1994. She also built a successful technology career, including work for Real Networks in Seattle. Cantwell defeated Republican Slade Gorton in 2000 and has been in the Senate ever since.

As chairwoman of the Senate Commerce, Science & Technology Committee, Cantwell points to her work shepherding the CHIPS Act, the Inflation Reduction Act and infrastructure appropriations through Congress. “We’re about bringing jobs back to the United States,” Cantwell said.

Cantwell was one of the main architects of the CHIPS Act, which allocated almost $250 billion over five years for high-tech research and manufacturing. That includes roughly $50 billion for developing a semiconductor industry. The United States seriously lags behind semiconductor competitors around the world. The Act earmarks money for four semiconductor projects in the Pacific Northwest, which would create an estimated 2,880 jobs. The University of Washington is receiving $10 million from that fund to train semiconductor workers.

Washington also gets several benefits from the Inflation Reduction Act, including rebates for installing energy-efficient measures, tax credits to cover 30 percent of the cost of installing solar panels and battery storage facilities, tax credits to help create clean energy jobs and measures to help farmers reduce carbon emissions.

In 2025, Cantwell wants to revive a couple programs that died during tussles between Democrats and Republicans. One would provide more apprenticeships for girls and women in science, technology, engineering and math education. The other would aim to increase low-income housing through the use of tax credits.

She also pointed to her help in obtaining money to replace the Interstate 5 bridge over the Columbia River.

Both Garcia and Cantwell want to protect Washington’s current abortion laws.

Garcia contends Cantwell holds some responsibility for inflation, tying pandemic recovery dollars to inflation. He also blamed the federal government’s increasing debt as a factor in inflation. Calling for cuts in unspecified programs, Garcia is really pushing for government audits.

Meanwhile, Cantwell notes, the financial injections from the Inflation Reduction Act, coupled with capping Medicare insulin cost at $35 per month, have decreased inflation.

Garcia is a strong Second Amendment advocate and is reluctant to tinker with gun-control laws, citing communist Cuba’s gun confiscations.

Meanwhile, Cantwell voted for a 2022 law that provides grants for states to set up red-flag laws for gun-permit applicants with psychological issues. The same federal law enhanced background checks for gun-permit applicants younger than 21 and closed a legal loophole that allowed domestic abusers to possess firearms.

Topics: Election 2024, Elections, Elections 2024

Councilmember Zahilay proposes $1B for middle-income public housing

Josh Cohen — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 04:59:00 PDT

You probably don’t need to be convinced that housing is too expensive in Seattle and King County. But the numbers put a fine point on it.

Earlier this year, the median home sale price in King County surpassed $1 million, far out of reach for most residents. Renting isn’t so affordable either. Fair-market rent on a “modest” two-bedroom rental is $2,645, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. A household needs to earn more than $105,000 a year to afford that without being considered cost-burdened.

Local, regional and state officials have ramped up investments in the construction of subsidized affordable housing for the lowest-income residents in the past decade, though the need for housing still far surpasses the supply.

The same effort hasn’t been made for middle-income housing, but that is changing as prices tick up and the private housing market provides less housing that's affordable to the middle class.

King County Councilmember Girmay Zahilay, whose district represents parts of Seattle and Skyway, has proposed an initiative to use $1 billion of the county’s bonding capacity to fund construction of mixed-income, publicly owned housing. Rents would be set at levels affordable to people earning between 50% and 120% of the area median income, or between $52,700 and $126,480.

“So many people are losing their homes and being displaced farther and farther out of the core of our cities,” Zahilay told Cascade PBS. “They’re living farther away from their jobs, and that is bad for our society. … It lowers productivity, increases stress, increases congestion and climate pollution. It makes sure that families spend less time together.”

Zahilay’s bill would create a workforce housing initiative that’s tasked with writing recommendations for making the idea a reality.

The Councilmember said that in his ideal version of the plan, people within that 50%-120% AMI range would live in the same buildings but pay rents on a sliding scale according to income. The higher rents paid by the higher-income residents would help subsidize the lower rents paid by the lower-income residents as well as the ongoing operating costs.

“My goal is for [the buildings] to be self-sustaining,” said Zahilay. “The combination of rents that we charge and collect are enough to pay off all the monthly costs, includes paying down the interest on the debt, the principal on the debt and any operating costs associated with the buildings.”

Local housing authorities, including King County Housing Authority and Seattle Housing Authority, would own the apartments to ensure they remain in public hands and that rents remain below market rate in perpetuity. But, Zahilay said, he can imagine private developers, whether for profit or nonprofit, helping with the construction and operation of the buildings.

King County would use $1 billion of its $9 billion bond capacity to borrow money to pay for construction. Exactly how much housing could be built is yet to be determined, though Zahilay said he’s hoping for thousands of units of new housing for middle-income workers.

King County has a goal of building nearly 309,000 new units of housing countywide over the next 20 years. Of those, more than one-third need to be affordable to people earning 30% or less than area median income. Another 22,376 should be affordable to people earning 50%-80% AMI, and 14,925 of them affordable to people earning 80%-100% AMI.

If passed, the bill would direct the King County executive to develop an implantation plan to send back to the Council by March 2025.

The proposal has garnered support from IBEW Local 46, the MLK Labor Council, Housing Development Consortium, Seattle Chamber of Commerce, developer Nitze-Stagen, Ironworkers Local 86, King County Housing Authority and Civic Ventures. Councilmember Rod Dembowski is co-sponsoring.

Zahilay’s idea has strong parallels to the type of housing Seattle’s newly formed social housing developer hopes to build in the coming years. They too have proposed constructing publicly owned housing with mixed-income residents and below-market rents on a sliding scale.

This year, Seattle social-housing advocates collected enough signatures to place a tax proposal on the ballot to help pay for construction and acquisition of social-housing projects. The measure will appear on the February 2025 ballot.

Asked about the similarities, Zahilay said he endorsed the Seattle social-housing measure in 2023 and is glad that work is continuing. “I think [my proposal] is slightly different in that it’s not calling for a new tax source. … And it’s regional rather than city level. But the more opportunity we have to keep people stably housed the better.”

In Montgomery County, Maryland, outside of Washington D.C., a public housing agency is putting a similar idea to practice. They’re constructing new apartment complexes in which higher-earning residents paying higher monthly rents help subsidize below-market-rate rents for lower-income residents in the same building.

Zahilay’s bill will be introduced to the County Council’s Budget and Fiscal Management Committee on Wednesday morning at 9:30 a.m.

Topics: development, Housing, King County Government

How Roslyn became a model for community-led wildfire management

Questen Inghram — Mon, 09 Sep 2024 05:00:00 PDT

Doug Johnson was packing to leave his home on a hot August afternoon.

He was there for only a quick visit. The fire danger in Roslyn has led Johnson and his wife, Susan, to spend much of their summers with their daughter and grandchildren in Seattle. A go-bag sits on top of their dining room table, ready at a moment’s notice. He comes back only about once a week to get his mail and take care of the yard.

“We never imagined this when we moved to Roslyn,” he said.

