The Northern Light: February 6-12, 2020

February 6 - 12, 2020

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Community Newspaper of Blaine and Birch Bay HHHECRWSSHHH Postal Customer

IN THIS

ISSUE

Blaine Harbor Music Festival teacher wins Grammy, page 7

Field director disavows knowledge of detention directive, says Jayapal

Local sommelier to launch new wine club, page 10

Learn about Japanese fine paper, page 15

PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230

Arts & Jazz fundraiser was a success

B y P a t r i c k G r u bb

(See CBP, page 3)

s For the 23rd year, the annual Arts & Jazz fundraiser featured musical performances and an auction on February 1 in the Blaine Middle School cafeteria. Over $13,000 was raised at the event, which will be used to offer arts scholarships and to assist the theater, band, choir and visual art programs at Blaine High School.

Photo by Molly Ernst

Blaine Police Department receives $20,000 donation

By Jami Makan The city of Blaine recently accepted a $20,000 gift from the Stroum Family Foundation which will be used toward additional training of Blaine Police Department (BPD) officers and staff.

At the January 27 city council meeting, Blaine city councilmembers voted 5-0 in favor of Ordinance 20-2942 amending the 2020 general fund police department budget with a donor-advised grant. The vote was essentially a vote to accept the $20,000 gift, which was made to the city

of Blaine for unrestricted support for BPD. The gift was made by the Stroum Family Foundation, which was started by the Seattle businessman and philanthropist Samuel J. Stroum, who passed away on March 9, 2001 at the age of 79 according to a Seattle Times obituary. After becoming a titan of industry in electronics and auto parts, Stroum gave away millions of dollars to hundreds of organizations, and helped raise millions more for causes ranging from the arts and education to healthcare and faith.

Stroum’s daughter, Cynthia, who once

Whatcom County sees flooding due to heavy rainfall

By Jami Makan Heavy rainfall last weekend caused parts of Whatcom County to experience flooding, leading to local road closures and emergency response initiatives.

On January 31, the city of Blaine’s public works department issued a press release stating that the department had created an emergency operation center to coordinate storm response in light of the high wind and heavy rainfall.

“All crews have been dispatched in

teams to identify, prioritize and address areas of localized flooding around the city,” said the release. “Public works is coordinating efforts with the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office [Division] of Emergency Management who is predicting additional heavy rain and wind overnight and potentially county-wide flooding through the weekend.”

Blaine public works director Ravyn Whitewolf said that public safety was her department’s top priority during the weather event. “Residents are strongly en-

couraged to slow down, watch for downed power lines and respect all water over roadway signs,” said Whitewolf, whose department made sand bags available to residents outside of the public works yard at 1200 Yew Avenue.

According to assistant public works director Sam Castro, the sand bags were filled by public works staff for Blaine residents, who were alerted through notifications sent out by the city. “By Saturday, the

served as U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg, is now helping to run the family foundation, and has been donating to police foundations among other organizations. Since there is no police foundation in the Blaine area, the donation to BPD was channeled through the Whatcom Community Foundation. “We’re very appreciative,” Blaine police chief Donnell Tanksley said at the city council meeting.

“This amendment formally recognizes the acceptance of the gift and supplements the 2020 general fund police department budget with the $20,000 donor grant,” city (See Stroum, page 3)

INSIDE

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Seattle Field Office director Adele Fasano told lawmakers that she only learned of the detention of Americans with Iranian backgrounds after hearing of it through news reports, said U.S. house representative Pramila Jayapal on February 3. Jayapal, along with representative Suzan DelBene and representatives from the offices of Senator Maria Cantwell and representative Kim Schrier met with Fasano and an assistant in Seattle following the leak of a CBP directive authorizing the enhanced screening of travelers with Iranian and other Middle Eastern backgrounds.

More than 60 travelers were detained for hours as they entered the U.S. through Blaine-sector ports of entry on January 4 and 5. CBP continued to deny that such a directive had been issued until it was leaked to Blaine immigration attorney Len Saunders and subsequently to news outlets. The Northern Light newspaper was the first to publish the directive and story on January 29.

In a tweet following the meeting with Fasano, Jayapal also wrote, “I would like to see a formal statement from CBP admitting these facts and I await the results of two investigations underway. I’m also deeply concerned that it took a leaked memo to get to this point. CBP headquarters has not been honest about what happened – and that must change.”

The Seattle Times reported on February 4 that according to Jayapal, Fasano had only learned of the directive and detention through news reports and had “deep concerns” about the matter. Jayapal continued, “To me, if you’re detaining U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents for significant amounts of time and there

Letters . . . . . . . . . 4 Sports . . . . . . . . . . 6 Classifieds . . . . . 11

Coming Up . . . . . 14 Police . . . . . . . . . 14 Tides . . . . . . . . . . 14

TheNorthernLight.com

(See Flooding, page 3) TheNorthernLight

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@TheNorthernLightNews

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The Northern Light • February 6 - 12, 2020

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February 6 - 12, 2020 • thenorthernlight.com

From page 1

sand bags were completely gone,” said Castro. “Everybody took what we had. But on Sunday, a lot of people returned them so that other people could use them. We appreciate the community taking what they needed and bringing them back.”

Castro said that a section of Pipeline Road was closed between Yew Avenue and Odell Street until Saturday morning. Water over roadway signs were also posted in various other locations, including on F Street near Starbucks, on H Street at the truck route and on Semiahmoo Parkway.

There were also some road closures and restrictions in Birch Bay, including Birch Bay Drive at Beach Way Drive, with water and debris over the roadway. Notices were also posted at both ends of

CBP ...

From page 1

are significant people there, you should not be finding out about that, as the director, through news reports.”

DelBene released a statement in general agreement with Jayapal, saying, “It is disappointing that CBP officials were not honest about the incidents in Blaine when we first reached out to them with questions. I am deeply alarmed that CBP was dishonest regarding the detainment of Americans of Iranian, Lebanese and Palestinian descent. This memo shows the CBP’s initial story, that the detainments were caused by staffing issues, to be a falsehood. The memo clearly outlines directions which were given to CBP authorities about whom to target.”

The two investigations referenced by Jayapal include one by DHS’s Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and a previously unannounced investigation by CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR). A spokesperson from DelBene’s Washington, D.C. office said, “The full scope of the investigations is unclear, including whether [CBP is] specifically looking into the whistleblower/memo. They did say the second investigation is being conducted by the OPR.” The OPR, among its other responsibilities, investigates allegations of employee corruption and serious misconduct and is able to conduct employee interviews, administer polygraph tests, collect telephonic and computer information and more. The OPR is headquartered in Washington, D.C. but has regional offices, including one in Bellingham.

According to one source who wished to remain anonymous, agents wear plain clothes and have typically come from another

“Due to the fact that the funds are unrestricted, they will be used for training for both law enforcement and office personnel,” said a BPD spokesperson. “It will be used in an equitable fashion to enhance and ultimately assist us in continuing our positive community engagement.”

Birch Point Loop warning of water and debris over the roadway.

“There was water over the road in a number of areas,” said John Gargett, deputy director of the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) Division of Emergency Management, during a briefing with public safety officials on February 1. “Whatcom County Public Works was in the Blaine and Birch Bay area somewhat to their surprise last night having to put signs up.”

Gargett continued: “On Birch Bay Drive, for a number of the homes that were against the bluff, water backed up and flowed into the roads. In Blaine, there were a number of roads that had very high water, and the city of Blaine put out some water over roadway signs. Those have not been an issue today.”

In response to the weather, the WCSO Division of Emergency Management had issued an emer-

gency proclamation. As of February 3, WCSO said minor flooding was continuing in Whatcom County, principally from Ferndale to the mouth of the Nooksack, including the Lummi Nation.

Blaine, which started preparing for the storm on Thursday, January 30, put together a coordinated effort that also involved regular communication with the Blaine Police Department.

Public works staff acted as emergency responders, and Wastewater Treatment Plant operators worked late into the night to monitor the unfolding situation.

“We fared better than most of our brother and sister agencies,” said Castro. He said that because the city council allowed the department to hire a full-time employee for storm management a few months ago, many culverts and ditches had already been cleared ahead of time.

“We’ve had an aggressive maintenance program,” he said.

government agency such as ICE or the FBI. Investigations can be as short as weeks or can stretch to years. The source expressed hope that the investigators would take a hard look at the officers at the top of the pyramid and not just frontline officers. Referring to the ongoing denial that a directive existed, he said, “They lied about the lie,” and added that frontline officers have it drilled into their heads from day one the importance of being completely honest. GS14 and GS15-level officers should be held to the same standard, he said.

Employee morale at the Department of Homeland Security consistently shows up at the bottom or near the bottom of rankings of the best places to work in the federal government, with CBP being a major driver of the low rankings. In 2019, CBP was ranked 380th out of 420 sub-agencies of the department, with an engagement score of 49.5 out of 100. According to testimo-

ny before the U.S. House’s Home- the directive was leaked to the an article by Edward Alden, the land Security committee on Jan- public. I’ll be surprised if this is Ross Distinguished Professor of U.S.-Canada Economic Reuary 14, the most consequential the end of the story.”

The leak of the directive re- lations at Western Washington factors causing low morale were the work itself and the quality ceived international exposure. University. Alden wrote that the of leaders. Saunders said he had Following the story’s publi- increase in expedited removals been approached by a number cation by The Northern Light and the recent crackdown on of Blaine-sector frontline officers newspaper, it was covered by U.S. citizens with Iranian backwho disagreed with recent pol- The New York Times, Wash- grounds by CBP officials were icies, especially in regard to the ington Post, CBC, Associated “likely to further chill cross-borJanuary 4-5 detentions as well as Press, Seattle Times, NBC, CNN der travel and commerce and the surge in expedited removals and many more. On February drive a deeper wedge between 3, the Vancouver Sun published the two countries.” of Canadian citizens.

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s One of several water over roadway signs that were placed on Drayton Harbor Road in Semiahmoo during last weekend’s heavy rainfall.

