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Community Newspaper of Blaine and Birch Bay
December 19 - 25, 2019
HHHECRWSSHHH Postal Customer
IN THIS
ISSUE
City council passes budget, Hundreds of census takers being hired locally, page 8 raises utility rates, page 7
Data-driven traffic patrol coming to Blaine, page 16
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
1,000-foot buffer proposed in no shooting zone debate By Jami Makan
(See Hunting, page 5)
s Mark Seymour, co-owner of Drayton Harbor Oyster Company, serves free oysters at the fourth annual Drayton Harbor Shellebration on December 13 at the H Street Plaza. The event celebrated healthy waters and a fresh shellfish harvest, and included a presentation of watershed steward awards. The award winners were Rick Beauregard, Drayton Harbor Shellfish Protection District (DHSPD) advisory committee member; Kurt Baumgarten, Port of Bellingham environmental planner and DHSPD advisory committee member; Blaine Harbor port staff members Kai Rick, Andy Peterson, Roland Montoure and Greg Hoffman; Chrissy Ness, former lead operator at the Lighthouse Point Water Reclamation Facility; Marie Hegarty and Steve Leggit of Fair Cow’s Path Farm; and Sharon and Rod Tjoeker of RTJ Farm LLC. Photo by Chuck Kinzer/CKimageart.com
Seattle man hid gun in bushes in order to cross border By Jami Makan A Seattle man is facing a possible charge of reckless endangerment after he hid his Glock pistol in some bushes on Marine Drive in order to cross the border into Canada, which restricts handgun imports. On December 4 at about 7 p.m., Blaine police were dispatched to the Peace Arch port of entry to assist CBP, who had detained Karim Ayesh, 50. Upon arrival, a CBP officer explained that earlier in the day, Ayesh had declared a firearm when applying for entry into Canada. CBSA had temporarily seized the firearm and brought the gun and Ayesh to the U.S. port of entry, where Ayesh was checked for warrants and found to be able to legally possess the handgun. A short time after he was denied entry into Canada and released back into the
U.S., Ayesh again returned to the border and applied for entry into Canada a second time. This time, he did not have the firearm with him. He was again denied entry and returned to U.S. Customs, where he was questioned about the location of his firearm. After allegedly stating that he had left the gun in some bushes somewhere in Blaine, Blaine police were called to investigate. After a Blaine officer arrived at the border, Ayesh admitted to bringing a gun into Blaine and was told to stop talking. He was advised of his Miranda rights but made no request for an attorney and continued speaking with the Blaine officer. “Ayesh explained that he had been going up to Canada to pick up his brother, did not realize he would not be able to bring his gun to Canada and, when he was sent back, asked U.S. CBP if he could
store his gun at the port while he picked up his brother,” said the Blaine officer’s report. “U.S. CBP told him they do not (See Bushes, page 2)
INSIDE
A compromise has been proposed in the debate over a proposed no shooting zone that the city of Blaine is seeking to establish in Drayton Harbor. The compromise envisions a 1,000-foot buffer around Drayton Harbor’s shoreline in which no shooting would be allowed; hunting would be allowed to continue in the middle area of the harbor under county jurisdiction. The city of Blaine has requested that Whatcom County Council amend section 9.32 of the Whatcom County Code, which enables the creation of no shooting zones in the county’s jurisdiction. The city of Blaine is seeking the creation of a no shooting zone in all of Drayton Harbor, much of which is outside of Blaine city limits, in order to address some residents’ concerns about gunfire near homes and property. The gunfire occurs during the waterfowl hunting season when hunters on boats shoot at sea ducks using birdshot. Blaine officials have argued that hunters sometimes wander inadvertently from the county’s portion of the harbor, where hunting is allowed, into the city’s portion of the harbor, where hunting is banned. They have also said that hunting presents a safety risk, with the area around Drayton Harbor becoming increasingly urbanized and populated. The compromise, proposed by Whatcom County councilmember Rud Browne, attempts to address these concerns. “If [the no shooting zone] is 1,000 feet around the entire perimeter, it’s easy to know when you’re in the boundary and when you’re outside the boundary,” Browne said at Whatcom County Council’s December 3 meeting. “The maximum range of a shotgun is quite significantly less than 1,000 feet,” he added. At the December 3 meeting, Browne made a motion to hold the matter until the council’s next meeting, scheduled to occur on January 14, in order to obtain feedback on the compromise from stakeholders including the Lummi tribe and Blaine police chief Donnell Tanksley. The motion passed 5-2 with Todd Donovan and Carol Frazey opposed. “I am trying to thread the needle to
Sports . . . . . . . . . . 6 Classifieds . . . . . 14 Coming Up . . . . . 17 Police . . . . . . . . . 17 Tides . . . . . . . . . . 17
TheNorthernLight.com TheNorthernLight
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37TH ANNUAL BIRCH BAY POLAR BEAR PLUNGE
News Year ’ s Day • Wednesday, January 1 Register online or beginning at 10 am New Year’s Day • Plunge at Noon Birch Bay Visitor Center • 7900 Birch Bay Drive Warming Fire Pits • Hot Drinks • Costume Contest at 11 am FOR MORE INFORMATION & REGISTRATION VISIT:
www.BirchBayChamber.com
EVENT SPONSORS
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ANNUAL
Ring Of Fire & Hope NEW YEAR’S EVE December 31• 7 pm Flares available at 5 pm at
Birch Bay Visitor Information Center 7900 Birch Bay Dr. • Birch Bay
2
The Northern Light • December 19 - 25, 2019
Bushes ... From page 1
Exit 262 on I-5, in the Grocery Outlet Plaza
This Holiday Season keep it easy and make everyone happy! Pre-order Tamale Party Packs prior to pick up date.
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store guns, and he was unable to locate any other storage place. Ayesh did not want to take the time to drive back to his home in Seattle to store the gun and instead drove to the 200 block of Marine Drive.” According to the police report, Ayesh said that he parked on Marine Drive, walked about 15 feet away from the parking spot and hid the gun in some bushes. He said the gun, a Glock 17 9mm pistol, was left in the plastic bag that CBSA had originally placed it in. The pistol had the slide locked open with two zip ties. Also in the bag was a magazine loaded with 18 rounds. The Blaine officer asked Ayesh to describe the exact location of the firearm, and quickly called another officer to locate the weapon before it was discovered by a member of the public. The second officer who was dispatched to Marine Drive found the Glock within 12 minutes. “I found the gun in a clear plastic bag that was covered by leaves and two broken branches from the brush,” reported the second officer. “I noticed a white corner of the plastic bag stick out from the leaves and broken branches. The gun was in front of the bushes about 10 feet away from the sidewalk. I believe if someone was walking their dog or just walking through the leaves, they would have found the gun.” The gun was seized as evidence, and Ayesh was notified that the gun had been located and that charges of reckless endangerment would be forwarded to prosecutors. “The gun would have been quickly accessible and usable to any person who had discovered it from the time Ayesh left the gun to when it was located by an officer,” said the police report. “Ayesh, by his conduct, created a substantial risk of serious bodily injury or death to the public of Blaine by leaving the gun where it was.” Asked by the officer if he had any questions, “Ayesh replied that he did not have questions and stated something similar to, ‘People make mistakes,’” said the police report. Ayesh was released back into CBP custody and no further police action was taken.
‘80s New Year’s Eve Bash Semiahmoo has your New Year’s Eve plans covered. Tuesday, December 31 • 5:30pm to 1am Adults $75 | Children 6-12 $16 | Children 5 and under free
Entry after 9pm $35*
Ring in 2020 at our annual New Year’s Eve Bash complete with live music, a delicious buffet dinner and of course, a Champagne toast.
This year’s party is ‘80s themed – so come dressed to impress as we rock our way into the new year. *Does not include dinner buffet.
9565 Semiahmoo Parkway
|
Blaine, WA 98230
|
360-318-2090
Buy tickets online at semiahmoo.com.
3
December 19 - 25, 2019 • thenorthernlight.com
We wish you... Peace & Joy this Holiday Season
Terry Conway (360) 410-0503
Linda Coyne (360) 510-7670
Carl W R Dufton (360) 815-6637
Ryan Denton (360) 927-5705
Jim Graham (360) 201-5958
Julie Ward (760) 522-2564
and a Very Happy New Year!
CeCelia Breivik (360) 303-8161
Jeremy Porter (360) 306-1794
Peter Chand (510) 301-7823
Ruth Skeete (360) 358-5075
Heather T. Taylor (425) 785-5771
Bill Wright (360) 220-1303
Semiahmoo Homes, Inc. / BAY PROPERTIES Diane Dufton Office Manager
Jessie Sandell Customer Service
37TH
ANNUAL
Mackenzie Peralez Customer Service
8045 Birch Bay Drive Blaine, WA 98230 USA www.BayPropertiesNW.com
(360) 371-7252
BIRCH BAY POLAR BEAR PLUNGE
*
News Year’s Day • Wednesday, January 1 PLUNGE
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H AT NOON S
Photo: Steve Guntli
THE
ANNUAL
Ring Of Fire & Hope
Register online or beginning at 10 am New Year’s Day • Plunge at Noon
Birch Bay Visitor Center • 7900 Birch Bay Drive
NEW YEAR’S EVE December 31• 7 pm
& T-shirts s irt Sweatsh for e availabl e a Purchpliesslast.
Warming Fire Pits • Hot Drinks • Costume Contest at 11 am
while sup
Flares available at 5 pm at the
Birch Bay Visitor Information Center 7900 Birch Bay Drive • Birch Bay
(while supplies last) or bring your own flares! (without spike)
*NO Awards for length of time in the water!
EVENT SPONSORS
NOT A PLUNGER? Spectators have just as much fun! Visit Birch Bay Restaurants for Polar Bear Specials!
Billy Brown
More Information & Registration at www.BirchBayChamber.com
4
The Northern Light • December 19 - 25, 2019
The Northern L ght Police department hosts training session on bias The Northern Light is published weekly by Point Roberts Press Inc. Locally owned and managed, the company also publishes the All Point Bulletin, covering Point Roberts, Mount Baker Experience, covering the Mt. Baker foothills area, Pacific Coast Weddings annual guide, and the summer recreation guide Waterside as well as maps and other publications. Point Roberts Press Inc. is a member of the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association, Chambers of Commerce of Bellingham/ Whatcom County, Birch Bay, Blaine and Point Roberts and the Bellingham/ Whatcom County Convention and Visitors Bureau. The opinions expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors. Letters Policy The Northern Light welcomes letters to the editor. Please include name, address and daytime telephone number for verification. Letters are limited to 350 words and may be edited or rejected for reasons of legality, length and good taste. Thank-you letters are limited to five individuals or groups. Writers should avoid personal invective. Unsigned letters will not be accepted for publication. Requests for withholding names will be considered on an individual basis. Consumer complaints should be submitted directly to the business in question or the local chamber of commerce. Only one letter per month from an individual correspondent will be published. Email letters to letters@thenorthernlight.com. Publisher & Managing Editor Patrick Grubb publisher@pointrobertspress.com Co-publisher & Advertising Director Louise Mugar lmugar@pointrobertspress.com Editor Jami Makan jami@pointrobertspress.com Copy Editor Aly Siemion aly@pointrobertspress.com Reporter Oliver Lazenby oliver@pointrobertspress.com
s About 40 law enforcement officers and professionals from Whatcom County and surrounding areas attended a four-hour training session about fair and impartial policing on December 11 in the Blaine city hall council chambers. The participants included police officers, sheriff’s deputies and border patrol agents. Hosted by the Blaine Police Department and facilitated by Blaine police chief Donnell Tanksley and chief deputy Steve Gatterman of the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office, the training session taught participants how to recognize implicit biases, understand how biased policing impacts community members and develop skills and tactics to reduce the influence of bias on police practice.
Photo by Jami Makan
Civic Meetings Birch Bay Water & Sewer District: Second and fourth Thursdays, 4:30 p.m., district offices, 7096 Point Whitehorn Road, Birch Bay. Info: bbwsd.com.
Blaine Park and Cemetery Board: Second Thursday, 9 a.m., Blaine City Council chambers, 435 Martin Street. Info: 360/332-8311, ext. 3330.
Blaine City Council: Second and fourth Mondays, 6 p.m., Blaine City Council chambers, 435 Martin Street. Info: ci.blaine.wa.us.
Blaine School Board: Fourth Monday, 7 p.m., Blaine school district offices. Info: blainesd.org.
Office Manager Jeanie Luna info@pointrobertspress.com
Blaine Planning Commission: Second and fourth Thursdays, 6 p.m., Blaine City Council chambers, 435 Martin Street. Info: blainepc@ cityofblaine.com.
North Whatcom Fire & Rescue: Third Thursday, 1 p.m. Station 61. Info: nwfrs.net.
Advertising Sales Molly Ernst, Kristin Siemion sales@pointrobertspress.com
Blaine-Birch Bay Park and Recreation: Second Tuesday, 5:30 p.m., location varies. Info: bbbparkandrec.org.
