September 2017 (volume 26, issue 9)

Finding a Home for Farmworkers

by Andrew Wise Regulators and Non-profits Work to Improve Housing Conditions The air hung heavy with wildfire smoke and a muggy 83 degrees on August 2, the day Honesto Ibarra started feeling ill while working in the blueberry fields at … Continue reading

Prepping for Doomsday

by John Simmons Many people in the Northwest are expecting the Big One. The Cascadia Subduction Zone, stretching 700 miles from California to Vancouver, British Columbia, releases a major earthquake approximately every 300 – 400 years. The last one occurred … Continue reading

Late Summer Birding

by Joe Meche I’ve written before about the dog days of birding and this summer has proven beyond a doubt that they exist. These are the times that try a birder’s soul because birds are painfully scarce in most habitats, … Continue reading

What Government is Governing?

by Robert Duke Quest lab debacle raises question: If not to protect citizens from harm by fellow citizens, natural disasters or business interests, what is government for? In particular, what are the state’s attorney general’s office and the health department’s … Continue reading

Sport Crabbing Needs In-season Management

by Lorraine Loomis The same principles we use to manage many of our salmon fisheries should be used t0 regulate recreational harvest of Dungeness crab in Puget Sound. During most chinook salmon fisheries, we develop in-season estimates using catch data … Continue reading

Bellingham City Council

Action Taken at July 10, 2017 Meeting Shall the council: 115. Conditionally approve the Jail Facility Financing and Use Agreement? Council will approve the interlocal agreement if the JFFUA is approved by the City Council with the mayor’s signature dependent … Continue reading

Whatcom County Council

Compiled by Barry MacHale Action Taken at July 11, 2017 Meeting Shall the council: 129. Approve a memorandum of agreement with the the city of Bellingham? At the 6/9/2015 meeting, vote #108, the County Council created the Incarceration Prevention and … Continue reading

Port of Bellingham

Compiled by Andrew S. McBride Action Taken at July 5, 2017 meeting Editor’s Note: Commissioner Bobby Briscoe participated via a communications link from his fishing boat in Alaskan waters. Shall the commission: 88. Modify a harbor land lease (amendment #2) … Continue reading

Page 2 – Primary Election Results

Primary Election Results — 2017 Page 1

                           

A Winter Fortress

by Peter Heffelfinger September is the turn of the year from expansive heat and sun to the oncoming cool rains and cloudy days. I often think of the oncoming fall season as the slow start of a gradual siege that … Continue reading

Violence in Virginia

by Sharon Robinson As a First Amendment warrior, I fight for your right to speak all things hateful to my values. As a victim of malicious slander, I know the need for restraint. There are two sides to the freedom … Continue reading

poetrywatch.

Boris Schleinkofer, poetrywatch editor “When power leads man toward arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power narrows the area of man’s concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses.” — … Continue reading

Development May Saddle Bellingham With Untold Millions in Water Treatment Costs

by Al Hanners To celebrate 26 years of publishing Whatcom Watch, we are printing excerpts from 20 years ago. The below excerpts are from the September 1997 issue of Whatcom Watch. Editor’s Note: The city of Bellingham published 28 issues … Continue reading

Lisa Voigt, Tutor with Whatcom Literacy Council

by Kathryn Fentress Since 1978, the Whatcom Literacy Council has been helping adults in Whatcom County improve their literacy skills and learn English. Through customized individual tutoring and focused, small group classes, adult learners acquire critical skills needed to become … Continue reading

Time to Call Out the Hypocrites

by Bob Schober This section is devoted to studying the local impacts of specific issues the Trump Administration or Republican Congress will propose. “The Bible insists that the best test of a nation’s righteousness is how it treats the poorest … Continue reading

“History Is Watching Us All”

by Lyle Harris Sr. Even before the tragic events in Charlottesville in which Heather D. Heyer was killed when white supremacist James Alex Fields Jr. rammed his car into a group of protestors, two Republican senators, Jeff Flake of Arizona … Continue reading

Death Takes Death Café Founder

by Robert Duke Life asked Death, why do people love me but hate you?
 Death responded:
Because you’re a beautiful Lie and I’m painful Truth! Francis Bacon I’ve told my children that when I die, to release balloons in the sky … Continue reading