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Flooding ...

of what we didn’t have available when we were adopting the 2020 budget.”

Councilmember Alicia Rule also expressed her gratitude to the Stroum Family Foundation and the Whatcom Community Foundation. “What a wonderful gift,” she said at the meeting.

4th St.

finance director Jeffrey Lazenby told councilmembers prior to the vote. “Thank you to the Stroum Family Foundation and the Whatcom Community Foundation.”

and to simply make the budget work,” Jones told councilmembers. “The police chief and I have had conversations that although this is an unrestricted donation, it would likely go toward additional police department training, so it’s really a bonus to kind of backfill some

3rd St.

From page 1

City manager Michael Jones said that the funds will help alleviate some reductions in the city’s annual budget. “You may recall that in our budget conversations earlier this year as we went through draft budgets, we reduced some of our budget in the area of training

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The Northern Light • February 6 - 12, 2020

Letters

The Northern L ght The Northern Light is published weekly

by Point Roberts Press Inc. Locally owned and managed, the company also publishes the All Point Bulletin, covering Point Roberts, Mount Baker Experience, covering the Mt. Baker foothills area, Pacific Coast Weddings annual guide, and the summer recreation guide Waterside as well as maps and other publications.

Point Roberts Press Inc. is a member of the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association, Chambers of Commerce of Bellingham/ Whatcom County, Birch Bay, Blaine and Point Roberts and the Bellingham/ Whatcom County Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The opinions expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors.

Letters Policy The Northern Light welcomes letters to the editor. Please include name, address and daytime telephone number for verification. Letters are limited to 350 words and may be edited or rejected for reasons of legality, length and good taste.

Thank-you letters are limited to five individuals or groups. Writers should avoid personal invective. Unsigned letters will not be accepted for publication. Requests for withholding names will be considered on an individual basis. Consumer complaints should be submitted directly to the business in question or the local chamber of commerce. Only one letter per month from an individual correspondent will be published. Email letters to letters@thenorthernlight.com.

Publisher & Managing Editor Patrick Grubb publisher@pointrobertspress.com Co-publisher & Advertising Director Louise Mugar lmugar@pointrobertspress.com Editor Jami Makan jami@pointrobertspress.com Copy Editor Aly Siemion aly@pointrobertspress.com Reporter Oliver Lazenby oliver@pointrobertspress.com Reporting Intern Grace McCarthy prpintern@pointrobertspress.com Creative Services Ruth Lauman, Doug De Visser production@pointrobertspress.com Office Manager Jeanie Luna info@pointrobertspress.com Advertising Sales Molly Ernst, Kristin Siemion sales@pointrobertspress.com General Editorial Inquiries editor@pointrobertspress.com

The Northern Light 225 Marine Drive, Suite 200 Blaine, WA 98230 Tel: 360/332-1777 Vol XXV, No 33 Circulation: 10,500 copies

Circulation Independently Verified by:

Next issue: Feb. 13 Ads due: Feb. 7

The Editor: It’s sad that we need to legislate common sense and allow children to run lemonade stands without interference. But it would be worse to see local governments harassing children over a few dollars about a tradition that goes back more than 100 years.

We don’t need to force kids to get a license or pay a fee to set up a lemonade stand in front of their house. We should be stopping at those stands to buy a cup and encourage the values of entrepreneurship and hard work they are exhibiting.

That’s why I support the bill introduced

by Representative Luanne Van Werven. It would bar cities and counties from adopting any rules that prohibit or regulate “the occasional sale of lemonade or other nonalcoholic beverages from a stand on private property by any person under the age of 18 years.”

When you contact or see your state legislators, ask if they support House Bill 2232. Sometimes it’s the simplest things that tell us the most about a person.

Fred Holton Blaine The Editor: I am thankful for Representative Sharon Shewmake stepping up to tackle the issue of lack of childcare providers in the rural and suburban parts of Washington for families of children currently not old enough to attend school yet and for future families.

According to reports, Whatcom County has over 8,000 children under the age of five years old living in households where all parents work full-time. But there are licensed child care slots for just 45 percent of them, possibly leaving 4,462 Whatcom children of that age group without access to licensed child care when their parents go to work.

Representative Shewmake is sponsoring the Rural Childcare Access Act (House Bill 2619) in the state legislature. Not only will this bill direct state agencies to report on how to promote innovations in childcare licensing in rural areas, but it will also bridge the gap in matching market-rate costs for childcare with the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program for lower-income families in our community. This is commonsense legislation and I hope lawmakers around the state can take action for our rural families.

Maralise Fegan Ferndale The Editor: On January 22, Tanya Jackson was shot and killed by gang members near her home in Seattle. One of the suspects had been arrested 44 times, including for illegal possession of firearms. Twenty of his arrests resulted in convictions. If someone is convicted of a felony in Seattle, how many

times must he victimize the public before he’s put in jail? It’s a legitimate question, but not to Seattle’s mayor.

The problem, according to Seattle mayor Jenny Durkan, is that gun laws aren’t strict enough. If there were stricter gun laws, then law-breaking criminals would stop having guns. This type of thinking makes sense to mayor Durkan. For Tanya, that type of thinking did nothing to protect her.

For Seattle’s mayor, police chief and city council, Tanya didn’t die because a criminal broke the law. She didn’t die because the criminal who broke the law should never have been on the streets. She didn’t die because of the irresponsible and incompetent leadership of those Tanya trusted to protect her and she didn’t die because of a failure of law enforcement.

Thinking that blames guns and not criminals for murder arises from a leftist ideology that places a higher value on “justice” and “equity” as defined and mandated by the state than on human life or individual freedom. This thinking always groups people in opposition to each other, making them useful as a political commodity – victims and victimizers, oppressors and oppressed, privileged and under-privileged, rich and poor. For the left, victims, the oppressed, under-privileged or poor should not be considered responsible for their own actions. So for the leftists who run Seattle it is both sensible and just to say that guns are the problem, not criminals.

Tanya Jackson died because of this type of thinking. She died because someone who was arrested 44 times should have been in jail, but wasn’t. It’s time to ask why and what will be done about it. Governor Inslee, mayor Durkan, Seattle city council and police chief, your social justice policies are having fatal consequences.

Dan Rudolph Blaine The Editor: The Washington presidential primary is fast approaching.

A March 10 presidential primary has replaced the August caucus, and it’s time to get serious. Ballots will be mailed out in a couple of weeks.

Democrats will have many options. I suggest a few things to keep in mind.

Each of the Democratic candidates brings different strengths to the table. Any of them is infinitely preferable to the current occupant of the White House. None of them will try to cut Medicare or Social Security. All of them will work to strengthen health care and address climate change.

All of them will release their tax returns and respect the constitutional balance of power. And all of them realize the president is not above the law.

We need to prepare ourselves to make our most thoughtful primary choices.

There are three debates this month and

two CNN town halls this week.

Perhaps most important, we all need to be prepared to unite behind and elect the eventual Democratic nominee.

Myra Ramos Lummi Island The Editor: Larry Eide suggested that we not approve the Blaine school district (BSD) “replacement” levy. I agree.

In 2017, our property taxes went up a whopping 22 percent. We were told this was necessary to “fully” fund education (2017-18 House Bill 2242).

The recent BSD mailer explains what the levy pays for – essentially a wishlist of non-core expenses. The levy also “pays for teachers, counselors, nurses and other staff,” but that’s what we paid for with 2242.

Is this double dipping? And why are we raising property taxes to pay for “potential additional programs?” What is that?

Soon after 2242 was passed, because of a robust economy, we heard state economists forecasting over $1 billion in additional “unforeseen revenue” over the next four years. Senator Ericksen’s office later told us that $2.3 billion of additional revenue was received into state coffers than was expected when the school financing plan was adopted. Did the state legislators offer owners significant relief from the unnecessary property tax increase? No. WashingtonVotes.org records Representatives Buys and Van Werven as being in favor of the property tax increases in 2242.

Forty percent of Senate Democrats and 91 percent of Republicans, including Senator Ericksen, voted in favor. On April 9, 2018, I emailed Representative Van Werven asking why she voted in favor of 2242 and told her that I needed to know when we could expect a property tax rollback before I could vote in favor of a 2018 school proposition. I received no reply until January 7, 2020, 21 months later, when she had the temerity to tell me, “I did not vote to increase our property taxes.”

I enjoy living here and will pay a fair share for services provided. However, property taxes are out of control. If these “additional operating” costs are “necessary,” BSD needs to get the state to pay them out of the taxes we already pay to Olympia instead of perpetuating unfair taxation with this replacement levy.

Time for all of us to send Public Records Act inquiries to our legislators so they know we will hold them accountable for their votes. Thank you.

Jack Grant Blaine Please send letters to letters@thenorthernlight.com no later than noon on Monday.

Civic Meetings Birch Bay Water & Sewer District: Second and fourth Thursdays, 4:30 p.m., district offices, 7096 Point Whitehorn Road, Birch Bay. Info: bbwsd.com.

Blaine Park and Cemetery Board: Second Thursday, 9 a.m., Blaine City Council chambers, 435 Martin Street. Info: 360/332-8311, ext.

3330.

Blaine City Council: Second and fourth Mondays, 6 p.m., Blaine City Council chambers, 435 Martin Street. Info: ci.blaine.wa.us.

Blaine School Board: Fourth Monday, 7 p.m., Blaine school district offices. Info: blainesd.org.

Blaine Planning Commission: Second and fourth Thursdays, 6 p.m., Blaine City Council chambers, 435 Martin Street. Info: blainepc@ cityofblaine.com.

North Whatcom Fire & Rescue: Third Thursday, 1 p.m. Station 61.

Info: nwfrs.net.

Blaine-Birch Bay Park and Recreation: Second Tuesday, 5:30 p.m., location varies. Info: bbbparkandrec.org.

February 6 - 12, 2020 • thenorthernlight.com

5

Opinion To our town’s unsung heroes, thank you for your service B y P a t r i c k G r u bb On hiring a new reporter or editor, I typically sit them down and give a short talk about how we approach the news in our corner of the world. I always ask them to treat elected and non-elected community leaders with respect.

