Leah Sottile
High Country News
Portland, OR, United States
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Past articles by Leah:
The 90-foot sentinel of Butte, Montana (The Sentinel) — High Country News – Know the West
What does a statue dedicated to mothers reveal about women’s rights? → Read More
Out West, we know the right-wing extremist threat just keeps rising
The Patriot Front came to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, just a lucky tip to the police may have averted big trouble. → Read More
Book Excerpt: When the Moon Turns to Blood
Leah Sottile explores an early case that reminded her of the child murders that inspired her new book in this prologue → Read More
How a trail in rural Oregon became a target of far-right extremism (Derailed) — High Country News – Know the West
To understand the state’s urban-rural divide, start by looking at Yamhill County’s proposed walking trail. → Read More
The Rough Road Ahead — High Country News – Know the West
In this issue, our feature story looks at the ways our culture criminalizes homelessness, focusing on an Oregon man who was caught in a cycle of poverty and policing that ended in his unexpected death. We also dive into the climate crisis, as drought further stresses the Colorado River Basin and impacts California’s Punjabi American farmers. Elsewhere, we consider what might change under the new… → Read More
Did James Plymell need to die? (Did James Plymell Need to Die?) — High Country News – Know the West
How homelessness is criminalized in small cities and towns across the West. → Read More
As a plague sweeps the land, zealots see a gift from heaven (Biblical Proportions) — High Country News – Know the West
Extremist pastors are using the COVID-19 pandemic to push their conservative religious ideologies. → Read More
What really is antifa? — High Country News – Know the West
Effie Baum, an ‘everyday anti-fascist,’ talks about President Trump’s threat to designate the movement as a terrorist organization, and corrects the record. → Read More
The Gadsden flag is a symbol. But whose? — High Country News – Know the West
How a Revolutionary War-era flag evolved into an anti-government symbol. → Read More
The residual power of Ammon Bundy (The residual power of Ammon Bundy) — High Country News – Know the West
What’s it like when the West’s most notorious anti-government figure comes to your town? → Read More
Barriers to Entry —
In this issue, we delve into the white supremacist past — and present — of Portland, Oregon. We meet Sam Thompson, a Portland resident who wants city officials to change racist policies that have persisted for decades. We also examine the impacts of the January government shutdown on residents of rural Washington — where federal workers aren’t exactly welcome. We explore an education model on… → Read More
Racist policing plagues Portland’s nightclubs (Barriers to Entry) —
A reckoning is coming for Oregon’s white supremacist past. → Read More
Ammon Bundy spoke kindly about the migrant caravan. The backlash has him rethinking his supporters.
One of the figureheads of the so-called Patriot Movement, Bundy made waves last week when he criticized the Trump for demonizing the migrant caravan. → Read More
The deadly consequences of Christian ‘faith-healers’ —
A new film explores a fringe sect’s concept of freedom and the child deaths caused by it. → Read More
FBI agent acquitted of lying about shooting at militia member during Malheur standoff
W. Joseph Astarita, a member of the FBI’s elite Hostage Rescue Team, was the only federal or state officer charged in connection with the 41-day takeover. → Read More
Protests again convulse Portland, Ore., as groups on the right and left face off
The state's largest city has been the repeated scene of demonstrations, some violent, since the election of Donald Trump. → Read More
Malheur wildlife refuge occupation still reverberating as FBI agent goes on trial
Federal prosecutors say W. Joseph Astarita lied after firing two shots during the deadly encounter in Oregon two years ago. → Read More
Trump's Pardoning of Two Oregon Ranchers Is a Victory for the Bundys—and an Ominous Loss for Public-Lands Advocates
There is nothing more #MAGA than cowboys running the West. → Read More
This is the message that Trump’s latest pardon sends to the radical right
He isn’t just letting them out of jail. He’s saying that the fires they lit were perfectly acceptable. → Read More
Federal authorities dismantle portion of Portland ICE protest camp, make arrests
At least eight people were arrested when Department of Homeland Security officers swept through protest tent city early Thursday morning. → Read More