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Community Newspaper of Blaine and Birch Bay
March 11 - 17, 2021
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Daylight saving time is March 14
Projected vaccine timeline announced for Washington
Local real estate in the pandemic, page 5
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
Capital gains tax passes Senate, page 13
Wings Over Water goes virtual this year
By Grace McCarthy Governor Jay Inslee announced March 4 a projected Covid-19 vaccine timeline that includes expanding to essential workers on March 22, with others planned to follow in April. Phase 1b Tier 2, which includes essential workers in congregate settings and people over 16 who are pregnant or have a disability that makes them high risk for the virus, could start as soon as March 22. Essential workers include those working in fishing boats, agriculture, food processing, grocery stores, public transit, corrections facilities, first responders and people working in congregate living settings. People 50 and older with two or more underlying conditions can tentatively expect to be vaccinated beginning April 12, the governor also announced. By April 26, people 16 and older with two or more underlying conditions will be eligible. People experiencing homelessness can also be vaccinated April 26, as well as people living in congregate living facilities such as jails and group homes for people with disabilities. “These dates, of course, have to be tentative and expanding eligibility will depend on supply and our progress vaccinating earlier groups,” Inslee said during a media conference. “I am thrilled at the progress our federal government is making, in combination with these manufacturers to increase supplies.” Inslee announced March 2 that effective immediately teachers and other childcare workers would be added to current eligible group for vaccinations. The governor’s announcement came after President Joe Biden directed all educators have at least one dose by the end of March. Remaining healthcare workers, people 65 and older, and people over 50 living in multigenerational households are already being vaccinated in Washington. The state also reached its goal of vacci(See Timeline, page 3)
s Black oystercatchers are just some of the birds that frequent the Blaine area. Learn more about Wings Over Water Northwest Birding Festival on page 15. Photo by Eric Ellingson
County’s mass vaccination site to start this weekend By Grace McCarthy Whatcom County is just days away from opening its first mass vaccination site on Saturday, March 13, and vaccination scheduling is underway in anticipation for the site’s launch at Bellingham Technical College (BTC). Once vaccine supply increases, organizers predict the site could vaccinate 5,000 people weekly. “As this site ramps up, we will be able to greatly expand vaccine access for eligible people in Whatcom County,” said Shanon Hardie, co-chair of the Community Vac-
cination Center Steering Committee and Unity Care NW chief operating officer, in a media release. “We feel honored to help our community and we’re eager to start getting shots in arms.” Organizers held a trial clinic on March 6 that vaccinated over 240 healthcare workers who work in the homes of vulnerable residents and people over 65 without internet access, Whatcom County Health Department director Erika Lautenbach said during a March 8 Whatcom County Council Committee of the Whole meeting. “It felt very celebratory when I was
there,” Lautenbach said. “It was exciting to see the change and the shift, and the ability for us to reach about 240 people on Saturday.” The March 13 vaccinations will run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., according to the media release. “We have been hesitant to go full scale with this, for even a full day, because there’s just not been the supply yet,” Lautenbach said. “We don’t want to divert supply from our healthcare providers that are trying to get their patients and others vaccinated.” The vaccination site is in partnership (See Clinic, page 3)
By Conor Wilson While living in Seattle’s houseboat community on Lake Union, inspiration struck Blaine author Jessica Stone as she watched one of her neighbors replace a plastic drum that kept the house floating. “Do you think a body would fit in one of those?” she asked. The question turned into Stone’s newest novel, “Blood on a Blue Moon: A Sheaffer Blue Mystery,” which will be released Wednesday, March 17 by Bellingham pub-
lishing company Sidekick Press. The novel tells the story of Sheaffer Blue, an insurance investigator, who teams up with a Seattle police department detective to investigate corrupt politicians, big money and murder. The duo – polar opposites – are forced together after a fire in Seattle’s houseboat community leads to the death of an elderly woman. “Sheaffer is intelligent, but a lazy, bad girl,” Stone said. “She doesn’t really want to work hard, but gets mixed up in this mystery and a romance along the way.”
The book’s manuscript was awarded first in category at the 2018 Murder and Mayhem Book Awards and given the 2019 Best Mystery Award from Black Magnolia Books. “Blood on a Blue Moon” is Stone’s fourth book, and second work of fiction. Although no bodies are hidden in a plastic drum in the book, Stone said watching her neighbor gave her the idea for a murder mystery set in the houseboat community. She said the idea lay dormant until a (See Author, page 6)
Coming Up . . . . . 14 Classifieds . . . . . 11 Letters . . . . . . . . . 4 Police . . . . . . . . . 14 Sports . . . . . . . . . . 7 Tides . . . . . . . . . . 14
INSIDE
Blaine author pens new mystery novel set in Seattle
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