County prosecutor plays cruel games / Northwest Citizen, John Servais

County prosecuter lubaThu, Jun 25, 2015, 6:00 pm   John Servais

First posted at 7:51 am.  See 6 pm update half way down.

In 2011, Luba Pekisheva was convicted in Whatcom County District Court by judge Elich of assault and theft.  In truth, she probably committed neither. But Pekisheva had defied a good ol’ boy from the county and our Whatcom County justice system – judges, prosecutors and public defenders – seems to have shown extra zeal in convicting Pekisheva and making it stick.  Continue reading

Connecting some dots between advocacy groups, individuals, and coal interests / Facebook post, Sj Robson

Let's look at the incestuous world 3 hrs  June 24, 2015  Sj Robson

**Connecting some dots between advocacy groups, individuals, and coal interests relating to the June 22 pro-GPT panel forum hosted by Whatcom Business Alliance, and sponsored by Northwest Jobs Alliance and Keep Washington Competitive**

This post was first intended to be in response to a comment made by Wendy Harris [on Whatcom Hawk Facebook] about Washington Farm Bureau President John Stuhlmiller who was one of the panelists at the June 22 pro-GPT panel forum. Continue reading

Mutchler has not stood up to SSA Marine/PIT / Facebook post, Sj Robson

mutchler

June 18 at 9:43pm  Sj Robson

Jon Mutchler wrote: “And I will stand up to those who don’t have our city’s best interests at heart.”

So far, City Council member Mutchler has not stood up to SSA Marine/PIT and its proposed Gateway Pacific Coal Terminal. Most people would argue that SSA Marine/PIT does not have the “city’s best interests at heart,” in proposing a 48 million ton coal export terminal that among other adverse impacts, would use a capacity of up to 5.33 million gallons of Nooksack River water per year. SSA Marine/PIT has its own best interests at heart, not the city of Ferndale. I’d like to see Mr. Mutchler stand up to that proposal. Continue reading

When is a “rail loop” not a loop/track? BP Cherry point / FB post, Sj Robson

 bp cherry point gets extra track
June 10 at 11:20am  by Sj Robson on Facebook

Whatcom County planning and development continues to be asleep at the wheel on the BP crude by rail facility. When is a “rail loop” not a rail loop/track? When BP’s project plans describe it only in linear feet instead of describing it as a “third loop” but then show the “third loop” in a diagram of the facility. Continue reading

Farmworker/Sakuma Farms issue / FB post, Sj Robson

sakuma June 12 at 5:23pm  by Sj Robson on Facebook
Just posted this to The Bellingham Herald Politics Blog Facebook Page. Let’s put the pressure on the Herald to start covering the important that has been ongoing for years now. Below, is the content of my post:

Why isn’t The Bellingham Herald reporting on this important issue that other news media is reporting on?

The farmworkers/Sakuma Farms issue is not simply a Skagit issue, especially because many wholesale farmers in Whatcom County are customers of Sakuma Farms. Continue reading

The Import of a Local Election in the Coal Export Scheme / Coal Stop, Sandy Robson

coal-from-powder-river-basin-300x200April 26, 2015  Sandy Robson

[Updated October 7, 2015: Since the publication date of this article, proposed Whatcom County Charter Amendments 1, 3, and 10 have been placed on the November 2015 Whatcom County general election ballot as Propositions 1, 2, and 3 respectively. Also, the Whatcom County Charter Review Commission made revisions to amendments 3 and 10 since the publication date of this article. The link to a list of the charter amendment propositions on the November 2015 Whatcom County general election ballot is:  http://www.whatcomcounty.us/1553/Proposed-Amendments]

Continue reading