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Community Newspaper of Blaine and Birch Bay
January 7 - 13, 2016
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IN THIS
ISSUE
New Year in Birch Bay, page 2
Ericksen calls for repeal of trans-friendly locker room rule
Health and Wellness special section, pages 7-9
More of Blaine Police’s best reports, page 10
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Diving into the new year in Birch Bay
By Steve Guntli
s Hundreds of people charged into the icy waters of Birch Bay on January 1 as part of the Polar Bear Plunge. See more photos on page 2.
Photo by Steve Guntli
2015
year in
REVIEW A LOOK BACK
2015 Year in Review, Part 2
July • A number of amendments to the Whatcom County Charter were included on the ballot. The most significant measures called for district-only voting and splitting the county into five voting districts. • Property developer Ken Imus announced plans to revive his renovation projects in Blaine. The developer, best known for revitalizing Fairhaven in Bellingham, is starting by renovating the old Goff’s Department Store building on Peace Portal Drive. The building will hold retail spaces on the ground floor and condos on the upper levels. • The G’ana’k’w Canoe Family, the Lummi Nation and the Semiahmoo Nation used Marine Park as the final destination in a five-day ceremonial canoe journey. The event was marked with traditional native songs, dances and food. • Bellingham resident Autumn Veatch, 16, made national headlines after surviving a plane crash in Okanogan County. The wreck claimed the lives of Veatch’s grandparents and left the teenager stranded alone in the woods for two days. She eventually made it to a highway, where she was picked up, taken to a hospital and treated for minor injuries.
August • Birch Bay launched its first-ever Roll Back Weekend, a celebration of classic cars and 1960s culture. • Steve Ibarra was charged for a drive-by shooting near Blaine’s Golden Nut factory in 2011. Ibarra, who had been since 2012 serving a prison sentence for another crime, was formally charged when his previous sentence ended. • Governor Jay Inslee visited Blaine and took a ride on the Plover Ferry. Inslee was in town to discuss ecological issues related to the Drayton Harbor watershed. • Whatcom County legislators Vincent Buys and Luanne Van Werven added their signatures to a letter from other state Republicans, calling for an investigation into Planned Parenthood. The letter was in response to a series of viral videos that purported to show Planned Parenthood officials negotiating the sale of aborted baby parts. While the videos were widely discredited, they remain controversial. • A massive, unexpected windstorm wrought havoc throughout the county on August 27. Winds reached speeds of more than 50 miles per hour, causing damage to trees. Flying debris killed two people in Washington, and people reported millions of dollars in property damage. In Whatcom County, several outdoor festivals were
canceled or cut short, including the newly rebranded Discover Birch Bay Days and Crab Fest. • Red tide poisoning shut down crab fisheries all along the Pacific Coast. The increase in toxic algal blooms was likely related to the increased temperatures in the ocean. • The Lummi Nation refused further negotiations with SSA Marine over the Gateway Pacific Terminal, instead calling for a quick rejection of the company’s permit by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The (See Review, page 3)
INSIDE
State senator Doug Ericksen (R-Ferndale) has called for a repeal of new rules that would allow transgendered people access to restrooms and locker rooms of their identified gender. The Washington State Human Rights Commission adopted the new rules (WSR 15-11-104) on December 26. The commission is a state agency that monitors discrimination and human rights violations. The commission introduced the new rules in May 2015. The rules would require schools and businesses with more than eight employees to allow access for transgendered individuals to the restroom facility that fits their gender identity, regardless of whether they have undergone a gender reassignment surgery. According to the rules proposed in May, transgendered use of locker room facilities in schools will be addressed on a case-by-case basis by applicable school districts. Gender-neutral facilities should be made available for students who chose to use it, but transgendered students will not be forced to use those facilities. The final guidelines for these rules have yet to be posted online. “Parents have a right to expect that when their children go to school, the boys will use the boys’ locker room and the girls will use the girls’ locker room,” Ericksen said. “This case offers a powerful example of a state agency overstepping its executive rulemaking power. For political reasons, the commission overturned a sensible and deeply ingrained cultural tradition without informing the public, telling the legislature or even issuing a press release.” The issue has been contentious nationwide, with LGBT activists and conservative lawmakers taking opposing stands. Washington representative Graham Hunt (R-Orting) recently told The Daily Signal that the new rules open the floor for men who want to “take advantage” by posing as women. Hunt promised to push an amendment to the rules that would bar transgendered people who are pre-operative or non-operative from entering restrooms that don’t align with their genitalia. LGBT activists reject this interpretation, as it implies transgendered individuals are faking their gender identity for a chance to peep in restrooms and locker rooms. Ericksen said the commission offered little notice to the public before the legislature made the decision, and that he will be working with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to repeal the new rules when this year’s session begins.
Letters . . . . . . . . . 4 Sports . . . . . . . . . . 6 Classifieds . . . . . 11 Police . . . . . . . . . 14 Coming Up . . . . . 14 Tides . . . . . . . . . . 14
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