Doug Johnson on his porch on Friday, Aug. 2, 2024 in Roslyn. (Questen Inghram/Yakima Herald-Republic)

Roslyn, a historic mining town of 950 people and a popular destination for outdoor recreationists, is at the top level of wildfire risk nationally, according to a study by the U.S. Forest Service. Residents and officials have banded together to conduct large-scale fire prevention measures in an effort considered an example for other communities across the West.

Those changes hold lessons elsewhere in the Northwest and in Yakima County, where a fast-moving Slide Ranch Fire destroyed 17 homes near White Swan in June, and the Retreat Fire threatened Tieton, damaged a vital irrigation canal and halted traffic on U.S. Highway 12 for weeks east of Rimrock Lake this summer.

Johnson is one of the many people who have stepped up to try to prevent catastrophe in Roslyn. In 2022 he helped start the Roslyn Citizens Wildfire Resilience and Evacuation Committee, a group of residents concerned about fire danger in their community.

Doug and Susan Johnson have implemented Firewise practices around their home in Roslyn. (Questen Inghram/Yakima Herald-Republic)

He began creating defensible space around his home at least 10 years ago. He pulled out snowberry and lavender bushes along his porch and pruned mountain ash and other trees. This practice is in line with Firewise, a nationwide safety program that recommends clearing foliage and all flammable material within 5 feet of a house and placing screens on vents to catch embers. It also gives recommendations for maintaining a trimmed yard and pruning trees within 30 feet of a home.

The citizens’ committee had 150 participants and volunteers this year, Johnson said. The Upper Kittitas County Fuels crew, a team of 13 based out of the Roslyn Fire Department, comes by to chip materials left by residents in piles by the side of the road.

For a home with a small yard, creating defensible space might be just a day’s activity. Building defensible space around the town of Roslyn has taken much more time and effort.

About Roslyn

Roslyn is sandwiched between two large tracts of forest, one owned and managed by the city and the other by Suncadia, a resort and private community association that is home to three golf courses, restaurants and a winery. Beyond that lies the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest.

Jeff Adams, the mayor of Roslyn and a descendant of coal miners, is energetic when he speaks about fire prevention efforts. Controlled burns and clearing trees and brush have helped reduce fuel in the Roslyn Urban Forest, a 300-acre piece of land the city acquired in 2004.

Tourists visit small businesses in Roslyn on Friday, Aug. 2, 2024. (Questen Inghram/Yakima Herald-Republic)

“As we walk up here this way, you’ll see it’s night-and-day difference,” he said as he began to hike up the aptly named Forest Resilience Trail, which was created in 2023 to showcase the fire prevention efforts.

In June, U.S. Rep. Kim Schrier, who represents Kittitas County, was here for a visit. Schrier introduced a bill called the National Prescribed Fire Act, which would authorize $300 million for more prescribed burns on federal, state and private lands. Adams said he hopes Schrier’s bill gets passed, calling it a common-sense, bipartisan piece of legislation.

Adams praised the efforts of Johnson and the citizens’ committee, and also the work of Chris Martin, a local firefighter and the former owner of Basecamp Books and Bites, a bustling café and bookstore in the center of Roslyn and a popular spot for the tourists, hikers and campers who pass through town. Martin moved his family to Roslyn from Seattle, attracted to the small-town charm that reminded him of his upbringing in upstate New York.

Martin became the town’s emergency management coordinator during the Jolly Mountain Fire in 2017, which burned 36,000 acres in the Cle Elum Ranger District.

It was a turning point for Roslyn. Things were especially tense that Labor Day weekend, with the first full-scale callout of all law enforcement personnel in Kittitas County to notify people about evacuations. Kittitas County and the cities of Cle Elum, Roslyn and Ellensburg declared states of emergency, and started working on plans to move people and government services to Ellensburg if things got worse.

Luckily, no structures were damaged, and the plans weren’t fully deployed. But it got people’s attention.

“The city was evacuated and shrouded with smoke and there were 20-some-odd fire engines parked in town because they’re worried about embers,” Martin said. “That was like a change-of-underwear moment for the city.

“And it was like, OK, for years, no one’s done anything, and it’s time to start.”

Residents often mention the fire as a wake-up call for the dangers that wildfires presented for Roslyn. Another was the Camp Fire which destroyed much of Paradise, California, and more recently, the 2023 Hawaii wildfires.

After the fire, community members gathered in the Roslyn Yard next to Basecamp Books that October to watch Era of Megafires, a documentary about why the fires were happening and what people could do in response. It was one of several showings around the region, co-sponsored by Kittitas Fire Adapted Communities Coalition, which continues to sponsor fire-related film screenings.

Building a fire break

A fire needs three things to start — fuels, oxygen and ignition, Martin recites. “At the end of the day, the only thing that is going to move the needle is reducing those fuels.”

The community built an emergency fire break during the Jolly Mountain Fire because of concerns about ember showers, which can travel for miles.

The barrier is one of several planned or completed which aim to block fire spread. Additionally, burns and clearing treatments have been completed along Cle Elum Ridge to the edge of town, he said. “We’re trying to build infrastructure.”

A cleared portion of the Roslyn Urban Forest on Friday, Aug. 2, 2024. (Questen Inghram/Yakima Herald-Republic)

Martin oversees the UKC Fuels crew, which was created in 2020. It has been doing prescribed burns on a mix of federal, state and city land, and can also deploy to assist fire response.

“Basically, we’re trying to implement the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy,” he said. The strategy is three-pronged: to create resilient landscapes, safe wildfire response and fire-adapted communities.

The Kittitas Fire Adapted Communities Coalition is a group of local stakeholders who started meeting monthly in 2017 to collaborate on local fire safety through outreach, home hardening, securing grants, working with power utilities and more.

“It’s really the clearing house for that kind of work,” Martin said.

Tony Craven, the current chair of the Kittitas Fire Adapted Communities Coalition, said it's not just Roslyn, but the Upper Kittitas County working together as a whole, including Ronald and Cle Elum, with help from Ellensburg.

Craven has deep ties to Roslyn and to firefighting.

Tony Craven stands outside his office in downtown Cle Elum on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (Questen Inghram/Yakima Herald-Republic)

The past four generations of the Craven family include a pastor, coal miners and gravediggers for Roslyn’s historic cemetery. The cemetery, nestled among the trees, has graves of generations and communities who came for the promises of the mines — Black, Polish, Italian, Lithuanian, Croatian, and more.

Tony’s father, William Craven, became the first Black mayor in the state of Washington when he was elected to lead Roslyn in 1975.

Tony was the first of five siblings who became wildland firefighters for the U.S. Forest Service.

“It was probably a holdover of me watching red skies over Montana when I was a kid,” Craven said of the start of his career.

In 2001, one of Craven’s brothers, Tom, and three other firefighters died during the Thirtymile Creek Fire which burned north of Winthrop. A memorial for the four was built at Roslyn’s cemetery.

“It’s not supposed to happen,” Craven said. “On the other hand, we all know it could happen.”

