October 15 - 21, 2020
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IN THIS
ISSUE
WSDA tries again to track invasive hornet, page 6
Thanks to generous donation CAP has a home base, page 7
Local “speed shooters” go to worlds, page 8
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
Vote early and Community Assistance Program gets a home other advice for the general election By Oliver Lazenby Ballots for the November 3 general election were mailed on October 14 and Whatcom County auditor Diana Bradrick advised voters to return their ballots quickly. Typically, about half of Whatcom County ballots are returned on election week, Bradrick said. That creates a flood of work for the election office, slowing the vote count. “The earlier we get them, the easier it is to spread the work out,” Bradrick said. “The more ballots we get early, the more ballots we’re going to have tallied on election night.” Voters who don’t get their ballot by Wednesday, October 21, should contact the auditor’s office to get a replacement. In Washington state, most voters return their ballot by mail or use ballot drop boxes. Voters who need audio and visual assistance or other reasonable accommodations may vote using the “accessible voting unit” in the auditor’s office starting October 14. The postal service recommends that people mail their ballot back by Tuesday, October 27 to make sure it’s postmarked by Election Day. After that, it would be better to use a drop box. Voting by mail doesn’t require a postage stamp. Though Bradrick has heard people question whether they should use the U.S. Postal Service for this election, she said she’s confident in the agency’s ability to deliver ballots. “It’s really important that people understand they can trust the postal service. I don’t know if they will, just because I said so, but really, they can trust the postal service and should feel they can use the postal service,” Bradrick said. Washington Secretary of State Kim Wyman also said she expects USPS ballot delivery and return services to work without significant delay or interruption, as always. “In our decades-long experience with mail-in voting, we remain confident in our partnership with the U.S. Postal Service and its ability to continue delivering the same outstanding service to voters, the Office of the Secretary of State, and Washington’s 39 county election officials,” Wyman said in an August press release. The other option is to turn your ballot
s Dan DeMent, executive director for the Community Assistance Program, outside the former Freedom Community Church at 508 G Street. The church donated the building to CAP after it closed its doors. See the story on page 7. Photo by Oliver Lazenby
(See Ballots, page 2)
People for Sharon Shewmake
Group wins important FOIA ruling over CBP The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) won an important skirmish in its fight to obtain documents from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regarding the January 2020 crackdown on travelers of Iranian backgrounds crossing into the U.S. at the Peace Arch port of entry. In an October 5 ruling, Judge Ricardo S. Martinez of the U.S. District Court Western District of Washington in Seattle ordered CBP to turn over documents that CAIR sought in a January 8 Freedom of Information Act request but had either not received or were redacted to the point of uselessness. Following the January 3 killing of Iranian General Qassim Suleimani in a U.S. drone strike, CBP Seattle Field Office’s tactical analytical unit issued a “high alert” stating “all persons (males and females) born after 1961 and born before 2001 with links (POB,
travel, citizenship)” to Palestine, Lebanon or Iran were to be vetted with extra questioning on their entry to the U.S. from B.C. Consequently, numerous U.S. citizens and resident green card holders of Iranian heritage were detained and held for hours and subjected to enhanced questioning. On January 5, CAIR issued a press release that suggested that CBP had issued a directive calling for detaining Iranian-Americans; an assertion that was quickly denied by the CBP. In a national news break, The Northern Light published on January 29 the CBP directive issued on January 3 that called for the detentions and contradicted the statements previously made by the agency. (Ed. note: The Northern Light and writers Patrick Grubb and Jami Makan were awarded two 1st place awards in various news categories for its coverage in the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association’s 2020 Better Newspaper Awards an-
Blaine’s Holiday Harbor Lights Fundraiser Let’s light up downtown Blaine this holiday season by celebrating our seaside location with nautical theme street pole ornament displays. Blaine Chamber of Commerce and Wildbird Charity are teaming up to accept (tax deductible) donations to purchase these light displays to decorate downtown this holiday season. For more info visit: blainechamber.com New Sponsors: Jen Freeman & Leah Crews @ Windermere Real Estate
nounced on October 9.) Following CBP’s failure to respond to CAIR’s request within statutory time requirements (20 days), the organization filed suit on February 12. (See CBP, page 3)
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