The Editor:
I am a common resident of Blaine. My 82nd birthday was on Sunday, so I have lived in several states and seen lots of emergencies. As a child, my sister married a guy who wanted to be a policeman. His motive? So he could drive fast and carry a gun. He also beat on my sister now and then. I did not like this guy.
Years pass and I have seen a cop run into a burning house to save an old man, a policeman break some lake ice to rescue a dog, and videos of the police chasing a driver topping 100 mph and getting shot when he caught him. When my husband died in bed, the small-town detective showed up quickly with a volunteer to sit with me as the officer investigated the circumstances and apologized when he was required to take pictures.
My five grown children are watching now and I know it is hard to know what to say to them and what they should say to their children. So I went to the Blaine police department to shake the hand of my local chief and took a $100 bill to donate to the fund for the children of fallen
officers.
The door was locked and a note on the door had a phone number to call the clerk if I had mail to deliver. I called. No way was the door going to be open. She said to mail the donation. The mail lady showed up at that time and the door opened and closed very quickly.
That is what it has come to. Fear of police of residents, and fear of residents of police. One of the small towns where I lived in Arizona had a “coffee with a cop” monthly gathering at the local cafe where we could complain, praise or ask any question. I didn’t realize at the time how important that was. I guess Blaine is too big of a city to ever do that.
Bette Bach Fineman
Blaine
The Editor:
The Covid-19 pandemic continues to cause economic hardships for thousands of individuals, families, businesses and nonprofit groups in Washington state. While most of the focus has been on phases and the unemployment mess, we need to take a look at impacts one to two years from now.
That’s why I support Representative Luanne Van Werven’s call for a special legislative session this month. It’s obvious that the ‘stay at home’ order and the widespread closure of businesses will dramatically reduce state revenue while unemployment checks and healthcare costs greatly increase state expenses.
Priorities must be set and tough decisions need to be made. We need the legislature already in Olympia when the state releases its official revenue and caseload forecasts. As The Seattle Times said in its May 29 editorial, “Right-sizing the budget will be easier in June, before more than $1 billion in new spending starts with the fiscal year July 1st. Politically and practically, it’s harder to cut spending after it’s begun, and it’s inefficient to start programs that will be cut before long.”
Our state’s coronavirus response can’t be a one-man show. We need our state legislature involved. I’m glad Rep. Van Werven is calling for a special session now and ready to make the tough decisions.
This is only one reason why I will be voting to re-elect Rep. Van Werven to represent me in the 42nd District of Whatcom County and I encourage you to join me.
Judy Criscuola
Bellingham
The Editor:
Birch Bay is one of the most beloved visitor locations in the Northwest and we are so excited that new and returning visitors will be able to visit us this summer. Birch Bay is a natural wonder with numerous outdoor recreational activities to explore and gorgeous sunsets to enjoy.
This summer, local businesses will be doing their part to keep our residents and visitors safe and we’re asking the public to please assist in this effort.
If you plan on visiting Birch Bay, please follow all state and county guidelines to prevent and mitigate the spread of Covid-19.
This is especially important during our busiest times for visitors such as weekends, the Fourth of July and Labor Day. Social distancing at public areas such as beaches, parks and restrooms may be more difficult during busier periods, so please take this into consideration before you visit, and plan accordingly.
If everyone does their part to keep our community safe this summer, then we all will be able to continue to enjoy all the wonderful recreational amenities that Birch Bay has to offer.
Community mitigation efforts to slow the spread of Covid-19 in Whatcom County and Washington state:
• Increase hand-washing and use of alcohol-based sanitizer
• Improve respiratory hygiene and cough etiquette (wear a face mask)
• Practice social distancing (greater than 6 feet)
• Frequently clean and disinfect high touch and common surfaces
• Gather and recreate in small groups of no more than five
people
Larger gatherings provide the opportunity for the virus to spread more easily, especially if physical distancing is not observed and face coverings are not utilized – it’s safest to stay home.
Doralee Booth, secretary/
treasurer, Birch Bay Chamber
of Commerce
The Editor:
To understand the consequences of leftist policies, all that is necessary is to read the opposite in everything they do. They want to defund the police. Police are the problem? The opposite of that – police are good people who put their lives on the line every day to protect the lives and improve the living conditions of all people and especially in minority communities.“Black Lives Matter” exists to help Black people? The opposite. “Black Lives Matter” as a political movement exists only to promote a leftist agenda. If they cared about all Black lives, they would do something about Black children killed in their own homes; shot by criminals who live in the same neighborhood. That they want to defund the police is itself proof that they are evil.
The U.S. was founded on racism? The opposite. The U.S. made possible as the freest and least racist nation on earth the greatest opportunities for all people, regardless of race and at the cost of the lives of people of every color, including freed slaves who fought in the revolution and white and Black people who gave everything they had; including their lives, to stop the evil of
slavery.
All white people are privileged and racist? The opposite. Racism occurs in every nation and among people of every skin color. There is as much racism among Black people in the U.S. as there is among white people. The only real white privilege is the privilege of being assumed guilty of racism because of skin color with the result that, just because a person’s skin is white, they can lose their jobs for expressing what I have expressed in this editorial.
People are defined by their skin color, their sex or their economic status? The opposite. People are defined only by their character as expressed in their actions.
Kneel for the flag? The opposite. The flag represents the sacrifice of men and women of every color who made possible the privilege of living in the freest, most generous and least racist nation in history. I stand for that.
Dan Rudolph
Blaine
The Editor:
The front page article, “Is Whatcom on track for phase 3?” (June 18 – 24), seemingly saved the real news for the middle of page two: “On June 16, Peace-Health St. Joseph Medical Center didn’t have any Covid-19 patients and hadn’t any for several days.”
With light editing, it would have made a great first paragraph topic sentence, although “several days” begs for an actual number. Otherwise, the article was an informative compilation of county and state health department official comments, press releases, statistics, goals and projections.
Paul Steere
Blaine
The Editor:
To all our Blaine police, Whatcom County sheriff’s deputies, state police and border patrol officers, thank you for your service. The foolishness of some in our society who would propose replacing or defunding you prompted me to write.
I hope citizens all over the country will do what I am doing in sending words of appreciation and support to their local law enforcement agencies for the work they do. It has been saddening to see what’s taken place around the country in response to the criminal act of a handful of bad officers. But defunding or disbanding the police is definitely not the answer.
People can be fickle. Just a few years back we were hailing law enforcement officers as heroes, now some would shame them for the act of a few. As in any occupation, there are a few who bring disrepute on the vocation, but that doesn’t stop us from utilizing the services of doctors, lawyers, accountants and many others just because of a few bad apples in the ranks.
The service you, and the other officers perform, is an invaluable one to the community and I want to thank you. I hope you will see that the officers in your agency are encouraged by this as well.
Without the valuable service our law enforcement officials provide, we wouldn’t have a “society,” just a lawless fight for survival of the fittest or best armed or most aggressive. You are each appreciated.
Larry Eide
Birch Bay
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