Farm Workforce Modernization Act poses setbacks for workers and growers / Noisy Waters Northwest

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Community members, along with representatives of Community to Community Development and Familias Unidas por la Justicia join in a 2019 People’s Tribunal addressing the mistreatment of H-2A farmworkers at Crystal View Raspberry Farm in Bellingham, WA

November 30, 2019  Dena Jensen

Update, December 14, 2019: On Thursday December 12, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, HR 5038, was passed out of the House in the Congress. It now moves to the United States Senate.

Local farmworker advocacy organizations, Community to Community Development,  and Familias Unidas por la Justicia have been of significant support to H-2A visa workers, locally in Whatcom County, and in other areas in the state, as they were in June of 2019 in Grant County, Washington, at the King Fuji Ranch in Mattewa. Continue reading →

Tony Larson and the Business and Commerce Committee campaign against Cherry Point amendments / Noisy Waters Northwest

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November 14, 2019  Dena Jensen

It is surely fitting for protectors of Native American treaty rights and the Salish Sea to be enjoying a collective sigh of relief due to the defeat of Tony Larson’s 2019 campaign to become Whatcom County Executive.  The particular disaster of a man becoming County Executive, who had championed a proposed coal terminal project at Xwe’chi’eXen that was in opposition to the wishes and treaty rights of Lummi Nation, was averted. Continue reading →

Turning out votes in Blue Bellingham / Corky Nouveau

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November 3, 2019  Corky Nouveau

Corky fired up the MiniVan for a tour of one of the city’s neighborhoods to check up on the Hamsters’ participation in the election cycle. Only a few were flagged as “Voted,” so it was turn-out-the-base time in Blue Bellingham to counteract the efforts by the tarred and feathered candidates to turn out their Tea Party/Trumper settler base.  Continue reading →

Building industry political committee boosts underhanded tactics; Fleetwood returns check/ Noisy Waters Northwest

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October 25, 2019  Dena Jensen

Last month, the Whatcom County Affordable Housing Council (WCAHC) political committee got caught exerting effort to deny their affiliation to the Building Industry Association of Whatcom County (BIAWC), a trade and business advocacy organization, to the Public Disclosure Commission(PDC). Continue reading →

Port of Bellingham Commissioner candidate Bobby Briscoe receives censure from Whatcom Democrats E-Board / Noisy Waters Northwest

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Click the graphic of a photo of a smiling man with short gray hair, mustache and goatee in a dress shirt and sport coat, with text beneath the photo to access the Whatcom Democrats post, “E-Board censures Bobby Briscoe for comments made on the record at a Port meeting,” on their website

October 20, 2019  Dena Jensen

Port of Bellingham Commissioner Bobby Briscoe just received a censure from the Whatcom Democrats E-Board today based on a request from the Young Democrats of Whatcom County that they remove Bobby Briscoe’s certification as a Democrat. You can read complete information regarding the censure at this link: https://www.whatcomdemocrats.org/2019/10/20/e-board-censures-bobby-briscoe-for-comments-made-on-the-record-at-port-meeting/

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Who is going to help us make the sheriff obsolete? / Noisy Waters Northwest

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Click the graphic to access the February 16, 2018 GQ persepective by by Drew Magary, “The Case Against Sheriffs”

October 19, 2019  Dena Jensen

“The office of sheriff is a critical part of the Anglo-American heritage of law enforcement. We must never erode this historic office.” – Jeff Sessions, February 12, 2018

If you read GQ correspondent, Drew Magary’s perspective piece from February of 2018, “The Case Against Sheriffs,” a social climate that embraces overtly racist and violent Sheriffs, a sampling of which Magary highlights, is not one found in Whatcom County.
Continue reading →

Progressive candidates should say no to events sponsored by organizations that negatively target Native Americans and immigrants/ Noisy Waters Northwest

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October 16, 2019 Dena Jensen

I am calling on everyone to just say no to participating in events sponsored by Common Threads Northwest, along with the Whatcom Business Alliance, whose leadership is pushing forward untruths that people want to deindustrialize Cherry Point. 

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Tony Larson’s pro-coal past and multiple false claims are non-starters for the role of Whatcom County Executive / Noisy Waters Northwest

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Screen shot of a May 9, 2017 tweet (that was subsequently removed from their Twitter feed) by Whatcom Business Alliance’s Step Up Twitter profile.

October 15, 2019 Dena Jensen

To me, the biggest argument against Whatcom Business Alliance (WBA) president, Tony Larson, being elected as Whatcom County Executive, is that he makes false statements. Over the last number of years, Mr. Larson made numerous false claims which have targeted numerous Whatcom County Council Members and others. Meanwhile, it is additionally unacceptable that during our current climate crisis, Tony Larson has made himself a champion for fossil fuel expansion, including a massive coal export project, at Xwe’chi’eXen, Cherry Point, and is now allowing himself to be promoted through the endorsement of the pro-Trump Whatcom County Republican Party.

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Most funding requests for immigrant services are flipped the Byrd at recent Health Board meeting / Noisy Waters Northwest

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October 13, 2019 Dena Jensen

On October 1, 2019, Whatcom County Council, meeting as the County’s Health Board, received an update from the Public Health Advisory Board (PHAB) and a presentation from the Health Protection for Immigrant Families Task Force. The task force had made recommendations to PHAB in accordance with the County Council’s Resolution 2018-050, “Health Protection for Immigrant Families,” passed by the Council in early December 2018.

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Following up on Patriot Front flyering: Struggling to get answers from Ferndale officials / Sandy Robson

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October 10, 2019 Sandy Robson

On October 1, 2019, I sent an email to Ferndale Police Chief Kevin Turner, explaining that I was gathering information for a possible article for The Searchlight Review, regarding the recent flyering activities here in Whatcom County by the white nationalist/white supremacist hate group, the Patriot Front.

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