Citizen Journalist • Member since Feb 08, 2009
Michael has lived in Bellingham since 1968. He retired from his job at Whatcom County Parks after 20 years of service in 2015.
Michael Chiavario writes about our county parks department. Michael has lived in Bellingham since 1968. He retired from his job at Whatcom County Parks after 20 years of service in 2015. Note: On [...]
"The CCFPD Mission Statement:Our Mission: The mission of the Chuckanut Community Forest Park District is to ensure the entirety of the property is protected in public ownership in perpetuity, [...]
"The article leaves out the key to the point of continuing the Park District a little longer: having a legal government body whose mandate(in addition to paying off the [...]
"Dick: A-After first use of ‘person’ and up to the word ‘unless’ use the phrase “may reasonably appear to directly or indirectly to financially benefit”. B - similar change [...]
"Dick rightly and knowledgeably calls out landlord abuse in relation to the family definition issue in our local codes. I would like to add that the systemic abuse that the [...]
Statement by County Executive Satpal Sidhu in response to attack on Capitol
Gene Knutson today announced he will not run for reelection this year and is retiring from the Bellingham City Council.
1 comment, most recent 9 hours agoWhile McClatchy appears ready to accept unionization among the Herald’s content creators, it would be on their terms.
5 comments, most recent 2 days agoMark Ashworth writes about Trump and our current national situation.
There are no excuses remaining.
13 comments, most recent 1 day agoTwo photos of the same door, one taken about 2 p.m., the other six hours later at about 8 p.m., on Wednesday, January 6, 2021.
8 comments, most recent 3 days agoPublic Works Director, Eric Johnston and Council Member Michael Lilliquist hand-picked their “perfect members” to determine our internet future.
14 comments, most recent 3 days agoA shift in housing policies is needed to avoid an escalation of our housing crisis.
4 comments, most recent 6 days agoFrozen resistance in some quarters against public banking may find a thaw in 2021.
2 comments, most recent 1 week agoSomething is amiss regarding the BNSF oil-train wreck in Custer on Dec 22, 2020. Why, after a week, are there no answers and a cause?
11 comments, most recent 1 week agoWWU, Western Washington University has a “Culture of Fear”. No, NW Citizen is not saying that - the Seattle Times is.
Even as our military veterans are dying at twice the rate of the general population, plans are being made to provide vaccinations through the Department of Veterans Affairs.
After a takeover by a hedge fund with a history of decimating newspapers, The Bellingham Herald’s news staff is taking a stand.
2 comments, most recent 1 week agoCOVID changed everything; let’s make policing better for everyone.
Councilman Lilliquist tries to rewrite history in Bellingham’s war over internet fiber.
A conjunction occurs when two astronomical objects appear to line up. A great conjunction is when that happens with Jupiter and Saturn.
Olivia Hobson gives us a reprise of the last year under COVID-19 from the point of view of a WWU student.
1 comment, most recent 1 month agoWhatcom county - and Benton County - did better than expected in terms of the Covid-19 Post Thanksgiving surge
5 comments, most recent 1 month agoComcast inflicts $3/mo rate hike, data caps, and overage fees
4 comments, most recent 4 weeks agoCurrent flux in the composition of the Planning Commission means the group is overloaded with development-oriented members.
4 comments, most recent 1 month agoWith encouragement from the city of Bellingham, in 1994 Daniel Kirkpatrick organized dozens of Happy Valley neighborhood residents to build a trail on a city right of way.
3 comments, most recent 1 month agoProposed Elimination of the Douglas Avenue Trail
10 comments, most recent 1 month agoA “clinical trials geek” speaks up
4 comments, most recent 1 month agoHow Bellingham Schools fail the poor.
Bellingham’s homeless have no place to go. They need shelter now.
4 comments, most recent 1 month agoRepublicans who are silent during this disaster of a transition should be held to account in the next elections: county, state, and national. Here’s one example of their hypocrisy.
2 comments, most recent 1 month agoTrump’s relentless campaign to interfere with 2020 election results
3 comments, most recent 1 month agoStay home for the holidays in 2020 so that you and yours will be around for the holidays in 2021
Chuck Robinson provides his knowledgeable perspective on Christmas and Holiday shopping. We asked Chuck, who is now retired, to write this for all of us.
In the three Whatcom County school districts carried by Trump-Pence the covid-19 infection rate is 1.4 times higher than found in the 4 districts carried by Biden-Harris.
3 comments, most recent 1 month agoState Senator Doug Ericksen parrots baseless Republican Party claims about non-existent voter fraud in the 2020 presidential elections.
8 comments, most recent 1 month agoAs is the case, nationwide, it appears that Trump assisted Democrats in carrying the 2020 presidential and gubernatorial elections in Washington
2 comments, most recent 1 month agoThe meaning of the original Armistice Day has been turned on its head. We lose a yearly history lesson as a result.
13 comments, most recent 1 month agoThe little park district commission wants to increase taxes in an effort to prolong their fiefdom.
13 comments, most recent 2 months agoFive years ago CenturyLink wanted their TV franchise to be in Bellingham in a big way. They failed and now want to pull out.
4 comments, most recent 2 months agoTrump advocated behaviors that placed his followers at higher risk to being sickened and even dying from covid-19. Did a reduction in republican voters aid in the election of Joe Biden?
1 comment, most recent 2 months agoVeterans appear to be paying a price for COVID-19 at double the rate of the general population.
Diana Bradrick, our elected Whatcom County Auditor, leaves two ballot drop boxes in storage rather than install them in Bellingham - where they are needed.
8 comments, most recent 2 months agoThe novel coronavirus also attacks our need for community, which is the antidote to the epidemic of toxic individualism that has begun afflicting much of middle America.
6 comments, most recent 1 month agoIs it 219 days? Five years? It’s time to move forward on the Broadband Advisory Group. Now!
Six applicants for Bellingham’s Broadband Advisory Group are examined by Jon for their conflicts of interest with their business ties to the broadband industry.
4 comments, most recent 2 months agoProposition 2020-14 allows us to support pedestrians and bicyclists by continuing the sales tax of a mere two cents per $10.
5 comments, most recent 2 months agoJon explains why the Starlink satellite Internet service will not be so great and why fiber is still best for reliability, speed, cost, safety and the environment. Really.
4 comments, most recent 2 months agoSome candidates and issues can be a bit obtuse as we look at the campaign literature. These recommendations are for those with progressive, liberal, or moderate values and perspectives.
4 comments, most recent 2 months agoBellingham is foot-dragging and Whatcom County gives nearly $1 million to “Big Telecom.”
2 comments, most recent 2 months agoOnly four US counties remain covid free, each of them rural. We discuss how the pandemic reached rural, isolated counties.
15 comments, most recent 2 months agoWinter quarter at WWU will look much the same as the fall quarter with mostly online classes.
Satpal Sidhu supports Ferndale School Levy
Daniel Kirkpatrick has a letter to the editor endorsing Christine Grant for Public Utility District Commissioner.
The novel coronavirus infects the US president and he responds, after a weekend visit to Walter Reed Military Hospital, with wild mood swings and reckless policy pronouncements.