You may not agree with their opinions or political viewpoint, I say, but they are contributing and giving back to the community and usually for little or no pay.

On December 31, Patrick Alesse completed his last term as commissioner for the Birch Bay Water and Sewer District, a position he held since he was appointed in 1997. Patrick may speak quietly but his words are forceful, thoughtful and intelligent. A former teacher, he and his wife Patricia founded and ran The C Shop, an ice cream, candy and childhood summer memory-making empori-

um just steps from the shores of Birch Bay. Twice a month, for 22 years, Patrick has attended board meetings, deliberated with fellow commissioners and steered policy for this critical part of community utility infrastructure.

This is not exciting work for most people. One day as I covered a district meeting, the sound of my pen slipping from my hand and hitting the floor was the only thing that prevented me from falling into fullblown unconsciousness. Those meetings could be deadly and yet those meetings represented just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the work that the commissioners had to do in preparation.

And while that ongoing, humdrum stuff drew no attention from the community, let a new tax be proposed to replace aging infrastructure or a sewer line back-up and you could be as-

sured the shite would hit the fan.

Patrick is not alone in his public service. Carl Reichhardt was a district commissioner for 39 years until he retired in 2017.

Don Montfort is still a commissioner and going on his 26th year.

On Blaine City Council, Bonnie Onyon and Charlie Hawkins have been going strong for many years as have Charles Gibson and the recently retired Mike Dodd at the Blaine school board and Barbara Brenner on Whatcom County Council. There are plenty more who come to mind, too many to list here. Just think about our volunteer firefighters who commit countless hours to protect our homes and businesses.

It’s not easy to get people to commit to these positions. Try to get someone who’s still kicking and screaming to serve on a cemetery board and you’ll see what I mean. Our county auditor

had to schedule a special filing period last election due to the number of races where no names were put forward.

In this country, we very appropriately thank members of our armed forces for their service whether they are the tip of the spear or a line cook in the canteen. Arguably, people like Patrick Alesse and the others named here make as significant a contribution to keeping our democracy strong and vital. There should be a national holiday called Unsung Heroes Day or Service to America Day where their contribution would be celebrated and honored. In the meantime, Patrick and all the other ones like you, thank you for your service. Job well done!

Patrick Grubb is publisher of The Northern Light and president of the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association.

CITY OF BLAINE Unless noted, all meetings are held at City Hall, 435 Martin Street, Suite 4000 and are open to the public. Agendas can be found on the City’s website.

Monday, February 10 4:30pm – Special City Council meeting Study Session – 2019 Work Plan Status Report

Monday, February 10 6:00pm – Regular City Council Meeting

Tuesday, February 11 8:00am – Blaine Tourism Advisory Committee Meeting

Thursday, February 13 9:00am – Park and Cemetery Board Meeting

Thursday, February 13 2:00pm – Public Works Advisory Committee Location: PW 1200 Yew Ave U.S. PASSPORTS BY APPOINTMENT ONLY Call (360) 332-8311 or visit our website.

www.cityofblaine.com

City’s finance department releases video about budget The city of Blaine’s finance department recently produced a short video about the city’s budget process and how the city pays for the services it provides.

The video, which is three and a half minutes long, was created by Bellingham-based Shew Design, which was on a $1,500 monthly retainer with the city of Blaine in 2019 for city communications.

The video was presented to city councilmembers at their January 13 meeting by city finance director Jeffrey Lazenby.

The video features a voice narrating the following text, accompanied by graphic design visuals to help illustrate the content.

“Ever wonder how your city government pays for the services it provides each day? Just like a family’s budget, the city of Blaine prepares an annual budget to plan out how it will pay for the services it provides. The first step in the budget process involves the city council. Through community input, they establish a vision, goals and priorities that form the framework from which city departments plan for what gets accomplished in the coming year.

City departments present their proposed budgets to the city manager, who works with the finance director to craft a preliminary budget. The preliminary budget is presented to the city council and the community during public meetings. With all of the feedback and input, the city manager and staff make any necessary adjustments and present a revised budget to the city

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council for approval.

After council adoption, the budget is monitored by staff on a monthly basis, and quarterly reports are presented to the city council. Money in the city’s budget comes from different sources.

The way the city is able to spend money is partially determined by the source that money comes from. For instance, money that is used to pay for services such as power, water, sewer and stormwater comes entirely from the rates you pay through your utility bills. That money can only be used for the operations and maintenance and capital improvements of the utility.

General services, such as police, parks and community services are supported by what is known as the general fund. Most general fund money comes from a portion of property taxes. Of the total tax bill paid by a property owner, 15 percent goes to the city. It also comes from a portion of sales taxes. Of the total sales tax paid on a transaction, about 12 percent goes to the city. And it comes from business taxes, such as the business and occupation tax. General fund money also

comes from utility taxes paid by both public and private utilities.

The rest of the money in the general fund comes from fees, fines and service charges and shared revenue from the state of Washington, such as marijuana and liquor excise taxes.

Street operations and maintenance is supported by special revenue, which is the penny per gallon tax. Street capital improvements are supported by transportation benefit district revenue and state and federal grants. Each year, these revenue sources are supplemented by general fund revenue to provide the needed transportation funding. Combined, this money makes up the city’s overall annual budget, supports the daily operations and funds the services residents depend on each day. For more information, go to cityofblaine.com.”

At the January 13 meeting, city manager Michael Jones said that the city will be sharing the video online. “I think that Jeff and Shew Design did a really nice job on that,” said Jones. “It’s part of our outreach and communications effort and it’ll be really nice to be able to push that out

Foreign Policy Association Great Decisions Forums

through our website and social media. And those are the kinds of things that hopefully make a difference in people understanding what’s happening at the city.”

Jones said that the video will be presented to city staff and others later this year, to help educate them on the budget process. “We’re working this year on a plan for kind of incorporating that with additional information and presentations from him and potentially others to talk about the budget and budgeting and city expenses with community groups and city departments and others,” said Jones.

Councilmember Alicia Rule praised the video. “It aligns right up with our government transparency goal, so thank you for that,” she said.

To view the video online, visit youtu.be/FDxDiNZYb8A.

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6

The Northern Light • February 6 - 12, 2020

Sports

By Oliver Lazenby

Rodriguez leads Blaine to fifth place finish at Berserker tournament Gavino Rodriguez’s exciting first place finish at the Berserker Tournament led the Blaine boys wrestling team to a fifth place finish at that tournament, held on February 1 at Curtis High School in University Place.

Gavino went undefeated through

the first three matches in the tournament. In the finals match, he wrestled Jaedon Hall, a stateranked 4A wrestler who beat him 5–1 at the Gut Check tournament on January 4.

The match was tied with 10 seconds left in the third and

final round, when Rodriguez brought Hall down to the mat to score two points and win by a 3–1 decision.

“That was a really fun match.

Gavino wrestled really well,” said Blaine head coach Tom Hinz.

Adam Macauley was Blaine’s

next best wrestler at the tournament, placing second at 126 pounds. He pinned three opponents in a row before losing to White River High School’s Gage Sabin in the finals match.

Blaine’s Baruc Vazquez placed fourth at 170 pounds

and Owen Hansen placed fourth at 220 pounds.

The postseason starts this coming weekend, at the sub-regional tournament in Sedro-Woolley. Nearly all Blaine wrestlers will compete at the two-day tournament.

In other Borderites sports...

Girls wrestling The Blaine girls wrestling team placed 17th out of 26 teams at the Berserker Tournament on February 1 at Curtis High School in University Place.

Genesis Vazquez led the Borderites, pinning Lleana Wall of Yelm in her final match to take fourth place at 110 pounds.

Rayanne Mutchler won two matches, one by a pin and one by a decision, and scored four team points but did not place in the tournament.

s Gavino Rodriguez.

Next, Blaine girls will wrestle in the sub-regional tournament on Friday and Saturday, February 7 and 8 at Squalicum High School.

Boys basketball Blaine lost a pair of away games in the past week: Bellingham beat the Borderites 55–50 on January 31 and Lynden won 88–51 on February 3.

After the losses, Blaine has a 9–9 record overall and a 3–8 record in conference games.

Next, Blaine hosts Sehome (7–11 overall, 4–7 in conference

games). Tip off is at 7:15 p.m. on Saturday, February 8.

Girls basketball Blaine girls basketball lost to Bellingham 53–24 on January 30, to Sehome 46–29 on February 1 and to Lynden 63–30 on February 4.

Blaine’s record is now 5–14 overall and 2–10 in conference games.

The Borderites play their final game of the regular season at 7:15 p.m. on Thursday, February 6, at Nooksack Valley (14–5 overall, 8–4 in conference games).

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Sports classification to change next year Blaine High School sports teams should have a better chance at earning winning records next school year.

The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) just updated its classification for 2020-2024 and after an appeal from Blaine High School administrators, Blaine will become the largest 1A school in the state.

Blaine High School spent the past six years as one of the smallest 2A schools after being bumped up from 1A for 2014-2015.

When WIAA originally reclassified schools for 2020-2024 earlier this month, Blaine had about nine too many students for the

1A classification. The classification is based on enrollment in ninth through 11th grades and determines which schools Blaine competes against in sports.

Since, on average over the past year, Blaine has had six to 16 students in its Alternative Learning Experience homeschool partnership program, and those students count toward Blaine’s enrollment numbers, the Blaine school district decided to appeal WIAA’s classification.

“Those students are not really in the building but were factored into our count,” said Blaine school district superintendent Christopher Granger.

Blaine High School administrators thought that 1A classification would make Blaine more competitive and improve participation numbers. The decision to appeal wasn’t strictly to make Blaine a better sports school, Granger said.

“We’re hoping to be more competitive and we’re hoping to see some participation levels increase,” he said. “Data shows that students who are connected to any sort of extracurricular program tend to have better academic outcomes.”

The WIAA approved the appeal on January 26, Granger said, and starting in fall 2020, Blaine will compete in the 1A division.