Creative Services Ruth Lauman, Doug De Visser production@pointrobertspress.com
General Editorial Inquiries editor@pointrobertspress.com Contributors In This Issue Doug Dahl Richard Martin
From Community Newspaper of Blaine, Birch Bay & Semiahmoo
The Northern Light 225 Marine Drive, Suite 200 Blaine, WA 98230 Tel: 360/332-1777 Vol XXV, No 27 Circulation: 10,500 copies
Circulation Independently Verified by:
Next issue: Jan. 2 Ads due: Dec. 30
City offices will be closed for holidays The city of Blaine’s planning and development services department plans to provide its full range of services during the holiday season, with the exception of Christmas Day, Wednesday, December 25, when all city offices will be closed, and New Year’s Day, Wednesday, January 1, when all city offices will again be closed. On the day after Christmas, December 26, the department will not be conducting any building field inspections. This also includes related inspections such as plumbing and mechanical. “The city of Blaine’s planning and development services department is committed to exceptional customer service,” said Stacie Pratschner, the city of Blaine’s community development director. “We apologize for any inconvenience and look forward to serving you in the new year.”
December 19 - 25, 2019 • thenorthernlight.com
Hunting ... From page 1
basically make everybody as happy as we could,” said Browne. “I’d like to get feedback from the parties concerned. It’s a way of meeting both objectives. It provides a safety buffer for people and still allows for hunting.” Browne said that his solution would also align with tribal hunting practices, which have been a sticking point; members of the Lummi Nation and the Swinomish tribal community have opposed the proposed shooting ban, saying that their tribal hunting rights and ceremonial practices would be affected. “My understanding is that the Lummi tribal hunting rules are that they will not shoot within 1,000 feet … of a dwelling,” said Browne. “So it seemed to align everything. If I understood what I was told correctly, it would mean that the tribal rules would align
with the county rules so there wouldn’t be any targeting of tribal members as having different rights and hunting in different areas to non-tribal members.” If adopted by Whatcom County Council, the compromise would require further action from the city of Blaine. This is because the city’s jurisdiction extends more than 1,000 feet from the shoreline in multiple locations. “The proposal that Mr. Browne proposed would actually require a change in the city’s laws regarding shooting, or some other mechanism to change the city’s jurisdiction over parts of the harbor,” said Blaine city manager Michael Jones. Jones said that he is required to take his direction on policy from Blaine city council. “Due to the fact that [city council has] already articulated their position on this, which is to seek a no shooting zone for the entire harbor, that is the position that we are pursuing,” he said. “Any change in that
would require council to give me different direction.” At Blaine city council’s December 9 meeting, one Semiahmoo resident urged Blaine councilmembers to reject the proposal. “We wouldn’t want to have hunting in the middle of a commercial area,” he said, citing the state’s recent approval of new acreage in Drayton Harbor for commercial shellfish harvesting. Browne’s proposal received a positive reception from at least one fellow councilmember. “I think it’s a great idea if you follow through with it,” said Barbara Brenner, whose term expires in January. “That’ll tell me for sure if the people in opposition are really concerned about safety or they don’t like the noise. The guns they use for that kind of shooting, they hardly go anywhere. I’m
amazed they can get the birds because I couldn’t do it.” Hunters appeared to support Browne’s proposal. “I think it is a great idea,” said Matt Berry, Whatcom County treasurer of the Washington Waterfowl Association, a hunting and conservation group. Berry said the debate has brought native and non-native hunters together. He said that in the past, tension has sometimes existed between the two groups, which are subject to different rules. “One of the most interesting things to come out of the last council meeting was the tribes showing up to support the non-native hunters,” he said. “Protecting this unique sea duck hunting area is becoming a great opportunity to bring native and non-native hunters and anglers together.”
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CITY OF BLAINE Unless noted, all meetings are held at City Hall, 435 Martin Street, Suite 4000 and are open to the public. Agendas can be found on the City’s website.
Monday, December 23 9am – Regular City Council meeting
Wednesday, December 25 City Offices Closed – Christmas Day
Thursday, December 26 6pm – Planning Commission – CANCELLED
Wednesday, January 1 City Offices Closed – New Year’s Day
Have more FUN in 2020!
Monday, January 13 6:00pm – Regular City Council Meeting
DRAYTON HARBOR OYSTERS
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685 Peace Portal Dr. • Downtown Blaine
Drs. Allan, Kazymyra & staff
of Bay Medical Clinic cordially invite patients & friends to cake, coffee & farewell hugs!
Monday, Dec. 30 • 1-5pm
To celebrate Dr. K's retirement from medical practice
We hope to see you there!
Bay Medical Clinic
www.cityofblaine.com
OPEN DAILY AT NOON
377 C Street • Blaine 360-332-6327
Learn to Paint! Date & Paint Second Thursday of Each Month • 6-8pm Get tickets at dateandpaint.com
Learn to Ballroom Dance! Wednesdays • 6:30 & 7:30 pm Singles Welcome Drop-ins $10 or 3 for $25
Karate Tuesdays 4-5 pm and 5-6 pm • Thursdays 4 pm Ages 4-adult • Info 360-332-6241
Receive 15% OFF Food & Wine at The Vault When purchased the night of your event.
277 G Street, Downtown Blaine • 360-392-0955
Blaine United Church of Christ "Where friendly people gather and become family"
Sunday Services 10:30 am esus
didn’t turn people away
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LOCAL
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(360) 332-6906 885 4th St. • Blaine, WA 98230 Pastor Sandy Wisecarver
6
The Northern Light • December 19 - 25, 2019
Sports
ALLEY AUTO INC 365 D Street • 360-332-7018
MON-FRI 8AM TO 5:30PM
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A T H L E T E OF THE H
H
H
H
H
H
H NTH MO
Alexa Gutierrez
Sophomore • Girls Bowling Alexa has been an outstanding team leader as we start up our bowling program. She has shown a positive attitude with her teammates and her excellent work ethic has allowed her show big improvement from the beginning of the season.
By Oliver Lazenby
Young boys wrestling team has strength to be regional powerhouse Though the Blaine boys wrestling team is relatively young, it’s experienced enough that it should once again be a regional powerhouse. The always-strong Blaine wrestling team has just two seniors out of about 30 wrestlers, but six of the returning wrestlers qualified for state last year. Senior Gavino Rodriguez is the team’s veteran and he should be a standout. At state last year he finished one match short of placing in the top eight. He wrestled in the offseason and won the Washington State Wrestling Association Greco State Championships in the 220-pound, 19-and-under category in May. “He’s looking really good right now,” said Blaine head coach Tom Hinz. “He’s the one guy who’s kind of leading on and off the mat.” Blaine’s team includes five oth-
ers who went to state last year: Owen Hansen, Luke Westfall, Colton Pederson, Jack Cheatham and Adam MaCauley. The Borderites once again will fill out the heavier weight classes and this year they have more wrestlers in the lighter weights than the past two seasons. That will give Blaine more opportunities to rack up team points at competition. Freshman Cael Button gives Blaine a boost in the lighter classes; he’s wrestled well at 120 pounds in early competition. Though Hinz expects big things from his team by the end of the season, the Borderites aren’t there yet, he said. They started their season on December 7 at the White River Classic in Buckley, where Blaine placed 14th out of 18 teams. The White River Classic includes some of the top teams in the state,
such as Toppenish and White River, the first and second place teams at last year’s 2A state tournament. “We were 14th out of 18, But those four teams that we beat, those aren’t bad teams either,” Hinz said. “It’s just a really tough tournament. The ability to see all those wrestlers early was really good for us. It’s just that our guys are state qualifiers and they’re state placers.” On December 13 and 14, the Borderites finished 8th out of 16 teams at the Battle at the Border, Blaine’s annual home tournament. Top placers there were Rodriguez (second at 195 pounds), Button (third at 120), Cheatham (4th at 152) and Westfall (4th at 182). Next, the Borderites travel to the Hammerhead Invitational in Bremerton on Friday, December 20. They next wrestle at home at 7 p.m. on January 8 against Meridian.
Girls wrestling team set to have pivotal year With its biggest team ever, Blaine girls wrestling head coach Damon Higgins is hoping this will be a pivotal year for the program. Nine girls are came out to wrestle – enough to justify the team having its own practice, rather than practicing with the boys. Higgins thinks that will go a long toward growing the program. “Now, girls are growing up with the idea that wrestling is a female
Member of the Month
sport, which has been a tough sell in Blaine,” He said. “There are a few girls that can thrive on being on the mat with the boys, but for the most part, they want to sweat in their own space. They want to be motivated in their own way.” The girls wrestling program has been slowly picking up steam this decade. Olivia Adams, a 2015 Blaine graduate who earned two state wrestling medals, was the only female wrestler in Blaine for much of her high school career. In the years since, Blaine has consistently had a few female wrestlers, but not enough to warrant their own practices until now. Higgins thinks the program should continue to grow, since Blaine Middle School has a healthy wrestling program. The girls team this year is young, with just two returning wrestlers from last season – se-
nior Taylee McCormick and junior Kylaya Armstrong. Josy Delgadillo, who went to state last year as a Borderite, moved to Bellingham. Six of the nine girls are freshman or sophomores. “We’re really young,” said head coach Damon Higgins. “Those two are my veterans.” The Borderites started their competition season by winning most of their matches at an unscored jamboree on December 7. At the Everett Lady Classic on December 14, against teams from about 40 other schools, freshman Genesis Vasquez took fourth place in the 115-pound weight class. She was Blaine’s only placer at that tournament. The Borderites wrestle next at the Scramble at Stanwood on Thursday, December 19. They’ll wrestle at home again at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, January 22.
Bordertown Blades, Inc. Blaine, WA 98230 360-595-7676 www.bordertownblades.com Number of employees: One. Bordertown Blades is owned and operated by Chris Shires. His wife, Heidi, assists with administrative tasks and joins him at trade shows and vendor fairs. Number of years in business: Bordertown Blades formally launched on August 1, 2019. Description of business: Bordertown Blades crafts handmade specialty cutlery for the kitchen and the field. Bordertown Blades primarily uses exotic woods and Washington Maple Burl. With all aspects of knife production being handled exclusively by Chris — from blade design to heat treat and grinding to finished product — he can also do complete custom knives at a reasonable price. How the business started: Bordertown Blades came about after Chris worked for over a decade in the cutlery industry. The business was born from his desire for freedom to create functional art and the need to work with his hands. Chris loves knowing people are using his products on a daily basis, not just by the average user but also by several professional chefs and an international professional hunting guide. Future goals: Chris’s goals are to continue to hone his craft and build brand recognition. Chris takes great pride in being invited to participate in local events as well as national custom knife shows. Featured businesses are selected randomly from the Blaine Community Chamber of Commerce membership.
This is a monthly feature sponsored by the Blaine Community Chamber of Commerce www.blainechamber.com • (360) 332-4544 • Join the chamber today ... membership has its privileges!
HAPPY HOLIDA YS from all the guy s at Ferndale Lub e!
FERNDALE LUBE
Locally owned by Blaine residents. 5585 Labounty Road • (360) 383-0205 Store Hours:
Mon-Fri 9-5:30 • Sat 8:30-4:30 Directions: Ferndale Main St. Exit 262, off I-5, West on Main St., Left on Labounty.
Old Fashioned Service
December 19 - 25, 2019 • thenorthernlight.com
City council passes budget, raises utility rates discussed with council during a budget study session when we were specifically discussing the utility budgets,” Lazenby said. He said that the real cost of the stormwater rate increase is roughly 30 cents for a single family household per month. Prior to the budget vote, Lazenby told councilmembers that higher stormwater rates were needed because the stormwater fund is a small fund and the operational maintenance and capital needs are extensive. “With appreciation for increasing costs and inflation hitting everybody, in order for the utilities to operate in the black, so to speak, they have to keep up with the cost of doing business as well as investing in capital improvements,” he said at the meeting. “Sometimes that is more than the change in the CPI or more than an inflation index that Social Security uses, for example. Having an annual rate policy that strikes a balance between what the ratepayers can afford and what the utilities need to stay afloat is important.”
Gym Membership $65 +TAX OFFER ENDS FEBRUARY 14
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tribes, local governments, nonprofit organizations and citizens. They vet projects based on federally approved, regional salmon recovery plans and prioritize projects to submit to the Salmon Recovery Funding Board for funding. Regional salmon recovery organizations and the board then review each project for cost-effectiveness and to ensure they will benefit salmon. “This community-based approach, combined with regional and state scientific review ensures that we are picking the projects that will benefit salmon the most,” said Kaleen Cottingham, director of the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office, which administers the grants. The grants are funded by the sale of state bonds and by the federal Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service.
