History

This website was started in September 1995 as a one person blog by John Servais to report important local Bellingham news that the Bellingham Herald ignored or distorted. His political junkie friends, Tip Johnson and Paul deArmond also wrote occasionally. In 1998, NW Citizen provided the Whatcon Watch with its first online home as a section, with it later moving to its own website. Paul’s “The Public Good” site was also given a home as a section of NW Citizen for several years.

In January 2008 the website changed from the simple hand coded website it had been, into a database driven site that allowed comments and multiple writers. By 2016 it had morphed into a venue for over 25 independent local citizen journalists, some regular writers and some occasional. In September 2018, John sold the site to Northwest Citizen LLC. The company was formed to ensure the site continues into the future, as John was then in his late 70s. He is one of the LLC owners, and continues to write.

Since 2009, writers have met weekly over libations and refreshments to discuss issues, possible articles, general scuttlebutt and maintain cohesion as a group. These weekly meetings are important to our maintaining the site, attracting new writers, and informing each other on what is happening in our fine town of Bellingham and beautiful Whatcom County. We are, after all, political junkies.

* * * 4/2020