December 5 - 11, 2019
FREE
Community Newspaper of Blaine and Birch Bay HHHECRWSSHHH Postal Customer
IN THIS
ISSUE
Most beaches reopen for shellfish harvest, page 5
How to manage stress over the holidays, page 10
Library input meeting on December 10, page 15
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
Truck suspected in hit and run that caused fire, power outage By Jami Makan Blaine police are investigating after a vehicle collided with electrical equipment in the Cost Cutter plaza and left the scene without reporting the accident. The hit and run collision caused a fire and necessitated a temporary power outage to several businesses in the plaza. On the morning of November 25, the city of Blaine’s public works department discovered a damaged transformer and junction box in the southeast corner of the Cost Cutter plaza. “Our operations supervisor saw that the street lights were out, notified the power crew and that got the ball rolling,” said Ravyn Whitewolf, the city of Blaine’s public works director. The equipment had apparently been struck by a vehicle, and dual-wheel tire marks in the sod surrounding the equipment suggested that the culprit was a semi-truck trailer. Black scorch marks on the transformer also indicated that the transformer had caught fire following the collision. City workers immediately took action due to the serious risk of electrocution. “We went ahead and initiated our response due to all the hazards that were present,” said Sam Castro, Blaine’s assistant public works director. “We could not leave it exposed. We felt it was an emergency.” In order to repair the damaged equipment, workers had to shut off the power to several businesses in the plaza. Cost Cutter itself did not lose any power during the shutdown. The power was shut off around 8:30 a.m. and was restored at about 3 p.m. City workers and a hired electrician de-energized the transformer, shutting down the primary power to it. They did this by disconnecting electrical wires housed in an underground vault near the transformer. The transformer was replaced with another transformer from the city’s inventory. The junction box, which controls lighting on Ludwick Avenue, also needed to be replaced. (See Hit and run, page 4)
s Hunter Hanks, 4, looks up at Blaine’s crab pot Christmas tree in the H Street Plaza on December 3. The crab pot tree was assembled by members of the Salishan Neighborhood Association including Bill Brooks and Daniel, Dennis and Janet Pickard. Throughout the day, city workers were busy putting up wreaths in downtown Blaine and assembling the city’s 20-foot Christmas tree in the G Street Plaza, ahead of the Holiday Harbor Lights celebration on Saturday, December 7. See a list of events on page 2.
Photo by Louise Mugar
CAP launches effort to build new clothing bank By Jami Makan The Community Assistance Program (CAP), a non-profit organization supported by local churches, hopes to construct a new building for its clothing bank, which is currently housed in a shipping container. Since 2008, the clothing bank has been housed in a modified 8-by-40-foot shipping container located at 500 C Street, adjacent to the Blaine Food Bank. Last year, over 25,000 garments were processed and over 6,000 visits were made to the clothing bank, which provides free clothing for all ages, as well as linens and bedding, to those with financial need. Usage of the clothing bank has roughly
doubled over the past decade. Unfortunately, the shipping container was too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter. While the container was remodeled with new insulation in 2011, CAP’s volunteers decided that the container exceeded its capacity a long time ago. “Even from the start, this 320-squarefoot space was barely adequate for its intended purpose,” said CAP volunteer Dan DeMent. “With higher levels of donations and use, both clients and volunteers often find working in such tight quarters to be overwhelming.” CAP now plans to build a new, 1,200-square-foot building just north of the existing clothing bank. The new building will provide a more welcoming and
comfortable experience for clients of the clothing bank, said DeMent. It will also offer the ability to process donations more efficiently and to store larger quantities of clothing and linens. The side of the new building will have a generous overhang, protecting CAP’s clothing donation box from the elements and thus preserving the quality of donated items. In addition to housing the clothing bank, the new “CAP Center” will house the CAP office, which is currently based in the Christ Episcopal Church Annex at 382 Boblett Street. The new office will offer greater privacy for the 200-plus clients who visit CAP every year to request assistance. “The new office will provide the privacy needed for these confidential visits, and
Shellebrate oysters and clean waters at upcoming event By Jami Makan At the upcoming Blaine event celebrating healthy waters and fresh shellfish harvest, attendees can enjoy free oyster samples courtesy of the Drayton Harbor Oyster Company. The fourth annual Drayton Harbor Shellebration will take place on Friday, December 13 from 4 to 6 p.m. at the H Street Plaza in downtown Blaine. The event will be hosted by the Whatcom Conservation District, the Drayton Harbor Oyster Com-
pany, the Blaine Chamber of Commerce, the Drayton Harbor Shellfish Protection District Advisory Committee, the city of Blaine and Whatcom County’s public works department. The goal of the event is to recognize longstanding efforts to improve water quality in Drayton Harbor. The event will celebrate the three-year anniversary of a decision by the Washington State Department of Health to approve 810 acres of shellfish growing area for commercial harvest in November 2016. Furthermore,
another 765 acres of Drayton Harbor were approved for commercial shellfish harvesting in October of this year. “We are just celebrating the community’s support for the whole effort of keeping the bay clean,” said Steve Seymour, who owns Drayton Harbor Oyster Company and chairs the Drayton Harbor Shellfish Protection District Advisory Committee. “There have been about 20 years of effort to open the bay and keep it clean. It’s just
INSIDE
(See CAP, page 13)
Letters . . . . . . . . . 4 Sports . . . . . . . . . . 6 Classifieds . . . . . 11 Coming Up . . . . . 14 Police . . . . . . . . . 14 Tides . . . . . . . . . . 14
TheNorthernLight.com
(See Oysters, page 13) TheNorthernLight
@TNLreporter
@TheNorthernLightNews