Offering asides, recommended links, blogworthy quotations, and more, In Brief is the Northwest Progressive Institute's microblog of world, national, and local politics.
Amtrak, America’s passenger railroad, has been facing the prospect of deep service cuts ever since Donald Trump and his minions rolled out their first budget proposal. But, buoyed by Congress’ refusal to (so far) implement the proposed evisceration of its long distance routes, Amtrak this week rolled out a brand new ad campaign that brilliantly showcases the advantages of rail travel, called Break the Travel Quo.
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This National Weather Service radar mosaic shows Hurricane Irma’s movement through Florida and into Georgia. Irma first made landfall in the Keys before moving up Florida’s west coast. The storm is now a Category 1 hurricane, but still very dangerous. (NOAA/NWS animation)
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Interstate 84, Oregon’s main east-west link, is closed indefinitely in stretches between Hood River and The Dalles due to the Eagle Creek Fire and unstable slopes produced by the fire. That’s hurting truckers like David Cassidy, whose livelihood is made possible by the availability of public infrastructure paid for by taxpayers.
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“The French company that says its Houston-area chemical plant is spewing ‘noxious’ smoke — and may explode — successfully pressed federal regulators to delay new regulations designed to improve safety procedures at chemical plants, according to federal records reviewed by International Business Times.”
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Everything that we had hoped wouldn’t happen but was forecasted is happening. We have a catastrophic, life-threatening flood event taking place over southeastern Texas, including
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Shell-and-mortar fireworks are legal in Washington state, but the injuries they cause are more similar to those inflicted by illegal fireworks, the study found. In fact, they were even more damaging than homemade fireworks.
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Check out the map and travel prepared.
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“Privately funded, the ambitious project will heighten the Observation Deck experience with floor-to-ceiling glass on the interior and exterior to further open up the uninhibited 360° views of the Puget Sound area.”
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“To Pacific Northwesterners, the Bonneville Power Administration power grid is like energy itself — quietly taken for granted, humming away in the background … until something goes wrong. A proposal by the Trump administration to sell off BPA’s transmission system should shake the region awake from complacency,” says The Seattle Times.
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Southwestern Oregon’s public services are rotting away or shutting down due to voter unwillingness to pay dues to keep them running. The New York Times looks at the collapse of the commons in an often-ignored area of the Pacific Northwest.
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“Sound Transit’s consultants have invented a flexing track connection, using earthquake science, to safely move future light-rail trains on the I‑90 floating bridge,” reports The Seattle Times’ Mike Lindblom.
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People who walk regularly around Seattle are torn between bafflement and dismay at what they traverse on foot. On any given day, they encounter buckled,
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Patrick McGreevy and Melanie Mason, reporting for The Los Angeles Times: “After a week of fierce debate between opposing interests, the state Legislature on Thursday approved a plan to raise gas taxes and vehicle fees by $5.2 billion a year to pay for the repair of California’s pothole-ridden, decaying system of roads, highways and bridges.”
LaunchWe know how this works from 520, 405 HOT, and lots of other toll projects in other cities. At first people say “I’LL NEVER PAY.”
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What happens when a vital public service is starved of resources? It shuts down. Without enough funding to keep the doors open, authorities in Oregon’s Douglas County are closing its libraries, leaving 8,500 cardholders stranded. “We simply don’t have the money anymore,” Douglas County Commissioner Gary Leif told The Register Guard of Eugene.
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One highlight was riding Amtrak across the border. There’s something about train travel that melts stress away. — Daniel Beekman: A first-timer’s fresh view of
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Addressing King and Snohomish voters, who supported Sound Transit 3, Tacoma News Tribune columnist Matt Driscoll writes on behalf of people in Pierce County to say thanks for “saving our transportation bacon”.
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A strong earthquake has caused serious damage in the central Oklahoma oil town of Cushing, which is home to the United States’ largest commercial oil
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Seattle Subway: “Over a century after the first vote for a fast and reliable train system in the Seattle area, it’s finally our generation’s chance
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“It’s one thing to hear about the crumbling condition of Seaside’s high school, middle school and Gearhart Elementary School. It’s another to take a tour and see them firsthand,” writes The Daily Astorian’s RJ Marx, beginning a report on the appalling, abysmal conditions of the Oregon coastal city’s schools.
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“Federal prosecutors on Monday charged Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County with criminal contempt of court, saying he willfully defied a judge’s orders to stop targeting Latinos — including citizens and legal immigrants — in traffic stops and other law enforcement efforts, behavior the judge said showed a pattern of discriminatory policing,” The New York Times reports.
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