October 18 - 24, 2018
FREE
Community Newspaper of Blaine and Birch Bay HHHECRWSSHHH Postal Customer
IN THIS
ISSUE
Get to know your Community theater Scarecrows crop up Birch Bay man aims in downtown, page 4 gun at deputies, page 5 candidates, page 14 group returns, page 15
Big money flowing into the initiative campaigns
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
Blaine wins 49–8 on homecoming night
B y S t e fa n i e D o n a h u e
(See Finance, page 15)
s Blaine sophomore Seth Blomeen, c., evades a tackle in the second half during a 49–8 victory over Cedarcrest on October 12 at Blaine High School. See more on page 6. Photo by Janell Kortlever
Smoked pot? It all depends upon when and where you did it Used it in B.C.? OK. Plan to use it in Washington? Not OK. B y P at G r u bb Current U.S. enforcement of federal laws against marijuana will not change when it comes to Canadians crossing the border following Canada’s national legalization of pot on October 17, according to Todd Owens, assistant executive commissioner for Customs and Border Protection’s
(CBP) office of field operations. Owens held a telephone press conference with journalists on October 16. In fact, CBP policy had already changed as late as October 9. In September, Owens was quoted in a Politico article saying that persons involved in the marijuana industry would not be allowed into the U.S. nor would investors in marijuana companies be considered admissible. However, in an October 9 update, CBP announced that “…a Canadian citizen working in or facilitating the proliferation of the legal marijuana industry in Canada,
The Northern Light wins 29 WNPA awards B y S t e fa n i e D o n a h u e The Washington Newspaper Publishers Association (WNPA) honored The Northern Light with 29 awards during its 131st annual meeting on October 11 to 13 in Yakima. A panel of judges from the Wisconsin Newspaper Association considered 1,146 submissions in the news category from 62 newspapers, in addition to hundreds more for advertising, sales, photography, website and general excellence categories. Published by locally-owned Point Roberts
Press Inc., The Northern Light competed with higher circulation, mostly-paid newspapers. This year, six awards were given to The Northern Light’s editorial staff. In the Business News Story category, reporter Oliver Lazenby won first place for the article titled, ‘Umpqua Bank to close local company’s account for confusion over hemp,’ which highlighted the bank’s refusal to work with Blaine-based company Rawganique due to its association with the hemp-growing industry. Reporter Stefanie Donahue took second place in the same category for the article
coming to the U.S. for reasons unrelated to the marijuana industry will generally be admissible to the U.S. However, if a traveler is found to be coming to the U.S. for reason related to the marijuana industry, they may be deemed inadmissible.” That brought a sigh of relief not only to individual pot users – big money must also be happy. Constellation Brands, the $42 billion wine and spirits company behind Corona, Modelo and Black Velvet Canadian Whiskey, announced in August that it (See Border, page 10)
INSIDE
Political action committees, multi-billion-dollar corporations and a handful of wealthy donors are spending big bucks on statewide initiative campaigns leading up to the Tuesday, November 6 general election. Four initiatives and one advisory vote will appear on the ballot, in addition to a slew of candidates running for federal, state and county positions. Here is a look at who is funding campaigns ‘for’ and ‘against’ the initiatives, according to the latest data from the Public Disclosure Commission. Initiative Measure No. 1631 To curb greenhouse gas emissions in Washington, the initiative would impose a fee on major polluters to fund programs and projects that protect the environment. Large emitters of fossil fuels would pay $15 per metric ton of produced carbon content starting in 2020. The fee would increase $2 per metric ton each year until the state meets its greenhouse gas reduction goal for 2035; after that, the fee would become fixed, with adjustments for inflation. Not all polluters would have to pay the fee – certain facilities designated by the department of commerce, for example, would be exempt. Aircraft fuels, certain fuel used for agricultural purposes, motor vehicle fuel and other special fuels would also be excluded. According to the Washington State Office of Financial Management (OFM), the fee is expected to raise $2.3 billion within the first five years. A 15-member board would be responsible for allocating the money collected from the fee. Since the initiative would impose a fee, and not a tax, the money could only be used for purposes specified by the initiative. Two political committees called ‘No on 1631,’ sponsored by the Western States Petroleum Association, and ‘I-1631,’ sponsored by the Association of Washington Business, have raised a combined $22.1 million to campaign against the initiative.
Letters . . . . . . . . . 4
titled, ‘Blaine coffee roasters are brewing up more than just a cup of Joe,’ about the opening of Blaine-based, Barnyard Coffee. Publisher and managing editor Pat Grubb received first place in the Editorial category for his editorial titled, ‘What are they Hiding.’ The piece was written in condemnation of the 145 state legislators – including 42nd Legislative District senator Doug Ericksen and representatives Vincent Buys and Luanne Van Werven – who voted in favor of (See WNPA, page 3)
Classifieds . . . . . 16
Coming Up . . . . . 18
Police . . . . . . . . . 18 Tides . . . . . . . . . . 18
TheNorthernLight.com TheNorthernLight
@TNLreporter
@PointRobertsPress