9/12/17 Whatcom County Council meeting: Please come speak at open session RE the need to send the CAO back for more review / Facebook post, Whatcom Hawk, Wendy Harris

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council agenda 091217

3 hrs  September 11, 2017  Wendy Harris

I have been informed that “Liberty Road” has invited private property rights advocates to swarm the County Council Public Hearings and Open Session tomorrow night. Among the purported offenses are public hearings for an Ordinance amending Whatcom County Code 8.13, Solid Waste Disposal District, regarding the Solid Waste Excise Privilege Tax (AB2017-244) and an Ordinance amending Whatcom County Code Title 20 Zoning and the Whatcom County Comprehensive Plan relating to cumulative impervious surface coverage standards (AB2017-195). Continue reading →

9/12/17 presentation scheduled of Design2 LAST findings included in Building Assessment Studies and Cost Estimates Phase 1-B Report / Facebook post, Noisy Waters Northwest

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design2 LAST exec summary page 071717

Click the graphic to access the full 7/17/17, Design2 LAST Building Assessment Studies and Cost Estimates for Capital Improvements at the Jail

3 hrs  September 8, 2017  Dena Jensen

This is the first time I have been able to locate this July 2017 Design2 Last study on the Whatcom County website although I kept thinking I was hearing it be referred to. This week on the Council Agenda for the Finance and Administrative Services Committee meeting (being held at 10:45 a.m. on Tuesday, September 12, 2017) it says there will be a “presentation by Design2Last of findings included in the Building Assessment Studies and Cost Estimates Phase 1-B Report for capital improvements at the jail (AB2017-047A).” Continue reading →

Permit Applications Filed By BP Reflect Larger, Longer Operations / Facebook post, Whatcom Hawk, Wendy Harris

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bp application 081417

Click the graphic to access a full copy of BP’s 08/14/17, Notice of Construction and Permit Application with the Northwest Clean Air Agency

4:40am  September 4, 2017  Wendy Harris

New compressors and ancillary equipment are all the rage at Cherry Point, with BP’s application following on the heels of the Petrogas application. BP asserts that this equipment exceeds the air quality standards and reduces pollution. Oh, and they are also asking, in addition to this new construction, for approval of other pollution reducing equipment for the Flare Gas Recovery Unit, for use during maintenance events. Gas recovered will be used “as refinery fuel gas.” Continue reading →

‘An unwillingness to spend money’ to keep the Whatcom County Jail facility functioning: Where does the buck stop? / Facebook post, Sj Robson

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elfo and louws sketches

3 hrs  September 1, 2017  Sandy Robson

Back on August 2, 2017, I had written a piece about having heard Whatcom County Sheriff Bill Elfo, who was a guest on KGMI’s “Saturday Morning Live” (SML) July 22, 2017, conservative talk radio program, hosted by local Tea Partier, Kris Halterman. Sheriff Elfo was there to discuss the proposed new Whatcom County Jail which would be funded by a sales tax, a tax that would last for the next 30 years. The jail sales tax proposition will appear on the November general election ballot, to be rejected or approved by Whatcom County voters. Continue reading →

Warrant Granted Against NODAPL Water Protector Facebook Page is Anti-Indigenous / Press Release, Red Line Salish Sea

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redline salish sea press release warrant

August 31, 2017  Press Release  Red Line Salish Sea

For Immediate Release

Bellingham, Washington

August 30, 2017 – After months of failed warrants attempted against the Red Line Salish Sea Facebook page (formerly known as the Bellingham #NoDAPL Coalition), the Whatcom Superior Court judge submitted to the prosecutor’s request, allowing the State to invade the Bellingham #nodapl Redline Salish Sea Facebook profile. Implicating Indigenous water protectors and their allies. Giving permission to search the page will directly impact nearly 1700 people who follow the page. Continue reading →

Elite perspective on the Pickett Bridge signs in this week’s Cascadia Weekly online / Noisy Waters Northwest

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legacy of pickett cascadia

August 26, 2017  Dena Jensen

Oxford Dictionary definition of elite: 1.1 “A group or class of people seen as having the most power and influence in a society, especially on account of their wealth or privilege”

What do we think about an elite citizen here in Whatcom County, such as Ted Van Dyk in his August 23, 2017 opinion piece in the online edition of Cascadia Weekly, asserting that the City of Bellingham temporarily taking down the signs at the so-called Pickett Bridge has “fed intolerance?” On social media this last week there was also an August 24, 2017 statement on The Pickett House FB page by past president of the Daughter of the Pioneers, Susan Hess expressing fears “that someone, in ignorance, will assume that Bellingham’s Pickett House Museum is a confederate monument and do it harm.” Continue reading →

ICE Retaliates Against Youth for Filing Lawsuit / Press Release, NWDC Resistance

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rally for aj nwdc resistance

August 26, 2017  NWDC Resistance

For Immediate Release August 26, 2017

ICE Retaliates Against Youth for Filing Lawsuit

Mt Vernon, WA- A minor filed a lawsuit against Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) for racially profiling two years ago. As soon as this youth turned 18 years old, ICE threatens him with possible deportation, as soon as next Tuesday. The then 15 years old, AJ (name listed in lawsuit as a minor) had been racially profiled by the Bellingham Police Department (BPD) in a regular traffic stop in Bellingham, WA. Continue reading →

You can run (for office), but you can’t hide: Documenting some nonpartisans’ partisanship / Facebook post, Sj Robson

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Republican recommendations 2016

3 hrs August 23, 2017  Sandy Robson

If you pay attention to local politics you probably know that in the 2016 general election, the Whatcom County Republican Party officially recommended then-candidate for President Donald J. Trump and his VP running mate, Mike Pence, on its 2016 “Republican Recommendations” list (shown in attached screenshot photo). And, even though many people have expressed disgust and anger with some, or most, of the Trump administrations’ actions thus far in his presidency, the Whatcom County Republican Party (known as the “Whatcom Republicans”) still displays, on its Whatcomgop.com website’s homepage, a graphic featuring the 2016 Trump/Pence logo with the “Make America Great Again” slogan alongside it.  Continue reading →

Bellingham’s ‘Fortress of Faith,’ listed as a hate group by the SPLC / Facebook post, Sj Robson

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splc Fortress of Faith

5:21pm  August 18, 2017  Sandy Robson

Recently, I learned of a group based in Bellingham that is classified by the Southern Policy Law Center as an anti-Muslim hate group. It’s name is the Fortress of Faith.

According to nonprofitfacts.com, the listed address for Fortress of Faith is 2501 Orleans St., Bellingham, WA. 98226. According to Superpages.com, that is the same street address for the Bellingham Baptist Church, which bills itself in that listing as, “The friendliest church in town.”

Continue reading →