October 29 - November 4, 2020
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Community Newspaper of Blaine and Birch Bay HHHECRWSSHHH Postal Customer
IN THIS
ISSUE
Community toy drive starts November 1, page 2
Record turnouts in early voting locally, page 6
Local ideas for a safe Halloween, page 7
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
One Asian giant hornet nest down, three to go? Program that helps with utility bills can’t keep up with need By Ian Haupt
(See Utilities, page 3)
s Sven Spichiger, Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) managing entomologist, displays a canister of Asian giant hornets vacuumed from a nest in a tree behind him on October 24, east of Blaine. WSDA officials suspect there are two or three more Asian giant hornets nests in north Whatcom County. See more on page 9. Photo by Elaine Thompson/AP
How to digitally track your ballot By Grace McCarthy Election season is upon us, which means if you’re a registered voter in Whatcom County, you’ve already received your ballot in the mail. (If you haven’t received it, contact the Whatcom County Auditor’s Office to get a replacement ballot.) Washington voters can visit voter.votewa.gov/wheretovote.aspx to track their ballot, as well as to check registration status and to see what’s on the ballot. All you need is your full name and birth date to find the information. Once logged in, you should see your registration status (online registration closed October 26, it can be done in person at the county auditor’s office at 311 Grand Avenue, in Bellingham, until Election Day) and the county where you’re registered to vote. Select “menu” on the top left corner and a drop-down box will appear where you can see your ballot status.
The status will show what day the ballot was sent. Note that it takes 3-4 days after returning a ballot for its status to be updated as “returned” online. Other items such as a voters’ guide, drop box locations and voting history are also available in the drop-down box. Voters can also see if their ballot is rejected at votewa.gov. The website votewashington.info is not an official site from the Secretary of State or county election partners, according to an October 27 Whatcom County Auditor’s Office press release. If a ballot envelope is challenged, the county auditor’s office will contact the voter. The auditor’s office will send voters with ballots rejected because of their signature a letter and call them after Election Day. Voters can have their ballot counted until Friday, November 23. To learn more on how ballots are counted and view a livestream of ballot pro-
cessing, visit co.whatcom.wa.us/3490/ballot-processing-live-webcam. For questions about the election, call the county auditor’s office at 360/778-5102 or email elections@ co.whatcom.wa.us.
INSIDE
On October 13, governor Jay Inslee extended his utility shutoff moratorium that was set to expire on October 15 until December 31. Though the moratorium will temporarily keep the water running and the lights on for the Blaine and Birch Bay residents falling behind on their bills, it doesn’t provide financial assistance, and those bills will come due eventually. The Birch Bay Water and Sewer District and city of Blaine have payment plan programs available for current residents behind on their water bills. The Blaine Community Assistance Program (CAP), an outreach of Blaine area churches that provides community-based social services to surrounding areas, also has some funds available for residents facing shutoffs when the moratorium expires, and is asking people to help their neighbors through donations. The Birch Bay Water and Sewer District has put together a one-year payment plan for customers behind on their water bills. Starting October 15, customers have a 60day window to pay the charges on their account or enter into a formal payment plan with the district, according to the district’s website. District finance director Sandi McMillan said 78 customers who were paying their bills prior to Covid-19 are currently two or more bills behind, and, on October 8, these customers owed a total of $18,100 to the district. The average bill for these customers is $105, and on average, they owe $266 each, McMillan said. The Birch Bay Water and Sewer District has nearly 8,000 accounts making those behind on their bills due to Covid-19 about 1 percent of the district’s customers. Each year the water district shuts off about 5-8 percent of its customers. But McMillan said that many shut-offs are due to customers forgetting their bill is due, then they pay within 24 hours and their water is turned back on. The water district rarely hears from residents who cannot afford to pay their overdue bill, McMillan said, and they refer those customers who can’t pay to the Community
Letters . . . . . . . . . 4 Home & Garden . . 9 Classifieds . . . . . 11 Police . . . . . . . . . 14 Crossword . . . . . . 14 Tides . . . . . . . . . . 14
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