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The Lummi Nation and the Nooksack Indian Tribe received a total of $643,103 in salmon recovery grants for projects aimed at monitoring salmon and restoring salmon habitat. On December 16, the Washington Salmon Recovery Funding Board announced the award of $26.1 million in grants for projects across the state aimed at restoring salmon populations to healthy levels. The board awarded grants to organizations for 96 projects in 28 of the state’s 39 counties. The Lummi Nation and the Nooksack Indian Tribe were Whatcom County’s two recipients. The Lummi Nation received a $64,310 grant for monitoring Chinook salmon in the South Fork Nooksack River, while the Nooksack Indian Tribe received $578,793 for restoring salmon habitat in the North Fork Nooksack River. “The work being done across the state on salmon recovery is critical,” governor Jay Inslee said in a news release. “These grants for on-the-ground projects will help us restore salmon to healthy levels that allow for both protection and a robust fishery. We must do everything we can to restore this beloved Washington icon and help orcas, which are starving due to lack of salmon, before it is too late.” For the Lummi Nation’s project, about 1,200 Chinook salmon will be captured upstream from late winter to late spring and tagged so that scientists can monitor their distribution and movement. The fish will be tagged with transponders, and secondary recaptures in the lower Nooksack River will give scientists an understanding of their freshwater survival. For the project, the Lummi Nation will contribute $11,541 in donations of labor. Meanwhile, the Nooksack In-
dian Tribe will use its grant to build 27 log structures to restore side channels in the North Fork Nooksack River near Maple Falls. Side channels are smaller branches of the river that are important areas for salmon to spawn. Adding logjams to a river yields many benefits, such as less erosion and a more varied and productive habitat. The tribe will also plant native trees and shrubs on the log structures, providing food for the insects that salmon eat and keeping soil from entering the water. For the project, the tribe will contribute $102,147 in a federal grant. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the creation of the Washington Salmon Recovery Funding Board. Since 1999, the board has approved a total of 3,093 grants and surpassed $1 billion in investment, including matching funds from grant recipients. Projects are chosen by watershed-based groups that include
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Tribes receive salmon recovery grants By Jami Makan
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Blaine City Council voted to adopt a 2020 budget for the city of Blaine. The budget totals $51 million, a 10 percent decrease from the 2019 budget, and it raises utility rates for Blaine residents. At the December 9 public meeting, four city councilmembers voted for Ordinance 192939 adopting the 2020 budget. Two councilmembers were not present, and new councilmember Garth Baldwin abstained because he did not participate in the council’s budget work sessions. “After the culmination of four budget study sessions and two public hearings, staff presents to council a balanced 2020 budget,” city finance director Jeffrey Lazenby told councilmembers prior to the vote. “This includes all operating and capital funds. The budget’s funding priorities are focused on law enforcement, economic development, city vehicle replacement programs for both police and public works, parks and facilities maintenance and maintenance and improve-
ment of city infrastructure.” Lazenby said that 68 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions will be funded by the 2020 budget. He said that the primary reason for the 10 percent decrease in the 2020 budget was the completion of one-time capital projects planned for in the 2019 budget. The 2020 budget will be funded in part by increased utility and stormwater rates. Specifically, 2020 will see a utility rate increase of 2.8 percent for electric, water and sewer, and a five percent rate increase for stormwater. The 2.8 percent utility rate increase is based on the rate policy that was adopted by city council through Resolution 1725a-17, which stated that for 2018, 2019 and 2020, the utility rates and the general facility fees or connection fees would be based on the change in the U.S. consumer price index (CPI) plus one percent. The five percent stormwater rate increase, meanwhile, is not based on a prior resolution. “For the stormwater, that was something new that staff had
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The Northern Light • December 19 - 25, 2019
Hundreds of census takers being hired in Whatcom County By Jami Makan The U.S. Census Bureau is now recruiting hundreds of temporary census takers in Whatcom County in advance of the 2020 census. Starting on March 12, all American households will begin receiving invitations in the mail to respond to the census, a national population count mandated by the U.S. Constitution that occurs every 10 years. The census consists of approximately 10 questions about the number of people in each household, their relationship to each other and their sex, age and race. The 2020 census will be the 24th census, and the results will determine the apportionment of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives over the next decade. It will also influence how more than $675 billion from more
than 100 federal programs are distributed to states and localities each year. Participation in the census is mandatory. Households can self-respond to their census invitation by mail, telephone or online. In 2010, the self-response rate in Whatcom County was 78 percent, compared to 76 percent statewide. “We encourage people to self-respond because it produces better data and is less expensive for the taxpayer,” said Toby Nelson, a spokesperson for the U.S. Census Bureau. For those households that do not self-respond to their census invitation, census takers will be hired to knock on doors and personally visit these households starting on May 1. Nationwide, more than half a million field workers will be hired for the Census Bureau’s Nonresponse
Followup Operation. “It’s the country’s largest peacetime labor mobilization,” said Nelson. “Our goal is to count every single person in the U.S. one time – it’s not a statistical sample.” In Whatcom County, hundreds of census takers will be hired, although the precise number will not be known until the self-response statistics come in. The pay rate in Whatcom County will be $18.50 per hour. “We are hiring in all locations in Whatcom County because we need to cover the entire county,” said Nelson. “When we hire people, we will be hiring people to work specifically in the neighborhoods in which they live.” Applications must be made online at 2020census.gov/jobs, and applicants are required to have a working email address. Applicants must be at least 18 years old
and must generally be U.S. citizens. There is some availability to hire non-U.S. citizens for certain translator positions when no U.S. citizens are available, said Nelson. Non-U.S. citizens must be legally authorized to work in the U.S.
Prior to being hired, applicants will undergo an FBI background check and be interviewed over the phone. Applications will be accepted through February. For more information about 2020 census jobs, please call 855/JOB-2020.
Celebrate the new year at two popular Birch Bay events By Jami Makan Two upcoming events in Birch Bay are sure to start the new year off right. On New Year’s Eve at 7 p.m., the annual Ring of Fire and Hope event will take place along the shore of Birch Bay. Participants will line the shore and light road flares as a symbol of peace and hope. “It looks like Christmas lights dotting the
beach,” said Liz Thornton, executive director of the Birch Bay Chamber of Commerce. On Tuesday, December 31, a limited quantity of biodegradable flares will be available at 5 p.m. at the Birch Bay Visitor Information Center, 7900 Birch Bay Drive. However, participants are encouraged to bring their own spikeless flares. Spikeless flares can be purchased from Pacific Building
Center, 2677 Bell Road, which will be open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. that day. On New Year’s Day, the 37th annual Birch Bay Polar Bear Plunge will occur at noon sharp. Every year, about 2,000 people attend the annual tradition, with many hopping into the water up and down the bay. Brave participants can register online or beginning at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, January 1.
Many who take part don costumes for their goosebump-producing splash in the bay. A costume contest will take place at 11 a.m. with prizes for the best group, best individual, most unique costume, best-dressed kid and best-dressed pet. No awards will be given for length of time in the water. There will be warming stations and hot drinks, as well as commemorative merchan-
dise for sale, including beanies, t-shirts, sweatshirts and stickers. The event’s mascot, Burr Bear, will make an appearance to entertain kids, who will be eligible to receive small certificates that say “I took the plunge.” “It’s a fun way to kick off the new year and it gets pretty crazy,” said Thornton. To learn more about the upcoming events, call 360/371-5004 or visit birchbaychamber.com.
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December 19 - 25, 2019 • thenorthernlight.com
W I N T E R G E TAWAY VA C AT I O N
Public works crew cleans up sewer spill The city of Blaine’s public works team recently cleaned up a sewer spill, and their quick response prevented any impact to marine life in Semiahmoo Bay. On the morning of December 3, an electric crew was installing a power service when they noticed a clogged manhole near the intersection of School Drive and Elm Avenue. Dirty water had seeped through the holes in the manhole cover and toward I-5 and Cain Creek, which flows into Semiahmoo Bay. The workers quickly notified state authorities as well as a utility crew, which sanitized the affected area to ensure no hazard to fish, shellfish or wildlife.
“Based on the quantity of the waste that we estimated to be spilled, the amount of land that it had to go through before it reached the creek as well as the really quick response by public works, the state of Washington’s department of health decided that the dilution ratio was adequate and we did not need to close the harbor, which was huge,” Blaine public works director Ravyn Whitewolf told councilmembers at the December 9 city council meeting. Whitewolf continued: “Generally speaking, for any sewage spill, they have a three-week must-close-to-fishing period, so we were greatly relieved that Shellebration could go on. I’m just
THANK YOU
to this year’s sponsors, donors & volunteers of the Holiday Lights Dash!
very, very thankful to my staff. They were just so on top of it, right down from identification to getting it all cleaned up. We were very fortunate that it was coming out of a manhole, so the manhole lid kind of kept the nasties from getting out.” Whitewolf urged members of the public not to flush rags or wipes, even if the manufacturers say they are flushable. She also warned against improper disposal of FOG, or fats, oils and grease, which tend to solidify in colder temperatures.
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peacehealth.org/phmg/bellingham-lynden/family-medicine Steve Lawrenson • Paul Freeman Blaine Library • Heather Peterson From all of us at the Blaine-Birch Bay Park & Rec District Wishing every one a Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!
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The Northern Light • December 19 - 25, 2019
Zion Lutheran Church
CHRISTMAS EVE WORSHIP Tuesday, Dec. 24 at 5 PM A caring, country congregation north of Ferndale between Grandview and Bay Rds. 7215 Valley View Rd. • 360-366-5567 www.zionlutheranwhatcom.org
Christmas Worship Directory Catholic Mass Schedule for Christmas 2019
Christ Episcopal Church Christmas EvE sErviCE Tuesday, December 24 5:30 pm 382 Boblett, Blaine christchurchblaine.org
Christmas Eve
Tuesday, December 24, 4 p.m. - St. Anne, Blaine Tuesday, December 24, 7 p.m. - St. Joachim, Lummi Tuesday, December 24, 10 p.m. - St. Joseph, Ferndale
Christmas Day
Wednesday, December 25, 10:30 a.m. - St. Joseph, Ferndale
St. Joseph Church, 5781 Hendrickson Ave., Ferndale St. Anne Church, H & 6th Streets, Blaine St. Joachim Church, Kwina & Lummi Shore Rd., Lummi www.stjosephferndale.org • administration@stjosephferndale.org
Celebrate Christmas Christmas Eve 8:00 pm Christmas Day 10:00 am
Grace Lutheran Church
702 G St. blaine-grace-lutheran.org
The Blaine
United Church of Christ
Invites you to join us for
We invite you to join our celebration of Emmanuel, God with us! Worship Service - Sunday, Dec. 22 • 11am Carols Service - Sunday, Dec. 22 • 7pm
Christmas Eve, December 24 7:30 pm Christmas Eve Service & Play 11:30 pm Candlelight Communion Service with ringing of bells at midnight Blaine United Church of Christ • Pastor Sandy Wisecarver 885 4th St. • Blaine, WA 98230 • (360) 332-6906
Live Nativity Friday, December 20 6-8 pm
Please Join Us • Hear the story of Christ’s birth • Manger scene with live animals • Ride in a horse-drawn hay wagon • Listen to live music
• Hot dogs • Cider & cookies • Toast marshmallows • Sing carols
Northwood Alliance Church 580 C Street, Blaine • 360-332-8610
Christ Community Church 4310 H Street, Blaine CHRISTMAS EVE CANDLELIGHT COMMUNION SERVICE Tuesday, December 24, 2019 7 pm - 8 pm All ages welcome! 902 Adelia Street, Blaine, WA 98230 (360)332-8918 office@bcfcommunity.com www.bcfcommunity.com www.facebook.com/blainechristianfellowship
Come Join Us
Sunday Worship 10 a.m.
Christmas Eve in the Country Candlelight Service
Tuesday, December 24 7:30 p.m. Pastor Bing C. Canlas
Custer United Methodist Church 2996 Main Street • Custer
360-366-5181
December 19 - 25, 2019 • thenorthernlight.com
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Participate in a cross-border bird count on December 28 Volunteers are needed to participate in an upcoming bird count that is intended to gather data about the winter range of birds and trends in bird populations. The Christmas Bird Count is a longstanding program of the National Audubon Society. It is an early-winter bird census, in which thousands of community science volunteers across the U.S., Canada and other countries count birds in December each
year. The program began over a century ago, and this year will be the 120th annual bird count. Locally, the bird count will take place on Saturday, December 28 on both sides of the border. It is being organized by the White Rock and Surrey Naturalists Society, which has encompassed the Blaine area as part of their count since 1976. The group is looking for volunteers to participate on both sides of the border. To cover the Blaine
area, the group hopes to have at least four teams of four or more volunteers. Gareth Pugh of Surrey, B.C. will be the team leader for volunteers south of the border. “We are looking for as many pairs of eyes as possible,” he said. Participants do not need to be expert birders, but they should dress warmly and be available to watch birds all day on December 28. You can also arrange to participate from home by observing
the birds that visit your feeder and reporting the count to Pugh on his cell phone. Local volunteers will gather on December 28 at 7:30 a.m. inside the Starbucks at 530 Peace Portal Drive, with the count beginning at 8 a.m. and ending around 3:30 p.m. If you are interested in participating or would like more information, contact Pugh at 604/576-6831 (home) or 604/649-1027 (cell).
