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EL PERIÓDICO: FOR OUR SPANISH SPEAKING READERS
RUGBY TEAM HOSTS WALES TEAM
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JULY 24, 2024
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New district resource officer at Ferndale School District
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WCLS reaches Hispanic communities New cultural liaisons help expand services for Spanish speakers By Ava Ronning For the Record
On July 15, Ferndale Mayor Greg Hansen and members of the council listen to a presentation from Ferndale Police Chief Kevin Turner regarding an interlocal agreement to council regarding the district resource officer position. (Racquel Muncy for the Record)
Ferndale City Council also discusses tenant billing at July 15 meeting By Racquel Muncy For the Record
FERNDALE — Ferndale City Council discussed utility billing for tenants and a Ferndale School District resource officer position during its July 15 meeting. Council discussed the possibility of removing tenants from the bimonthly utility bills and instead solely bill the owner. These bills include water, sewer and storm. According to Finance Director Danielle Ingham the current practice is to add or remove tenants at any point in the month, both from residential and commercial locations. However, ultimately it is the owner who is responsible for account balances as the balance is tied to the property. This is different from other non-city utility bills such as internet or electricity that follow the See Schools on A6
WHATCOM — With the addition of a Spanishspeaking phone line and two cultural liaisons, Whatcom County libraries have expanded their services to the Hispanic community in new ways. This year, Whatcom County Library System hired Amelia Martinez and Diana Antaño for the new position of cultural liaison. The Spanish phone line is scheduled to begin on Aug. 1 and will allow Spanishspeaking patrons to speak directly with Spanishspeaking staff at the library through a separate designated number, rather than selecting their language from the menu reached at the library’s English-speaking phone number. WCLS also has implemented “I speak Spanish” name tags for staff who pass a proficiency test and has a Mujeres Latinas club, one of the library’s highestattended programs. WCLS is also developing a Spanish website with information that is particularly relevant for the Hispanic community. The new liaisons work together and separately to interact with the Latino and Hispanic community in Whatcom County to cater the library’s programs and services to what they need most, starting with connecting them to the library. Together, they have also hosted online bilingual storytimes, and done numerous outreach events in communities and schools. Much of Antaño and
Diana Antaño, and Amelia Martinez, from left, host a WCLS booth at an outreach event. (Courtesy photo) Martinez’ work is focused on kids and families, to cultivate a love of reading at a young age. “My motivation is just to help [people] feel welcome, to help them feel that [the library is] a safe place … and to hear from the community what they would like from the library and to know the library services better,” Martinez said. Since Martinez learned English later in life after growing up in Sinaloa, Mexico where there weren’t many public libraries, she now finds that she can understand and help immigrant families in a way that other people may not be able to. She recalled a time when a Spanish-speaking patron told her about getting a jury duty notice, conSee Libraries on A6
People gather as the Whatcom County Library System attends an outreach event at a mobile resource and health fair program in Custer. (Courtesy photo)
Front Street Arts Festival at Jansen Art Center Ferndale’s Liz Cunningham one of 20 artists participating in inaugural event By Bill Helm Editor
LYNDEN — Jansen Art Center’s marketing manager has come up with an event that will be fun for the community, raise awareness about the center and its programs, and offer a peek into what each studio does. Called the Front Street Arts Festival, this event will be from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. Saturday, July 27 with booths lined up along Front and 4th streets.
As marketing manager at Jansen Art Center, Amanda Slusser said she hopes to make this inaugural event an annual occurrence. “This year is a scaled down version of my original idea/plan because we were so limited on time,” Slusser said. “I came up with the idea back in March after we had the winter fundraiser.” Slusser brought her idea to the center’s board of directors and studio leaders. Once they approved the project, Slusser “hit the ground running.” With 20 confirmed vendors which consist of local artists, Jansen Art Center teachers and students, as well as past exhibitors, to name a few, each of the center’s studios will have booths to demonstrate their art and sell items to support the program, Slusser explained. The participating vendors are as
follows: Wesley Kriz of Bear Tracks Pottery, Amy Popelka of Tac Tile Company, Casey Burge of Fox + Moon, Cynthia Topp of Magic Carpet Jewelry, Rebecca Allbaugh of Enigma Candle Foundry, Arielle Mehl of Ari & Aura, Sydney Denessen of Tin Ventures, Carolynn Wicker of Carolynn’s Art, Greg and Melanie Dugan of Art Studio 2120, Katelyn Schneider of MoKa & Mulberry, Liz Cunningham of Lizbeth Beaded Jewelry, LeslieAnn Bestor of Carpe Yarnum Designs, Katie McCullough of Katie Rose handmade, Mathew Fry, Sarah Trinneer, Julianna North, Colin Molaski, Cindy Roy & Lynn Gulianni, Laurie Johnson and Chet Noll. The Front Street Arts Festival is for kids of all ages, with the following kids activities available: making yarn birds with Dana Murphy at 10 See Arts on A2
Liz Cunningham creates her bead jewelry. Cunningham, a Ferndale resident, is one of 20 scheduled vendors for the inaugural Front Street Arts Festival, July 27 from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. at the Jansen Art Center in Lynden. (Photo Courtesy Liz Cunningham)
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