February 6 - 12, 2020 • thenorthernlight.com

7

Blaine Harbor Music Festival teacher wins Grammy award

By Grace McCarthy A Blaine Harbor Music Festival teacher got his moment of recognition on January 26, winning best classical vocal solo album at the 62nd annual Grammy Awards.

Charlie Porter, a Portland-based trumpeter who has attended the annual Blaine festival for seven years, worked with mezzo-soprano singer Joyce DiDonato on her latest album, Songplay, which ultimately landed him his first Grammy award.

The album is based on improvisations of opera, jazz and tango to create a harmony between vocalist DiDonato, trumpeter Porter, bassist Chuck Israels, drummer Jimmy Madison, pianist Craig Terry and accompanists Steve Barnett and Lautaro Greco.

Israels, Porter said, helped him get involved with the album. The bassist, who has recorded with Billie Holiday and John Coltrane, played with Porter in Portland prior to being contacted by music producer Steve Barnett to form part of the band for the album. Porter got the recording agreement back in February 2018 and began recording that March at Skywalker Sound, a sound effect and recording studio founded by filmmaker George Lucas. The album was released in February 2019.

Porter joined Songplay’s U.S. tour in February and March following the album’s release. A second tour for the album will play across Europe starting in June.

DiDonato wanted to merge her classical voice with stylings of a jazz band, creating a synthesis of the opera world and the jazz world, Porter said.

“As a classical musician, I have definitely played in opera, but to merge the two things together is quite unusual and unique,” Porter said. “Joyce called upon my skills as an improviser to bring the ‘jazz’ to the recording.”

For Porter, his style means moving beyond the limitations of genres. He grew up playing classical and jazz, among other genres, but doesn’t associate himself strictly with either.

“In this day and age, when we have so many types of music going on simultaneously within different genres, I think it’s almost limiting to have these names,” Porter said. “People automatically get the perception of what your music is when you say it’s jazz.”

It wasn’t until Porter’s teenage years that he realized he wanted to do music. He first picked up the trumpet at 12 years old and became fully invested when he was 13, after seeing a Wynton Marsalis concert that fated his career.

“From that point on, I knew I wanted to do music,” Porter said of the Marsalis concert. “Once I started writing music, I realized how much fun it could be and how much I could express my ideas in a way that I never could before then.”

Porter’s latest album, Immigration Nation, focuses on jazz while incorporating elements of different genres, which Porter partially attributes to his classical training at the Juilliard School. Porter said he hopes the Grammy win will help shed light onto the album, released in November 2019 by Seattle label Origin Records.

The album celebrates the diverse history of immigration that

has shaped the U.S. over centuries, while paying tribute to Porter’s own heritage.

“Music can be a beautiful thing to heal us and make us feel great, but it can also help bring attention to things that we need to think about and dig deeper into,” Porter said.

Porter said when he met fellow musician Nick Biello at last year’s music festival in Blaine, he knew Biello was the saxophonist he wanted on Immigration Nation.

After four months of Porter composing the album’s music, the pair recorded the album in New York City in collaboration with four other artists.

“I had to wait for the right moment when we could all get together and record,” Porter said.

“Once we did, I felt like we came up with a project that’s magical.

I’m hoping this album will be a contender for a Grammy.”

The Blaine Harbor Music Festival has been hosted annually since 2002 by the Pacific Arts Association (PAA), a Blaine nonprofit dedicated to promoting the arts through community events like the week-long camp every July that caters to youth ages 1219 from Whatcom County and beyond. Live performances are held every day during the camp featuring the camp’s faculty.

Bryan Johnson, the president of the PAA, said Porter’s win was well deserved and he looks forward to seeing if Immigration Nation lands the trumpeter another Grammy nomination in 2021.

“Immigration Nation is a fabulous album indicative of Charlie’s skills and talent,” Johnson said.

Johnson said Porter’s worldclass musical talent matches his

structured teaching style and tender personality.

“Charlie is a remarkably sensitive and creative teacher,” Johnson said. “Kids love him and he’s so, so good with them.

The way he teaches reaches kids on their level.”

Porter encouraged Blaine residents to attend the Blaine Harbor Music Festival this July 5-11.

“When the kids feel the rush of

an audience that really hears that music and appreciates it, there’s no better feeling in the world,” Porter said. “That exchange has to go both ways, the audience to the music and the music to the audience.”

Additional information and registration for the Blaine Harbor Music Festival is available at blaineharbormusicfestival.org.

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8

The Northern Light • February 6 - 12, 2020

HEALTH & WELLNESS Encouraging happy, healthy lives!

Five things everyone should know about heart disease

By Jerry Marschke Can you name the leading cause of death among men and women in the United States?

You might think it’s cancer, but heart disease is responsible for more deaths than all types of cancer combined.

Lifestyle factors such as diet and exercise may help lower heart disease risk, but many are linked to age, genetics or other factors beyond your control. In recognition of American Heart Month, we’re sharing information to encourage you to become heart-smart.

Women and heart disease It’s a common misperception that heart disease mostly affects men. It’s a major cause of death among women. In fact, certain conditions increase a woman’s risk – gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia, which are complications related to pregnancy, are two examples. Also, the hormone estrogen that helps protect a woman’s heart can reach low levels during menopause and increase heart disease risk.

Women can experience different symptoms too. While chest pain is common among men and women, women can also have

less obvious symptoms. “Women often experience nausea, fatigue and shortness of breath several weeks before a heart attack,” said Dr. Kevin Steel, DO, a cardiologist with PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center. “Since these symptoms are vague and happen with other illnesses, women may not recognize them as signs of something serious. That’s why it’s important to have preventive heart check-ups regularly.”

Atrial fibrillation Atrial fibrillation (AFib) is the most common cause of an irregular heartbeat and usually causes the heart to beat much faster than normal. A person with AFib is five times more likely to suffer a stroke than someone with a regular heartbeat.

People with AFib often take medicine to help prevent blood clots. However, medicines can have unwanted side effects, such as bruising or bleeding problems. In recent years, a new device called the Watchman replaces blood thinners to reduce stroke risk.

“The Watchman is a tiny device that we implant into the heart through a tiny incision near the groin, and then we guide it to the heart through a blood vessel,”

explained Dr. Steel. “It usually requires just one night in the hospital, and for many patients who can’t take blood thinners over an extended period, the Watchman is a good alternative.”

Heart failure Heart failure happens when your heart can’t pump as much blood as your body needs. It can have several causes, including coronary artery disease, high blood pressure and problems with the valves. Your heart works even harder to pump blood, and your body tries to help by holding on to fluids. Eventually, this causes shortness of breath, irregular heartbeat and weakness and swelling in your feet and ankles.

Treatments including medicine, pacemakers to control the heartbeat and surgery to repair the heart can help manage heart failure.

Structural heart disease Structural heart disease involves problems with the structure of the heart, including the valves and arteries. Heart failure, for example, can occur when the valve that sends blood from your heart to the rest of your body no longer works properly.

Surgery to replace the heart valve is one treatment option, but it is a major surgery and some

patients aren’t candidates. “For patients considered at risk for surgical valve replacement, PeaceHealth St. Joseph offers a newer, minimally invasive option called transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR),” said Dr. Steel.

Heart disease testing Testing for heart disease can help identify problems early and may even save a life. Talk to your doctor about your risk for heart disease and whether an imaging exam or other screening test is an option.

“At PeaceHealth St. Joseph, we offer several tests to screen for

coronary artery disease, including calcium score, carotid doppler and fasting cholesterol,” said Dr. Steel. “If patients already have symptoms of heart disease, we have advanced cardiac imaging, and PeaceHealth St. Joseph is one of only three locations in the entire state offering radiation-free, high definition stress testing, known as a stress MRI.” Make 2020 the year you take care of your heart health!

Jerry Marschke is executive director of the PeaceHealth St. Joseph Cardiovascular Center in Bellingham.

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February 6 - 12, 2020 • thenorthernlight.com

9

Are you drinking enough water each day in order to stay hydrated?

B y B e t h S a n bo r n Ever wish you had more energy, could concentrate better or improve your mood? Think about this – are you are drinking enough water each day?

The human body is approximately 60 percent water. Every cell in our bodies needs water to function properly. It removes toxins, carries nutrients throughout the body and cushions our joints.

Each day we lose water in our urine and as we breathe, sweat and digest our food. So it is essential for good health that we replace that water through the fluids we drink and the food we eat.

While extreme dehydration is quite rare, mild dehydration is more common. It can cause tiredness, a bad mood, concentration difficulties, constipation and contribute to kidney stones. In addition, mild dehydration can lead

to headaches, dizziness and make you crave sugar.

Usually our bodies tell us whether we should be drinking more water. So it’s wise to pay attention to our thirst. But our bodies can sometimes mistake thirst for hunger. We may think we’re hungry when we actually need to drink more water. Also, as we age, the hypothalamus, a region of the brain that controls hunger and thirst, can become desensitized, dulling our sense of thirst.

So how much water should a person drink each day? You may have heard that everyone should drink eight glasses of water a day.

This is a myth. There is no scientific evidence to support this. The amount you need varies from person to person and is influenced by many things, including how active you are and the climate you live in. Pregnant and nursing women need to drink more water while

some health conditions may need you to limit your water intake.

One of the best ways to know you’re drinking enough water is this – your urine should be pale yellow. (One cautionary note – some medications, certain foods and food dyes can alter the color.) Another guideline is to drink a glass of water at each meal and one between each meal.

What about other beverages?

Milk, juice, coffee and tea add to your fluid intake. But be careful with sugary beverages as they are usually not healthy. In addition to the liquids we drink, water also comes from the food we eat, especially fruits and vegetables.

Can you drink too much water? Yes, and drinking too much water can be lethal. But this is highly unlikely to happen.

And what about bottled water?

Should you drink bottled water instead of tap water? It may be

convenient at times, but is certainly not necessary. In fact, it may not be any better than tap water and may even come from tap water. About half of our bottled water actually comes from the tap.

