August 3 - 9, 2017
FREE
Community Newspaper of Blaine and Birch Bay HHHECRWSSHHH Postal Customer
IN THIS
ISSUE
WSP explains loud boom on July 26, page 5
Blaine Ace store to close
Peace Arch Park concert Easements, permits needed series starts Aug. 6, page 7 for berm project, page 15
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
Drayton Harbor Days kicks off this weekend, August 5-6
By Oliver Lazenby
(See Ace, page 7)
s Tall ship Lady Washington arrived in Blaine on August 2 and will begin offering tours and sailing excursions on Thursday, August 3.
A fun run, raft race, pirate-themed games, activities and more await guests at the Drayton Harbor Days maritime festival, which runs Saturday through Sunday, August 5–6. Starting Saturday, runners can take part in the 17th annual Run to the Border, a 5K that begins at 9 a.m. at Blaine Harbor. Kids under the age of 10 are invited to join the one-mile Kids Marina Fun Run at 8:30 a.m. From 8 to 11 a.m. on Saturday, the Blaine Senior Center will serve breakfast. Afterwards, the public is invit-
ed to swing by vendor booths along the waterfront from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Blaine-Birch Bay Park and Recreation District #2 is holding a number of pirate-themed activities at Marine Park from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., including a costume contest and performance from the Shady Isle Pirates. The 15th annual Prestigious George Raft Race will follow at 1 p.m. At 9 p.m., Paso Del Norte will sponsor a showing of children’s movie Moana at Marine Park. On Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Blaine Boat-
Harry Robinson, Alicia Rule clinch spots on the Nov. 7 ballot B y S t e fa n i e D o n a h u e The primary election results are in and Blaine City Council candidates Harry Robinson and Alicia Rule are moving on to the November 7 general election. With an estimated 26,887 Whatcom County primary election ballots counted and about 600 to go, the Whatcom County Auditor’s Office is reporting that Alicia Rule has a narrow lead with 45.1 percent
of the vote, incumbent councilmember and Blaine’s mayor Harry Robinson is in second with 43.2 percent and Barrie Hull is last with 11.8 percent of the vote. Four positions in ward one, two, three and an at-large seat on the Blaine City Council are up for election this year, but only the at-large position was featured on the primary ballot since more than two individuals filed to run.
Blaine’s non-partisan city council is made up of seven members who serve four-year terms. The city is made up of three wards and each is represented by two councilmembers; the seventh member serves at-large. The top two candidates to finish in the primary will appear on the November 7 general election ballot. The Whatcom County Auditor’s Office will certify the results on August 15.
Photo courtesy of Grays Harbor Historical Seaport
ing Center, pets of all types and sizes can dress up in costumes or display their best tricks for prizes. Between noon and 8 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday, the historic Plover ferry will be out on the water offering tours on the hour. The tall ship Lady Washington will also be in the harbor to offer a variety of sailing excursions and tours from August 3–6. To learn more about Drayton Harbor Days, visit blainechamber.com or call 360/332-4544.
INSIDE
CHS Northwest announced on Monday that it will close its Blaine Ace hardware store by the end of the month; a liquidation sale is already underway. In a press release, CHS Northwest general manager Don Eucker attributed CHS’s decision to a lack of Canadian shoppers. “We are saddened to be closing our Blaine location. With the drop-off in Canadian traffic, we are no longer able to financially maintain the Blaine store,” he said. All 12 employees have been offered jobs elsewhere with CHS Northwest, which has six other Whatcom County locations, store manager Ray Maxon said. Maxon is the president of the Blaine Chamber of Commerce. The Blaine store, which opened in July 2012, has proved more susceptible to shifts in the Canadian dollar than other CHS Northwest locations, including Lynden and Ferndale, said Phil Hutton, retail division manager for CHS Northwest. The drop in Canadian shoppers started a couple of years ago when a drop in the Canadian dollar led to a decline in traffic across the border, data from Western Washington University’s Border Policy Research Institute shows. The Canadian dollar recently climbed to 80 cents compared to the U.S. dollar, from a low of about 73 cents in May. But that increase didn’t help the Blaine store, Hutton said. Laurie Trautman, director of the Border Policy Research Institute, doesn’t think the 7-cent increase is enough to lure Canadian shoppers into the U.S. The Canadian dollar was worth more than the U.S. dollar as recently as early 2013. “It’s not a huge movement,” she said. “It’s still fairly low and people take a little while to respond to those exchange
Coming Up . . . . . 14 Classifieds . . . 11-12 Letters . . . . . . . . . 4 Police . . . . . . . . . 14 Tides . . . . . . . . . . 14
TheNorthernLight.com TheNorthernLight
@TNLreporter
@PointRobertsPress