September 24 - 30, 2020
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Port prohibits some wholesale crab buying, page 6
Submit a six-word story about Covid-19, page 7
BMS student writes novel, page 7
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
Blaine schools Groundbreaking at east Blaine development have phased 50 students into classrooms By Grace McCarthy
s Crews are clearing land at the East Maple Ridge housing development, east of Jerome Street. Plans for the project include about 350 homes on approximately 80 acres.
Photo by Oliver Lazenby
Housing projects underway will reshape Blaine By Oliver Lazenby Homes are already for sale at the first of three new housing developments in east Blaine that could bring about 1,400 new homes to the area over the next 15 years. Developers say they are the biggest projects on the horizon in Whatcom County, and they’ll increase Blaine’s housing stock by more than 50 percent, according to data from the state Office of Financial Management. The three projects are all north of H Street. From smallest to largest and west to east, they are called Bridges Plat, East Maple Ridge and Grandis Pond. The projects, years in the making, were spurred by the city investing in new water, sewer and electric lines to the area, making the projects appealing to developers who had been sitting on the land for years. “With the expansion of the sewer and the water line up the hill to East Maple
Ridge, and Lincoln Park, and eventually to Grandis Pond, we’re going to have a large land bank of buildable product in a beautiful area. It’s just going to be a great place to live,” said Blaine realtor Ron Freeman, in a city of Blaine press release on the projects. The developments Bellingham-based Skeers Construction is nearly finished with the first houses at Bridges Plat, just northeast of Lincoln Park. The project will consist of 18 single-family homes that will be complete in an estimated two to three years, said David Monks, vice president for Skeers Construction. Skeers began building utilities and roads in the development last year and started construction on homes this year. Seven houses are currently under construction, and some that are nearly complete have already sold. Those homes will be mostly between 1,800 and 2,200 square feet, with three bedrooms, two bathrooms and two-car ga-
Blaine’s Holiday Harbor Lights Fundraiser Let’s light up downtown Blaine this holiday season by celebrating our seaside location with nautical theme street pole ornament displays. Blaine Chamber of Commerce and Wild Bird Charity are teaming up to accept (tax deductible) donations to purchase these light displays to decorate downtown this holiday season. Choose your display, your pole, or your block! For more info visit: blainechamber.com
rages. The project is Skeers Construction’s first in Blaine. “We’re just really excited to be up there. It’s a nice environment and a great location,” Monks said. (See Housing, page 2)
INSIDE
The Blaine school district welcomed a cohort of 50 students into the building on September 21 and has plans to open buildings to more students October 12. Blaine school district superintendent Christopher Granger said his favorite part of the day was seeing the four buses arrive to campus bringing students. “Although you can’t see under the mask, you can read nonverbal body languages,” he said. “It felt like a great first step in the right direction.” In the phase 2 plan, the district opened its doors to students most at risk of losing an equitable education during remote learning – students in life skills and preschoolers. Granger said the district hopes to phase kindergarteners in mid-October if Covid-19 cases remain low in the district. About 70 kindergarteners will be phased in to the building but they will learn in a hybrid model, alternating in groups every week between in-person classes and remote learning. As of September 23, Blaine had 28 confirmed Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people in the two-week period between September 6 and September 19, or five total cases during that period. (Ed. Note: The county health department breaks down cases geographically by individual school district boundaries. This figure does not refer to cases in schools themselves.) The district was the second lowest in the county after Meridian school district, which had a rate of 9 cases per 100,000 people. At this rate, Blaine is classified as “moderate” in Washington state’s Department of Health recommendations for phasing students into the classroom. This allows in-person learning for elementary school students and over time, if Covid-19 does not spread in schools, districts with “moderate” transmission rates can allow middle and high school students to attend hybrid classes in the buildings. Granger said it’s important for the community to help keep Covid-19 infection rates down in Blaine to allow the school district to continue opening schools. “We continue to remind people to do the right thing to follow safety protocol,” Granger said. “It’s important the larger community commits to that. It will allow us to move forward.”
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