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Community Newspaper of Blaine and Birch Bay
December 19 - 25, 2024
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IN THIS
ISSUE
Taylor Swift traffic in numbers, page 2
Borderite winter sports, page 6
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
Whatcom County vacancies, page 5
Carjacking Caroling brings dozens to Semiahmoo Resort near Peace Arch border ends in Skagit County By Grace McCarthy
(See Pursuit, page 3)
s Blaine singer-songwriter Dana Cohenour had the crowd on their feet during the old-fashioned caroling event at Semiahmoo Golf and Country Club on December 14. About 70 people attended the caroling event for its revival since the pandemic.
Photo by Jason Cohenour
County discusses comprehensive plan figures By Nolan Baker Blaine and Birch Bay residents attended a Whatcom County Planning Commission work session on December 12, as the county and city representatives move toward updating the comprehensive plan. Multiple speakers from Blaine and Birch Bay, city representatives, developers and residents, asked the county planning commission to look carefully at the projections it makes for population, employment, development and utility use in Blaine and the Birch Bay Urban Growth Area (UGA). One factor that has created concern regarding the county planning process is that the county has yet to finalize its population and employment projections, which direct-
ly impact how a city or UGA is allowed to develop. Without finalized projections, city governments are unable to move forward with submitting their own projections. In the words of former county planning director David Stalheim, the commission is in a sticky situation. “I think the planners are in this Catch-22 about this because you do need numbers to start doing things,” Stalheim said during the work session. “The numbers help you start the planning but you need the numbers to start doing your planning.” The planning commission was basing its population projections on data from the Washington State Office of Financial Manage(See Planning, page 3)
INSIDE
A vehicle stolen in B.C. near the Peace Arch border crossing in Blaine led to a nearly 40-mile pursuit on southbound I-5 ending near the Bow Hill rest area on December 12. Washington State Patrol (WSP) was alerted around 1:30 p.m. of an early 2000s Toyota Tacoma pickup truck with B.C. plates that was carjacked on the B.C. side of the Blaine border crossing, said WSP trooper Brad Tulloch. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) spokesperson Jason Givens wrote in an email to The Northern Light that the vehicle entered the Peace Arch border crossing at a high rate of speed and failed to yield to CBP officers. The vehicle continued through the border crossing and hit another vehicle, Givens wrote. The driver then entered secondary inspection, made a U-turn, exited the secondary lot and drove across a grass median before reaching southbound I-5. A CBP officer was nearly struck at the crossing and CBP began pursuing the driver on southbound I-5, Tulloch said. The driver reached speeds up to 103 miles per hour during the pursuit, Tulloch said. WSP troopers took over the pursuit after observing the driver not yielding to CBP vehicles and driving recklessly as it entered Bellingham. A CBP helicopter was also deployed. Law enforcement attempted to stop the truck using stop sticks before it successfully stopped the vehicle using a precision immobilization technique (PIT) maneuver near the Bow Hill rest area in Bow. State troopers, along with Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office and CBP, arrested the driver at 2:07 p.m., Tulloch said. WSP found a machete and the truck was identified as stolen from B.C. The driver was transported to St. Joseph Medical Center in Bellingham as a precaution before being booked into Whatcom County Jail, Tulloch said. No one was injured in the carjacking or pursuit. WSP booked the driver into jail for second-degree assault, possession of a stolen vehicle, attempting to elude police, and hit and run of an attended vehicle. Tulloch
TheNorthernLight
Coming Up . . . . . 14 Classifieds . . . . . 11 Letters . . . . . . . . . 4 Police . . . . . . . . . 14 Sports . . . . . . . . . . 6 Tides . . . . . . . . . . 14
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TheNorthernLight.com
Celebrate New Year’s in Birch Bay! Ring of Fire & Hope
December 31 • 7 pm
@TheNorthernLightNews
42nd Annual Polar Bear Plunge
January 1 • Plunge at Noon
For more details, see ads on page 2 or visit birchbaychamber.com/events