August 2023
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Congrats to the grads of 2023, page 8
Kenji Nose has a dream, page 13
ECRWSS PRSRT STD U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 14
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A Point Roberts jailbird, page 16
Point Roberts, WA 98281 Postal Patron Local
Sandcastle contest, Maple Beach ... Family files wrongful death lawsuit B y P a t G r u bb The children of Gail Amundsen and Murray Church have filed a lawsuit against Whatcom County and several companies alleging negligence resulting in the wrongful deaths of the couple due to carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning. The lawsuit was filed January 3 in Whatcom County Superior Court. Gail Amundsen, 61, and Murray Church, 67, were found dead in their home on Thanksgiving Day evening in 2021. The pair were discovered by family friends who were asked to check on them after their children had been unable to make contact with them for several days. Church was laying in bed while Amundsen was found in an adjoining bathroom. The apparent cause of death for the couple appeared to be due to the faulty installation of a radiant heating system. The couple had moved into their newly constructed home in August 2021. It was heated by a high efficiency Triangle Tube Prestige Solo 110 condensing boiler which can use either natural gas or propane for its fuel source. It comes set up for natural gas and must be converted to use propane. The lawsuit names Optimum Contracting, Point Roberts, the general contractor who built the home; Andgar Mechanical, Ferndale; which installed the furnace; Shoreline Electrical Services, Point Roberts, responsible for installing smoke and CO detectors; Triangle Tube/Phase III Co., New Jersey, which manufactured the furnace; Whatcom County, responsible for inspecting and issuing occupation permits; and John/Jane Does 1-99. The children, Dawson Church and Hailey Church, are represented by attorneys David Brown and Matt Connor of Brett McCandlis, Brown & Connor. The law firm has offices in Bellingham, Mt. Vernon, Everett, Seattle, Vancouver, and Spokane and specializes in cases involving personal injuries, vehicular accidents, wrongful death, medical malpractice and dog bites. The lawsuit alleges that Optimum Contracting as general contractor was respon(See Lawsuit, page 3)
s The Maple Beach sandcastle contest on July 16 once again displayed creativity and sandshaping skills. Here a seal looks over the Photo by Erin Kelly canoe it swamped and wonders what happened to the paddlers.
August primary election deadline looms By Grace McCarthy The mailing of Whatcom County primary ballots has started the countdown to the August primary on Tuesday, August 1. The race for Whatcom County Executive is the most contested with five people challenging Satpal Sidhu to lead the county. The top two finishers in each race will move onto the November 7 general election. Races that have two candidates or are uncontested will not be in the primary, such as several Blaine school district board positions and all Point Roberts positions. Below are the positions up that will most impact Point Roberts residents: • Whatcom County Executive – Misty Flowers, Alicia Rule, Satpal Sidhu, Dan Purdy, Barry Buchanan and Sukhwant Gill.
• Whatcom County Council District 4 – Mark Stremler, Kathy Kershner and Katherine Orlowski. • Whatcom County Council At Large Position B – Atul Deshmane, Jon Scanlon, Hannah Ordos and Jerry Burns. • Blaine school board – Tana Perkins Reneau, Ben Lazarus and Dean Berkeley. The Whatcom County Auditor’s Office mailed primary ballots to registered Whatcom County voters on July 12. Registered voters were able to start voting immediately by mail, drop box returns or in-person at the auditor’s office after receiving their ballots. Ballots must either be returned in a drop box by 8 p.m. August 1 or postmarked by August 1 if mailed. The auditor’s office did (See Election, page 6)
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Inside Church ............................................... 7 Classifieds ......................................... 16 Coming Up ....................................... 15 Library Picks .................................... 14 Opinion ............................................... 4 Sheriffs ............................................. 14 Tides ................................................. 14