July 14 - 20, 2022
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IN THIS
ISSUE
Ferndale business owner shot dead, page 3
Q&A with CBP’s new Blaine area port director
Blaine softball players win state, page 6
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
New tattoo shop opens in Blaine, page 15
Blaine Harbor Music Festival brings jazzy tunes
By Grace McCarthy
(See Gill, page 10)
s Nick Biello, Blaine Harbor Music Festival artistic director, plays the saxophone during the festival’s free noon concert at G Street Plaza on July 12. The festival and camp are running through Saturday, July 16. Free concerts are held every day at noon at G Street Plaza and 7 p.m. Friday at the Blaine Performing Arts Center. The Art 2 Jazz Street Fair runs Saturday 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. on H Street. Photo by Grace McCarthy
WCLS board of trustees proposes to renovate Vogt home for Birch Bay library By Ian Haupt Since Birch Bay voters twice showed their opposition to fund an estimated $6.5 million library project, Whatcom County Library System (WCLS) has been looking for ways to utilize its $2 million of state funding to offer more library services to the area. Last month, the WCLS board of trustees decided an interior remodel of the Vogt family home as the best step forward. In a June 21 regular board meeting, WCLS deputy director Michael Cox pre-
sented renovation plans for the Vogt family home to be made into a library branch. The plans, estimated to cost $2.6 million, show a first-floor renovation with full site improvements that include additional parking spaces, a book return, signage and an ADA accessible entrance. While there will be no exterior changes to the homestead, the plans call for demolishing existing outbuildings behind the home to make room for more parking, according to the meeting documents. During the meeting, the board submit-
Primary election voting opens, ballots mailed By Grace McCarthy August 2 primary ballots should be arriving to people’s mailboxes any day, now that Whatcom County Auditor’s Office mailed ballots July 13. A wide range of offices are up for vote including the state 42nd legislative district positions and U.S. Congress representatives. The top two candidates from each race will go on to the November 8 general election. Below are the positions up for a vote: • U.S. Senator – 17 candidates are
challenging incumbent Patty Murray for the seat. • U.S. Representative – Nine candidates are challenging incumbent Rick Larsen for the 2nd Congressional District seat. North Whatcom County is now included in the 2nd Congressional District. • Washington Secretary of State – Seven candidates are challenging Steve Hobbs for the position. • 42nd legislative district state senator – Sharon Shewmake and Ben Elenbaas are challenging Simon Sefzik for the seat.
• 42nd Legislative District state representative position 1 – Kamal Bhachu and Tawsha Thompson are challenging Alicia Rule for the seat. • 42nd Legislative District state representative position 2 – Kyle Christensen, Joe Timmons, Richard May and Dan Johnson are running for the seat. • Whatcom County District Court Judge position 2 – Jonathan Rands, Gordon Jenkins and David Nelson are run(See Ballots, page 7)
ted a request to the state department of commerce for a project scope change of the Library Capital Facilities Project grant. If approved, WCLS can utilize the nearly $2 million grant, which expires June 2023, for construction costs. Original plans for the proposed Birch Bay Community Vogt Library included constructing a $6.5 million new building at the site. To do so, WCLS planned to use the $2 million, donations and set up a tax(See Library, page 6)
INSIDE
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) promoted Harmit Gill to serve as the Blaine area port director at the end of March. The Northern Light sat down with Gill to discuss what he hopes to accomplish in his first year, how he’s improving transparency within the agency and his background growing up in Blaine. Gill moved from California to Blaine in sixth grade and attended Blaine schools before earning his bachelor’s degree in computer science at Western Washington University. He worked as a systems analyst at Microsoft in Seattle before returning to Blaine to start his career at CBP. Previous to his new role, Gill worked as chief of staff for CBP’s Seattle Field Office since 2019. As Blaine area port director, Gill oversees 17 ports and stations on the border of Washington state and B.C. as well as a general aviation facility and seaport operations in Bellingham, Anacortes and Friday Harbor. He is in charge of 700 employees who process over 17 million travelers and $20 billion in commercial trade annually. Questions and answers have been edited for brevity and clarity. Can you tell me about your background and experience growing up in Blaine? I’ve had a challenge in these communities. I came to Blaine in sixth grade and graduated in ’96 but Blaine wasn’t diverse. I may have been the first child to wear a turban and it’s always challenging to be different. Being different here wasn’t easy because people would make assumptions about what religion I belonged to and they liked to display that in outbursts. Western was good. I graduated in 2004 and transitioned here in 2008. My family has always been in Blaine since we first moved. I started with CBP in 2008. I spent a few months working for the city of Blaine when I graduated high school doing IT work, I worked for a startup company while I was going to school in Bellingham.
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