Three Wise Men?
The Port Commission has decreed that Bellingham’s waterfront will remain a toxic, festering sore
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The Port Commission has decreed that Bellingham’s waterfront will remain a toxic, festering sore
6 comments, most recent 2 months agoWho benefits?
3 comments, most recent 4 months agoVote for what you like. I like libraries.
6 comments, most recent 1 year agoAnon letters trying to intimidate us and our writers are non starters.
9 comments, most recent 1 year ago…Pants on Fire!
9 comments, most recent 2 years agoA summary of the Douglas Avenue right-of-way petition effort.
The Save the Trails Referendum goes into Pandemic Mode
3 comments, most recent 2 years agoThe Push is on!
Neighborhoods beware: City Hall is selling our public rights. Your neighborhood could be next.
14 comments, most recent 2 years agoThis is the Save the Trails Referendum Page
3 comments, most recent 2 years agoBut ever so s_l_o_w_l_y
3 comments, most recent 2 years agoPreserve public property rights & save the trail
14 comments, most recent 2 years agoThe city granted building permits while the Planning Department knew this was a state historical Indian village site.
2 comments, most recent 2 years agoWhat does a little stream matter? Spoiler alert! It’s not a joke and, if it were, it would not be a nice one.
5 comments, most recent 2 years agoTip Johnson makes the case that the City’s cozy relations with developers and its neighborhoods-be-damned attitude is costing us all.
3 comments, most recent 3 years agoWWU, Western Washington University has a “Culture of Fear”. No, NW Citizen is not saying that - the Seattle Times is.
Proposed Elimination of the Douglas Avenue Trail
10 comments, most recent 3 years agoThe best kept secret in the west?
5 comments, most recent 4 years agoAn easy test for candidate selection
Council Rebukes Justice Advocates and Voters
1 comment, most recent 4 years agoA million here and a million there, pretty soon you are talking real money
1 comment, most recent 4 years agoElectoral Perspective from a long-time neighborhood advocate
8 comments, most recent 4 years agoWhen voting for sheriff implies structural change
2 comments, most recent 4 years agoRe-imagining Bellingham’s Waterfront
14 comments, most recent 5 years agoCity Council member Roxanne Murphy resigns…on Facebook
1 comment, most recent 5 years agoToward a more comprehensive approach to human health and the environment
6 comments, most recent 5 years agoMy final shot. Before you might vote YES, explore this site for more on the jail by Juliette Daniels, myself and others. Then vote REJECTED.
1 comment, most recent 6 years agoWhat’s the real story?
3 comments, most recent 6 years agoWherein citizens snooze, they lose
1 comment, most recent 7 years agoWherein the serpent struggles to remain unnoticed
Wherein history begins to repeat itself
6 comments, most recent 7 years agoDo we need more events, or more cool things to do?
3 comments, most recent 7 years agoThe Lummi Island ferry is a very old and decrepit vessel. The state ferry system wants to give us a newer one in great condition. Whatcom County says no. Tip tells the tale.
6 comments, most recent 7 years agoWherein, we correct some misassumptions but still ask the questions
Could this address the real problem with Puget Sound?
6 comments, most recent 8 years agoWherein someone’s gotta do the right thing
Wherein inquiring minds want to know!
Wherein sanity may finally be approaching a nagging jail issue
2 comments, most recent 8 years agoWherein inquiring minds just want to know!
Wherof we cannot speak, thereof we must be silent?
3 comments, most recent 8 years agoThe latest addition and the issue in review
When they feel you just don’t need to know
4 comments, most recent 8 years agoWherein the operative information is $$$ECRET
3 comments, most recent 8 years agoWith a smarmy October Surprise
9 comments, most recent 8 years agoFEMA camp or new county seat?
13 comments, most recent 8 years agoMains a’ bursting - Avast!
Wherein we ponder the fate of humanity
The difference between a threat and a promise
5 comments, most recent 8 years agoWherein Bellingham’s billion dollar boondoggle is revisited
5 comments, most recent 8 years agoWherein the ridiculous is ridiculed
5 comments, most recent 9 years agoWherein Whatcom’s Klan heritage may be oozing from some cracks
8 comments, most recent 9 years agoOr why to vote for Nyima, the dog, for County Prosecutor
4 comments, most recent 9 years agoIt’s just how things roll in Whatcom County
5 comments, most recent 9 years agoWherein we see that sometimes government can do what business can’t.
