MLK Jr. Day, and a riveting, new local documentary

January 15, 2024

MLK Jr. Day march in downtown Spokane, January 2013

MLK Jr., Day

Today is the 38th Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and we are still in that zone of time where many of us remember where and who we were in April 1968, when MLK Jr. was assassinated in Memphis. That was an especially rough year, 1968—the TET offensive in Vietnam had stunned the world and especially the U.S. military. Two months after King’s death, Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated while campaigning for president in Los Angeles. Richard Nixon was elected in November because he was viewed—ironically in retrospect—as someone who would return law and order. So that would be one lesson from 1968: be careful who you vote for, especially when you’re confused or traumatized.

But a more important lesson, I would think, is the achievement that MLK, Jr. Day exists. It was not a given at the time (1983) Congress passed the bills creating it and the resistance was both fierce and sadly desecrating, especially from southern politicians like Senator Jesse Helms of North Carolina. The campaign succeeded, nevertheless, and that’s what I choose to remember most prominently. Dr. King was an extraordinary brave and eloquent American whose vision and sacrifice should be revered, for all time.

On a current note, it’s hovering near zero F this morning in Spokane, so if you’re joining the MLK Jr. Day march thru downtown in a few hours, bundle up.

The West Plains Water Documentary

A big tip of the wool cap to John Hancock, the West Plains Water Coalition, Hamilton Studio, and Camp Creative for the new 20-minute documentary that made its debut over the weekend. I’m embedding it here for convenience, but if you’d like to view it on the Coalition’s website, with supporting documentation and links, you can access that here.

It’s quite a tour, one that is beautifully filmed and edited by the team at Hamilton Studios. The drone footage and use of animation and maps gives viewers a clear sense of the hydrogeologic island that the West Plains uneasily rests upon and why it has been so vulnerable to PFAS (“forever chemicals”) contamination emanating from the two airports near the City of Airway Heights. As importantly, the film introduces viewers to the juxtaposition between the natural ruggedness of the area (which affords a rural experience so close to a major city) and the hole in the social/political fabric that left so many of them exposed and vulnerable—including 1,000+ families who rely upon private wells for their water, and the water they need to raise crops and tend to livestock.

In the film you’ll meet: George Compton, Chuck Danner, Marcie Zambryskie, Katy Cannon, Arthur Young, Theresa Myers, Nick Scharff and Michele Baca, geologist and Medical Lake city council member Chad Pritchard, former Spokane County health officer Bob Lutz (who now works for the state health dpeartment) and, of course, John Hancock, who narrates the story as it exists, to date. In the meantime, I’ve created a home port at my Rhubarb Skies website that gives free access to the entire West Plains “forever chemical” investigation as reported at The Daily Rhubarb to date. It will be updated as I add additional stories.

p.s. thanks to those of you who’ve sent kind notes about Audrey’s 3 part series—Close Encounters with the Mirror World—that concluded yesterday. As you can tell it was quite a load of work, and quite a gift from Audrey as I recuperated from hosting the Covid virus for a couple weeks. I tested negative yesterday, so I’m running low on excuses to indulge in sleep, which is not a bad way to work through a frigid January. Thanks especially to our friend David Brookbank who is an incredibly careful reader and noticed a missing “we” that got bumped in the editing process for Part 3. We’ve now fixed the “we” :) Stay warm, if possible…

—tjc