Craven said he has known of too many deaths, injuries and entrapments over the course of his 20-year career, which he described as “too long.” But he has continued to work in firefighting, even if he isn’t out digging line. He managed Suncadia’s forest for 10 years and has recently begun to oversee a $10 million Community Wildfire Defense Grant from the Biden administration’s infrastructure bill on behalf of the Kittitas County Conservation District. The grant money will be used for similar fuel reduction efforts, especially hardening escape routes.

Evacuation routes

One early project of Craven’s, slated to begin next year, is to partner with homeowners to reduce fuels along State Route 903. The road links Cle Elum, Roslyn and Ronald, and heads north to Lake Cle Elum and the Salmon la Sac recreation areas. There are dozens of cabins along the road, along with trails and campgrounds.

The black areas of the map depict over 400 acres of burns along fire breaks, depicted by solid orange lines.The goal is to provide lasting “infrastructure” to prevent fires from coming near Roslyn, said Chris Martin, Roslyn emergency management coordinator. (Courtesy of Chris Martin)

Evacuation routes have become a big topic of discussion in Upper Kittitas County. If a fire were to prompt an evacuation on a busy recreation weekend, over 10,000 people might need to leave via State Route 903, he said.

“If there’s a fire, that's the only way in and it’s the only way out,” Craven said.

The escape-route situation is a large reason that Doug and Susan Johnson leave during fire season. Members of the citizens’ committee, including Susan, have recently been focusing on escape routes.

“We’re in extreme danger,” Doug Johnson said, recalling that people died in their cars while attempting to escape the Camp Fire in Paradise, California.

A changing climate, and community

On Aug. 9, lighting strikes caused three fires between Lake Kachess and Lake Cle Elum.

Over 150 personnel were able to contain the fires to 23 acres. But it was a sobering reminder of the ever-present, and growing, danger of living in the 21st-century Cascades because of climate change.

Johnson built his home out of cedar in the 1980s, in a time when Upper Kittitas County wasn’t known for fires. He is grateful for the fire safety provided by his metal roof, which was originally built to withstand heavy snow, something he said he doesn’t see as much of anymore, and one of the things that initially drew him to the Cascades.

“In the 50 years I’ve lived here, it’s just a completely different climate. We never had smoke. We had tons of snow. Snowfall is anemic now,” he said.

Though Johnson was a schoolteacher in Cle Elum for many years, he worked for the U.S. Forest Service in the summer of 1976.

“They told us, ‘You’re not going to be fighting fires here. We call this the asbestos district, because it never burns.’”

Much has changed.

Suncadia, a growing getaway

South of Roslyn, not far over the hill from the Johnsons’ house, Phil Hess looks out the window of the newly renovated Suncadia Lodge. Perched above the Cle Elum River, it offers a spectacular view of the 6,000-acre resort.

Suncadia’s master plan is for 3,500 homes, and it’s only halfway built, said Edward Simpkins, director of Suncadia Community Associations. It’s expanding to soon include a new commercial area and a 55-and-older community called the Uplands.

Hess is a longtime forester, recently honored as Washington State Forester of the Year by the Washington Farm Forestry Association. He worked for many years for Boise Cascade, out of Yakima.

Though Hess has only recently taken over Craven’s responsibilities, he has worked with Suncadia since the start. Craven said Hess is “a wealth of knowledge.” One of his first assignments in the 1990s was to create a fuel break around the perimeter of the entire 6,000-acre property, Hess said. A large portion of the land is held in a conservation trust, preserving much of the pine forest.

Today, Hess has contract crews constantly thinning and clearing areas to reduce fuels on Suncadia property, and they are able to treat about 100 to 200 acres a year.

But risk remains for any community in the trees.

“Fire resiliency does not mean fireproof,” Hess said. “The forest is going to burn. The decision space we have, is how it will burn.”

Suncadia spends a half-million dollars on forest health and fire resiliency work every year, and is an official Firewise USA community, Simpkins said. Suncadia is also a member of the Kittitas Fire Adapted Communities Coalition, and donated the chipper that the Upper Kittitas County Fuels crew uses.

“We’re doing everything we can to avoid what happens in Northern California. That’s not going to happen here,” Hess said.

An example for others

Rose Beaton, a community resilience coordinator with the Washington Department of Natural Resources, believes what Roslyn and its residents are doing to prevent fire should be an example for the West.

Roslyn Mayor Jeff Adams points to a section of the Roslyn Urban Forest on Friday, Aug. 2, 2024. (Questen Inghram/Yakima Herald-Republic)

The community resilience division of the DNR was created in 2021. Wildfire Ready Neighbors, one of its well-known programs, assesses properties for fire risk.

Beaton worked the phone hotlines for Kittitas County during the 2014 Snag Canyon Fire. That experience led to not only a professional interest in wildfire management, but an academic one. She is a doctoral candidate studying wildfire management at the University of Idaho and has looked at how communities are adapting across the West.

“I think what Roslyn has been doing is a kind of a role model for other communities across the West in grassroots movement change,” Beaton said. “That’s ideally what you would like to see, is residents working with residents, inspiring change amongst each other.”

Leavenworth and its Chumstick Wildfire Stewardship Coalition is another example of a community working to become fire-adapted, Beaton said.

“Small change equals big change,” Beaton said. “Small steps to reduce your wildfire risk in a community can start with one person.”

The Yakima Herald-Republic originally published this story Aug. 24, 2024.

Topics: fire, fires, wildfire

Two years after fleeing Ukraine, a WA family waits for their son

Jadenne Radoc Cabahug — Fri, 06 Sep 2024 05:00:00 PDT

Ukrainian refugee Valeria Biletska had just arrived in rural Washington when she received an official letter informing her that her son, who had stayed to fight against Russia, had been killed in combat. It turned out not to be true – a twist in the story of their uprooted life.

Lina Ngo, right, hugs Valeria Biletska, left, during the July rally in downtown Seattle. (David Ryder for Cascade PBS)

The Biletskiy family left their home in the southern Kherson region of Ukraine in February 2022, the early days of the Russian invasion. The oldest son, Roman, at the time 22, had decided to join the Ukrainian military instead of fleeing. Valeria and her husband, also named Roman, settled in Orting, Pierce County, with their seven other children, now aged 13 to 19.

Two years after resettling in Washington, Valeria remains unsettled. She worries about her son and has a deep longing for her home country, without any end in sight for the conflict. Even after the Russian invasion of Ukraine stopped dominating headlines, Valeria and other refugees continue to deal with the repercussions of this ongoing war.

Valeria sells art in a shop tucked between a tiny barber shop and an ice cream parlor. Their shop has a Ukrainian flag draped over the door, leading to a selection of shirts with popular cartoons and anime illustrations, sold for $5. They also sell homemade honey from her husband’s personal beehive.

Along the walls are paintings in familiar shades of greens and blues of local landscapes: forests, lakes, rivers and other nearby features like Mount Rainier. These hang close to paintings in hues of gold and yellow, depicting the wheat fields of the former Biletskiy farm in Lymanets, Ukraine, as well as artwork of pink, red, blue, purple and yellow flowers in the style of traditional Ukrainian ornamental folk art – petrykivka painting.