City of Blaine participates in online marketing program The videos feature mayor Bonnie Onyon and city staff discussing reasons to visit or move to Blaine. The videos highlight Blaine’s economic growth, seaside location and proximity to major cities as well as its schools, community organizations and attractions. According to Blaine city manager Michael Jones, there were no direct costs to the city to participate in CGI’s marketing program. The program is financially supported by local businesses, which can pay to place their logos on the webpages that the videos about Blaine are featured on. The companies’ logos link to their own websites or videos.
By Jami Makan The city of Blaine has partnered with a marketing firm to advertise the city online to potential visitors, tourists, residents and investors. Earlier this year, the city entered into a partnership with CGI Communications, a marketing firm based in Rochester, New York. According to its website, CGI Communications helps municipalities get noticed by creating online video tours of cities and their local businesses. CGI Communications recently created a series of five short videos about Blaine that can be viewed online at bit.ly/34p7IJq.
“It’s all part of our marketing effort for encouraging more people to come spend time in Blaine,” said Jones. “The videos are part of our ongoing effort for increasing our presence online to help with economic development and tourism and to help
growth in the city.” City staff spent time participating in the program by reviewing scripts, appearing on camera and overseeing CGI’s work in the city. Jones estimated that 30 to 40 hours of staff time were dedicated to the program in total.
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Tuesday, December 31, 2019 • $1000 Real Cash Drawings, hourly 9pm to 1am! • Best of 2019 Buffet for $29.95 – served 5pm to 10pm • Live music from the Atlantics, 9pm to 1am • Magical balloon drop at midnight! Note: there are no Prime Time discounts on December 31.
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The Northern Light • December 19 - 25, 2019
New administrator at Stafholt S Haley Amundson joined Good Samaritan Society – Stafholt as its licensed nursing home administrator on November 25. The position is responsible for the overall leadership and management of the skilled nursing facility. Amundson, who grew up in Minnesota, started working for the Good Samaritan Society in August 2018. She most recently served as the administrator for its facility in Larimore, North Dakota. “I’m excited to make Blaine my new home and to join Stafholt,” Amundson said.
Join us at
CTK North Bay! Tuesday, Dec. 24th at 2:30, 4:00, & 5:30 p.m. Across from the Birch Bay Waterslides | www.ctk.church
Pet Care
Courtesy photo
Tips and products for a healthier, happier pet!
Many pet owners spend more on pets than partners at Christmas, study finds Over one third of Washington pet owners will spend more on their pets than their partners at Christmas time, according to a recent study. Innovet Pet, a pet products company, recently conducted a survey of 2,500 pet owners. The survey found that 37 percent of pet owners in Washington will be spending more on their pet than their partner this Christmas, according to a December 12 press
release from Cherry Digital. The survey also found that 37 percent of Washington pet owners admitted to dressing their pets in Christmas-themed clothing at some point. Meanwhile, 29 percent of pet owners have signed Christmas cards with their furry friend’s name, and one in 10 have even bought their pet their very own advent calendar. “Pets are loving, loyal companions and hence it’s perhaps no
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surprise that many people choose to splurge more on their pets than their partners,” said Dave Louvet, CEO and founder of Innovet Pet. With 29 percent of dog owners admitting to feeding their pets some of their Christmas meal, such as a boneless piece of turkey or some roasted vegetables, Louvet said that certain foods should be kept away from pets due to the risk of harm. • Chocolate and nuts: These foods contain a chemical called theobromine, which is very poisonous if ingested by cats or dogs. Walnuts and macadamia nuts are toxic to pets and can harm their digestive, muscle and nervous systems. • Raisins, sultanas, currants and grapes: Even small quantities of these fruits can cause vomiting, diarrhea and, in extreme cases, kidney failure. Beware of mince pies, Christmas pudding and fruit cake as these often contain all or one of the above fruits, as well as alcohol, which is also not good for your pet. • Fruits with stones: In addition to being a choking hazard, the stones and pips of fruits like apples, cherries, peaches, plums and apricots contain cyanide, which is poisonous to pets. • Turkey: Your furry friend would love a couple pieces of plain, skinless turkey free from
any sauce, which can affect their stomach. Make sure that there are no bones in this meat, as bones can get stuck in their throats. • Winter vegetables: Some vegetables are very good for your pet’s health in small quantities as long as they are plain and contain no added oil or butter. These include green beans, carrots, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, peas, spinach and parsnips. • Potatoes: Everyone’s favorite side dish is also delicious to your pet in small amounts. Again, en-
sure there is no added oil, butter or salt. “Despite treating our pets as part of the family during the holiday season, it’s important to remember that some foods are only suitable for human consumption and can be extremely toxic to your pets,” said Louvet. “Be cautious when feeding them tidbits from your table and make sure to totally avoid treats like chocolate and Christmas pudding to ensure your furry friends are healthy and happy over the holidays.”
S One attendee of the recent Holiday Lights Dash run and walk in Lincoln Park brought along his pet cat. The familyfriendly event took place on December 7 and was hosted by Blaine-Birch Bay Park and Recreation District 2. Photo courtesy of Heidi Holmes
ADOPT A PET! We’re looking for good homes! To adopt one of us please call our Adoptions department at (360) 733-2080
Or visit us at 2172 Division St., Bellingham, WA 98226 Hi, I’m Graham!
Hi, I’m Lilac!
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Hi, I’m Floyd!
View more about us at www.whatcomhumane.org
December 19 - 25, 2019 • thenorthernlight.com S A holiday bake sale hosted by 10-year-old Bailey Black in support of the Birch Bay library project was a big success. The bake sale, which took place on December 14 at the site of the future Birch Bay Vogt Community Library, attracted about 400 people and raised $2,267, which will go towards the Friends of Birch Bay Library building fund.
Home
&
S For the 22nd year, the community came together to sing along at an annual caroling event sponsored by Semiahmoo Resort and the Semiahmoo Resort Association. Led by children’s recording artist Dana Cohenour, the December 15 event started with a special program for children.
Photo by Chuck Kinzer/ CKimageart.com
Photo by Jason Cohenour
Garden
A monthly special section in The Northern Light
Some home improvements that can increase home value When granite countertops or shiny, stainless steel appliances beckon homeowners from the display areas of home improvement stores, it’s tempting to gear remodeling thoughts toward the items that will add flair and decorative appeal to a home. Even though most improvements add some measure of value, deciding which are the best investments can be difficult. Return on investment or ROI varies depending on the project. Frequently, the projects that seem like the best investments don’t bring the greatest rate of return, while those that seem like smaller projects bring substantial returns. Real estate professionals routinely weigh in with their expert advice, and homeowners can couple that advice with Remodeling magazine’s annual “Cost vs. Value Index” to reap the greatest financial impact from their renovations.
• Open the door to improvement. Region by region across the United States, installation of a new steel door on the front of a home can have a large impact on the resale value of a property. The ROI ranges from 123 percent at the highest, to 86 percent at the lowest – which is still a considerable investment return for such a simple project. Match the door’s style with the style of the house for the best value. • Turn up the kitchen heat. An attractive kitchen can encourage buyers to overlook some of a home’s less attractive components. In the kitchen, replacement countertops, wall color changes, new cabinetry and flooring offer the biggest ROI. Glenn McAlpine of The Floor Store in Ferndale says luxury vinyl planks definitely have an edge over hardwood when it comes to your budget. Luxury vinyl planks reflect the look of real hardwood
at a much lower price. Luxury vinyl plank is extremely durable, and for high traffic areas like the kitchen, it can last for years without any problems. Since luxury vinyl plank is waterproof, spilled food and liquids are also not a problem, said McAlpine. • Dreaming of a new bedroom. Remodeling magazine also points to creating an attic bedroom to increase home value. The ROI of an attic remodel that adheres to code can garner an 83 percent ROI. • Home maintenance projects. There’s little good to improving the aesthetic appeal and functionality of a home if there are existing structural or maintenance issues, warn experts. Siding replacement, HVAC system repair or replacement, a new roof, and basement dampness prevention solutions can be smarter investments before other flashy remodels. Many buyers have a strict budget for a house, and
Transform living spaces into cozy retreats Winter provides the perfect opportunity to begin home interior projects. Many people decide to redecorate their homes to reflect each season. When temperatures change, it’s time to transition from the light colors and breezy fabrics symbolic of summer to thicker, darker materials that evoke coziness. With some inspiration and a little know-how, any homeowner or apartment dweller can cozy up a space in time for fall and winter. • Invest in area rugs. While wood floors can look beautiful and work well with many different design styles, wood can feel chilly underfoot. Thick area rugs add warmth to a room and can help it look more lived-in. Area rugs also help a room appear more cohesive, coordinating with other colors in a space and providing a visual border. • Practice layering in rooms. An affordable and relatively easy way to make a room seem more cozy is to layer fabrics and other accents. Layers can include throws and
blankets. Remove place mats from the dining room table and use them on accent tables or an ottoman in the living room. Table runners also can add a splash of color to the top of bedroom dressers. • Play with texture. Look for fabrics that boast texture and can add a tactile feel to spaces. When used on throw pillows or small accents, faux fur can create that cozy cabin feel. Draperies made from nubby fabrics or those with grooves and ridges can add dimension to a room as well. “Whether it’s drapery or whether it’s Roman shades or cellular honeycomb shades, those are all fabric shades that lend themselves to making a room cozy or warmer,” said Paul Teater, co-owner of Whatcom County’s Budget Blinds. • Reevaluate your lighting. Lighting a space is more than just flipping on a switch. Finding the right balance of lighting fixtures can instantly transform the feel of a room. Create more warmth and a cozy feel by switching out bulbs from cooler shades to warmer
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ones – those that give off yellow and pink hues rather than cool blues. Accent lighting helps establish a comfortable space for curling up and reading a good book. Spot lighting, such as fixtures that are trained on artwork or inside of a curio or china cabinet, also can set a more welcoming mood. • Install a bookshelf and start a book collection. Piles and stacked books can add warmth to any space. Books evoke the hallowed halls of schools and quiet nooks in the library. Fill shelves with books interspersed with additional design accents, and you will instantly make a room feel more inviting. • Choose dark paint. Do not feel nervous about incorporating deeper shades in rooms. Dark colors give rooms a more enclosed feel than lighter colors, and that can create a warm and cozy feeling. This works particularly well in larger spaces that feel vast and empty. If you’re scared to paint all of your walls, try a darker shade below a chair rail or just paint one accent wall.
those buyers may be more likely to buy a house with little or no maintenance issues. Such buyers will then upgrade the kitchen or baths themselves, according to Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. If remodeling is on the horizon, homeowners should give strong consideration to ROI before choosing a project.
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The Northern Light • December 19 - 25, 2019
NEXT ISSUE: Jan. 2
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15
Traffic safety: transporting gasoline in jerry cans is legal, but is it safe? By Doug Dahl Q: It’s common now to see our Canadian friends gassing up their tanks and then filling up multiple large plastic containers in the trunk. Is this safe? Is it even legal? It seems like it would be a real danger in the event of a serious rear-ender. A: The answer to this question is way more technical than I anticipated, and to answer with confidence I’d need to be much more well-versed in hazardous materials than I currently am. With that disclaimer up front, I’ll give it my best shot. You asked if it is both safe and legal; those two answers are not necessarily the same. The rules about transportation of hazardous materials come from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and are covered in Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), parts 100 through 199. (Washington state adopted the laws in the CFR, making it our state law as well.) If you’re hoping I read all 100 parts to find an answer to this question, I’m sorry I’ve let you down. That is some long and dry reading, and it mostly pertains to commercial transportation of hazardous ma-
terials. What we want to know is how much gas a regular person can stuff in the back of their SUV without needing a hazard placard and a commercial vehicle license. As best I can tell, it turns out to be quite a bit. Assuming that the fuel is being transported in the typical five-gallon container intended for gasoline, commonly called a jerrican (the term used by DOT) or jerry can, you’re allowed to transport 440 pounds of gas. With gasoline weighing about six pounds per gallon, that works out to roughly 73 gallons of gas, or 15 jerry cans. For most of us, the quantity of gas we can transport reaches a practical limitation due to the size of our vehicle long before we reach the limit in place by law. Is it safe to stuff the back half of a car with plastic containers full of a substance known to burn rapidly upon exposure to a heat source? And I say “car” because while it would be much safer to transport jerry cans in the back of a pickup, my observation has been that most people are transporting gasoline inside the cabin of their vehicles, myself included. When my lawnmower runs out of gas, I fill up the jerry can at a local gas sta-
tion, secure it in the back of our hatchback and drive a few blocks home. It’s legal, but is it safe? Let’s recognize that safety is not a binary option; it’s a spectrum. Just getting into a car and driving on a public road is a risk. As we’ve talked about many times in these columns, focusing on safe driving behaviors reduces that risk. When we talk about safety in conjunction with the kind of cargo we have in our vehicles, we’re really talking about how that cargo changes the outcome of a crash. If you knew you were never going to crash, you could adorn the center of your steering wheel with fourinch spikes. Instead, we fill the center of a steering wheel with a rapidly inflatable balloon, because none of us can be absolutely sure we’re not going to crash. Where does gasoline sit on that crash outcome safety spectrum? It’s a flammable substance with an ignition point lower than the temperature of an operating catalytic converter or brake drums after hard braking. In a crash those cans could rupture, exposing the fuel to those heat sources and turning a vehicle into a giant fireball. It’s a situation where the
minimal requirements of the law and your own level of risk tolerance likely don’t match. If you need to transport gasoline, the best practice would be to put it in an approved container (and don’t fill it while it’s in your vehicle), leave some room for expansion of gasses, secure it so that it can’t tip or spill and, if possible, stow it on the outside of your vehicle. If your motivation for transporting gas is to save some money, before you decide, do the calculation on what it could cost you in a crash. Finally, I’ll leave you with a
piece of trivia with which to impress your friends. Do you know where we got the name jerry can? The can was invented in the 1930s by Germans, who called it a Wehrmacht-Einheitskanister. You know that name was never going to catch on for the English-speaking crowd. The Allied troops used “Jerry” as a slang term for Germans, so when they saw the fuel containers they called them jerry cans. Doug Dahl is a manager with the Washington Traffic Safety Commission, Region 11 and publishes TheWiseDrive.com.
