April 30 - May 6, 2020
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Donate to a local food Blaine Public Works staffing Parade celebrates special kindergarten teacher, page 7 drive for pets, page 12 changes underway, page 6
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
County lags state in virus testing Some businesses to receive grants as COVID restrictions slowly begin to ease By Oliver Lazenby
(See COVID-19, page 2)
s Blaine residents Na Major, 10, and Nam Major, 6, have planted over a dozen varieties of vegetables such as butternut squash and tomatoes. To read about their family’s new garden, turn to page 12.
Photo by Louise Mugar
Hygiene drive will collect supplies for families in need By Oliver Lazenby A hygiene drive in the Cost Cutter parking lot on Friday, May 1 will collect hygiene supplies for Blaine school district families in need. Supplies can be dropped off at the Cost Cutter parking lot from 1 to 3 p.m. that day. Organizer Britt Rhodes, site coordinator for Communities in Schools of Whatcom-Skagit, will collect supplies in the back of a brown Chevy Tahoe. She’ll have
a sign for the hygiene drive, she said. Communities in Schools of Whatcom-Skagit is collecting supplies for the Blaine school district’s Family Service Center. School district staff will distribute the supplies to families, Rhodes said. The Family Service Center supplies students with hygiene items throughout the year. It’s especially in need of laundry detergent, toilet paper, shampoo, soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, sponges, dish soap and other cleaning supplies, Rhodes said.
700 jobs at risk as Alcoa announces closure of smelter By Jami Makan Alcoa Corporation announced that the Pittsburgh-based company will shutter its Intalco Works smelter located in Ferndale, which employs approximately 700 people, most of whom will likely lose their jobs. In an April 22 press release, Alcoa said it will “fully curtail” the smelter by the end of July “amid declining market conditions.” The release noted that since the beginning of the year, aluminum prices have fallen more than 20 percent, down 45 percent
from highs in 2018. In the first quarter of 2020, the Intalco smelter lost $24 million. “While our employees have worked diligently to improve the facility, the smelter is uncompetitive, and current market conditions have exacerbated the facility’s challenges,” Alcoa president and CEO Roy Harvey said in the release. “This is difficult because of the impact on our employees, and we will ensure appropriate support as we work to safely curtail the facility.” The decision was also announced in the company’s April 22 news release on its
first-quarter 2020 earnings, which noted that Intalco employs approximately 700 people, and that its workforce will be “significantly reduced” due to the curtailment. The earnings release said, “The company will record estimated restructuring charges of approximately $25 million (pre- and after-tax), or $0.13 per share, in the second quarter of 2020 associated with the curtailment, for employee-related costs and contract termination costs, which are (See Alcoa, page 6)
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The program will also collect hand sanitizer, feminine hygiene products and diapers. To make a monetary donation, please visit whatcomskagit.ciswa.org and click the “donate” button at the bottom of the page. The Communities in Schools program works in nine schools throughout Whatcom and Skagit counties. It aims to keep kids in school by connecting kids with local resources to meet basic needs. Rhodes, the local site director, works out of the Blaine Primary School.
INSIDE
As of April 28, the Whatcom County Health Department is reporting 293 confirmed cases of COVID-19 to date in Whatcom County and 28 deaths. That’s 13 new cases and one new death from the respiratory virus since the previous Tuesday, April 21. In total, 2,626 people in Whatcom County have been tested for the coronavirus, making the rate of positive tests in Whatcom County 11.2 percent. That’s higher than the statewide positive rate of 7.6 percent, according to the Washington State Department of Health. Whatcom County has a higher rate of positive tests despite testing a smaller percentage of citizens than the state as a whole. In Whatcom County, 1.2 percent of the population has been tested, according to a calculation made with county health department numbers and the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 population estimate. That’s half the statewide rate of 2.4 percent. When asked about the lower rate of testing at an April 27 press briefing, county health department communicable disease and epidemiology manager Cindy Hollinsworth said, “Anyone can get tested and there is sufficient testing capacity in our community. We are also, here at the health department, able to test those who cannot get tested by their health care provider or don’t have insurance.”
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