Letters to the editor, July 9- July 15

The Editor:

Another fabulous 4th in Blaine! Western Display Fireworks put on a great show over the harbor and we must have the best parade in NW Washington! Sincere thanks go our city crew who volunteered to direct traffic, deliver everything, monitor the parade & car show and clean it all up. Thanks also to Ted Goodman, Eloise Nyman, Bob Hines, Police Department, Jim Jorgensen, Fire Department, Debbie & Terry and the terrific parade crew. Special thanks to the citizens of Blaine, who show up every time and are such great supporters of our local events.

Caroll Solomon

Blaine Chamber of Commerce 

& Visitor Center

The Editor:

I attended the International Arts and Music Festival and was so impressed with the quality of the music and art that I felt compelled to say thank you to Diane Major, Anne Abrams and the many other people whose names I don’t have for putting together this wonderful and friendly event.

I could go on and on about the diversity of artists, musicians, their creativity and the quality of their work. Short of that, I can only say thank you. It was a great festival and Blaine should be proud to have such creative and dedicated people living in their community.

Terry Galvin

Bellingham

The Editor:

There have been so many unpleasant letters written about the Blaine Post Office. Well, mine will not be one of them.

I appreciate the privilege of having my mail delivered to the housing development where we live. I wasn’t aware that there was a posted time sheet when the mail was to be delivered.

The cut-backs by our government shouldn’t be any great shock to any of us, especially if you watch the news.

We were warned, whether or not anyone else was.

I just want to say this about our mail delivery person; he deserves to get some words of praise for his hard work, not all these nit-picking remarks directed at his place of employment.

Thank you whoever you are who delivers our mail!

Sarah (Sally) Paulsen

Blaine

The Editor:

This year was the worst and wildest Fourth of July celebration to date.

Our neighbor told us that this was to be like nothing I’d ever seen before. True to his words, it was. Our driveway, roof and yard is/was full of mortar and firework bomb debris.

We had friends over to enjoy some fireworks we got from a stand, but our friends were so frightened from the attack on all sides, the noise and the confusion that they went home.

The problem here is that Birch Bay is lacking fireworks laws, regulations and police protection against this intrusion. Residents are at the mercy of the mayhem wrought by these lawbreakers that take advantage of Birch Bay’s lack of rules.

The people using this arsenal of fireworks are not patriots who respect and celebrate our freedom. We need to bring order and law to this community on the Fourth of July. We have a wonderful place the rest of the year but somehow it just becomes a war zone for one evening a year.

The morning of the 5th arose with a red sun rising and the air a very eerie smog color from horizon to horizon and the ground and roof covered in trash.

LaVonne Howard

Birch Bay

(Ed. Note: Whatcom County fireworks ordinances govern the legal use of fireworks in Birch Bay and other unincorporated parts of the county.)

The Editor:

Canada thanks the U.S. air force for helping to find the Franklin Expedition ship, lost for more than 156 years in the Canadian arctic. The English expedition was lost and trapped in the ice trying to discover the Northwest Passage in 1859. All crew members died.

Dozens of searches were made over the 156 years; the ship Erebus was finally found in 100 feet of water and under 6 feet of ice, in 2014. The ship was remarkably preserved, including many British artifacts, markings, cannons and three quarters of the hull still intact.

In previous years, some of the crew’s bodies had been found, still quite preserved in the ice. The discovery of the ship further establishes Canada’s claims to the Northwest Passage route and much of the arctic, because Britain gave Canada all its rights of arctic ownership when Canada became a nation.

With warming of the oceans, the Northwest Passage will eventually be like the Panama Canal. The Passage route (which has been navigated during the summer in the last few years) will eliminate over 3,000 miles for ships traveling from Asia to Europe.

Jay James

Birch Bay

The Editor:

One of the most exhaustive reviews of any project in this state, the environmental study of the Gateway shipping terminal in Whatcom County is unprecedented in its vast scope. The state of Washington has expanded the study far beyond its regular parameters.

Now, over a year into this expensive review, the regulatory agency is being asked to stop in its tracks. Due to objections from the Lummi Nation, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been asked by the tribe to cancel the study.

What is the harm in completing this lawful process? Are the opponents fearful of what the science and facts will show about Gateway’s impact? And if this government agency is not willing to finish it, why on earth did they start it in the first place?

Gateway has committed to complying with all required laws and regulations, and modified their proposal to further improve compliance. I believe the environment and responsible industry can coexist with this terminal.

The Cherry Point industries are among the most heavily regulated in the entire country. We can be sure that Gateway will be the same. I am well satisfied that the various impacts can be mitigated. But nothing will happen if the Corps decides to negate an orderly and lawful process that has worked well for countless years. No business will consider locating in Whatcom County (or Washington state) knowing that any single group opposed to industry wields a big “no” vote that carries more weight than any other. No business can operate with this kind of unpredictability.

I urge the Corps to keep this process moving forward in a timely fashion, and to let the facts speak for the project, not innuendo and anti-business foes. It’s the right thing to do.

Gordon Jonasson

Lopez Island

The Editor:

If you were dismayed to learn that the candidate you supported for county council in 2013 actually won the race in your council district but was not elected to serve and represent the perspectives shared by you and your neighbors, then you came to realize how “at-large voting” exaggerates the power of more urban-oriented voters in the city of Bellingham.

The charter review commission is working to provide the people an opportunity to restore fair and equitable representation on our county council so that the voices of rural and small city residents, in addition to those in Bellingham, are heard. Recently the commission voted to place a measure on the November ballot which would establish district representation. Passing Proposed Amendment 1 will not, however, solve the problem, as was demonstrated following the 2005 charter review. Voters also need to remove county council’s authority to overturn fair representation.

Mark Nelson

Bellingham