Writing from what could have been Cascadia
According to the Saturday Seattle Times an initiative—Initiative 796—to rename this green state Cascadia, discarding the name imposed by the Federal government and taking the name originally chosen by our territorial legislature in Olympia, has failed to reach the ballot. The initiative, which would have offered a way to right this historical wrong and could have given us a cool new name, apparently died because it lacked the funds to gain enough signatures and support to push it to a public vote.

This is too bad, really. Washingtonians always have the pain of distinguishing themselves from D.C., it would add a little flare to this oft overlooked state and Cascadia is a name that is right, geographically.

To have the state named Cascadia, after the mountain range, and the capital named Olympia after the mountain casting its shadow, would have felt and looked good.

Cascadia would have been good. Better luck next year.