The Biletskiys are among the thousands of refugees from Ukraine who have resettled in Washington in the two-plus years since Russia invaded their country.

Roman Biletskiy and Valeria Biletska with two of their children – an adopted son also named Roman, left, and Lesia – while finishing a meal at their home in Bonney Lake. (David Ryder for Cascade PBS)

Refugees in Washington

More than 25,000 Ukrainians arrived in Washington from January 2022 to April 2024, with at least 400 new arrivals in March 2024 alone, according to the state Office of Refugee and Immigrant Assistance.

Ukrainian refugees live under Ukrainian humanitarian parole, a program that President Joe Biden started in February 2022 to allow refugees to stay for two years. This is a completely different status from other migrants and refugees, who use different ways to settle in the U.S.: seeking asylum, refugee status or other methods.

Although it’s been more than two years since Russia invaded Ukraine, the war is ongoing, with more than four million Ukrainian refugees outside the country needing protection and assistance, as well as 12 million still inside the country who need aid, according to the United Nations.

The UN estimates that at least 10,000 civilians have been killed since the beginning of the war, with more than 19,000 injured as of January 2024.

Valeria said her art has helped her through her grief and longing to be with her son and homeland. The last time the Biletskiys spoke with Roman was in March 2022 on the phone during their escape from Ukraine. Two months later, on May 17, they were mistakenly notified of his death through an official letter and award from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Then two months later, they received shocking news when the Red Cross reached out to the family and said their son was alive.

Roman Biletskiy sets up for the day at the art studio he and his wife operate in Orting. (David Ryder for Cascade PBS)

Artwork by Valeria Biletska on display at the Biletskiy art studio. (David Ryder for Cascade PBS)

Biletska works in the garden at their home in Bonney Lake. (David Ryder for Cascade PBS)

Biletska prepares pastries at her home in Bonney Lake. (David Ryder for Cascade PBS)

It turned out Roman had been taken hostage while defending Mariupol at the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works, where thousands of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians were trapped for weeks at the beginning of the Russian invasion in April 2022.

They got further confirmation that Roman was alive in February 2023, when they saw a video of their son in a Russian prison and received a letter and photograph from him. The family also has heard from freed soldiers that he is alive and helping other soldiers and civilians, but they have not heard directly from him since then. Ukraine and Russia recently swapped at least 100 prisoners of war each, including about 50 soldiers captured from the Azovstal steelworks. Roman was not one of the prisoners exchanged, according to the Biletskiys. The Biletskiys hope for more news about their son. They said that in the February 2023 video, they only heard Roman say his name and saw his thin frame for a second before the camera moved onto the next prisoner. They have waited to hear from him daily since building their new life in Washington with their seven children.

“It’s easy for children, because they are younger and can easily adjust. They like school, they have friends and are really enjoying this time,” Valeria said in Ukrainian through a translator. “However, for us, it’s harder because our son is in captivity, and we can’t feel happy being here.”

Valeria said that in the back of their minds, they often feel guilty to enjoy life knowing that most of their family chose to stay in Ukraine, thinking that the war wouldn’t last as long as it has.

A photograph of Roman Biletskiy next to Roman Biletskiy Sr., in Westlake Park. (David Ryder for Cascade PBS)

Rallygoers display photos and flags. (David Ryder for Cascade PBS)

To this day Biletska awaits news of her son, a Ukrainian POW. (David Ryder for Cascade PBS)

Leaving their homeland

In an interview in their store in Orting, Valeria and Roman recalled seeing Russian military tanks rolling through their farm town and settling inside their neighbors’ homes and farms. The soldiers came with their own resources, but once that supply ran out, they began to take from civilians, forcing them to leave their homes.

The Ukrainian military was unable to come help the town due to the Russian occupation.

“For the first 10 days, there were no executions, only arrests, since they occupied people’s homes,” Roman said. “But after then, they started to execute people. Especially those that had family in the police or power in the city.”

On March 12, 2022, their neighbors alerted the Biletskiys that Russian soldiers were looking for a big family with a big white van who were related to members of the police and military. This describes the Biletskiy family, the only big family in town with a large white van.

They decided to flee that day in a funeral hearse since that was the only vehicle they owned that fit everyone in their family. Along with the son who decided to stay and fight, Valeria’s mother and sister stayed because they didn’t think the occupation would last as long as it has.

On their way out of town they saw active combat between soldiers and civilians and destroyed tanks and vehicles, and felt explosions. Later, the elder Roman received a message from his brother to take a different route, but it was already too late.

Trekking out of Ukraine proved difficult also because Ukrainian soldiers flipped street signs and jammed networks to confuse Russians. The tactic was effective, but also confused fleeing civilians. The elder Roman said he used his knowledge of the polar stars to navigate which direction to go. His brother had settled in Washington in 2002, so they already knew where they would end their journey.

They eventually made it to Poland, then France for a day, before heading to Mexico and meeting with U.S. Border Patrol in Tijuana, awaiting entry into the U.S.

Valeria and Roman had adopted most of their children, so they all had different last names, which proved difficult for the agents to process. They eventually made it through and stayed briefly in San Diego before finally arriving in Seattle on April 10, 2022, nearly a month after leaving their home.

Roman Biletskiy, the oldest son of Valeria Biletska and Roman Biletskiy, with some of his siblings before the war. Roman is currently a POW in Russian custody. (Courtesy of the Biletskiy family)

Valeria Biletska and Roman Biletskiy play a game with their children (from left) Roman, Yuri and Nadia at their home in Bonney Lake. (David Ryder for Cascade PBS)

Life in Washington

“We were surprised to see all the kindness and friendliness of people here,” Valeria said, remembering the months after their arrival. “After we were left with nothing, every place we went to, everyone was welcoming, and we were never refused help.”

Roman’s first job in the U.S. was to install heating and cooling systems; however, now he focuses on maintaining their shop in Orting.

The children were able to pick up English in school and received support from fellow students and teachers. Holidays are an especially fun time for them, though Valeria talked about the guilt that lingers when she thinks of her family still in Ukraine, and about her oldest son’s whereabouts.

“It was very hard for us to be here and see all this good stuff and experience this while we know our people, families in Ukraine are still suffering,” Valeria said. “We couldn’t allow ourselves to feel happy because the mourning is still there for our family.”

Valeria Biletska and Roman Biletskiy at their home on August 14, 2024. (David Ryder for Cascade PBS)

After the first false notification of her son Roman’s death, she turned to painting to cope with the grief and the news out of Ukraine.

Her gallery proceeds help her family, and is sent to friends, family and others in Ukraine with missing partners and fathers serving in the military. She donates artwork to various fundraisers for Ukraine like Ukraine Defense Support, a Washington-based nonprofit that provides humanitarian aid. The family also hosts small concerts in their shop featuring Ukrainian musicians.

Valeria said she also lost her sister-in-law, who was sexually assaulted and killed by Russian soldiers since she was the wife of a police officer. The woman’s 3-year-old son survived but was tortured by Russian soldiers who choked him and burned his forehead by putting lit cigarettes on it.

