October 20 - 26, 2016
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Art-Oberfest coloring contest Borderites lead in a 44-7 WCLS considers pursuing Birch Bay library, page 17 winners announced, page 4 win last Friday, page 6 2016
WINNER OF
20 AWARDS
Scarecrows border the streets of Blaine through October
The Northern Light
The Northern Light takes home 20 WNPA awards B y P a t G r u bb The Northern Light and sister publications won a total of 20 awards at the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association (WNPA) annual meeting held October 14 and 15 in Wenatchee. Published by locally owned and independent Point Roberts Press Inc. in Blaine, the company competed in a group comprised of higher circulation, mostly paid newspapers. It received awards in a number of categories including ad design, editorial, photography and web design. In the advertising categories, it won nine awards including Best Advertisement of the Year for a San Juan Airlines ad designed by Ruth Lauman and Janet McCall. It took second place in the Community Service Award for the Whatcom Humane Society ad designed by Doug De Visser and Catherine Darkenwald. Also receiving recognition were ads for the Blaine Chamber of Commerce Fourth of July, the Drayton Harbor Oyster Company and Dog-toberfest. Awards for special publications were given to sister publications Pacific Coast Weddings and Kara Furr, Doug De Visser and Ruth Lauman and Mount Baker Experience and Ian Ferguson, Kara Furr, Doug De Visser and Ruth Lauman. Writers Steve Guntli and Ian Ferguson were respectively recognized for stories such as “55 people affected by E. coli outbreak after Lynden field trip” and “Woman crashes stolen school bus, jumps into bay.” Contributing photographer Janell Kortlever took second place in the B&W sports action photo category for a photo of Shaq Woods. In the digital realm, the Mount Baker Experience website was awarded third place. The WNPA represents about 130 community weekly newspapers in Washington state and was founded in 1887.
s Blaine’s scarecrow contest is back and the carefully crafted creations are all over downtown. The annual contest is led by the Blaine Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Information Center. Coordinator with the organization, Carroll Solomon, said the event will last until the end of October. Winners will be chosen on October 22. The public is invited to vote online by visiting blainechamber.com. Pictured above is a display created by Fortiphi Insurance, on 288 Martin Street.
Photo by the Blaine Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Information Center
Despite delays, officials say they’re making progress on Birch Bay berm By Oliver Lazenby After an appraisal process that took longer than expected, Whatcom County is ready to pick up the easement negotiation process that delayed the Birch Bay Drive and Pedestrian Facilities Project – commonly called the Birch Bay berm – for another year. The county needs about 38 easements – both temporary construction easements and permanent easements for the path and beach – before construction on the $11.5 million beach restoration and pedestrian
path project can begin. The county and its contractor, Universal Field Services of Edmonds, Washington, started negotiating easements this spring but many properties required a third party appraisal due to the value of the easements and complicating factors including views and improvements made to the properties. The county said last month that construction would be pushed back until next fall. To start construction after Labor Day 2016, as planned, the county needed to wrap up easement negotiations by July, according to a timeline presented at a Feb-
ruary 6 meeting. The third party appraiser didn’t start until June or July, however, and took much longer than expected, county project manager Roland Middleton said. “There were some miscommunications. I don’t know the specifics of it,” he said. “It took a few months longer than we had hoped for.” The county rarely deals with projects that involve so many easements and properties, said public works administrator Andrew Hester. (See Berm, page 2)
B y S t e fa n i e D o n a h u e After nearly four years of waiting, hundreds of hours of pre-construction labor and several anxious conversations with staff at the Habitat for Humanity in Whatcom County, a local family of seven is eager to set foot in a home of their own. With support from the Habitat for Humanity in Whatcom County, Julio Ortiz, his wife Juana Mendoza and their five kids will be able to live in an affordable home
in Birch Bay. After a years-long permitting process, Ortiz, Mendoza and local volunteers kicked off their first day of construction on October 8. “The wait is over, finally,” said Holly Harkener, publicist with Habitat for Humanity in Whatcom County. The property, located on Leeside Drive in Birch Bay, is close to the shoreline and is considered a class four wetland under state standards, which means the land contains special building restrictions by law. As a
result, staff with Habitat for Humanity had to go through a complicated mitigation process to receive a building permit. In late September, the team received approval from the county. Since then, they’ve started removing debris from the property and are preparing to lay the foundation. What once was a community dumping ground for old cars and garbage will be a new state-of-the art home in a surrounding (See Home, page 3)
INSIDE
Local family builds a foundation in Birch Bay Coming Up . . . . . 18 Classifieds . . . . . 15 Letters . . . . . . . . . 4 Police . . . . . . . . . 18 Sports . . . . . . . . . . 6 Tides . . . . . . . . . . 18
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