January 31 - February 6, 2019
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Murder suspect New member appointed to Blaine City Council arrested after abandoning stolen vehicle in Blaine By Jami Makan
s Blaine resident Jaime Arnett, l., was sworn in by city clerk Samuel Crawford, r., after she was appointed to Blaine City Council at its January 28 meeting. Six individuals had applied for the vacant seat. Photo by Stefanie Donahue
By Jami Makan Blaine resident Jaime Arnett was appointed to Blaine City Council on January 28, filling the position left vacant by Meg Olson who resigned in November. Arnett was sworn in immediately and took her seat on the council. “I was a little surprised to be sworn in right away,” she said. “They didn’t mention that was how it was going to happen, but I loved it because I have an urgency to get involved.” Blaine City Council voted unanimously to appoint Arnett, but no explanation was provided for her appointment in public session. Deliberations occurred in a private session that lasted about 20 minutes. Blaine city councilmember Charlie Hawkins recused himself from the discus-
sion because his son, Colin Hawkins, was one of the six individuals who applied for the vacant seat. Arnett is the office manager at Boundary Fish Company and a grant writer for Bellingham-based nonprofit Animals as Natural Therapy. Previously, she worked for Habitat for Humanity, both in Washington and Oregon, and has helped bring a bullying awareness workshop to the Blaine school district. Arnett said she applied for the position because she has a deep passion for the community and sees her new role as an opportunity to bring positive change to Blaine. She said she will aim to help improve the city’s financial position and support actions that attract business, investment and tourism to the area. “I’m really looking forward to generat-
School board approves 2,000-seat grandstand design District identifies ways to pay for potential cost overrun By Oliver Lazenby The Blaine school board on January 28 voted unanimously to move forward with a 2,000-seat high school grandstand design that may cost more than the district budgeted in its $12 million April 2018 capital levy.
The district’s architect for the project, Bellingham-based Zervas Architects, previously presented a scaled-back design with seating for 1,600 – a compromise made to keep the project in budget, as the district’s plan called for closer to 2,000 seats. “We went back to the drawing board and went back to an idea that would encompass the whole 2,000 seats that we heard was a big priority,” Zervas Architects principal Sharon Robinson said at the January 28 meeting. The grandstand consists of two parts –
stadium seating and a structure underneath that houses concession stands, storage and other things. With the design presented on January 28, Zervas made changes to reduce the cost of the building underneath. Some storage that was previously inside will now be outside but secured, for example. Still, district officials think bids for the design could be over budget and they’ve identified ways to pay for it. For one, the district will likely have leftover contingency (See School, page 3)
ing some revenue and balancing our city budget,” Arnett said. Blaine City Council spent several hours interviewing candidates earlier in the day. In addition to Arnett, Colin Hawkins, David Gallion, Garth Baldwin, Jodi Greene and Steven Tojek applied for the position, which represents Ward 2. Candidates were asked a slew of questions, including whether they could devote enough time to serve; what they believed is the goal of the Blaine City Council; how they approach controversial or complicated issues; what skills and experience they possess; and what are their top priorities for the city. They were also asked about how they felt about the city’s use of eminent domain, and how they would ap(See City, page 3)
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A homicide suspect was arrested earlier this week in Surrey, B.C. after illegally crossing the border in Blaine, where he left a stolen van. Jordan Eaton, 26, allegedly shot his 19-year-old girlfriend early in the morning on January 28 in the South Hill area of Pierce County. According to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office, Eaton then fled to Puyallup where he stole a van and drove to Blaine. The van, a white 2006 GMC Savana owned by the Liberty Distributing Co., was recovered in Blaine by the Blaine Police Department with assistance from other law enforcement agencies. Later that same day, after illegally crossing the border on a stolen bicycle, Eaton was located at Peace Arch Hospital in White Rock where he was found armed. He was arrested by the RCMP after he unsuccessfully tried running away from pursuing officers. The Blaine Police Department had received an alert at 12:48 p.m. to be on the lookout for the homicide suspect and the vehicle, which was found abandoned in a Blaine alleyway. The vehicle, which had a refrigeration unit on top and company logos on its sides, was noticed by a Blaine police officer who was patrolling the area. “The vehicle was parked in the alley but we were not sure if it was still occupied,” said lieutenant Ryan King of the Blaine Police Department. “We requested assistance from U.S. Customs and Border Protection who was nearby and the Whatcom sheriff’s office to secure the area,” he added. The vehicle was checked by officers who found nobody inside. According to King, it appears that Eaton stole the bicycle from a nearby residence before he illegally crossed into Canada. Blaine police transported the stolen vehicle to a secure storage area. A team from the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office was expected to arrive the following day to conduct a forensics investigation on the stolen vehicle.
Sports . . . . . . . . . . 6 Classifieds . . . . . 11 Coming Up . . . . . 14
Police . . . . . . . . . 14 Tides . . . . . . . . . . 14
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