In addition, bottled water is much more expensive than tap water. And tap water may be safer than bottled water since the federal government requires more

rigorous safety monitoring of municipal tap water than it does of bottled water.

So, pay attention to your thirst and drink plenty of water and other nutritious beverages to help your body be as healthy as it can be.

Beth Sanborn is a licensed nutritionist who lives in Birch Bay and holds a master’s degree in public health nutrition.

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Routine checkups are vital to overall health Regular visits with a medical professional are an important part of a healthy lifestyle. Too often people visit the doctor only when they are ill, as they may not realize just how essential well visits and physical exams are.

Routine checkups are the smartest way for people in all age groups to stay on top of their health, but they can be especially valuable for those age 50 and older. Regular checkups enable physicians to check current health against past visits, ensuring that any anomalies can be investigated and treated efficiently and promptly. This can make the difference in slowing down the progression of a disease that has already developed or prevent something from becoming a fullfledged issue.

The Mayo Clinic says there are no hard and fast rules about how often seniors should visit health care providers. Those who are in generally good health may only require one medical checkup a year. At this point vital signs will be checked, medications reviewed and lifestyle topics discussed. Doctors may even recommend or discuss tests. Patients also can bring up any issues they may be experiencing, however insignificant they may seem.

Anything from sleep disturbances to memory loss to unexplained fatigue or pain can be addressed.

Sometimes getting everything out in the open and being reassured that there’s nothing to worry about can be helpful.

General care and geriatric doctors also are adept at asking questions to get a sense of how patients are faring in the world.

This may include topics that seemingly have no relevance to health but can be quite important. A provider may ask about topics such as bathing or dressing. Questions about social interaction or typical routines can paint a better picture of both physical and mental health.

The recommended frequency of doctor visits may change as health issues arise or if follow-up

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The following are some compelling reasons to be diligent with provider visits.

• Frequently health issues can be silent and not noticed early on by a patient, according to Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore.

• Patients will be less likely to forget about important screenings,

like mammography, prostate tests, cholesterol tests and more.

• Vaccines can be administered, as even adults need certain immunizations to stay healthy.

• Patients can discuss potential lifestyle changes, like going on a diet or taking up a new fitness regimen.

It is essential to follow through with health care provider visits, even if they seem redundant.

Physicians may detect issues that warrant close observation. Patients are urged to have an open dialogue with their doctors so they understand the reason behind health care visits and expectations in the future.

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The Northern Light • February 6 - 12, 2020

Local sommelier to launch wine club on Valentine’s Day

By Jami Makan A Blaine resident who is a sommelier and wine expert is planning to launch a new wine club on Valentine’s Day to help Whatcom County residents discover new wines.

Amberleigh Brownson, who lives in Blaine and is the director of operations and sommelier at Leader Block Wine Co. & Eatery in Ferndale, plans to launch the new wine club on Friday, February 14 through the restaurant where she works. Leader Block is an Italian restaurant that opened in September 2018 and is located at 2026 Main Street in a 100-year-old building that used to house a speakeasy during the Prohibition era.

Those who sign up for the wine club will be able to pick up two specially chosen bottles of wine each month. They will also be able to enjoy free corkage at Leader Block, as well as a series of educational classes, wine and food pairings and winemaker and whiskey dinners.

“Wine is definitely my niche and my passion,” said Brownson, who has years of experience in the wine industry and has received recognition from Wine Spectator and other industry publications.

Brownson moved to Blaine in 2006 from Southern California.

She was already familiar with the Pacific Northwest because her grandparents lived in B.C. Growing up, she would spend two months every summer visiting them, and she eventually decided to relocate to Blaine to be able to spend more time with them.

“The northwest was always in my blood,” she said. “I felt roots here for sure.”

In Blaine, Brownson got her start with wine at the Semiahmoo Resort, where she worked at the resort’s old restaurant, Stars Fine Dining. “There was a 40page wine list, and I realized I

couldn’t really recommend any to my guests,” she said. “So I started putting together tasting groups with the staff. We educated each other. I learned more about wine and ended up becoming the restaurant sommelier.”

After the resort received a multimillion-dollar renovation, Brownson became the resort’s restaurant outlet manager, overseeing the resort’s Pierside Kitchen and Packers Kitchen and Bar restaurants. She developed the wine and cocktail lists, and in her free time, she started serving as a wine judge for Great Northwest Wine, a wine publication that highlights wines from the Pacific Northwest region.

Brownson eventually left the resort and helped open EAT Restaurant and Bar in Bellingham in January 2016. The restaurant offered a farm-to-table menu of French cuisine with a Pacific Northwest twist. Its opening wine list had 80 selections, and the wines were chosen to showcase the food. Although EAT recently closed, Brownson said it was a success while it lasted.

Nine months after the opening of EAT, Brownson decided to move on to become a full-time consultant and wine judge. In her career, she has judged wines for Sip Northwest, SavorNW, the Seattle Wine Awards and the Bellingham NW Wine Festival. “I travel to a location with other industry leaders and we taste up to 100 wines in a day,” she said. “We sniff, swish, swirl, sip, write down everything and decide whether to award a medal or not.”

Brownson got to know some winemakers in Blaine who had started GLM Wine Company at 1678 Boblett Street. “I helped make wine with them a few times,” she said. “I helped separate stems and press down the wine once it was fermenting.”

At one point, GLM was planning to bottle a new wine. They

were going to call it Jackalope, after the mythical animal of North American folklore. “I thought the name was awful, so I suggested that they use my name,” said Brownson. “I offered up my name after having half a glass. It was a harebrained idea, and I’m surprised they said okay.”

When GLM designed the label for the new wine, Brownson sent them pictures of herself for consideration. “My mom is a local photographer, so she had a whole bunch of pictures of me, and we sent over like 10,000 for them to choose from,” she said.

“They ended up using this almost Mona Lisa-esque picture of me on the bottle. I don’t get any royalties, though.”

Brownson first joined Leader Block as a consultant about a year and half ago, when it was just a wine bar with 25 selections and cheese and charcuterie.

“The owner [Robert Pinkley] had wanted to open an Italian restaurant, and so I helped him with the planning and procuring of permits. We put together a wine list of over 100 wines, a chef, a staff and all of the things that come along with that,” she said.

More recently, she helped the restaurant install a penny floor.

About 41,000 pennies were laid down and poured over with epoxy. “We did it ourselves,” she said. “It matches the artwork of one of the owners, Brett Wiltse, who does copper artwork in the dining room. It also ties in nicely with the dining room, which is adorned with empty wine bottles along the upper ledge.”

The restaurant recently received an award of excellence from Wine Spectator magazine, which recognizes “restaurants whose wine lists feature a well-chosen assortment of quality producers along with a thematic match to the menu in both price and style.”

For the past four years, Brown-

s Blaine-based sommelier Amberleigh Brownson, who is the director of operations and sommelier at Leader Block Wine Co. & Eatery in Ferndale. Brownson plans to launch a new wine club through Leader Block on Valentine’s Day.

s Brownson has a wine named after her. The red wine is produced

by Blaine’s GLM Wine Company and features Brownson’s name and portrait on the label.

Photos courtesy of Amberleigh Brownson

son has volunteered as a sommelier at an annual wine auction hosted at the Chateau Ste. Michelle winery in Woodinville. The annual auction has raised millions of dollars for the Seattle Children’s Hospital, the oenology program at Western Washington University and other initiatives. She’s planning to do it again later this year.

Brownson said that she has

enjoyed introducing Whatcom County residents to the joys of wine, including here in Blaine, where she once helped sommelier Shanna Manning of The Shenanigans open The Vault Wine Bar and Bistro. “I would love to introduce people in Blaine, Birch Bay and Semiahmoo to what I’m doing at the restaurant in Ferndale,” she said.

Nature’s Path hosts event benefitting food-insecure middle schoolers

By Jami Makan Organic breakfast foods company Nature’s Path hosted a “foodraiser” on February 3 at its Blaine facility, where bags of breakfast and snack foods were assembled for distribution to food-insecure middle schoolers in Ferndale.

For the February 3 event at its Blaine manufacturing plant, Nature’s Path partnered with the Ferndale School District and Open Hands, a grassroots community organization that provides food relief. Open Hands seeks to eliminate hunger in elementary school children in Whatcom County. The non-profit organization sends home weekend meals every Friday to over 760 kids from 10 elementary schools in Whatcom County.

At the event, which was part of Nature’s Path’s Eat Well Do Good series, Nature’s Path team members and others prepared bags of breakfast and snack foods to be distributed to over 1,100 students

at Horizon Middle School and Vista Middle School in Ferndale.

“One in six children in the United States is dealing with food insecurity, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture,” said a January 31 press release sent on behalf of Nature’s Path. “Closer to home, in Whatcom County, 38.7 percent of students are eligible for free and reduced lunch; that means they aren’t getting enough food to lead a healthy life. As an organic food company, Nature’s Path is committed to helping address this need. For the past 10 years, our Eat Well Do Good foodraisers have brought over $1.5 million worth of food to local food banks and schools.”

Participants in the event included Nature’s Path general manager Arjan Stephens, Ferndale School District student services executive director Dr. Paul Douglas, Horizon Middle School principal Dr. Faye Brit, Ferndale School District homeless and foster liaison Kim Bunch and Open Hands co-director Larae Tjoelker.

s Employees at Nature’s Path in Blaine pack boxes with breakfast bars, biscuits, cereal and oatmeal for food-insecure middle schoolers in the Ferndale School District.

Photo by Oliver Lazenby

February 6 - 12, 2020 • thenorthernlight.com

11

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The Northern Light • February 6 - 12, 2020

Real Estate

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City council votes to update fee schedule for fire marshal services

By Jami Makan Blaine city councilmembers recently voted 5-0 to update the “Building” portion of the city’s Unified Fee Schedule, which lists fees that are charged to property owners for fire marshal services that are provided by Whatcom County Fire District 21.

