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Community Newspaper of Blaine and Birch Bay
October 13 - 19, 2022
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IN THIS
ISSUE
Sahara Pizza opens in Birch Bay, page 3
Blaine school district sees small kindergarten cohort this year
Local beekeeper speaks at Smithsonian, page 4
Reward offered for alleged cat killer, page 13
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
Oyster festival a hit in downtown Blaine
By Ian Haupt
(See School, page 2)
s The first oyster festival was a huge success with over 5,000 oysters consumed by a crowd estimated to be in the thousands on October 8. The event took over the downtown core with oyster cooking demonstrations, family activities, a vendors market, live music and more. The historic Plover ferry offered attendees trips between Blaine Harbor and Semiahmoo Spit, with educational tours of Drayton Harbor Oyster Company’s oyster farm and nursery. More photos on pages 8 and 9. Photo by Ruth Lauman
Blaine Police Department calls for SWAT gear on deck, purchasing shields and helmets By Grace McCarthy Blaine City Council approved the police department’s request to use federal Covid-19 stimulus funds for about a $41,000 emergency purchase of tactical gear during its October 10 meeting. Blaine police chief Donnell Tanksley requested the city use a portion of its unallocated American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to purchase three ballistic shields and six helmets. The city has
about $700,000 in unallocated ARPA funds, said finance director Dan Heverling, which it will need to use by the end of 2024. Tanksley told council that Blaine officers arrived at the May 25 lockdown on Blaine school district’s main campus, prompted by anonymous threatening text messages, without proper gear. “Many of our officers went in with nothing. Just their vest and their weapons. No shields, no helmets,” he said. “They were
Loretta Lynn, country star with Custer roots, dies By Ian Haupt Loretta Lynn, a coal miner’s daughter, American country music star and past Custer resident, died October 4 at her home in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee. She was 90. Known for her candid lyrics about working-class life, Lynn is remembered for her rise from Kentucky coal country to trailblazing a path for other female country singers. In her autobiography, “Loretta Lynn:
Coal Miner’s Daughter,” Lynn notes how she was 14 and pregnant with her first child when she left Butcher Hollow, Kentucky on a train headed across the country for Custer, where her husband, Oliver “Doolittle” Lynn, found work on a farm. She had four children by the time she was 19, ultimately having six. Hearing her serenade the children, Doolittle thought she had a promising voice and bought her a guitar for her 18th birthday. Lynn started playing local granges and taverns in the 1950s,
while she worked seven days a week as a cook and maid. She often appeared at Bill’s Tavern, which sat near Peace Portal Drive and Hughes Avenue. She formed her own band, known as the Trailblazers, and won a televised talent contest hosted by Buck Owens in Tacoma. She recorded her first album in 1960 and moved to Nashville by the end of the year. With three Grammy Awards, 51 Top 10 (See Lynn, page 3)
called to duty. They acted and they did what we expected them to do. However, I believe we should prepare them and outfit them to go into these situations.” No one was physically harmed during the lockdown and the student who sent the text messages was later arrested. Tanksley originally requested $31,000 from the city to purchase two shields and six helmets. But after Tanksley told coun(See Council, page 5)
INSIDE
The Blaine school district’s budget issues are looking even worse than expected, as its incoming kindergarten class is smaller than normal. Blaine school district superintendent Christopher Granger told school board members during a rescheduled board meeting October 4 that two kindergarten classes were consolidated due to a small kindergarten cohort. The fewer classes freed up two teachers, one of whom will cover for another teacher while on leave and the other will substitute, already contracted for the 2022-23 school year. But this comes as the district is already having budgeting issues and was projecting its budget on past kindergarten enrollment numbers. Overall, enrollment is down about 86 students from what was budgeted for this year, 43 of whom were in kindergarten. Granger said an over-budgeting of 43 kindergarten students cost the district an estimated $738,061. It would also mean a reduction in force (RIF) would likely be necessary in March 2023 to prepare for next school year, he said. That reduction could come from a staff member retiring or resigning. Granger said 107 kindergarten students have enrolled at Blaine Primary School. With the significant decrease, the board will have to budget conservatively for next year, he said. “We have some increase enrollment in the high school a little bit, so as enrollment averages out through the year, we will be able to tell exactly what it is,” Granger said. “But 107 is a small group for Blaine. That’s the smallest cohort they’ve seen in a long time.” Kindergarten class sizes will total 20 students with the consolidation, Granger said. One teacher without a class will substitute, as the district is having a substitute shortage, and the other teacher will cover a leave position, Granger said.
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