December 2020
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Get the skinny from the WUTC, page 3
Hope remains for two deputies, page 8
ECRWSS PRSRT STD U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 14
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County approves zoning changes, page 10
Point Roberts, WA 98281 Postal Patron Local
All Quiet on the Garbage Front (finally) B y P a t G r u bb The question of curbside trash pickup service levels has been put to rest, at least for a few months. Whatcom County Council agreed on November 10 to withdraw an ordinance sponsored by Foothills councilmember Tyler Byrd that would reduce service levels and would eliminate the county’s role in collecting revenue for Cando Recycling and Disposal, the company providing the service. The ordinance was scheduled to be introduced for a second time at council’s regular meeting but had been delayed in order for it to be discussed at the next meeting of council’s health and public safety sub-committee on the afternoon of November 10. The ordinance called for curbside trash pickup to be reduced from twice monthly to one 32-gallon can pickup per month. The Point Roberts Community Advisory Committee (PRCAC) had recommended the service cut in a letter to county council at its October 15 virtual meeting. The letter also recommended that the current method of billing through property tax statements be retained. That element was dropped following conversations with county treasurer Steven Oliver, Byrd told council. The session began with an overview by Jeff Hegedus from the county health department who reminded council that the current system was the result of a two-year collaborative process. “Cando has high operational costs having to go through two borders to dispose of solid waste,” he said, adding the company only has 1,910 customers versus SSC’s 45,000 and Nooksack Valley Disposal & Recycling’s 7,000 customers, referring to the county’s two other disposal companies. “When 75 percent of your customers live in a foreign country, billing can be very difficult,” Hegedus said. Hegedus described the system as very successful and said immediately after its introduction in 2019, there were reduced number of reports of garbage in ditches or illegally dumped in commercial trash bins. Under the latest rate review by the WUTC, curbside trash pickup rates had been re(See Curbside, page 3)
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s Barbara Bradstock selling raffle tickets at the Point Roberts Marketplace for the Apple Harvest Quilt, created by the Point Roberts Quilters, as a fundraiser for Point Roberts Circle of Care. Only 200 are being sold. The drawing will be held on December 19. For tickets, contact PRcircleofcare@gmail.com or 360/945-5222. Photo by Louise Mugar
Point Roberts continues to vote blue bigtime By Oliver Lazenby For the first time since 1998, both 42nd District state representative positions have been won by Democrat candidates. Blaine councilwoman Alicia Rule overcame Republican incumbent Luanne Van Werven for the Position 1 seat with a margin of 2,523 votes (51 percent to 49 percent), according to the Whatcom County Auditor’s Office. Van Werven has held the position since 2014. “I expected it was going to be really close. I actually expected it would be closer than this, but this was a tough race,” Rule said on election night. “I’m looking forward to being able to serve the people of Whatcom County. I think people are really ready to move past partisanship and I think the vote reflected that.” Rule believes she could still serve on
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Blaine City Council and said she hasn’t yet decided if she will. For position 2, incumbent Democrat Sharon Shewmake beat Jennifer Sefzik 52 percent to 48 percent. State-wide, Joe Biden received 2,363,062 votes (58%) versus 1,578,705 (38.7%) for Trump. County-wide, 60.3 percent voted for Joe Biden and 36.4 percent voted for Donald Trump while in Point Roberts, voters cast 724 ballots for Biden (74.4%) versus 249 (25.6%) for Trump. In all, nearly 87.8 percent of the 158,800 registered voters in Whatcom County voted in the general election. With just 37 ballots left to be counted as of November 16, this year’s participation exceeeded the last presidential election in 2016, when turnout reached 82.7 percent. Whatcom County voted roughly in-line with the statewide vote in most races and
(See Election, page 2)
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Around the Point................................ 9 Church ............................................. 11 Classifieds ......................................... 12 Coming Up ....................................... 13 Library Picks .................................... 14 Opinion ............................................... 4 Sheriffs ............................................. 13 Tides ................................................. 14
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