At their January 27 public meeting, councilmembers voted to approve Resolution 178820 updating the Unified Fee Schedule to add fees for the fire marshal services of Whatcom County Fire District 21. The agenda item was introduced by Blaine community development director Stacie Pratschner, who said that the fees enable the fire district to provide their support to the city of Blaine in its planning efforts.

“The proposed fees and redlines to the Unified Fee Schedule will permit the fire district to provide their staff support to the city of Blaine in our planning efforts, whether that’s in anticipating fire protection and emergency responses, doing construction inspections, attending pre-application meetings to let applicants know what weight roads need to be

able to handle for the firetruck to go over it, where the fire hydrants are, and also review of our submitted land use and building permit applications,” said Pratschner.

She added that the city and the fire district are currently working on an interlocal agreement that will define the precise scope of the fire district’s services.

“Currently, there is an interlocal agreement that is being reviewed – it is in draft form – between the city and Fire District 21 and that’s purpose is to secure and clearly define the scope of their services,” she said.

In response to a question from mayor Bonnie Onyon, Blaine building official Tim Woodard explained why an old set of fees is being crossed off on the document and replaced with a new set of fees. “The stricken items are items that were in place prior to our past agreement with a third party that provided our review services,” said Woodard.

“In between that being on the fee schedule, there was a period of time that we were actually contracted, if you will, with a third party agency, Randy Snow.

During that time, we were actually subject to his time and

his assessment of hours to the project and things like this. The new fee schedule actually will help define and give clear guidance for what our fees are going to be ahead of time and I think will be definitely a benefit.”

In response to a further question from mayor Onyon, Woodard said that the update was necessitated in part by a switch to a new legal framework. “In a previous code cycle, which we switched from a uniform code, which was a model code nationwide to an international code, in that process there was a difference in what is permitted and what is not permitted,” said Woodard. “So the new list actually expands a lot more on what the new code requires for construction permits.”

After mayor Onyon expressed concern that the new fees that will be charged are considerably higher than the previous set of fees, Woodard said that the passage of time and heightened reviews are important factors, and that the new fees will be consistent with surrounding areas.

“I think time is the main thing,” said Woodard. “When those fees that you see crossed out on the fee schedule were

applicable, under that previous code, I’m not positive how long our contract or how long our agreement with Randy Snow was applicable, but it was a significant amount of time. I’m guessing upwards of 10 years.

You have that 10 years plus the last year and a half, where we haven’t had that, so that amount of time has elapsed with also the heightened review that they do. We were lucky enough to get somebody from a larger jurisdiction that has done a study on services provided and how much it actually costs, and he was able to bring a lot of that knowledge forward for us so that we could kind of assess a fee that was really poignant on what we are actually providing for services.”

Woodard added, “What I do feel inclined to offer is that those fees are consistent with our surrounding areas. So if you look at the cost-per-hour charges for the other jurisdictions such as Ferndale, Bellingham, Lynden, those costper-hour charges are consistent with those other local cities.”

Prior to the vote, North Whatcom Fire and Rescue division chief and fire marshal Herschel

Rostov also weighed in from the audience. “The first piece of this is that the items you’re looking at at the top of the page, those are 10-year-old dollars,” he said. “So we’re comparing fees that were charged 10 years ago to what we’re charging now.

As you can imagine, costs have gone up in 10 years and that’s why we’re seeing this. If you imagine how much costs have gone up in 10 years, it’s actually a reduction in a lot of the fees that are being charged, because those are 10-year-old dollars.

That’s the first piece.”

Rostov continued, “The second piece is that we built a system that makes it easy for the city staff to apply those fees.

That’s why they are laid out that way, in set blocks of money, so that contractors can predict ahead of time when they are putting in the applications, so that they have some level of predictability in what they are doing. And these fees are based on the exact dollar amounts that the Whatcom County Fire Marshal’s Office is charging, and the same as city of Bellingham, so the same type of work by the same type of people at the same dollar rate.”

February 6 - 12, 2020 • thenorthernlight.com

PSE rescues stuck juvenile bald eagle

By Oliver Lazenby Puget Sound Energy (PSE) workers removed a juvenile bald eagle stuck by its talon in a utility line on West Road near Peace Portal Drive on January 28. The eagle appeared to be uninjured and flew away once workers freed its talon.

PSE’s avian protection manager Mel Walters heard about the bird midday Tuesday and called to have several PSE servicemen respond at the site. He also called Whatcom Humane Society’s Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, which

sent someone to the site in case the bird was injured.

Workers turned power off briefly while removing the bird.

The bird didn’t get electrocuted because it wasn’t touching two power lines, creating a complete circuit. Even with the power off, PSE workers used insulated poles called “hot sticks” to free the bird.

PSE treats these cases seriously and responds immediately, said Walters, who has led the company’s avian protection program for 20 years. Among other things,

that program retrofits old lines and designs new lines that are safer to birds and squirrels.

One danger with stuck birds is that citizens will get involved in trying to free the bird, Walters said.

“A few days ago I was alarmed because there was a similar story on Facebook and a person approached the bird and was going to use a pole to try to free it,” Walters said. “With a live wire, you’re a path to the ground, so you can be electrocuted and those wires could be carrying 12,000 volts,” which is enough to kill.

13

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s Puget Sound Energy workers recently removed a juvenile bald eagle stuck by its talon in a utility line.

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Park and recreation district has ample scholarship money for youth recreation

By Oliver Lazenby Blaine-Birch Bay Park and Recreation District 2 (BBBPRD2) is trying to spread the word about its youth athletic scholarship fund, which it started in 2019 to help families in need pay for equipment, registration fees and other costs related to sports and recreation.

BBBPRD2 currently has about $4,300 in its scholarship fund and the new program has received few applications so far.

“It’s a great resource and we’d love to see it used so that we can remove money as a barrier to participating in sports and other activities,” said Jeff Carrington, BBBPRD2 board chairman.

Dining Guide

Scholarships could fund anything from dance classes to youth sports and Boys and Girls Club programs. Funds are distributed confidentially.

To be eligible, children must live in the Blaine school district and qualify for food stamps or Washington state’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, or be eligible for free or reduced lunch. Foster children qualify regardless of family income.

BBBPRD2 is still fine-tuning its criteria, but program manager Heidi Holmes encourages anyone with a need for money to participate in a physical activity to apply. BBBPRD2’s board will review all applications and may approve

specific cases that don’t meet the income guidelines posted on its website, she said.

“If it’s benefiting kids that live in the community and getting them healthier, the board will consider it,” Holmes said.

Application forms are available online and in person at the organization’s office at the Birch Bay Activity Center at 7511 Gemini Street in Birch Bay. Money for the scholarship fund comes from the property tax levy that also funds BBBPRD2’s operating costs. For more information on the scholarships and how to apply, go to bbbparkandrec.org/ scholarships or call BBBPRD2 at 360/656-6416.

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14

The Northern Light • February 6 - 12, 2020

Coming up

Live Music at The Vault: Friday, February 7, 7-9 p.m., The Vault Wine Bar and Bistro, 277 G Street.

Featuring: D’vas and Dudes. Info: 360/392-0955.

Winter Gardening and Soil Basics: Saturday, February 8, 10 a.m.–noon, Blaine Public Library, 610 3rd Street. Learn answers to questions like what can be “wintered over,” what effect is winter having on your soil, and how do you prepare for a healthy summer season? Planting tables will be available to help guide your seed buying. Presented by Blaine C.O.R.E. Info: 360/305-3637.

Backstage @ The Border Presents: The Sweet Goodbyes: Saturday, February 8, 7–9 p.m., doors open at 6:30 p.m., Christ Episcopal Church, 382 Boblett Street. $7 donation at the door (no one is turned away). The Sweet Goodbyes are a dynamic indie folk duo featuring Amber Darland and Lisa Harmon. Proceeds after expenses go to fund Loads of Love Laundry Project.

surveys, come see the final design concept from Johnson Architects and King Architecture. Experience the new library space via 3D renderings and fly-through simulation. There’s still time to give your feedback and share ideas! Info: 360/305-3637.

Let’s Make Valentines: Wednesday, February 12, 3:15–4:15 p.m., Blaine Public Library, 610 3rd Street. Make one-of-a-kind valentines for family and friends. Materials provided. Grades K-5. Info: 360/305-3637.

Actors of Character: Wednesday, February 12, 7–9 p.m., Semiahmoo Resort Discovery Theater. Ron Miller showcases the work of the screen’s great character actors, best remembered for their supporting roles. Info: semiahmoo.com/ron-miller.php.

Semiahmoo Women’s Club Luncheon: Thursday, February 13, 11:15 a.m., Semiahmoo Golf & Country Club, Palmer Room. Speakers Mary Margaret and David Leu will speak of their 10-year roundLive Music at The Vault: Saturday, February 8, 7-9 the-world sailing adventure. $27 buffet lunch. RSVP p.m., The Vault Wine Bar and Bistro, 277 G Street. by 5 p.m. Monday, February 10 to 817/600-4192 or young.drum@hotmail.com. Women from all Featuring: El Colonel. Info: 360/392-0955. communities welcome to join. Info: semiahmooCraft and Chat: Monday, February 10, 5:30–7 womensclub.org. p.m., Blaine Public Library, 610 3rd Street. Enjoy Foreign Policy Forum: Friday, February 14, demonstrations of different craft techniques with fellow crafters. Bring a needle craft or other type of 1–2:30 p.m. Blaine United Church of Christ, 885 4th Street. This week’s topic: Climate Change and the craft you’re working on. Info: 360/305-3637.

Global Order. Info: 360/332-6906.

Supper with the Superintendent: Monday, February 10, 6:30 p.m., Birch Bay Bible Community 20th Annual Bite of Blaine: Monday, February 17, 6 p.m., Semiahmoo Resort Ballroom, 9565 Church fireside room, 4460 Bay Road. Town hallstyle meeting with Dr. Christopher Granger, Blaine Semiahmoo Parkway. Sample great food from local school district superintendent. Light dinner included. restaurants plus silent and live auctions. Tickets $30 available at Pacific Building Center, 2677 Bell Road, Info: blainesd.org. and the Blaine Welcome Center, 546 Peace Portal Blaine Library Design Project Reveal: Tuesday, Drive or online at blainechamber.com. Tickets will not be sold at the door. Proceeds benefit Blaine’s Old February 11, 5:30–7 p.m., Blaine Senior Center, 763 G Street. After a series of public meetings and Fashioned Fourth of July. Info: blainechamber.com.