Emergency preparedness: why you should build emergency kits (plural) By Richard Martin Everyone has a different opinion of what your emergency kits should have in them. Notice, I said “kits” (plural). The worldwide standard is for at least 72 hours’ worth of supplies with which to function in an emergency. Many people have heard at least that much about emergency preparedness. How many of you know that Washington state’s Emergency Management Division has increased that urgent suggestion to two weeks or more? If you are hearing that for the first time, what does that tell you? The unique combination of documented regional hazards, terrain and infrastructure is such that we are encouraged to an elevated self-sustainability model for preparedness. This also takes into account the unbalanced ratio
between the number of emergency responders and the number of citizens, as well as after-action findings from the 2016 Cascadia Rising exercise, which simulated a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami in Washington state. Logically, you would need a kit for staying at home (this is called “Sheltering in Place” or SIP), one for each vehicle, one for you in the workplace (at least a small, basic kit that goes beyond the required workplace first aid kit) and perhaps a mobile evacuation kit to “grab and go” with. (When it comes to a non-vehicle evacuation version, you might need to grab a backpack and move rapidly.) Some people also have a few small items that they carry with them called EDC or “every day carry” items. Something like a multi-tool, lighter and whistle, for example. The point here is that you cannot
determine when it might be needed. Therefore, you should ideally, in a pro-active state of awareness, have access to some degree of supplies in a variety of locations to accommodate a variety of potential emergency situations. Be reasonable. You will never have all of the things you wish to have in a kit. A kit is so that you can function until or unless a professional emergency response is needed, not to live in luxury. This is why additional skills for improvising and adapting are so very necessary. “Things” break, malfunction, reach their end of use or can go missing. Skills are your ultimate backup to having “stuff” to help you with that need. If I lose power at home, I have a gas stove and oven. If I had an electric stove, or if damage forced me to shut the gas off to the house, I could cook outside with a propane or charcoal grill, a fire pit,
etc. (You can cook with wood in a charcoal grill, by the way.) These are backups and improvisations. You have four essential areas that need to be addressed in an emergency scenario. The first is water. Physiologically, we are made up primarily of water. This is even more important than food. The second essential area is food. We need nutrition or “body fuel” to keep functioning. The third is shelter. We need shelter from harmful elements such as heat and cold and aerial debris. The fourth is first aid and medical supplies to treat injuries or existing ailments. There are some good, basic essentials that you should have to support the other needs. You need to first understand what you are gathering and why. Your combination of a kit and your improvisational skills need to address those four aforementioned
essential elements in order to face a potential emergency scenario efficiently. Each person and family has some of their own unique needs, such as prescription medications, pet needs, allergy considerations and so on. Any list you see from various sources should be seen as a basic guideline to adapt and customize from, and never as an “ultimate list” of needed items. Even if you have packed everything and the kitchen sink, you will never have every item you might want or need. Plus, someone may have to mobilize all of that, while some variables may not make it possible to move all of that with you in the event you need to evacuate or relocate. This is why relevant skills and the ability to improvise are vital. Richard Martin is the director of the non-profit group NorthWest Emergency Preparedness (NWEP).
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The Northern Light • December 19 - 25, 2019
OBITUARIES
Data-driven traffic patrol coming to Blaine By Jami Makan
Timothy R. Kirchgatter
February 16, 1968-December 6, 2019 Thoughtful and kind, Tim lived a quiet life. He enjoyed playing music, puzzles and playing strategy games. Tim also loved reading science fiction and putting together legos. He died suddenly and peacefully in his home in Blaine, WA on Friday, December 6, 2019. Tim was born February 16, 1968 in Hayward CA. He graduated from Ferndale High School in 1986, received a bachelors degree in Music Performance (cello) from Western Washington University in 1996, and a computer tech certificate from Bellingham Technical College. Tim worked at Creation Foods in Blaine. Tim enjoyed family gatherings, highlights include creating different flavor combinations of finger jellos for family and friends' enjoyment, as well as planning and constructing the annual edible Christmas gingerbread creations. Tim is survived by his parents, Larry and Nancy Kirchgatter of Ferndale WA; sisters, Kathleen Lowney of Sammamish, WA, and Rachel Jensen of Mount Vernon, WA. Memorial service will be held at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bellingham, on December 21 at 1 p.m.
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tersection of SR-543 and H Street sees a daily average of 14,000 vehicles, or more than 5.1 million vehicles per year. H Street approaching Peace Portal Drive is also a highcrash area. “Those are some of our primary corridors, so it makes sense that that’s where we’d see the most crashes,” said Dahl. According to Tanksley, the Blaine Police Department made 3,031 traffic stops from January to mid-November 2019. Tanksley noted that the number of stops does not equate to the number of tickets written or the number of vehicles ticketed, and said that 1,301 warnings were given in 43 percent of those traffic stops. Tanksley said the Blaine Police Department has issued 1,450 infractions, or non-criminal tickets, so far this year. Out of those 1,450 tickets, about 913, or 63 percent, were for speeding. In 863 instances, drivers were going 10 miles per hour or more over the legal speed limit, while in 35 cases, drivers were going 30 to 40 miles per hour over the speed limit. “We have a lot of people speeding here in Blaine,” said Tanksley. Other infractions were for failure to stop at a stop sign or yield to pedestrians (71 tickets) and for operating a motor vehicle without insurance (112 tickets). On Peace Portal Drive from Bell Road to F Street, Blaine police wrote 441 infractions, about 30 percent of the 1,450 infractions so far this year. In downtown Blaine (400 to 900 Peace Portal Drive), there were 57 infractions, including 39 infractions for violations of the H Street stop sign. On D Street, there were 198 infractions, including 174 for speeding; out of those 174 speeding in-
fractions, 114 were for driving 15 miles per hour or more over the legal speed limit, and 32 were for driving 20 miles per hour or more over the speed limit. “We’ve written tickets for 30 miles over the speed limit, 35, 40,” said Tanksley. “Just a week and a half ago, we wrote a ticket right on I-5 for 50 miles over the speed limit. This is serious business.” With the high rate of speeding in Blaine, crashes have inevitably resulted. From 2015 to 2019, there has been a fatality in Blaine every year with the exception of 2016, when there were 48 non-fatal crashes. This year, there have been 37 crashes so far, including a fatal crash on November 14 on northbound I-5’s D Street overpass. “One accident is too many, one fatality is too many, one person injured is too many,” said Tanksley. “Our goal is to be fair and impartial and try to educate the public on the importance of adhering to the speed limits, the stop signs and the pedestrian crossings.” In the future, the Blaine Police Department plans to work more with WTSC and its Target Zero program, which aims to end traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2030. Recently, the city of Blaine also installed new radar speed signs on D Street and Mitchell Avenue. The signs, which cost the city about $5,000 each, already appear to be working. “We’re actually writing less tickets in the last two weeks,” said Tanksley. “We’re deployed at different times of the day and the night, and so far, especially on D Street, it seems to be working. That’s something we’ll have to watch. It may ebb and flow, and we’ll deploy as necessary.”
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The Blaine Police Department, with assistance from the Washington Traffic Safety Commission (WTSC), plans to use more data to target its traffic enforcement activities, in an effort reduce serious-injury and fatal crashes in the city. In a joint presentation to Blaine city council, Blaine police chief Donnell Tanksley and WTSC manager Doug Dahl presented detailed statistics about crashes and traffic violations in Blaine and Whatcom County. The November 25 presentation was the start of an effort to make traffic enforcement in Blaine primarily data-driven, as opposed to being based just on officer discretion or citizen input. “If you really want to see a strong impact in your enforcement efforts, data-driven is really an important factor,” Dahl told councilmembers. “Chief Tanksley is committed to investing in enforcement that’s connected with being data-driven.” Dahl gave an example from his time as a traffic safety coordinator at the sheriff’s office. “We would track the top 10 collision roads in the county,” he said. “We would put those up on a board, and those would be the priority enforcement areas for the following year. Each year that we did that, we would see that there was a decrease in serious-injury crashes, fatal crashes and crashes overall.” According to data presented at the council meeting, impaired driving is the leading factor involved in serious-injury and fatal crashes. It was a factor in half of the crashes in Washington state and Whatcom County from 2015 to 2017. Meanwhile, speeding was a factor in 29 percent of crashes statewide and 46 percent of crashes in Whatcom County. “Young drivers are also highly overrepresented in fatal crashes,” said Dahl. Other leading factors include distraction and failure to wear seatbelts. Distracted driving in particular is underreported in collisions. “If you’re distracted, the only proof is if you admit it,” said Dahl. “We don’t have a breath test for distraction the way we do for DUI.” In Blaine, high-crash areas include the truck route intersections at Boblett, H and D streets. The in-
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December 19 - 25, 2019 • thenorthernlight.com
17
Coming up Christmas Worship Services: See ads on page 10. ning sets, humor and 26 traditional carols woven throughout for the perfect path to holiday joy. Cub Scout Tree Sale: Saturdays and Sundays, 10 a.m.–4 p.m., Birch Bay Waterslides parking lot, 4874 Blaine Library Closure: Tuesday and Wednesday, Birch Bay Lynden Road. Douglas and Fraser fir trees. December 24 and 25. All WCLS branches closed. Info: blainecubscouts@gmail.com. Live Music at The Vault: Friday, December 27, 7–9 p.m., The Vault Wine Bar, 277 G Street. FeaturThe Holiday Channel Christmas Movie Wonderthon: Friday and Saturday, December 20–21, 7 ing: Song Wranglers. Info: 360/392-0955. p.m., and Sunday, December 22, 2 p.m., Blaine High School Black Box Theater. Presented by Blaine Com- Annual Christmas Bird Count: Saturday, December 28, 7:30 a.m., Starbucks, 530 Peace Portal munity Theater, written by Don Zolidis, directed by Deborah Manley; a zany mashup of six “Hallmark” Drive. Count begins at 8 a.m. and goes until 3:30 p.m. Hosted by the White Rock and Surrey Naturalmovies live on stage. $15 adults, $13 students/seists’ Society. To participate or for more information: niors at door. Info: blainecommunitytheater.com. 604/576-6831. Live Nativity: Friday, December 20, 6–8 p.m., Northwood Alliance Church, 580 C Street. Hear the Live Music at The Vault: Saturday, December 28, story of Christ’s birth, view a manger scene with live 7–9 p.m., The Vault Wine Bar, 277 G Street. Feat: animals, enjoy horse-drawn wagon rides, carols and Lefty and the Right Hand Band. Info: 360/392-0955. refreshments. Info: 360/332-8610. Dr. Kazymyra Retirement Party: Monday, December 30, 1–5 p.m., Bay Medical Clinic, 377 C Live Music at The Vault: Friday, December 20, 7–9 Street. Cake/coffee to celebrate Dr. Kazymyra’s retirep.m., The Vault Wine Bar, 277 G Street. Featuring: ment from medical practice. Info: 360/332-6327. Tom Sandblom. Info: 360/392-0955. Ring of Fire and Hope: Tuesday, December 31, Once Upon a Winter’s Walk: Saturday, December 7 p.m., Birch Bay waterfront. Ring out the old year 21, 7 p.m., Blaine Performing Arts Center, 975 H with a ring of fire around Birch Bay. Pick up a flare Street. Presented by Day-to-Day Dance. Come join (limited quantities available) starting at 5 p.m. at Esperanza the Snow Queen on her joyful, snowy the Birch Bay Visitor Center, 7900 Birch Bay Drive, forest adventure; a winter walk tale of enchantment or bring your own (without a spike). Info: birchbayand holiday cheer! Tickets: $10, children under 4 chamber.com. free. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., tickets at door. Polar Bear Plunge: Wednesday, January 1, noon, Live Music at The Vault: Saturday, December 21, in front of Birch Bay Visitor Center, 7900 Birch Bay 7–9 p.m., The Vault Wine Bar, 277 G Street. Featur- Drive. Register online/day-of after 10 a.m. T-shirt and ing: El Colonel. Info: 360/392-0955. sweatshirt sales, warming pits, hot drinks and cosA Christmas Carol: Sunday, December 22, 3 p.m., tume contest at 11 a.m. Info: birchbaychamber.com.
speakers are acting division chief John Pokorski and special ops supervisor Adan Gonzales of the Blaine Border Patrol station, responsible for the county’s 90+ miles of international border.
