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The Northern Light • June 10 - 16, 2021
The Northern L ght 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 Grace McCarthy grace@pointrobertspress.com Reporter Ian Haupt ian@pointrobertspress.com Reporting Intern Nolan Baker, Sienna Boucher prpintern@pointrobertspress.com Creative Services Ruth Lauman, Doug De Visser production@pointrobertspress.com Office Manager Jeanie Luna info@pointrobertspress.com Advertising Sales Molly Ernst sales@pointrobertspress.com General Editorial Inquiries editor@pointrobertspress.com The Northern Light 225 Marine Drive, Suite 200, Blaine, WA 98230 Tel: 360/332-1777 Vol XXVI, No 51 Circulation: 10,500 copies
Circulation Independently verified by:
Next issue: June 17 Ads due: June 11
Letters The Editor: Puget Sound Energy (PSE) raises our rates every year. The company is asking for the Utilities and Transportation Commission’s (UTC) approval again. The problem is UTC turns a blind eye to the following blaring facts: PSE paid (2019) their top 5 CEOs almost $40 million over 3 years in salaries, incentives, compensations and bonuses. It took in $3.4 billion in energy revenue (2019). PSE belongs to a group of five utility companies called Investor-Owned Utilities (IOU) that service electric and gas customers across Washington. They are monopoly franchises and they exist to make profits for their shareholders. The IOU paid out a total of $395.3 million in dividends in 2019. PSE takes in over $100 million every month from electric customers alone. The company is allowed to include raising our rates due to “decreasing customer electricity usage” (we use less electricity because we can’t afford the higher prices). The UTC gave PSE an order for a sharing mechanism that requires PSE and its customers to share in any earnings in excess of the authorized rate of return of 7.6 percent. This has never happened, while PSE has become a money making, profit-churning machine. We shouldn’t have to pay for an overly top-heavy utility company with way too much money floating around at the top. There are obviously conflicts of interest here. How is it that PSE’s millions and billions of dollars in wealth at the top has never trickled down to the bottom to translate into savings to lower our electric rates? Originally, UTC was established to protect the needs of the customers. UTC says it has to “ensure rates are fair, just and reasonable for all interests involved.” Shareholders’ interests/needs refers to money made, while customers’ interests/needs refers to being able to pay their PSE bill and still feed their families. Who has the greatest need? The already wealthy becoming wealthier, or the people trying to keep warm in the winter and struggling to feed their families? Cindy Kisska Birch Bay
The Editor: Blaine is a home to many objects of street art, especially on Peace Portal Drive and H Street. However, these pieces of art are currently in a state of neglect. Let us restore and beautify these streetart objects. Now that we are looking forward to the reopening of the border, time is just right for renovating and beautifying these objects that would charm tourists, shoppers and residents alike. One of the best street objects among all is perhaps the stone bust of Joan of Arc. It lies almost hidden in the overgrowth of plants on H Street. If a small area is cleared around the bust, it would again attract the attention of passersby. Also, there is a beautiful stone carving of a tortoise on Peace Portal Drive needing a pedestal to bring it into prominence. There are two wooden sculptures of owls on H Street. They lie hidden at a height of about 15 feet on less visible sides of the building. I wish both owls were painted and brought from the sides of the building to the H Street facade. Many objects of street art made from welded-iron (for example, a butterfly, storks, flag-holder, seagull, windmill, etc.) need a little sandblasting and then painting them using multiple bright colors. Restoration of these art-objects is not expensive. It would be a very low-cost project and yet would transform the streets and make Blaine a more charming city, would make residents proud of their prowess at creativity and make our town stunningly beautiful. For the further involvement of the community in this creative activity, they can invite more objects of street-art from the annual Peace Arch Park Sculpture Exhibition and from the art competitions in schools of Blaine. The city of Blaine could organize ‘spotting’ competitions for spotting of streetart-objects on occasions of Christmas or the Fourth of July, giving away small prizes to winners. I hope these suggestions can help boost the street-art scene of Blaine. Nilesh Shukla Blaine
The Editor: The Blaine Harbor Music Festival (BHMF) is pleased to announce that we have reduced the fee to attend our virtual camp during the week of July 12-18 to a flat rate of $100. This amount will cover as many classes as students aged 12-20 can fit into their schedules, a virtual musical buffet to choose from. Adults (ages 21+) can also participate in several of these courses for the same tuition. The same faculty members who have been the cornerstones for many years of our live camps will teach the classes. We look forward to welcoming back current students as well as BHMF “alums,” and to offering this remarkable experience to musicians young and old around the world. As friends of the BHMF, please spread the word. The entire program is presented in detail at our new website: blaineharbormusicfestival.org. Please visit it, sign up and also share this incredible opportunity with anyone who loves music. See you in July! Bryan Johnson, Blaine Harbor Music Festival president Blaine
Prizes ...
