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Community Newspaper of Blaine and Birch Bay
October 19 - 25, 2017
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IN THIS
ISSUE
Soccer gets upset win at home, page 7
Meeting to discuss new Birch Bay trail, page 10
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
Port, county, fire, school district candidates, page 13
2017
WINNER OF
25 AWARDS The Northern Light
The Northern Light wins a record 25 WNPA awards It’s been a record year for The Northern Light and its special publications. During the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association (WNPA) 130th annual meeting in Olympia on October 12–14, The Northern Light, Waterside, Pacific Coast Weddings and Mount Baker Experience received a total 25 awards for exemplary ad design, editorial, photography and web design. All publications are published by locally-owned Point Roberts Press, which competed against newspapers with similar circulations. In advertising, The Northern Light received 14 awards, including first place for use of process color in a full page ad for Cinderella’s Secret designed by Ruth Lauman and Catherine Darkenwald. It also won first, second and third place for most effective use of small space in ads designed by Lauman, Darkenwald and Janet McCall. The Northern Light’s Borderite Report, designed by Lauman, Doug De Visser and Louise Mugar, received first place while the BP Bay Builders received second place in the youth-oriented content category. Sister publication Pacific Coast Weddings and Kara Furr, Louise Mugar, De Visser and Lauman, won first place in the lifestyle/culture special sections category; Mount Baker Experience and Oliver Lazenby, De Visser, Stefanie Donahue and Pat Grubb came in second in the same category. (See WNPA, page 15)
s Blaine City Council candidates answer questions in a forum sponsored by The Northern Light at the Blaine Senior Center on Tuesday, October 17.
Photo by Louise Mugar
Candidates field questions at local forums By Stefanie Donahue a n d P a t G r u bb Leading up to the November 7 general election, voters posed a series of questions to candidates vying for positions serving the Port of Bellingham, Whatcom County Council, Blaine school district, fire district 21 and Blaine City Council at election forums in Blaine and Birch Bay. Over 60 people attended the October 17 Blaine forum which included proponents for the Blaine/Birch Bay Park and Recreation District levy and candidates
running for seats on city council and school district. The forum was held at the Blaine Senior and Community Center on H Street. Moderator Pat Grubb, publisher of The Northern Light, posed questions that had been submitted by email as well as taking them from the audience. Parks commissioners Sheli Moore and Billy Brown gave a run-through of various park programs and projects and stressed that the levy replaces an existing, expiring levy. In order to pass, the levy requires 60 percent approval while 40 percent (3,441
voters) of the turnout in the last general election must vote. Close to 70 percent of voters approved the levy the last time it appeared on the ballot. Laura McKinney, who is running for Blaine school board, district 5, said she was a strong proponent of STEM curriculum (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and programs that prepared students for career, college and citizenship. Her opponent, incumbent Mike (See Forum, page 15)
By Oliver Lazenby It’s easy to find hemp yarn, seeds, clothing and other hemp products at Wal-Mart, Fred Meyer and other stores across the United States. Enter hemp in Amazon’s search field and you’ll get 20 pages of hemp products ranging from dog chews to “Hemp Oil-Cannabis Oil” to natural hemp cord to moisturizer. That’s why Blaine-based natural clothing company Rawganique owners were so surprised when they were told that Umpqua Bank would no longer work with them because they’re in a “marijuana-related
industry.” The bank is closing Rawganique’s account by the end of the month because the company “operates a line that is an excluded line of business at Umpqua Bank,” the bank said in a letter to Rawganique received on October 13, Rawganique CEO Qeanu Wallner said. The bank’s decision gives the company little time to find a new bank, which is crucial to its operations. Rawganique’s hemp products include clothing, hempseed oil, hempseed butter, hemp protein powder and rope. Under federal law, the hemp plant, which shares a common ancestor with marijuana but is bred to maximize fiber production, is
a schedule 1 drug. Hemp products, however, are legal. “We are federally insured, so we are bound legally to comply with federal law,” said Eve Callahan, a spokesperson for Umpqua Bank. “We are prevented from banking with companies that grow cannabis. Hemp is the result of growing cannabis.” Wallner said Rawganique does not grow hemp or manufacture hemp products – that’s done by contractors who are mostly in Europe. Rawganique designs and sells its products. (See Hemp, page 3)
INSIDE
Umpqua Bank to close hemp company’s account Letters . . . . . . . . . 4 Sports . . . . . . . . . . 7 Classifieds . . . . . 16 Police . . . . . . . . . 18 Coming up . . . . . 18 Tides . . . . . . . . . . 18
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