In a Dense City Landscape, Can Trees and Development Coexist?
Bridging the Gap Between Kids and Farms
It’s not often that school-age children get to experience the bounty of food grown on farms in Seattle’s fertile neighboring valleys. “Farm to table” is best known as a culinary experience at high end restaurants. One after-school and pre-school care program is turning that around. Not only are they sourcing locally grown food with the help of a start-up to “bridge the gap between fields and kitchens”, they’re working to make sure staff know how to cook with the valleys unique ripe and ready produce. Martha Baskin has the story.
Hundreds of Acres of Organic Farmland Saved in Washington
Organic farm and pasture land is scarce in some parts of the country, and Washington state is no different. Find out why a recent purchase of 284 acres of prime organic farmland was cause for celebration; not just by PCC farmland trust that bought it and saved it from conversion into 59 estate homes, but by an organic dairy that’s now on the high road to expansion. (more…)
Ken Ward: The Man Who Shut Off Kinder Morgan’s Pipeline
In a surprise victory last week, a Washington state jury refused to convict Ken Ward, the first of five so-called “valve turners” who shut off tar sands pipelines from Canada to Washington in October of last year. Ken Ward, who turned off an emergency block valve on Kinder Morgan’s Trans-Mountain Pipeline, was charged with two felony counts. After more than five hours of deliberation, Ward’s three day trial ended in a hung jury, with at least one juror refusing to convict. This feature is by local producer, Martha Baskin.
photo courtesy of Free Speech Radio News
Owls And Trump’s Choice For Interior Secretary
In this news feature, Martha Baskin looks at Trump’s choice for interior secretary from the point of view of owls. The 116th Congress has its hands full vetting cabinet nominations. Many are controversial, but one that’s flying under the radar is Ryan Zinke, a freshman Republican Congressman from Montana, who will manage over 200 million acres of land that wildlife and ecosystems rely on.
