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Community Newspaper of Blaine and Birch Bay
August 6 - 12, 2020
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IN THIS
ISSUE
City applies to close some Peace Portal parking, page 2
Asian giant hornet in Birch Bay, page 7
Health dept. recommends remote school, page 13
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
WCLS won’t New Birch Bay brewery opens this week pursue joint levy for Blaine, Birch Bay Libraries By Oliver Lazenby
EXPERIENCE THE
! N FU
s Beach Cat Brewing, at 101-7876 Birch Bay Drive in Birch Bay, plans to open at noon on Thursday, August 6. Read more in a story about the brewery on page 15
Photo by Kyra Planetz
Birch Bay feels absence of part-time residents By Grace McCarthy Crystal Anderton has been visiting Edgewater Trailer Park since she was an infant. Even before she was born, her great-great-grandparents rented a cabin one week every summer in Birch Bay, spurring a tradition that carried through generations – a story similar to many of her neighbors. What made Edgewater feel like home was the people who shaped those memories: The ones who were there when she potty trained and the ones who were at her wedding reception in the park 13 years ago. But now Anderton and her husband, Josh, are one of two American homes left at Edgewater, along with an essential worker from Canada – a stark difference from the dozens of homes normally occupied. And
with repeated border closure extensions since the first shutdown to non-essential travel on March 21, Anderton isn’t sure when her Canadian neighbors will return. When the border first closed, the Andertons got to work helping neighbors. They exchanged emails, collected spare keys, emptied fridges, turned off water and upgraded their phone plan for international calls. “In the beginning it was ‘don’t drink all of our beer,’ then it was ‘you better drink it, it’s going to get expired,’ and then it was ‘we’ll get you a 12-pack when we’re back,’” Anderton said. Anderton likens the quiet park to the aftermath of an atomic bomb. Bird feeders are overrun with yellow jacket nests, children’s toys are cluttered on a deck, and a Canadian flag is blowing in the wind. CBP spokesperson Jason Givens said in
H Go Karts H Miniature Golf H Train Rides H Arcade Games
NEW
www.minatureworld.org
SNACK BAR & PICNIC AREA
an email to The Northern Light that travel into the U.S. for visiting the personal property is not essential under the tempo(See Absent owners, page 3
Letters . . . . . . . . . 4 Health . . . . . . . . . 8 Classifieds . . . . . 11 Election Results . 13 Puzzles . . . . . . . . 14 Tides . . . . . . . . . . 14
INSIDE
In the face of Covid-19-induced fundraising challenges, the Whatcom County Library System (WCLS) board of trustees decided not to pursue a joint levy to fund a new library in Birch Bay and a remodel to the Blaine library. The board of trustees voted to split the projects at its July 21 meeting so that it could focus on funding the future Birch Bay Vogt Community Library, at 7968 Birch Bay Drive. The Washington legislature set aside $2 million for the Birch Bay library project in April 2019 for its 20202021 budget, but the project will only receive the money if WCLS and the Friends of the Birch Bay Library can match that amount by June 30, 2021. Previously, the WCLS board was pursuing forming a single taxing district to fund both projects. It hoped to put two ballot propositions on the August 2020 special election ballot – one to form a taxing district and another to levy money for the projects. “We realized that with the challenges our communities are facing right now, there’s no way we could go out and ask voters to approve the levy to build both of those projects,” said Mary Vermillion, WCLS community relations manager. “We are going to make a push for the Birch Bay project.” WCLS and the Friends have a design for an approximately 7,600-square-foot library in Birch Bay, at a property that WCLS purchased in 2017. The Friends group has raised about $160,000 so far, said Dianne Marrs-Smith, president of Friends of the Birch Bay Library. Marrs-Smith said that the Friends group is grateful the library system is working with the group to match the $2 million in state funds, and that WCLS and the Friends are working on a plan to raise the rest of the money. So far, all options are on the table, she said. To learn more about future fundraising plans for the Birch Bay library, visit friendsofbirchbaylibrary.org. The Friends of the Blaine Library hired a design team last year and held a series of meetings to plan a remodel to the Blaine Library. The design team revealed a concept in February 2020 that is about 8,600 square feet, roughly twice the size of the current Blaine library.
TheNorthernLight.com
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