9 comments, most recent 9 years agoWherein the failings of a bad policy framework are revealed
1 comment, most recent 9 years agoWherein the gyrations of the bid for widespread county slaughter are exposed.
2 comments, most recent 9 years agoWherein there’s a crackdown on growing plants, and plans to let slaughter run free
2 comments, most recent 10 years agoWherein the direct, indirect, hidden and lost opportunity costs make this a waterfront boondoggle of billions
3 comments, most recent 10 years agoDear Mr. President, There’s a sucker born every minute, and two to take him.
7 comments, most recent 10 years agoWherein we discover why we exert our rights - and grab some more petitions before it’s too late
3 comments, most recent 10 years agoWherein various comments are compiled and compounded, and citizens encouraged to act
2 comments, most recent 10 years agoWherein we see how the Ds do the work the Rs can’t get away with
7 comments, most recent 10 years agoWherein the people who call capping a clean-up say toxics safe enough for day care.
1 comment, most recent 10 years agoWherein we complain about the City and Port stealing from the public
6 comments, most recent 10 years agoWherein the Cattlemen define ‘small scale’ as an unlimited number of facilities of up to 50 million live pounds per year.
3 comments, most recent 11 years agoWherein the rate base gets a soaking while officials keep big-bubble toking
7 comments, most recent 10 years agoWherein it’s even worse when the legislation is about sausage
Wherein the ironies of life are explored and the necessities of life are contemplated
2 comments, most recent 11 years agoWherein artists have to eat, too!
Wherein the Slaughterhouse Ken and Barbie show present Slaughterville, their new vision for Whatcom County
9 comments, most recent 11 years agoWherein citizens must hold their representatives’ feet to the fire
6 comments, most recent 11 years agoAn letter to the County Council on opening the county to the slaughter industry
8 comments, most recent 11 years agoThe Lummi Nation Declares Their Sovereign Objectives at Cherry Point
2 comments, most recent 11 years agoWherein we see the Railroad walking it’s walk while we get ready to talk our talk.
1 comment, most recent 11 years agoHereby hoping to stimulate discussion of what expanding the Port Commission is meant to achieve, what constitutes good government and how we might best achieve it.
18 comments, most recent 11 years agoWherein the port proves they are incompetent to do the public’s business
Footage overlooking the Fairhaven area
5 comments, most recent 11 years agoWill donuts prove more important than street trees?
10 comments, most recent 11 years agoWherein the shenanigans start smelling too fishy to tolerate
1 comment, most recent 11 years agoWe have a new mayor!
4 comments, most recent 12 years agoWherein the sooty prospect of economic necessity rears its ugly head
2 comments, most recent 12 years agoO.K. Who’s in charge of all these ungulates?
14 comments, most recent 12 years agoDaydreams of a recovering politician
2 comments, most recent 12 years agoI think we’ve got a winner!
3 comments, most recent 12 years agoEeny, meeny, miny, moe
15 comments, most recent 12 years agoSpoiler Alert: If you are enjoying your blackberries this year, read no further
2 comments, most recent 12 years agoA bad deal, but good enough - for now
1 comment, most recent 12 years agoLegislation and Sausage: Very hard to watch being made.
2 comments, most recent 12 years agoRepublished from Whatcom Watch - Let’s Save Vendovi Island!
2 comments, most recent 12 years agoShould we accept or dig into Chuckanut Ridge?
21 comments, most recent 12 years agoWherein something smells a bit fishy
2 comments, most recent 12 years agoWherein blackened hearts and minds are initially examined
6 comments, most recent 12 years agoOr, The Village That Once Was. Or, I Didn’t have Time to Write Something Short, Again.
7 comments, most recent 12 years agoYou’ve gotta be kidding!
13 comments, most recent 13 years agoWherein surrender may be the key to success
5 comments, most recent 13 years agoLegal or Political Football?
4 comments, most recent 13 years agoIslanders need a new game
1 comment, most recent 13 years agoIgnoring the real problem
3 comments, most recent 13 years agoTime for hardball?
