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Community Newspaper of Blaine and Birch Bay
March 18 - 24, 2021
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Final football game canceled, page 6
Birch Bay dog groomer earns award, page 10
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
Blaine company moves cars, page 15
Washington to begin Phase 3 on March 22 By Grace McCarthy
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What defines essential? A year with a closed border By Grace McCarthy Lyric Bussani attended her step-brother’s funeral the day the U.S./Canada border closure to non-essential traffic was announced. This was the last time the 22-year-old would be in the same country as her family for a year, leaving her to mourn her brother alone in B.C., as many other Blaine community members felt ripple effects from the standstill border. “My family feels like we have been robbed a year of our time,” she said. “We really hope to get that time back soon.” A year ago this week, The Northern Light reported “Temporary restrictions at north border go into effect.” Unbeknownst to Bussani and her hometown, temporary would turn into 365 days with officials on both sides giving no end in sight. Thirty-day extensions after the March 21, 2020 U.S./Canada border closure anguished many people with cross-border connections as months dragged on. Blaine residents with loved ones, some just 15 minutes away, stopped listening to the news altogether, while others checked headlines near the end of each month without hope. “May these gates never be closed” etched on the Peace Arch suddenly
seemed obsolete, many people affected by the border closure voiced. At first, concern arose with city finances. How would a town, experiencing an uptick in growth, survive with reduced revenue that relies on gas, lodging and sales tax largely funded by visitors? The continued border closure and its impact on mental health became a concern for a community with close cross-border ties, BPRI director Laurie Trautman said. “I think a lot of people have struggled emotionally during this pandemic and then you add on the layer of not being able to have the support of your loved ones there,” Trautman said. “You can’t necessarily quantify that impact but it’s a serious situation for a lot of people.” Bussani, who lived in Blaine until she married a Canadian in 2018, used to cross the border six days per week to work at Steamers Espresso, attend church service on Sundays and visit her close-knit family. “Everything I do is in Blaine,” she said. With the border still closed, Bussani said she has been unable to plan when she will be employed again. In addition to her step-brother’s death and unemployment uncertainty, Bussani packed her bags several times after hospital scares from her
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mom and grandmother. Not having a place or money to quarantine stopped her in her tracks. “Life has not stopped moving,” Bussani said. “There have been so many things that have occurred in our family that you would never want to happen.” Birch Bay resident Elizabeth Stewart-Gaines, 79, also experienced a hospital scare while separated from her Canadian family. Although she describes her situation as fortunate, Stewart-Gaines was (See Border, page 8)
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(See Phase 3, page 15)
s ”May these gates never be closed” etched on the Peace Arch monument at the U.S./Canada border.
INSIDE
Washington state will enter Phase 3 of its reopening plan on Monday, March 22, governor Jay Inslee announced March 11. Phase 3 will allow restaurants, gyms and movie theaters to operate at 50 percent capacity. Up to 400 people will be allowed at indoor and outdoor activities. Sports guidance will also allow for more spectators and high-contact sports like basketball, wrestling and cheerleading will start competing. Outdoor sports events, which also includes rodeos and motorsports, can have 25 percent capacity. Sports changes will go into effect Thursday, March 18 for high school sports, to allow families the ability to watch games before the season ends. “Some of the hardest hit businesses in Washington will be able to return to 50 percent capacity as we continue on the road to recovery,” Inslee said during a March 11 press conference. “On March 22, we make one more step to beating this virus and rejuvenating our economy.” Every county will remain in Phase 3 for three weeks, and then will have their Covid-19 numbers assessed by the state department of health (DOH) on Monday, April 12. The state will analyze Covid-19 numbers every three weeks to determine if the county changes phases on the Friday of that week’s data assessment. For Whatcom County to remain in Phase 3, it must keep a two-week average of new Covid-19 cases at or below 200 per 100,000 people, and five or fewer hospitalizations per 100,000 people in a one-week average. Currently, Whatcom County’s two-week average of new Covid-19 cases is 203 per 100,000. Whatcom County’s metrics for Phase 2 are a two-week average of 200-350 Covid-19 cases and 5-9.9 new Covid-19 hospitalizations on average in one week. Phase 1 metrics are more than 350 cases on average in two weeks and 10 or more new hospitalizations on average in one week. The metrics are adjusted for smaller counties. Counties with a population of 50,000 people or less must have a twoweek average of 30 new cases per 100,000 people and three or fewer hospitalizations