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Community Newspaper of Blaine and Birch Bay
July 21 - 27, 2016
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IN THIS
ISSUE
Chalk Art Festival preview, page 3
Birch Bay Waterslides to host fundraiser, page 6
Blaine vets discuss pet care, page 10
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
Senior center Canoe Journey makes a Birch Bay stop director to retire in late July B y S t e fa n i e D o n a h u e
(See Retirement, page 6)
s Paddlers from tribes around the region stopped at Birch Bay State Park on July 19, on their way to Olympia. See more canoe journey photos on page 9.
Photo by Wayne Diaz
Housing sales on the rise in Blaine and Birch Bay By Oliver Lazenby The number of homes sold in Blaine and Birch Bay increased 25.7 percent in the last year, a bigger increase in sales than any other area in Whatcom County, according to a new real estate report. The report by Lylene Johnson, a real estate listing specialist who has been analyzing Whatcom County real estate data for more than 10 years, found 127 homes sold in Blaine and Birch Bay in the second quarter of 2016, up from 101 in the same period in 2015. That increase in sales has had an impact on the amount of homes available; in June
2016, 184 houses and condos were on the market in Blaine and Birch Bay, which was down 14.4 percent from June 2015, according to data from the Northwest Multiple Listings Service. That trend – an increase in real estate sales, with concurrent declines in the amount of houses on the market – has worked its way outward from Bellingham in the past few years. Tight inventory and high prices may have pushed some potential Bellingham buyers into Ferndale, where inventory has dropped 33 percent in the last year, according to Johnson’s report, which is a bigger drop than in any other market area
Blaine skate park closing to install new features By Oliver Lazenby The city of Blaine scored a deal on some new features for its aging skate park and have closed the park from July 19 to mid-August to install the new equipment on the concrete slab behind the library on 4th Street. Some of the park’s current obstacles are worn and aging, but the main reason the city purchased new equipment is to upgrade the park with bigger and more interesting skate spots. Volunteers built some of the park’s
older obstacles, which include ledges and rails welded together from steel I-beams. “It’s a matter of putting in better and more interesting equipment,” said Blaine’s community development director Michael Jones. “Essentially what we have there is a set of equipment that was always considered to be phase 1. Phase 2 was always scheduled for this year.” The city purchased modular ramps from the city of Covington, south of Seattle. The ramps have been in use at the Covington
skate park, which is similar in size to Blaine’s, since it opened in 2004. Covington got a grant from King County to build a new concrete skate park, and auctioned its old equipment. The city of Blaine paid $3,734 for the collection of rails, ledges, quarter-pipes and other ramps. “We actually feel like it was a great opportunity to not only reuse the equipment that Covington was surplussing, but also make (See Skate, page 7)
in the county. As buyers look farther and farther out from Bellingham, they seem to have found Blaine and Birch Bay, said local real estate agent Hugh Brawford. Brawford said he expected the market to decline when the Canadian dollar dropped in value relative to the U.S. dollar in late 2014. The Canadian dollar has remained low, but the real estate prices remained steady and have recently picked up. “The market is probably just as strong or stronger than when the Canadian dollar fell off and the buyers who are coming (See Real estate, page 2)
INSIDE
A hodgepodge of photos and sparkling decorations sit at the front of the Blaine Senior Center cafeteria. The artful presentation was created to celebrate the impending July retirement of the center’s director, Dana Hanks. “It has been very satisfying to see how supportive Blaine is of the senior center,” Hanks said. Commenting on her eight years as director, she put it simply: “It has been so easy.” The Blaine Senior Center is a s Dana Hanks. popular hub for the Blaine community, she explained. Each morning, she welcomes a line of visitors looking for a warm cup of coffee or some time in the book-lined reading space. Prior to working at the center, she was an arts coordinator with Whatcom County Parks and Recreation Department. Her background and academic interest in arts and recreation also led her to open an arts cooperative in Bellingham. Her experience, both in the professional and personal world, made her shift to senior services feel natural, she said. Looking back, she’s proud of what the team at the senior center has accomplished over the years. Aside from a major renovation about 20 years ago, the center has undergone a series of significant upgrades, including the addition of a pavilion, which was completed in February. Hanks was on the project’s planning committee and strongly advocated for the construction of the space through its completion. Working alongside the Boys & Girls Club and with the support from many community sponsors, the site is
Letters . . . . . . . . . 4 Classifieds . . . . . 11 Police . . . . . . . . . 15 Coming Up . . . . . 15 Tides . . . . . . . . . . 15
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