Nov. 25 - Dec. 1, 2021
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Community comes together after flood, page 3
Shewmake to run for state senate, page 4
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
Holiday Harbor Lights is back, page 8
Blaine prepares to welcome Canadians with open arms By Grace McCarthy
(See Border, page 5)
s November 15 flooding forced evacuations at Birch Bay Leisure Park on Birch Bay Drive. At least 20 residents in the 718-unit seasonal park were evacuated by park maintenance crews and as of November 21 were unable to return to their homes while the park continued to assess electric and sewer impacts. Photographed is residual water on November 19. Photo by Christopher Ramirez
Whatcom County starts flood assessment as new damage is discovered By Grace McCarthy Whatcom County officials and community members are working around the clock to assess the full impact of catastrophic floods that washed over Whatcom County a week ago, while more damage has been discovered since the storm hit November 14-17. Collateral damage is being assessed, including impacts to Whatcom County farms. Flood impacts to a Sumas grain producer that supplies about 80 percent
of western Washington dairy farms could hurt milk supply, said Jed Holmes, community outreach facilitator for the Whatcom County Executive’s Office. EPL Feed in Sumas was severely flooded, impacting equipment and grain, and is unable to get supplies by train because of the BNSF Railway train track damage after several train cars derailed last week. EPL, which produces grain to feed dairy cows in Skagit, Snohomish and King counties, needs to maintain their feed distribution or else dairy farmers
Proposed school board district boundaries could give Birch Bay majority of seats By Ian Haupt Under the drafted Blaine school board district boundaries presented in a special board meeting November 22, Birch Bay could gain a simple majority on the board in upcoming elections if residents in the new boundaries decided to run, and win. This possibility, however, did not comfort residents looking for more Birch Bay repre-
sentation on the board and in the district. During the redistricting plan special meeting, Birch Bay Chamber of Commerce secretary Doralee Booth and Birch Bay State Park board member Pat Jerns voiced their concerns of the lack of representation that the unincorporated, 10,115-person area has. Only one of the five school board members lives in Birch Bay. Booth mentioned the difficulties of transporta-
tion from the south end of the district and not having a school in the Birch Bay area, which makes up nearly two-thirds of the district’s population. “We feel like with this map that we just do not have a sense of place for the Birch Bay community,” Booth said. According to 2020 U.S. Census data, (See School, page 7)
won’t have the right mix of food which could result in their cows’ lactation could stop, Holmes said. Dairy farmers need the grain supply running again before hitting a crisis point, which Holmes said differs for each farm depending how much grain supply they have left. The Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) Division of Emergency Management is brainstorming a solution, which may mean a Ferndale grain producer (See Flood, page 9)
INSIDE
Canadian health officials announced they will drop Covid-19 testing requirements for fully vaccinated Canadians making short trips into the U.S. The new rule goes into effect Tuesday, November 30 and was met with open arms by Blaine residents and businesses that have gone nearly two years without their Canadian family members and customers. The Public Health Agency of Canada announced November 19 that Canadians and permanent residents leaving Canada don’t need a Covid-19 test if they will return to Canada within 72 hours. Children under 12 and people medically unable to receive the vaccine are also able to now take short trips without a Covid-19 test. The exemption applies to both land and air travel. “My kids were all calling me saying, ‘Mom! Mom! Have you heard the news?” said Blaine resident Allyson Grant, who has three children living in Canada. “My kids couldn’t wait to get vaccinated so they could travel and then they had to wait.” Grant, a Canadian native, was able to obtain her green card September 2020 and move to Blaine to live with her husband and step-son. But this meant going over a year without seeing her three adult children. Once the Canada and U.S. border reopened partially to those fully vaccinated, she said travel still wasn’t an option because of the expense and hassle of getting a Covid-19 test. “I was absolutely thrilled when the border reopened but the only complication was the Covid test,” Grant said. “To have my kids come down for the weekend, it would have been over $1,000.” Canada partially opened its border for nonessential trips to fully vaccinated U.S. travelers in early August but required a Covid-19 test within 72 hours, which deterred many by complications such as the price of a Covid-19 test for travel, not covered by insurance, and the limited ability
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