Where, oh where, are our federal representatives?
6 comments, most recent 13 years agoFor-Profit Non-Profits - Pulling the Plug on Services
Taxation without representation
4 comments, most recent 12 years agoWherein the absurdity of the Lummi Blockade is explored in yet more excrutiating detail
1 comment, most recent 13 years agoI mean, come on!
3 comments, most recent 13 years agoOil Addiction: All Day Every Day
More problems with secret government
1 comment, most recent 13 years agoIn which the perils of a police state are only barely considered
2 comments, most recent 13 years agoLummi officials and Lummi Island residents meet -Village to Village
2 comments, most recent 14 years agoWhatcom County lacks both authority and leverage to negotiate a Lummi Island ferry deal
The Lummi Nation appears prepared to implement a threatened blockade of Lummi Island commencing February 14th
1 comment, most recent 14 years agoPort of Bellingham in the news
Tip writes a letter to President Obama about Health Care and about his concerns that Obama has sold us short.
8 comments, most recent 14 years agoIt looks like we’ve got a pretty watered down climate accord. It doesn’t provide accountability and won’t limit warming to within the two degree Celsius out-of-control climate tipping point.
9 comments, most recent 14 years agoI always hate public issues that involve decades of history and require integration of multiple points. I refer to it as ‘the indignity of explanation.’ Public interest advocates gain nothing
9 comments, most recent 14 years ago
Paul de Armond’s recent article about Leonard Zeskind’s new book, “Blood and Poli
We don’t make special offers like this very often, but if you act right now, you’ll not only continue getting free access to fresh views, news and opinion on Northwest Citizen, but you’ll also help se
14 comments, most recent 14 years agoThis is probably old news to Responsible Development advocates, but just in case, here’s a little heads up on TIm Stewart. He appears to have experience with developments like Fairhaven Highla
3 comments, most recent 14 years agoAll to often in politics, public interest advocates find themselves feeling like they are shouting futilely into the wind. Looking ahead, at the Port’s mismanagement of the waterfront redevelo
8 comments, most recent 14 years agoThis week’s “Gristle”, by Cascadia Weekly Editor Tim Johnson, includes this electoral season’s first substantive issue to appear in local print media <a href=”http://www.nwcitizen.us/entry/bell
Note: This post largely follows a letter sent to the City Council and Mayor on March 20th. I have provided th
7 comments, most recent 14 years agoRed Herring
Shame on Obama, shame on Congress. Why punish workers while bailing out their bosses? The recent frenzy to demonize the employees of AIG is a more than a little disturbing.
Welcome to a new era of diplomacy! It may not necessarily be kinder and gentler, but it sure looks like it could be more impersonal. Obama has affirmed the recent military policy of using unmanned dr
7 comments, most recent 15 years agoAny public issue that garners nearly two decades of ardent citizen activism ought to eventually be perceived as significant. But a form of fatigue peculiar to public affairs tends to gradually margina
Obama hasn’t any choice but to put “revitalizing the economy” at the top of his agenda. It could be a problem. Sure, everyone wants to keep their jobs or their business. They want to meet their mor
8 comments, most recent 15 years agoEarly in the reign of “W”, following the announcement of his “War on Terra”, we soon became familiar with the now famous phrase, “kill or capture”. It seems significant that it didn’t emerge as “capt
The spectacle of Obama will soon begin to unfold as unprecedented popularity comes face to face with unprecedented difficulties. Another writer on these pages has already announced the potential for
3 comments, most recent 15 years agoAn observant NWCitizen agent noticed this morning that the Herald may have a new policy regarding controversial issues that involve their favored advertisers.
The Port and City of Bellingham ha
The title phrase will remind many of the 1988 film portraying the work of Jaime Escalante, a dedicated high school mathematics teacher, starring Edward James Olmos. Historians will recognize it as th
10 comments, most recent 15 years agoWho plundered the economy? What happened to all the wealth? Should Americans feel shame at having recklessly squandered their children’s future with imprudent borrowing?
Not long ago, as our
Big problems require big solutions, quick. If bipartisan cooperation in major policy changes is needed, then so be it. Democrats will reach across the aisle and…get sucker punched!
