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Community Newspaper of Blaine and Birch Bay
February 27 - March 4, 2020
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New EV charging station to be installed, page 3
Poetry contest accepting entries in March, page 5
Local hosts needed for exchange students, page 7
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Elenbaas likens environmental nonprofit group to domestic terrorists By Jami Makan
The Blaine Police Department (BPD) is investigating after 28 storage units were burglarized at Pantec Mini Storage at 943 Boblett Street in Blaine. On January 30, Pantec Mini Storage reported that nine individual storage units had been burglarized. The on-site manager had discovered some garbage outside of the wing of the facility’s “B” building, and after checking inside, she found that nine units had their locks cut and had been entered. “The exterior doors of the storage buildings are not locked,” said a BPD statement on the incident. “It was inside the building that the sliding bolt door latches had been cut by what appears to have been bolt cutters. Three bolt pieces were collected to be sent to the lab for fingerprints and tooling. The lack of activation on the security cameras indicates that the breakins happened during business hours.” Two days later, on February 1, an additional 19 storage units were found to
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remains active, said BPD. “We have been working very closely with the Blaine Police Department as well as Security Solutions NW,” said a Pantec staff member, who praised BPD’s quick and thorough response to the incidents. “We have taken additional security precautions and are working our hardest to have top security in place,” she added.
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be burglarized, according to BPD. “A cut padlock was found near an area suspected of being an access point,” said BPD’s statement. “Additionally, a rubber lock case and four cut dowels were collected as evidence and will be sent for fingerprints and tooling. In direct proximity to the lock and suspected access point, three Marlboro Light cigarette butts were located. They were collected and will be sent for DNA processing.” The list of items believed to be stolen includes a dirt bike, a Dremel rotary tool, children’s toys and a large safe containing multiple firearms and ammunition. To check that the firearms and ammunition were not moved to another unit within the complex, a U.S. Customs K-9 responded to the scene with a dog capable of locating firearms and ammunition. “Officers are investigating leads resulting from the sniff,” said BPD’s statement. The firearms suspected of being stolen have been reported and their serial numbers have been entered into a law enforcement database. The investigation
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Blaine police investigating burglaries of storage units
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(See Elenbaas, page 16)
s Blaine police are investigating the burglaries of 28 storage units at Pantec Mini Storage, 943 Boblett Street.
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Newly elected Whatcom County councilmember Ben Elenbaas likened a Bellingham-based environmental nonprofit organization to domestic terrorists, complaining about the group’s past political advocacy at a recent county council meeting. At the February 11 Whatcom County Council meeting, councilmembers debated whether to authorize the county executive to enter into a contract amendment between Whatcom County and RE Sources to increase the number of educational outreach opportunities in the amount of $15,000 for a total amended contract amount of $65,000. RE Sources, a Bellingham-based nonprofit organization founded in 1982 to advocate for the environment, has implemented a waste reduction and recycling education program in local school districts and youth organizations since 2011. Participants in the program gain an understanding of the impact of personal choices on the waste stream. In debating whether to increase the budget of the program by $15,000 to increase the number of these educational opportunities for elementary, middle and high school students, Elenbaas criticized RE Sources’ past political advocacy. “I have a hard time with their tactics,” said Elenbaas. “If you talk to businesses around the county, you’ll hear about what I would consider ‘greenmail.’ If you look at the definition of domestic terrorism, you might even identify with some of the stuff that they do as that.” Elenbaas continued: “They didn’t just campaign for individuals. They interfered with the public process, the public process that set the way councilmembers would be elected who would then decide how the money was divvied up.” In response to Elenbaas’ comments, councilmember Todd Donovan said that he doesn’t like the optics of a politically active group contracting with the county, but that the contract went out for an RFP and anybody could have responded to it. “This has been recommended by the Solid Waste
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