“It’s a dream to get my son out of captivity and to go back to Ukraine to meet him there in our homeland,” Valeria said. She said she doesn’t have plans for the future since it remains uncertain where they will go.

While the rest of Valeria and Roman’s children like living in the United States and plan to settle here, she feels a longing for her homeland. Their three oldest children have part-time jobs to help support their family.

“Right now, we don’t have a home in Ukraine anymore,” Roman said. “It was destroyed by a Russian rocket.”

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No end in sight: Filipino fishermen still wait on abandonment case

Farah Eltohamy — Fri, 06 Sep 2024 04:59:00 PDT

Reyner Dagalea and Norberto Cabrera wearily flopped down on their couch after a long Saturday shift of janitorial work. Behind them, fishing crewmate-turned-roommate Richard Zambales prepared a cup of instant coffee in the kitchen of their shared Seattle home. He adjusted his coveralls before hurrying out the door to his own weekend shift as a janitor.

Usually, Dagalea and Cabrera would attend service at the Filipino-American Community Church, but this Sunday marked their first day off in a while. They have picked up every hour they can to send money back to their families in the Philippines. They say working holds back the homesickness between the video calls and WhatsApp messages.

The men find themselves in limbo. Again.

It’s been nearly a year since Dagalea, Cabrera, Zambales and 21 of their crewmates docked in Washington after fishing a tuna season for California-based McAdam’s Fish. Cascade PBS previously detailed the crews’ three months in the Westport Marina in late 2023, leading at least six workers to accuse their employer of abandonment and wage theft.

Foreign fishermen working off the U.S. coast do not require visas, but those without lose many federal worker protections and cannot leave their boats. Labor experts say working offshore for months at a time leaves foreign fishing crews “uniquely unprotected” from employers who have near-complete control over their living conditions and immigration statuses.

This story is part of Cascade PBS’s WA Workplace Watch, an investigative project covering worker safety and labor in Washington state.

In Congress, efforts to protect migrant fishermen have stalled in recent years. The last public proposal came in 2017 when U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, introduced the Sustainable Fishing Workforce Protection Act, which would have created a distinct visa category for foreign fishermen and imposed new inspection requirements on their vessels. The bill died in committee, and Hirono’s office did not provide any updates on the effort following multiple Cascade PBS requests for comment.

Other recent Congressional efforts have proposed adding exemptions to visa restrictions on seafood processing workers to ease industry seasonal hiring demands without addressing offshore fishing crews. Worker advocates argue that foreign maritime workers deserve more U.S. protections, such as oversight of wage agreements and increased inspections of vessel conditions.

With help from Filipino community organizations, six men have stayed in the Seattle area to pursue claims against their former employer and assist with multiple investigations in the U.S. as well as the Philippines. They have spent months finding new work, meeting with attorneys, settling into new routines and missing their families.

“Nobody told us we were gonna wait this long,” Dagalea said.

In a January 2024 photo, a sea lion swims in front of the Dayna S, a McAdam’s Fish boat in Westport, Wash. It’s one of the company’s four ships on which two dozen Filipino crew members were confined during a wage dispute. Without visas, U.S. immigration laws would not permit the fishermen on land. (Lindsey Wasson/Associated Press)

The still ‘United 6’

The six crewmen, calling themselves the United 6, told Cascade PBS that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security recently placed a new investigator on their case – and matched the six with individual attorneys as they enter another round of interviews with the agency. A calendar tracking the group’s meetings hangs in their living room. “Reyner Lawyer Meeting 3 PM” reads one entry in bold red marker.

Jill Mangaliman, a local Filipino-American community organizer who has supported the men throughout their transition, said authorities have also launched an investigation overseas into Pescadores International, a company in the Philippines that recruited the men to work for McAdam’s Fish. Mangaliman said the Department of Migrant Workers, an agency recently established to protect the rights of Filipinos working overseas, had conducted several virtual hearings with the crewmen to review evidence and testimony.

McAdam’s Fish has disputed any wrongdoing, asserting they paid wages as promised and that crews may see long waits between fishing seasons but workers could return home if they wished. Pescadores International and McAdam’s shared affidavits from other crewmembers suggesting the allegations were part of an effort to obtain U.S. visas.

Asked for comment or an update on recent proceedings, an attorney for McAdam’s Fish responded via email: “McAdam’s Fish remains available to answer any government inquiries.”

Mangaliman said the crew continues to wait to hear back on any investigative charges or findings. They also credited the International Transport Workers Federation with offering legal counsel and support as the United 6 worked to navigate a bureaucratic process.

“It’s not an easy process for people to go through,” they added. “We’re hopeful, but I also know that regardless of the result, we’re going to continue moving forward.”

Cyrus Donato, a Puget Sound area inspector for the International Transport Workers’ Federation, inspects a tugboat after the crew alleged they had not received their owed pay. (Lizz Giordano/Cascade PBS)

Seeking new protections

Cyrus Donato serves as an inspector with the International Transport Workers’ Federation. In this role, Donato monitors living conditions aboard vessels in Washington ports and works with seafarers to help them better understand their rights and work contracts.

Last week, a group of seafarers from South America hired to tandem-tow a pair of retired state ferries to Ecuador were instead caught in an immigration enforcement action after failing to move the vessels due to a malfunction with the towing equipment. Donato told Cascade PBS that he had spotted safety issues with the crew’s vessel as early as October 2023, and that most of the crews’ visas had expired, leaving them legally restricted to the vessel.

“How can you have employees confined to a ship?” Donato asked, noting that the crew’s employer repatriated the men after Customs and Border Patrol got involved.

Washington’s local Filipino-American diaspora helped connect Donato with the United 6, and he’s since become a key advocate for the men in their yearlong dispute against their employers.

Donato said he has worked throughout the year to connect the men with state officials and share their story with policymakers. In March, Donato and Dagalea traveled to Boston to speak at Seafood Expo, describing the fishing crew’s working conditions and alleged abandonment to industry experts and suppliers.

U.S. officials should do more to prevent and punish maritime worker abuse, Donato argued. He said state or federal authorities should enact a process for verifying crew contracts, inspecting vessels regularly and pursuing criminal charges for severe violations.

Donato’s suggestions mirror some aspects of Hirono’s 2017 proposal, which called for employers, or associations of employers, to outline clear written agreements with fishermen on the terms of their wages, shares or other compensation they may receive at sea.

The bill would have also established crewmembers’ right to freely report any labor, safety or health abuses without fear of retaliation, and to gain access to remediation and their passports or other immigration documents.

Hirono also included a section that would have recruited third-party entities from Southeast Asian countries to determine whether an employer is acting in accordance with standards set by the International Labour Organization, the United Nations’ body overseeing labor issues.

Recently, Congress has focused on meeting industry demands rather than expanding worker protections. Last December, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Virginia, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, came together to draft the bipartisan Save Our Seafood Act, which looks to exempt seasonal seafood-processing workers from H2-B visa caps that limit hiring. The bill makes no mention of offshore fishing workers.

“The seafood industry is not just important to our economy, but important to who we are as Virginians. We want to make sure we keep you around for a very long time,” Kaine said in a December 2023 news release. “It would be a shame if we got choked up because we couldn’t solve this labor issue.”

