August 7 - 13, 2025
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IN THIS
ISSUE
Blaine Public Schools Foundation gears up, page 6
State auditor issues finding into Port of Bellingham
Drayton Harbor Pirate Festival, page 8
Labubus bring crowd to Blaine, page 10
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
Birch Bay Waterslides celebrates 40 years
B y P a t G r u bb
(See Port, page 6)
s Olympia residents Gabe Crandall, 12, and Pandora Crandall, 8, splash down a slide on August 5 at Birch Bay Waterslides. The water park spent over $1 million in upgrades before celebrating its 40th anniversary this summer. The park, 4874 Birch Bay-Lynden Road, will Photo by Grace McCarthy be open through Labor Day weekend. To view more photos, visit thenorthernlight.com.
Preliminary August primary results roll in By Grace McCarthy Preliminary results for the August 5 primary election show clear winners headed to the November general election and a few races still waiting on updated counts. The election is a top-two primary, meaning the two candidates with the most votes advance to the November 4 general election, regardless of party affiliation. Races that did not have more than two candidates were not on August ballots and will move automatically to the November election.
About 34,860 ballots were counted across Whatcom County on election night, constituting around 25 percent of registered voters. According to the Whatcom County Auditor’s Office, there are another 1,000 ballots left to count. Blaine City Council In the race for Blaine City Council Ward 2 Position 4, Isaac Newland came out ahead with 50.5 percent in support (160 votes). He’ll face Ray Leone, who was favored by 38.2 percent (121 votes), in November. Steven Tojek received 11.4 percent (36 votes).
Custer Days makes return after 7-year hiatus By Julia Hawkins After a seven-year hiatus, Custer Days is returning to the community with a parade and other family activities from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday, August 9 at 4th and Main streets in Custer. The Custer Heritage Board is revitalizing the event after it disappeared from lack of community engagement. A team of nine volunteers has been leading efforts, up from the only three or four people involved in previous years.
The event will kick off with a beer garden for anyone 21 and older from 10 a.m. to midnight at Tony’s Tavern. Over 40 local vendors selling everything from home goods to power tools and animal items will open shop at 10:30 a.m. Organizations representing veterans, motorcycles and more will have booths. Also at 10:30 a.m., food trucks vendors including Doug’s Burgers, Paso del Norte, Clutch Coffee and Dirties Soda Pop Stop will start taking orders. The parade will start at 11 a.m. Pa-
rade entry is free, and registration will be 9-10:30 a.m. in the Custer Elementary School parking lot. A corn hole tournament will take place 1-3 p.m., and there will be live music and street dancing 5-11 p.m. The bands performing are the Jaded Lovers, Category 5 and Whiplash Rodeo. Sam Sherman, lead organizer of Custer Days and member of the Custer Heritage Board, is hoping to bring back this event (See Custer Days, page 6)
Port of Bellingham As for the Port of Bellingham Commissioner District 2 position, incumbent Ken Bell stepped out to a wide margin over first-time challengers Carly James and Kaylin A. Bosley, earning 60.7 percent (7,773 votes). James earned the second spot, with 34.2 percent (4,384 votes). Whatcom County Council The Whatcom County Council District 2 race, which represents north Bellingham, (See Election, page 3)
INSIDE
A 2024 state audit found the Port of Bellingham had failed to follow procurement procedures in its handling of a federal program, a failure the auditor described as material, the most severe category of internal control deficiency in federal auditing. “We consider this deficiency in internal controls to be a material weakness that led to material noncompliance,” the report from the Office of the Washington State Auditor stated. The state auditor gave the port’s financial statements a clean bill of health otherwise. Only one federal program was examined as a major program in this audit – the Port Infrastructure Development Program. The audit specifically examined a federal award from the U.S. Department of Transportation that involved more than $4.2 million in federal spending during fiscal year 2024. The port paid $906,006, or about 21 percent of the total federal funds spent in this program, to California-based engineering firm Moffat & Nichol, without following proper competitive procurement procedures. Following a competitive call for bids, the port had received only two proposals for architectural and engineering services. It incorrectly concluded that receiving only two bids meant competition was inadequate and awarded the contract to Moffat & Nichol without evaluating or scoring either bid submission. While the port received a clean opinion on its financial statements and compliance with the major federal program overall, the finding was significant enough to be reported as a material weakness in internal controls over major programs. It’s required to be disclosed under federal regulations and included in the audit as a federal award finding. The finding means the port cannot demonstrate it complied with its own
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