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Community Newspaper of Blaine and Birch Bay
May 30 - June 5, 2024
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IN THIS
ISSUE
Memorial Day salutes, page 4
Two men charged with cross-border smuggling
Paso Del Norte closure extended, page 5
Track and field shows talent at state, page 7
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
Scottish festival coming to Blaine
By Grace McCarthy
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s The Bellingham Scottish Gathering will be held for the first time in Blaine, at Blaine Marine Park and Semiahmoo Spit, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, June 1. The festival will include a dance championship, athletic events, market vendors, Celtic music and haggis, the national dish of Scotland. Photo courtesy Heather Richendrfer
By Grace McCarthy A festival celebrating Scottish culture with a dance championship, athletic events and bagpipe music will be held for the first time in Blaine on Saturday, June 1. Bellingham Scottish Gathering will run from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The event will be split between Blaine Marine Park and Semiahmoo Spit, with “Koinonia,” a 48-passenger boat, transporting festival-goers. “There’s a lot to watch and experience, and a lot of educational opportunities,” said Heather Richendrfer, event founder and executive director. An open highland dancing championship, regular dance competition, pipe band and Scottish drumming competi-
tions, a massed band performance, beer garden provided by McKay’s Taphouse, and food and merchandise vendors will be at Blaine Marine Park, 235 Marine Drive. About a dozen Scottish clans will also have information booths; a storyteller trained in Edinburgh; and a music group from Oregon called Adams, Martin and Linahon will perform traditional Celtic music and sea shanties. Traditional highland games such as stone throwing and a caber toss will take place on a grassy field just south of Semiahmoo Marina. Over 200 competitors will attend the event, traveling from across the Pacific Northwest and as far as Alberta to show (See Festival, page 3)
INSIDE
Two men suspected of smuggling people across the U.S./Canada border using freight trains made their first appearances in U.S. District Court in Seattle on May 24. Jesus Ortiz-Plata, 45, of Independence, Oregon, and Juan Pablo Cuellar-Medina, 35, of Everett, were arrested along with three non-U.S. citizens on May 23 following an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington. In late 2022, U.S. Border Patrol and investigators started seeing Ortiz-Plata’s phone number as a contact number for people illegally crossing the border. One of the cases where Ortiz-Plata’s number appeared included the August 31, 2023 apprehension of 29 people who tried illegally entering the U.S. on a southbound train from Canada. According to federal court records, Ortiz-Plata went by the name “Chuy” and was thought to transport people illegally from the Blaine and Sumas area to Oregon and California. On May 23, investigators GPS tracked Ortiz-Plata’s phone and watched him travel from Oregon to Seattle, where he was then followed to Cuellar-Medina’s apartment in Everett. Ortiz-Plata was arrested after he left the apartment with three men who were not U.S. citizens. Two of the men had allegedly crossed the U.S./Canada border in a freight train car, while one said he had walked across the border, according to federal court records. One of the people said Cuellar-Medina had picked him up after crossing. The two men who had crossed by train had paid $2,000 each for help getting to Portland, Oregon, according to court records. The men were reportedly not provided food or water while they were in Everett. The five people were transported to the HSI office in Ferndale for questioning and HSI booked Ortiz-Plata and Cuellar-Medina into Whatcom County Jail around 9 p.m. May 23. They were transported to federal custody early the next morning. Ortiz-Plata and Cuellar-Medina were charged with conspiracy to commit illegal transportation of a non-citizen for private financial gain, which is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and $250,000.
Coming Up . . . . . 14 Classifieds . . 11, 12 Letters . . . . . . . . . 4 Police . . . . . . . . . 14 Sports . . . . . . . . . . 7 Tides . . . . . . . . . . 14
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ijELLINGHAM �COTTISH GATHERING A celebration of Scotland’s culture in Blaine by the Sea!
SATURDAY, JUNE 1 l Blaine Marine Park & Semiahmoo Spit ILS Saturday June 1, 2024 TA Hosted by the City of Blaine, Washington U.S.A
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