Accounting for overseas labor

The Philippines economy relies heavily on wages sent back from overseas labor. Personal remittances brought an all-time high of $36.1 billion to the country in 2022, according to the Central Bank of the Philippines. An estimated two million Filipinos work abroad; the most common professions include seafarers, housekeepers, manufacturers and nurses.

“It’s really like a culture for Filipinos – like every Filipino family knows at least one migrant worker,” said Andreanna Garcia, a program officer for the Philippines office of the Solidarity Center, an advocacy organization that partners with local labor unions to protect workers’ rights.

Garcia said the country formed the Department of Migrant Workers in 2022 after labor investigation requests started to overburden other agencies. The Philippines Overseas Employment Administration, which helped authorize Pescadores International, is also transitioning under the jurisdiction of the DMW.

The DMW has started with a limited budget, Garcia said, but she remains hopeful.

“I gotta admire the people in the Department of Migrant Workers, they’re very hands-on … and the leadership under their department secretary – he’s from labor, the unions are very close to him,” she said. “They really admire him because they see that he’s really functioning and really, like, stepping up to the role of helping the Department [of] Migrant Workers.”

Garcia noted that legislators already enacted The Seafarers Protection Act in 2015, and are looking to pass the Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers this year. The latter awaits President Bongbong Marcos’ pen as its author works on transferring jurisdiction of disputes to the ILO.

The Magna Carta proposes that seafarers work no more than eight hours a day, offers annual paid leave and, most important, sets guidelines for repatriation. Foreign employers (such as McAdam’s Fish) would be required to bear all repatriation costs “from the moment the seafarers leave the ship until they reach the repatriation destination.”

The bill also codifies emergency repatriation from foreign vessels in the case of war, epidemics, abandonment of ships by shipowners and natural disasters: “The POEA shall require manning agencies to effect the repatriation of seafarers within forty-eight (48) hours or suffer the penalty of suspension.”

Chris Williams, a fisheries expert and marine socioeconomic specialist for the ITF, said the Philippines has forged ahead of other countries, but at the same time, “They’re sending so many people abroad every year, they can’t possibly be doing their due diligence in every single instance.”

Williams said one of the most substantial actions a country can take is ratifying the ILO’s Work in Fishing Convention, which neither the United States nor the Philippines has done.

“One of the first countries to ratify the Work in Fishing Convention was Argentina, where all of their main industrial export fisheries are covered by collective bargaining agreements from unions that are affiliated to the ITF,” he said. “And if you read those collective bargaining agreements, I mean – the first time I read one of the Argentinian ones, I was actually crying with laughter because I couldn’t believe how good their conditions of work were.”

Mangaliman, the Seattle community organizer, said the United 6 also raised their allegations with the Philippine Consulate. With help from local and international supporters, they said, the crew hopes investigators will validate their concerns and push the industry to do better.

“There’s more to it than just the lost wages and the benefits, but also their experience of being abandoned or even trafficked,” Mangaliman said. “We want to make sure that we continue to raise that as well as organize other exploited fishermen.”

Reporter Lizz Giordano contributed to this story.

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Topics: Labor, Maritime Industry, Washington Workplace Watch

The Newsfeed: Examining faith & politics in the Yakima City Council

Paris Jackson — Fri, 06 Sep 2024 04:57:00 PDT

For some, the line between faith and politics has blurred in the city of Yakima. For years a shift has been afoot, as elected officials are openly declaring their faith like never before.

Newsfeed host Paris Jackson spoke with Cascade PBS news reporter Mai Hoang for more insight on her piece, “Under God: How Christianity permeates Yakima politics.”

In this conversation, Hoang tells us about the major political shift Yakima’s city council underwent in the past year. For example, in 2023, the council voted to support a Pride Month proclamation. Now, less than a year later and under a new conservative majority, the new council has made an about-face to vote against a similar proclamation in 2024. We also discuss how the national conservative strategy played a role, including the influence of President Trump’s former administration official and surrogate Steve Bannon.

“I think when you look at the 2023 city council election, it’s very obvious that they took the pages of the playbook from Steve Bannon. And what the playbook says is ‘Hey, let’s kind of, from the top down, let’s go for the grassroots approach. Let’s aim to get conservatives in these local, historically nonpartisan seats, like school boards or city councils,’” said Hoang.

Topics: Multimedia, Video

ArtSEA: Bellevue Arts Museum closes its doors indefinitely

Brangien Davis — Thu, 05 Sep 2024 15:34:52 PDT

We’re just five days into September — the official start of the bustling “fall arts” season — and already the local arts world is buzzing with big news.

We’ll start with the bad: Yesterday, Bellevue Arts Museum announced that as of 5 p.m., it was closed until further notice. It is not clear when or whether that notice might arrive.

The museum raised the alarm back in February, with an emergency fundraising campaign intended to “Save BAM: Keep Bellevue Alive.” BAM raised more than $350,000 with the effort, exceeding its goal.

But as the press release stated, “Despite our best efforts to navigate financial instability, we have reached a point where we can no longer sustain our operations.”

ArtSEA: Notes on Northwest Culture is a weekly arts newsletter from Cascade PBS.

What started in 1947 as an arts and crafts fair eventually became the BAM facility — designed by architect Steven Holl — which opened to fanfare in 2001. For almost 25 years it served as one of the only venues in Bellevue with year-round arts programming. But as The Seattle Times reported in May, BAM’s financial troubles are nothing new.

Now the museum’s board has resigned and only a “small transitional staff” remains in place to facilitate the 2025 Bellevue Arts Fair. That’s according to a notice on the BAM website, which also states that the museum has filed for “receivership,” legal status in which a court-appointed custodian manages the organizational assets.

BAM says this is the “best path” toward “restructuring the institution,” one that “opens a chance of much needed reinvention and partnership.”

If a reinvention should materialize, it’s going to take some time. Which is a shame for the Northwest arts ecosystem, as BAM had established itself as a place where promising local artists could build their first big shows and local arts elders earned retrospectives.

I saw many wonderful exhibits there (of work by Preston Wadley, Joey Veltkamp, Tariqa Waters, Michelle Kumata, Alden Mason, Julie Green and others), and will miss crossing the lake to see more.

Xian Zhang, center, on April 4, 2024, at Benaroya Hall, where she conducted the Seattle Symphony in Copland’s ‘Appalachian Spring.’ (Carlin Ma)

Let’s move on to some good news, starting with the fact that the Seattle Symphony today named a new music director: Xian Zhang, who will officially pick up the baton in the fall of 2025.

(The organization has relied on visiting conductors since Thomas Dausgaard made a tumultuous exit in January 2022, one year before his contract was up.)

A popular guest conductor on the national stage, Zhang has conducted concerts for the Seattle Symphony since 2008, and was one of the first conductors to appear on stage at Benaroya for streaming performances during the pandemic. In a press release, she said Benaroya is “one of my all-time favorite performance halls to conduct in.” She is currently director of the New Jersey Symphony.