This cou
Sarah Palin made her big splash to a receptive crowd last night at the Republican National Convention. We’ll see how well it plays with those not already so predisposed.
One thing is for sure:
BELLINGHAM BAY DOESN’T MIX
In 1957, E. N. Steele documented the effects of pulp mill pollution on native oyster stocks in “The Rise and Decline of the Olympia Oyster”.
Today’s Bellingham Herald has an interesting article on a report recently released by the Countywide Housing Affordability Task force.
5 comments, most recent 15 years agoIn the run-up to this fourth of July, there were articles in the local daily and a fair amount of discussion about fireworks. Word was that the local constabulary were poised for a crackdown. Judgin
1 comment, most recent 15 years agoI watched with horror the channel 10 viewing of the last Waterfront Advisory Group - or whatever they are now called. This group is reviewing the ongoing planning of the former G-P properties,
2 comments, most recent 15 years agoThe dialog over the proposed Fairhaven Highlands development has deteriorated into a childish “neiner-neiner” squabble. Opponents continuously propose a host of rational objections while a few propon
2 comments, most recent 15 years agoIn 1969, Scott Stodola and Kendall Frazier founded the Bellingham Cooperative School. The School was housed in a variety of locations, including Fairhaven College and the golf course club hous
2 comments, most recent 15 years agoI recently met with local and state officers from the Washington State Grange. These remarkably grass-rooted, family-oriented organizations can be formed with as few as 13 members. At least f
Something about Bellingham’s poverty brings out the worst, even in the best of us.
The Kulshan Land Trust ushered it’s presence into Happy Valley with the development
Today’s Herald features a local story entitled, “Mayor taking tougher stance with Port on waterfront”. It’s high time someone started considering the City’s interests in this fiasco!<br
1 comment, most recent 16 years agoI’m amazed at the response our Administration and Congress have taken toward news that the economy might be in trouble. Their idea is to write a bunch of checks to spur consumer spending. Tha
1 comment, most recent 16 years agoI took a little heat from one of our new councilmembers, who took issue with yesterday’s piece, “Continuing Parlor Tricks”. Therein, I used a bad choice of words, suggesting final action might
The Herald’s utility as an organ for community information is sometimes sorely tested - especially when things get controversial or confusing. Of course, it’s not that they don’t want citizens
When Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) are prepared, more than one development model might be evaluated. But a no-action alternative is always required as a baseline reference. Convention
Hundreds of citizens last night descended on Municipal Court in solidarity with the Hundred Acre Woods to express their opposition to Horizon Bank’s potentially disastrous development now calle
3 comments, most recent 16 years agoOr how to mitigate the illegitimacies of Fairhaven Highlands, AKA Chuckanut Ridge and the Hundred Acre Woods. Sorry, I didn’t have time to write something short!
2 comments, most recent 16 years agoI prefer to “label” myself radical, as compared with liberal. I struck upon the notion lobbying in Washington, D.C.
There, I painfully learned that liberals don’t understand the basics of busin
V - Stan Snapp - Don’t ask me why Servais hasn’t endorsed Stan Snapp. Here’s a guy that has worked his way up and tirelessly served his community, who has broad popular support and plent
Personalities, not issues have dominated this election cycle. It’s not that there are no issues to discuss. It’s just that our democracy has apparently developed lazy habits. The digital revolu
Starting in the mid-eighties, when I was on the City Council, I sat on the original Joint City-County Lake Whatcom Advisory Committee, comprised of elected officials from both City and County as well
Unpleasant material is messily whapping its way through the whirling blades in neighborhoods throughout town as the City attempts to patch together a fatally flawed beginning to their Comprehensive Pl
In a Bellingham Herald article dated May 4, Interim Mayor Tim Douglas “said it’s
Results from the first political forum of the season are now available online. Many thanks to the Northern Neighbors for organizing the event and providing such a great public resource. Seasoned polit
The new annual report on The Lake Whatcom Reservoir confirms that the quality of the water supply for half of the county’s population is deteriorating. An article in today’s Bellingham Herald points t
Why the Log Pond cap won’t work
An article in a recent Bellingham Business Journal detailed the debate over whether the toxic muck in the Whatcom Waterway ought to be dredged or capped.