Pancake Breakfast: Saturday, January 18, 8 a.m.–11 a.m., Blaine Senior Center, 763 G Street. Choice of pancakes, French toast or waffles, biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs, sausage, coffee and orange juice. Adults $6, kids $4. Info: 360/332-8040.
Christmas Tree Pick Up: Saturday, January 4, 8 a.m. Place trees curbside by 8 a.m. If possible, email Loads of Love: Monday, January 6, 5-7:30 p.m., The blainescouttreepickup@gmail.com or text 360/389-8091 Washhouse, 715 3rd Street. Laundry costs covered. with address. We will also ‘be on the look-out.’ Donations Al-Anon Meetings: Mondays, noon, United Church welcome. Benefits Cub and Scout #4025, Blaine. of Christ, 885 4th Street. Info: Call M.J. 360/920-3679 Big Bucks Bingo: Saturday, January 4, 1-3 p.m., Blaine or Bob 360/920-3676. Senior Center, 763 G Street. Open to the public. Early ArtScape Teens: Tuesdays, 3–5 p.m., Soul Space bird game at 12:30 p.m. and regular bingo at 1 p.m. Studio, 264B H Street. A safe place for teens to set Cost $15 for 8 games with 3 cards per game. Cash their imaginations free through art. Free studio time. prizes. Lunch at noon for $6. Info: 360/332-8040. Sponsor: Healthy Youth Coalition. Info: 435/704-1598. Kulshan Chorus Light: Saturday, January 4, 7:30 Toastmasters Meeting: Tuesdays, 6:30–7:45 p.m., p.m., Mount Baker Theatre, 104 North Commercial 382 Boblett Street. Improve your public speaking skills. Street, Bellingham. Join Kulshan Chorus as they sing works by award winning-composer Jake Runestad, alongside fabulous others such as Craig Hella Johnson, Community Meals: Wednesdays, 5–6:30 p.m., Pentatonix & Gawthrop. Songs which present stories of Blaine Community Center, 763 G Street. Through May, except holidays. No meals will be served on December triumph over adversity. 25 or January 1. Info: blainecap.org. Motivation for Success in the New Year: Sunday, January 5, 10:30 a.m., Day-to-Day Dance, 1733 H Street, The Alaska Packers Museum: Saturdays and suite 410. Group hypnotherapy with Sue Dunstone, CHT, Sundays, 1–5 p.m., 9261 Semiahmoo Parkway. Info: $20. Info: 360/503-7560 or DunstoneHypnotherapy.com. 360/371-3558. Blaine Library Design Project: Tuesday, January 14, Teen Nite: Saturdays, 5–9 p.m., Border Town Pizza, 738 Peace Portal Drive. Kids ages 13–18 come enjoy 5:30–7:30 p.m., Blaine Senior Center, 763 G Street. Share ideas for a new library design at the last of three open mic, karaoke and games. Free pizza at 5 p.m. community meetings. Info and survey: wcls.org/blaine. Narcotics Anonymous Meeting: Sundays, Sweet Honey in the Rock: Friday, January 17, 7:30 6:30–7:30 p.m., Christ Episcopal Church, 382 Boblett Street, entrance on 4th Street. Nwwana.org. p.m., Mount Baker Theatre, 104 North Commercial Street, Bellingham. An internationally renowned a cappella ensemble, Sweet Honey’s soulful collective Submissions to Coming Up should be sent to Mount Baker Theatre, 104 North Commercial Street, Semiahmoo Men’s Breakfast: Thursday, January voice delivers the sacred music of the black church, the calendar@thenorthernlight.com Bellingham. New adaptation of Dickens’ classic clarion calls of the civil rights movement, and songs of 2, 7:30 a.m. Great Blue Heron Grill. Coffee, big no later than noon on Monday. including professional actors, lush costumes, stunthe struggle for justice everywhere. breakfast $17. All men are welcome. This week’s
Crossword
Answers at thenorthernlight.com 22. Unit of length ground ACROSS 25. Blood type 49. One-masted 1. Beer ingredient 26. Drain sailboats 5. Popular FOX TV 52. Tropical Asian plant 27. Do-gooders show 29. Advanced degree 56. Concurs 11. Recurring from 31. Business desig58. Latin term for time to time nation 14. Criticized severely charity 60. The number below 34. Chinese-American 15. Musician actress Ling the line in a fraction 18. German urban 36. Performs on stage 62. Reddish browns center 37. Slang for money 63. This (Spanish) 19. Quenched 38. Large Russian pie DOWN 21. Human gene 40. The Mount Rush1. Belong to he 23. Indian music more State 2. One time only 24. Accumulate 43. Narrow inlet 3. Parent-teacher 28. One who gradu45. News organization groups ated (abbr.) 4. Puts in place 29. Atomic #109 48. Scarlett’s home 30. Semitic fertility god 5. Editing 50. Micturates 6. In the course of 32. Sportscaster 51. Monetary unit 7. Helps injured Patrick 53. Any customary people (abbr.) 33. Child’s dining observance or practice 8. OJ trial judge accessory 54. Sons of Poseidon 9. Resist authority 35. Payment (abbr.) 55. Facilitates grocery (slang) 36. Guitarist’s tool 10. Formerly alkenols shopping 39. Dabbling ducks 12. “Cheers” actress 57. Standard operating 41. Commercial procedure Perlman 42. Style someone’s 58. Former OSS 13. Jewelled headhair 59. Midway between dress 44. Biu-Mandara south and southeast 16. Viking Age poet language 61. The Wolverine 17. Vanuatu island 46. Actress Spelling 47. Large hole in the 20. Wish harm upon State
Police Reports December 6, 3:06 p.m.: Blaine police were dispatched to a welfare check after a man had not shown up to work in several days. Officers arrived at the man’s home but did not get any response when they knocked on the door. The owner of the building was contacted and allowed officers to enter the residence. The 51-year-old man inside was found deceased. Police investigated the circumstances surrounding the man’s death and determined no crime had occurred. The family of the man was notified of the death and a funeral home arrived to take custody of the man’s body. December 7, 1:59 a.m.: Officers assisted the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office as perimeter units. Officers did not take any enforcement action and cleared with no further action. December 7, 8:45 a.m.: A business reported a vehicle had been parked in their parking lot for about 45 minutes, and the two people in the vehicle had been coming in and out of the store. An officer contacted the two persons in the vehicle who were in the process of getting ready to leave. The officer contacted the business owner to make sure no criminal activity had taken place. The owner was unable to prove any criminal activity had occurred at this time. The two subjects decided to leave the area. December 9, 9 a.m.: Officers responded to Blaine city hall for a request to have a subject removed who was causing a disturbance. Officers arrived and located the man in the lobby. Officers spoke to the individual who advised he wanted to leave Washington state. Officers offered the man a ride to Bellingham to speak with the Opportunity Council but he declined the offer. Officers advised the man that he is trespassed from city hall premises and cleared with no further incident. December 9, 8:55 p.m.: Blaine police made a traffic stop in the 2000 block of Peace Portal Drive on a vehicle that did not have any of its lighting equipment on in the hours of darkness. The driver was found to have a suspended driver’s license. The man was arrested, cited and released with a mandatory court date. A licensed driver took possession of the vehicle. December 10, 1 p.m.: Blaine Police Department officers had a citizen ride-along for part of a shift. The citizen was also able to observe traffic court and learn the other aspects of law enforcement work. December 12, 11:18 a.m.: Officers responded to the Peace Arch port of entry for a report of a suspended driver. Officers arrived and determined the driver was attempting to make entry into the United States on United States roadways. Officers confirmed the driver to be suspended. Officers arrested, cited and released the individual with a mandatory court date. Officers released the individual to the custody of U.S. CBP agents. December 12, 2:40 p.m.: A parent reported she was heading home from work because her juvenile son had threatened to hurt himself to the babysitter. Officers arrived and calmed the juvenile down until the parent arrived. The parent took her child to the hospital for an evaluation. December 13, 5:03 p.m.: Blaine police were dispatched to a report of a man taking pictures of a 12-year-old female in a store. The man claimed to be a photographer and asked the juvenile if he could photograph her feet. Officers arrived and contacted two persons of interest. The store will be providing officers with a video of the man. No probable cause for a crime was established. December 13, 7:30 p.m.: Officers on patrol observed a vehicle with a malfunctioning tail light and billowing clouds of exhaust. The vehicle was stopped for the defective equipment and the driver was discovered to have a suspended driver’s license. The driver was arrested, cited and released with a court date. The vehicle was left parked in a business parking lot. Officers cleared.
Reports provided by Blaine Police Department
Weather
Precipitation: During the period of December 9–15, 1.29 inches of precipitation was recorded. The 2019 year-to-date precipitation is 29.96 inches. Temperature: High for the past week was 50°F on December 9 with a low of 34°F on December 10. Average high was 48°F and average low was 39°F. Courtesy Birch Bay Water & Sewer Dist.
Tides
DATE TIME HEIGHT TIME HEIGHT December 20–26 at Blaine. Not for navigation. 49° 0’ 0”N - 122° 46’ 0”W Fr 20
5:02 am
7:17 pm
Sa 21 1:23 am
7.39
1:22 pm 10.00
Mo 23 4:05 am
10.13
2.22 6.44
12:44 pm 10.07
Su 22 2:55 am
2.92 12:06 pm
8.41
6:10 am
4.29
8:05 pm
0.85
7:24 am
5.44
8:49 pm
-0.35
8:34 am
6.30
2:02 pm
9.91
9:33 pm
-1.27
Tu 24
5:05 am
9.30
9:40 am
6.86
2:40 pm
9.75 10:15 pm
-1.86
We 25 5:55 am
9.93 10:42 am
7.16
9.51 10:55 pm
-2.12
Th 26 6:39 am 10.31 11:40 am
7.25
3:20 pm
4:00 pm
9.18 11:35 pm
-2.08
s The Mobil gas station at D and 3rd streets was recently taken over by Marathon Petroleum Corp.’s Speedway LLC.
Photo by Pat Grubb
The Northern Light • December 19 - 25, 2019
24 years ago, a newspaper was born... Since 1995, The Northern Light independent newspaper has been the primary source for local news and events for the Blaine, Birch Bay and Semiahmoo community, proudly keeping our readers informed, engaged and connected, in print and online! The Northern Light since June 1995... • Number of issues published:
1,226
• Number of articles written:
25,580
• Number of Washington Newspaper Publishers Association awards received (since 2014): 135 • Total number of people reached in a single social media post: 113,726 • Number of Blaine, Birch Bay, Semiahmoo households receiving The Northern Light in their mailbox: 9,050* • Total number of published and distributed copies of The Northern Light every week: 10,500* *Independently audited by Circulation Verification Council
We look forward to continuing to share the stories of our community in 2020 and beyond. This is only the beginning... 2018 - 2019
Blaine & Birch Bay
MAP W A S H I N G T O N
January 3 - 9, 2019
Memorable Blaine police A look back at Tips for staying County sheriff’s reports from 2018, page 2 BHS sports, page 6 fit in 2019, page 9 reports, page 14
B y S t e fa n i e D o n a h u e
(See Storm, page 13)
ISSUE
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Hospital district moving ahead, page 6
Tomsen continues to run up the bill, page 7
WINTER 2019
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Mini-crime wave hits the Point, page 12
Point Roberts, WA 98281 Postal Patron Local
Buyout sought And a new library is born... on Baker Field cell tower lease
ADVENTURES IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST
By Meg OlsOn
s Hundreds of residents and visitors charged into Birch Bay during the annual Polar Bear Plunge on January 1. The event was hosted by Photo by Chuck Kinzer the Birch Bay Chamber of Commerce. Photos on page 10.
