July 2 - 8, 2020
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Virtual sand sculpture contest underway, page 6
New Covid-19 cases rising locally, page 6
City of Blaine to sell downtown property, page 10
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
Blaine salmon seiners head to Alaska County says to avoid Birch Bay for Fourth of July B y G r a c e M c C a rt h y
(See Fourth, page 7)
s On June 16, friends and family gathered on Jorgensen Pier at the end of Marine Drive to send off five local purse seiners. The boats and crews are making their annual trip up the Inside Passage to Alaska where they will spend the summer harvesting salmon in Prince William Sound. The boats included fishing vessels Destiny, Sound Star, Pamela Joyce, Island Queen, and Pacific Dream.
Photo by Andy Peterson, Blaine harbormaster
County council expects 20 percent decrease in revenue By Ian Haupt Whatcom County Council has proposed goals it would like to see county executive Satpal Sidhu incorporate in budget discussions scheduled for July 8. In the meeting, which was rescheduled to incorporate the council’s goals, the executive’s office will draft a budget to be resubmitted to the council based on revised revenue estimates, according to the Whatcom County Executive’s Office website. The goals take into account a probable loss in revenue due to the economic effects of Covid-19. During a virtual budget meeting on June 23, the council discussed the need for the county executive’s office to devise a supplemental budget for 2021-2022 that would project a possible 20 percent decrease from 2019 revenue. That much of a decrease would be “a worst-case scenario,”
council agreed, but necessary for the executive’s office to consider. Tyler Byrd, councilmember and chair of the finance and administrative services committee, led the discussion on budget priorities and goals using a document called “Frazey’s additions to Byrd’s priorities” found on the Whatcom County Council website. The document refers to Carol Frazey, a fellow county councilmember. Councilmember Rud Browne said he would like to see the executive present a 2021 budget using the most current revenue projections and include an alternative budget that would suggest possible cuts in the event that revenue is lower than expected. “I want the finance department to use the best data available to establish what they think the budget should be, but to
include in that the contingency of what happens if [revenue] goes down by 20 percent,” Browne said. The supplemental budget would de(See Budget, page 3)
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Community members and officials discussed plans for Birch Bay’s annual Fourth of July celebration during a June 26 virtual conference held by the Birch Bay Chamber of Commerce. Whatcom County sheriff Bill Elfo said it’s hard to predict the number of attendees at this year’s Fourth of July celebration with the U.S./Canadian border closure limiting the number of Canadian visitors but canceled fireworks shows in Blaine and Bellingham could increase the number of attendees. Undersheriff Doug Chadwick said he anticipates the size of this year’s celebration, which is not a planned event, to be similar to events in the past. Patrols from the sheriff’s office will begin on Friday and continue through the weekend. The sheriff’s office will not be enforcing the statewide mask mandate, which went into effect June 26, during Birch Bay’s Fourth of July celebration unless it’s an aggravating circumstance where someone refuses to comply with the mandate, the sheriff Elfo said. “Our position has been to try to educate, try to get people to voluntarily comply and we’ve actually had about a 100 percent success rate when we’ve asked someone to do that,” he said. “We don’t have the jail space, we don’t have the resources and we’re also concerned about our deputies communicating with people who aren’t wearing masks.” The Whatcom County Health Department is asking people to avoid Birch Bay. The health department recommends following phase 2 guidelines and not celebrating the Fourth of July with more than five people outside of a household. “We ask locals and visitors alike not to gather in Birch Bay for fireworks this year,” said Erika Lautenbach, Whatcom County Health Department director in a June 29 press release. “We know traditions like these are fun, celebratory and very meaningful for a lot of people. But it’s simply not safe this year. It could put many others at risk, including the people who call Birch
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