In her new role, Zhang will be the first woman to lead a major West Coast orchestra, and one of just two women leading a top-tier American orchestra. She’s also the first woman and person of color to lead the Seattle Symphony.

Zhang’s appointment is especially notable due to the statistics regarding women and people of color in music director positions at professional orchestras.

The League of American Orchestras reports that in 2024, women represented 12.7% of music directors nationally (a modest uptick from 9% in 2014), and Asian and Asian American music directors represented 9.2% of directors in 2024. (Zhang was born in China and made her professional debut in Beijing.)

In a press release, Seattle Symphony president and CEO Krishna Thiagarajan noted, “Today we are witnessing history being made.”

You can get a glimpse of Zhang’s style this spring, when she’ll conduct Holst: The Planets (in March) and Hilary Hahn Plays Beethoven (in June) as music director designate.

Known for commissioning contemporary works, James Robinson has just taken the helm at Seattle Opera. (David Jaewon Oh)

Also joining the Seattle cultural roster: James Robinson, who started his new job as general and artistic director of Seattle Opera yesterday (Sept. 4). He replaces Christina Scheppelmann, who is departing for Brussels having completed her contract.

Robinson previously led Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, where he was director for 16 years. During that time he was noted for bringing new productions to the repertoire. He commissioned 11 world premieres for St. Louis’s summer opera festival, and as a stage director has led more than 30 world premieres.

Back in 2004, he directed a production of Georges Bizet’s Carmen at Seattle Opera, which the organization says “sold more tickets than any production in company history.”

In addition to bringing new stories — and new takes on ages-old stories — to the stage, Robinson is known for his emphasis on involving the community in programming.

“Like politics, all arts are local,” he said in a press release. “It’s vital to include the community in the decision-making processes, working with them to identify stories they want to see on stage.”

After a fire, Davidson Galleries has reopened at a new Pioneer Square location with a group show including 1930s prints by Humio Tomita. (Davidson Galleries)

And there’s more good news for arts aficionados. This week kicks off a brand-new citywide festival called Arts & Culture Week (Sept. 8-14).

Granted, for some of us, every week is arts & culture week! But this marks a concerted effort to unite arts groups — across genres — for an annual series of special events.

It’s the brainchild of a small group of Seattle curators: Elisheba Johnson of Wa Na Wari; Phen Huang of Foster/White Gallery; Judith Rinehart of J. Rinehart Gallery; A. McLean Emenegger of AMcE Creative Arts; and Laura Zeck of Zinc Contemporary.

This talented assembly was looking for a way to boost our creative economy — and encourage people who aren’t already involved in Seattle arts to experience the wealth of experiences available.

Arts & Culture Week now has nonprofit status (through Shunpike), and has hired Tanya Miller as director. (You may have seen Miller at the Seattle Art Fair in July, encouraging passersby to draw directly onto the A&C Week booth.)

Some 40 venues are participating this first year, hosting special talks, workshops, live music and, in the case of J. Rinehart Gallery, a raptor encounter with an owl featured in a painting by Meggan Joy (Sept. 12).

Seattle Opera’s contribution is several Black Excellence in Music recitals (Sept. 11 - 14), featuring cast members of the forthcoming Jubilee; Pottery Northwest offers a Make a Mug class; Greg Kucera Gallery asks visitors to fill in the blank for “Art is…” and will hand-print your answer on a colorful poster (Sept. 14). For more, click the “program” tab on the website and select each day to view events happening on that date.

It all starts with the Arts & Culture Week opening party this Sunday in Pioneer Square (Sept. 8, 4 - 8 p.m. 311½ Occidental Ave. S), in the same building that formerly housed the longstanding Davidson Galleries, which suffered a fire in January.

Coincidentally (more good news!), Davidson Galleries reopened this week in a sleek new space on Yesler, next to Cafe Paloma.

At a preview event yesterday evening, founder Sam Davidson told me the plan is to host small exhibits of contemporary, modern and antique prints in regular rotation. Head in on first Thursday (tonight, Sept. 5) to see the inaugural show in the new space, featuring Humio Tomita’s electric 1930s serigraphs juxtaposed with dreamy landscape aquatints by Northwest artist Stephan McMillan.

Finally, one last snippet from this week’s barrage of local arts news: The Washington Center for the Book released its list of finalists for the 2024 Washington State Book Award. Congrats to all the contenders, including: Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City, by Jane Wong; Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma, by Claire Dederer; The Liberators, by E.J. Koh; The Laughter, by Sonora Jha; and I Sing the Salmon Home, a poetry anthology edited by Rena Priest. Winners will be announced Sept. 24, but as they say at the Oscars, it’s an honor just to be nominated.

Topics: Arts, ArtSEA, Features, Music, Things to do

New progressive PAC backs Alexis Rinck’s Seattle council campaign

Josh Cohen — Thu, 05 Sep 2024 14:43:06 PDT

A group of progressive Seattle politicos has launched a new political action committee to support Alexis Mercedes Rinck’s campaign for Seattle City Council’s citywide Position 8.

Called the Progressive People Power PAC (P3 PAC), its backers say the fundraising effort is necessary to counter business PAC spending in support of conservative-leaning local politicians.

“It is harmful when big business floods our ‘free and fair’ elections with their money and influence,” said Ry Armstrong, P3 PAC board chair and a former Seattle City Council candidate, in an email. “We have decided to fight fire with fire and are focusing on building long-term, foundational change within Seattle.”

The new PAC launched in late August with a $25,000 donation from Carrie Barnes, chair of the King County Democrats, according to its filings with the state Public Disclosure Commission. Its board of directors includes Maren Costa, who ran against Rob Saka last year for Seattle City Council; Aretha Basu, political director at the progressive nonprofit Puget Sound Sage; Jeanne Legault, who worked as legislative aide to former Councilmember Lisa Herbold; and Alexis Mansanarez, campaign manager for King County Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda’s most recent campaign.

Mosqueda, Costa and Barnes are co-hosting a fundraiser for the PAC along with former Seattle City Councilmember Andrew Lewis and former District 4 City Council candidate Ron Davis.

In 2023, PACs spent more than $1 million on Seattle City Council races. Most of that money came from Seattle-area business and real estate leaders backing a slate of conservative-leaning candidates who campaigned on public safety and a promise not to raise taxes without first making cuts to the existing city budget. Labor unions and other progressive orgs spent about $200,000 backing left-leaning candidates in the race.

Councilmembers Rob Saka, Joy Hollingsworth, Maritza Rivera, Cathy Moore and Bob Kettle all benefited from PAC spending in their successful bids for election last year.

This fall, Rinck is running against Councilmember Tanya Woo, who was supported by more than $117,000 in PAC spending in her race against District 2 City Councilmember Tammy Morales in 2023. Woo lost last November, but was appointed to temporarily fill the seat Mosqueda vacated when she was elected to King County Council. Whoever wins in this November’s special election will finish Mosqueda’s term through the end of 2025.

The Washington Realtors PAC spent $60,000 in support of Woo during this year’s primary race. Business PACs have not yet otherwise gotten involved in the 2024 Council race. A progress group called Fuse Washington spent $193 through its PAC for Rinck in the primary.