A look back at the year that was
January • Donning costumes, revelers took part in the annual Polar Bear Plunge on January 1 at Birch Bay Beach Park. The event was hosted by the Birch Bay Chamber of Commerce and draws thousands of people each year. • Newly elected members to Blaine City Council, Alicia Rule, Eric Davidson, Bonnie Onyon and Charlie Hawkins took their oath of office before a regular meeting on January 8. The city council unanimously appointed Onyon as mayor and council member Steve Lawrenson as mayor, pro tempore. • Serving teens in Blaine and Birch Bay, the Health Youth Coalition hosted its first Teen Nite on January 15 at the Pizza Factory. The event featured live music, games, prizes and pizza. More than 100 people attended, including kids from Blaine, Birch Bay, Ferndale and Lynden. • Developer Mike Hill announced plans to build a mix of a commercial, office and retail space next to the Chevron gas station
WASHINGTON
MAP
2018 - 2019
2018
he owns on Peace Portal Drive. • Birch Bay couple Pat and Patty Anderson sat down with The Northern Light to describe their 5,428-mile, 226-day boat journey around the eastern United States, called ‘America’s Great Loop.’ • Whatcom County Council appointed former chairman of the Lummi Nation Business Council Timothy Ballew II to serve a vacant at-large seat on January 16. Ballew was expected to fulfill the position until the next election and told county councilmembers he would not run for the position in November. • The state Transportation Improvement Board allocated $293,425 to the ‘Peace Portal Community Trail Phase 2’ project. The project aims to create a pedestrian connection from the new pedestrian crossing at the Peace Arch U.S./Canadian border crossing through the city to southern Blaine city limits. • Krys and Katy Bennet purchased The Railway Cafe, located at 795 Peace Portal Drive, and re-opened it on January 19.
• The Blaine school board approved a resolution to send a $12 million capital levy to voters on January 22 to fund a variety of projects the district wanted to complete over six years. Projects included updating the existing grand stand structure and purchasing property for a
24
(See Year in review, page 7)
Letters . . . . . . . . . . 4 Sports . . . . . . . . . . 6 Classifieds . . . . . . 11 Coming Up . . . . . . 14 Police . . . . . . . . . . 14 Tides . . . . . . . . . . 14
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Storm results in Polar Bear Plunge kicks off the New Year costly damage for Blaine, Birch Bay Upwards of $5 million in damage was incurred locally from the December 20 storm that left Birch Bay Drive in tatters, according to estimates from the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO). “While all of Whatcom County has been affected by this event, hardest hit was Birch Bay where significant road damage has occurred,” said John Gargett, deputy director of the WCSO division of emergency management, in a statement. Gusts peaked at 60 mph and sustained winds reached 50 mph during the storm, which hit the hardest between 1:45 and 3:45 p.m., Gargett said. Low atmospheric pressure caused a storm surge in Birch Bay that lifted 3-to-5-foot waves over the drive, crashing into businesses and homes. Power outages were reported for thousands of Puget Sound Energy customers across Whatcom County. Some households in the southern portion of Birch Bay, including Point Whitehorn, were without power for 18 to 20 hours, Gargett said. At least 12 homes were damaged on Birch Bay Drive as well as approximately 10 businesses, Gargett said. Bay Breeze Restaurant and Bar, located at 7829 Birch Bay Drive, was damaged so severely it was red-tagged by the county, meaning it is unsafe to enter. Recognized by its bright-blue exterior, the restaurant opened in May. A statement posted to Facebook on behalf of Bay Breeze staff and owner Chris Choi said the restaurant would be forced to cancel all events and close until further notice. “We promise to keep everyone posted on what the future holds for the Breeze as we figure things out but it is going to take some time before we have any real information to share,” Choi wrote. “Thank you all for your support. We are Birch Bay strong.” To lend support to the restaurant and its employees, staff at The Beach at Birch Bay and Boardwalk Restaurant hosted a benefit on December 27. The event featured a silent auction and a performance by The Replayzmentz, among others. “We are humbled by the generosity of our community,” read a statement from Bay Breeze. “We thank each and everyone one of you for reaching out and coming together to help us during this difficult time.” In addition to damaging about a dozen residences in Birch Bay, the storm forced at least two families out of their homes, Gargett said. One family had to relocate to Bellingham temporarily because their home was floating, held down only by plumbing. The most costly and time-consuming repair will be to Birch Bay Drive, which was severely undermined by wave action resulting in large cracks and subsidence of the road bed. Currently, one northbound lane is open between Harborview and Shintaffer with a 10 mph speed limit, according to the WCSO. Southbound traffic from Birch Bay Village and Birch Point must use Shintaffer
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Park district commissioners are considering a buyout proposal for their lease with the company that owns the Verizon cell phone tower. At their August 13 meeting commissioner Bennett Blaustein reported that Landmark Dividend, a company that specializes in ground lease acquisitions, was “really pushing” to buy out the lease the district entered into with SBA Communications in 2011. SBA has also approached the district with a lease buyout offer. The lease currently pays the district $1,250 per month and contains a clause for inflation adjustments for the term of the agreement. Unsure of the length of the term, commissioners asked secretary Lynn VanBuskirk to have a copy of the lease for discussion at their September meeting. “We would get a lump sum,” Blaustein said, with initial numbers being suggested in the $200,000-$250,000 range. The land would remain the property of the park district and when the lease expired it could be renegotiated or terminated. Blaustein asked commissioner Stephen Falk to look into the proposal with him. “It looks to me like it might be the right thing to do but I want to make sure it helps the community,” he said. “I would go for a bird in the hand,” agreed commissioner Linda Hughes. She added that having the money now could allow for future investments or to enhance the park system with improvements or land acquisition. Blaustein said with cellular technology changing, the value of the tower could diminish in coming years. In 2017, he said, over 60 percent of Verizon’s new deployment was using small-cell technology rather than tower installations. “All of the cellular companies are starting to move to small cell technology and when they do they won’t need towers,” he said.
s With the snip from a large pair of scissors, Whatcom County Library Board of Trustees chair Marvin Waschke officially opened the Photo by Louise Mugar new Point Roberts Library on August 11. More photos at allpointbulletin.com
The three state district 42 races for senator and representatives in the 2018 primary showed that the current Republican incumbents have a headwind against them in the upcoming general election in November. What accounts for this turn of affairs? Were Republican voters content to let their mail-in ballots sit on the kitchen counter or were Democrats more energized than usual this go-around? Comparing countywide primary results in state representative races in 2016 ver-
MAGAZINE
By Meg OlsOn Whatcom County parks engineers are scratching their heads trying to figure out how to design a long-lasting dock for Lighthouse Marine Park. In July, the dock was taken out again after “stress cracking” was discovered throughout the structure, according to parks design and development supervisor Rod Lamb. “This was the third time it was in the
water,” Lamb confirmed. The dock was originally launched in 2015 to replace the old wooden dock that was removed from service in 2009. It failed after a month in the water and the county spent $27,000 in materials to repair it, sharing the rest of the costs with the dock manufacturer and installer. It was back in the water in mid2016 and survived the 2017 season before the current damage caused the county to pull it for public safety reasons. So why can’t a new dock be built to
withstand the same conditions the old wood and floatation foam dock put up with for 16 years with minimal annual maintenance? “It’s different than the last time,” Lamb said. “There are new requirements the old dock didn’t need to meet,” such as allowing light to penetrate to the water below. Lamb said engineers were reevaluating the design and costing out alternatives. “We will do some analysis,” Lamb said.
34
sus 2018, there were 32,490 and 32,084 total votes cast in the seats held by Luanne Van Werven and Vincent Buys respectively in 2016. In 2018, there were 41,578 and 41,520 total countywide votes cast in the same races. Republican votes increased 9.4 percent for Van Werven (18,409 in 2018 vs. 16,834 in 2016) and 14 percent for Buys (19,808 in 2018 vs. 17,408 in 2016) so Republican apathy isn’t an issue, it seems. The big news is Democratic turnout. Democratic votes in the Van Werven race
YEARS
in 2018 increased 61 percent countywide (21,101 in 2018 vs. 13,082 in 2016) and 99 percent in the Buys race (21,712 in 2018 vs. 10,867 in 2016). While state senator Doug Ericksen wasn’t up for election in 2016, results from the 2018 primary show he too has a tough horse race ahead of him. He received 19,147 votes in this primary while his two Democratic challengers combined had 22,620 votes, 3,473 more than him. Ericksen is going to need some fancy silver spurs come November.
Community Newspapers and Special Publications
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Inside
Church .............................................. 9 Classifieds ........................................ 20 Coming Up ...................................... 17 Crossings ........................................... 3 Library, Obituaries ......................... 18 Opinion .............................................. 4 Seniors ............................................ 19 Tides ................................................ 19
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December 19 - 25, 2019 • thenorthernlight.com
ADVICE FROM THE PROS
Q:
A: The main difference is the documentation required Loren Adkins Senior Real Estate Loan Officer NMLS# 643779
Office: (360) 647-4425 Cell: (360) 303-8599 loren.adkins@peoplesbank-wa.com
published monthly on the 3rd Thursday of the month
Q: How to manage Low Back Pain? A: Low back pain is a very common orthopedic
pre-qualification and pre-approval for a loan?
by the bank. Pre-qualification is a non-documented process where we ask about your financial status, such as your last two years of employment, residency, annual income, and general banking information. We use this to produce an approval letter which shows sellers that you are a serious buyer. When you have an accepted offer, we’ll request the documents required to close the loan. For pre-approval, we’ll gather the required documents up front to obtain loan approval before you even start looking for a home.
A Special Section of
A:
Q: What’s the difference between
19
Jeannett Penner, DPT,OCS, GCS Director of Rehabilitation Capstone Physical Therapy
1733 H Street, Suite 400 Blaine, WA 98230 360-332-5111 www.capstonept.com
issue. Approximately 25% of people report symptoms of low back pain. It is a condition that can be addressed with Physical Therapy. Physical Therapists at Capstone will complete a detailed evaluation, determine a treatment plan and together we will work towards your goals of reduced pain and increased activity. Treatments may include manual therapy ( soft tissue mobilization, spine mobilizations), stretches, exercises and information to reduce re-injury. Capstone PT is conveniently located in 7 locations in the county and has the most experienced team of therapists in Whatcom County. Call us today to get started with PT! 825 Birch Bay Square Street, Suite 248 Blaine, WA 98230
360-366-5511
Bellingham Real Estate Loan Center • 3100 Woburn St. • Bellingham WA, 98226
Q: What if I didn’t make any changes to my plan before the Annual Enrollment deadline of December 7th? Will I still be able to change plans now if my doctor doesn’t accept my Medicare Advantage plan in the new year?
Rachel Wallace Agent
360-734-1161
rachel@riceinsurance.com
A: In 2020, the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period will run from January 1 – March 31. If you’re enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan, you’ll have a one-time opportunity to: • Switch to a different Medicare Advantage plan • Drop your Medicare Advantage plan and return to Original Medicare, Part A and Part B • Sign up for a stand-alone Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plan (if you return to Original Medicare). Be sure to call us if you need any help.
Blaine
Cordata
Advice
from the
A: Starting in 2014, individuals were mandated to carry health insurance and
to pay a penalty for any part of the year they were not covered. In 2019, Individuals continue to be obligated to carry health insurance through their employer, the WA Health Benefit Exchange, or a private insurance that is ACA compliant. However, the Individual Mandate Penalty for non-coverage was repealed beginning January 1, 2019. Individuals who did not have health insurance in 2019 will not get an Individual Responsibility Payment (penalty) for non-coverage. However, individuals who are covered through the Health Insurance Marketplace will continue to receive Form 1095-A to reconcile the Premium Tax Credits. If the taxpayer receives Advanced Premium Tax Credits, they may be subject to repayment or receive additional credits depending on their income. Individuals covered by either a private health insurance policy or by their employer will continue to receive the Form 1095-B or 1095-C. These forms are also used for preparing your tax return but are not eligible for credits.
Cynthia Polley, Enrolled Agent 8105 Birch Bay Square St. • Suite 102
360-393-3658 • BirchBayTaxAndAccounting.com
Q: What is my home worth? A: Ever heard the saying, you can’t judge a book
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Julia Mullenix 713 3rd Street Blaine, WA 98230
(360) 922-0102
by its cover? The same goes for real estate. Clients often ask if online estimates are what their home is worth. In a world where everything is homogenous and nothing is unique, those algorithms work. In reality, you need a professional to objectively experience your home and compare it with the market. Correct square footage, remodels, style, utility, and recent or upcoming changes in community planning are just some of the variables that could make the price different from an online estimate. Even something as trivial, yet unnoticed by online estimates, as odor can make a difference. Please contact us to help determine your home’s value.
steve@peacearchrealestate.com
www.peacearchrealestate.com
20
The Northern Light • December 19 - 25, 2019
Bay Builders From Cherry Point to the Peace Arch
Great Kids Doing Great Things Featuring students of the Blaine School District
Jackson Jackson Bray, Bray, 12th 12th grade grade CharlesJackson Streeter, 12th grade Jackson works works hard hard in in everything everything he he Bray, 12th Jackson Bray, 12th 12thgrade grade grade Jackson Bray, 12th grade Charles isJackson very deserving as student of the month.
does. does. To Toworks have haveaahard student student ininyour yourclass class Jackson in he Jackson Jackson works works hard hard in ineverything everything everything he he Jackson works hard in everything he He is intelligent, honest and kind and lives his who who gives gives 100 100 percent percent is is so so amazing amazing does. student does. does.To To Tohave have haveisaaaareflected student studentin in inyour your yourclass class class does. To have student your class life with character that in everything and and makes makes teaching teaching worthwhile. worthwhile. Jackson Jackson who 100 percent is amazing who who gives 100 100 percent percent is isso so so amazing amazing who gives 100 percent is so amazing he does. He isgives agives well-rounded person involved in provides provides a a positive positive vibe vibe to to the the classroom classroom makes teaching worthwhile. Jackson and and makes makesactivities teaching teachingsuch worthwhile. worthwhile. Jackson Jackson and makes teaching worthwhile. Jackson many extraand curricular as volunteering and and isisaagreat great classmate classmate to tothe others. others. provides aaaapositive vibe classroom provides provides positive positive vibe vibe to to the the classroom classroom for Community Meals, as well asto playing piano provides positive vibe to the classroom and is a great classmate to others. and and is is a a great great classmate classmate to to others. others. for multiple community events. He also and is a great classmate to others. maintains a 3.9 GPA while taking vigorous and challenging classes including four AP classes. He is also a member of Honor Society, Jazz Band, and Math Team. In his extra time he composes his own piano pieces. Deserving Student of the Month? Yes indeed!!
