(soft music) (upbeat music) - Welcome to The Newsfeed.

In today's episode, with just four months until November's general election, the campaigns for some of Washington's most high profile positions, are ramping up.

We've got you covered with everything you need to know ahead of the state primary.

Plus, much of his prolific life's work has been tucked away for decades.

We'll preview a new doc that spotlights a trailblazing Pacific Northwest photographer.

(soft music) I'm Paris Jackson.

Today's top story, we're counting down to the state's August primary.

With all that's at stake for the general election in November, there's a slew of candidates that must get through the primary.

To help residents break down what's happening in their district and city, we return to Cascade PBS Associate News editor, Venice Buhain, for more on this year's comprehensive voter guide.

Welcome Venice.

Thank you for joining us today on The Newsfeed.

- Thanks for having me, Paris.

- It's a pleasure to have you with us and we're gonna dive right into it with the August 6th primary for Washington State taking place in just a couple of weeks from now.

There are eight statewide leadership rules on the ballot.

28 of those candidates are running for governor.

Why is this new Cascade PBS Voter Guide a useful election resource?

- So when people get their ballots, they're gonna see a lot of candidates, as you'd mentioned, and we just wanted to make it easy for people to find out information about who they're voting for.

We included links to campaign contributions, so you can see who's contributing to what candidate.

We included links to coverage that we've done and that some other news organizations have done.

So people can start their independent research on who they're gonna be voting for in in August.

- And this guide is not just isolated to a particular city or district, it's comprehensive and statewide.

- Yes, this year we are covering the entire state because the House of Representatives from the Washington State legislature is up for election.

About half of the Senate is also up for election.

So people can get an overview of who might be making decisions in Olympia this year.

- And this particular year of the voter guide, there is some uniqueness to it.

What are you guys doing differently this year?

- This year we're really excited to be partnering with four organizations throughout the state.

We've got two partners in Bellingham.

We've got the Salish Current and also the Cascadia Daily News.

And we've also are partnering with The Colombian, which is covering Southwest Washington down near Vancouver.

And also we are partnering with Range Media out in Spokane.

And it's really exciting to be partnering with them because they bring familiarity and you know, just kind of local flavor to the guide.

So you really get a sense of, you know, local issues.

- And Venice, what do you hope people learn from the guide this year?

What I learned from the guide was kind of what issues are important throughout the state.

Sometimes we're really focused on our own neighborhoods and our own districts, but it was really interesting to find out what political issues are important like in Spokane County and Clallam County and Whatcom County.

That was something that I thought was really interesting as a person who, you know, is gonna be paying attention to politics, you know, come November and and come next year.

- Well, voters have a lot to consider, a lot of big races.

Again, eight major leadership roles are gonna be on the ballot this year.

Thank you so much for joining us on The Newsfeed.

- Thank you.

- If you would like to learn more about the Cascade PBS voter guide, go to cascadepbs.org.

(soft music) The massive archival process to digitize images from more than 80 years ago is captured in a new documentary.

A new Cascade PBS documentary in partnership with the Washington State Historical Society, brings fresh eyes to the life's work of a renowned Pacific Northwest photographer.

Our cameras captured a new film, "Asahel: the Curtis Collection," as the Washington State Historical Society embarked on the behemoth task of digitizing 60,000 archival images by iconic photographer Asahel Curtis.

The Historical Society says many of the glass negatives had been sitting in boxes for over the past 80 years.

Cascade PBS followed the archival journey to explore the fascinating places and faces of this magnificent collection with images documenting life in the Pacific Northwest from the 1890s to the 1940s.

(soft music) - I think the further we get from these moments in the past, the harder it is to envision what it was like.

(dramatic music) - I am Paris Jackson.

Thank you for watching The Newsfeed, your destination for nonprofit Northwest News.

Go to cascadepbs.org for more.

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