Crossword Answers at thenorthernlight.com

ACROSS

42. Cognizant of

1. Expression of disgust

43. Albanian monetary unit 20. Falters

4. A place to unwind

44. Carrot’s partner

7. A type of cooking range 45. Famed garden 46. Chilean seaport 8. Grasp tightly 10. Sea eagles

48. Days (Spanish)

12. Carb dish

49. Sudden anxiety

13. Late-night host

50. 100 square meters

14. Revolutions per minute 51. A type of beer 52. French/Belgian river 16. Indicates odd or erroneous DOWN 17. FDR’s military chief of staff 19. Swiss river 20. Norwegian district and river 21. A form of motivation 25. Car mechanics group 26. Once a must-have home theater accessory 27. Broken branch 29. Apple and pumpkin are two 30. Skeletal muscle 31. Small Eurasian deer 32. Tight-lipped fellow 39. Comes after a cut 41. A place one lives

19. Consumed 22. Radioactive form of an element 23. Catch a wrongdoer 24. Breeze through 27. Thick piece of something 28. Yellowish-brown color 29. “The Raven” poet 31. Rural free delivery (abbr.)

1.Spanish dish

32. Creating

2. Concurs

33. Supervises flying

3. __and her sisters

34. Northwestern state

4. Patti Hearst’s captors

35. Was obligated to repay

5. Used to refer to cited works

36. Diverging in lines from a common center

6. A state of excited movement

37. Bleak 38. We all have them

8. Advertising term (abbr.) 39. Hit with the palm of 9. Nocturnal S. American one’s hand rodent 40. Sea that’s part of the western Pacific 11. New York art district 14. Bravo! Bravo! Bravo!

15. Pre-release viewing 18. Northwestern Canadian territory (abbr.)

44. Political action committee 47. Famed Spanish soldier El __

Friends of Birch Bay Library Book Club: Wednesday, February 19, 4–5:30 p.m., future home of the Birch Bay Library, 7968 Birch Bay Drive. Monthly discussion of books by the bay. Info: 360/305-3600.

Celebrate 100 Years of Voting Rights: Thursday, February 27, 6:30 p.m., Western Washington University Performing Arts Center. Elaine Weiss discusses her book The Women’s Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote. Cosponsored by League of Women Voters, Ralph Semiahmoo Men’s Breakfast: Thursday, February Munro Institute for Civic Education and Village Books.

20, 7:30 a.m. Great Blue Heron Grill. Coffee, big break- Free parking. Info: lwvbellinghamwhatcom.org. fast $17. All men are welcome. This week’s speaker is Al-Anon Meetings: Mondays, noon, United Church Blaine’s chief of police Donnell “Tank” Tanksley. of Christ, 885 4th Street. Info: Call M.J. 360/9203679 or Bob 360/920-3676.

Foreign Policy Forum: Friday, February 21, 1–2:30 p.m. Blaine United Church of Christ, 885 4th Street. This ArtScape Teens: Tuesdays, 3–5 p.m., Soul Space week’s topic: India and Pakistan. Info: 360/332-6906.

Studio, 264B H Street. A safe place for teens to set their imaginations free through art. Free studio time.

10th Annual Pasta and Lights: Friday, February 21, Sponsor: Healthy Youth Coalition. Info: 435/704-1598.

5:30 p.m., Blaine Senior Center, 763 G Street. Delicious spaghetti dinner, garlic rolls, salad, dessert and compli- Toastmasters Meeting: Tuesdays, 6:30–7:45 p.m., mentary beverage plus live music at 6:30 p.m. Tickets 382 Boblett Street. Improve your public speaking skills. $12 adults, $6 kids 9 and under. Proceeds benefit Community Meals: Wednesdays, 5–6:30 p.m., Blaine Senior Center. Info: 360/332-8040.

Blaine Community Center, 763 G Street. Through May, except holidays. Info: blainecap.org.

Washi Workshop with Madeline Durham Paste Papers: Saturday and Sunday, February 22–23, Blaine WW Workshop: Thursdays, 5 p.m., Northwood AlliHarbor Boating Center, 235 Marine Drive. Info: washi- ance Church, 508 C Street. Registration/sign-in from arts.com or linda@washiarts.com.

5-5:30 p.m., and half-hour meeting to follow.

Telling Stories Through Textile Maps: Saturday, February 22, 2–3:30 p.m., Blaine Library, 610 3rd Street. Artist Bettina Matzkuhn combines her interest in textiles, cartography and nature. Her textile maps tell stories through unusual forms and subjects not normally associated with embroidery. Discussing her process creating internationally exhibited work.

The Alaska Packers Museum: Saturdays and Sundays, 1–5 p.m., 9261 Semiahmoo Parkway. Info: 360/371-3558.

Teen Nite: Saturdays, 5–9 p.m., Border Town Pizza, 738 Peace Portal Drive. Kids ages 13–18 come enjoy open mic, karaoke and games. Free pizza at 5 p.m.

Narcotics Anonymous Meeting: Sundays, 6:30–7:30 p.m., Christ Episcopal Church, 382 Boblett Fat Tuesday Mardi Gras Party: Tuesday, February 25, 5:30–8:30 p.m., Blaine Senior Center, 763 G Street. Street, entrance on 4th Street. Nwwana.org.

Family dinner with a professional Dixieland band (Josh’s Submissions to Coming Up should be sent to Mardi Gras Stompers!). Also featuring the Blaine High School Jazz Band. Pancakes, gumbo and good music. calendar@thenorthernlight.com Tickets $10 per person, $20 per family at the door. no later than noon on Monday.

Proceeds benefit Blaine Harbor Music Festival.

Police Reports January 25, 10:09 p.m.: Blaine police were dispatched to the Peace Arch port of entry after a vehicle was found with two different license plates. The front license plate had been stolen from the vehicle and replaced with another stolen plate. An officer arrived and seized the stolen plate. The driver of the vehicle had no idea her front plate had been stolen.

January 26, 8:16 a.m.: A woman called 911 to report that a man was using hypnosis to get her to unlock her door at night so he could attack her. The woman said she piles things against the door to keep him out but each night she removes more and more things from the door while under hypnosis. The woman requested additional patrol checks in the evening hours to apprehend the suspect.

January 26, 11:17 a.m.: Blaine officers responded to the 200 block of C Street for a report of a residence with water leaking from the second story. Officers arrived and determined a pipe likely burst and a large volume of water was running down the inside and outside of the home. Officers attempted to contact the homeowner who resides in Canada but were unsuccessful. Public works was contacted to shut the water off at the main. Officers cleared with no further incident.

January 26, 10:45 p.m.: A citizen reported that a male who had been trespassed from her property crossed the threshold of her property line. Blaine officers contacted the suspect and advised him that he was under arrest for criminal trespass in the second degree. The officers cited and released the suspect with a future court date. The police cleared the call without incident.

January 27, 9:23 a.m.: During routine patrol, Blaine police impounded an illegally parked and abandoned vehicle in the 800 block of Ludwick Avenue. The vehicle had been tagged on January 19 and was left standing until officers authorized the tow on January 27. A parking infraction will be mailed to the offending trucking company.

January 27, 12:50 p.m.: A Blaine resident called 911 to report an older male in his 30s walking with a substantially younger female and advised the two were holding hands. The complainant told 911 dispatch that he suspected human trafficking. Officers responded and contacted the male and female who voluntarily identified themselves and advised that they are in a dating relationship. Officers determined the male is 16 years of age and the female is 17 years of age and were not committing any crimes, just enjoying a walk in the park.

Officers cleared with no incident.

January 27, 12:26 p.m.: Blaine police responded to a report of a motor vehicle collision in the 2500 block of Peace Portal Drive. A vehicle traveling south entered the intersection without stopping at the posted sign and was hit by another vehicle. Officers completed an accident report, facilitated an exchange of information and photographed the collision. None of the involved parties were injured.

Weather

Precipitation: During the period of January 27–February 2, 3.8 inches of precipitation was recorded. The 2020 year-to-date precipitation is 9.9 inches.

Temperature: High for the past week was 56°F on January 29 with a low of 33°F on February 2. Average high was 52°F and average low was 40°F. Courtesy Birch Bay Water & Sewer Dist.

Tides DATE TIME HEIGHT TIME HEIGHT February 7–13 at Blaine.

Not for navigation.

49° 0’ 0”N - 122° 46’ 0”W Fr 7

5:18 am

9.6

10:07 am

7.3

2:27 pm

Sa 8

8.9

10:10 pm

-1.8

5:52 am 10.1

10:59 am

6.9

3:25 pm

9.0

10:54 pm

-2.0

Su 9

6:24 am 10.3

11:45 am

6.3

4:25 pm

9.0

11:38 pm

-1.9

Mo 10 6:58 am 10.4

12:31 pm

5.5

7:30 am

10.4

5:25 pm

8.8

Tu 11

2:22 am

-1.3

1:19 pm

4.6

6:27 pm

8.5

We 12 1:06 am

-0.3

8:02 am

10.3

2:09 pm

3.6

7:33 pm

8.1

Th 13 1:50 am

1.1

8:34 am

10.1

2.7

8:47 pm

7.6

3:01 pm

January 27, 3:18 p.m.: A Blaine resident called police to report she was being threatened with physical harm by her stepdaughter after Blaine officers were previously at the residence investigating an order violation. Officers arrived at the residence and arrested the suspect without incident for domestic violence-related charges. The suspect was booked into the Whatcom County Jail.

January 28, 8:44 a.m.: While sitting in the 700 block of H Street, an individual approached an officer and informed them that another individual sent them a message saying they were going to shoot them in the head. The victim laughed about it and advised they did not want to pursue charges. Information only at this time.

