April 6 - 12, 2023
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Community Newspaper of Blaine and Birch Bay HHHECRWSSHHH Postal Customer
IN THIS
ISSUE
Blaine Oyster Festival returns in May, page 3
NEXUS centers reopening in Canadian airports
BP planning green investment , page 5
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
Easter egg hunts in Birch Bay and Blaine, page 10
Birch Bay Road Race runners dash to finish line
By Grace McCarthy
(See NEXUS, page 3)
s Runners pushed against strong winds the morning of April 1 as they raced along the 5k, 15k and 30k courses in the Birch Bay Road Race. Orca Running, which will hold 15 races across Washington state this year, organized the annual Birch Bay race. More photos on page 13. Photo by Grace McCarthy
City sewer project significantly under budget By Grace McCarthy The city’s large sewer project is expected to come in at nearly half of its previously anticipated $6.5 million budget. The project will update the dilapidated sewer system near Blaine school district, Blaine Senior Center and north of Burger King. Blaine City Council unanimously approved Bellingham-based Strider Construction Co. to construct the G Street sewer project at $3.9 million, not including 8.8 percent sales tax, during the March 27 council meeting. Problems with the sewer system culminated in summer 2020 when the sewer overflowed into the streets west and southwest of the Blaine school district campus. The issue was then brought to
city council’s attention in March 2021 and it approved David Evans and Associates to conduct the project’s engineering work. Engineering estimates originally anticipated a $6.5 million project total but city finance director Daniel Heverling said city was bracing to need up to $7.5 million. In March 2021, city staff advised city council that the General Sewer Plan, a study on the city’s sewer infrastructure finished in 2004 and updated in 2005, recommended the city sewer lines be updated in 2009. The study predicted that, if the pipes weren’t fixed, sewage would leak where overflow was observed in summer 2020. David Evans and Associates finished engi(See Sewer, page 15)
INSIDE
Canada and U.S. government officials announced that NEXUS enrollment centers will reopen at eight Canadian airports within the next month. The March 20 announcements from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) come after about 350,000 applicants have experienced interview backlogs over the past year. This will be the first time Canadian enrollment centers have reopened since the pandemic, and nearly a year after U.S. enrollment centers reopened last April. A debate between governments on whether CBP agents could carry guns in Canadian processing centers was widely thought to be a contributor to Canada’s delay to reopen the NEXUS centers. The debate centered around a 2019 U.S./ Canada preclearance agreement that authorized U.S. agents to carry guns wherever CBSA carried in Canadian airports and ports, according to previous reporting in The Northern Light. But as CBSA agents are not allowed to be armed, there was debate on whether U.S. agents could carry. CBSA spokesperson Rebecca Purdy told The Northern Light last August that U.S. and Canada officials were clarifying legal protections for U.S. CBP officers working in enrollment centers. Canadian NEXUS centers will no longer have Canada and U.S. border officials together during interviews, as was done before the pandemic. Applicants now have three options to complete their interviews. They can either have a joint interview at a U.S. enrollment center; interview at a Canadian land enrollment center and then interview separately at a U.S. enrollment center on the U.S./Canada border; or air travelers can do a two-step process where U.S. and Canadian border agents will conduct interviews separately. Canadian enrollment centers have already begun interviews with the reopening of the Halifax and Winnipeg international airports on March 27 and Vancouver International Airport on April 3. Other NEXUS centers will soon reopen at
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