Every picture tells a story

whatcom falls water color full size
Welcome to Noisy Waters Northwest! Many facts, figures, stories, and perspectives are, sadly, often unheralded in Whatcom County, Washington.  Click on the title of items on our story board for a refreshing splash of information that won’t be held back. There is a search page to search all information on this blog site. All posts note their categories of commentary or news related content. Continue reading

Current Whatcom County Justice Project needs assessment was not comprehensive / Noisy Waters Northwest

Click the screenshot from a portion of the Summary section The Vida Agency Draft Research Report Justice Project Engagement Findings to access the draft report

March 23, 2023 Dena Jensen

Here is an excerpt from Stakeholder Advisory Committee (SAC) for the Whatcom County Justice Project December 15, 2022 10:00 – 12:00 pm Meeting Minutes

“TVA [The Vida Agency who created the Public Engagement Plan for the needs assessment] conducted 6 listening sessions with 29 participants, and 8 informal interviews. The participants included representatives of immigrant communities, Lummi Nation, and formerly incarcerated people and their families.

• It is important to keep in mind the small sample size when interpreting the results.”

Continue reading

Farmworkers hold their 10th Annual Farmworker Tribunal at the Capitol / Press release, Community to Community Development

March 14, 2023 Press release, Community to Community Development

For Immediate Release:  

For a Just and Resilient Food System, Nothing about us without us! Farmworkers hold their 10th Annual Farmworker Tribunal at the Capitol 

OLYMPIA, WASHINGTON – Community to Community and Familias Unidas por la Justicia hold their 10th Annual Farmworker Tribunal at the State Capitol today in Cherberg JAC at 1:30 pm. The tribunal is an opportunity for lawmakers and allies to witness the power, vision, and self-determination of the Farmworker Movement. 

Continue reading

Whatcom County Council Committee of the Whole 2022 searchable meeting minutes / Noisy Waters Northwest

March 8, 2023 Dena Jensen

In this blog post, folks can find the meeting minutes for all of Whatcom County Council’s 2022 Committee of the Whole meetings that can be browsed or searched for information of interest related to that committee’s proceedings. This is the second group of government agency committee meeting minutes I have assembled, having previously put together posts with minutes of one year of Bellingham City Council Committee of the Whole meetings, along with a couple years of regular council meetings for Whatcom County and City of Bellingham.

Continue reading

Work in progress: Whatcom County Council 2023 searchable meeting minutes

March 6, 2023 Dena Jensen

In this post – which will be a work in progress during the course of this year – you’ll find the content of the Whatcom County Council regular meeting minutes that have been approved so far for 2023, here in one place. This allows folks to search on things like key words, topics, dates, public hearings, and people’s names. For each meeting date, a link is also provided near the top of that edition of minutes to access the agenda and media associated with that particular meeting.

Continue reading

Reordering Justice Project Stakeholder Advisory Committee facility recommendations / Letter to Whatcom County Council and the SAC

March 6, 2023 Dena Jensen

On February 21, 2021 Whatcom County Council voted 7-0 to approve a resolution accepting the the Justice Project Needs Assessment Report. The report includes many recommendations developed during the Stakeholder Advisory Committee needs assessment process, including one to “build a new jail.” The County will now be moving forward with an implementation plan. The resolution states that part of the plan will be efforts to hear our input.

Continue reading

Work in progress: Bellingham City Council 2023 searchable meeting minutes / Noisy Waters Northwest

February 18, 2023 Dena Jensen

In this post – which will be a work in progress during the course of this year – you’ll find the content of the City of Bellingham’s City Council regular meeting minutes that have been approved so far for 2023, here in one place. This allows folks to search on things like key words, topics, dates, public hearings, and people’s names. For each meeting date, a link is also provided near the top of that edition of minutes to access the agenda and media associated with that particular meeting.

Continue reading

February 7 severe weather sheltering update reveals need to prioritize funding / Noisy Waters Northwest

February 16, 2023 Dena Jensen

Time to call on Whatcom County Council Members to be proactive in making sheltering a priority. Contact info is at the bottom of this post.

With forecasted lows in the 20s starting to show up for next week this time, it’s all the more relevant to consider the on-the-fly severe weather shelter update that Whatcom County Health Department’s Community Health and Services Manager Ann Beck gave to Whatcom County Council’s 2/7/23 Finance and Administrative Services Committee which I’m including in this post.

Continue reading

Bellingham City Council Committee of the Whole 2022 searchable meeting minutes / Noisy Waters Northwest

February 10, 2023 Dena Jensen

In this blog post, folks can find the meeting minutes for all of Bellingham City Council’s 2022 Committee of the Whole meetings that can be browsed or searched for information of interest related to that committee’s proceedings. This is the first group of government agency committee meeting minutes I have assembled, having previously put together posts with minutes of a couple years of regular council meetings for Whatcom County and City of Bellingham.

Continue reading

Whatcom County Council 2021 searchable meeting minutes / Noisy Waters Northwest

January 26, 2023 Dena Jensen

Two years worth of Whatcom County Council searchable meeting minutes (2021 and 2022) are now available here on Noisy Waters Northwest. This post continues to build on a project of assembling local government meeting minutes into year-long batches that can be searched for material like terms or actions of the members of the body that is meeting.

Continue reading