January 30, 7:40 p.m.: At the request of Washington State Patrol (WSP), Blaine police located a single-vehicle collision on southbound I-5. Officers assisted with traffic control until WSP arrived on the scene. Officers cleared after help was no longer needed.

Reports provided by Blaine Police Department

s Students performing at Blaine’s annual Arts & Jazz fundraiser on February 1.

Photo by Molly Ernst

February 6 - 12, 2020 • thenorthernlight.com

15

Blaine-based Japanese paper merchant offering upcoming workshops

By Jami Makan About five years ago, Linda Marshall was in Strasbourg, France when she went into a stationery store and noticed that the window display featured Japanese paper from The Japanese Paper Place, a Toronto-based wholesaler of fine Japanese paper.

Marshall was already familiar with The Japanese Paper Place, having previously lived in Toronto. In fact, her mom was an artist and had worked with Japanese paper, exposing Marshall to Japanese paper as a teenager.

“I thought that it was pretty cool that this tiny little store from Toronto had some kind of global reach,” Marshall said.

When Marshall returned home to the U.S., she called the owner of the Toronto store, Nancy Jacobi, who taught Marshall about the history of Japanese paper and how it’s different from Western paper.

“It’s made from a renewable resource, from the inner bark of three types of bushes (kozo, gampi and mitsumata) in Japan,” explained Marshall. “Rice farmers would strip the fiber from the inside of the bark each fall and use it to make paper in the winter.

They would grow rice in the summer, harvest the rice in the fall and make paper in the winter.”

Marshall continued: “It’s a tradition that goes back more than 1,000 years. Because Japan was isolated for so many centuries and didn’t do a lot of trading with the outside world, they developed paper very differently from the West.

It’s very long-fibered. We tend to think of paper as more disposable, but in Japan, paper is reused and revered and very strong.”

At the time, Marshall was doing marketing and website design in San Francisco, but with inspiration from Jacobi, she soon founded Washi Arts, a specialty merchant of handmade Japanese papers. “Nancy is my mentor,” said Marshall. “She’s got over 40 years of knowledge locked in her head. I’m always trying to pick her brain.”

After Marshall’s husband was offered a job in Delta, B.C., they decided to settle in Blaine. “I thought it was better to be in the U.S. to be able to ship to U.S. customers,” said Marshall. “I’m very happy to be here in Blaine.”

Through its website washiarts. com, Washi Arts sells an extensive range of Japanese papers including decorative and natural papers for printmaking, book arts, calligraphy, graphic design, bookbinding, conservation and repair, printing and letterpress. The pa-

pers they offer are available in a very wide range of fibers, colors, patterns, weights and sizes.

Marshall also started traveling around the country, presenting at universities and teaching workshops on using Japanese papers in artwork, bookbinding and paper conservation and repair.

In 2019, Marshall decided to launch a series of workshops in Blaine. “I travel so much and it was getting really tiring, so I thought, ‘I wonder whether people in my own backyard would be interested in this,’” she said. “Up until then, I’d always been invited to teach elsewhere. So I decided to do this little test series to see if people would come to Blaine.”

Marshall’s 2019 workshops, which took place in July last summer at the Blaine Harbor Boating Center, were a great success. They sold out, attracting about 40 people to Blaine from Alabama, Georgia, Ohio, Southern California,

B.C., Oregon and elsewhere.

This year, Marshall will be offering additional workshops in Blaine, including a workshop on Saturday and Sunday, February 22-23. There will also be another workshop on Friday through Sunday, March 13-15, as well as a workshop on Friday through Sunday, April 3-5.

Topics to be covered include paste papers, which were historically made by bookbinders to make the decorative sheets in the front and back of books. “The papers are made using a type of wheat paste, and can be used for bookbinding, calligraphy and collage,” said Marshall.

Other topics include traditional Japanese woodblock printing, which involves the use of handcarved blocks. “It’s probably the technique that most people would recognize if they’ve seen Japanese prints in a museum,” said Marshall. “There’s a resurgence in

popularity for artists wanting to learn that technique, because it uses non-toxic materials.”

Other topics will include book arts and collage, decorative stitching on paper and making fabric out of long-fibered Japa-

nese paper. “It makes beautiful, beautiful fabric,” she said.

For a list of upcoming workshops in Blaine, visit washiarts. com/workshops. For additional information, please contact Linda Marshall at linda@washiarts.com.

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The Northern Light • February 6 - 12, 2020

City council debates contribution to USGS coastal storm modeling system

By Jami Makan Blaine city councilmembers recently voted 4-1 to contribute $10,000 to a countywide project that will allow the city of Blaine to benefit from a coastal storm modeling system developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

At the January 27 public meeting, one of the action items on the agenda was an interlocal agreement with the city of Bellingham for support of USGS’s development and implementation of its Coastal Storm Modeling System across the Whatcom County shoreline.

Presenting the item to city council, public works director Ravyn Whitewolf said that the initiative aligned with the environmental goals developed at last year’s city council retreat, and was important in light of the severe storm damage that occurred to the Semiahmoo Spit on December 20, 2018.

“The city of Bellingham on their own volition has been working with USGS folks on development of a coastal storm modeling system, now acronymed CoSMoS,” Whitewolf told councilmembers. “I went to a presentation in October that demonstrated some of the capability of that model and reviewed that with our city manager, and our combined thought was that this would be a very worthwhile undertaking to participate in.”

Whitewolf continued: “The organizations that are currently a part of this include the city of Bellingham as well as Whatcom Coun-

ty and the Port of Bellingham. If you look at all the shoreline areas of Whatcom County, those are the agencies that would be represented. The county and the city of Bellingham both are wanting to include Blaine and have agreed to a very modest participation of $5,000 a year for the next two years. The total cost for the project is $350,000 and the city of Bellingham, as I understand it, is contributing close to half of that.”

According to the USGS website, the CoSMoS program “makes detailed predictions of storm-induced coastal flooding, erosion and cliff failures over large geographic scales. CoSMoS was developed for hindcast studies, operational applications and future climate scenarios to provide emergency responders and coastal planners with critical storm-hazards information that can be used to increase public safety, mitigate physical damages and more effectively manage and allocate resources within complex coastal settings.”

After a motion was made and seconded to approve the agreement, councilmember Alicia Rule asked Whitewolf, “Have we also included a conversation with the tribes? If we could raise that, I think that’s important given the combination of the folks that are here and the location of the work.”

Whitewolf said that she didn’t have the answer to that question, since she is not the project lead, but would inquire into the matter and report back to Rule. Follow-

ing a question from mayor Bonnie Onyon, Whitewolf confirmed that the city of Bellingham is the project lead, and that Bellingham is seeking separate interlocal agreements with all the other parties.

A vote was then taken, and based on the audible votes, the motion carried. Councilmember Baldwin voted no, however, and proceeded to raise several objections to the agreement. “I’m quite familiar with coastal erosion,” he said.

“I’m just wondering why the local agencies are contributing so much money to a federal agency to do its study. There’s just not enough information there for me to approve $10,000. It may not be a lot money to some people, but to some people it’s a lot of money. You know what I mean? But I know it’s a very important study. I’m just saying it’s the USGS – sort of their responsibility.”

Votes were then tallied after councilmember May said, “I don’t think I heard four ‘aye’ votes.” City clerk Samuel Crawford counted three yes votes, representing a majority of the five councilmembers present (Charlie Hawkins and Eric Davidson were excused).

When Crawford asked May how he had voted, May said, “I’d like to hear a little bit more from councilmember Baldwin on what his position is on this.”

Baldwin then continued: “There’s not a lot of information there for me to authorize $10,000 of city money to a project that, when I see USGS on there, I think the federal government’s got a lot of money. Their

job is modeling, is mapping. That’s what they are tasked with our tax dollars to do. ... Why is it that we’re being asked to pay for something that we probably already paid for?”

May asked, “Does staff have any answer?” Whitewolf responded, “I can only speak to what I witnessed at the demonstration that I saw. It was a very, very elaborate model. It was more than a map.”

Baldwin continued: “I am quite familiar with coastal modeling.

One of the kids that works for me, his master’s thesis was on exactly that, coastal change and all that.

It’s an actual hot-button issue in my profession. … Knowing storm surges and knowing those 100-year events that are like 10 years apart these days, I get that. I’m just saying that the federal government has the obligation. I mean, they won’t even let us go down below kneehigh water and do a project without their permission. So if it’s their purview, then by God it ought to be their purview and not our dime.

That’s just my prerogative.”

Mayor Onyon responded: “I wish you had spoken just a couple minutes before you did, when we were having some discussion on it.”

May then said: “I don’t believe we’ve gotten four votes on this yet. … Does staff have any comment as to any discussions … regarding whether or not this would be under the purview of the federal government to have taken care of this?”

Whitewolf responded: “The impression that I got from my conversation with Bellingham was they

were trying to make the decision about whether to do Bellingham areas only or to do this countywide.

I think that the choice of going countywide is something that benefits Blaine.”

May responded: “So our city will receive a good value for that $10,000?”

Whitewolf responded: “Yes I do, in light of the fact that we have Marine Park which is very sensitive, we have the Semiahmoo Spit, both sides of which are getting hit hard by the weather, and we had some terrible storm damage in December 2018. If this gives us more ability to plan, predict and prepare, absolutely.”

Rule then said: “I look at this as an economic investment. If we’re putting in $10,000 to a $350,000 project, that’s smart money. I agree with you in that I wish the federal government would pay in full, but in light of the fact that they are not, we can’t sit idle and do nothing because we have our own local beaches right here that are being affected by this. We’ve got to step in and take care of it. I share your frustration.”

Mayor Onyon and city clerk Crawford then confirmed with May that with five councilmembers present, the three votes from councilmembers Onyon, Rule and Steward were sufficient to carry the motion, regardless of how May wished to vote. Asked how he would like his vote to be recorded, May responded: “I’d like a ‘yes’ vote on my record on this.”

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