May 15 - 21, 2025
FREE
Community Newspaper of Blaine and Birch Bay HHHECRWSSHHH Postal Customer
IN THIS
ISSUE
Local candidates running in August primary, page 5
Girls Blaine golfers head to state, page 6
Police chief to hold community meeting, page 13
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
The Plover full steam ahead for summer return Summer
Activities Guide Inside
Icelandic tapestry to make stop in Blaine on North America tour By Grace McCarthy
(See Tapestry, page 15)
s The historic Plover ferry is set to make its first rides of the season on Friday, May 23, just in time for Memorial Day Weekend. Read more about the 81-year-old ferry’s return, including the new online ticketing system, on page 5. The Northern Light staff aboard the PloPhoto by Maddy Ernst ver at Blaine Harbor on May 13 in anticipation of its return.
Blaine faces budget woes from fewer Canadians Five-year forecast projecting red for utility, general and parks funds By Grace McCarthy City of Blaine leaders are expected to spend the coming months looking for ways to balance an already barebones budget as the drop in Canadians crossing the U.S./Canada border significantly impacts the city’s budgeted sales tax revenue, which is used to fund the police, parks and other critical city services. The sales tax revenue is the biggest contributor to the city’s general fund, which is used to fund the police, staff salaries and other critical
city services. The city anticipates a $368,000 deficit in the general fund to pay for these city essentials. The general fund is typically the most difficult fund to balance because it relies on outside influences such as tourism. Sales tax makes up about one-third of the general fund revenue. Other large revenue sources include utility and property taxes as well as the business and occupation tax, which is also impacted by fewer Canadians. “We really only have two levers. One is cut expense. Two is raise revenues,” city manager
Council questions downtown revitalization in light of budget concerns By Grace McCarthy Blaine’s downtown revitalization project, intended to bring improvements to the downtown core that has been years in the making, could potentially be canceled, or scaled back, just as construction is expected to start this summer. Blaine City Council unanimously voted on May 12 to hold a special meeting to discuss how it could adjust the $4.1 million
project in light of budget concerns driven by fewer Canadians visiting Blaine. The finance department recently announced the city could face a $368,000 deficit in its general fund, which pays for daily city operations such as police and staff salaries. The project as planned would revamp two blocks of downtown and make minor improvements outside of that area. It would replace sidewalks on Peace Portal Drive to help with ADA accessibility, re-
place downtown trees with a species that won’t buckle the sidewalk and upgrade the Martin Street and Clark Street parklets. The project, which was already slimmed due to previous budget constraints, has been moving through city council for over two years. Councilmember Richard May brought up the idea to fellow council members (See Downtown project, page 13)
Mike Harmon said during the May 12 Blaine City Council meeting. “Within the general fund, we’re very limited on our ability to raise revenues.” The city administrators estimate the city could expect a $292,000 loss in sales tax revenue by the end of 2025, though a lot of uncertainty remains with the border. The 2025 sales tax was down 13 percent from last year through February, Harmon told council, add(See Budget, page 3)
INSIDE
A presentation on nearly a football fieldsized Icelandic tapestry that depicts one of the country’s most popular sagas will be given at Blaine Public Library as part of the tapestry’s North American tour on Thursday, May 22. The textile, which creators believe could be the world’s longest tapestry, was started as a community project in Hvolsvöllur, a town of roughly 1,000 people about 1.5 hours east of Reykjavík. In 2013, the community set out to recreate the ‘Njáls saga’ that took place in their small town using an ancient embroidery technique, and by the time the tapestry was complete in 2020, the project had grown to involve thousands of embroiderers from more than 150 countries. “I would sometimes just stop and look at my work and think, ‘There could be someone looking at this a thousand years from now,’” said Claudia Pétursson, who is touring the tapestry. “I couldn’t even sew. I was so overwhelmed at the thought.” The 13th century saga depicts Icelandic life between 960 and 1020 with a story of conflict between Icelandic families that touches on honor, revenge and respect. “This story lives in that culture the way Shakespeare lives in ours,” Pétursson said. “If you live in Iceland, you know ‘Njáls saga.’ And what I’ve noticed about immigrants who’ve come to North America, they know the story. It’s woven into their family history.” Pétursson, who splits her time living in
Coming Up . . . . . 14 Classifieds . . 11, 12 Letters . . . . . . . . . 4 Police . . . . . . . . . 14 Sports . . . . . . . . . . 6 Tides . . . . . . . . . . 14
TheNorthernLight.com TheNorthernLight
@TNLreporter
@TheNorthernLightNews