November 10 - 16, 2022
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Community Newspaper of Blaine and Birch Bay HHHECRWSSHHH Postal Customer
IN THIS
ISSUE
BHS theater to put on “The Little Mermaid,” page 2
Accused knifeman arrested after being pepperballed and beanbagged
Veterans Day Salute, pages 8-9
Community meeting on future flooding, page 13
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
Growing season ends for girls soccer
By Grace McCarthy
(See Stabbing, page 5)
s Juliana Zuzarte battles for the ball November 3 at Borderite stadium. Blaine High School girls soccer team ended the season 4-3 in its bi-district game against Meridian High School. Read more on page 6. Photo by Janell Kortlever
Democrats holding slight leads in 42nd district races By Grace McCarthy The November 8 general election is proving to have tight races between Democrats and Republicans in Whatcom County. About 43.3 percent of the county’s 157,580 registered voters turned in their ballots by 8 p.m. Election Day. Whatcom County Auditor’s Office estimated another 25,500 ballots were left to count – not including ballots dropped off on election night or mailed last minute – after nearly 68,232 ballots were counted. The Whatcom County Auditor’s Office
announced in a November 9 news release that the elections department is behind on processing ballots because of network outages that limited connection ability to the state’s voter registration system, VoteWA. Windstorms during the weekend of November 4 caused fiber optic outages, impacting data services, according to the auditor’s office. VoteWA checks ballots and verifies signatures, which is the first step in ballot processing. Ballots returned during the weekend and early election week have not yet been processed because of the system outage and a high-
School surveys show teacher outlook on district By Ian Haupt Blaine educators were feeling ready for this school year. At a time when national polls show teachers are less satisfied than they have been in decades, most Blaine school district staff are satisfied with their jobs and feel they have a healthy work environment, according to a recent staff survey. Over 80 percent of staff that responded said they were motivated, satisfied and enjoyed the current culture in the district.
17,000.Solutions founder Rich Hazzard presented the staff survey results at a Blaine school board meeting October 24 in Point Roberts. 17,000.Solutions is a research, consulting and design lab organization dedicated to public school improvement, according to its website. Superintendent Christopher Granger said the district chose 17,000.Solutions to conduct its staff support project because, along with gauging staff morale, it will develop solutions to improve district culture. He said it’s intended to help the district re-
bound from the pandemic. Across the nation Pandemic-related issues are not specific to Blaine. School districts across the country are struggling to bounce back. Forty-three percent of teachers polled in a national survey conducted by EdWeek Research Center said they were dissatisfied with their job. According to the survey, which polled 1,324 teachers between January 9 and February 23, only 12 percent (See School, page 3)
er-than-average voter turnout. Whatcom County auditor Diana Bradrick said in the news release that the auditor’s office was processing ballots on November 9 but the VoteWA signature verification was operating slower than usual. Sharon Shewmake (D) is in a close lead against incumbent Simon Sefzik (R) for the state senator seat in the 42nd Legislative District. Shewmake has 51.3 percent (23,770 votes) and Sefzik has 48.6 percent (22,518) of the votes. They are currently (See Election, page 15)
INSIDE
A man was arrested in the early morning of November 7 on suspicion of stabbing another man on Peace Portal Drive under the I-5 overpass. It took two hours for about 17 law enforcement officers to get the suspect, who refused to identify himself, to surrender. Blaine Police Department (BPD) officers received a call at 12:11 a.m. November 7 from a man who said another male had stabbed him near the Peace Portal Drive I-5 overpass, according to BPD’s case summary. A witness also reported the incident to 911. The victim told police he had tried talking to the man when the man began stabbing him, according to BPD. The victim, who police said had defensive wounds, described the knife as being 1-foot long. North Whatcom Fire and Rescue (NWFR) assisted with aid on scene and transported the victim to St. Joseph Medical Center in Bellingham, where he arrived around 1:15 a.m., NWFR chief Jason van der Veen said. The police found the suspect underneath I-5 shortly after contacting the victim. BPD sergeant Tim Richardson said in addition to two Blaine officers, about five U.S. Border Patrol agents, three Bellingham Police Department officers, three Washington State Patrol troopers and four Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office officers with a K-9 responded. SWAT was later called and arrived as the man was arrested at 2:13 a.m. Richardson said the man brandished two knives, each over 1-foot long, at officers and the K-9 as they tried to talk him into surrendering. Officers first tried pepperballs and, after those didn’t work, used less-lethal beanbag rounds, Richardson said. The man surrendered about five minutes after the bean bags were deployed. The man had bloodstains on his clothing that did not appear to be his, according to BPD’s case summary, and a trail of blood
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