April 28 - May 4, 2016
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IN THIS
ISSUE
Trained dog helps clean watershed, page 3
County will simulate earthquake to test preparedness
Get Out Boating special section, pages 8–9
Home and Garden special section, pages 10–11
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
Cruising through Drayton Harbor
By Steve Guntli
s Richard Sturgill and Brooklyn Henderson enjoy the sea air while riding the Plover ferry on April 25. Henderson and her fifth grade class were on board the ferry as part of the Gardens of the Salish Sea curriculum, a Blaine Elementary School program designed to encourage stewardship and environmental awareness. The class visited the Drayton Harbor Oyster Company barge to learn how local shellfish are raised and harvested.
Photo by Steve Guntli
Woman escapes kidnapping in Birch Bay By Steve Guntli A 21-year-old woman was able to escape her abusive boyfriend by crashing her car into the wall of a Birch Bay Shell station. On April 20, a clerk at Bay Center Market in Birch Bay contacted the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Department after a young couple had come into the store. The clerk told deputies the woman appeared to be beaten and mouthed the words “help me” when
the man’s back was turned. The couple then drove off in a green car. Minutes later, witnesses reported a dark green Oldsmobile accelerating into the wall of the Shell station at 3425 Birch Bay-Lynden Road, near Birch Bay Square. The woman jumped out of the driver’s seat, yelling, “He’s going to kill me!” The male suspect, identified as Michael Lavon Eisenman, 24, attempted to run south on Portal Way. When sheriff’s deputies arrived, they found a crowd had subdued Eisenman and had him pinned
Work on Birch Bay-Lynden overpass complete Commuters will no longer have to contend with construction near Birch Bay Square. Representatives from the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) announced last week the construction on the Birch Bay-Lynden Road overpass is complete. Crews began making the repairs in late January. The overpass was damaged in May 2015, when a truck clipped the underside of the
overpass with the boom from an excavator it was hauling. The accident did some structural damage to the overpass, requiring a 60foot length of girder be replaced. Construction reduced traffic on the overpass to one lane, and led to some minor delays along I-5. The section of the highway beneath the overpass was closed completely on several nights, requiring southbound commuters to take exit 270 and immediately
get back on the highway on the other side. WSDOT project engineer Jason Koreski said the project came in on budget and within the intended timeframe. The total cost of the project was $813,000. “We’re excited to have this project finished and have the overpass go back to two lanes,” he said. “We want to thank drivers for their patience while traffic was limited to one lane during construction.”
to the pavement. Eisenman was arrested on suspicion of assault in the second degree, kidnapping in the first degree and felony harassment. He declined to speak with deputies about the incident. The woman told deputies that Eisenman might have a gun in the car, but deputies did not find one. They did find a large knife. The woman had multiple injuries and bruises to her face and body. She told (See Kidnap, page 2)
INSIDE
The threat of a massive earthquake devastating the west coast has been theorized for decades. Now, state, federal and local emergency management officials will run a simulation to see if we’re prepared for a worst-case scenario. John Gargett, deputy director of the Whatcom County sheriff’s division of emergency management, spoke before the Birch Bay Chamber of Commerce on April 21 to discuss the scenario. Gargett, a longtime Birch Bay resident and former chamber president, worked in his current office back in the early ’80s, and was asked to step back in because of his years of experience studying earthquakes around the world. The simulation, called Cascadia Rising, is a detailed, multi-agency simulation meant to test the preparedness of emergency response workers all along the west coast, including Oregon and California. The simulation will take place from June 7–10. Cascadia Rising will simulate a magnitude 9.0 earthquake, of equal magnitude to the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in 2011 and claimed 18,000 lives. Since Washington, Oregon, B.C. and parts of northern California sit along the 800-mile fault called the Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ), the region has always been at an elevated risk. FEMA calls an earthquake of that magnitude along the CSZ “the most complex disaster scenario that emergency management and public safety officials in the Pacific Northwest could face.” Gargett’s office will be working with several state and national organizations for the simulation, including the National Guard and FEMA, as well as private businesses such as Phillips 66 and BP. Cascadia Rising will simulate approximately 400 occurrences in Whatcom County alone. Teams will be asked to respond to these events as if they were actually happening, and will be timed and (See Quake, page 2)
Letters . . . . . . . . . 4 Sports . . . . . . . 6, 11 Classifieds . . . . . 12 Police . . . . . . . . . 14 Coming Up . . . . . 14 Tides . . . . . . . . . . 14
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