📢 Cascadia Voices 06/20/26

In the past, farmers and environmentalists didn’t often find themselves pulling in the same direction, but growing concern over the effects of a changing climate on a crucial resource — namely the Nooksack River basin — this week brought together Fred Likkel, executive director for Whatcom Family Farmers, and Eric Hirst, an environmental activist and retired energy policy analyst, to propose a multi-party effort to address the challenges facing the Nooksack and those who depend on its resources and live within the reach of its waters.

In their June 14 CDN guest commentary, “State, county should set up ‘Office of the Nooksack’ to guide efforts for river,” the pair outline those challenges; namely, too little water in summer months for salmon, farms and communities and too much in the form of destructive flooding in winter months.

Elsewhere, for the Columbia and Chehalis river basins, state Department of Ecology offices have brought together tribes, environmental groups, agricultural interests and local governments to draft plans and seek state and federal grants that foster integrated action that can limit flooding risks, restore habitat and protect a sustainable resource.

This work should start soon, they write: “With a deadline for Nooksack adjudication claims of June 1, 2027, there is urgency to create a parallel process that encourages settlement rather than deepening conflict. Without such a framework, (water rights) adjudication alone risks hardening positions and prolonging uncertainty. With an Office of the Nooksack, we would turn a legal process into a catalyst for collaboration and long-term solutions.”

The Rev. Marc Hander, serving the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America for Whatcom and Skagit counties, seeks the intervention of county officials in reversing the dismissal of a volunteer chaplain at the Whatcom County Jail by the Whatcom County Jail Ministry because that pastor, ordained by the Lutheran church, in the jail ministry organization’s words is a “homosexual” and living in a “homosexual marriage.” In “Jail ministry’s dismissal of chaplain misses mark on service to our neighbors,” Hander cites Jesus Christ’s words in Mark 9:41 — “Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward.” — Hander finds the message clear: “Jesus tells his disciples not to discriminate against anyone who is doing obviously good work in Jesus' own name.”

I woke up each morning with excited anticipation for library time, a magical hour at the end of each day when we students sat circled around our beloved librarian as she led us through illustrated pages into our newest adventure.

On difficult days, days where I’d faced bullying or embarrassment, my librarian let me hide under her desk and read until all my tears had been cried. In fifth grade, when I wrote and illustrated my first novel, my librarian printed, bound and put it on display in the library. I had never felt more proud of myself. It was then when I thought for the very first time: I can do this. I can be an author one day.

As my time at high school is coming to an end, I got the chance to return home, to my elementary school library and see my beloved librarian again. You might imagine how crushed I felt to learn that she is going to be laid off because of budget cuts. Not only her, but my high school drama teacher is also being laid off for the coming school year. Additionally, the only teacher in my school qualified to teach painting is retiring, and no new teacher is being hired in her place.

I appreciate the hard work and all that the people at the Bellingham District Office have done for Bellingham schools to keep students, families and staff safe, happy and educated. But I ask them (and all Bellinghamsters) to please consider the kids like me who love stories. Who is going to foster their love of books if not their librarian? Who is going to welcome kids to the library as a refuge from all the sharp edges of real life? Who is going to encourage kids to keep reading and writing? Because when people, artificial intelligence and the world let us down, it will be books and art that keep humanity connected.

Maddie Patterson
Bellingham

Read more letters to the editor here.

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Gov. Bob Ferguson announced last week that he intends to request legislation next year that would ban smartphones and other smart devices in all public schools in the state, “from the first bell to the last” (CDN, June 10, 2026). Currently, school districts set their own policies regarding smartphones in class, with about three-quarters of districts restricting access.

Sample comment: “The risks of fire are too great — and increasing. Let’s get real. Harm to others is no way to celebrate our independence.”

To the box office and beyond!: The June 19 release of the fifth installment of the “Toy Story” franchise concerns The Atlantic’s contributing writer Jacob Stern, who considers the first three movies in the series as one of film’s greatest trilogies, on par with “Star Wars” and “Lord of the Rings” in terms of operatic scale and mainstream appeal. Stern is concerned the series’ creator, Pixar — lauded as a pioneer in computer animation — is leaning too heavily on retreads, noting that four of its five upcoming projects are sequels. “If Toy Story 5 brings joy to a new generation of children, who am I to object because it messes with my beloved trilogy? Much as it offends my principles, I can reconcile myself to the continuation of the franchise — so long as it doesn’t come at the expense of Pixar investing in original stories.”

‘Christ on a bike!’: Now in its 11th and final season on PBS’s “Masterpiece,” “Grantchester,” is a detective drama set in the Cambridgeshire, England, village of Grantchester in the late 1950s and early ’60s where Detective Inspector Geordie Keating — he of the Biblically challenged catch phrase and played by Robson Green — has over the years teamed up with a succession of Anglican vicars to solve that week's homicide, including Rishi Nair as the Rev. Alphy Kottaram in the last three seasons. The series in its final season is more fully exploring the racial tensions that Kottaram’s English-born Indian character would have experienced in 1963. Plus, it’s an engaging period murder mystery. And who knew that such a bucolic hamlet could be the murder capital of England?

‘Gooooooooal!’: Hard not to get caught up in the excitement of the World Cup. A good measure of that ardor is on display in a photo essay in The Atlantic, with shots of celebrating fans at games in Mexico, Canada and the United States. Among the images, an Argentinian fan in a llama costume; Netherlands fans in Texas creating a sea of orange in their jerseys; and a figurine of the baby Jesus wearing a Mexican team jersey outside Mexico City’s Metropolitan Cathedral.