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Community Newspaper of Blaine and Birch Bay
Oct. 29 - Nov. 4, 2015
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ISSUE
BP orders brief road closure, page 3
Custer man steals car, leads police on chase
Ballet troupe to perform in Blaine, page 6
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
Fall back! Daylight Saving Time ends November 1
Marine Park playground opens
By Steve Guntli A Custer man who appeared to be high on drugs led Whatcom County sheriff’s deputies on a chase on Guide Meridian. According to the sheriff’s department, Darren Andrew Nixon, 28, of Custer, broke into a tan Mercury Cougar in a church parking lot on Guide Meridian at around noon on October 26. Witnesses reported Nixon had been wandering around the parking lot for about an hour, and they believed he was high on drugs. When two sheriff’s deputies arrived at the scene, they were told Nixon had left in the stolen vehicle, heading north on Guide Meridian. The deputies caught up to the vehicle and attempted to pull it over but Nixon fled, reaching speeds of more than 80 mph and cutting through parking lots to evade police. When the chase became too dangerous to bystanders, the deputies called off the pursuit. However, the Cougar was seen a short time later, driving the speed limit on Smith Road near Northwest Road. Deputies began the chase once again, and were able to stop the vehicle by performing a pursuit intervention technique in which deputies bumped the vehicle with their squad car, causing it to spin out. The car came to a stop in the 1100 block of Smith Road around 12:40 p.m. and officers took Nixon into custody. Undersheriff Jeff Parks said Nixon appeared to be high on methamphetamines. He was charged with vehicle theft, attempting to elude law enforcement and driving with a suspended license. Nixon has a history of drug abuse problems and was arrested earlier this month for breaking into a vehicle on Lakeway Drive in Bellingham. At that time police arrested Nixon with Ziploc bags full of black tar heroin and syringes. In a plea deal, Nixon pleaded guilty to possession in exchange for dropping the vehicle prowling charge. He was sentenced to 15 days in jail and released October 21.
s Crowds of eager kids and parents gathered around for the official opening of the Marine Park Playground on October 26. See more photos on page 11.
Photo by Steve Guntli
Construction begins on primary school addition By Ian Ferguson Crews have broken ground for an expansion to Blaine Primary School on October 26, kicking off a project that should be mostly complete by late April 2016. “As my 2-year-old grandson would say, the scooper is here,” superintendent Ron Spanjer said at the Blaine school district board of directors meeting Octo-
ber 26, referring to excavating equipment that started digging to prepare the work site for construction. The 11,000-square-foot addition includes eight full classrooms, a music room and roll-down doors added to an existing covered play area in a pod at the northwest end of the primary school. Everson-based Tiger Construction is the lead contractor. Although most of the construction will be wrapped up by the end of April, work will
Birch Bay chamber invites public to annual meeting By Steve Guntli The Birch Bay Chamber of Commerce is wrapping up a busy year with its annual general membership (AGM) meeting on Friday, November 6. The AGM will take place at the Ferndale Events Center. The meeting has been held for more than 20 years, but last year’s event was the first time organizers used the large Ferndale venue, opting for more of a fes-
tive atmosphere than a meeting. The AGM will feature live music from Birch Bay band The Replayzmentz, a catered buffet from Kelly’s O’Deli in Ferndale, live and silent auctions and a no-host bar. “It’s been a great year for the chamber. We had a lot of successful events, and we’re looking forward to closing the books on this year and welcoming the next year,” said chamber coordinator Sarah Pinkey. A half-hour meeting for chamber mem-
bers only before the AGM will give members a chance to elect their new board of directors. This year five seats are up for reelection. Current president Jeff Carrington, executive secretary Carrie Beck and directors Pam Hansen and Gary Gibbons will not be running for reelection this year. Mike Kent, the current vice president, is the only member with an expiring term who will run again. (See AGM, page 3)
continue into August, said project manager Jim Kenoyer. “Once school is out for the summer, we will work on the covered play area, the music room, roofing and tying the new building in with the existing building,” Kenoyer said. “As far as we can tell, everything is in order and we’re off and running.” The addition of eight new classrooms is (See School, page 3)
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Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Police . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Coming Up . . . . . . . . . . 14 Tides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14