Welcome back. I thank you for visiting Whiner Net - as it is called around Bellingham City Hall. Even the mayor has endorsed that name in our local government corridors. Seems they check the site often and don't like it. My my. Well, I do my best to post the news the Bellingham Herald ignores. Our local government employees don't know how lucky they are that there is so little real reporting in Bellingham.

Don Hansey, a long-time politician in Whatcom County, is thinking of running against Terry Borneman for Bellingham City Council - 5th Ward. Not mayor Mark's favorite choice for the city council. If elected, Don would not fall under the intimidating control of Mark as Terry has.

What is St Joseph Hospital and the State Department of Labor and Industries hiding? Seems the hospital has vented lethal gases directly into the construction areas since 2001 and exposed up to 200 workers - some for perhaps 13 months. The gas, ethylene oxide, causes cancer, attacks the brain and affects the central nervous system. On April 28 the workers were told there was no danger. On May 2 the vent pipe was extended to avoid the construction workers. This at a hospital. Yes, workers have come down with symptoms of health problems. This is one of those scenarios where in 20 years the workers will get cancer and be dying, the hospital will be off the hook and State L&I will have lost the records. Why this gas? It is used for cleaning surgical tools and was vented out the roof. Right where construction is going on. Herald report? Don't hold your breath.

Back to the lovely war in Iraq, the BBC reports the rescue of Jessica Lynch was staged for TV by American military forces. Yep, blanks in their weapons. Knowledge that the Iraqi forces had pulled out two days earlier - hell, they could have driven up to the hospital at high noon and picked her up. Actually it is worse than that. The Iraqi hospital staff had tried to drive Jessica to the American forces the day before but our trigger-happy soldiers opened fire on the hospital car - with Jessica in it. The Iraqis returned to the hospital. Wasn't it strange those guys had TV cameras with them for this dangerous rescue? All bogus. Don't expect the New York Times to cover this accurately. Nor the Bellingham Herald.

There. How is that for a bit of whining? Gawd, pesky citizens expecting government to do its job. Guess they want to waste our tax money in peace. I'm reminded of the British trying to insult the American revolutionaries in the 1770s by labeling them Yankee Doodle Dandies. We turned it into a proud label. Ahh, but the name whiner.net is already taken. I'll stick with nwcitizen.

Oh - one last item. The mayor and his staff are bringing a tax-break proposal to the council on June 9 for convicted felon Rick Westerop and his project on State Street. The guy the mayor said he had never done any favors for. The mayor is in bed with this guy who helped launder millions in drug money. Don't expect any Herald coverage. Just Whiner Net.