Proof of Washington residency is required to obtain the items, but proof of citizenship is not, according to the governor’s office. The sooner people get vaccinated, the sooner they will be included in the draw. Get vaccinated and win a vehicle in Whatcom County Whatcom County residents 18 and up who receive their first Covid-19 vaccine between June 1 and July 31 are eligible to win any vehicle, as long as it doesn’t exceed $60,000, Chuckanut Health Foundation announced June 3. Chuckanut Health Foundation, Bellingham Regional Chamber of Commerce and
Whatcom County Health Department are organizing the drawing, with registration opening Tuesday, June 15. Vaccination proof isn’t required when entering the drawing and people don’t need to be fully vaccinated by the drawing date, but the car will only be awarded after the winner is fully vaccinated. Joints for Jabs The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board is providing a temporary license for cannabis retailers to hand out one pre-roll joint to people vaccinated at their cannabis store. The license is effective June 7 to July 12 and joints will only be given to those 21 years of age or older.
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Association of Washington Business. The state Department of Health will give out $500,000 in gift cards, Washington State Parks will give out 80 gift cards for one week of free camping, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife will give out 80 $100 gift certificates for fishing and hunting licenses, and 400 Discover Passes will be handed out. Participants can only win one prize and must call a Washington State Lottery representative within 72 hours.
The Editor: I live in Bellingham but visit Blaine fairly frequently to enjoy dining, mainly at the Drayton Harbor Oyster Company. On several occasions I have noticed one of your citizens out mowing city right of way property. I am not sure you are aware of this but wanted to bring it to your attention. Apparently he has been doing it for a number of years and on a regular basis. It strikes me as quite uncommon to have a citizen with such community pride to put forth the effort and time improving one’s city. I did find out his name, Mike Hill, owner of the Chevron Station next to Starbucks. Possibly a good community interest story! Thank you for your time. Wayne Harrington Bellingham Please send letters to letters@thenorthernlight.com no later than noon on Monday.
Civic Meetings Birch Bay Water & Sewer District: Second and fourth Thursdays, 4 p.m., district offices, 7096 Point Whitehorn Road, Birch Bay. Info and Zoom meeting link: bbwsd.com.
Blaine-Birch Bay Park and Recreation: Second Tuesday, 5:30 p.m., location varies. Info: bbbparkandrec.org. Virtual meeting info: bbbparkandrec.org/board-meetings.
Blaine City Council: Second and fourth Mondays, 6 p.m., Blaine City Council chambers, 435 Martin Street. Info and virtual meeting login: ci.blaine.wa.us.
Blaine Park and Cemetery Board: Second Thursday, 9 a.m., virtual meeting. Info: 360/332-8311, ext. 3330.
Blaine Planning Commission: Second and fourth Thursdays, 6 p.m. Info: blainepc@cityofblaine.com. Info for joining Zoom meetings: bit.ly/2CiMKnk.
Blaine School Board: Fourth Monday, 7 p.m., Blaine school district offices. Info and virtual meeting link: blainesd.org. North Whatcom Fire & Rescue: Third Thursday, 1 p.m. Info: nwfrs.net.
