Dear Watchers: The article “The Nooksack River: A Treasure to Preserve: Part 1” in the March 2019 issue of Whatcom Watch provides an excellent overview of the Nooksack watershed. The author uses my book “Nooksack Place Names” as his primary source for native names and traditions in this area. (1) [Read More...]
Dear Watchers: A response to Dick Conoboy about his “Climate Chaos, Tipping Points and The Final Buzzer” article in the January issue. It’s certainly a well-intended piece. And I thank him for it. However, one problem is that it implies an overstatement of the chaos or butterfly effect. That is, [Read More...]
Dear Watchers, Ranked Choice Voting (RCV), the method described in the October/November 2018 Whatcom Watch article, would not have been useful for all races in the recent midterm elections because RCV is only appropriate when more than two candidates are on the ballot. Where appropriate, however, RCV has clear advantages as [Read More...]
Dear Watchers: In reference to “Brain on Fire” by Susannah Cabalan … Looking at the medical profession from the point of view of a journalist, doctors are pretty good at answering the Who, When, and Where, but dismal at What, Why and How. And if you are the Who, you [Read More...]
Hello again, Whatcom Watch readers. I say again because some of you might remember me as the managing editor of Whatcom Watch from June 2000 until July 2009. Times have changed, haven’t they? And, this little gem of a paper keeps chugging along, all the while since 1992. I stepped [Read More...]
Dear Watchers, Stunned, shocked and stupefied by the Ericksen ad. You call yourselves a “grassroots environmental newspaper”? Hah! It’s common knowledge that Doug Ericksen is an enemy of Washington’s increasingly fragile environment. Shame on you! Warren Sheay Bellingham Editor’s Note: We sent an email message to Warren after we received [Read More...]
Dear Watchers, The 42nd District needs new representation! It is hard to fathom how Luanne Van Werven can be so out of touch with us, her constituents, with regard to the environment. During this year’s legislative session, she voted against a bill phasing out toxic chemicals from food packaging. Against [Read More...]
by Bob Schober This is my last issue as managing editor of Whatcom Watch. My wife and I are retiring from work and will spend the next several months wandering around the West, stopping to join protests to save public lands, monuments and national parks from decimation. Pushing back has [Read More...]
by Bob Schober I woke up the other morning and, for the first time in my 70 years, I worried about my country. I was a healthy, virile, potential cannon-fodder college student during the Vietnam years who watched Walter Cronkite every night, but I wasn’t worried then. I knew that [Read More...]
Dan Reese by Dan Reese This is a period of transition for the Whatcom Watch. With our longtime editor, Bob Schober, moving on, we’re searching for a replacement editor interested in guiding the paper going forward. The job is an unusual one as there is no Whatcom Watch [Read More...]