I have some large, beautiful pear trees at home. Spring is a glorious time, when they are festooned with blossom and the air is sweet with their scent. I have had occasion to observe these trees for o
All the fuss over whether the “surge” is a credible strategy, whether or not to schedule a troop withdrawal from Iraq or continue funding the war kinda misses the main point with which Americans still
Our invisible Congressman, Rick Larsen, has finally had his way with that pesky protester, Ellen Murphy. In order to ensure his privacy from prying constituents, Larsen had the local constabulary haul
According to the Washington Post, “President Bush warned Thursday that pulling out of Iraq too soon would trigger a bloodbath akin to that of the Cambodian killing fields of the 1970s, while Senate Ma
Independent media? Freedom of the press? Peoples friend, tyrants foe? It was a good idea while it lasted, educating the electorate and forming a mainstay of our democracy. Now, we’ve either elected Bu
According to the Bellingham Herald, the Washington State Department of Natural Resources has recently approved leaving tons of mercury buried in Bellingham Bay. The documents are not yet readily avail
New Whatcom Redevelopment Project - The City and Port of Bellingham will hold public information a meeting. Bellingham Cruise Terminal. 355 Harris Ave., Bellingham. WA Times: 6:00 PM.
Also, th
The Pentagon, after weeks of delay, finally trotted out the “irrefutable evidence” that Iran is supplying deadly weapons to Iraqi “insurgents”. Wow! They produced two tables of weaponry with Iranian m
One of the more momentous public hearings in Bellingham’s history appears to be ready to pass with more than the ordinary confusion. We wrote about some of the mis/disinformation earlier.
On th
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blockquote>”When do you wreck it as a system? It’s like going up to the edge of a cliff, not really knowing where it is. Common sense says you shouldn’t discover where the edge is by passing over it,
or I lied (sort of!)
In the previous post I complained that the biggest rip-off in Whatcom County history was happening without even being discussed or making it into the news. Well, I lied. To
The good? We are no longer spewing forty+ pounds of mercury vapor every day into the local atmosphere. We are no longer dumping 20 to 40 tons of polluted solid waste into our bay, ravines and gravel p
Milton Friedman died at 94 years of age last week. Friedman was the maverick economist who implemented monetarist policies beginning with the administrations of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. As
While we’re being proud to be Americans, don’t forget that George Bush just pushed through legislation that makes it legal for our boys at Abu Ghraib to have tortured and makes it legal for them to ke
Protesting and dissent is no longer supervised by the police. It is actively escalated to violence, punished and prosecuted. This snippet is about a fellow rotting in jail as the result of his journal
Zetta Bracher, President of the local Democratic Women’s Club, has an idea for getting consensus on our “new direction” in Iraq.
When it became apparent that there were no weapons of mass destr
The war in Iraq is widely regarded to have been the “hot button” issue of the last election. I don’t buy it. Americans seem to like a good fight. After all, we get into a lot of them. The problem with
Bellingham’s new, old mayor, Tim Douglas, got off to a great running start at his new job by dealing quickly and firmly with an important issue that threatened to embarrass the City forever - the form
Congratulations, Americans. That was certainly worth voting for! Voters thoroughly routing the entrenched Neo-Con administration will help restore our world image, so badly damaged since re-electing t
Nope. I didn’t make it up. It’s from the subtitle of a book by Steve Bhaerman, under the pen name Swami Beyondananda. I have to admire the guy. At least he can laugh about it. But Americans should do
Results from the 17th year of a poll routinely taken by the Wall Street Journal and NBC News show that only 16 percent approve of the job Congress is doing. 52 percent of those polled said they’d pref
Hopefully the City’s new swirling logo will flush itself before it ends up glued on vehicles and emblazoned on letterhead. It’s horrible, but that’s only half the story. And we will probably never get
Heading into the last days of this election season, George Bush and his Neo-Con Republicans have been strumming a familiar tune to promote their candidates. Republicans, they say, will
1) P
Gentle readers,
My name is Tip Johnson. The usual editor of this publication has asked me to fill in for a bit while he is busy with other matters. Some of you have already written, following h