Seth Seth Blomeen, Blomeen, 8th 8th grade grade Seth Blomeen, Seth Seth Blomeen, Blomeen, Blake Goltz, Seth Seth isisaahardworking hardworking 8th grade 8th 8th grade grade 8th8th grade grade student studentwho whoasks asksquestions questions
Seth is Seth Seth is isaaaahardworking hardworking hardworking Seth is hardworking Blake is ambitious to to check check his hisan understanding, understanding, student who questions student student who who asks asksstudent. questions questions student whoasks asks questions and motivated clarify clarify and and deepen deepen his his to his to tocheck check check his hisunderstanding, understanding, understanding, to check his understanding, He consistently chooses learning. learning. Seth Seth gets gets along along clarify his clarify clarify and anddeepen deepen deepen his his path clarify and deepen his the and most challenging well well with withothers others and and always always has learning. Seth along learning. learning. Seth Seth gets gets along alonghas learning. Seth gets along and rises togets the occasion. a a positive positive attitude. attitude. It’s It’s a a well always has well wellwith with withothers others others and and always always has has He alsoand asks clarifying well with others and always has pleasure pleasure to tohave have him aaaapositive attitude. It’s aahim positive positive attitude. attitude. It’s It’s questions and positive attitude. It’s aa ininclass! class! pleasure to pleasure pleasure to tohave have have him him listens to him pleasure to have him in in inclass! class! class! feedback. in class!
Steven Steven Reimer, Reimer, Isaac Bouma, 5th 5th grade grade Steven Reimer, Steven Reimer, Steven Reimer, 4th grade Steven Steven isisaagood goodfriend friendto to
5th 5th 5thgrade grade grade 5th grade Isaac is aHe true leader. He others. others. is kind, kind, helpful, helpful, Steven is aaaais good friend Steven Steven is isHe good good friend friend to to Steven is good friend to sets a positive example into and and encourages encourages others. others. others. He is kind, helpful, others. others. He He is is kind, kind, helpful, helpful, others. He is kind, helpful, everything he to does. Isaac likes Steven Steven loves loves tohelp help ininthe the and encourages others. and and encourages encourages others. others. and encourages others. to challenge himself and classroom classroom with withdifferent different jobs jobs that Steven loves to in the Steven Steven loves loves to tohelp help help in in the thethat Steven loves to help in the has abe growth mindset need need to to be done. done. Thank Thank you you classroom with different that classroom classroom with withthings different different jobs jobs that that classroom with different jobs that when arejobs hard. Steven Steven for for making making our ouryou need to be done. Thank need need to to be be done. done. Thank Thank you you needWe to be done. Thank you soour lucky to have class classare and and our school school Steven for making our Steven Steven for for making making our our Steven for making our Isaac in our class and aafabulous fabulous place place to to class and school class class and andour our our school school class and our school school! learn. learn. aaaafabulous fabulous fabulousplace place placeto to to fabulous place to learn. learn. learn. learn.
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Richard12th Monnik, Sienna Sienna Boucher, Boucher, 12th grade grade 12th grade As a teacher in a small, tight-knit community, we Sienna Siennaisis motivated motivatedto to succeed. succeed. Sienna 12th grade Sienna Boucher, 12th 12th grade grade Sienna Boucher, Boucher, 12th grade get to know students quite well, especially when we
She Shecomes comes to tois class class prepared prepared to tolearn, learn, Sienna motivated to Sienna Sienna is is motivated motivated to tosucceed. succeed. succeed. Sienna is motivated to succeed. haveassignments. them in class for four years. Ricky is one of and and tackles tackles tough tough assignments. She She Shecomes comes comesto to toclass class classprepared prepared preparedto to tolearn, learn, learn, She comes to class prepared to learn, those students who is a pleasure to teach, as he is She Sheasks asks thought-provoking questions questions and tackles and andthought-provoking tackles tacklestough tough toughassignments. assignments. assignments. and tackles tough assignments. continuously that thatasks make makethought-provoking class classintriguing intriguingfor for others. others. striving to better himself and all She questions She She asks asks thought-provoking thought-provoking questions questions She asks thought-provoking questions those around him. He takes classes that This This attitude attitude and andher her wonderful wonderful smile that make intriguing for others. that that make makeclass class class intriguing intriguing for forsmile others. others. that make class intriguing for others. challenge his learning, along with taking will will take take her far farininlife. life. This and her wonderful smile This Thisattitude attitude attitude and and her herher wonderful wonderful smile smile This attitude and her wonderful smile advantage of being in the Highly Capable will will willtake take takeher her herfar far farin in inlife. life. life. Program. He’s also active in the SWAP will take her far in life. club - Students With a Purpose - where students put on activities that motivate others to do the right thing. Ricky is the kind of person we are proud producing here at BHS for we know that whatever his plans are after graduation, he will benefit his surroundings.
Morgan Morgan Zasccheo, Zasccheo, 7th 7th grade grade Morgan Morgan Zasccheo, Allena DeSoto, Morgan Zasccheo, Zasccheo, Morgan Morgan has hasshown shownher her 8th grade 7th grade 7th 7th grade grade 7th grade
dedication dedication to toshown academics. academics. Allena is dedicated Morgan her Morgan Morganhas has has shown shown her her Morgan has shown her She She is is incredibly incredibly bright brightand and to her own academic dedication to academics. dedication dedication to to academics. academics. dedication to academics. articulate. articulate. She She is is willing willing success and pursuingShe She Sheis is isincredibly incredibly incrediblybright bright brightand and and She is incredibly bright and to share share her her ideas, ideas, which which her curiosity. She to articulate. articulate. articulate.She She Sheis is iswilling willing willing articulate. She is willing enriches enriches the thework work ofofthe the typically exceeds to her which to toshare share share her herideas, ideas, ideas, which which to share her ideas, which whole whole class. class. It It is is expectations in enriches enriches enrichesthe the thework work workof of ofthe the the enriches the work of the such suchclass. aapleasure pleasure her writing, she asks whole ItItItItis whole whole class. class. is is whole class. is to tohave have her herinin clarifying questions, such aaaapleasure such such pleasure pleasure such pleasure class! class! and she won’t let to to tohave have haveher her herin in in to have her in anyone steer her class! class! class! class! off her path.
Carrie Carrie Balback, Balback,1st 1stgrade grade Ruby Dozier, Carrie Carrie is is a a delightful delightful first first grader! grader! Carrie Carrie CarrieBalback, Balback, Balback,1st 1st 1stgrade grade grade 1st grade 1stisisis grade She She isishelpful, helpful, attentive, attentive, Carrie a delightful first grader! Carrie Carrie a a delightful delightful first first grader! grader! Carrie isis aadelightful first grader! Ruby wonderful first smart smart and and kind. kind. She She isisdoing doing She isis attentive, She She ishelpful, helpful, helpful, attentive, attentive, She is helpful, attentive, grader! She job is hard working, a a terrific terrific job of of creating creating high high smart smart smartand and andkind. kind. kind.She She Sheisis isdoing doing doing smart and kind. She is doing attentive, kind and helpful! quality quality work work and and working working on on task. task. aaaterrific terrific terrificjob job jobof of ofcreating creating creatinghigh high high terrific job of creating high She atakes an enthusiastic I’m I’mand especially especially impressed impressed quality working on quality qualitywork work work and and working working on ontask. task. task. quality work and working on task. interestwith in all our studies with Carrie’s Carrie’s reading reading ability. ability. I’m impressed I’m I’mespecially especially especially impressed impressed I’m especially impressed and is She aShe great role model loves loves to to read read and and isis with reading with withCarrie’s Carrie’s Carrie’s reading reading ability. ability. with Carrie’s reading ability. for starting our class! Shelonger, is a ability. starting to to read read longer, She She Sheloves loves loves to toItread read read and andisis is She loves to read and is good friend to all!to is aand more more challenging challenging books books starting to read longer, starting starting to to read read longer, longer, starting toteacher!! read longer, joy to be her with with enthusiasm! enthusiasm! more books more morechallenging challenging challenging books books more challenging books with enthusiasm! with with enthusiasm! enthusiasm! with enthusiasm!
Jennifer Jennifer LaFoy, LaFoy, 4th 4th grade grade Jennifer Jennifer is is an an amazing amazing young young Moroni Bennett, Jennifer LaFoy, 4th Jennifer LaFoy, 4th 4thgrade grade grade Jennifer LaFoy, 4th grade 5th grade lady. lady.Every Every day day she shecomes comes Jennifer is amazing young Jennifer Jennifer isisan an an amazing amazing young young Jennifer is an amazing young Moroni has been a to to class class early early to help help pass pass lady. Every day she comes lady. lady. Every Every day dayto she she comes comes lady. Every day she comes hard worker this year out out Chrome Chrome books. books. She She has has to to toclass class classearly early earlyto to tohelp help helppass pass pass to class early to help pass and is always working aapositive positive attitude attitude about about out out outChrome Chrome Chromebooks. books. books.She She Shehas has has out Chrome books. She has to improve. Everyday everything we we do doand and always always aaeverything positive attitude about a positive positive attitude attitude about about attitude about he comes to school a positive encourages encourages others others to to everything we everything everything we wedo do doand and andalways always always everything we do and always with a smile on his do do their their best best work. work. encourages encourages encouragesothers others othersto to to encourages others to face and is ready We We look lookbest forward forward to to do their work. do do their their best best work. work. do their best work. to learn. Great seeing seeing Jennifer’s We look forward We We look lookJennifer’s forward forwardto to to We look forward to job, Moroni! smile smile daily. daily. seeing seeing seeingJennifer’s Jennifer’s Jennifer’s seeing Jennifer’s smile smile smiledaily. daily. daily. smile daily.
Evan Evan Larsen, Larsen, 1st 1stgrade grade Evan Evanis is an an attentive, attentive, kind kind hearted, hearted, Porter Reneau, Evan Evan EvanLarsen, Larsen, Larsen,1st 1st 1stgrade grade grade 1st grade 1st grade and and hardworking hardworking first first grader! grader! Evan is an attentive, kind hearted, Evan Evan is is an an attentive, attentive, kind kind hearted, hearted, Evan is an attentive, kind hearted, Porter isalways a fabulous first He He always works works on on task task and and and hardworking first grader! and and hardworking hardworking first first grader! grader! hardworking first grader! grader!and He makes us laugh stays stays focused focused to to complete complete He He Healways always alwaysworks works workson on ontask task taskand and and He works on task and every dayalways with his funny sense assignments assignments in in a a timely timely manner. manner. stays stays staysfocused focused focusedto to tocomplete complete complete stays focused to complete ofHis humor! He works on His reading reading skills skills are aretask blossoming blossoming assignments in manner. assignments assignments in inaaaatimely timely timely manner. manner. assignments in timely manner. to because get all hisofofassignments because his his hard hard work. What What His reading are blossoming His His reading readingskills skills skills are arework. blossoming blossoming His reading skills are blossoming completed with quality! really really impresses impresses me me about about because because becauseof of ofhis his hishard hard hardwork. work. work.What What What because of his hard work. What HeEvan is impressive with his Evan isis his hismath math ability. ability. really impresses me really really impresses impresses me meabout about about really impresses me about math computation skills! He He loves loves to tosolve solve Evan is math ability. Evan ishis his his math math ability. ability. Evan is his math ability. HeEvan is a is kind boy and problems problems and and He loves to solve He He loves loves to to solve solve He loves to solve hisfind smile brightens our find solutions. solutions. IIlove love problems and problems problems and and problems and classroom! having having Evan Evanininclass! class! find solutions. I love find find solutions. solutions. I I love love find solutions. I love having having havingEvan Evan Evanin in inclass! class! class! having Evan in class!
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