Compiled by Boris Schleinkofer Action Taken at October 9, 2017 Meeting Shall the council: 164. Authorize the mayor to sign an agreement (amendment #1) with the Port of Bellingham for infrastructure installation on Granary Avenue and Laurel Street? The city has opened bids and is preparing to award the project [Read More...]
Action Taken at August 15, 2017 Meeting Shall the commission: 106. Authorize the sale of two vessels for the nonpayment of moorage fees? Auctions are scheduled to be held in Blaine on September 7 for a 37-foot cruiser with unpaid moorage fees of $2,173 and on September 8 in Bellingham [Read More...]
Compiled by Barry MacHale Action Taken at August 8, 2017 Meeting Shall the council: 145. Appoint one councilmember to the Behavioral Health Advisory Committee? At the 4/18/2017 meeting, vote #73, the council combinded the Behavioral Health Advisory Board and the Chemical Dependency/Mental Health Revenue Fund Oversight Advisory Committee. The re-structured [Read More...]
by Ray Kamada Part II What a difference a decade makes. In the summer of 2008, then-congressman Jay Inslee (D-WA) grilled commodity traders and oil execs as to why crude oil had rocketed to $146 a barrel. (1) Gasoline had hit $4.11 a gallon and U.S. citizens were getting gouged, [Read More...]
This section is devoted to studying the local impacts of specific issues the Trump Administration or Republican Congress will propose. by Lyle Harris Sr. Why does politics escape careful examination? Why do some people in their professional field quickly distinguish falsehood from fact and rarely fall for unreliable information, but [Read More...]
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.” — John F. Kennedy Poetry has a voice in our community, [Read More...]
by Eric Hirst With rare exceptions, everyone in Washington must have a water right to legally draw water from streams, rivers, lakes or from groundwater wells. Some farmers in Whatcom County, however, are using water without state authorization. Informal and undocumented estimates from the Washington Department of Ecology, the Nooksack [Read More...]
by Robert A. Duke A Salute to Inspired Citizen Healthcare Where do caregivers go when they lose their patients? It rarely ends any other way, but when patient and caregiver are separated by institutional care, hospice or death, the end of caregiving leaves the caregiver stunned, grieving and adrift. Regardless [Read More...]
This excerpt is from the December 1997 issue of Whatcom Watch. by Nicole Oliver On November 18, 1997, a pilot project to clean up the contaminated sediments in Bellingham Bay was unveiled to the public in an information fair at the Bellingham Cruise Terminal. The Bellingham Bay Demonstration Pilot Project [Read More...]
I am concerned about the city of Bellingham’s Home Rehabilitation Program. The intention of repairing safety items with a low interest loan is great; however, they require you to use contractors which they have vetted and have legal qualifications met, (licensure) but there is no guarantee of the quality of [Read More...]