August 5 - 11, 2021
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Boys and girls club gets big donation, page 4
Pirate Daze expands to Birch Bay this weekend
New BPD officer saves life, page 5
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
Preliminary primary election results, page 13
Russian ship docks in Blaine Harbor
Bus to run between Blaine Marine Park and Birch Bay every 30 min B y E m i l y F ee k
(See Pirate Daze, page 2)
s The Russian ship, Pomor lodya “Pilgrim,”docked in Blaine Harbor July 27 before leaving the next morning to complete its around-theworld voyage that began in 2017. Read the story on page 7. Photo by Ruth Lauman
Asian giant hornet nest will be shown at Lynden fair before heading to Smithsonian By Grace McCarthy What started with a Facebook message will end in the Smithsonian. “Hi, I’m Ruthie Danielsen, the beekeeper who organized the trapping for the Asian giant hornet for Whatcom County beekeepers. I understand you have the hornets and the nest discovered on your property and I was wondering what you were selling them for. If you’re interested in selling them, could you give me a call?” That’s how the first Facebook message went last February. Within two weeks, Danielsen was delicately packing the first nest found in the U.S. in the freezer of her Birch Bay home.
Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) retrieved the hornet nest the next day. Six months of research later, the nest will educate county residents at next week’s Northwest Washington Fair in Lynden before reaching its final destination – the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. Educating the public to help win the war against the hornet – first at home and then worldwide – motivated her acquisition. “It’s nest zero,” Danielsen said. “That’s the kind of thing you have in the Smithsonian, whether it’s a really big battle or the first woolly mammoth tusk.” Danielsen, a hobbyist beekeeper with six beloved hives, previewed Discovery Plus’
Woman pleads guilty to tampering with train tracks By Grace McCarthy Bellingham resident Samantha Frances Brooks pleaded guilty July 9 to one count of interfering with Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF) tracks last November, in what investigators suspect was environmental terrorism. A federal judge accepted the plea July 26 and Brooks is to be sentenced October 8. Brooks, 27 at the time of arrest, and Ellen Brennan Reiche, who was 23 and also of Bellingham, were arrested No-
vember 28, 2020, after allegedly placing shunts, which can cause train derailments and disrupt crossing systems warning of an oncoming train, on tracks in north Bellingham. Court records show Reiche is awaiting trial August 30. On July 23, Reiche’s attorney moved to suppress evidence from a grocery bag allegedly searched during her arrest without a warrant and statements allegedly made before she was read her Miranda rights. The grocery bag contained black wire, gloves, a cordless drill, scissors
and tape, according to the suppression motion. A hearing on whether this information will be used in her trial is set Friday, August 13. Brooks and Reiche were indicted in the U.S. District Court in Seattle last December on one count of violence against a railroad carrier, according to the indictment. Brooks faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, according to federal court re(See Tracks, page 2)
documentary “Attack of the Murder Hornets” a week before its February 20 release. One of the movie’s filmmakers had rented a Blaine house for the beekeeper, who lacks stable WiFi, to watch the 86-minute documentary before participating in a panel discussion. Danielsen, featured in the film, knew the storied hunt for eradicating the world’s largest hornet all too well, so most of the documentary came as no surprise. But the last scene proved she didn’t know the ending. During those final moments, she learned the landowner where the nest was found requested WSDA return the nest and its (See Nest, page 6)
INSIDE
Pirate Daze is returning to Blaine and expanding to Birch Bay this weekend with plenty of family-friendly activities for attendees. While Pirate Daze usually accompanies Drayton Harbor Days, which is canceled for 2021, the Blaine-Birch Bay Park and Recreation District 2 (BBBPRD2) will host the event independently this year. Pirate Daze will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, August 7, at Blaine Marine Park and the Birch Bay Vogt Community Library location at 7968 Birch Bay Drive. “We’re really looking forward to being back out in the community,” BBBPRD2 activity coordinator Kaileigh Hubbard said. “Other than Splash Days, this is our first big event since Covid. We’re excited to bring Pirate Daze back to the community and be really creative about how we do it.” Both locations will have a variety of activities and will be accessible via the event’s Red Pearl bus shuttle to ensure all participants have access to both sites, Hubbard said. The bus leaves every half hour starting at 10:30 a.m. in Birch Bay and 11 a.m. in Blaine. The event will follow CDC recommendations, and shuttle riders will need to wear a mask if unvaccinated and strongly advised to wear a mask if vaccinated, Hubbard said. Other Covid-19 precautions are still being discussed. Activities at Blaine Marine Park include an art station, water balloon fights, the Whatcom County Library System’s popup library and the Blaine Community Theater’s performance of “The Pirates of Penzance.” The library location will make use of its proximity to the Birch Bay tide flats. The Birch Bay Chamber of Commerce will be holding a buried treasure dig, burying
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