March 4 - 10, 2020
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Vaccine updates, page 3
Blaine Library reopens, page 5
Birch Bay graffiti suspect caught, page 10
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A new convenience store with a difference... Inslee pauses phase movement in reopening plan By Grace McCarthy All regions in Washington will remain in Phase 2, the most advanced of the two-step “Healthy Washington” reopening plan. “We’re making this pause in recognition of the fact that we’ve made incredible progress knocking down the infection rate of Covid in the last several weeks,” governor Jay Inslee said during a February 24 media conference. “We know we need to follow the science and data in making these decisions but I think it’s clear we’ve had enough success in recent weeks to be able to put a pause on any regions that go backwards.” Although regions wouldn’t move back into Phase 1, the governor didn’t say if a third phase would be created. “During this weeks-long pause, we will evaluate the situation and work with our public health partners and stakeholders on how to continue going forward,” he said. Inslee said he started the reopening plan because the state was struggling under very high Covid-19 numbers. The announcement comes after the north region, which includes Whatcom County, and five other regions entered Phase 2, which allows for indoor dining at 25 percent capacity among other indoor openings, on February 14. This phase upgrade meant the entire state was in Phase 2 because the West and Puget Sound regions, which cover Seattle and Olympia, moved phases February 1. The governor introduced the “Healthy Washington” plan that grouped counties into regions in early January. Regions could advance to Phase 2 if they met three of the four metrics: 10 percent decreasing trend in case rates per 100,000 people, 10 percent decrease in Covid-19 hospital admissions, ICU occupancy rates lower than 90 percent, and test positivity rates lower than 10 percent. Since the governor’s announcement, the state stopped reporting phase change metrics, which was previously reported every two weeks. At the time of entering Phase 2, the north region met all four requirements to be in the phase.
s Sukhwant Singh Gill, c., celebrates the grand opening of Blaine Mart with his family on March 1. From l; Store manager Varinderaa Sindh, grandchildren Shaanbir and Gurnoor and son Gury Gill.
Photo by Conor Wilson
Blaine Mart celebrated grand opening March 1 By Conor Wilson Blaine Mart, a new convenience store located on 2nd Street, celebrated its grand opening March 1. The store is another business opened by Sukhwant Singh Gill, who has been a business owner in Blaine since 1995. Gill currently owns the Shell gas station and Big Al’s Diner, both on D Street. Gill is also a newly appointed member of Blaine City Council. “This store will be different from our D
street gas station,” Gill said. In addition to typical convenience store product offerings, Gill said Blaine Mart will sell a wider choice of items, such as novelty and gift products, and electronics. The store also offers parcel delivery and drive-through coffee. Gill said he first had the idea for the store last year, after noticing many visitors were coming to Blaine to visit Peace Arch Park and then leaving. Gill said many businesses, including his Shell station, are in a blind spot, and can-
not be seen from the highway. He said he hopes, with the border closed and many people flocking to the park, the store can provide services to those looking to see friends and family. In the future, Gill plans to sell Blainethemed items for tourists and selling Indian and Fijian groceries, noting these foods are difficult to find locally. “There are nearly a hundred Indian families in the area and no store has these groceries,” Gill said. “We can draw people all the way from Ferndale or Lynden.” (See Mart, page 2)
By Ian Haupt At a February 25 “Coffee with the Contractor” meeting, Granite Construction’s Gairrett Orelup said the Birch Bay berm project will be completed by early April. Since the last meeting in early January, Granite Construction finished importing 205,000 tons of material for the berm, Orelup said. Workers are now planting, finishing swale work, paving around the curbs and parking spaces, and extending the path-
way on the northern end of the berm. Orelup anticipates that all landscaping and paving will be completed by March 14. “After that, all that is left is some finish striping, installing some curb stops along the parking stalls and then there’s just some miscellaneous cleanup around to get this project complete,” Orelup said. “Right now, we’re looking at a finish date of the beginning of April, end of March.” The $8.7 million project, officially called the Birch Bay Drive and Pedestrian Facility Project, is designed to protect the area
from storms and is in its second phase of construction. Granite Construction began construction in December 2019, taking a break for the summer of 2020. The Birch Bay Chamber of Commerce hosts a monthly “Coffee with the Contractor” meeting for resident’s to ask the project’s contractor and manager questions. In the February 25 meeting via Zoom, Orelup and Whatcom County Public Works engineer Jim Karcher both gave brief progress (See Berm, page 7)
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Berm construction to finish by April, contractor says
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