May 14 - 20, 2015
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Community Newspaper of Blaine and Birch Bay HHHECRWSSHHH Postal Customer
IN THIS
ISSUE
Citywide recycling day deals with toxins, page 3
Birch Bay to get tsunami warning system
Park and Recreation special section, pages 9-12
Birch Bay cartoonist introduces Marley, page 13
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
Field trip in Drayton Harbor
By Steve Guntli Phillips 66 has donated $50,000 to fund an emergency warning system for Birch Bay. The company is teaming up with the Whatcom Community Foundation and the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office division of emergency management to install the warning system. The all-hazard alert broadcast, or AHAB, will be used to notify Birch Bay residents of natural disasters like earthquakes and tsunamis. AHAB is a single unit or network of warning sirens used to warn those who are outside or in close proximity to a siren. It has a range up to 1.5 miles. AHAB sirens cannot always be heard when people are inside or asleep. It is being used in addition to existing warning sirens already in place at Sandy Point, Point Roberts and other locations throughout the county. Kent Catlin, deputy director for the division of emergency management, said his staff is currently looking into suitable locations for the AHAB system. “We are looking for public locations,” he said. “Currently the state has a contractor running tests on the best locations. These locations include areas within Birch Bay State Park and property owned by the Birch Bay Water and Sewer District.” Catlin expects the system will be up and running next year. The AHAB system is one of several public safety projects funded by Phillips 66. In addition to the AHAB system, Phillips 66 gave $25,000 for security upgrades for the Boys & Girls Club of Whatcom County, and $41,000 to United Way to fund programs for child and spousal abuse prevention. The company also donated $50,000 to the Northwest Straits Foundation, which will use the grant to remove derelict fishing gear from the Salish Sea.
s Fifth grader Leland Olson leans out the window of the Plover ferry during a rainy trip in Drayton Harbor. Olson and his classmates were on a field trip to the Drayton Harbor Oyster Company’s oyster barge as part of Gardens of the Salish Sea, an educational program that teaches kids about conservation and the local ecosystem. See more photos on page 18.
Photo by Alyssa Pitcher
Dakota Creek bridge shuts down for six months By Steve Guntli The Dakota Creek Bridge on Portal Way has been closed for the next six months to allow the county to update the structure. Work on the bridge began May 12 and is expected to take until December to complete. Truck traffic will be rerouted onto I-5 while local traffic will be detoured
onto Blaine Road and Loomis Trail Road. On April 14, Whatcom County Council approved staff’s recommendations to allot $4,048,604 for the project, an increase of more than $400,000 since the project was last budgeted in November. The bridge will receive a seismic retrofit, which will protect the bridge in the event of an earthquake. The need for the retrofit was first recognized in a 2010 structural assessment, but the project
Kenyan politician helps local charity in education bid By Steve Guntli A Whatcom County nonprofit is helping bring changes in Kenya’s education system. Whatcom County residents Dr. Debra Akre and Jeana King are the founders of Tembo Trading Education Project. The nonprofit is helping provide education to impoverished rural areas of the
country, and the project is beginning to build momentum. Honorable James Rege, a member of parliament from the Karachuonyo constituency in western Kenya, visited Bellingham on May 4 and 5. Rege is collaborating with Tembo on an ambitious project that will integrate technology into the educational program in Rege’s district and beyond. Rege met with Akre and King to discuss
plans going forward, and held a successful meeting with representatives from Microsoft’s 4Afrika program to bring the project to the next level. “We just confirmed that Microsoft is going to contribute,” King said. “We don’t know all the details yet. They’re going to help us with access and power to certain regions, and they’re making arrangements (See Tembo, page 8)
did not make it before council for funding until February 2014. Built in 1928, the retrofit will preserve the original design, making the bridge safer without significantly affecting its historical significance. The project was first estimated to cost $3 million. That amount increased in November to $3,598,604 to account for environmental and archaeological issues (See Bridge, page 2)
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