November 7 - 13, 2019
FREE
Community Newspaper of Blaine and Birch Bay HHHECRWSSHHH Postal Customer
IN THIS
ISSUE
APA Museum publishing fisherman’s memoir, page 2
Veteran’s Tribute: WWII dog tags found locally, page 8
Health & Wellness: Flu season is here, page 6
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
Blaine schools hit immunization milestones By Oliver Lazenby
(See Vaccines, page 15)
s The city of Blaine’s public works department recently installed new radar speed signs on D Street (pictured) and Mitchell Avenue. The signs cost the city about $5,000 each. “We want people to be attentive to speeds on and around the school because a lot of kids walk to school,” said public works director Ravyn Whitewolf.
Photo by Kira Erickson
Early voting results show executive race is a squeaker By Jami Makan Only 61 votes separate the two candidates for the county executive race, according to preliminary results of the November 5 general election released shortly after 8 p.m. on election day. As of November 5 at 8:08 p.m., Tony Larson received 24,125 votes (50 percent), narrowly leading Satpal Sidhu, who received 24,064 votes (49.87 percent). Results for the Whatcom County Council district 5 seat, which represents Blaine and Birch Bay, were much more clear cut, with Ben Elenbaas receiving 5,674 votes (59.44 percent) compared to Natalie McClendon’s 3,857 votes (40.4 percent). According to the Whatcom County Auditor’s Office, 49,286 ballots were initially counted with an estimated 13,000 ballots currently in the auditor’s office left to count. With 146,704 registered voters in this elec-
tion, voter turnout stood at 33.6 percent. Here are the results of other competitive county and local races: • Whatcom County Council At-Large Position B: Carol Frazey received 27,824 votes (60.36 percent), leading David Ramirez, who received 18,186 votes (39.45 percent). • Whatcom County assessor: John Romaker received 22,522 votes (50.71 percent), leading Rebecca Xczar, who received 21,793 votes (49.07 percent). • Whatcom County sheriff: Bill Elfo received 33,456 votes (70.93 percent), leading Joy Gilfilen, who received 13,635 votes (28.91 percent). • Port of Bellingham commissioner district 3: Bobby Briscoe received 28,977 votes (67.05 percent), leading Anthony Distefano, who received 14,108 votes (32.65 percent). • Blaine City Council ward 1, position 1: Richard May received 828 votes (75.14 percent), leading Randy Roose, who
received 272 votes (24.68 percent). • Blaine City Council ward 2, position 3: Garth Baldwin received 885 votes (79.09 percent), leading Steven Tojek, who received (See Election, page 15)
INSIDE
More Blaine students are vaccinated for measles this year, following recent outbreaks and a new state law that removed an exemption that allowed students to forego the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine for personal or philosophical beliefs. Currently, about 95.8 percent of Blaine K–12 students are immunized against measles, said Blaine school district nurse Jodi Greene. Last year, about 91.7 percent of students were immunized against measles. That may not sound like a big difference, but it’s huge in terms of herd immunity, a form of indirect protection whereby a high enough percentage of a population is immunized, thus conferring protection for those not immune. The threshold for herd immunity to measles is 93 to 95 percent, according to the World Health Organization. “Last year we did not reach that herd immunity threshold, so that’s huge,” Greene said. Washington state had two measles outbreaks earlier this year, with 86 total cases, according to the Washington State Department of Health, and there were similar outbreaks around the country. The first outbreak saw 72 confirmed cases from January to May. The second saw 14 confirmed cases between May and August. The majority of cases were in children 10 and younger and four people were hospitalized, according to the state health department. In response, state legislators removed the personal belief exemption from the MMR vaccinations for students. The state bill took effect July 28, 2019 and applies to public and private schools. Students and families can still apply for medical and religious exemptions from the MMR vaccine. The recent outbreak made an impression on families in the Blaine school district, Greene said. “Seeing that students can get affected by measles, I think that was a huge eye opener for families,” she said. The school district’s health room team
Letters . . . . . . . . . 4 Classifieds . . . . . 11 Coming Up . . . . . 14 Police . . . . . . . . . 14 Tides . . . . . . . . . . 14
TheNorthernLight.com TheNorthernLight
NOV 17
@TNLreporter
@TheNorthernLightNews
BORODIN MEETS BEETHOVEN Amit Peled, cello
Saint-Saëns | Borodin | Beethoven Tix: (360) 734-6080 WWW.B ELLINGHAMS YMPHONY.ORG