According to Armstrong, P3 PAC’s support for Rinck is just the debut, and the group plans to back other progressive candidates in years to come.

On the individual fundraising front, the City Council candidates are nearly tied, with Woo raising $306,249 so far and Rinck raising $297,340.

Topics: Campaign Finance, Elections 2024, Seattle City Elections, Seattle City Government

Is one Western Washington district shifting further to the right?

Shauna Sowersby — Thu, 05 Sep 2024 05:00:00 PDT

The 2nd Legislative District in the south Puget Sound region has always been a conservative foothold among more Democratic and liberal-leaning areas of Western Washington. But now it could be moving even further right, if the current election is an indication of what’s happening in parts of Yelm and Lacey and surrounding rural areas.

Two candidates – Matt Marshall, a former Eatonville School Board member and staunch Second Amendment advocate; and John Snaza, a former sheriff with more self-described conservative ideas on drug addiction, mental health and homelessness – are competing to replace a more mainstream Republican in the House this fall.

The soon-to-be former House leader for the district, Rep. J.T. Wilcox, said he is not sure if the district is considered more conservative than it used to be, but said it is certainly different from other conservative areas of Washington.

“Republicans in the Puget Sound area have, in some ways, a different kind of conservative outlook than people in Eastern Washington, and it’s because in Eastern Washington Republicans are in charge,” Wilcox said. “They’re responsible for the problems and the solutions. In Western Washington, the Republicans usually are not in charge, and they’re often way more frustrated because they haven’t really been able to try out their solutions.”

Wilcox, a Republican from Yelm, told Cascade PBS in a phone interview that recent changes in the district, which encompasses parts of Pierce and Thurston counties and parts of Yelm and Lacey, could impact who is elected next to the 2nd District seat.

For example, Wilcox said there used to be more farms in the area than there are now. In Yelm, the lawmaker owns and operates Wilcox Family Farms – a major Washington supplier of eggs.

There’s also not much of an economy in the 2nd District, which is made up of small towns and more rural areas, especially after political redistricting removed Orting, he said.

Redistricting not only cut out Orting, but also made the 2nd more a Thurston County district after parts of Pierce County were removed and less densely populated parts of Thurston County added, he noted. Wilcox said it’s possible that could make the district more Republican, but “we’ll find out.”

Typically, the district runs 60% to 65% Republican.

Those voters will decide who will replace Wilcox in January. He announced in February that he would step down after 14 years in the Legislature.

After all votes were officially counted for the open seat during the August primary, Marshall took home 34% of the vote, while Snaza nabbed the second spot for the general election with nearly 30%. Two Democrats also ran for the position: Yanah G. Cook, who garnered nearly 24%, and Michael Holloman, who got only 12%.

Marshall told Cascade PBS in a phone interview that he believes he is more conservative than Wilcox, which he thinks is likely more reflective of the district.

“I am more willing to be vocal about some of my positions, rather than being politically correct, I guess would be one way to put it,” Marshall said.

Marshall said he is an avid and unapologetic Second Amendment advocate, while he believes Wilcox was always focused more on the fiscal side of things in the Legislature. Marshall also thinks the Legislature should have more budget oversight before adding any new taxes, and hopes that if he is elected he can help audit the budget.

He attributed his campaign’s success so far to talking with and being transparent with community members, and said he wants to bring that attitude to the Legislature.

Marshall’s political run hasn’t been without controversy, however.

He said that he believed an article published in The News Tribune about his ties to the controversial Washington Three Percenters helped him win his seat on the Eatonville School Board because it highlighted his patriotism, but said that he has not been involved with the group for years.

Marshall also pushed back on the idea that the Washington-based Three Percenters were a part of the national Three Percenters group that took part in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and maintained that the state group was solely a pro-gun group focused on working with homeless veterans. But hate-watch groups such as the Southern Poverty Law Center say the Three Percenter sub-ideology “falls within the larger anti-government militia movement.”

Additionally, Marshall was criticized for supporting former Spokane Valley Rep. Matt Shea, who was removed from the House Republican Caucus for participating in domestic terrorism and distributing a manifesto titled “The Biblical Basis for War.”

Wilcox, in contrast, pushed Shea to resign after findings from an investigation were released to the Legislature. Marshall said he believes the way Shea was “attacked by his own caucus was wrong,” and was critical of the political tactics used to remove him from office.

Marshall ran against Wilcox in 2020, but did not advance in the primary.

Wilcox said he is endorsing Snaza for his former seat. Wilcox’s seatmate for the district, Rep. Andrew Barkis, R-Olympia, is also endorsing Snaza. Barkis, a mainstream Republican, is running unopposed in his district.

In a phone interview with Cascade PBS, Snaza emphasized his alignment with Wilcox on “conservative values” like accountability and support for working families, but acknowledged that his approach to issues such as drug addiction, mental health and homelessness might be deemed more controversial than other approaches.

“I’ve dealt with all of those and so obviously I want to fix the situation, but giving out handouts isn’t fixing the situation,” Snaza said.

He said his time in law enforcement allowed him to see the “devastation” caused by drugs, and wants to work to keep hard drugs such as methamphetamines, cocaine and heroin illegal. He believes his experiences working in the community he’s lived in will make him a good lawmaker.

Snaza, who worked in law enforcement for two decades with three terms as the Thurston County Sheriff, said he is all for capitalism, but still believes in people getting fair wages, and said he will support measures to ensure living wages for Washingtonians, particularly in more economically depressed areas.

Additionally, he said he wants to see more housing affordability in the state, and said he will work to make that a possibility if elected.

Snaza has also faced controversies of his own, such as when current Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders accused him of launching an investigation into Sanders’ behavior while he was running against Snaza for sheriff in 2022. Sanders called the move “purely political” at the time. Additionally, the county was sued in 2019 after Snaza rear-ended a driver while driving a government-issued vehicle, causing injuries.

In 2020, Snaza, also a Second Amendment advocate, attended a meeting in which attendees discussed a possible citizen’s arrest of Attorney General Bob Ferguson over tightened gun laws. Several in attendance wore the insignia of the Three Percenters, The Seattle Times reported. Although Snaza was sympathetic to attendees’ objections to red flag laws, the sheriff urged them not to take matters into their own hands, and declined to sanction the formation of a Thurston County militia.

While it is unclear yet which candidate will win in the 2nd Legislative District, Snaza has so far raised more than $53,000 from groups such as the Washington State Troopers Political Action Committee, the Reagan Fund, and the House Republican Organizational Committee.

Marshall has raised more than $25,000 so far from groups like the Pierce County Republican Party and the Leewens Corporation. Republican Sen. Jim McCune, who represents the 2nd, also contributed to Marshall’s campaign.

The last day to turn in ballots for the general election is Nov. 5.

Topics: Election 2024, Elections 2024

Your Last Meal | The Leftovers with Tamron Hall & Lish Steiling

Rachel Belle — Thu, 05 Sep 2024 04:59:00 PDT

Topics: Books, celebrities, cooking, Food, food podcast, Podcast