May 2 - 8, 2019
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New records system for police department, page 5
Port working on rural internet access, page 7
City of Blaine launches updated website, page 13
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Finalists named in search for new Blaine police chief By Jami Makan The search for a new police chief has been narrowed down to three finalists, who will be interviewed by committee of city staff, officials and others on May 9. Timothy Doney, James Miyashiro and Donnell Tanksley have been selected from the pool of 14 candidates who applied for the position. The hiring process is at the discretion of city manager Michael Jones, who has arranged a day of interviews on May 9 from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Four city councilmembers will be participating, as well as the recruitment firm that is overseeing the search, the Prothman Company. The Prothman Company is based in Issaquah and specializes in providing national and regional executive recruitment services to large and small cities, counties, special districts, nonprofits and other governmental agencies throughout the U.S. Community organizations and law enforcement agencies will also be participating in the interviews. Two interview panels have been assembled with about 14 people representing different perspectives. “The city manager has hiring authority over department heads,” said Jones in an April 25 email. “I’ll make the decision after consulting with the recruitment firm, the 14 or so people who sit on interview panels, city council and the officers who have met with the candidates. Basically, I’ll take into account all the information I have, check references further and make a preliminary offer if I’m satisfied.” The city manager opted not to hold a public forum. “I decided not to include a public forum this time because I felt that with resumes and supplemental responses, two preliminary interviews, two panel interviews, a final interview with the city manager, input from the police department and reference checks, I’m already provided with a tremendous amount of information to consider,” said Jones, who noted that in the past couple of decades, the city has only twice done a public forum for hiring. (See Police, page 3)
s Smuggler’s Inn owner Bob Boule was granted bail on April 25 after agreeing to, among other conditions, posting a sign warning would-be illegal border crossers.
Photo by Jami Makan
Smuggler’s Inn owner granted bail By Jami Makan Bob Boule, owner of the Smuggler’s Inn Bed and Breakfast in Blaine, has been granted bail following his arrest for allegedly helping people cross into Canada illegally. Judge Robert Hamilton’s decision was announced in Surrey Provincial Court on April 25. Boule’s bail was set at $15,000 and has more than a dozen conditions, including that Boule must turn away potential customers if they give any indication that they plan to enter Canada illegally. Boule must reside at the Smuggler’s Inn unless given permission to move elsewhere. He must cancel all his existing
phone numbers and email addresses and must provide any new ones to his bail supervisor, along with his call logs, text messages and account passwords. Notably, Boule was required to erect a lighted four-by-eight-foot sign 10 feet from the border of his property that states, on both sides, “Warning, it is illegal to enter Canada directly from Smuggler’s Inn property.” Boule will be required to send a time-stamped photo of the warning sign to his bail supervisor once a week to show that it’s still standing. He was not allowed back into the U.S. until the sign was erected, and the warning will also have to be posted on any website set up by the Smuggler’s Inn.
Boule is alleged to have helped 16 individuals cross illegally into Canada. Smuggler’s Inn is located immediately adjacent to Canada and “0” Avenue in Surrey, B.C. Crown prosecutors have alleged that Boule committed a number of offenses, including offenses contrary to section 117(1) of Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. According to a spokesperson for the Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC), the maximum penalty for each such offense is a $500,000 fine or 10 years’ imprisonment. “The penalty for this same offense, if done for profit, is a minimum of three years’ imprisonment,” said the spokesperson. Details heard over the course of the bail
Birch Bay library gets $2 million grant in state budget By Oliver Lazenby Washington state’s 2019-2021 capital budget, passed on April 28, includes $2 million toward building a Whatcom County Library System (WCLS) branch in Birch Bay. The library system’s architect for the project, Zervas Architects, estimated that it will take $4.7 million to build the project – a revised estimate, up from about $3.7 million estimated in 2018. “What that means for us now is we need to ramp up our fundraising efforts and raise
the other half of the money,” said Dianne Marrs-Smith, president of Friends of Birch Bay Library, a nonprofit group in charge of fundraising for the library. “We’re just really excited about everyone’s interest in the project.” The library may be in danger of losing the state funds if it doesn’t raise the remaining money by 2021, Marrs-Smith said. Before the state allocated money for the library, Friends of Birch Bay Library had raised just over $100,000. Friends of Birch Bay Library has a barbecue
fundraiser planned from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, June 29, at the site of the future library, at 7968 Birch Bay Drive. The barbecue will include children’s activities, book sales, salmon and hotdogs and live music by local band The Replayzmentz. Gary and Cindy Lou Vogt sold the 0.86acre future library property, which includes a historic craftsman-style house and outbuildings, to WCLS in 2017 for $675,000. The library system held a series of design (See Library, page 8)
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(See Boule, page 3)
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